Affect Analysis in Video

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Red-Fleshed Apple Anthocyanin Extracts Attenuate Male Reproductive System Dysfunction Caused by Busulfan in Mice

In this research, we analyzed the effect of an intragastrical oral administration of red-fleshed apple anthocyanin extract (RAAE) on busulfan-treated mice. First, we showed that the most abundant component in RAAE was cyanidin 3-O-galactoside. To determine the effect of the RAAE, the mice were divided into control and four other different concentrations of RAAE feeding treatment groups (BA0, no RAAE; BA.1, 0.1 mg/kg; BA1, 1 mg/kg; and BA5, 5 mg/kg) following busulfan injection. We observed that RAAE treatments displayed ameliorative effects on male reproductive system dysfunction caused by busulfan, such as recovering the irregular arrangements of seminiferous tubules, increasing the number of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, improving sperm concentration by 3-fold in BA.1, and improving sperm motility by 2-fold in BA1. The liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis showed significant up- or downregulation of certain metabolites, such as lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC), L-arginine, glycine, anandamide, and L-carnitine, which could contribute to the positive effects of RAAE, especially in PBA1 (plasma of BA1) and PBA5 (plasma of BA5). Taken together, the results indicate that 1 mg/kg of RAAE is a suitable concentration for rescuing spermatogenesis in mice. The research suggests that RAAE could be a potential nutraceutical for protecting spermatogenesis after busulfan therapy in cancer

Holistic energy and failure aware workload scheduling in Cloud datacenters

The global uptake of Cloud computing has attracted increased interest within both academia and industry resulting in the formation of large-scale and complex distributed systems. This has led to increased failure occurrence within computing systems that induce substantial negative impact upon system performance and task reliability perceived by users. Such systems also consume vast quantities of power, resulting in significant operational costs perceived by providers. Virtualization – a commonly deployed technology within Cloud datacenters – can enable flexible scheduling of virtual machines to maximize system reliability and energy-efficiency. However, existing work address these two objectives separately, providing limited understanding towards studying the explicit trade-offs towards dependable and energy-efficient compute infrastructure. In this paper, we propose two failure-aware energy-efficient scheduling algorithms that exploit the holistic operational characteristics of the Cloud datacenter comprising the cooling unit, computing infrastructure and server failures. By comprehensively modeling the power and failure profiles of a Cloud datacenter, we propose workload scheduling algorithms Ella-W and Ella-B, capable of reducing cooling and compute energy while minimizing the impact of system failures. A novel and overall metric is proposed that combines energy efficiency and reliability to specify the performance of various algorithms. We evaluate our algorithms against Random, MaxUtil, TASA, MTTE and OBFIT under various system conditions of failure prediction accuracy and workload intensity. Evaluation results demonstrate that Ella-W can reduce energy usage by 29.5% and improve task completion rate by 3.6%, while Ella-B reduces energy usage by 32.7% with no degradation to task completion rate

High level expression of human epithelial β-defensins (hBD-1, 2 and 3) in papillomavirus induced lesions

BACKGROUND: Epithelial defensins including human β-defensins (hBDs) and α-defensins (HDs) are antimicrobial peptides that play important roles in the mucosal defense system. However, the role of defensins in papillomavirus induced epithelial lesions is unknown. RESULTS: Papilloma tissues were prospectively collected from 15 patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) and analyzed for defensins and chemokine IL-8 expression by quantitative, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. HBD-1, -2 and -3 mRNAs were detectable in papilloma samples from all RRP patients and the levels were higher than in normal oral mucosal tissues from healthy individuals. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that both hBD-1 and 2 were localized in the upper epithelial layers of papilloma tissues. Expression of hBD-2 and hBD-3 appeared to be correlated as indicated by scatter plot analysis (r = 0.837, p < 0.01) suggesting that they were co-inducible in papillomavirus induced lesions. Unlike hBDs, only low levels of HD5 and HD6 were detectable in papillomas and in oral mucosa. CONCLUSION: Human β-defensins are upregulated in respiratory papillomas. This novel finding suggests that hBDs might contribute to innate and adaptive immune responses targeted against papillomavirus-induced epithelial lesions

Analytical solution of the nitracline with the evolution of subsurface chlorophyll maximum in stratified water columns

In a stratified water column, the nitracline is a layer where the nitrate concentration increases below the nutrient-depleted upper layer, exhibiting a strong vertical gradient in the euphotic zone. The subsurface chlorophyll maximum layer (SCML) forms near the bottom of the euphotic zone, acting as a trap to diminish the upward nutrient supply. Depth and steepness of the nitracline are important measurable parameters related to the vertical transport of nitrate into the euphotic zone. The correlation between the SCML and the nitracline has been widely reported in the literature, but the analytic solution for the relationship between them is not well established. By incorporating a piecewise function for the approximate Gaussian vertical profile of chlorophyll, we derive analytical solutions of a specified nutrient-phytoplankton model. The model is well suited to explain basic dependencies between a nitracline and an SCML. The analytical solution shows that the nitracline depth is deeper than the depth of the SCML, shoaling with an increase in the light attenuation coefficient and with a decrease in surface light intensity. The inverse proportional relationship between the light level at the nitracline depth and the maximum rate of new primary production is derived. Analytic solutions also show that a thinner SCML corresponds to a steeper nitracline. The nitracline steepness is positively related to the light attenuation coefficient but independent of surface light intensity. The derived equations of the nitracline in relation to the SCML provide further insight into the important role of the nitracline in marine pelagic ecosystems

Evidence for the contribution of COMT gene Val158/108Met polymorphism (rs4680) to working memory training-related prefrontal plasticity.

BackgroundGenetic factors have been suggested to affect the efficacy of working memory training. However, few studies have attempted to identify the relevant genes.MethodsIn this study, we first performed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to identify brain regions that were specifically affected by working memory training. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the adaptive training group (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;30) or the active control group (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;30). Both groups were trained for 20 sessions during 4&nbsp;weeks and received fMRI scans before and after the training. Afterward, we combined the data from the 30 participants in the RCT study who received adaptive training with data from 71 additional participants who also received the same adaptive training but were not part of the RCT study (total N&nbsp;=&nbsp;101) to test the contribution of the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism to the interindividual difference in the training effect within the identified brain regions.ResultsIn the RCT study, we found that the adaptive training significantly decreased brain activation in the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.030). In the genetic study, we found that compared with the Val allele homozygotes, the Met allele carriers' brain activation decreased more after the training at the left prefrontal cortex (TFCE-FWE corrected p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.025).ConclusionsThis study provided evidence for the neural effect of a visual-spatial span training and suggested that genetic factors such as the COMT Val158/108Met polymorphism may have to be considered in future studies of such training

A Case of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated with HPV58 Infection

We report the case of a 55-year-old man with penile squamous cell car- cinoma (SCC). We found a mass in the patient’s penis, which gradually increased in size. We performed a partial penectomy to remove the mass. Histopathology revealed a highly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction. HPV was found to be pres- ent in the squamous cell carcinoma, and sequencing analysis showed that it was type 58

Ubiquitin-Specific Peptidase 10 (USP10) Deubiquitinates and Stabilizes MutS Homolog 2 (MSH2) to Regulate Cellular Sensitivity to DNA Damage

MSH2 is a key DNA mismatch repair protein, which plays an important role in genomic stability. In addition to its DNA repair function, MSH2 serves as a sensor for DNA base analogs-provoked DNA replication errors and binds to various DNA damage-induced adducts to trigger cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Loss or depletion of MSH2 from cells renders resistance to certain DNA-damaging agents. Therefore, the level of MSH2 determines DNA damage response. Previous studies showed that the level of MSH2 protein is modulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, and histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) serves as an ubiquitin E3 ligase. However, the deubiquitinating enzymes, which regulate MSH2 remain unknown. Here we report that ubiquitin-specific peptidase 10 (USP10) interacts with and stabilizes MSH2. USP10 deubiquitinates MSH2 in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the protein level of MSH2 is positively correlated with the USP10 protein level in a panel of lung cancer cell lines. Knockdown of USP10 in lung cancer cells exhibits increased cell survival and decreased apoptosis upon the treatment of DNA-methylating agent N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and antimetabolite 6-thioguanine (6-TG). The above phenotypes can be rescued by ectopic expression of MSH2. In addition, knockdown of MSH2 decreases the cellular mismatch repair activity. Overall, our results suggest a novel USP10-MSH2 pathway regulating DNA damage response and DNA mismatch repair

A Case of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated with HPV58 Infection

We report the case of a 55-year-old man with penile squamous cell car- cinoma (SCC). We found a mass in the patient’s penis, which gradually increased in size. We performed a partial penectomy to remove the mass. Histopathology revealed a highly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction. HPV was found to be pres- ent in the squamous cell carcinoma, and sequencing analysis showed that it was type 58