Delaunay-restricted Optimal Triangulation of 3D Polygons

Triangulation of 3D polygons is a well studied topic of research. Existing methods for finding triangulations that minimize given metrics (e.g., sum of triangle areas or dihedral angles) run in a costly O(n4) time [BS95,BDE96], while the triangulations are not guaranteed to be free of intersections. To address these limitations, we restrict our search to the space of triangles in the Delaunay tetrahedralization of the polygon. The restriction allows us to reduce the running time down to O(n2) in practice (O(n3) worst case) while guaranteeing that the solutions are intersection free. We demonstrate experimentally that the reduced search space is not overly restricted. In particular, triangulations restricted to this space usually exist for practical inputs, and the optimal triangulation in this space approximates well the optimal triangulation of the polygon. This makes our algorithms a practical solution when working with real world data

Identification of Genetic Association of Multiple Rare Variants Using Collapsing Methods

Next-generation sequencing technology allows investigation of both common and rare variants in humans. Exomes are sequenced on the population level or in families to further study the genetics of human diseases. Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 (GAW17) provided exomic data from the 1000 Genomes Project and simulated phenotypes. These data enabled evaluations of existing and newly developed statistical methods for rare variant sequence analysis for which standard statistical methods fail because of the rareness of the alleles. Various alternative approaches have been proposed that overcome the rareness problem by combining multiple rare variants within a gene. These approaches are termed collapsing methods, and our GAW17 group focused on studying the performance of existing and novel collapsing methods using rare variants. All tested methods performed similarly, as measured by type I error and power. Inflated type I error fractions were consistently observed and might be caused by gametic phase disequilibrium between causal and noncausal rare variants in this relatively small sample as well as by population stratification. Incorporating prior knowledge, such as appropriate covariates and information on functionality of SNPs, increased the power of detecting associated genes. Overall, collapsing rare variants can increase the power of identifying disease-associated genes. However, studying genetic associations of rare variants remains a challenging task that requires further development and improvement in data collection, management, analysis, and computation

Multiple Pyogenic Liver Abscesses Caused by Eggerthella lenta Treated with Ertapenem: A Case Report

Anaerobic gram-positive bacilli can occasionally be implicated in infections but are difficult to identify in culture by conventional biochemical methods. We report a case of liver abscesses caused by Eggerthella lenta, identified via 16S rRNA sequencing in a previously healthy patient, successfully treated with percutaneous drainage and ertapenem

Inorganic−Organic Hybrid Luminescent Binary Probe for DNA Detection Based on Spin-Forbidden Resonance Energy Transfer

We describe the design of new fluorescent binary probe sensors for DNA detection based on spin-forbidden resonance energy transfer (SF-RET). Binary probes consist of a donor and acceptor fluorophores that are attached to two different oligonucleotides and serve as a resonance energy transfer (RET) donor−acceptor pair when hybridized to adjacent sites of a target sequence. In the absence of target, excitation of the donor results in fluorescence only from the donor, but when the probes hybridize to the target, the fluorophores are brought into close proximity favoring RET, yielding fluorescence mainly from the acceptor fluorophore. These new binary probes use the metal complex Ru(bpy‘)(DIP)_2^(2+) as the energy donor and an organic fluorophore (Cy5) as the energy acceptor. Energy transfer from the MLCT state of the Ru complex to singlet Cy5 is spin forbidden and produces a delayed fluorescence of Cy5. This paper demonstrates that fluorescence delay of Cy5 can be used to time resolve the emission of the probe from the intense fluorescence background of a model system for cellular background; this provides the reported system to overcome intense autofluorescence, an important and general advantage over “classical” spin-allowed steady-state probes

The role of inhaled and/or nasal corticosteroids on the bronchodilator response

PurposeTo compare the profiles of the bronchodilator response (BDR) among children with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis (AR) and to determine whether BDR in these children is reduced by treatment with inhaled and/or nasal corticosteroid.MethodsSixty-eight children with asthma (mean age, 10.9 years), 45 children with comorbid asthma and AR (mean age, 10.5 years), and 44 children with AR alone (mean age, 10.2 years) were investigated. After a 2-week baseline period, all children were treated with inhaled fluticasone propionate (either 100 or 250 µg b.i.d., tailored to asthma severity) or nasal fluticasone propionate (one spray b.i.d. in each nostril) or both, according to the condition. Before and 2 weeks after starting treatment, all children were evaluated with spirometry and bronchodilator testing. BDR was calculated as a percent change from the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) at baseline.ResultsThe mean BDR was 10.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.3-12.4%] in children with asthma, 9.0% (95% CI 7.3-10.9%) in subjects with asthma and AR, and 5.0% (95% CI 4.1-5.9%) in children with AR alone (P<0.001). After treatment, the mean BDR was reduced to 5.2% (95% CI 4.2-6.3%) (P<0.001) in children with asthma and to 4.5% (95% CI 3.5-5.5%) (P<0.001) in children with asthma and AR. However, children with rhinitis showed no significant change in BDR after treatment, with the mean value being 4.7% (95% CI 3.7-5.8%) (P=0.597).ConclusionThe findings of this study imply that an elevated BDR in children with AR cannot be attributed to nasal inflammation alone and highlights the close relationship between the upper and lower airways

Serum Levels of Advanced Glycation End Products Are Associated with In-Stent Restenosis in Diabetic Patients

The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), in various tissues has been known to enhance immunoinflammatory reactions and local oxidant stresses in long standing diabetes. Recently, AGEs have been reported to play a role in neointimal formation in animal models of arterial injury. We attempted to determine whether the serum levels of AGEs are associated with coronary restenosis in diabetic patients. Blood samples were collected from diabetic patients with coronary artery disease undergoing stent implantation and the serum levels of AGEs were analyzed by the fluorescent intensity method. The development of in-stent restenosis (ISR) was evaluated by a 6-month follow-up coronary angiography. A total of 263 target lesions were evaluated, in 203 patients. The ISR rate in the high-AGE (>170 U/ml) group (40.1%) was significantly higher than in the low-AGE group (≤170 U/ml) (19.6%) (p<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate analysis revealed that a high level of serum AGEs is an independent risk factor for the development of ISR (odds ratio, 2.659; 95% CI, 1.431-4.940; p=0.002). The serum levels of AGEs constitute an excellent predictive factor for ISR, and should be one of the guidelines for medical therapy and interventional strategy to prevent ISR in diabetic patients

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts