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This long-term, retrospective, single-center study evaluated real-world clinical outcomes of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma using different therapeutic modalities and analyzed factors affecting survival outcomes and long-term prognosis. We enrolled 203 patients with pathologically confirmed low-grade gastric MALT lymphoma and examined their treatment responses. Helicobacter pylori eradication was performed in all patients with H. pylori infection (HPI) and localized stage gastric MALT lymphoma. All patients underwent pre-treatment and physical evaluations, with complete blood count, biochemistry panel, and staging workup. Among 144 HPI-positive patients with stage I or II1–2 disease who underwent H. pylori eradication, 112 (77.8%) achieved complete remission (CR). All HPI-negative patients who received first-line radiotherapy achieved CR (100%), but only 22 of 27 first-line chemotherapy-treated patients achieved CR (81.5%). Lesions in the proximal upper-third or in multiple locations and an invasion depth to the submucosa or deeper were associated with poor response to eradication, and HPI negativity was significantly correlated with poor progression-free survival. HPI eradication treatment should be the first-line treatment for patients with localized stage HPI-positive gastric MALT lymphoma. The “watch-and-wait” strategy should be adopted for delayed responders. We suggest radiotherapy for patients with a localized HPI-negative status or when eradication has failed.

In this work, a robust subspace clustering algorithm is developed to exploit the inherent union-of-subspaces structure in the data for reconstructing missing measurements and detecting anomalies. Our focus is on processing an incessant stream of large-scale data such as synchronized phasor measurements in the power grid, which is challenging due to computational complexity, memory requirement, and missing and corrupt observations. In order to mitigate these issues, a low-rank representation (LRR) model-based subspace clustering problem is formulated that can handle missing measurements and sparse outliers in the data. Then, an efficient online algorithm is derived based on stochastic approximation. The convergence property of the algorithm is established. Strategies to maintain a representative yet compact dictionary for capturing the subspace structure are also proposed. The developed method is tested on both simulated and real phasor measurement unit (PMU) data to verify the effectiveness and is shown to significantly outperform existing algorithms based on simple low-rank structure of data.

Antiapoptotic B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) proteins suppress apoptosis by interacting with proapoptotic regulators. They commonly contain a hydrophobic groove where the Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3) domain of Bcl-2 family members or BH3 domain-containing non-Bcl-2 family proteins can be accommodated. Peroxisomal testis-specific 1 (Pxt1) was previously identified as a male germ cell-specific protein whose overexpression causes germ cell apoptosis and infertility in male mice. Sequence and biochemical analyses also showed that human Pxt1, which is composed of 134 amino acids and is longer than mouse Pxt1 consisting of only 51 amino acids, has a BH3 domain that interacts with antiapoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, including Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. In this study, we determined the crystal structure of Bcl-xL bound to the human Pxt1 BH3 domain. The five BH3 consensus residues are well conserved in the human Pxt1 BH3 domain and make a critical contribution to the complex formation in a canonical manner. Structural and biochemical analyses also demonstrated that Bcl-xL interacts with the BH3 domain of human Pxt1 but not with that of mouse Pxt1, and that residues 76-83 of human Pxt1, absent in mouse Pxt1, play a pivotal role in the intermolecular binding to Bcl-xL. While Bcl-xL consistently colocalized with human Pxt1 in mitochondria, it did not do so with mouse Pxt1, when expressed in HeLa cells. Collectively, these data verified that human and mouse Pxt1 differ in their binding ability to the antiapoptotic regulator Bcl-xL, which might affect their functionality in controlling apoptosis.

Supplementary Data from Altered MicroRNA Expression in Cervical Carcinomas

Because signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is constitutively activated in most human solid tumors and is involved in the proliferation, angiogenesis, immune evasion, and antiapoptosis of cancer cells, researchers have focused on STAT3 as a target for cancer therapy. We screened for natural compounds that inhibit the activity of STAT3 using a dual-luciferase assay. Cryptotanshinone was identified as a potent STAT3 inhibitor. Cryptotanshinone rapidly inhibited STAT3 Tyr705 phosphorylation in DU145 prostate cancer cells and the growth of the cells through 96 hours of the treatment. Inhibition of STAT3 Tyr705 phosphorylation in DU145 cells decreased the expression of STAT3 downstream target proteins such as cyclin D1, survivin, and Bcl-xL. To investigate the cryptotanshinone inhibitory mechanism in DU145 cells, we analyzed proteins upstream of STAT3. Although phosphorylation of Janus-activated kinase (JAK) 2 was inhibited by 7 μmol/L cryptotanshinone at 24 hours, inhibition of STAT3 Tyr705 phosphorylation occurred within 30 minutes and the activity of the other proteins was not affected. These results suggest that inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation is caused by a JAK2-independent mechanism, with suppression of JAK2 phosphorylation as a secondary effect of cryptotanshinone treatment. Continuing experiments revealed the possibility that cryptotanshinone might directly bind to STAT3 molecules. Cryptotanshinone was colocalized with STAT3 molecules in the cytoplasm and inhibited the formation of STAT3 dimers. Computational modeling showed that cryptotanshinone could bind to the SH2 domain of STAT3. These results suggest that cryptotanshinone is a potent anticancer agent targeting the activation STAT3 protein. It is the first report that cryptotanshinone has antitumor activity through the inhibition of STAT3. [Cancer Res 2009;69(1):193–202]

Supplementary Figures 1-3 from Cryptotanshinone Inhibits Constitutive Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 Function through Blocking the Dimerization in DU145 Prostate Cancer Cells

High-risk genotypes of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are directly implicated in various abnormalities associated with cellular hyperproliferation, including cervical cancer. E6 is one of two oncoproteins encoded in the HPV genome, which recruits diverse PSD-95/Dlg/ZO-1 (PDZ) domain-containing human proteins through its C-terminal PDZ-binding motif (PBM) to be degraded by means of the proteasome pathway. Among the three PDZ domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatases, protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 3 (PTPN3) and PTPN13 were identified to be recognized by HPV E6 in a PBM-dependent manner. However, whether HPV E6 associates with PTPN4, which also has a PDZ domain and functions as an apoptosis regulator, remains undetermined. Herein, we present structural and biochemical evidence demonstrating the direct interaction between the PBM of HPV16 E6 and the PDZ domain of human PTPN4 for the first time. X-ray crystallographic structure determination and binding measurements using isothermal titration calorimetry demonstrated that hydrophobic interactions in which Leu158 of HPV16 E6 plays a key role and a network of intermolecular hydrogen bonds sustain the complex formation between PTPN4 PDZ and the PBM of HPV16 E6. In addition, it was verified that the corresponding motifs from several other high-risk HPV genotypes, including HPV18, HPV31, HPV33, and HPV45, bind to PTPN4 PDZ with comparable affinities, suggesting that PTPN4 is a common target of various pathogenic HPV genotypes.

In the low-flow rates of off-design conditions in the pump–turbines, complicated flows can develop with vortices in the flow passages, which significantly increase the vibrations and noise, resulting in destabilizing the pump–turbine system. Under low-flow-rate conditions, an appropriate Thoma number is the most essential requirement for stable operation in turbine mode of the pump–turbine. Thus, this study elucidated to examine the internal flow and unsteady pressure phenomena in a laboratory-scale pump–turbine model operated in turbine mode with different Thoma numbers. The experimental investigations were conducted under 70% of the flow rate at the best efficiency point with different Thoma number to observe the unsteady pressures and vortex rope behavior. Then, the numerical validations were conducted by three-dimensional unsteady-state RANS analyses in a SAS–SST model. The Thoma number did not significantly affect the performance of the pump–turbine model or the unsteady flow phenomena in the vaneless and runner regions. However, the Thoma number affected the draft tube region at low flow rate condition. At low Thoma numbers, the irregular flow phenomena along the flow direction enhanced the unsteady pressure characteristics.

There have been few studies regarding the prognosis of intestinal Behçet's disease (iBD) patients according to consensus-based diagnostic categories, which reflects the typicality of intestinal ulcers, the presence of oral ulcers, and the accompanying systemic manifestations.The medical records of patients who had ileocolonic ulcers with a clinical impression of iBD were reviewed. The patients were categorized according to the diagnostic algorithm at the time of diagnosis. Adverse events were defined as major surgery or admission related to iBD deterioration.A total of 163 patients were included in the study. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.2, and the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 48.9±15.9 years. The numbers of patients who met the definite, probable, suspected, and nondiagnostic iBD criteria were 19 (11.7%), 61 (37.4%), 38 (23.3%), and 45 (27.6%), respectively. The event-free survival of patients with definite, probable, and suspected iBD was significantly shorter than that of patients with nondiagnostic iBD (p=0.026), while there was no significant difference among the definite iBD, probable iBD, and suspected iBD groups (p=0.596). After excluding patients with nondiagnostic iBD, multivariate analysis showed that anemia, fever, colonic involvement other than the ileocecum, and accompanying hematologic disorders at the time of diagnosis were significantly associated with the development of adverse events.The clinical course of patients with definite, probable, and suspected iBD is distinguished from that of patients with nondiagnostic iBD, but patients with definite, probable, and suspected iBD share similar clinical courses.

Accurate staging for depth of invasion (T stage) of early gastric cancer is critical for determining the treatment modality. Endoscopic ultrasonography is a reliable method for assessing the T stage. However, its diagnostic accuracy varies. The aim of this study is to investigate clinicopathologic factors affecting the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography in early gastric cancer.Patients with early gastric cancer who had undergone endoscopic resection or gastrectomy were included. The diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography was evaluated by comparing the T stage by endoscopic ultrasonography with histopathology of the resected specimen. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the endoscopic resection criteria.A total of 223 early gastric cancer lesions were included. The overall accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography for T staging was 66.4%. The diagnostic accuracy for lesions ≤2 cm was significantly higher than for those of 2-3 cm (odds ratio 3.59) or those3 cm (odds ratio 5.47). The diagnostic accuracy was significantly decreased in lesions with ulceration (odds ratio 2.62) or non-flat morphology (odds ratio 2.94). The accuracy of endoscopic ultrasonography for lesions corresponding to the absolute endoscopic resection criteria was significantly higher than for those corresponding to the expanded criteria (97.3% vs 71.9%, P = .002). Of the tumors that were overestimated by endoscopic ultrasonography treated with gastrectomy, 93.3% corresponded to the expanded criteria.Endoscopic ultrasonography had poor accuracy in early gastric cancer lesions larger than 2 cm, those with ulceration, and those with non-flat morphology, that is, lesions corresponding to the expanded criteria were more frequently overstaged by endoscopic ultrasonography. Such early gastric cancers should be carefully considered when staging by endoscopic ultrasonography before gastrectomy.

Sessile serrated lesions (SSLs) are more prone to incomplete resection than conventional adenomas. This study evaluated whether circumferential submucosal incision prior to endoscopic mucosal resection (CSI-EMR) can increase the rate of complete and en bloc resections of colorectal lesions with endoscopic features of SSL. Retrospective analyses and propensity score matching were performed for the resection of colorectal lesions ≥ 10 mm with endoscopic features of SSL. After 1:1 ratio matching, 127 lesions in the CSI-EMR group and 127 in the EMR group were selected for analysis. The median size of the lesions was 15 mm (IQR 12–16) in both groups. There was no significant difference in either the complete resection rate or en bloc resection rate between CSI-EMR and EMR groups (96.9% vs. 92.9%, P = 0.155; 92.1% vs. 89.0%, P = 0.391). By contrast, the R0 resection rate was significantly higher in the CSI-EMR group than in the EMR group (89.8% vs. 59.8%, P

Whole blood is one of the most widely utilized human samples in biological research and is useful for analyzing the mechanisms of diverse bio-molecular phenomena. However, owing to its fluidic properties, whole blood is relatively unstable in the frozen state compared to other samples. Because RNA is structurally unstable, sample damage can severely affect RNA quality, thereby reducing its usability. This study aimed to assess the quality of RNA which was prepared from blood stored at different temperatures and times prior to freezing, as well as the effect of long-term freezing. The quality of the RNA derived from different blood samples was assessed by measuring the RNA integrity number (RIN) and RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs, |fold-change (FC)|> 1.5, p

Protein arginylation is a critical regulator of a variety of biological processes. The ability to uncover the global arginylation pattern and its associated signaling pathways would enable us to identify novel disease targets. Here, we report the development of a tool able to capture the N-terminal arginylome. This tool, termed R-catcher, is based on the ZZ domain of p62, which was previously shown to bind N-terminally arginylated proteins. Mutating the ZZ domain enhanced its binding specificity and affinity for Nt-Arg. R-catcher pulldown coupled to LC–MS/MS led to the identification of 59 known and putative arginylated proteins. Among these were a subgroup of novel ATE1-dependent arginylated ER proteins that are linked to diverse biological pathways, including cellular senescence and vesicle-mediated transport as well as diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. This study presents the first molecular tool that allows the unbiased identification of arginylated proteins, thereby unlocking the arginylome and provide a new path to disease biomarker discovery. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-021-03805-x.

Zaire ebolavirus, commonly called Ebola virus (EBOV), is an RNA virus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with high mortality. Viral protein 35 (VP35) is a virulence factor encoded in the EBOV genome. VP35 inhibits host innate immune responses and functions as a critical cofactor for viral RNA replication. EBOV VP35 contains a short conserved motif that interacts with dynein light chain 8 (LC8), which serves as a regulatory hub protein by associating with various LC8-binding proteins. Herein, we present the crystal structure of human LC8 bound to the peptide comprising residues 67-76 of EBOV VP35. Two VP35 peptides were found to interact with homodimeric LC8 by extending the central β-sheets, constituting a 2:2 complex. Structural analysis demonstrated that the intermolecular binding between LC8 and VP35 is mainly sustained by a network of hydrogen bonds and supported by hydrophobic interactions in which Thr73 and Thr75 of VP35 are involved. These findings were verified by binding measurements using isothermal titration calorimetry. Biochemical analyses also verified that residues 67-76 of EBOV VP35 constitute a core region for interaction with LC8. In addition, corresponding motifs from other members of the genus Ebolavirus commonly bound to LC8 but with different binding affinities. Particularly, VP35 peptides originating from pathogenic species interacted with LC8 with higher affinity than those from noninfectious species, suggesting that the binding of VP35 to LC8 is associated with the pathogenicity of the Ebolavirus species.

In this paper, a novel dictionary learning (DL) method is proposed to estimate sparse neural activations from multi-subject fMRI data sets. By exploiting the label information such as the patient and the normal healthy groups, the activation maps that are commonly shared across the groups as well as those that can explain the group differences are both captured. The proposed method was tested using real fMRI data sets consisting of schizophrenic subjects and healthy controls. The DL approach not only reproduced most of the maps obtained from the conventional independent component analysis (ICA), but also identified more maps that are significantly group-different, including a number of novel ones that were not revealed by ICA. The stability analysis of the DL method and the correlation analysis with separate neuropsychological test scores further strengthen the validity of our analysis.

This study was performed to compare endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) with hot snare polypectomy (HSP) in terms of the complete resection rate and the incidence of adverse events for resecting small (5–10 mm) colorectal polyps. Small colorectal polyps (5–10 mm) with neoplastic features were randomly allocated to either the HSP or EMR group. A submucosal injection was performed prior to hot snaring in the EMR group only. Complete resection was defined as the absence of neoplastic tissue from two additional biopsies of the polypectomy site. R0 resection was defined as the absence of neoplastic tissue at the margin of the resected specimen. A total of 362 colon polyps from 272 patients were included, and 167 polyps in the HSP group and 155 polyps in the EMR group were analyzed. Between the polypectomy techniques, there was no significant difference in the complete resection rates, which were 96.4% (161/167) in the HSP group and 95.5% (148/155) in the EMR group (P = 0.67). The R0 resection rate in the HSP and EMR groups was significantly different, with 49.7% (83/167) and 74.8% (116/155), respectively (P

Significance A major yet perplexing question in the field of necroptosis is the role and involvement of necroptosis in cancer cells. Many cancer cells have protective mechanisms against necroptosis, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. We report findings of cross-talk and a regulatory pathway that exist between MYC, a potent oncogene, and RIPK3, a pivotal factor in necroptosis. We find that MYC pathway is downregulated upon necroptotic, while MYC inhibits TNF-α–induced necroptosis. The inhibitory effect of MYC on necroptosis is unexpected because no transcriptional activity by MYC is required. Mechanistically, a direct interaction between MYC and RIPK3 takes place in the cytosol, preventing RIPK1–RIPK3 complex formation. Finally, MYC depletion enhances antitumor activity of necroptosis-inducing agents in a xenograft model., The underlying mechanism of necroptosis in relation to cancer is still unclear. Here, MYC, a potent oncogene, is an antinecroptotic factor that directly suppresses the formation of the RIPK1–RIPK3 complex. Gene set enrichment analyses reveal that the MYC pathway is the most prominently down-regulated signaling pathway during necroptosis. Depletion or deletion of MYC promotes the RIPK1–RIPK3 interaction, thereby stabilizing the RIPK1 and RIPK3 proteins and facilitating necroptosis. Interestingly, MYC binds to RIPK3 in the cytoplasm and inhibits the interaction between RIPK1 and RIPK3 in vitro. Furthermore, MYC-nick, a truncated form that is mainly localized in the cytoplasm, prevented TNF-induced necroptosis. Finally, down-regulation of MYC enhances necroptosis in leukemia cells and suppresses tumor growth in a xenograft model upon treatment with birinapant and emricasan. MYC-mediated suppression of necroptosis is a mechanism of necroptosis resistance in cancer, and approaches targeting MYC to induce necroptosis represent an attractive therapeutic strategy for cancer.

The importance of renewable energy will increase rapidly due to the global regulation of carbon dioxide emissions to cope with global warming. However, renewable energy has a high output variation because of the fluctuating characteristics of the energy source. Therefore, pumped-storage power stations require high flexibility and reliability in operation under off-design conditions, especially in the pump mode. When a pump-turbine operates under various part load conditions in pump mode, highly dynamic phenomenon such as stationary vortex and rotating stall occur. The performance characteristics in pump mode are vital for the safe and effective operation. A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the flow characteristics in a turbine or pump mode under different GVOs through numerical simulations. However, the studies about the influence of the position of the interface and the steady and unsteady interface condition on the pump characteristics of pump-turbines have been not completely clear. In this paper, the three-dimensional steady and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations were solved for a detailed analysis of the influence of interface conditions with various guide vane opening conditions in pump mode. To ensure the reliability of the numerical analysis, the numerical results were validated in comparison with the experimental data.

Environmental exposure and genotype variation influence DNA methylation. Studies on the effects of genotype variation were performed mainly on European ancestries. We analyzed the genetic effects on cord blood methylation of Koreans. As part of the Korean Exposome study project, DNA was extracted from 192 cord blood samples for analysis. Cord blood samples were genotyped via Asian Precision Medicine Research Array analysis and methylation was measured using the Methylation EPIC Beadchip kits. The associations between genotypes and CpG methylation were analyzed with matrix eQTL. Conditional analysis revealed 34,425 methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs), and trans-mQTLs constituted 7.2% of all the associated CpG sites. About 80% of the total trans-associations were trans-chromosomal and the related SNPs were concentrated on chromosome 19. According to the results of DAVID, cis-mQTL-related SNPs resulting in amino acid substitutions were related to signal peptides or glycosylation. We identified genotype variations associated with DNA methylation in the cord blood obtained from Koreans.

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed C(sp2)–H functionalization of N-aryl phthalazinones with a range of aldehydes and activated ketone is described. Initial formation of hydroxyalkylated phthalazinones and sub...

The objective of this study was to provide preliminary data for improving the health-related quality of life of long-term intensive care unit survivors by identifying the relationship between health-related quality of life and post-intensive care syndrome.Using a descriptive correlation research design, data from patients who visited the outpatient department for continuous treatment after discharge from the intensive care unit were analysed. Post-intensive care syndrome was measured by physical, cognitive, and mental problems. Data were collected from 1st August to 31st December, 2019, and 121 intensive care unit survivors participated in the study.Health-related quality of life showed a negative correlation with physical, mental, and cognitive problems. The factors associated with health-related quality of life were physical and mental problems, education level, sedatives and neuromuscular relaxants, and marital status.To improve the health-related quality of life of intensive care unit survivors, post-intensive care syndrome prevention is important, and a systematic strategy is required through a long-term longitudinal trace study. In addition, intensive care unit nurses and other healthcare professionals need to provide early interventions to reduce post-intensive care syndrome.

We have identified a molecular interaction between the reversibly oxidized form of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) and 14-3-3ζ that regulates PTP1B activity. Destabilizing the transient interaction between 14-3-3ζ and PTP1B prevented PTP1B inactivation by reactive oxygen species and decreased epidermal growth factor receptor phosphorylation. Our data suggest that destabilizing the interaction between 14-3-3ζ and the reversibly oxidized and inactive form of PTP1B may establish a path to PTP1B activation in cells.

Over the past 6 years, acute respiratory infections have constituted an average of more than 70,000 cases in South Korea. It results in a high mortality rate in infants and the elderly with weak immunity. There are several types of respiratory viruses that invade the human respiratory tract and cause infectious disease. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) is mainly used for respiratory virus detection owing to its high sensitivity and reproducibility. In response, a multiplex real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) assay was developed for the detection of influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza viruses 1-4 (PIV1-4), human metapneumovirus, adenovirus, human rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2. Detection ability of RT-PCR assay was confirmed by applying it to a portable device capable of point-of-care testing (POCT). Amplicons were synthesized using primer pairs and probe sets designed for each target virus, and a standard curve was constructed to confirm the limit of detection. An experiment using nasopharyngeal swab samples was conducted to understand the field applicability of the rRT-PCR assay. Detection was confirmed in most samples. This study demonstrated that rapid and accurate detection results can be obtained using the multiplex rRT-PCR based POC test, and that it is possible to detect 14 types of respiratory viruses that are generally difficult to distinguish at the same time, enabling timely treatment. Furthermore, we expect that the portable PCR device can significantly reduce the processing procedure of clinical samples before testing, which is the main disadvantage of common RT-PCR tests and can help reduce costs.

This work reports a series of new organic electro-optic salt crystals possessing unusual orthogonal dipole-coupling assembly that act as dimple-free THz generators. In the new crystals, optically anisotropic aromatic anions introducing highly electronegative fluorinated substituents are orthogonally assembled with optically anisotropic nonlinear optical benzothiazolium cations. These orthogonal cation–anion assembled crystals exhibit strong suppression of intrinsic THz phonon modes along the polar axis, which results in a wide THz absorption-free range from 1.5 to 4.0 THz without substantial absorption peaks. This is sharply in contrast to previous benchmark crystals with parallel cation–anion assembly; for example, in analogous crystals, several strong absorption peaks appear in this frequency range. This absence of strong absorption peaks is attributed to the orthogonal cation–anion dipole coupling assembly, the formation of fluorinate-induced strong interionic interactions, and a high packing ability of uniaxial anions. With top-level macroscopic optical nonlinearity, new orthogonal-dipole assembled crystals make dimple-free THz wave generation possible in the range of about 1.5–4.0 THz, which is very beneficial for characterizing signature peaks related to molecular phonon motions of analytes in THz spectroscopy. Therefore, orthogonal molecular assembly of optically highly anisotropic molecules provides an efficient way to substantially reduce and control intrinsic THz phonon modes.

Vortex rope formation at part load (PL) with cavitation inception causes pressure fluctuations inside the draft tube (DT) of a Francis turbine which may fail the turbine due to resonance and erosion. The pressure surge can be minimized by using anti-swirl fins which ensure safe turbine operation. The present study examines the effect of fin sizes and locations on the internal flow characteristics of the Francis turbine and predicts its adverse effect on the pressure surge. Three cases are investigated in which internal flow physics are compared among DTs with longer fins, shorter fins, and no fins. At the cavitation inception point under PL conditions, the characteristics are thoroughly studied numerically using ANSYS-CFX with structured and unstructured grids. Cavitation and PL conditions are designated by Thoma number 0.266 and guide vane angle [Formula: see text]. Numerical methodology is then verified by an experiment based on International Standard (IEC 60193). The vortex rope occurrence is suppressed using fins on the DT periphery and longer fins that are extended up to the elbow exhibit the lowest strength of the vortex rope. Maximum pressure recovery inside the DT is achieved using longer fins. The swirl intensity is remarkably reduced by about 94% with longer fins. The pressure peak of low frequency is about 60% suppressed using longer fins. The PL and cavitation-induced instabilities and vibrations are significantly mitigated by longer fins, while shorter fins also moderately minimize it. Hence, energy production is preferable with longer fins because of the safe and stable turbine function.

Small heterodimer partner interacting leucine zipper protein (SMILE) is an orphan nuclear receptor and a member of the bZIP family of proteins. We investigated the mechanism by which SMILE suppressed the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using a DSS-induced colitis mouse model and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Metformin, an antidiabetic drug and an inducer of AMPK, upregulated the level of SMILE in human intestinal epithelial cells and the number of SMILE-expressing cells in colon tissues from DSS-induced colitis mice compared to control mice. Overexpression of SMILE using a DNA vector reduced the severity of DSS-induced colitis and colitis-associated intestinal fibrosis compared to mock vector. Furthermore, SMILE transgenic mice showed ameliorated DSS-induced colitis compared with wild-type mice. The mRNA levels of SMILE and Foxp3 were downregulated and SMILE expression was positively correlated with Foxp3 in PBMCs from patients with UC and an inflamed mucosa. Metformin increased the levels of SMILE, AMPK, and Foxp3 but decreased the number of interleukin (IL)-17–producing T cells among PBMCs from patients with UC. These data suggest that SMILE exerts a therapeutic effect on IBD by modulating IL-17 production.

Given the prevalence of independent component analysis (ICA) for signal processing, many methods for improving the convergence properties of ICA have been introduced. The most utilized methods operate by iterative rotations over pre-whitened data, whereby limiting the space of estimated demixing matrices to those that are orthogonal. However, a proof of the identifiability conditions for orthogonal ICA methods has not yet been presented in the literature. In this paper, we derive the identifiability conditions, starting from the orthogonal ICA maximum likelihood cost function. We then review efficient optimization approaches for orthogonal ICA defined on the Lie group of orthogonal matrices. Afterwards, we derive a new efficient algorithm for orthogonal ICA, by defining a mapping onto a space of constrained matrices which we define as hyper skew-symmetric. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the advantages of the new algorithm over the pre-existing Lie group methods.

Uniform mixing of liquid substances is difficult to attain. Recently, mixtures of fat and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) have been used extensively in autologous fat transfer. Although various methods have been utilized to mix the fat and PRP involved in this procedure, these methods still carry disadvantages in the time taken and the potential for cell damage, and it is questionable whether effective mixing can occur using these techniques. To facilitate mixing that is as uniform as possible, the authors of this study invented a special cannula. Use of the conventional luer-lock-to-luer-lock connector method has been found to cause cell damage and makes it difficult to achieve uniform mixing, while random injection-type mixing has been shown to have limited accuracy and effectiveness. We expect that the newly designed cannula will solve the problem detailed above.

Objective Among the risk factors for cerebrovascular/cardiovascular disease or thromboembolic events caused by the administration of second-generation antipsychotics, clinicians have mainly focused on metabolic side effects, with little interest in the effects on platelet activity. Because excessive platelet activity can increase the risk for cerebrovascular/cardiovascular disease, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of second-generation antipsychotics on platelet activity in patients with schizophrenia. Methods The medical records of patients with schizophrenia who were treated with second-generation antipsychotics were retrospectively reviewed. The degree of platelet activation was assessed by measuring the mean platelet component. Results Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that mean platelet component levels were significantly decreased by the administration of second-generation antipsychotics (V = 20; p Conclusion Because platelet activation is an additional risk factor for the occurrence of cerebrovascular/cardiovascular disease, results of this study suggest that clinicians should carefully monitor the degree of platelet activation after the administration of second-generation antipsychotics.