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BackgroundDespite neuroinflammation being an important component of the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), effective therapies to alleviate neuroinflammation are still lacking. Many animal experiments in AD have found that acupuncture may ameliorate cognition by decreasing neuroinflammation and modulating cytokines, but its effects have not been systematically examined. We aimed to assess its efficacy on neuroinflammation in AD and to investigate the potential mechanisms.Materials and methodsThe following databases were searched from inception until 24 August 2022: Web of Science, EMBASE, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Animal studies that reported the efficacy of acupuncture on neuroinflammation in AD were included. The SYRCLE Robt was utilized to evaluate methodological quality. Stata 17 was utilized to conduct a meta-analysis of cytokine levels and the results of the Morris water maze.Results23 studies were included, with a total of 417 rats/mice. The overall quality of all included reports was medium. The results indicated that acupuncture significantly reduced the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines which included IL-1β [SMD = −3.50, 95% CI (−4.31, −2.69); I2 = 78.6%] (P < 0.05), TNF-α [SMD = −3.05, 95% CI (−3.86, −2.24); I2 = 69.6%] (P < 0.05), IL-6 [SMD = −3.22, 95% CI (−4.62, −1.81); I2 = 77.6%] and enhanced the expressions of anti-inflammatory cytokines including IL-4 [SMD = 2.77, 95% CI (1.95, 3.59); I2 = 33.9%] (P < 0.05), IL-10 [SMD = 1.84, 95% CI (1.20, 2.49); I2 = 41.0%] (P < 0.05) in an animal model of AD. Regarding the Morris water maze, compared to the control group, the acupuncture group showed a shorter escape latency [SMD = −2.23, 95% CI (−2.89, −1.57); I2 = 79.2%] (P < 0.05), longer duration in platform quadrant [SMD = 2.34, 95% CI (1.44, 3.23); I2 = 81.7%] (P < 0.05), and increased platform crossing number [SMD = 2.79, 95% CI (2.06, 3.53); I2 = 71.9%] (P < 0.05).ConclusionAcupuncture may reduce neuroinflammation in AD by modulating cytokine expression. This modulation significantly improved cognitive function in animal models of AD.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022354878.

We deal with localized semiclassical states for singularly perturbed Kirchhoff-type equation as follows: − ε 2 a + ε b ∫ R 3 ∣ ∇ v ∣ 2 d x Δ v + V ( x ) v = P ( x ) f ( v ) , x ∈ R 3 , -\left({\varepsilon }^{2}a+\varepsilon b\mathop{\int }\limits_{{{\mathbb{R}}}^{3}}| \nabla v{| }^{2}{\rm{d}}x\right)\Delta v+V\left(x)v=P\left(x)f\left(v),\hspace{1em}x\in {{\mathbb{R}}}^{3}, where V , P ∈ C 1 ( R 3 , R ) V,P\in {C}^{1}\left({{\mathbb{R}}}^{3},{\mathbb{R}}) and bounded away from zero. By applying the penalization approach together with the Nehari manifold approach in the studies of Szulkin and Weth, we obtain the existence of an infinite sequence of localized solutions of higher topological type. In addition, we also give a concrete set as the concentration position of these localized solutions. It is noted that, in our main results, f f only belongs to C ( R , R ) C\left({\mathbb{R}},{\mathbb{R}}) and does not satisfy the Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz-type condition.

Background Human brucellosis has become one of the major public health problems in China, and increases atypical manifestations, such as fever of unknown origin (FUO), and misdiagnosis rates has complicated the diagnosis of brucellosis. To date, no relevant study on the relationship between brucellosis and FUO has been conducted. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of 35 patients with confirmed human brucellosis and prospectively recorded their outcomes by telephone interview. The patients were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University between January 01, 2013 and October 31, 2019. Patient data were collected from hospital medical records. Results The percentage of males was significantly higher than that of female in FUO (78.95% vs. 21.05%, P P P P Conclusion Brucellosis is predominantly FUO admission in a non-endemic area of China, accompanied by irregular fever and toxic hepatitis. Careful examination of the epidemiological history and timely improvement of blood and bone marrow cultures can facilitate early diagnosis and prevent misdiagnosis.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been validated to mediate the development of atherosclerosis (AS). In the present study, the molecular mechanisms and functions of lncRNA nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1 (NEAT1) in the advancement of human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were investigated. The levels of lncRNA-NEAT1 and miR-638 expression in clinical samples and cells were explored via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Colony formation and CCK-8 assays were performed to determine the proliferative capacity of cells, and the apoptotic capacity of cells was analyzed on the basis of apoptotic cell proportion and caspase-3 activity. Then, the proportion of cells and correlations among phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1), NEAT1, and miR-638 were determined through RNA immunoprecipitation and luciferase assays and bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, the expression levels of Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, PGK1, Bax, Bcl-2, (p)-mTOR, (p)-AKT, and β-catenin were analyzed via western blot analysis. In the serum of patients with AS and HAECs induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), the expression level of miR-638 was decreased, whereas that of NEAT1 was increased. After ox-LDL therapy, NEAT1 knockdown suppressed HAEC proliferation and stimulated HAEC apoptosis, which could be reversed by the miR-638 inhibitor. NEAT1 inhibited miR-638 expression through direct mutual action. The following mechanical investigations revealed that PGK1 was a miR-638 target, whose expression was increased by NEAT1, a competing endogenous RNA of miR-638. Additionally, the miR-638 inhibitor contributed to proliferation and suppressed apoptosis through the activation of the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in ox-LDL-induced HAECs. NEAT1 adjusted the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway via miR-638 in ox-LDL-induced HAECs to accelerate their proliferation and impede their apoptosis. This result revealed that NEAT1 may be valuable in the treatment of AS.

The compositions of the organic pollutants of chemi-mechanical pulping wastewater were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectra and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) was approximately 18110 mg/L, and the ratio of biological oxygen demand to COD (BOD5/COD) was approximately 0.17, due to low biodegradability. In this study, Phanerochaete chrysosporium was selected and the changes in bacterial culture time required to transform pulping wastewater and the metabolites present before and after pretreatment in the wastewater were identified. A decline in the components of the pulping wastewater was observed. Initially, 43 kinds of organic compounds were detected in the raw water. After 3 days of treatment, only 21 organic compounds were detected. Then, 7 days later, the organic pollutants in the waste amounted to only 7 organic compounds. Through the analysis of analysis of P-RC APMP pulping wastewater and that treated by Phanerochaete chrysosporium using GC-MS, the relative content of organic acids was 12.4%, in which phenylpropionic acid had the highest concentration of 11.3%. So, in the culture medium, phenylpropionic acid as the single carbon source can be completely degraded within 96 h.

We are concerned with sign-changing solutions and their concentration behaviors of singularly perturbed Kirchhoff problem \begin{document}$ \begin{equation*} -(\varepsilon^{2}a+ \varepsilon b\int _{\mathbb{R}^{3}}|\nabla v|^{2}dx)\Delta v+V(x)v = P(x)f(v)\; \; {\rm{in}}\; \mathbb{R}^{3}, \end{equation*} $\end{document} where \begin{document}$ \varepsilon $\end{document} is a small positive parameter, \begin{document}$ a, b>0 $\end{document} and \begin{document}$ V, P\in C^{1}(\mathbb{R}^{3}, \mathbb{R}) $\end{document}. Without using any non-degeneracy conditions, we obtain multiple localized sign-changing solutions of higher topological type for this problem. Furthermore, we also determine a concrete set as the concentration position of these sign-changing solutions. The main methods we use are penalization techniques and the method of invariant sets of descending flow. It is notice that, when nonlinear potential \begin{document}$ P $\end{document} is a positive constant, our result generalizes the result obtained in [5] to Kirchhoff problem.

WiFi Localization and Pedestrian Dead Reckoning(PDR) are attracting increasing attention due to its wide deployment and ubiquity on smartphones respectively. In this paper, we propose a fusion system based on Kalman Filter(KF) algorithm which combines a Single WiFi AP positioning system and PDR. Single WiFi AP positions depends on ToF calculation and AoA calculation which are breakthroughs in recent researches. PDR is variant of dead reckoning system which rely on inertial sensors on mobile phones. The fusion system makes best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages. Simulation results demonstrate that the performance of the fusion system outperforms the two independent systems.

SnS thin films were deposited at different temperatures on silicon and quartz plates through directly elementary reaction via a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The as-prepared products have a transformation of morphology from plate-like to granule-like when the temperature increased. A mechanism involving two competitive factors, surface energy and binding energy, was proposed to understand their growth. The products prepared at low temperature were single crystal while the films made in high temperature are polycrystal, the optical band gap (1.2~2.1ev) and the Sn:S atom ratios increases as the deposited temperature increases.

Porous hexagonal plates of hydrohausmannite were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. Morphology control of the product was easily achieved by adjusting the experimental parameters. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns show obvious evidence that these hexagonal plates were formed by oriented aggregation-based growth of subunits, which is discussed in details. Intriguing well-shaped hexagonal pores were obtained when the hexagonal plates were exposed to high intensity electron beam irradiation. These hexagonal plates of manganese oxide may have wide applications as components and/or interconnect in nanodevices and/or as nanotools.

The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that easily available polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can stimulate the biodegradation of poorly available PAHs. Therefore, the biodegradation of poorly available PAHs was carried out, with easily available ones as the growth substrate using two phenanthrene-degrading bacteria, Micrococcus sp. PHE3 and Sphingobium sp. PHE9, in a two-liquid phase system (TLPs). Firstly, although anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene could not be consumed by the monoculture as the sole carbon and energy sources, all of them could be biodegraded when naphthalene (NAP) or phenanthrene (PHE) served as the growth substrate, demonstrating that the spiking of easily available PAHs enhanced biodegradation of poorly available ones. However, fluoranthene could not be biodegraded by Micrococcus sp. PHE9 with PHE as the growth substrate, or by Sphingobium sp. PHE3 using NAP and PHE as the growth substrates, indicating that the growth substrate affected the bacterial utilization of poorly available PAHs. Furthermore, a metabolite, 1,2-dihydroxynaphthalene, was identified when NAP served as the growth substrate. In contrast, no metabolite was detected when PHE was used as the growth substrate. These results exhibited significant implications for the bioremediation of PAHs-contaminated soils.

Birnessite MnO2 nanosheets were synthesized by self-limiting deposition of KMnO4 in a facile low-temperature hydrothermal process. The MnO2 electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 169 F g-1 at a current density of 0.1 A g-1, good rate capability with a capacitance of 96 F g-1 even at a high current density of 5 A g-1, as well as excellent cycle stability with capacitance retention of 94% at 1 A g-1 after 1,000 cycles.

A bacterial strain, designated J6(T), was isolated from activated sludge, collected from a chemical wastewater treatment system in Zhejiang Province of China. The cells stained Gram-negative, were aerobic, pale-yellow, and non-motile short rods. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that the closest relative of this organism was Paracoccus aminophilus KACC 12262(T) = JCM 7686(T) (97.4 % sequence similarity). Strain J6(T) grew at 10-37 °C (optimum 30 °C), at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimum pH 7.0) and with 0-5 % NaCl (optimum 3 %, w/v). The predominant cellular fatty acid found was summed feature 8(C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c; 82.8 %). The major respiratory quinone-detected was Q-10 and the DNA G+C content was 61.9 mol %. The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and several unknown polar lipids. Strain J6(T) showed low DNA-DNA relatedness values with P. aminophilus KACC 12262(T) (28 ± 3 %). The phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization, whole-cell fatty acid composition as well as biochemical characteristics allowed clear differentiation of the isolate from the other type strains of already described Paracoccus species. It is evident from the genotypic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses that strain J6(T) should be classified as a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, for which the name P. zhejiangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is J6(T) (KACC 16703(T) = CCTCC AB 2012031(T)).

Several bacteria have been isolated to degrade 4-chloronitrobenzene. Degradation of 4-chloronitrobenzene by Cupriavidus sp. D4 produces 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid as a dead-end by-product, a potential pollutant. To date, no bacterium that degrades 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid has been reported. Strain f1, isolated from a soil polluted by 4-chloronitrobenzene, was able to co-metabolize 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid in the presence of ethanol or other appropriate carbon sources. The strain was identified as Achromobacter sp. based on its physiological, biochemical characteristics, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The organism completely degraded 50, 100 and 200 mg L−1 of 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid within 48, 60, and 72 h, respectively. During the degradation of 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid, Cl− was released. The initial metabolic product of 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid was identified as 6-hydroxy-5-chloro-2-picolinic acid by LC–MS and NMR. Using a mixed culture of Achromobacter sp. f1 and Cupriavidus sp. D4 for degradation of 4-chloronitrobenzen, 5-chloro-2-picolinic acid did not accumulate. Results infer that Achromobacter sp. f1 can be used for complete biodegradation of 4-chloronitrobenzene in remedial applications.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Zirconium (Zr) doped ZnO nano films have been successfully fabricated by radio frequency (RF) magnetic sputtering. The crystal structure and morphology were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). As the doped Zr content increases, ZnO nano films show various morphologies. The optical band gap of pure ZnO films increases from 3.27 eV to 3.53 eV with Zr concentration increasing to 9.66 at.%. After annealing, the polycrystalline structure of ZnO changes a little and the energy gap decreases. In addition, the clean and lower doped ZnO films show much lower transmittance.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Dysprosium (Dy) doped ZnO nano films have been successfully prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputter. Then the crystal structure, morphology and optical of the films were investigated. All the samples have a preferred orientation with the (0 0 2) orientation perpendicular to the substrates. The surface morphology of the films changes greatly with the increasing of doping content. Agglomeration appears when the doping content is excess, which may result from the recrystallization of the small crystalline grain. The average transmittance in the visible range all exceeds 80% for the different doping content films and the band gap increases from 3.26eV to 3.34eV.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of expression of Fas-associated proteins and its cellular localization in the peri-infarct region following transient focal cerebral ischemia. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) for 2 h and reperfusion for 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. The expression of Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD), Fas-associated phosphatase-1 (FAP-1) caspase-8 and death-associated protein (Daxx), the pro-apoptotic genes, were examined by methods of RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The results showed that the expression levels of mRNA and protein for FADD and caspase-8 increased significantly at 1-3 h after reperfusion, peaked at 12 h, then declined markedly at 24 h. The time course change of FAP-1 was consistent with that of FADD. The expression level of mRNA and protein for death-associated protein (Daxx) increased significantly at 3 h after reperfusion and persisted for 24 h at a high lev e l. Im munofluorescen ce double -s tainin g l aser s c an ning show ed that t h e immunoreactivity of FADD was localized in cytoplasm, and Daxx immunoreactivity was translocated from nucleus to cytoplasm at 3 h after reperfusion. The TUNEL-positive cells could be found in peri-infarct region at 3 h and increased with time after reperfusion. Our findings suggest a possible association between expression of FADD, caspase-8, Daxx and FAP-1 genes and apoptosis following ischemia.

Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that a free radical scavenger edaravone has neuroprotective effects on ischemic stroke but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. The aim of this research is to explore the effect of edaravone on the apoptotic process involving the Fas/FasL signaling pathway. Transient focal ischemia in rats was induced for 2 hours by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). After reperfusion rats were treated i.v. with either edaravone or physiological saline. The expression of Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD), death-associated protein (Daxx) and caspase-8 was examined by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA levels for FADD and Daxx by reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and apoptosis was assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL). Neurological scores and infarction volumes were also evaluated. Edaravone significantly improved the neurological outcome (p0.05) and reduced the total infarct volumes (p0.05), compared with saline control. In addition, edaravone-treatment significantly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells (p0.01), reduced expression levels of FADD, Daxx and caspase-8 immunoreactivity (p0.05 approximately 0.01), and decreased mRNA levels of FADD and Daxx (p0.05 approximately 0.01) within the peri-infarct area. We conclude that edaravone may protect ischemic neurons from apoptosis via suppressing the gene expression of the Fas/FasL signaling pathway.

Background and Purpose: Apolipoprotein H (ApoH) has been implicated in several physiologic pathways including lipid metabolism, coagulation and the production of hypertension, which are related to the pathogenesis of primary cerebral hemorrhage (PICH). The gene coding for ApoH is polymorphic, with the occurrence of several common alleles in the general population. This genetically determined variation can effect lipid metabolism and the production of hypertension. We determined the distribution of ApoH gene polymorphisms in Chinese people and investigated whether these polymorphisms were associated with increased risk of PICH in a Chinese population. Methods: We studied polymorphisms of the ApoH gene by the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism technique and DNA sequencing in 140 PICH patients and 100 healthy control subjects. Serum antiphospholipid antibodies and lipid levels were also examined in all subjects. Results: Four polymorphisms of the ApoH gene have been identified in Chinese people. No difference in genotype frequencies of G817T (Leu247Val) polymorphism, G1025C (Try316Ser) polymorphism and C1080T polymorphism was observed between PICH patients and control subjects (p > 0.05). The G341A (Ser88Asn) polymorphism correlated significantly with PICH. The frequencies of the A allele were significantly higher in PICH patients than in controls, especially in PICH patients with hypertension and a family history of stroke. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the G341A (Ser88Asn) polymorphism might be associated with increased risk of PICH in a Chinese population. The association appeared to be mediated by the generation of hypertension.

Dynamic target recognition is an important issue in the field of image processing research. It is widely used in photoelectric detection, target tracking, video surveillance areas. Complex cruise scene of target detection, compared to the static background, since the target and background objects together and both are in motion, greatly increases the complexity of moving target detection and recognition. Based on the practical engineering applications, combining an embedded systems and real-time image detection technology, this paper proposes a real-time movement detection method on an embedded system based on the FPGA + DSP system architecture on an embedded system. The DSP digital image processing system takes high speed digital signal processor DSP TMS320C6416T as the main computing components. And we take large capacity FPGA as coprocessor. It is designed and developed a high-performance image processing card. The FPGA is responsible for the data receiving and dispatching, DSP is responsible for data processing. The FPGA collects image data and controls SDRAM according to the digital image sequence. The SDRAM realizes multiport image buffer. DSP reads real-time image through SDRAM and performs scene motion detection algorithm. Then we implement the data reception and data processing parallelization. This system designs and realizes complex cruise scene motion detection for engineering application. The image edge information has the anti-light change and the strong anti-interference ability. First of all, the adjacent frame and current frame image are processed by convolution operation, extract the edge images. Then we compute correlation strength and the value of movement offset. We can complete scene motion parameters estimation by the result, in order to achieve real-time accurate motion detection. We use images in resolution of 768 576 and 25Hz frame rate to do the real-time cruise experiment. The results show that the proposed system achieves real-time processing requirements for the engineering applications. 2014 SPIE.

A Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile bacterial strain hun6T isolated from the polluted soil near a chemical factory in northern Nanjing, China was investigated to clarify its taxonomic position. Growth of strain hun6T occurred between 10 and 45 °C (optimum, 30 °C) and between pH 6.0 and 8.0 (optimum, pH 7.0). No growth occurred at NaCl concentrations greater than 5 % (w/v). The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain hun6T belongs to the genus Aquamicrobium. The sequence similarities of strain hun6T to other type strains of Aquamicrobium genus were all below 98.5 %. The presence of ubiquinone-10, the predominant fatty acid summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c) and C19:0 cyclo ω8c, a polar lipid pattern with phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phophatidylmonomethylethanoamine were in accord with the characteristics of the genus Aquamicrobium. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 63.5 mol%. The results of DNA–DNA hybridization, physiological and biochemical tests and chemotaxonomic properties allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain hun6T from all known Aquamicrobium species. Therefore, strain hun6T can be assigned to a new species of this genus for which the name Aquamicrobium terrae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is hun6T (= CICC 10733T = DSM 27865T).

According to infrared imaging features of forest fire, we use image processing technology which is conducive to early detection and prevention of forest fires. We use image processing technology based on infrared imaging features of forest fire which is conducive to early detection and prevention of forest fires. In order to the timeliness and accuracy of fire detection, this paper proposes a forest fire detection method based on infrared image technology. We take gray histogram analysis to collected Cruising image. The image which will be detected is segmented by the adaptive dynamic threshold. Then the suspected ignitions are extracted in the image after segmentation. The ignition of forest fire which form image in the infrared image is almost circular. We use the circular degree of suspected ignition as the decision basis of the fire in the infrared image. Through the analysis of position correlation which is the same suspected ignition between adjacent frames, we judge whether there is a fire in the image. In order to verify the effectiveness of the method, we adopt image sequences of forest fire to do experiment. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm under the conditions of different light conditions and complex backgrounds, which can effectively eliminate distractions and extract the fire target. The accuracy fire detection rate is above 95 percent. All fire can be detected. The method can quickly identify fire flame and high-risk points of early fire. The structure of method is clear and efficient which processing speed is less than 25 frames per second. So it meets the application requirement of real-time processing.

An adaptive infrared image enhancement algorithm for low contrast is proposed in this paper, to deal with the problem that conventional image enhancement algorithm is not able to effective identify the interesting region when dynamic range is large in image. This algorithm begin with the human visual perception characteristics, take account of the global adaptive image enhancement and local feature boost, not only the contrast of image is raised, but also the texture of picture is more distinct. Firstly, the global image dynamic range is adjusted from the overall, the dynamic range of original image and display grayscale form corresponding relationship, the gray scale of bright object is raised and the the gray scale of dark target is reduced at the same time, to improve the overall image contrast. Secondly, the corresponding filtering algorithm is used on the current point and its neighborhood pixels to extract image texture information, to adjust the brightness of the current point in order to enhance the local contrast of the image. The algorithm overcomes the default that the outline is easy to vague in traditional edge detection algorithm, and ensure the distinctness of texture detail in image enhancement. Lastly, we normalize the global luminance adjustment image and the local brightness adjustment image, to ensure a smooth transition of image details. A lot of experiments is made to compare the algorithm proposed in this paper with other convention image enhancement algorithm, and two groups of vague IR image are taken in experiment. Experiments show that: the contrast ratio of the picture is boosted after handled by histogram equalization algorithm, but the detail of the picture is not clear, the detail of the picture can be distinguished after handled by the Retinex algorithm. The image after deal with by self-adaptive enhancement algorithm proposed in this paper becomes clear in details, and the image contrast is markedly improved in compared with Retinex algorithm. 2013 SPIE.

To explore the relationship between dopamine D1 receptor gene (DRD1) and symptom quantitative trait of schizophrenia.Peripheral blood samples were collected from 211 schizophrenics and 247 healthy controls at our center. Five tag SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) (rs4532, rs5326, rs2168631, rs6882300rs267418) within DRD1 gene were genotyped by TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was used to quantify the phenotypes of schizophrenia.No significant differences existed in the frequencies of genotypes and alleles of DRD1 gene between the schizophrenics and normal controls (Ps0.05); strong linkage disequilibrium was observed between rs4532 and rs5326 (D' = 0.84); no significant difference of haplotypic distribution was identified between the patients and controls (Ps0.05); the patients with rs4532G allele had a higher negative subscale score than those without G allele (20.3 ± 3.3 vs 18.2 ± 3.9, P0.01).The rs4532 within DRD1 gene may be associated with negative symptom quantitative trait in schizophrenia.

Being an efficient method of information fusion, image fusion has been used in many fields such as machine vision, medical diagnosis, military applications and remote sensing. In this paper, Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) is introduced in this research field for its interesting properties in image processing, including segmentation, target recognition et al. and a novel algorithm based on PCNN and Wavelet Transform for Multi-focus image fusion is proposed. First, the two original images are decomposed by wavelet transform. Then, based on the PCNN, a fusion rule in the Wavelet domain is given. This algorithm uses the wavelet coefficient in each frequency domain as the linking strength, so that its value can be chosen adaptively. Wavelet coefficients map to the range of image gray-scale. The output threshold function attenuates to minimum gray over time. Then all pixels of image get the ignition. So, the output of PCNN in each iteration time is ignition wavelet coefficients of threshold strength in different time. At this moment, the sequences of ignition of wavelet coefficients represent ignition timing of each neuron. The ignition timing of PCNN in each neuron is mapped to corresponding image gray-scale range, which is a picture of ignition timing mapping. Then it can judge the targets in the neuron are obvious features or not obvious. The fusion coefficients are decided by the compare-selection operator with the firing time gradient maps and the fusion image is reconstructed by wavelet inverse transform. Furthermore, by this algorithm, the threshold adjusting constant is estimated by appointed iteration number. Furthermore, In order to sufficient reflect order of the firing time, the threshold adjusting constant αΘ is estimated by appointed iteration number. So after the iteration achieved, each of the wavelet coefficient is activated. In order to verify the effectiveness of proposed rules, the experiments upon Multi-focus image are done. Moreover, comparative results of evaluating fusion quality are listed. The experimental results show that the method can effectively enhance the edge details and improve the spatial resolution of the image.

Measuring the movement of raster by the method of moire fringe has the advantage of high sensitivity, high resolution and non-contacted measurement. The characteristic of moire fringe is that the image is white alternate with black, the angle of the stripes is uniform, the width of the stripes is uniform, the terminators of the stripes aren't clear. A fast method that can figure out the width and angle of the moire fringe precisely is put forward in this paper. It calculates the angle the stripes firstly. According to the principle of the minimum mean squared error (MMSE), the closer a series of data is, the smaller the value of the MMSE will be. The method is described as follows: It takes the image's center as the origin, 180 beelines pass through the origin with the same angle interval. it calculates the value of the minimum mean squared error of the 180 beelines and find out the least one among those, then the angle of the moire fringe α comes out primarily. In order to improving the calculating precision of moire fringe, 60 equal angles are divided in the neighborhood of the angle α, then a precise angle β of moire fringe is calculated according to the principle of the MMSE. After getting out the angle of the moire fringe, we begin to calculate the width of moire fringe. A line vertical with the moire fringe is drawn, and we can get the width of the moire fringe by the vertical line. In order to get over the influence of the noise, an effective area with the shape of diamond is selected in the image. The data of area is accumulated and projected according to the direction of moire fringe, and a sine curve come out. The width of moire fringe can be obtained by getting the position of the first wave crest, the position of the last wave crest and the number of wave crest. Experiments prove that the precision of the method put forward in this paper is enhanced in comparison with the traditional frequency method, the precision of width calculation achieves to 99.6% according to the evaluation indicators of width detection error. The computing speed is boosted largely compared with traditional method, and it can achieve with 15 ms, that satisfying the demand of real time.

Depressive disorder is a well-known chronic, recurrent and disabling mental disease with high direct and indirect costs to society in both western and eastern cultures. Approximately 40% of depressed patients show only partial or no response to initial or even multiple antidepressant medications and are usually called treatment-resistant depression (TRD) patients. The present work was to measure the features of sensory gating (SG) P50 in TRD patients with the intent of understanding the characteristics of this disease.In 50 TRD patients, 39 non-treatment-resistant depression (NTRD) patients and 51 healthy controls (HC), auditory evoked potential P50 was measured using the conditioning/testing paradigm presented with auditory double clicks stimuli, and 36 TRD patients had repeated measurements after an 8-week venlafaxine treatment course.All the depressive disorder patients, including the TRD and NTRD groups, showed an increased testing stimulus wave (S2-P50) amplitude compared to controls (P0.01 and P0.05), but there was no significant difference between the TRD and NTRD groups (P0.05). There were significant differences in the ratio of testing stimulus (S2) and conditioning stimulus (S1) (S2/S1) and in the value of 100 x (1 - S2/S1) among the three groups. Compared to the baseline, TRD patients had no significant changes of features and different expression of P50 after acute treatment (P0.05). Meanwhile, a statistically significant positive correlation of S2/S1 with the scores of the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) (P0.01), and a significantly negative correlation of S1 - S2, 100 x (1 - S2/S1) with the scores of HAMD-17 (P0.01) were observed in the TRD patients' baseline measurement, but there was no correlation after venlafaxine treatment (P0.05).Both the TRD and NTRD patients had obvious SG deficits, with a more severe deficit in TRD patients. Although, with a correlated relationship to the severity of depressive symptoms, SG P50 deficit might be suggested as a trait marker for TRD, and a combination of S2/S1 ratio, S1 - S2 and 100 x (1 - S2/S1), was recommended for electrophysiological measurement in TRD patients.

Hydrohausmannite nanoparticles (~10 nm) were prepared by the hydrothermal method at 100 °C for 72 h. Subsequent annealing was done in air at 400 °C and 800 °C for 10 h, Mn3O4 nanoparticles (~25 nm) and 3D Mn2O3 porous networks were obtained, respectively. The products were characterized by XRD, TEM, SAED and FESEM. Time-dependent experiments were carried out to exhibit the formation process of the Mn2O3 networks. Their microwave absorption properties were investigated by mixing the product and paraffin wax with 50 vol%. The Mn3O4 nanoparticles possess excellent microwave absorbing properties with the minimum reflection loss of −27.1 dB at 3.1 GHz. In contrast, the Mn2O3 networks show the weakest absorption of all samples. The absorption becomes weaker with the annealing time increasing at 800 °C. The attenuation of microwave can be attributed to dielectric loss and their absorption mechanism was discussed in detail.Corrections were made to figure 9 of this article on 17 February 2009. The corrected electronic version is identical to the print version.

To fine map the gene responsible for pure paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia in a Chinese family.Six additional markers flanking the tightly linked markers were chosen in the candidate region resulting from a whole genome-wide scanning and tested by parameter and nonparameter analysis using Linkage and Genehunter softwares to fine map the candidate region.Evidence for linkage of the pure paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia to chromosome 3 was further confirmed. A maximum two-lod score of 2.82 at theta=0 was obtained with D3S3669. Critical recombinants place the PKD gene between D3S1314 and D3S1265.A new locus of pure paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia (PKD) is localized within a 10.2 cM interval on 3q28-29, between markers D3S1314 and D3S1265.

To explore the model of chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)for the further study of multiple sclerosis.A total of 72 female SPF C57BL/6J mice (inbred strain, aged 8 approximately 10 weeks), were randomly divided into an EAE group, a blank group and an adjuvant group, and each group was divided into 3 subgroups: an onset group, a peak group and a chronic phase group. The EAE group was immunized with mMOG35-55.At the end of the study, and 83.3% of the mice in EAE group suffered the onset, and 8.3% of the mice died. The highest clinical score reached grade 5, namely paralysis of the whole body and then death. In the EAE group, after being immunized first, the mice were all anosis during the first 13 days. They got ill on the third week, and in about 20 approximately 24 days the clinical symptom reached the peak, and in 28 approximately 32 days the chronic phase arrived,when parts of the clinical symptoms got relieved. On the contrary, both the adjuvant group and the blank group were healthy all the time. Characteristic appearance was detected in the EAE group.Antigen emulsion, mixture of artificially synthesized mMOG35-55 and complete Freundos adjuvant can successfully induce chronic EAE in the mice. The model of EAE duplicated in our study has the characteristics of high incidence, low death rate and stability, which can be used to carry out further research on multiple sclerosis.

To investigate the relationship between mossy fiber axon sprouting (MFS), synaptic reorganization in the dentate gyrus, and the mechanism of chronic temporal lobe epilepsy induced by pilocarpine.The mossy fiber sprouting and synapse formation were observed in rats after the acute status epileticus and chronic spontaneous temporal lobe epilepsy induced by pilocarpine using in situ hybridization of GAP-43 mRNA (a marker of MFS), an immunohistochemical staining of synaptophysin (P38, a marker of synaptogenes), and Neo-Timm staining.In hippocampus granule cell, there was a significant increase in the GAP-43mRNA levels measured 6 - 12 h after the end of status epileticus induced by pilocarpine. In contrast, synaptophysin immunoreactivity progressively increased in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus from 7 d, which was in line with the Neo-Timm stain results that revealed a time-dependent growth of aberrant MFS into the dentate inner molecular layer. The GAP-43 mRNA levels in pilocarpine treated animals were significantly decreased after status epileticus.These results provide evidence for newly formed excitatory recurrent circuits, which might constitute a structural basis for chronic enhanced excitation and epileptogenesis in the hippocampus of pilocarpine-treated rats.

To find out the differentially expressed genes in the hippocampus of the rats with genetic epilepsy so as to lay a foundation for exploring the pathogenesis of epilepsy by means of cDNA array technology.Gene expression patterns in the hippocampus of the genetic epilepsy-prone P77PMC rats and normal Wistar rats were established using the alpha-32P-labeled cDNA probes hybridized with the Atlas Rat cDNA Expression Array, and then were analyzed by an image analysis instrument to get the differentially expressed genes.Fifteen genes were found having differential expression patterns in hippocampus between the P77PMC rats and the Wistar rats, while there may be many other differentially expressed genes left undiscovered due to having no appropriate image analysis software. And among the fifteen genes, the expression levels of twelve genes in the P77PMC rats were higher than those in the Wistar rats, while the expression levels of the other three genes were lower. The results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) have demonstrated the reliability of cDNA arrays method.cDNA array is a powerful tool for identifying differential expression genes of epilepsy on large scales. There are several differentially expressed genes in hippocampus of the P77PMC rats and the Wistar rats. All these identified genes could play potentially important roles in the pathogenesis of epilepsy.

Benign familial infantile convulsions (BFIC) is a recently recognized autosomal dominant inherited disorder. This epileptic syndrome typically begins between 3 and 12 months of age with clusters of partial seizures in most cases and carries a good prognosis. So far, three loci have been linked to chromosome 19q12.1-13.1, chromosome 2q24 and chromosome 16p12-q12. The authors performed linkage analysis on this pedigree.A four-generation Chinese family was investigated. The total number of members was 32 in this family and two neurologists in Xiangya Hospital gave systemic physical examinations and interictal neurological examinations to nineteen members of this family. Venous blood samples were taken for genetic analysis. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes using phenol-chloroform method. Seventeen microsatellite markers spanning the critical regions on chromosomes 19q12-13.1, 2q24, and 16p12-q12 were genotyped. These markers included D19S49, D19S250, D19S414, D19S416 and D19S245 for the 19q region, D2S2380, D2S399, D2S111, D2S2195, D2S2330 and D2S2345 for the 2q region, D16S401, D16S3131, D16S3093, D16S517, D16S3120 and D16S415 for the 16p-q region. The DNA from each sample was amplified for the 17 markers. After polymerase chain reactions (PCR), PCR products of chromosome 19 with markers D19S49, D19S250, D19S414, D19S416 and D19S245 were subjected to electrophoresis on 8% denatured polyacrylamide gel for at least 2 hours and 20 minutes. Then the length of the PCR products was judged in the Strategene Eagle Eye II automated gel image analyzer. For the markers from chromosome 2 and 16, PCR products were scanned at ABI 377 autosequencer. The data of PCR products were analyzed using the software Genescan v3.1, Genetyper v2.1 (Applied Biosystem, CA. USA) and GenoDB v1.0. After Mendelian checking, the eligible genotyping data were used for linkage analysis. LOD scores were calculated by using MLINK program of LINKAGE v5.1, under an assumption of autosomal dominant inheritance and the estimated penetrance was 0.9. The allele frequencies of each marker were assumed to be equal and the disease-allele frequencies were designated to be 1/10,000. The LOD scores were calculated at combination rate (theta) 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4.Among the 17 selected microsatellite markers, which cover the previously reported regions, seven markers' data (D16S3131, D16S517, D16S3120, D16S3093, D2S2380, D19S250 and D19S414) were omitted due to failed genotyping, low genetic heterogeneity, or failure to pass Mendelian checking. Omission of these markers was to ensure the reliability of our raw data. The two-point LOD scores were below zero for all the markers and the maximum LOD scores at theta = 0.0 were less than -2 for markers D19S49, D19S416, D19S245, D16S401, D16S415, D2S399, D2S111, D2S2195, D2S2330 and D2S2345. Thus, the linkage result showed no evidence that the disease locus is linked to any of these selected markers, which excludes the previously reported candidate regions found in other ethnic families.There is no evidence that this Chinese family was linked to one of the following loci: 19q12.1-13.1, 16p12-q12 and 2q24. The results indicated that BFIC showed genetic heterogeneity and the Chinese BFIC families might be mapped on another new locus.

To study the genetic basis in the patients with clinical diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy(SMA) but without survival motor neuron telomeric copy (SMN-T) deletion; the relationship between the SMN-C (centromeric) copies and the phenotype; and the distribution of SMN-C and SMN-T copies in the SMA patients, the carriers and the controls.Quantitative PCR analysis of SMN-T and SMN-C copies were carried out in 45 patients, 25 consanguineous and 33 control individuals. The patients were identified by clinical manifestation and muscular pathology. Two internal standards of SMN-T and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) were constructed. Nonradioactive and nonfluorescence-labelling competitive PCR were used. The numbers of SMN-T and SMN-C copies were determined by calculating the ratios of SMN-T/CFTR and SMN-C/CFTR.Quantitation of SMN-T gene copies in SMA patients revealed that nine cases of type I-III were homozygously deleted. Two cases of type III had only one copy and four cases of type III had two copies. SMA IV and other type cases had two copies. Nine cases of consanguineous individuals had one copy, but other 16 had two copies. All of the normal individuals had two copies. Analysis of SMN-C copies showed that SMA I hador = 2 copies, II-III hador = 3 copies, SMA IV and others had 0-3 copies, the consanguineous individuals and normal individuals had 0-3 copies.The number of copies determined by PCR quantitative assay of SMN-T is in accordance with the result of PCR qualitative assay of homozygous deletion. Quantitative assay of the number of copies can find out the cases and the carriers of heterozygous deletion. The SMA phenotype is related to the number of copies of SMN-C; the smaller the number of copies the patient has, the severer the patient's phenotype will be. The pathogenesis of SMA IV and other types of SMA may not relate to SMN gene.

Survival of motor neurons(SMN) protein is the product of spinal muscular atrophy(SMA) gene. Now the function researching of SMN protein has become hotspot field to discuss the pathogenic mechanism of SMA. The construction, distribution and function of SMN protein are reviewed in this paper.