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The color filter array of the camera is an effective fingerprint for digital forensics. Most previous color filter array (CFA)-based forgery localization methods perform under the assumption that the interpolation algorithm is linear. However, interpolation algorithms commonly used in digital cameras are nonlinear, and their coefficients vary with content to enhance edge information. To avoid the impact of this impractical assumption, a CFA-based forgery localization method independent of linear assumption is proposed. The probability of an interpolated pixel value falling within the range of its neighboring acquired pixel values is computed. This probability serves as a means of discerning the presence and absence of CFA artifacts, as well as distinguishing between various interpolation techniques. Subsequently, curvature is employed in the analysis to select suitable features for generating the tampering probability map. Experimental results on the Columbia and Korus datasets indicate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods and is also more robust to various attacks, such as noise addition, Gaussian filtering, and JPEG compression with a quality factor of 90. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown that high level of TILs in invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is associated with poor prognosis, contrary to that in TNBC and HER2-positive breast cancer. Methods: The densities of six immune cell markers and three immune checkpoints in the ILC microenvironment were detected by computational pathology analysis. Then, the LASSO cox regression model was used to construct an immune score (IS) and further evaluate its prognostic value. Results: In our ILC cohort, the low density of CD4, CD8, CD20, CD56, CD68, FOXP3, PD-1, and PD-L1 had significantly longer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS); however, the low density of CTLA-4 was associated with shorter DFS and OS. Based on this, an IS was constructed, and patients with lowIS had significantly prolonged DFS (p<0.0001) and OS (p<0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that IS was an independent prognostic indicator for DFS and OS. Further analysis showed that IS may increase the prognostic value of TNM stage. We further explored the prognostic role of CD68 and FOXP3 in the transcriptional level and the corresponding ISm in the METABRIC dataset, and found that low proportion of CD68 and FOXP3 and their ISm were associated with longer OS, and ISm was also an independent prognostic factor for OS. Conclusion: IS was a promising biomarker to distinguish the prognosis in ILC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter proposes a novel high gain, high efficiency optically transparent Fabry-Perot Cavity antenna operating in millimetre-wave. The antenna employs dual layers of transparent partially reflective surface and a transparent artificial magnetic conductor structure to enhance the gain and gain bandwidth. The reflection amplitude and phase have a low sensitivity to the sheet resistance of the transparent materials, which greatly reduce the requirement for the conductivity of transparent material and simplify the manufacturing process. The size of the antenna is 3.47λ0 × 3.47λ0 × 0.68λ0. A peak gain of 14.2 dBi, peak radiation efficiency of 67.1% and optical transparency of 81% are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical medicine has experienced a rapid development in recent decades, during which therapies targeting specific cellular signaling pathways, or specific cell surface receptors, have been increasingly adopted. While these developments in clinical medicine call for improved precision in diagnosis and treatment monitoring, modern medical imaging methods are restricted mainly to anatomical imaging, lagging behind the requirements of precision medicine. Although positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography have been used clinically for studies of metabolism, their applications have been limited by the exposure risk to ionizing radiation, the subsequent limitation in repeated and longitudinal studies, and the incapability in assessing downstream metabolism. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) or spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) are, in theory, capable of assessing molecular activities in vivo, although they are often limited by sensitivity. Here, we review some recent developments in MRS and MRSI of multiple nuclei that have potential as molecular imaging tools in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Icing threatens the safe and stable operation of transmission lines. Accurate prediction of the icing process of conductor can help the work of anti-icing and disaster reduction of transmission lines. Generally, the icing of conductor is accompanied by the torsion process of conductor. Because of the interaction of conductor torsion and icing, there is a big difference of the icing shape and rate between different positions on a transmission line. In order to improve the accuracy of numerical calculation of conductor icing, a dynamic numerical calculation model of conductor icing torsion is established based on hydrodynamics and basic mechanics in this paper. Comprehensively, the model takes the effects of torsion angle and torsion icing shape on the icing process into consideration, including the effects on airflow filed and trajectories of water droplets in the air. Through the simulation, the change law of the torsion angle at different positions of the conductor, the influence characteristics of the conductor torsion on the icing process, and the differences of the icing torsion of conductor under different environmental parameters are analysed. The results show that, compared with the condition without torsion, the collision range of water droplets on the conductor is larger under the torsion condition, the average value of collision efficiency β1 is higher, and the icing rate is faster. The larger the wind velocity and the median volume diameter of water droplets in the air, the faster the conductor icing torsion development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The considerable performance enhancement of small molecule-sieving nanofiltration membrane has been achieved by the functional combination between host–guest chemistry and interfacial polymerization (IP) for the first time in this work. First, the water-insolubility of cucurbit[6]uril (CB6) was ameliorated by constructing host–guest complex (CB6-PIP) with piperazine. Second, the incorporation of water-soluble CB6-PIP in the selective layer via IP leads to the generation of not only the enlarged conventional polyamide network tunnels but also rotaxane tunnels. Such enrichment of solvent transport tunnels contributes to an amazing pure water permeability of 15.5–25.4 Lm−2bar−1h−1, three times higher than that of traditional polyamide membranes, with a high R/MgSO4 of 99.5–92.5%, perfect SO42−/Cl− selectivity due to the electronegative contribution of CB6, as well as untapped potential in organic solvent nanofiltration. This work not only provides a fire-new strategy to design new type of NF materials but also promotes the application of CBs in many other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circuit breakers (CBs) are of vital importance for the stability of power systems, and a new two-stage hierarchical state estimation method is proposed for 500 kV sulphur hexafluoride CBs based on Bayesian probability and perceptron neural networks. On the basis of the samples collected from Yunnan Power Grid in China, a new indicator system is constructed by association rules. Bayesian probability is applied to measure the correlation between the individual indicators and comprehensive indicators at the same status level, to weigh the individual indicators. Also, an adaptive perceptron is improved to train the weights of comprehensive indicators in different operational conditions, to eliminate the influence of the imbalance problem of relative deterioration. Then, the operating state of equipment can be inferred according to the calculated comprehensive scores. Finally, taking the actual operating equipment as an example, the effectiveness of this proposed method is proved by sample tests and comparison with other existing linear methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For localisation algorithms of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the communication overhead and the computational complexity are two main bottlenecks that should be considered beside the positioning accuracy. In this study, the authors focus on cooperative localisation in WSNs and propose a low-complexity distributed cooperative localisation algorithm by employing variational message passing (VMP) on factor graphs. In order to decrease the communication overhead, Gaussian parametric message representation is adopted. With regard to the non-Gaussian messages caused by the non-linear ranging model, they approximate them to Gaussian messages by exploiting second-order Taylor expansion to reduce the computational complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm performs quite similar to sum-product algorithm over a wireless network and Gaussian VMP algorithm based on minimising Kullback-Leibler divergence with lower computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Self-sensitized' TiO2 photocatalysts sensitized by TiO2 nanocrystals with quantum structures were successfully prepared via a solvothermal process and a facile subsequent treatment process. We calculated an optimized structure by using a pseudopotential Hartree-Fock method and investigated the structure using X-ray diffraction, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy, and UV- Vis spectrophotometer. The self-sensitized products exhibit an extremely high photocatalytic activity due to their unique optical properties. To discuss the optical properties of the 3-D nanoparticles sensitized by the TiO2 nanocrystals, we proposed a model of the electron band structure of the as-prepared products to give a reasonable explanation for such a high photocatalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the analogous transmembrane function to cell penetrating peptides, guanidine group was incorporated into chitosan by chemical modification to enhance the transfection performance of chitosan vectors. Guanidinylated chitosan (GCS) was shown to be well soluble in neutral aqueous solution. The interaction between GCS with plasmid DNA was characterized by agarose retardation experiment and ethidium bromide displacement assay. GCS formed more stable complexes with DNA under physiological pH than chitosan. The transfection efficiency of GCS was evaluated employing COS-7 cell line-GCS polyplexes demonstrated higher transfection efficiency and lower cytotoxicity relative to chitosan. The optimum efficiency of GCS was achieved in the vicinity of the critical complexing ratio. The results of flow cytometry indicated that guanidinylation promoted an eightfold increase in the cell uptake. The study revealed that guanidinylated chitosan is a promising candidate as an effective nonviral vector for in vivo gene delivery. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PEI-grafted chitosan (PEI-CMCS) copolymer was synthesized through EDC-mediated amidation reaction between carboxymethyl chitosan and low-molecular-weight polyethyleneimine (LMW PEI). PEI-CMCS and CS/DNA complexes were characterized. Compared with pristine chitosan, the PEI-CMCS exhibited an enhanced ability to condense DNA. Incorporation of LMW PEI to chitosan was found to achieve higher transfection efficiency and much lower cytotoxicity than PEI25K at an optimum weight ratio of 15 in COS-7 cells. However, PEI-CMCS was incompetent to transfer refractory pulmonary epithelial cells. It was demonstrated that doping complex medium or treating cells with a steroid hormone-β-estradiol significantly improved the transfection efficiency of 16HBE and A549 cells. This study suggests that steroid hormone may become an additive for other cationic polymers to facilitate gene transfection in pulmonary cells. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) is a novel evolutionary conserved protein which can protect and restore the function of dopaminergic neurons in the rat model of Parkinson's disease, suggesting that CDNF might be beneficial for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. CDNF is widely expressed in neurons in several brain regions including cerebral cortex, hippocampus, substantia nigra, striatum and cerebellum. Human CDNF is glycosylated and secreted from transiently transfected cells; however, the mechanism underlying CDNF secretion is currently unclear. In this study, we found that CDNF could be secreted primarily via the regulated secretion pathway in PC12 cells. The glycosylation of CDNF is not required for its secretion. Moreover, we identified two key subdomains in CDNF which are important for its intracellular localization and secretion. Disrupting helix-1 of CDNF significantly reduces its constitutive and regulated secretion and the helix-1 mutant is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum. Although helix-7 mutation only decreases CDNF regulated secretion and has no effect on its constitutive secretion, which is further supported by the reduction in co-localization of helix-7 mutant with secretory granules. In all, these findings will advance our understanding of the molecular mechanism of CDNF trafficking and secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caspofungin was the first in a new class of antifungal agents (echinocandins) indicated for the treatment of primary and refractory fungal infections. Higher doses of caspofungin may provide another option for patients who have failed caspofungin or other antifungal therapy. This study evaluated the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of single 150- and 210-mg doses of caspofungin in 16 healthy participants and 100 mg/d for 21 days in 20 healthy participants. Other than infusion site reactions and 1 reversible elevation in alanine aminotransferase (≥ 2× and <4× upper limit of normal), caspofungin was generally well tolerated. Geometric mean AUC0-∞ after single 150- and 210-mg doses was 279.7 and 374.9 µg·h/mL, respectively; peak concentrations were 29.4 and 33.5 µg/ mL, respectively; and 24-hour postdose concentrations were 2.8 and 4.2 µg/mL, respectively. Steady state was achieved in the third week of dosing. Following multiple 100-mg doses of caspofungin, day 21 geometric mean AUC0-24 was 227.4 µg·h/mL, peak concentration was 20.9 µg/mL, and trough concentration was 4.7 µg/mL. Beta-phase t1/2 was ~8 to ~13 hours. Caspofungin pharmacokinetics at these higher doses were dose proportional to and consistent with those observed at lower doses, suggesting a modest nonlinearity of increased accumulation with dose, which was considered not clinically meaningful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

J. Neurochem. (2010) 114, 110–121. Tropomyosin-related kinase (Trk) B is a receptor tyrosine kinase for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which plays a critical role in neuronal survival, differentiation and morphogenesis. Ran-binding protein in the microtubule-organizing center (RanBPM) is a cytosolic scaffold protein that has been shown to interact with protein-tyrosine kinase receptor MET, Axl/Sky, and TrkA in addition to the pan-neurotrophin receptor pan-neurotrophin receptor 75 kDa. In this study, we report RanBPM is a novel TrkB-interacting protein that contributes to BDNF-induced MAPK and Akt activation together with neuronal morphogenesis and survival. Over-expression of RanBPM in PC1210 cells (PC12 cells stably over-expressing TrkB) can significantly enhance BDNF-induced MAPK and Akt activation. Moreover, RanBPM can promote BDNF-induced hippocampal neuronal morphogenesis and enhance BDNF-mediated trophic effects after serum deprivation, while siRNA knock down of RanBPM in cells has the opposite effects. Together, these results suggest that RanBPM may modulate TrkB-mediated downstream signaling and biological functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which discussed the development of a Torlon polyamide-imide nanofiltration hollow fiber membrane using the dry-jet wet-spinning process. The resultant nanofiltration membrane demonstrate effective fractionation of the monovalent and divalent ions of sodium chloride/sodium sulfate binary salt solutions. Over 99.5% glutathione can be filtered by the nanofiltration membranes at neutral hydrogen-ion concentration.

Two new lanostanetype nonsulfated pentasaccharide triterpene glycosides, 17dehydroxyholothurinoside A 1 and griseaside A 2, were isolated from the sea cucumber Holothuria grisea.Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including 2DNMR and MS experiments, as well as chemical evidence. Compounds 1and 2possess the same pentasaccharide moieties but differ slightly in their side chains of the holostanetype triterpene aglycone. The structures of the two new glycosides were established as 3?,12?22,25epoxy3O?Dglucopyranosyl1?4OO3Omethyl?Dglucopyranosyl1?3O?Dglucopyranosyl1?46deoxy?Dglucopyranosyl1?2?Dxylopyranosyloxy12,20dihydroxylanost911en18oic acid ?lactone 1 and 3?,12?3O?Dglucopyranosyl1?4OO3Omethyl?Dglucopyranosyl1?3O?Dglucopyranosyl1?46deoxy?Dglucopyranosyl1?2?Dxylopyranosyloxy12,20,22trihydroxylanost911en18oic acid ?lactone 2. The 17dehydroxyholothurinoside A 1 and griseaside A 2 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against HL60, BEL7402, Molt4, and A549 cancer cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial development in the pharmacological treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been made recently including approval of new non-stimulant agents targeting noradrenergic, histaminergic and dopaminergic systems. Among such, atomoxetine has been widely used, although its mechanism of action is poorly understood. It is known that central nervous system histamine is closely associated with cognition and it was recently shown that both atomoxetine and methylphenidate enhance cortical histamine release in rats. To that end, the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of atomoxetine (2 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) on histamine release using the microdialysis technique in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), a suitable genetic model for ADHD. Our data confirmed that atomoxetine increases extracellular levels of histamine in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is implicated in the pathophysiology of ADHD. Given the tie between histamine neurotransmission and treatment of cognitive dysfunction, we also assessed the effects of atomoxetine on learning and memory as measured by the Morris water maze in SHR. The results indicated that atomoxetine significantly ameliorated performance in the Morris water maze, consistent with its histamine-enhancing profile. In conclusion, the current study provides further support for the notion that the therapeutic effect of atomoxetine could involve activation of histamine neurotransmission within the prefrontal cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrocellulose (NC), a rigid natural polymer, was modified by gradient interpenetrating polymer networks containing poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (PEGDMA) to obtain both high strength and large toughness across the thickness from surface to the core of samples. PEGDMA content decreased with distance from the surface to core of nitrocellulose with a gradient of poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (NC/grad. PEGDMA) determined by elemental chemical analysis. The distribution of the guest component across the NC/grad. PEGDMA semi‐IPNs sample thickness was reciprocal function. SEM micrographs of NC/grad. PEGDMA semi‐IPNs revealed that, when the content of guest component was about 23%, the gradient system showed almost single phase morphology. At the same time, the tensile test results showed that NC/grad. PEGDMA featured both higher tensile strength and larger toughness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuronal differentiation in PC12 cells induced by nerve growth factor (NGF) requires sustained activation of ERK/MAP kinase pathway (Raf–MEK–ERK cascade). Although classical Ras (H-Ras, K-Ras, and N-Ras) activated by NGF signaling induces activation of ERK pathway, the activation is transient and not sufficient for PC12 cell differentiation. Instead, it has been widely accepted that NGF signaling-mediated Rap1 activation causes sustained activation of ERK pathway. There has been no direct evidence, however, that Rap1 participates in neuronal differentiation. Here we show that NGF signaling induces sustained activation of M-Ras and subsequent sustained activation of ERK pathway and the transcription factor CREB leading to PC12 cell differentiation. Exogenously expressed constitutively active mutant of M-Ras caused neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells and activating phosphorylation of ERK, whereas activated Rap1 did not. Knockdown of endogenous M-Ras by small interfering RNAs as well as the expression of a dominant–negative mutant of M-Ras interfered with NGF-induced neuritogenesis. Since MEK inhibitors prevented M-Ras-induced neurite outgrowth, ERK pathway participates in this differentiation pathway. Furthermore, M-Ras brought about ERK pathway-mediated activating phosphorylation of CREB and the CREB-mediated transcription. In addition, a dominant–negative mutant of CREB inhibited M-Ras-induced neuritogenesis. Taken together, NGF-induced PC12 cell differentiation requires M-Ras–ERK pathway-mediated activation of CREB. M-Ras was predominantly expressed in the hippocampus and cerebellum of mouse brain and in the gray matter of the spinal cord. All these properties of M-Ras were apparently indistinguishable from those of H-Ras. However, NGF stimulation caused transient activation of classical Ras proteins but sustained activation of M-Ras as well as sustained activating phosphorylation of ERK and CREB. Therefore, M-Ras is essential for neuronal differentiation in PC12 cells by inducing sustained activation of ERK pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the UK spot and futures markets in short-term interest rates are found to react strongly to surprises in the scheduled announcements of the repo rate and RPI. Therefore, these announcements should also affect the market for options on short-term interest rate futures. Because the repo rate and RPI announcements are scheduled, the options market can predict the days on which announcement shocks may hit, and build this information into its volatility expectations. It is argued that the volatility used in pricing options should alter over time in a predictable nonlinear manner that varies with contract maturity and the number of forthcoming announcements; but is independent of announcement content. The empirical results support this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In crayfish claw closer muscle, the giant sarcomeres are 8.3 pm long at rest, four times longer than vertebrate striated muscle sarcomeres, and they are extensible up to 13 pm upon stretch. Invertebrate connectin (1-connectin) is an elastic protein which holds the A band at the center of the sarcomere. The entire sequence of crayfish 1-connectin was predicted from cDNA sequences of 53 424 bp (17 352 residues; 1960 kDa). Crayfish 1-connectin contains two novel 68- and 71-residue repeats, and also two PEYK domains and one kettin region. Kettin is a small iso- form of 1-connectin. Immunobtot tests using antibody to the 68-residue repeats revealed the presence of 1-connectin also in tong sarcomeres of insect leg muscle and barnacle ventral muscle. Immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated that the two repeats, the tong spacer and the two PEYK domains contribute to sarcomere extension. These regions rich in charged amino acids, occupying 63% of the crayfish 1-connectin molecule, may allow a span of a 3.5 p.m distance as a new class of composite spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel compact antenna operating at GSM, DCS, PCS and IMT2000 bands is presented. With a loosely coupled ground branch, the antenna covers all 2-G and 3-G wireless communication bands of GSM(890–960 MHz), DCS(1710–1880 MHz), PCS(1850–1990 MHz), IMT2000 (1920–2170 MHz). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 48: 719–721, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21454. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectation propagation (EP) has been used for Gaussian approximation of discrete-valued symbols to achieve low-complexity message passing based detection. It has been shown that EP-based Gaussian approximation significantly outperforms the direct Gaussian approximation. A doped EP (DEP) approach to Gaussian approximation is proposed, where the EP message is mixed with the Gaussian message obtained through direct approximation. It is demonstrated that the DEP approach delivers remarkably better performance than the EP one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously demonstrated that AA inhibited ENaC in the CCD and that the effect of AA was mediated by the cytochrome 450 (CYP) epoxygenase-dependent metabolic pathway because 11:12-EET mimicked the effect of AA on ENaC (JGP, 124:719, 2004). In the present study, we examined the effect of AA on ENaC in the CCD from rats on a high K diet (HK). Application of AA inhibited ENaC and the effect of AA was abolished by MS-PPOH, an inhibitor of CYP epoxygenase. The dose response curve of the AA effect on ENaC shows that the sensitivity of ENaC to AA in the CCD from rats on HK is shifted to the left in comparison to those on a low Na diet for 3 days. In contrast, the dose response curve of the AA effect in the CCD from rats on a low Na intake for 14 days was significantly shifted to the right. Western blot further shows that HK intake significantly increased while a low Na intake decreased the expression of CYP2C23 in the renal cortex and outer medulla. The possibility that increased sensitivity of ENaC to AA is due to a high expression of CYP epoxygenase is also confirmed by observation that the sensitivity of ENaC to 11,12-EET was the same among the three groups. We conclude that increased expression of CYP epoxygenase is responsible for the enhanced AA sensitivity of ENaC and that aldosterone is not responsible for mediating the stimulatory effect of HK on the expression of CYP2C23 because low Na intake, which increases aldosterone levels, did not mimic the effect of HK and suppressed the expression of CYP2C23. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]