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A scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) based mean shift algorithm is presented for object tracking in real scenarios. SIFT features are used to correspond the region of interests across frames. Meanwhile, mean shift is applied to conduct similarity search via color histograms. The probability distributions from these two measurements are evaluated in an expectation-maximization scheme so as to achieve maximum likelihood estimation of similar regions. This mutual support mechanism can lead to consistent tracking performance if one of the two measurements becomes unstable. Experimental work demonstrates that the proposed mean shift/SIFT strategy improves the tracking performance of the classical mean shift and SIFT tracking algorithms in complicated real scenarios.

A recently proposed colour based tracking algorithm has been established to track objects in real circumstances [Zivkovic, Z., Krose, B. 2004. An EM-like algorithm for color-histogram-based object tracking. In: Proc. IEEE Conf. on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp. 798-803]. To improve the performance of this technique in complex scenes, in this paper we propose a new algorithm for optimally adapting the ellipse outlining the objects of interest. This paper presents a Lagrangian based method to integrate a regularising component into the covariance matrix to be computed. Technically, we intend to reduce the residuals between the estimated probability distribution and the expected one. We argue that, by doing this, the shape of the ellipse can be properly adapted in the tracking stage. Experimental results show that the proposed method has favourable performance in shape adaption and object localisation.

Background/Aims Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world with high mortality rate due to the lack of markers in early detection and effective therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a critical part of epigenetic regulations in tumor, have been shown to be closely related to the initiation, development, invasion, metastasis and prognosis of gastric cancer. The present study aims to investigate the expression of miR-1290 in gastric tumor cells and to elucidate the target gene of miR-1290 in SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells. Methodology The fluorescence in situ hybridization, real time PCR and Western blot were used to investigate the expression of miR-1290 in gastric tumor cells and clinical gastric tumor samples. The effect of miR-1290 expression on gastric tumor cells was studied using Synthetic miR-1290 inhibitor transfection, in vitro wound healing assay and flow cytometry analysis. Bioinformatics and Luciferase reporter assay were used to predict and validate the target gene of miR-1290. Results Our results revealed that miR-1290 was highly expressed in SGC-7901 gastric cancer cells as well as in clinical gastric cancer samples, which was correlated with clinical stages, depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis. Synthetic miR-1290 inhibitor transfection significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of SGC-7901 cells. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter assay suggested that miR-1290 functioned in gastric cancer cells by targeting FOXA1 gene. Conclusion miR-1290 promotes gastric tumor cells proliferation and metastasis through FOXA1, which could be used as a marker for diagnosis and a target for therapeutic intervention.

Obesity results from numerous, interacting genetic, behavioral and physiological factors. Adipogenesis is partially regulated by several adipocyte-selective microRNAs (miRNAs) and transcription factors that regulate proliferation and differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs-Ad). In this study, we examined the roles of adipocyte-selective miRNAs in the differentiation of hMSCs-Ad to adipocytes. Results showed that the levels of miR-148a, miR-26b, miR-30, and miR-199a increased in differentiating hMSCs-Ad. Among these miRNAs, miR-148a exhibited significant effects on increasing PPRE luciferase activity (it represents PPAR-dependent transcription, a major factor in adipogenesis) than others. Furthermore, miR-148a expression levels increased in adipose tissues from obese people and mice fed high-fat diet. miR-148a acted by suppressing its target gene, Wnt1, an endogenous inhibitor of adipogenesis. Ectopic expression of miR-148a accelerated differentiation and partially rescued Wnt1-mediated inhibition of adipogenesis. Knockdown of miR-148a also inhibited adipogenesis. Analysis of the upstream region of miR-148a locus identified a 3 kb region containing a functional cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) required for miR-148a expression in hMSCs-Ad. The results suggest that miR-148a is a biomarker of obesity in human subjects and mouse model, which represents a CREB-modulated miRNA that acts to repress Wnt1, thereby promoting adipocyte differentiation.

Research on biological objects requires tracking hundreds of micro-objects from the microscopy video. We propose an automated tracking framework to extract trajectories of micro-objects. This framework uses a particle probability hypothesis density (PF-PHD) tracker to implement a recursive Bayesian state estimation and trajectories association. In the framework, an ellipse target model is presented to describe the micro-objects with shape parameters instead of point-like targets. Furthermore, an orientation and positional constraint model is developed to deal with the data association of crossing trajectories in multitarget tracking. Using this framework, a significantly larger number of tracks are obtained than manual tracking. The experiments on simulated image sequences of microtubule movement are performed in order to evaluate the proposed PF-PHD tracking method.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as epigenetic regulators of metabolism and energy homeostasis. There is a growing body of evidence pointing to miRNAs that have important regulatory roles in insulin sensitivity. The aim of this work was to explore the expression and mechanism of action of miR-26b in obesity-related insulin resistance (IR) in adipocytes. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to determine miR-26b expression in obese rodent models, human obesity subjects and insulin-resistant adipocytes. We analysed the roles of miR-26b overexpression and inhibition on glucose uptake in adipocytes. Western blotting was used to detect the levels of protein molecules involved in the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Bioinformatics and the Dual Luciferase Assay were used to identify the target gene of miR-26b. We assessed the regulatory roles of miR-26b on the phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN)/PI3K/AKT pathway and the relationship between miR-26b and the metabolism of human obese subjects. Levels of miR-26b are reduced in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in obese rodent models, human obesity and insulin-resistant adipocytes. MiR-26b promotes insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and increases insulin-stimulated glucose transporter type 4 translocation to the plasma membrane in human mature adipocytes. MiR-26b modulates insulin-stimulated AKT activation via inhibition of its target gene, PTEN, and significantly increases insulin sensitivity via the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway. The expression level of miR-26b negatively correlates with increasing body mass index and homeostasis model assessment for IR in human obese subjects. Decreased miR-26b expression in VAT may be involved in obesity-related IR by interrupting the PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.

For some polymers, the rate of solid-state polymerization (SSP) is higher with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as the sweep gas than with atmospheric N2. One explanation for this higher rate is that the diffusion coefficient of the condensate molecule is higher in the CO2-swollen polymer. To investigate this hypothesis, we measured the diffusion coefficient of phenol in poly(bisphenol A carbonate) (BPA-PC) by carrying out SSP of this polymer under diffusion-limited conditions. Under these conditions, the diffusion coefficient of the condensate molecule could be calculated from the profile of the molecular weight versus time. The phenol diffusivity was determined between 135 and 180 °C in the presence of N2 at about 1 bar and in the presence of scCO2 at about 138, 207, and 345 bar. The diffusion coefficient of phenol was up to 200% higher in scCO2 than in N2, depending on the temperature and CO2 pressure. With both N2 and scCO2, the activation energy for phenol diffusion in BPA-PC was larger than the activation energy for the reaction between hydroxyl and phenyl end groups that occurred during SSP of BPA-PC. As a result, the overall SSP reaction shifted from diffusion control at low temperatures toward chemical-reaction control at high temperatures. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1143–1156, 2003

Fluoroalkyl urea compounds were designed to generate foams via dissolution in CO2, self-assembly in solution, and critical point drying via pressure reduction. The fluoroalkyl groups imparted CO2-p...

RESS experiments were performed on the semicrystalline fluoropolymer poly(heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate) [poly(HDFDA); Mw = 254 000, Mw/Mn = 2.95] from solutions in carbon dioxide, with both concentration and degree of saturation being varied in a systematic manner. Phase-behavior measurements were carried out beforehand to locate the liquid−liquid equilibrium phase boundaries and thus establish the degree of saturation for a given concentration and preexpansion temperature and pressure. Concentrations of 0.5−5 wt % polymer were rapidly expanded through a short orifice (L/D = 5.08) at preexpansion temperatures and pressures corresponding to unsaturated, saturated, and supersaturated solutions. The results indicate that the size of the polymer product is controlled by the degree of saturation (S); however, the morphology of the product is controlled primarily by the concentration, not by S. Only at some intermediate concentration, a threshold concentration where fiber formation first starts to occur, does ...

Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) of perfluoroalkyl amideethanethiols, F(CF2)nCONH(CH2)2SH (n = 6, 7, or 8), inhibit the corrosion of silver by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in air. Unlike conventional hydrocarbon thiols used to protect silver from corrosion, these fluorinated amidethiols have a very low mercaptan odor, impart fluorocarbon wettability properties to the silver surfaces, and exhibit intermolecular associations via hydrogen bonding of the amide functionality. These fluorinated thiols were synthesized by reacting fluoroalkyl acid chloride with 2-aminoethanethiol, or by reacting methyl fluoroalkanoate with 2-aminoethanethiol. SAM were formed by immersing silver coupons in 0.01, 0.1, and 1 wt% solutions of the fluorinated amidethiol in propanol (CH3CH2CH2OH), or by applying a thin film of the thiol solution that rapidly evaporated. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to evaluate the thickness and integrity of the monolayers. The thin films of evaporating thiol solution yielded...

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of pervasive genes involved in a variety of biological functions. It can serve as key co-activators of proteins involved in transcriptional regulation. Studies have found that white and brown adipocytes both originate from the mesoderm. However, it remains unclear whether lncRNAs function during adipogenesis or in energy metabolism in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT). In this study, we used lncRNA microarray technology to evaluate differences in the lncRNA expression profiles of WAT and BAT. We observed 735 up-regulated and 877 down-regulated lncRNAs (fold change >4.0). To reveal the potential functions of these lncRNAs, we applied GO and pathway analyses to study the differentially expressed lncRNAs. We found that AK142386 and AK133540 may affect adipogenesis and metabolism. Our data indicate that AK142386 and AK133540 may be involved in BAT and WAT development through their target genes Hoxa3 and Acad10. Together, we have identified numerous lncRNAs and these lncRNAs can potentially serve as a required component for proper adipogenesis.

Tracking micro-objects in the noisy microscopy image sequences is important for the analysis of dynamic processes in biological objects. In this paper, an automated tracking framework is proposed to extract the trajectories of micro-objects. This framework uses a probability hypothesis density particle filtering (PF-PHD) tracker to implement a recursive state estimation and trajectories association. In order to increase the efficiency of this approach, an elliptical target model is presented to describe the micro-objects using shape parameters instead of point-like targets which may cause inaccurate tracking. A novel likelihood function, not only covering the spatiotemporal distance but also dealing with geometric shape function based on the Mahalanobis norm, is proposed to improve the accuracy of particle weight in the update process of the PF-PHD tracker. Using this framework, a larger number of tracks are obtained. The experiments are performed on simulated data of microtubule movements and real mouse stem cells. We compare the PF-PHD tracker with the nearest neighbor method and the multiple hypothesis tracking method. Our PF-PHD tracker can simultaneously track hundreds of micro-objects in the microscopy image sequence.

Visceral obesity is an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome, and abnormal fat accumulation is linked to increases in the number and size of adipocytes. MiR-146b was a miRNA highly expressed in mature adipocytes while very lowly expressed in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and human visceral preadipocytes (vHPA). In this paper, we mainly focused on the roles of miR-146b in adipogenesis. We found miR-146b could inhibit the proliferation of visceral preadipocytes and promote their differentiation. MiR-146b in human visceral adipocytes inhibited the expression of KLF7, a member of the Kruppel-like transcription factors, as demonstrated by a firefly luciferase reporter assay, indicating that KLF7 is a direct target of the endogenous miR-146b. MiR-146b expression was significantly altered in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues in human overweight and obese subjects, and in the epididymal fat tissues and brown fat tissues of diet-induced obese mice. Our data indicates that miR-146b may be a new therapeutic target against human visceral obesity and metabolic dysfunction.

The kinetics of solid-state polymerization (SSP) of poly(bisphenol A carbonate) was investigated with supercritical CO2 (scCO2) as the sweep fluid. The CO2 flow rate and polymer particle size were chosen to ensure that the kinetics was controlled by the rate of the forward transesterification reaction, i.e., so that both external and internal phenol diffusion limitations were negligible. The forward reaction rate constants were determined between 90 and 135 °C, at CO2 pressures of 138, 207, and 345 bar. At a given temperature, the reaction rate was higher with scCO2 as the sweep fluid than with N2, especially at lower temperatures. The rate constant for the forward transesterification reaction increased with increasing CO2 pressure up to about 207 bar, at which point the rate constant was no longer sensitive to CO2 pressure. The activation energy decreased from 23.9 kcal/mol in N2 to 15.5, 11.6, and 11.4 kcal/mol at CO2 pressures of 138, 207, and 345 bar, respectively. The effect of scCO2 on the rate of p...

The kinetics of solid-state polymerization (SSP) of poly(bisphenol A carbonate) was investigated with N2 as the sweep gas. The N2 flow rate and prepolymer particle size were chosen to eliminate the...

Direct carbonation using liquid carbon dioxide can be used for the remediation of aqueous streams or slurries while sequestering carbon dioxide in the form of metal carbonates. Carbonic acid (pH = 2.9), which formed when the aqueous phase was contacted with excess liquid carbon dioxide at ambient temperature (295 K) and elevated pressure (6.89 MPa), reacted with the metal cations to form metal carbonates in the agitated vessel. These metal carbonates precipitated out of solution as the pH returned to neutral when the system was depressurized. Electric arc furnace K061 dust, red mud from the Bayer process of alumina manufacture, and metal-bearing wastewater streams were amenable to this treatment. The treatment of a K061-dust slurry from a steel plant was semi-continuous. The dust particles were retained in the high-pressure reaction vessel as fresh water was continuously injected and high-pressure, metal carbonate-bearing water was withdrawn. The water residence time in the reactor was 12 min. About 30% o...

Direct thickeners for dense carbon dioxide were designed and synthesized. Each thickener contained “CO2-philic” fluorinated groups to impart solubility in carbon dioxide and “CO2-phobic” functionalities to promote intermolecular associations for viscosity enhancement. Semi-fluorinated trialkyltin fluorides and fluorinated telechelic ionomers were soluble to at least several weight percent in dense liquid carbon dioxide without the use of a cosolvent. Increases in solution viscosity at 297 K were measured using falling cylinder viscometry. The viscosity of liquid carbon dioxide was increased by a factor of 2−3 at thickener concentrations of 2−4 wt %. These results demonstrate that carbon dioxide viscosity enhancement is possible without the need for a cosolvent through the design of compounds with the appropriate balance of CO2-philic groups for solubility and CO2-phobic associating groups for macromolecular, viscosity-enhancing interactions. Neither compound, however, was as effective as the (29% styrene−...

Murine P19 embryonal carcinoma cells are multipotent cells that can differentiate into cardiomyocytes when treated with dimethyl sulfoxide. This experimental model provides an invaluable tool to study different aspects of cardiac differentiation, such as the function of cardiac‑specific transcription factors and signaling pathways, and the regulation of contractile protein expression. The role of mitochondria during cardiac differentiation is unclear. In this context, we have examined the mitochondrial-related changes in undifferentiated and differentiated P19 cells. We observed that mitochondrial DNA content sharply decreased in P19 cell aggregates compared to undifferentiated cells, accompanied by decreased levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Following the aggregation stage, the mitochondrial DNA content reached its highest level on day 7 of the differentiation process, with the intracellular ROS level showing a trend to increase, similar to cellular ATP production. In conclusion, our study on differentiating P19 embryonal carcinoma cells provides new insights into the role of mitochondria in the differentiation of P19 stem cells into beating cardiomyocytes.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs involved in the regulation of gene expression. MiR-1908 is a recently identified miRNA that is highly expressed in human adipocytes. However, it is not known what role of miR-1908 is involved in the regulation of human adipocytes. In this study, we demonstrate that the level of miR-1908 increases during the adipogenesis of human multipotent adipose-derived stem (hMADS) cells and human preadipocytes-visceral. Overexpression of miR-1908 in hMADS cells inhibited adipogenic differentiation and increased cell proliferation, suggesting that miR-1908 is involved in the regulation of adipocyte cell differentiation and metabolism, and, thus, may have an effect on human obesity.

Copolymers of a fluorinated acrylate and styrene were synthesized to enhance the viscosity of liquid carbon dioxide. The phase behavior of mixtures of these polymers with carbon dioxide was measured at 295 K and pressures from 6.70 to 48.28 MPa. Miscibility pressures decreased with a decrease in the styrene content and increased as molecular weight increased. These polymers were also found to significantly enhance the viscosity of carbon dioxide, by a factor of ca. 5 to 400 at concentrations from 1 to 5 wt %. The optimal composition for viscosity enhancement was 29 mol % styrene−71 mol % fluoroacrylate.

A novel liquid–liquid separation for the recovery of free or liberated gold from mixtures of fine particles was evaluated. The separation, conducted at 295 K and carbon dioxide vapor pressure of 6.0 MPa, was based on the difference in wettability of precious metals and minerals. Contact angle results indicated that in the presence of water and liquid CO 2 , gold was slightly hydrophobic. The addition of CO 2 -soluble fluoroalkyl or fluoroether thiols increased the hydrophobicity of gold exposed to water and CO 2 to a greater extent than alkylthiols. Minerals, including quartz, pyrite and magnetite, were hydrophilic. During the separation an aqueous slurry of fine mineral and gold particles was mixed with liquid carbon dioxide. Fine gold particles, −325 mesh, dispersed in the liquid CO 2 or agglomerated at the H 2 O–CO 2 interface. The minerals tended to remain in the aqueous phase. Poor results were obtained, however, when attempts were made to recover gold from an Australian gold-mining gravity concentrate. This was attributed to the gold particles in the concentrate being too large, agglomerated in slimes, or coated with minerals.

Compounds with strong thermodynamic affinity for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) have been designed and synthesized that dissolve in CO 2 , then associate to form gels. Upon removal of the CO 2 , these gels produced free-standing foams with cells with an average diameter smaller than 1 micrometer and a bulk density reduction of 97 percent relative to the parent material.

Fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3, also termed heart-type fatty acid binding protein) is a member of the intracellular lipid-binding protein family that may be essential in fatty acid transport, cell growth, cellular signaling and gene transcription. Previously, we demonstrated that FABP3 was involved in apoptosis-associated congenital cardiac malformations; however, its mechanism of regulation remains unclear. Apoptosis has increasingly been considered to be important in cardiac development. In the present study, a zebrafish model was used to investigate the involvement of FABP3‑morpholino (MO)-induced apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiac development. During the early stages of cardiac development, injection of FABP3‑MO into zebrafish resulted in significant impairment in cardiac development and promoted the rate of apoptosis which was correlated with significant dysfunction of the mitochondria. For example, the ATP content was markedly decreased at 24 and 48 h post-fertilization (pf), reactive oxygen species production was significantly enhanced at 24 and 48 h pf and the mitochondrial DNA copy number was reduced at 24, 48 and 72 h pf. Additionally, Nkx2.5 expression was upregulated in FABP3-MO zebrafish, and Wnt signaling molecules (Wnt1, Wnt5 and Wnt11) were also highly expressed in FABP3-MO zebrafish at 24, 48 and 72 h pf. In conclusion, the results indicated that FABP3 knockdown exhibited significant toxic effects on cardiac development and mitochondrial function, which may be responsible for the knockdown of FABP3-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was one of the mechanisms underlying this effect, and was correlated with the activation of Wnt signaling. These studies identified FABP3 as a candidate gene underlying the etiology of congenital heart defects.

Our data in the previous report demonstrated that C10orf116 (AFRO) is an adipocyte lineage-specific nuclear factor that can modulate the master adipogenesis transcription factors early during differentiation. However, more precise functional properties of this gene need to be clarified and await further investigation. Therefore, in this study, we performed an expression profile of cellular MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in the C10orf116 overexpression 3T3-L1 adipocytes and performed target prediction and functional enrichment of the differentially expressed miRNAs. Our study identified 34 miRNAs up-regulated in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes stably overexpressing C10orf116, whereas 43 miRNAs up-regulated in the control cells. The target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were found to be involved in multiple signalling pathways, such as Wnt, TGF-beta, MAPK, Jak-STAT, insulin signalling pathway, et al. Our data provided novel information for the identification of C10orf116.

NYGGF4 (also called PID1) was demonstrated that it may be related to the development of obesity-related IR. We aimed in the present study to further elucidate the effects of NYGGF4 on IR and the underlying mechanisms through using α-Lipoic acid (LA) treatment, which could facilitate glucose transport and utilization in fully differentiated adipocytes. Our data showed that the LA pretreatment strikingly enhanced insulin-stimulated glucose uptake through increasing GLUT4 translocation to the PM in NYGGF4 overexpression adipocytes. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in NYGGF4 overexpression adipocytes were strikingly enhanced, which could be decreased by the LA pretreatment. NYGGF4 overexpression resulted in significant inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and serine phosphorylation of Akt, whereas incubation with LA strongly activated IRS-1 and Akt phosphorylation in NYGGF4 overexpression adipocytes. These results suggest that LA protects 3T3-L1 adipocytes from NYGGF4-induced IR partially through increasing phosphorylation of IRS-1 and Akt and provide evidence that NYGGF4 may be a potential target for the treatment of obesity and obesity-related IR.

The authors present a face recognition scheme based on semantic features’ extraction from faces and tensor subspace analysis. These semantic features consist of eyes and mouth, plus the region outlined by three weight centres of the edges of these features. The extracted features are compared over images in tensor subspace domain. Singular value decomposition is used to solve the eigenvalue problem and to project the geometrical properties to the face manifold. They compare the performance of the proposed scheme with that of other established techniques, where the results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method.

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of adjuvant intraperitoneal perfusion chemotherapy (IPC) in resectable gastric cancer through retrospective analysis. Methods: Three hundred and sixty T2–4bN0–3M0 resectable gastric cancer patients were included in this study. One hundred and eighty-four patients used systemic chemotherapy combined with IPC (IP+ group) and 176 systemic chemotherapy only (IP– group). Results: With a median of 49.9 months of follow-up, the 5-year overall survival in IP+ patients was significantly better than in IP– patients (60.4 vs. 42.9%; p = 0.001), and the average progression-free survival in IP+ patients was significantly longer than in IP– patients (60.5 vs. 46.2 months; p = 0.001). Relapse rates of peritoneal carcinomatosis, celiac lymph node and hepatic metastasis in the IP+ patients were significantly lower than in the IP– patients. Patients with curative resection, a histological type other than mucinous adenocarcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma, low and undifferentiated tumor grade, lymph node metastasis, and T3 and T4a benefited from adjuvant IPC. The toxicities were the same except for more patients with leukopenia in the IP+ group (p = 0.001). The number of cycles of IPC and the time of IPC start after surgery had an impact on overall and disease-free survival. Conclusion: Adjuvant IPC for resectable gastric cancer gave encouraging results and large multicenter prospective randomized controlled studies are warranted.

Previous studies have determined that lin-4, which was the first miRNA to be discovered, controls the timing of cell fate determination and life span in Caenorhabditis elegans. However, the mechanism of lin-4 involvement in these processes remains poorly understood. Fat storage is an essential aspect of the life cycle of organisms, and the function of lin-4 in fat accumulation is not clear. In this study, we showed that the fat content is reduced remarkably in C. elegans lin-4 mutants. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed a considerable decrease in the levels of SBP-1 and OGA-1 mRNA in lin-4 mutants. We also showed that lin-4 mutants have a significantly shorter life span than wild-type worms. DCF assay experiments showed that the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels increased and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number decreased in loss-of-function lin-4 mutants. These mutants also showed attenuation of locomotion. Taken together, our findings suggest that lin-4 may play an important role in regulating fat accumulation and locomotion and that lin-4 may control the life span of C. elegans by mediating ROS production.

We previously identified the six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate (STEAP) 4 as a novel plasma membrane protein that is up-regulated in obese patients and may play a significant role in the development of human obesity. In this study, a STEAP4-specific antibody was used to characterize the biological functions of the STEAP4 protein in human adipocytes. Cell viability assays (Trypan Blue exclusion), CCK-8 assays and cell cycle analysis showed that the STEAP4 antibody inhibited pre-adipocyte proliferation. Morphological observations by electron microscopy and confocal laser microscopy, annexin V-FITC labeling, caspase-3 and caspase-8 activity assays as well as data from quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) further determined that the STEAP4 antibody could promote apoptosis in pre-adipocytes. Based on quantitative Oil Red O staining and the expression profiles of specific markers, we demonstrated that the STEAP4 antibody did not affect adipogenesis, but the 2-deoxy-d-[3H]-glucose uptake tests showed that it induced the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in mature human adipocytes. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the STEAP4 antibody does not influence human adipocyte differentiation, but it is likely that the STEAP4 protein regulates proliferation and apoptosis and plays an important role in modulating the insulin sensitivity of human adipocytes.

Segmentation is an important step in many medical imaging applications and a variety of image segmentation techniques exist. One group of segmentation algorithms is based on clustering concepts. In this chapter we provide an overview of several fuzzy c-means based clustering approaches and their application to medical imaging. In particular we evaluate the conventional hard c-means and fuzzy c-means (FCM) approches as well as three computationally more efficient derivatives of fuzzy c-means: fast FCM with random sampling, fast generalised FCM, and a new anisotropic mean shift based FCM.

The objective of this work was to develop a methodology to increase the productivity of gas/condensate from gas-condensate reservoirs. Presently, gas-condensate reservoirs experience reductions in productivity by as much as a factor of 10 due to the dropout of liquid close to the wellbore. The liquid dropout blocks the flow of gas to the well and lowers the overall energy output by a very substantial degree. The combination of condensate phase behavior and rock relative permeability results in a composition change of the reservoir fluid, as heavier components separate into the dropped-out liquid while the flowing gas phase becomes lighter in composition. This effect has been sparsely recognized in the literature, although there is clear evidence of it in field observations. This work quantified the effect, developed a scientific understanding of the phenomena, and used the results to investigate ways to enhance the productivity by controlling the liquid composition that drops out close to the well. By optimizing the producing pressure strategy, it should be possible to cause a lighter liquid to be condensed in the reservoir, after which the productivity loss would be more easily remedied. The research made use of experimental measurements of gas-condensate flow, as well as compositional numerical simulations. Different strategies have been compared, and the optimum producing sequences are suggested for maximum condensate recovery. Results show that composition varies significantly as a function of fluid phase behavior and producing sequence; condensate recovery can be improved with proper producing strategy, and productivity loss can be reduced by changing the producing sequence. This study can be used to determine the optimum producing strategy when the well is brought into production and reduce the productivity loss caused by the condensate banking effect.

Image segmentation is an important task in many medical applications. One family of segmentation algorithms is based on the idea of clustering pixels with similar characteristics. C-means based approaches, in particular fuzzy c-means has been shown to work well for clustering based segmentation, however due to the iterative nature are also computationally complex. In this paper we introduce a new mean shift based fuzzy c-means algorithm that we show to be faster than previous techniques while providing good segmentation performance. The proposed clustering method incorporates a mean field term within the standard fuzzy c-means objective function. Since mean shift can quickly and reliably find cluster centres, the entire strategy is capable of optimally segmenting clusters within an image.

513 Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in China. No standard care is available for patients with advanced CRC who failed the second-line treatment. Famitinib is a small-molecular, multi-target receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor which primarily acts against angiogenesis. This phase II study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of famitinib in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. Methods: This is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase II clinical study (ClinicalTrials.gov Registration No.: NCT01762293). Totally 154 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who failed second or later-line treatments were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either famitinib or placebo at 25 mg each day in each treatment cycle. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and the secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), quality of life (QoL) and safety. The statistical analyses of endpoints were using intent-to-treat population. Results: Of 154 patients randomized, the mPFS was 2.8 and 1.5 months in the treatment group and control group, respectively (p=0.0034; HR=0.58). The ORR was 2.02% and 0.00% (p=0.54) and the DCR was 57.58% and 30.91% (p=0.0023) in the treatment group and control group, respectively. Analysis of OS data is ongoing. The frequently reported adverse events (AEs) include neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hypertension, proteinuria, and hand-foot syndrome and were most grade 1/2. The incidences of serious adverse events (SAEs) for the famitinib and placebo groups were 11.11% and 9.09%, respectively (p=0.7884). Overall, famitinib was well tolerated and toxicities were manageable. Conclusions: Famitinib improved the PFS in patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer resulting in higher ORR and DCR in the treatment group with good safety and tolerability. Clinical trial information: NCT01762293.

Gas-condensate reservoirs exhibit complex phase and flow behaviors due to the appearance of condensate banking in the near-well region. A good understanding of how the condensate accumulation influences the productivity and the composition configuration in the liquid phase is very important to optimize the producing strategy, to reduce the impact of condensate banking, and to improve the ultimate gas recovery. This study addressed several issues related to the behavior of the composition variation, condensate saturation build-up and condensate recovery during the gas-condensate producing process. A key factor that controls the gas-condensate well deliverability is the relative permeability, which is influenced directly by the condensate accumulation. The accumulated condensate bank not only reduces both the gas and liquid relative permeability, but also changes the phase composition of the reservoir fluid, hence reshapes the phase diagram of reservoir fluid and varies the fluid properties. Different producing strategies may impact the composition configuration for both flowing and static phases and the amount of the liquid trapped in the reservoir, which in turn may influence the well productivity and hence the ultimate gas and liquid recovery from the reservoir. Changing the manner in which the well is brought into flowing condition can affect the liquid dropout composition and can therefore change the degree of productivity loss. In this study, compositional simulations of multicomponent gas-condensate fluids were conducted at field scale to investigate the composition and condensate saturation variations. Different producing strategies have been compared, and the optimum producing sequences are suggested for maximum gas recovery. A core flooding experiment with two- component synthetic gas-condensate was designed and constructed to model gas-condensate production behavior from pressure above the dew-point to below. Experimental observations of gas-condensate production confirm the dramatic changes in the liquid composition seen in the simulations.

Direct thickeners for dense carbon dioxide were designed and synthesized. Each thickener contained highly CO2-soluble "CO2-philic" fluorinated groups, while "CO2-phobic" functionalities promoted viscosity-enhancing intermolecular associations. Semifluorinated trialkyltin fluorides, fluorinated telechelic ionomers, fluoroacrylate-styrene copolymers and sulfonated fluoroacrylate-styrene copolymers, were soluble to at least several weight percent in dense carbon dioxide without the use of a cosolvent. Increases in solution viscosity were measured using falling cylinder viscometry. The most promising CO2 thickener was a styrene - heptadecafluorodecylacrylate bulk-polymerized random copolymer. The optimal composition of the copolymer was about 30 mol% styrene - 70% fluoroacrylate. For example, a 29% styrene-71%fluoroacrylate copolymer increased the viscosity of liquid CO2 by a factor of 250 at a concentration of 5 wt% and a shear rate of 20 s−1 at 297K and 34 MPa. A 0.2 wt% copolymer - 99.8 wt% CO2 solution exhibited a viscosity twice that of neat CO2 at shear rates of about 3000 s−1. Greater proportions of styrene in the thickener led to decreased CO2 solubility and solution viscosity, while lower proportions of styrene resulted in greater CO2 solubility but decreased solution viscosity. Solution viscosity increased with increasing copolymer concentration, increasing pressure and decreasing shear rate.

Particle probability hypothesis density filtering has become a promising approach for multi-target tracking due to its capability of handling an unknown and time-varying number of targets in a nonlinear, non-Gaussian system. However, its computational complexity linearly increases with the number of obtained observations and the number of particles, which can be very time consuming, particularly when numerous targets and clutter exist in the surveillance region. To address this issue, we present a distributed computation particle probability hypothesis density(PHD) filter for target tracking. It runs several local decomposed particle PHD filters in parallel while processing elements. Each processing element takes responsibility for a portion of particles but all measurements and provides local estimates. A central unit controls particle exchange among the processing elements and specifies a fusion rule to match and fuse the estimates from different local filters. The proposed framework is suitable for parallel implementation. Simulations verify that the proposed method can significantly accelerate and maintain a comparative accuracy compared to the standard particle PHD filter.