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Background: The effect of bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) combination in enhancing graft maturation and tendon–bone tunnel interfacial healing after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction remains unclear. We hypothesised that BMAC and PRP combination could lead to better clinical results and better graft maturation/interface healing than PRP alone or conventional ACL reconstruction without any other biologic augmentation. Methods: In this randomised double-blind prospective study, patients undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery were randomly assigned into three groups: (1) control group (without any biologic augmentation), (2) PRP treatment group, and (3) combined BMAC and PRP (BMAC + PRP) group. Moreover, they were evaluated using the clinical functional score, laxity examination, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis. Results: No significant difference was observed in the improvement of functional scores among groups. However, laxity improvement at 24 weeks showed a significant difference with the BMAC + PRP group having the lowest laxity. MRI analysis showed no significant change in whole graft maturation among groups. In particular, the BMAC + PRP group showed delayed signal peak and higher graft signal at 24 weeks compared with the other two groups; however, the difference was not significant. With regard to tendon–bone interfacial healing, the BMAC + PRP group showed significantly wider tendon–bone interface in the femoral bone tunnel at 24 weeks compared with the other two groups. Moreover, the BMAC + PRP group showed significantly higher peri-tunnel edema signal in the femoral bone tunnel at 12 weeks compared with the other two groups. Conclusion: PRP alone and BMAC and PRP combination showed limited enhancing effect in clinical function, graft maturation and tendon–bone interfacial healing compared with control (no additional treatment). When BMAC is used in ACL reconstruction, the possibility of greater inflammation in the early stage to graft maturation and bone tunnel healing should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is now classified as a spectrum of disorders, with two major subtypes: axial SpA (axSpA) and peripheral SpA (pSpA). AxSpA can be further divided into radiographic axSpA (ankylosing spondylitis) and non-radiographic axSpA. Other subtypes include axial psoriatic arthritis, axial reactive arthritis, and inflammatory bowel diseases associated with SpA. The dysbiosis of the microbiota, or the gut-joint axis, has been identified as a potential mechanism in the pathogenesis of SpA. Studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the specific bacteria involved, but some have been associated with increased gut permeability and inflammation. The skin microbiome has also been implicated in PsA, a subtype of SpA. Treatment options for SpA include non-pharmacological methods, NSAIDs, csDMARDs, bDMARDs, and tsDMARDs. The microbiota may also affect the response to these treatments, and probiotics have shown some promise in improving symptoms. However, more research is needed to fully understand the role of the microbiota in SpA and to develop targeted treatments. [Extracted from the article]

Background & aims: During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the endoscopic services were electively postponed or suspended. We aimed to assess the safety of a triage policy in patients receiving esophageal variceal ligation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Triage policy of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) was implemented in our hospital during the lockdown period from 15th May 2021 to 26th July 2021. One experienced gastroenterologist reviewed the prior-scheduled list of patients for the EVL prophylaxisprogram. We compared the clinical characteristics and outcomes with those receiving endoscopy due to esophageal varices from 17th May 2020 to 28th July 2020. Results: Of the 124 patients receiving EVL, a higher percentage of esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB) was noted (9/32, 28.1% vs. 8/92, 8.7%, p = 0.006) during the lockdown period, with a higher percentage of EVB in the referrals (7/9, 77.8% vs. 2/14, 14.2%, p = 0.007). Among patients who received prophylactic EVL, 6 of 78 (7.7%) experienced EVB during the normal period, which is no different to 2 of 23 (8.7%) during the lockdown period. Twenty-three patients whose endoscopies were postponed by triage policy due to low-risk or eradicated varices did not experience EVB during the lockdown period. Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class C was predictive of EVB (relative risk 8.400, P = 0.033), entering the program of prophylactic EVL was the protective factor of EVB (relative risk 0.016, P = 0.002). Conclusion: Entrance into the prophylaxis program does not only decreases risk of EVB but also fosters comprehensive triage to postpone endoscopy during the lockdown period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nucleotide‐binding and oligomerization domain, leucine‐rich repeats, and pyrin domain‐containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a crucial role in innate immunity and is involved in the pathogenesis of autoinflammatory diseases. Glycolysis regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages. However, how lactic acid fermentation and pyruvate oxidation controlled by the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) affect NLRP3 inflammasome activation and autoinflammatory disease remains elusive. We found that the inactivation of MPC with genetic depletion or pharmacological inhibitors, MSDC‐0160 or pioglitazone, increased NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL‐1β secretion in macrophages. Glycolytic reprogramming induced by MPC inhibition skewed mitochondrial ATP‐associated oxygen consumption into cytosolic lactate production, which enhanced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in response to monosodium urate (MSU) crystals. As pioglitazone is an insulin sens MSDC‐itizer used for diabetes, its MPC inhibitory effect in diabetic individuals was investigated. The results showed that MPC inhibition exacerbated MSU‐induced peritonitis in diabetic mice and increased the risk of gout in patients with diabetes. Altogether, we found that glycolysis controlled by MPC regulated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and gout development. Accordingly, prescriptions for medications targeting MPC should consider the increased risk of NLRP3‐related autoinflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-temperature pipelines conveying plant-based edible oils are covered with a thermal insulation material; however, if a pipe leaks, that insulation material and oil produce oxidation reactions that release thermal energy. We examined the combination of linseed oil and rock wool, a porous insulation material commonly used in the oil processing industry by using a simultaneous thermogravimetric analyzer to measure the thermogravimetric loss trend and heat release modes, while adding porous materials under non-isothermal conditions. The Friedman, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger, and ASTM E698 standard thermokinetic models were used to evaluate the apparent activation energy (Ea) as a basis for determining the thermal sensitivity of incompatible materials in combination with insulation materials. The study results demonstrate the conditions under which linseed oil and porous materials would lead to thermal runaway. The Friedman and FWO models showed that the conversion degree increased from 0.2 to 0.8, and the mean Ea decreased from 71.33 and 73.97 to 33.08 and 55.02 kJ mol–1, respectively. The Kissinger and ASTM E698 methods decreased from 56.75 and 65.83 to 55.95 and 58.06 kJ mol–1 after rock wool was added. Through the four thermokinetic models, the Ea of linseed oil with the addition of rock wool was discovered to be lower than that of pure linseed oil. The study results demonstrated the conditions under which linseed oil and porous materials would lead to thermal runaway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peristomal wound infection is a common complication in patients receiving percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). The main reason for peristomal infection might be the oral microbes coating the gastrostomy tube during implantation. Povidone-iodine solution can be applied for skin and oral decontamination. We designed a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a Betadine® (povidone-iodine) coated gastrostomy tube to reduce peristomal infection after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Methods: A total of 50 patients were randomized to Betadine and control groups (25 patients in each group) from April 2014 to August 2021 at a tertiary medical center. All patients received the pull method for PEG implantation using a 24-french gastrostomy tube. The primary endpoint was peristomal wound infection rate 2 weeks after the procedure. Results: Changes in Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio (N/L ratio) and C-Reative protein (Delta CRP) at 24 h after PEG were higher in the control group than in the Betadine group (N/L ratio, 3.1 vs. 1.2, p = 0.047; CRP, 2.68 vs.1.16, p = 0.009). The two groups did not differ in post-PEG fever, peristomal infection, pneumonia, or all-cause infection. Delta CRP could predict peristomal infection and all-cause infection within 2 weeks (AUROC 0.712 vs. 0.748; p = 0.039 vs. 0.008). The best cut-off-point of Delta CRP for the diagnosis of peristomal wound infection was 3 mg/dl. Conclusion: The betadine coating gastrostomy tube method could not reduce peristomal infection after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. CRP elevation of less than 3 mg/dl may be used to exclude the potential peristomal wound infection. Trial registration: NCT04249570 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04249570). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether altered white matter microstructural property of autistic people also exists in non-autistic siblings is uncertain. The microstructures of a neural tract may not be consistent throughout the whole track. We assessed 38 cognitive-able autistic males (aged 15.8 ± 4.4 years), 39 non-autistic siblings (16.5 ± 5.7 years), and 78 age- and sex-matched non-autistic comparison people (14.4 ± 5.3 years) using tract-based automatic analysis of diffusion spectrum imaging and threshold-free cluster-weighted method. First, we identified segments within the right frontal aslant tract, frontostriatal tract, and thalamic radiation to precentral areas in both autistic people and non-autistic siblings that differed from those in non-autistic comparison people. Second, segments within bilateral cingulate gyri and callosal fibers connecting superior temporal lobes differed between autistic people and non-autistic comparison people but not between siblings and non-autistic comparison people. Third, segments within the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus and callosal fibers connecting precuneus showed increased generalized fractional anisotropy in non-autistic siblings. Our findings suggest microstructural properties of some potential neural segments that were similar between autistic people and their non-autistic siblings may serve as intermediate phenotypes of autism, facilitating further etiological searching for autism. Meanwhile, increased microstructural properties in unaffected siblings alone might indicate compensatory processes in the light of genetic predisposition for autism. White matter is the neural pathway that connects neurons in different brain regions. Although research has shown white matter differences between autistic and non-autistic people, little is known about the properties of white matter in non-autistic siblings. In addition, past studies often focused on the whole neural tracts; it is unclear where differences exist in specific segments of the tracts. This study identified neural segments that differed between autistic people, their non-autistic siblings, and the age- and non-autistic people. We found altered segments within the tracts connected to anterior brain regions corresponding to several higher cognitive functions (e.g. executive functions) in autistic people and non-autistic siblings. Segments connecting to regions for social cognition and Theory of Mind were altered only in autistic people, explaining a large portion of autistic traits and may serve as neuroimaging markers. Segments within the tracts associated with fewer autistic traits or connecting brain regions for diverse highly integrated functions showed compensatory increases in the microstructural properties in non-autistic siblings. Our findings suggest that differential white matter segments that are shared between autistic people and non-autistic siblings may serve as potential "intermediate phenotypes"—biological or neuropsychological characteristics in the causal link between genetics and symptoms—of autism. These findings shed light on a promising neuroimaging model to refine the intermediate phenotype of autism which may facilitate further identification of the genetic and biological bases of autism. Future research exploring links between compensatory segments and neurocognitive strengths in non-autistic siblings may help understand brain adaptation to autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From previous studies of negatively correlating the expression of human METCAM/MUC18 with the pathology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), we have suggested that human METCAM/MUC18 (huMETCAM/MUC18) might play a tumor suppressor role in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. To scrutinize this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of huMETCAM/MUC18′s over-expression on in vitro cellular behavior and on the in vivo tumorigenesis of one NPC cell line (NPC-TW01). HuMETCAM/MUC18 cDNA was first transfected into the NPC-TW01 cell line, which was established from NPC type I, and many G418-resistant clones were obtained. Then, two NPC-TW01 clones, which expressed high and medium levels of huMETCAM/MUC18, respectively, and one empty vector (control) clone were used to test the effects of huMETCAM/MUC18′s over-expression on in vitro behaviors and on in vivo tumorigenesis (via subcutaneous injection) in athymic nude mice (Balb/cAnN.Cg-Foxnlnu/Cr1Nar1). The time course of tumor proliferation and the final tumor weights were determined. Tumor sections were used for the histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) studies. Tumor lysates were used for determining the expression levels of huMETCAM/MUC18 and various downstream key effectors. HuMETCAM/MUC18′s over-expression reduced in vitro motility and invasiveness and altered growth behaviors in 3D basement membrane culture assays, and it decreased the in vivo tumorigenicity of the NPC-TW01 cells. The tumor cells from a high-expressing clone were clustered and confined in small areas, whereas those from a vector control clone were more spread out, suggesting that the tumor cells from the high-expressing clone appeared to stay dormant in micro-clusters. Expression levels of the proliferation index, an index of the metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis, angiogenesis indexes, and survival pathway indexes were reduced, whereas the pro-apoptosis index increased in the corresponding tumors. The over-expression of huMETCAM/MUC18 in the NPC-TW01 cells decreased the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and the in vitro and in vitro tumorigenesis, suggesting that it plays a tumor suppressor role in the development of type I NPC, perhaps by increasing apoptosis and decreasing angiogenesis, proliferation, and the metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) is a major condition affecting long-term kidney graft survival. Serum microRNA (miRNA) has been reported as a biomarker for various conditions of allograft injuries. The upregulation of miR-21 is the best-known miRNA change in graft tissue, urine and plasma. However, the correlation of plasma miR-21 with the severity of CAD remains unclear. In our study, 40 kidney transplantation recipients with late graft survival for more than 10 years were enrolled. The CAD group (n = 20) had either an eGFR between 15 to 60 mL/min or a biopsy-proved chronic allograft nephropathy or rejection. The control group (n = 20) had an eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min without proteinuria and hematuria for a consecutive 3 months before the study. We performed RNA sequencing to profile the miRNAs expression. There were six differentially expressed miRNAs in the CAD group. Among them, miR-21-5p and miR-101-3p were decreased, and miR-20a-5p was increased. We found that miR-21-5p, miR-20a-5p and miR-101-3p all participated in the TGF-beta pathway. We demonstrated that decreased miR-21-5p and miR-101-3p, and increased miR-20a-5p were the novel CAD-associated miRNAs in the TGF-beta pathway. These findings may pave the way for developing early prediction miRNAs biomarkers for CAD, and possibly developing therapeutic tools in the field of kidney transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medical image diagnosis, fairness has become increasingly crucial. Without bias mitigation, deploying unfair AI would harm the interests of the underprivileged population and potentially tear society apart. Recent research addresses prediction biases in deep learning models concerning demographic groups (e.g., gender, age, and race) by utilizing demographic (sensitive attribute) information during training. However, many sensitive attributes naturally exist in dermatological disease images. If the trained model only targets fairness for a specific attribute, it remains unfair for other attributes. Moreover, training a model that can accommodate multiple sensitive attributes is impractical due to privacy concerns. To overcome this, we propose a method enabling fair predictions for sensitive attributes during the testing phase without using such information during training. Inspired by prior work highlighting the impact of feature entanglement on fairness, we enhance the model features by capturing the features related to the sensitive and target attributes and regularizing the feature entanglement between corresponding classes. This ensures that the model can only classify based on the features related to the target attribute without relying on features associated with sensitive attributes, thereby improving fairness and accuracy. Additionally, we use disease masks from the Segment Anything Model (SAM) to enhance the quality of the learned feature. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can improve fairness in classification compared to state-of-the-art methods in two dermatological disease datasets. • Existing debias method involve using demographic data during training process. • Privacy issues may restrict the use of demographic data. • Feature entanglement regularization achieves fairness without demographic data. • Accurate masking disease features can improve both fairness and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on non-specific low back pain being referred to as low back pain. Topics include available for non-specific chronic low back pain containing analgesics and nondrug treatments such as exercise, physical, psychosocial, and multidisciplinary therapies; and laser therapy is associated with vasodilation, transcription factor activation, cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and collagen synthesis.

Summary: In this paper, a dynamic model is presented to analytically evaluate the power performance of small horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) by integrating all related theories in aerodynamics and mechatronics. This model is implemented into a computer program for predicting the output torque and power performance curve of small HAWT. In this implemented program, all pertinent formulations in the blade momentum theory (BEMT) and the Fleming's rule are combined together. For verifying the model, a small HAWT (rated 400 W) using an axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) generator was experimented in a full‐scale wind tunnel. For a field test, the prototype was installed in National Penghu University International Small‐Medium Wind Turbine Site to collect data at various wind speeds in a whole month. The collected data turned out to agree with our prediction using the proposed model. In designing small HAWT, this model not only expedites the development process but also ensures safe operation of the complete system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A commonly cited theory related to the pathomechanics of patellofemoral pain (PFP) states that atrophy of the vastus medialis (VM) muscle leads to lateral tracking of the patella. However, isolated atrophy of the VM or atrophy of the quadriceps muscle group as a whole, has not been consistently reported in this population. Purpose: To compare individual and total quadriceps muscle volumes between women with nontraumatic PFP and women without PFP as measured on magnetic resonance imaging scans. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 52 women with nontraumatic PFP and 64 women without PFP between the ages of 18 and 45 years participated. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the thigh were obtained from the anterior inferior iliac spine to the tibial plateau. Individual quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area measurements were obtained from each image, and muscle volumes for the VM, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and rectus femoris were calculated. Muscle volume measurements were expressed in absolute values and normalized to body mass. Separate 2-way mixed-factorial analysis of variance (group × muscle) were used to compare absolute and normalized individual muscle volumes between groups. Independent t tests were used to compare absolute and normalized total quadriceps volumes between groups. Results: There was no difference in absolute and normalized individual muscle volumes between individuals with and those without PFP. Additionally, absolute and normalized total muscle volumes did not differ between groups. Conclusion: Our findings do not support the concept of preferential atrophy of the VM or generalized quadriceps atrophy in women with nontraumatic PFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The content shared via social media significantly influences tourists' travel planning process and even destination decisions. By analyzing the shared text, photos, and videos on social media, we can gain insight into what tourists like and how they move. Many researchers have studied tour recommendation problems and proposed various solutions based on location-based social media to address this issue. Despite achieving some progress, research on personalized tours still reveals some difficulties. In this paper, we propose a framework for recommending a visiting sequence containing orderly landmarks and stay time (LST) to meet the user's specified constraints by using user-generated content in a photo-sharing social media. First, the landmarks, also known as POIs, are extracted from the social media photo dataset by clustering photos close to each other, where the closeness can be derived by the geotags in photos. Second, implicit preferences (topics) among the photos are derived by a topic modeling approach called Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). These topics are then used to generate landmark and user feature vectors. Third, users are assigned to the class whose user vectors are similar, and the visiting sequences in the class are used as the base for constructing the prediction model. Fourth, we take advantage of the long-short term memory (LSTM) model, an enhanced version of RNN, and develop an LST-LSTM prediction model to predict the next landmark and its stay time. Finally, the LST-LSTM model keeps generating the most likely landmark and stay time by the proposed time-based tour recommender until the user's specified constraints are researched. The experiments show that the proposed LST-LSTM predictor performs better than the baseline L-LSTM predictor, which does not consider stay time in all metrics. Moreover, our experiment shows that the proposed recommender can help users visit more landmarks and spend less time when compared with the baseline recommender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the effect and mechanism of radiotherapy (RT)–sorafenib pharmacokinetics (PK) in different regimens with conventional or high dose irradiation. Between February 2012 and December 2018, 43 patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis treated with sorafenib plus conventional RT (58%) or stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT, 42%) were retrospectively reviewed. In vivo and in vitro studies of concurrent and sequential RT with sorafenib were designed. SBRT resulted in a 3-fold increase in complete recanalization compared to conventional RT group (28% vs. 8%, p = 0.014). Compared to the control group, the area under the concentration vs. time curve (AUC) of sorafenib was increased in the concurrent RT2Gy and RT9Gy groups and the sequential RT9Gy group by 132% (p = 0.046), 163% (p = 0.038) and 102% (p = 0.018), respectively; and was decreased by 59% in the sequential RT2Gy group (p = 0.036). Sequential RT2Gy and RT9Gy increased CYP3A4 activity by 82% (p = 0.028) and 203% (p = 0.0004), respectively, compared to that with the corresponding concurrent regimen. SBRT produced better recanalization than conventional RT with sorafenib. The AUC of sorafenib was modulated by RT. P-gp expression was not influenced by RT. The sequential RT regimen increased CYP3A4 activity that may increase the RT-sorafenib synergy effect and overall sorafenib activity. The biodistribution of sorafenib was modulated by local RT with the different regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fat accumulation in the liver contributes to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant, acting both directly and indirectly via upregulation of cellular antioxidants. We examined the mechanisms of liver steatosis after 12 months high fat (HF) diet and tested the ability of NAC to rescue liver steatosis. Methods: Seven-week-old C57BL/6 (B6) male mice were administered HF diet for 12 months (HF group). Two other groups received HF diet for 12 months accompanied by NAC for 12 months (HFD + NAC(1–12)) or 6 months (HFD + NAC(1–6)). The control group was fed regular diet for 12 months (CD group). Results: Liver steatosis was more pronounced in the HF group than in the CD group after 12 month feeding. NAC intake for 6 or 12 months decreased liver steatosis in comparison with HF diet (p < 0.05). Furthermore, NAC treatment also reduced cellular apoptosis and caspase-3 expression. In the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, the expression of ECHS1, HSP60, and HSP70 was decreased in the HFD group (p < 0.05) and rescued by NAC therapy. With regards to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, Phospho-PERK (p-PERK) and ATF4 expression was decreased in the HF group, and only the HFD + NAC(1–12), but not HFD + NAC(1–6) group, showed significant improvement. Conclusion: HF diet for 12 months induces significant liver steatosis via altered ER stress and UPR pathway activity, as well as liver apoptosis. NAC treatment rescues the liver steatosis and apoptosis induced by HF diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nascent polypeptides are synthesized on ribosomes starting at the N-terminus and simultaneously begin to fold during translation. We constructed N-terminal fragments of prosubtilisin E containing an intramolecular chaperone (IMC) at N-terminus to mimic cotranslational folding intermediates of prosubtilisin. The IMC-fragments of prosubtilisin exhibited progressive enhancement of their secondary structures and thermostabilities with increasing polypeptide length. However, even the largest IMC-fragment with 72 residues truncated from the C-terminus behaved as a molten globule, indicating the requirement of the C-terminal region to have a stable tertiary structure. Furthermore, truncation of the IMC in the IMC-fragments resulted in aggregation, suggesting that the IMC plays a crucial role to prevent misfolding and aggregation of cotranslational folding intermediates during translation of prosubtilisin polypeptide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The honey mushroom, Armillaria mellea, is known to have medicinal qualities and has been used in recent years as a health food and dietary supplement worldwide. In Asia, it is commonly consumed as an herbal medicine, being a key component of the Chinese preparation "Tien-ma". Here, we examined the antitumor effects of armillaridin, a bioactive compound isolated from A. mellea, on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Armillaridin inhibited the growth of human Huh7, HepG2, and HA22T HCC cells, and its cytotoxicity was confirmed by observations of its induction of mitochondrial transmembrane potential collapse. However, armillaridin treatment did not result in large numbers of cells with fragmented chromosomal DNA, suggesting that apoptosis was not responsible for these effects. We therefore tested for signs of autophagic cell death following armillaridin administration. Armillaridin induced LC3 aggregation in green fluorescent protein-LC3-overexpressing cells. Moreover, flow cytometry and immunoblotting revealed that it increased the number of acridine orange-positive cells and upregulated autophagy-related proteins, respectively. Furthermore, armillaridin cytotoxicity was suppressed by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine. In summary, our results indicated that armillaridin induces HCC cell death by autophagy, and demonstrated the potential of armillaridin as an antihepatoma agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been no reports regarding clinical features and molecular characteristics of childhood methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infections in Taiwan.Methods: We prospectively collected clinical S. aureus isolates from patients aged < 18 years in a university-affiliated hospital in 2015. Only the first isolate from each patient was included. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were classified as community-associated (CA) or healthcare-associated (HA) by the epidemiologic criteria. All MSSA isolates were molecularly characterized.Results: A total of 495 S. aureus isolates were identified, and 178 (36.0%) were MSSA. Among the 131 MSSA-infected patients enrolled, 94 (71.8%) were community-associated and 60 (45.8%) were inpatients. Patients with HA infections was significantly younger than those with CA infections (median, 15 vs. 67.5 months). The most common specimen of MSSA identified was pus or wound (73.3%). Compared to HA-MSSA, CA-MSSA isolates were significantly less frequently from sputum (6.4% vs. 27%, p = 0.001). Nineteen pulsotypes were identified. Four pulsotypes accounted for 60% of the isolates. Isolates of ST15/pulsotype F were more frequently seen in CA than in HA (p = 0.064) while isolates of ST188/pulsotype AX frequently seen in HA (p = 0.049). PVL genes were identified in 11 isolates (8.4%), nine of which were characterized as ST59/pulsotype D, same as the local endemic CA-MRSA clone.Conclusions: MSSA accounted for around one-third of childhood S. aureus infections in northern Taiwan. SSTI was the most common manifestation. The molecular characteristics of these clinical MSSA isolates were relatively diverse and had certain significant differences between CA and HA isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In 2012, a serious fire accident occurred in the Hsuehshan southbound road tunnel, which resulted in two fire fatalities and 34 injuries. A pickup truck was hit by a bus from behind; gasoline leaked from the bus and started the fire. Smoke was diverted from the southbound tunnel into the service tunnel and the northbound tunnel via two connection tunnels. Fire dynamics simulator (FDS) software was used to simulate the smoke movement in the 13 km long southbound road tunnel, employing more than 21 million computational cells. The heat release rate curve used in the simulation was based on a single bus fire which reached a maximum value of 30 MW. The smoke front movement obtained from the computer simulation was compared with that determined from the closed circuit TV (CCTV) recordings, and the agreement between the simulation results and CCTV recordings was sound. The critical velocity for controlling backlayering of a 30 MW bus fire was also determined from simulation, which agreed well with the value estimated from empirical correlations of model experiments. This research showed that during a fire, doors to connection tunnels should close automatically, and the service tunnel should only be used for emergency rescue purpose, instead of evacuation of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adiponectin is a circulatory cytokine secreted from adipose tissues and exerts critical metabolic functions in mammals. However, expression profiles of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors in the avian species that may be very different from mammals, especially under affluent nutrition conditions, remain unexplored to examine the effects of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors in chicken adipose tissues under high‐fat diet (HFD) feeding. Twenty Taiwan country chickens (L2 bred) of 12 weeks old were challenged with a 10% high‐fat diet for 6 weeks. Results showed that body weights and plasma triglycerides, cholesterol and dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP4) were all increased in the HFD treatments. Interestingly, we first demonstrated that chicken circulating macromolecule adiponectin and fat disulphide‐bond A oxidoreductase‐like protein (DsbA‐L), a regulator involved in adiponectin secretion, were elevated upon HFD feeding. Moreover, the mRNA expression of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors as well as additional adipose‐related genes such as fatty acid synthase (FAS), adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ (PPARγ) were also increased in the chicken abdominal fats under HFD conditions. These results suggest that HFD treatment alters adiponectin and metabolic genes in chicken adipose tissues. In conclusion, in the present study, we examine expression profiles of adiponectin, adiponectin receptors, adiponectin secretion regulator DsbA‐L, and metabolic genes in chicken fats upon HFD supplementation and provide new insights for how adiponectin entail the pathophysiologically obesogenic conditions in the avian species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A schizophrenia diagnosis relies on characteristic symptoms identified by trained physicians, and is thus prone to subjectivity. This study developed a procedure for the individualized prediction of schizophrenia based on whole-brain patterns of altered white matter tract integrity. Methods The study comprised training (108 patients and 144 controls) and testing (60 patients and 60 controls) groups. Male and female participants were comparable in each group and were analyzed separately. All participants underwent diffusion spectrum imaging of the head, and the data were analyzed using the tract-based automatic analysis method to generate a standardized two-dimensional array of white matter tract integrity, called the connectogram. Unique patterns in the connectogram that most accurately identified schizophrenia were systematically reviewed in the training group. Then, the diagnostic performance of the patterns was individually verified in the testing group by using receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis. Results The performance was high in men (accuracy = 0.85) and satisfactory in women (accuracy = 0.75). In men, the pattern was located in discrete fiber tracts, as has been consistently reported in the literature; by contrast, the pattern was widespread over all tracts in women. These distinct patterns suggest that there is a higher variability in the microstructural alterations in female patients than in male patients. Conclusions The individualized prediction of schizophrenia is feasible based on the different whole-brain patterns of tract integrity. The optimal masks and their corresponding regions in the fiber tracts could serve as potential imaging biomarkers for schizophrenia. Hum Brain Mapp 39:575-587, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the evidence of altered white-matter tract property in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little is known about their unaffected siblings. This study aimed to investigate white-matter integrity in unaffected siblings of ASD probands. Thirty-nine unaffected siblings (mean age 15.6 ± 6.0 years; 27 males, 69.2%) and 39 typically developing controls (TDC) (14.2 ± 5.6 years; 26 males, 66.7%) were assessed with diffusion spectrum images and neuropsychological tests. Using the tract-based automatic analysis and the threshold-free cluster weighted (TFCW) scores, we searched for the segments among 76 tracts with the largest difference over the entire brain compared to TDC. Tract integrity was quantified by calculating the mean generalized fractional anisotropy (mGFA) values of the segments with the largest difference in TFCW scores. Unaffected siblings showed reduced mGFA in the bilateral frontal aslant tracts, the right superior longitudinal fasciculus 2 (SLF2), the frontostriatal tracts from the right dorsolateral and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortices, the thalamic radiations of the left ventral and the right dorsal thalamus, the callosal fibers of the splenium, and the increased mGFA of the callosal fibers of the precuneus and the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Among these, reduced right SLF2 mGFA was associated with social awareness deficits; impaired frontostriatal tract was associated with internalizing problems, while right frontal aslant tract integrity was associated with visual memory deficits. In conclusion, unaffected siblings showed the aberrant integrity of several white-matter tracts, which were correlated with clinical symptoms and neurocognitive dysfunction. The altered tract integrity could be further examined in the probands with ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:6053-6067, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Autism spectrum disorder ( ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with social communication deficits as one of the core symptoms. Recently, a five-level model for the social communication has been proposed in which white matter tracts corresponding to each level of the model are identified. Given that the model for social communication subserves social language functions, we hypothesized that the tract integrity of the model for social communication may be reduced in ASD, and the reduction may be related to social communication deficits. Methods Sixty-two right-handed boys with ASD and 55 typically developing ( TD) boys received clinical evaluations, intelligence tests, the Social Communication Questionnaire ( SCQ), and MRI scans. Generalized fractional anisotropy ( GFA) was measured by diffusion spectrum imaging to indicate the microstructural integrity of the tracts for each level of the social communication model. Group difference in the tract integrity and its relationship with the SCQ subscales of social communication and social interaction were investigated. Results We found that the GFA values of the superior longitudinal fasciculus III ( SLF III, level 1) and the frontal aslant tracts ( FAT, level 2) were decreased in ASD compared to TD. Moreover, the GFA values of the SLF III and the FAT were associated with the social interaction subscale in ASD. Conclusions The tract integrity of the model for social communication is reduced in ASD, and the reduction is associated with impaired social interaction. Our results support that reduced tract integrity of the model for social communication might be a neural substrate of social communication deficits in ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axolotls have amazing ability to regenerate their lost limbs. Our previous works showed that after amputation the remnant muscle ends remained at their original location whilst sending satellite cells into the regenerating parts to develop into early muscle fibers in the late differentiation stage. The parental and the newly formed muscle fibers were not connected until very late stage. The present study used non-invasive diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to monitor weekly axolotl upper arm muscles after amputation of their upper arms. DTI tractography showed that the regenerating muscle fibers became visible at 9-wpa (weeks post amputation), but a gap was observed between the regenerating and parental muscles. The gap was filled at 10-wpa, indicating reconnection of the fibers of both muscles. This was confirmed by histology. The DTI results indicate that 23% of the muscle fibers were reconnected at 10-wpa. In conclusion, DTI can be used to visualize axolotls’ skeletal muscles and the results of muscle reconnection were in accordance with our previous findings. This non-invasive technique will allow researchers to identify the timeframe in which muscle fiber reconnection takes place and thus enable the study of the mechanisms underlying this reconnection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an inverse kinematics algorithm for a redundant manipulator. The proposed approach combines analytical and numerical methods to solve generalized inverse kinematics problems simultaneously in both free and constrained working spaces. The method introduces a virtual repulsive torque imposed by the topological configuration of robot links, joint limits, and obstacles with motion trajectories. The method calculates the shortest distances between joint limit, links, and obstacles. Links of manipulator and obstacles are modeled in ellipsoids so as to evaluate the minimum distances between obstacles and links of a redundant robot. Virtual repulsive torques imposed on links are estimated based on the shortest distances between these ellipsoidal objects. A numerical method obtains the tendency of major joints’ movements and calculates their potential velocities by composing these acting torques. In trajectory tracking, collision avoidance occurring on links can finally be achieved by utilizing the characteristics of joint redundancy. The validity and efficiency of the proposed method are measured in simulations of movement along trajectories in terms of a defined index of motion availability, by which it verifies that the method is not only feasible to constrained motions but also has better performances in free motions than inverse Jacobian techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not only often comorbid but also overlapped in behavioral and cognitive abnormalities. Little is known about whether these shared phenotypes are based on common or different underlying neuropathologies. Therefore, this study aims to examine the disorder-specific alterations in white matter (WM) structural property. Method The three comparison groups included 23 male adults with ASD (21.4 ± 3.1 years), 32 male adults with ADHD (23.4 ± 3.3 years), and 29 age-matched healthy male controls (22.4 ± 3.3 years). After acquisition of the diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI), whole brain tractography was reconstructed by a tract-based automatic analysis. Generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA) values were computed to indicate tract-specific WM property with adjusted P value < 0.05 for false discovery rate correction. Results Post hoc analyses revealed that men with ASD exhibited significant lower GFA values than men with ADHD and male controls in six identified fiber tracts: the right arcuate fasciculus, right cingulum (hippocampal part), anterior commissure, and three callosal fibers (ventrolateral prefrontal cortex part, precentral part, superior temporal part). There was no significant difference in the GFA values of any of the fiber tracts between men with ADHD and controls. In men with ASD, the GFA values of the right arcuate fasciculus and right cingulum (hippocampal part) were negatively associated with autistic social-deficit symptoms, and the anterior commissure GFA value was positively correlated with intelligence. Conclusions This study highlights the disorder-specific alteration of the microstructural property of WM tracts in male adults with ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 38:384-395, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do consumers choose to post their brand reviews online? Whereas prior research examines what people say online, we investigate where consumers post their brand-related consumption experience on an online discussion forum. Using the framework of the Persuasion Knowledge Model, we suggest that consumers act as intuitive media planners to assess the extent to which they can reach their specific goals when targeting online audiences. Specifically, we examine the effects of posters' motives, message valence, and audience similarity on posting behavior. We propose and find that persuasion-motivated consumers focus on whether the message is effective in generating interest and emotion from the audience; therefore, they are more likely to post positive messages on a brand-general forum, such as a product forum, and negative messages on a brand-specific forum. In contrast, affiliation-motivated posters primarily focus on audience similarity, preferring to post on a forum where they perceive the audience as similar to them. Three experiments show the different posting patterns under the two motives and demonstrate the mediating role of message effectiveness under a persuasion motive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated tract-based analysis of diffusion MRI is an important tool for investigating tract integrity of the cerebral white matter. Current template-based automatic analyses still lack a comprehensive list of tract atlas and an accurate registration method. In this study, tract-based automatic analysis (TBAA) was developed to meet the demands. Seventy-six major white matter tracts were reconstructed on a high-quality diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) template, and an advanced two-step registration strategy was proposed by incorporating anatomical information of the gray matter from T1-weighted images in addition to microstructural information of the white matter from diffusion-weighted images. The automatic analysis was achieved by establishing a transformation between the DSI template and DSI dataset of the subject derived from the registration strategy. The tract coordinates in the template were transformed to native space in the individual's DSI dataset, and the microstructural properties of major tract bundles were sampled stepwise along the tract coordinates of the subject's DSI dataset. In a validation study of eight well-known tracts, our results showed that TBAA had high geometric agreement with manual tracts in both deep and superficial parts but significantly smaller measurement variability than manual method in functional difference. Additionally, the feasibility of the method was demonstrated by showing tracts with altered microstructural properties in patients with schizophrenia. Fifteen major tract bundles were found to have significant differences after controlling the family-wise error rate. In conclusion, the proposed TBAA method is potentially useful in brain-wise investigations of white matter tracts, particularly for a large cohort study. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3441-3458, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) has emerged as the most important biosynthetic gasotransmitters along with nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). In this study, we report the design and the synthesis of a new epoxide fluorescent probe 7-glycidyloxy-9-(2-glycidyloxycarbonylphenyl)-2-xanthone (FEPO) for use in in vivo visualization of hydrogen sulfide. The probe employs a fluorescein as a fluorophore, and is equipped with an operating epoxide unit. FEPO functions via epoxide ring opening upon nucleophilic attack of H 2 S. This ring opening strategy may open a new avenue for the development of various H 2 S fluorescent sensors. FEPO showed high selectivity and high sensitivity for H 2 S. FEPO's cytotoxicity was tested using MTT (2-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-3,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) assay. Furthermore, the use of confocal imaging of H 2 S and in vivo imaging in live zebra fish demonstrated FEPO's potential biological applications. We anticipate that, owing to their ideal properties, probes of this type will find great uses in exploring the role of H 2 S in biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies suggest that intratumoral legumain promotes tumorigenesis. To monitor legumain activity in tumors, we developed a new MRI contrast agent ([Gd-NBCB-TTDA-Leg(L)]) and a NIR fluorescence probe (CyTE777-Leg(L)-CyTE807). The MRI contrast agent was prepared by introduction of cyclobutyl and benzyl group residues to TTDA (3,6,10-tri(carboxymethyl)-3,6,10-triaza-dodecanedioic acid), followed by the attachment of a legumain-specific substrate peptide (Leg(L)). The NIR fluorescence probe was designed by conjugating two NIR fluorochromes (CyTE777 and CyTE807) with Leg(L). Peptide cleavage of the MRI contrast agent by legumain can increase its hydrophobicity and promote rotational correlation time (τ R). Peptide cleavage of the NIR probes by the legumain relieves the self quench of the probe. Peptide cleavage of the MRI contrast agent and the NIR fluorescence probe by legumain were confirmed by T 1 relaxometric studies and by fluorescence studies, respectively. In vivo MR images showed that [Gd-NBCB-TTDA-Leg(L)] attained 55.3 fold (254.2% versus 4.6%, at 2.0 h post-injection) higher imaging enhancement, as compared with control contrast agent bearing a noncleaveable peptide ([Gd-NBCB-TTDA-Leg(D)], in the CT-26 (legumain+) tumors. Similarly, optical imaging probe CyTE777-Leg(L)-CyTE807 attained 15.2 fold (3.34 × 109 photons/min versus 0.22 × 109 photons/min, at 24.0 h post-injection) higher imaging enhancement in the CT-26 (legumain+) tumors, compared to a NIR control probe (CyTE777-Leg(D)-CyTE807). These data indicate that the [Gd-NBCB-TTDA-Leg(L)] and the CyTE777-Leg(L)-CyTE807 probes may be promising tools to image the legumain-expressing cancers for diagnoses and targeted treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insearch of a unique and reliable contrast agent targeting pancreaticadenocarcinoma, new multifunctional nanoparticles (MnMEIO-silane-NH2-(MUC4)-mPEG NPs) were successfully developed in this study.Mucin4-expression levels were determined through different imagingstudies in a panel of pancreatic tumor cells (HPAC, BxPC-3, and Panc-1)both in vitro and in vivo studies. The in vitro T2-weighted MR imaging study in HPAC and Panc-1 tumor cellstreated with NPs showed −89.1 ± 5.7% and −0.9 ±0.2% contrast enhancement, whereas in in vivo study, it is found tobe −81.5 ± 4.5% versus −19.6 ± 5.2% (24 hpostinjection, 7.0 T), respectively. The T2-weighted MR and optical imaging studies revealed that the novelcontrast agent can specifically and effectively target to mucin4-expressingtumors in nude mice. Hence, it is suggested that MnMEIO-silane-NH2-(MUC4)-mPEG NPs are able to provide an efficient and targeteddelivery of MUC4 antibodies to mucin4-expressing pancreatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Photochemistry of the title compounds in various solvents was studied using a broad band of light centered at 350 nm. C-4 spiroketal cyclohexenone 4 (1.0 M) afforded dimers and 12b with the predominance of the former in polar solvent and the latter in nonpolar solvent. When the concentration was reduced to, 4 underwent solvent addition in nonpolar solvent and ring-contraction in polar solvents. 4,4-Dimethoxycyclohexenones 5a–d in TFE exhibited a different photochemical behavior. The 5-vinyl-substituted enone afforded the bridged-bicyclic ketone 16. Cyclohexenone 5b with methyl moieties at C-2 and C-3 underwent aromatization whereas cyclohexenones with butyl substituent at C-5 and 5d with silylated alcohol at C-2 underwent solvent exchange. In γ-hydroxylated cyclohexenones 6a–c ring-contraction and solvent exchange were observed. Photochemistry of the title compounds from the mechanistic viewpoint is also described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: This study aims to improve accuracy of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) prediction equations for estimating fat free mass (FFM) of the elderly by using non-linear Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network (BP-ANN) model and to compare the predictive accuracy with the linear regression model by using energy dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as reference method. Methods: A total of 88 Taiwanese elderly adults were recruited in this study as subjects. Linear regression equations and BP-ANN prediction equation were developed using impedances and other anthropometrics for predicting the reference FFM measured by DXA (FFMDXA) in 36 male and 26 female Taiwanese elderly adults. The FFM estimated by BIA prediction equations using traditional linear regression model (FFMLR) and BP-ANN model (FFMANN) were compared to the FFMDXA. The measuring results of an additional 26 elderly adults were used to validate than accuracy of the predictive models. Results: The results showed the significant predictors were impedance, gender, age, height and weight in developed FFMLR linear model (LR) for predicting FFM (coefficient of determination, r² = 0.940; standard error of estimate (SEE) = 2.729 kg; root mean square error (RMSE) = 2.571kg, P < 0.001). The above predictors were set as the variables of the input layer by using five neurons in the BP-ANN model (r² = 0.987 with a SD = 1.192 kg and relatively lower RMSE = 1.183 kg), which had greater (improved) accuracy for estimating FFM when compared with linear model. The results showed a better agreement existed between FFMANN and FFMDXA than that between FFMLR and FFMDXA. Conclusion: When compared the performance of developed prediction equations for estimating reference FFMDXA, the linear model has lower r² with a larger SD in predictive results than that of BP-ANN model, which indicated ANN model is more suitable for estimating FFM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, has previously been shown to ameliorate obesity-associated metabolic syndrome. To decipher the mechanism responsible for the beneficial effects of DHA on energy/glucose homeostasis and the metabolic syndrome, 30 weaned cross-bred pigs were randomly assigned to three groups and fed ad libitum with a standard diet supplemented with 2% of beef tallow, soybean oil or DHA oil for 30 days, and the gene expression profile of various tissues was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The DHA-supplemented diets reduced the expression of forkhead box O transcription factor (FoxO) 1 and FoxO3 in the liver and adipose tissue. DHA treatments also decreased the expression of FoxO1 and FoxO3 in human hepatoma cells, SK-HEP-1 and human and porcine primary adipocytes. In addition, DHA also down-regulated FoxO target genes, such as microsomal triacylglycerol transfer protein (MTP), glucose-6-phosphatase, apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III) and insulin-like growth factor binding-protein 1 in the liver, as well as reduced total plasma levels of cholesterol and triacylglycerol in the pig. Transcriptional suppression of FoxO1, FoxO3, apoC-III and MTP by DHA was further confirmed by reporter assays with each promoter construct. Taken together, our study indicates that DHA modulates lipid and glucose homeostasis in part by down-regulating FoxO function. The down-regulation of genes associated with triacylglycerol metabolism and very low density lipoprotein assembly is likely to contribute to the beneficial effects of DHA on the metabolic syndrome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study introduces a method to enable a robot to learn how to perform new tasks through human demonstration and independent practice. The proposed process consists of two interconnected phases; in the first phase, state-action data are obtained from human demonstrations, and an aggregated state space is learned in terms of a decision tree that groups similar states together through reinforcement learning. Without the postprocess of trimming, in tree induction, the tree encodes a control policy that can be used to control the robot by means of repeatedly improving itself. Once a variety of behaviors is learned, more elaborate behaviors can be generated by selectively organizing several behaviors using another Q-learning algorithm. The composed outputs of the organized basic behaviors on the motor level are weighted using the policy learned through Q-learning. This approach uses three diverse Q-learning algorithms to learn complex behaviors. The experimental results show that the learned complicated behaviors, organized according to individual basic behaviors by the three Q-learning algorithms on different levels, can function more adaptively in a dynamic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By exploring the process through which a distinctive Taiwanese national cuisine was formed, particularly after 2000, this paper reveals that ethnic politics can play a crucial role in the framing of national cuisine, involving issues of social hierarchy and the dilemma of tradition and modernization. Through state banquets, local food festivals, and other means of promoting ethnic cuisines, local Taiwanese dishes and ethnic cuisines have become viable commodities in the marketplace, while the government has played an active role as a market agent in this process. Nevertheless, although traditional ethnic cuisines have been articulated as important symbols of ethnicity, the symbolic power of tradition has its limits. As social hierarchy is a crucial aspect in ethnic politics, and the degree of modernization has been shaped as the criterion of a higher social class, "tradition or modernization" becomes a choice between ethnicity and social status. The production and contestation of the hierarchies of ethnic cuisines in Taiwan thus involve not only the hierarchy of ethnic groups but also the forces of modernization and Westernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling is critical to embryogenesis and resistance to chemotherapy. We aimed to examine the role of Shh signaling in the response to radiation of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Methods and Materials: Response to ionizing radiation therapy (RT) was evaluated by clonogenic assay. Quantitative RT—polymerase chain reaction for patched-1 (PTCH-1) expression was performed. Cytosolic accumulation of Shh and nuclear translocation of Gli-1 were assessed by immunofluorescence. Gli-1 knockdown was done by RNA interference (RNAi). Immunoprecipitation was performed to detect Shh ligand in conditioned medium. Immunofluorescent stain for γ-H2AX was used as an index of DNA double strand breaks (DSB). Expression of proteins related to DNA damage repair was assessed by Western blotting. Results: We found that Shh ligand could protect human HCC HA22T and Sk-Hep1 cells against RT. In HA22T cells, Shh ligand activated the Shh signaling with upregulation of Shh, PTCH-1, and Gli-1 expression. The nuclear translocation of Gli-1 further supports the activation of Gli-1. The radioprotection by Shh ligand was partly blocked by Shh antibody neutralization and was abolished by Gli-1 RNAi, suggesting a critical role of Shh signaling in radiation resistance. Furthermore, we noted that soluble factors secreted into conditioned medium, either constitutively or responding to radiation, by HA22T or Sk-Hep1 cells protected subsequent culturing cells against RT. Immunoprecipitation shows the presence of Shh peptide in conditioned medium. Intriguingly, antibody neutralization of Shh ligand or knockdown of Gli-1 reversed the radioprotective effect of conditioned medium. Furthermore, Shh ligand reduced the RT-induced phosphorylation of checkpoint kinase 1 and impaired the repair of DNA DSB. Conclusions: Activation of Shh signaling protects HCC cells against ionizing radiation in an autocrine manner. Impairment of DNA damage repair might involve mechanism of Shh-induced radioresistance. Targeting Shh signaling pathway may be a novel strategy to enhance the radioresponse of human HCC cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper proposes a twin-buck converter with zero-voltage transition (ZVT). The converter comprises two identical buck conversion units employing power MOSFETs as the active power switches with an interleaved inductor. The ZVT is accomplished by resonating the currents between the interleaved inductor and the parasitic capacitances of the power MOSFETs. The detailed circuit operations and analysis are provided. A laboratory circuit rated at 300 W is designed and tested. Experimental results show that the switching losses can be effectively reduced by ZVT of the active power switches, accompanied by the reduced reverse recovery loss of freewheeling diodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a potential anti-cancer agent that inhibits proliferation and induces cell death through regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK). This study examined the effect of NCTD on tumor cells by using a model of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate plus ionomycin (PMAI)-activated leukemia Jurkat T cells. The results showed that NCTD significantly inhibited the viability of cells with and without PMAI treatment. NCTD induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, down-regulated the expression of calcineurin and, by itself or in combination with Cyclosporine A, reduced calcineurin phosphatase activity. Furthermore, NCTD up-regulates the expression of phosphorylated (p)-P38 and p-ERK1/2, but not JNK in PMAI-activated Jurkat T cells, in accordance with the alteration in viability. Regarding major cytokine and chemokine secretion profile, NCTD attenuates PMAI-augmented production of IL-2, but slightly increases or has no effect on TNF-α and IL-8. By blockade of various MAPK, NCTD regulates PMAI-augmented IL-2 production through activation of P38 and ERK1/2, in accordance with the aforementioned MAPK expression. In conclusion, NCTD inhibited IL-2 production in PMAI-activated human leukemia Jurkat T cells through activation of P38 and ERK1/2, suggesting that NCTD might have the potential of being used as a chemopreventive agent to inhibit tumor progression in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Keyhole diffusion tensor imaging (keyhole DTI) was previously proposed in cardiac imaging to reconstruct DTI maps from the reduced phase-encoding images. To evaluate the feasibility of keyhole DTI in brain imaging, keyhole and zero-padding DTI algorithms were employed on in vivo mouse brain. The reduced phase-encoding portion, also termed as the sharing rate, was varied from 50% to 90% of the full k-space. Our data showed that zero-padding DTI resulted in decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) and decreased mean apparent diffusion coefficient (mean ADC) in white matter (WM) regions. Keyhole DTI showed a better edge preservation on mean ADC maps but not on FA maps as compared to the zero-padding DTI. When increasing the sharing rate in keyhole approach, an underestimation of FA and an over- or underestimation of mean ADC were measured in WM depending on the selected reference image. The inconsistency of keyhole DTI may add a challenge for the wide use of this modality. However, with a carefully selected directive diffusion-weighted image to serve as the reference image in the keyhole approach, this study demonstrated that one may obtain DTI indices of reduced-encoding images with high consistency to those derived with full k-space DTI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigates the beam profile and the liquid crystal (LC) arrangement affected by an optical field on LC thin films at a temperature close to nematic–isotropic phase transition temperature (T NI). A combined microscopic and conoscopic technique was used in experiments as a convenient way to analyze the optical nonlinearity that is associated with the molecular configuration of nematic liquid crystal (NLC). An optical field combined with thermal enhancement enhances molecular reorientation and causes additional molecular excitation along the axis of propagation of the beam. The reorientational nonlinearity yields an undulating structure with multi-foci; the length between each pair of foci increases with time, as described. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The coexistence of nitric oxide and superoxide leads to complex oxidative and nitrosative chemistry, which has been implicated in many pathophysiological conditions. The present study investigated the role of ascorbate in affecting the kinetics of nitrosative chemistry in a model dynamic snystem of coexisting nitric oxide and superoxide. SIN-1 (3-morpholinosydnonimine) was used to elicit various degrees of nitroxidative stress in a reaction buffer and DAN (2,3-diaminonaphthalene) was used as a probe for N-nitrosation reaction. The nitrosation kinetics in the absence and presence of ascorbate was followed by measuring the formation of the fluorescent product over time. Computational modelling was used to provide quantitative or semi-quantitative insights into the studied system. The results show that ascorbate effectively quenches N-nitrosation reaction, which could be partially attributed to the free radical scavenging and repairing effect of ascorbate. Computational modelling reveals an interesting temporal distribution of superoxide, nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. The model predicts that peroxynitrite is the most predominant species in the SIN-1 system. Furthermore, ascorbate might alter the system dynamics by removing superoxide and, thereby, increasing the availability of nitric oxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rice (Oryza sativa), an important cereal as a staple food worldwide, can be used in gluten-free diets. This study aimed to isolate and characterize the active rice proteins and assess the anti-leukaemia response via in vitro and ex vivo experiments. Temperature-stable protein-containing extracts augmented this effect. Proteomic analysis identified various protein spots known with functions involving metabolism-related, transport, storage, antioxidation, development, and disease-resistance proteins. Among these, storage proteins were the most abundant. To avoid masking the other relatively scanty rice storage proteins, albumin, globulin, glutelin and prolamin were separated and quantified. The human peripheral blood mononuclear cells-conditioned medium (PBMC-CM) prepared from prolamin treatment showed an increment in production of tumor necrosis factor-α. Human leukaemia U937 cells cultured in the presence of prolamin-prepared PBMC-CM were inhibited in growth capacity and were triggered differentiation toward monocytes. Neutralization of prolamin by polyclonal antibody attenuated its activity. Rice prolamin, undetectable by wheat gliadin-specific antibody, has greater anti-leukaemia activity than wheat proteins glutenin and gliadin. In conclusion, rice prolamin is effective in activating human anti-leukaemia immunity and may not induce unwanted inflammatory diseases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The benzene and quinoxaline fused Δ2-1,2,3-triazolines 1a and 1b were synthesized in good yields using Knoevenagel condensation and intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition as two of the key reactions. Photolysis (254nm) of Δ2-1,2,3-triazoline 1a or 1b in acetonitrile led to the homolytic cleavage of nitrogen that generated diethyl diazomalonate 7, highly reactive intermediates aziridines 8a,b, and isoindoles B. The latter two species subsequently underwent rearrangement to give the nitrogen extrusion products 9a,b, and polymers. Furthermore, the reactive intermediates were trapped by dienophiles to give the corresponding cycloadducts. Subsequent rearrangement of the N-bridged cycloadducts gave N-substituted pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinoxalines 12b and 15b in 6% and 9% yields, respectively. Irradiation of 1a in the presence of fumaronitrile led to the isolation of cycloadduct 16a with retention of stereochemistry. Thermal reaction of 1b gave more nitrogen extruded product 9b (58–63% yield) than that by photolysis (5–23% yield), which implied that zwitterionic intermediate might be involved in the former. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a small-molecule metastasis inhibitor without renal toxicity derived from a renal toxic compound cantharidin, which is found in blister beetles (Mylabris phalerata Pall.), commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. The anti-metastatic capacity of NCTD is apparently through the downexpression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity. The aim of this study was to clarify the transcriptional regulation of MMP-9 gene by NCTD in colorectal cancer CT-26 cells. NCTD not only downregulated MMP-9 mRNA and protein expression, but also inhibited gelatinase activity in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. In CT26 cells with transfection of cis-element reporter plasmids, NCTD treatment decreased reporter luciferase activity from a Sp1 construct, augmented with a NF-κB construct, but this did not occur with an AP-1 construct. Further transfecting with constructs containing wild-type or various mutant MMP-9 promoters in CT26 cells indicated that Sp1, but not the others, was required for NCTD-inhibition of MMP-9 promoter transactivation. More evidence by electrophoretic mobility shift assay demonstrated that NCTD inhibited the DNA-binding activity of Sp1. In addition, the increase effect of NF-κB-luciferase activity by NCTD may include the upexpression of nuclear STAT1 and result in competitive suppression of NF-κB-binding activity in MMP-9 promoter. In conclusion, the metastasis inhibitor NCTD downregulates MMP-9 expression by inhibiting Sp1 transcriptional activity in colorectal cancer CT26 cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aims: This study examined the in vitro and in vivo angiogenic effects of norcantharidin (NCTD), a synthetic, small-molecule antitumor compound. Main methods: Syngeneic colorectal adenocarcinoma CT26 cells were implanted in mice to examine the effect of NCTD on VEGF production and renal and hepatic toxicity. Human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to examine the in vitro effect of NCTD on viability, chemotaxis, vascular network tube formation, adhesive ability, anoikis, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. A protein array was used for analysis of angiogenic factors released from NCTD-treated HUVECs. Key findings: NCTD suppressed plasma VEGF levels of tumor-bearing mice, without renal or hepatic toxicity. In vitro, NCTD inhibited viability of normal HUVECs to a lesser extent than CT26 cancer cells. At concentrations less than those inhibiting 50% of the cells, NCTD inhibited migration and capillary-like tube formation of HUVECs. The anti-angiogenic effect of NCTD was accompanied by anoikis, down-regulation of integrin β1, and breakdown of vimentin. NCTD decreased MAPK expression of phosphorylated (p)-JNK and p-ERK. P-P38 expression or P38 inhibitor SB203580 did not impair the effect of NCTD on viability or adhesion of HUVECs. In addition, NCTD inhibited the release of pro-angiogenic factors from HUVECs, but not from CT26 cells. Significance: NCTD is a synthetic, small-molecule compound possessing anti-angiogenetic activity with potential use in anti-cancer therapy as an anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenic agent. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]