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Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a common chronic renal disorder in children. Oral glucocorticoids are required in high doses for prolonged periods adding to various comorbidities including psychosocial issues and behavioral problems. Objectives: This study was done to analyze the behavioral profile of children with steroid-sensitive NS (SSNS), also its association with other factors such as mothers’ education, socioeconomic status, and age distribution. Materials and Methods: This was a questionnaire (child behavior checklist)-based cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care center. Children from 6 to 15 years with diagnosis of SSNS for the duration of 1 year or more were included in the study. Cases were divided into two groups: Infrequent and frequent relapsing NS (IFRNS)/steroid-dependent NS (SDNS). Equal number of children in 6–15 years age group attending outpatient clinic was taken as controls. Results: Children with SSNS (n=161) had behavioral problems in significant percentage (39.13%) compared to the control group (8.75%). It was observed more in boys (73.02%) who had more hyperactive, aggressive behavior, and externalizing problems. Internalizing problems (anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, and somatic complaints) were significantly more in the study group (17.39%) as compared to none in the control group. Children with FRNS/SDNS course had more significant problems compared to relapse IFRNS group. Age distribution, socioeconomic status, and mother’s education had no significant effect on its occurrence. Conclusion: Significant behavioral problems are observed in children with SSNS and are related to the type of SSNS.

Current interaction methods for VR/AR headsets need hand-held devices/joysticks, head-mounted cameras or external sensors to detect hand and body movements in order to generate actionable commands. It is not feasible for the people with motor or movement disabilities. In the meanwhile, the current assistive technologies need complicated, cumbersome, and expensive equipment, which are not user-friendly, not portable, and still require certain motor control capabilities from the user. Our approach aims to bridge this gap by developing a compact, non-obtrusive and ergonomic wearable device, to measure physiological signals associated with human eye/facial gestures, and therefore generate simple and intuitive commands to interact with the VR/AR headset. Our innovation uses machine learning and non-invasive biosensors attached on top of the ears (temple positions) to identify eye movements and facial expressions. Through proper design of Human-Machine interactions, we have come up with several engaging human-game multimodal interaction methods by simply moving user's eyes and doing facial expressions. It allows people with motor impairment have a fun time to play VR games with other people, totally "hand-free".

Current assistive technologies are complicated, cumbersome, not portable, and users still need to apply extensive fine motor control to operate the device. Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) could provide an alternative approach to solve these problems. However, the current BCIs have low classification accuracy and require tedious human-learning procedures. The use of complicated Electroencephalogram (EEG) caps, where many electrodes must be attached on the user's head to identify imaginary motor commands, brings a lot of inconvenience. In this demonstration, we will showcase EXGbuds, a compact, non-obtrusive, and comfortable wearable device with non-invasive biosensing technology. People can comfortably wear it for long hours without tiring. Under our developed machine learning algorithms, we can identify various eye movements and facial expressions with over 95% accuracy, such that people with motor disabilities could have a fun time to play VR games totally "Hands-free".

We examine and analyze the elements important for developing a commercialization strategy for an emerging technology of great relevance to biopharma: three-dimensional bio-printing (3DBP). We begin with a technology overview, identification of multiple, potential end-user market segments, then examine the key forces driving the competitive landscape of the emerging industry. The ability to print engineered 3D tissues advances innovations for human health and 3DBP is a transformative and disruptive technological breakthrough with high commercial potential for both short-term and long-term market applications. The near-term research markets include drug discovery research and development and the long-term markets focused on printing of organs and organoids for regenerative medicine. We include a mini-case study on the emergence of one potential innovation, the FRE SH printing technology being developed at Carnegie Mellon University. The case study includes extensive market research made possible by published data, and our customer surveys. The commercialization pathway to innovation is framed in terms of combining two popular innovation frameworks: The Disruptive Innovation and the Blue Ocean strategic frameworks for market entry, growth, and expansion spanning from early adopters to mainstream market segments. We also advocate open innovation as an approach to building the “lean” business model and collaborative ecosystems through strategic alliances with noncompeting firms having overlapping interests in 3DBP. This collaboration in parallel enables faster and more capital efficient validation of the process: product development, market development, validation of product/market fit, and market /customer development across the product life cycle spanning short, medium, and long-term visions for the technology. A platform strategy is framed to maximize the power of the technology and development of a sustained competitive advantage through complementary products, services, and partners in the emerging ecosystem.

Current assistive devices to help disabled people interact with the environment are complicated and cumbersome. Our approach aims to solve these problems by developing a compact and non-obtrusive wearable device to measure signals associated with human physiological gestures, and therefore generate useful commands to interact with the smart environment. Our innovation uses machine learning and non-invasive biosensors on top of the ears to identify eye movements and facial expressions. With these identified signals, users can control different applications, such as a cell phone, powered wheelchair, smart home, or other IoT (Internet of Things) devices with simple and easy operations. Combined with VR headset, the user can use our technology to control a camera-mounted telepresence robot to navigate around the environment in the first-person's view (FPV) by eye movements and facial expressions. It enables a very intuitive way of interaction totally hands-free and touch-free.

Current assistive technologies need complicated, cumbersome, and expensive equipment, which are not user-friendly, not portable, and often require extensive fine motor control. Our approach aims at solving these problems by developing, a compact, non-obtrusive and ergonomic wearable device, to measure signals associated with human physiological gestures, and thereafter generate useful commands to interact with the environment. Our innovation uses machine learning and non- invasive biosensors on top of the ears to identify eye movements and facial expressions with over 95% accuracy. Users can control different applications, such as a robot, powered wheelchair, cell phone, smart home, or other Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Combined with VR headset and hand gesture recognition devices, user can use our technology to control a camera-mounted robot (e.g., telepresence robot, drones, or any robotic manipulator) to navigate around the environment in first-person's view simply by eye movements and facial expressions. It enables a human- intuitive way of interaction totally 'touch-free'. The experimental results show satisfactory performance in different applications, which can be a powerful tool to help disabled people interact with the environment and measure other physiological signals as a universal controller and health monitoring device.

Hepatic steatosis is the initial stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and may predispose to more severe hepatic disease, including hepatocellular carcinoma. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been recently implicated as a novel mechanism that may lead to NAFLD, although the genetic factors invoking ER stress are largely unknown. During a screen for liver defects from a zebrafish insertional mutant library, we isolated the mutant cdipthi559Tg/+ (hi559). CDIPT is known to play an indispensable role in phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) synthesis. Here we show that cdipt is expressed in the developing liver, and its disruption in hi559 mutants abrogates de novo PtdIns synthesis, resulting in hepatomegaly at 5 days postfertilization. The hi559 hepatocytes display features of NAFLD, including macrovesicular steatosis, ballooning, and necroapoptosis. Gene set enrichment of microarray profiling revealed significant enrichment of endoplasmic reticulum stress response (ERSR) genes in hi559 mutants. ER stress markers, including atf6, hspa5, calr, and xbp1, are selectively up-regulated in the mutant liver. The hi559 expression profile showed significant overlap with that of mammalian hepatic ER stress and NAFLD. Ultrastructurally, the hi559 hepatocytes display marked disruption of ER architecture with hallmarks of chronic unresolved ER stress. Induction of ER stress by tunicamycin in wild-type larvae results in a fatty liver similar to hi559, suggesting that ER stress could be a fundamental mechanism contributing to hepatic steatosis. Conclusion: cdipt-deficient zebrafish exhibit hepatic ER stress and NAFLD pathologies, implicating a novel link between PtdIns, ER stress, and steatosis. The tractability of hi559 mutant provides a valuable tool to dissect ERSR components, their contribution to molecular pathogenesis, and evaluation of novel therapeutics of NAFLD. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)

This paper describes the utility of dead shrimp samples in epidemiological investigations of the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and chronic bacterial infections. A longitudinal observational study was undertaken in shrimp farms in Kundapur, Karnataka, India, from September 1999 to April 2000 to identify risk factors associated with outbreaks of white spot disease (WSD) in cultured Penaeus monodon. As a part of the larger study, farmers were trained to collect and preserve dead and moribund shrimp (when observed) during the production cycle. At the end of the production cycle, 73 samples from 50 ponds had been collected for histopathology and 55 samples from 44 ponds for PCR. Intranuclear viral inclusion bodies diagnostic of WSSV infection were detected in dead samples from 32 ponds (64%). Samples of dead shrimp from 18 ponds (36%) showed no histopathological evidence of WSSV infection. However, of these, samples from 13 ponds (26%) showed clear evidence of shell, oral, enteric and systemic chronic inflammatory lesions (CIL) in the form of haemocytic nodules, typical of bacterial infection. Samples from 5 ponds (10%) were negative for both WSSV and CIL. Samples from 8 ponds had dual WSSV and CIL, although both WSSV and CIL were only observed in the same shrimp from 1 pond. Useful information was obtained from these shrimp despite the presence of post-mortem changes. Samples from 19 ponds (43%) tested positive for WSSV by 1-step PCR and samples from an additional 10 ponds (22.7%) were positive by 2-step nested PCR. Samples from 15 ponds (34.1%) were negative for WSSV by 2-step nested PCR. There was moderate to substantial agreement between PCR and histopathology in the diagnosis of WSSV infection in dead shrimp. WSSV infection in dead shrimp was significantly associated with crop failures as defined by a shorter length of the production cycle (

White spot disease (WSD) is caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), which is a bacilliform, non-occluded, enveloped, double-stranded (ds) DNA virus and belongs to the family Nimaviridae and genus Whispovirus (Vlak et al. 2005). In recent years, intensive studies on the virus have been made, particularly with respect to its organization, morphogenesis, pathology and pathogenesis (Escobedo-Bonilla et al. 2008). Shrimps, like other invertebrates, lack a true adaptive immune system but have developed effective mechanisms for detecting and eliminating pathogens, which depend primarily on innate immune system (Loker et al. 2004). Haemocytes constitute the first line of internal defence against invading microorganisms. They are crucial in the immune responses of crustaceans and are capable of cell agglutination, phagocytosis, encapsulation, nodule formation and mediation of cytotoxicity (Soderhall 1999; Johansson et al. 2000).

Sfrp5 belongs to the family of secreted frizzled related proteins (Sfrp), secreted inhibitors of Wingless-MMTV Integration Site (Wnt) signaling, which play an important role in cancer and development. We selected sfrp5 because of its compelling expression profile in the developing endoderm in zebrafish, Danio rerio. In this study, overexpression of sfrp5 in embryos results in defects in both convergent extension (CE) by inhibition of non-canonical Wnt signaling and defects in dorsoventral patterning by inhibition of Tolloid-mediated proteolysis of the BMP inhibitor Chordin. From 25 hours post fertilization (hpf) to 3 days post fertilization (dpf), both overexpression and knockdown of Sfrp5 decrease the size of the endoderm, significantly reducing liver cell number. At 3 dpf, insulin-positive endodermal cells fail to coalesce into a single pancreatic islet. We show that Sfrp5 inhibits both canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling during embryonic and endodermal development, resulting in endodermal abnormalities.

The word "Organogenesis" was spelled incorrectly in the title. The correct title is: "Sfrp5 Modulates Both Wnt and BMP Signaling and Regulates Gastrointestinal Organogenesis in the Zebrafish, Danio rerio." The correct citation is: Stuckenholz C, Lu L, Thakur PC, Choi T-Y, Shin D, et al. (2013) Sfrp5 Modulates Both Wnt and BMP Signaling and Regulates Gastrointestinal Organogenesis in the Zebrafish, Danio rerio. PLoS ONE 8(4): e62470. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0062470.

Background & Aims The zebrafish Danio rerio is an excellent model system for mammalian gastrointestinal development. To identify differentially regulated genes important in gastrointestinal organogenesis, we profiled the transcriptome of the zebrafish developing gastrointestinal tract. Methods Embryos from a transgenic zebrafish line expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the developing intestine, liver, and pancreas were dissociated at 4 developmental time points, their cells sorted based on GFP expression with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), and analyzed with microarrays. To improve our analysis, we annotated the Affymetrix Zebrafish GeneChip with human orthologs. Results Transcriptional profiling showed significant differences between GFP + and GFP − cells. Up-regulated genes and pathways were consistent with mammalian gastrointestinal development, such as hepatic nuclear factor gene networks and cancer. We implicate the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway and show that inhibition with LY294002 causes gastrointestinal defects in zebrafish. We identified novel genes, such as the microRNAs miR-217 and miR-122, the tight junction protein claudin c, the gene fam136a, and a zebrafish tetraspanin. Novel pathways include genes containing a putative transcription factor binding sequence, GGAANCGGAANY, and a nucleolar gene network. The zebrafish microarrays also identify a set of 32 genes that may mediate the effects of gain of chromosome arm 8q in human colon, liver, and pancreatic cancers. Conclusions We successfully combine FACS and microarray profiling to follow organogenesis throughout development. These experiments identify novel genes and pathways that probably play a role in mammalian gastrointestinal development and are potential targets for therapeutic intervention in the management of gastrointestinal disease and cancer.

White spot disease (WSD) is a viral disease of shrimp caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Stocking WSSV-infected seed has been implicated as a major risk factor for outbreaks of WSD. In addition, the quality of postlarvae batches has been proposed as a predictor for good crops. This paper describes the relationship between indicators of quality and WSSV in postlarvae (PL) of Penaeus monodon from Karnataka, India, over the period September 1999 to January 2000. Three outcome variables were considered: the WSSV status of the PL, as determined by PCR, and 2 subjective assessments of PL quality, namely the activity of the PL and the quality of the PL as determined by research assistants and farmers, respectively. Of the 73 batches of PL, 49.3% from a random sample of farms tested positive for WSSV. After adjusting for confounding, stocking earlier in the growing season and duration of transportation were the main risk factors for the presence of WSSV. The quality assessed by farmers and the PL activity assessed by research assistants showed only fair agreement (kappa 0.252) reaffirming the subjective nature of such techniques. The only variables consistently associated with either assessment of quality in univariate analysis were PL length, number per bag and salinity of the water in the delivery bags. After adjusting for confounding, no single variable was consistently associated with PL quality and activity. The research assistants' assessment of PL activity was also associated with the hatchery and a brown-orange hepatopancreas in univariate analysis. After adjusting for confounding, a brown-orange hepatopancreas was still significant and fitted into the model together with the salinity of the water in the PL bags. The farmers' assessment of quality was associated with PL length, date of stocking and duration of transportation in both univariate and multivariable analyses. There was no relationship between quality assessment and WSSV in PCR-positive PL.