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Backgroud: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a component of the tumor microenvironment, play a critical role in cancer progression, either pro- or anti-tumorigenic functions. Due to the original, phenotypic, and functional heterogeneity, CAFs can be subgrouped into several subpopulations. So far, no molecular classifications of CAFs based on a single-cell pan-cancer scale have been provided. Methods: This study employs a pan-cancer single-cell transcriptional atlas on 9 types of solid tumors (breast cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine prostate cancer, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, prostate adenocarcinoma, and stomach adenocarcinoma) to provide a novel molecular classification, elucidate the CAF evolution. The function of each CAF subtype was analyzed by single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC) and single-cell GSEA, and the clinical significance was assessed using survival curves. Furthermore, we used molecular docking to screen small molecules targeting matCAF and conducted in vivo experiments to verify. Results: We distinguished CAFs in the solid tumor as 4 molecular clusters: progenitor CAF (proCAF), inflammatory CAF (iCAF), myofibroblastic CAF (myCAF), and matrix-producing CAF (matCAF) based on the prominent molecular features. The classification is universally applied in all the 9 solid tumors. The 4 CAF subtypes exhibit distinct evolutionary trajectories, functional roles, and clinical significance in different solid tumors. Besides, the matCAF signatures were found to have poor prognoses among multiple cancer types. Targeting matCAF by a screened small molecule, Procyanidin C1, exerted anti-tumor effects in suppressing tumor growth. Conclusions: Together, CAF subtypes play essential roles in cancer initiation and progression, especially mat CAF. Targeting matAF in solid tumors has tumor therapeutic potential.

Few drugs alleviate non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) metastasis effectively. Small molecular screening demonstrated that fangchinoline (Fan) reversed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in NSCLC cells, inhibiting cell invasion and migration. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of Fan-treated NSCLC cells revealed that Fan potently quenched the NADP

Introduction Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world. Up to now, many genes associated with HCC have not yet been identified. In this study, we screened the HCC-related genes through the integrated analysis of the TCGA database, of which the potential biomarkers were also further validated by clinical specimens. The discovery of potential biomarkers for HCC provides more opportunities for diagnostic indicators or gene-targeted therapies. Methods Cancer-related genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) HCC database were screened by a random forest (RF) classifier based on the RF algorithm. Proteins encoded by the candidate genes and other associated proteins obtained via protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis were subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. The newly identified genes were further validated in the HCC cell lines and clinical tissue specimens by Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Survival analysis verified the clinical value of genes. Results Ten genes with the best feature importance in the RF classifier were screened as candidate genes. By comprehensive analysis of PPI, GO and KEGG, these genes were confirmed to be closely related to HCC tumors. Representative NOX4 and FLVCR1 were selected for further validation by biochemical analysis which showed upregulation in both cancer cell lines and clinical tumor tissues. High expression of NOX4 or FLVCR1 in cancer cells predicts low survival. Conclusion Herein, we report that NOX4 and FLVCR1 are promising biomarkers for HCC that may be used as diagnostic indicators or therapeutic targets.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) enforced stricter sulphur abatement regulations since shipping emission has become one of the most major cause of the atmospheric pollution. Experts from the industry and academicians try to find the balanced solution among low-sulphur fuel, clean energy, and purposely fit scrubber by conventional statistical methods however failed to reach a satisfying conclusion. In addition, maritime datasets are usually massive, multi-source, and heterogeneous, it seems imperative for the maritime industry to adapt to the worldwide trend of intellectualisation and promote sustainable development.This work delineates and compares three main sulphur abatement solutions for ships through a thorough investigation of the current research state, and proposes a new framework based on a fusion model using modern big data and data mining algorithms. This work identifies and summarises major factors (with high impacts) in sulphur abatement solutions in the ocean shipping industry and integrate those high-level impacting factors to the proposed fusion model. The proposed framework can be optimised and utilised in determining suitable solutions for different ships, as well as shipping routes.

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks pose a huge threat to the Internet. Follow the rapid usage of the Internet of things (IoT), the DDoS attack is no longer a mere traffic attack, the original attack on the application layer surpasses the attack on the network layer. Furthermore, DDoS attacks using Bonnets result more destructive effects. This research aims to propose a new collaborated active defense framework between Honeypot and cloud platform to detect and defend future DDoS attacks in the context of the IoT with the instantaneous malicious traffic measured in Terabytes.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has many advantages, such as low operating temperature, fast reaction, and high energy density, etc. It is a very potential energy source. During battery operation, PEMFC will produce a large amount of water in the catalyst layer where the reaction occurs. The catalyst layer and gas diffusion layer (GDL) inside the battery are made of porous media. The water produced during the reaction will be discharged through these porous media structures, but the narrow gaps of the porous media structures will complicate the process. For example, too much water will flood the internal structure of the battery, making liquid water unable to drain smoothly. The above process may cause the reaction rate of the battery to decrease or even stop. Studying and understanding the water transportation process inside PEMFC is of great help in solving the above problems. Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is a promising numerical method for simulating the flows in porous media. Compared with the traditional CFD method, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) can deal with the pore structure of fine-scale better. In this paper, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is employed to simulate the flow in the PEMFC. In order to reconstruct the porous media structure in PEMFC, the numerical reconstruction technique is used to generate porous media structures with different porosity. By simulating the flow of water in porous media, the transport laws of water in different porosity rates can be obtained. It provides a reference for improving the operating efficiency of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Cancer cells have developed chemoresistance and have improved their survival through the upregulation of autophagic mechanisms that protect mitochondrial function. Here, we report that the traditional Chinese anticancer agent tubeimoside I (Tub), which is a potent inhibitor of autophagy, can promote mitochondria-associated apoptosis in lung cancer cells. We found that Tub disrupted both mitochondrial and lysosomal pathways. One of its mechanisms was the induction of DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation. Another mechanism was the blocking of late-stage autophagic flux via impairment of lysosomal acidification through V-ATPase inhibition; this blocks the removal of dysfunctional mitochondria and results in reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Excessive ROS accumulation causes damage to lysosomal membranes and increases lysosomal membrane permeability, which leads to the leakage of cathepsin B. Finally, cathepsin B upregulates Bax-mediated mitochondrial outer membrane permeability and, subsequently, cytosolic cytochrome C-mediated caspase-dependent apoptosis. Thus, the cancer cell killing effect of Tub is enhanced through the formation of a positive feedback loop. The killing effect of Tub on lung cancer cells was verified in xenografted mice. In summary, Tub exerts a dual anticancer effect that involves the disruption of mitochondrial and lysosomal pathways and their interaction and, thereby, has a specific and enhanced killing effect on lung cancer cells.

This paper investigates the introduction of time-delays into wheelchair driving. Two dissimilar ways in which wheelchair drivers interact are compared. Users were observed as they drove their wheelchairs with and without time-delays. Tests took place with a computer system and sensors which provided assistance and then without any assistance provided. As delays became longer then drivers found it more difficult to drive. If the wheelchair moved through a more complicated environment or if the time-delay was made longer, then driving was better if the computer and sensors assisted. Time delays were introduced between the motor controller and the wheelchair joystick. With shorter time-delays or in simpler environments then less assistance was needed from the computer system and sensors. In more complicated environments or if time-delays were longer, then more assistance was needed. That suggest varying sensor support could be helpful depending on the complexity of the environment or the difficulties being experienced by the drivers.

Intelligent control and human computer interaction is investigated for a powered wheelchair using a simple expert system and ultrasonic sensors. The aim is to make driving easier. Signals from sensors and joysticks are interpreted. The interpreted signals are mixed so that the systems collaborate with the human driver to improve their control over direction and speed. Ultrasonic sensors identify hazards and the system suggests a safer speed and direction. Results are presented from drivers completing a series of timed routes using joysticks to control wheelchairs both with a microcomputer and sensors assisting them and without. Recently published systems are used to contrast and compare results. The new system described in this paper consistently performed better. An additional result appears to be that the amount of support from the microcomputer and sensors should be altered depending on surroundings and situations. The research is part of a bigger research project to improve mobility and enhance the quality of life of disabled powered wheelchair users by increasing their self-reliance and self-confidence.

Dioscin is a natural steroidal saponin that can be isolated from Chinese medicine, such as Dioscoreae rhizoma. It has wild range of pharmacological activities such as hepatoprotection, a lipid-lowering effect, and anti-inflammation. Recently, mounting studies reported the anticancer effect of dioscin on a variety of tumor cells. However, the potential effect of dioscin on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HepG2 cells is unclear. In the present study, dioscin was identified to inhibit transforming growth factor-&beta, 1 (TGF-&beta, 1) and induced invasive and migratory behavior of HepG2 cells. Consistently, the expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and gap junction proteins increased following dioscin treatment, while mesenchymal markers decreased, including N-cadherin, Vimentin, Snail, and Slug. Furthermore, we discovered that TGF-&beta, 1 induces phosphorylation of JNK, p38, and Erk, whereas the activation of these kinases was reversed by dioscin treatment in a dose-dependent manner. With the addition of Asiatic acid, a p38 activator, the inhibitory effect of dioscin on EMT was reversed. Taken together, these data indicated that dioscin inhibits EMT in HepG2 cells, which is mediated in large part by inhibition of the p38-MAPK signaling.

Facial expressions analysis is a vital part of the research in human-machine interaction. This chapter introduces an automatic recognition system for facial expression from a front view human face image. Obtaining an effective facial representation from initial face images is an essential phase for strong and efficient facial expression system. In this chapter we have developed a facial expression analysis system. Firstly we have tried to evaluate facial analysis base on Active shape model (ASM). In order to detect the face images, Adaboost classifier and Haar-Like feature has been adopted to achieve face detection and tracking. The ASM then has been automatically initiated in the detected face image. Then, discriminates and reliable facial feature points has been extracted applying ASM fitting technique. The geometric displacement among the projected ASM feature points coordinates and the mean shape of ASM were used to evaluate facial expression. Using support vector machine (SVM) classifier, the obtained results has reached a recognition rate of 93 %.Keywords: Facial Expression Recognition, Image

Advertising agencies have a growing interest in finding out if roadside advertisements have reached the target audiences. The drivers’ head position’ would enable us to determine if they have been looking at the billboards. Numerous researches were focusing on the drivers’ attention from inside their cars; however, some have tried to determine the interaction between the drivers and outside objects. In this paper, the proposed Head Pose Estimation (HPE) is able to detect drivers’ head motion/position and try to determine if they are looking at the billboard. This information is vital for the Advertising companies for the evaluation of the effectiveness of their advertisements.

Wireless sensor network technology holds great promise for application in agriculture to improve crop yield, improve quality, and reduce costs. This paper presents wireless sensor network coverage measurements in a mixed crop farmland. As one of its key contributions, this study shows that general vegetation attenuation models do not apply to low power wireless sensor networks. A log-linear model is proposed in this paper and validated for application in mixed crop environment. Unlike in mono-crop environment, this study shows that the network coverage is heterogeneous with asymmetric channel between communicating node pair. Crop specific parameters of the log-linear model are derived and used to simulate network coverage in a 7 acre test-bed farm. An adaptive energy consumption model for each sensor node is proposed and used to compute energy consumption in the network. A cluster head and two antenna heights deployment model is also proposed and simulated to alleviate short network lifetime due to vegetation attenuation of signals. The results show that this network deployment model extends the lifetime of the network by a factor of more than 20 compare to a deployment where cluster heads are not used.

The main mechanistic function of most chemotherapeutic drugs is mediated by inducing mitochondria-dependent apoptosis. Tumor cells usually respond to upregulate autophagy to eliminate impaired mitochondria for survival. Hypothetically, inhibiting autophagy might promote mitochondria-dependent apoptosis, thus enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapeutic therapies. We previously identified N-methylparoxetine (NMP) as an inducer of mitochondrial fragmentation with subsequent apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. We discovered that ROS was accumulated in NMP-treated NSCLC cells, followed by c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAP kinase (p38) activation. This was reversed by the application of a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), leading to a reduction in apoptosis. Our data suggested that NMP induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. We further speculated that the remarkable increase of ROS in NMP-treated NSCLC cells might result from an inhibition of autophagy. Our current data confirmed that NMP blocked autophagy flux at late stage wherein lysosomal acidification was inhibited. Taken together, this study demonstrated that NMP could exert dual apoptotic functions&mdash, mitochondria impairment and, concomitantly, autophagy inhibition. NMP-related excessive ROS accumulation induced apoptosis by activating the MAPK pathway in NSCLC cells.

Context based searches is always the area which admires by different researchers. Ontology hence, is the way to develop such a semantic web. However, alignment is the way to properly align Ontologies to actually develop the semantic environment. Thus interoperability between different classes can be maintained in order to optimize the context based searches. There exist different methods to map the given Ontologies to make their classes or attributes unique. However, every of them have some drawbacks. We will critically analyze different published methods according to their common attributes. 1. In troduction T here exist different algorithms that can align the Ontology. The term “mapping” is referred when doing an alignment. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks. In this paper, we will define those methods, present work of other authors and critically analyze each method as per their common attribute in order to make an effective way to align the Ontology. This will enable other authors to analyze from the proposed dimension and subsequently refine to make it more effective.

Ontology is the way to provide interoperability of different classes over semantic web. The better the ontology is constructed, the more are the chances for tight integration between different processes, no matter they are within the organization or are indirectly connected to organization, including external stakeholders i.e. Customers, Suppliers and Outsource services. For a properly design Ontology, it is always a mandatory step to apply different methods for Ontology Alignment. This propagates the reusability approach of a single object, thus at different instances, same property or attribute can be declared, rather going for heterogeneous environment. We have different traditional methods to align the ontology, however we are going to propose new method, adopted from the other domain, to better align the ontology. We will advance the concept by introducing algorithm which can help implementing the solution.

During their final year undergraduate project a student may feel under-supported, stressed or isolated. In an internally funded project we set out to investigate the benefits of using a diverse blend of collaboration and communication tools alongside traditional methods of final year project supervision. We established separate formal and informal communication channels between the supervisor and their project students and a community of practice of students and supervisors was set up using twitter or a web forum. Using a wiki as a collaborative workspace and repository, student project pages were created and virtual supervision was blended with face-to-face supervision using electronic logs. at first some students were dubious about our approach and disapproved of at least one of the tools used. The supervisors were also initially sceptical of an increase in workload due to the multiplicity of tools used. In this paper we present how the staff and students benefited precisely because of the diverse range of tools used. The methods used resulted in transparency of students’ and supervisors’ actions, however, lessons were learnt about how to address student concerns about plagiarism in such an open environment.

To develop a high sensitive and specific method for the detection of abrin.The abrin monoclonal antibody (mAb) 7D1 coated with Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and abrin mAb labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP-mAb) were used to establish the immunocapturing method for abrin detection. The results were compared with the traditional double antibody sandwich ELISA.The detecting linear of immunocapture for abrin was 2.5-60 ng/mL, and the linear regression equation was y=0.012x-0.015 with the detection limit of 2.5 ng/mL. Ricin at different concentrations did not interfere the abrin detection results, which demonstrated that the method had a good specificity . This approach showed good reproducibility with relative standard deviation ranging from 5.18%-8.67%. It could be used for analyzing abrin-contaminated specimens such as water, beverage, and milk, etc. The results of comparison with the conventional double antibody sandwich ELISA indicated that the immunocapture have a broader linear scale, higher sensitivity, and a shorter detection time.The developed immunocapturing method can be used for detecting traces of abrin.