Enhancing thermal stability and mechanical resilience in gelatin/starch composites through polyvinyl alcohol integration.

In practical scenarios, destabilizing the physical attributes of natural polymers such as gelatin and starch occurs readily when exposed to specific moisture levels and heat. In this context, this work was carried out to assess the impact of PVA addition (up to 13 wt%) on the structure and physical properties of a 6:4 (w/w) gelatin/starch blend. The inclusion of PVA unfolded the molecular chains of gelatin and starch, thereby disrupting gelatin α-helices and impeding biopolymer crystallization. This facilitated hydrogen-bonding interaction between PVA and the two biopolymers, enhancing the stability of the molecular network structure. Rheological results indicate that composites (added with 4 % or 7 % PVA) with good compatibility exhibited excellent mechanical properties and deformation resistance. The addition of PVA elevated the gelling temperature (Tgel) of the composites from 41.31 °C to 80.33 °C; the tensile strength and elongation at break were increased from 2.89 MPa to 3.40 MPa and 341.62 % to 367.56 %, respectively; and the thermal stability was also apparently improved, signifying the effective enhancement of the physical properties of gelatin/starch-based composites and the broadening of their application scope. This work could provide insights into the development of biodegradable natural/synthetic polymer composites with application-beneficial characteristics.

A Potential Mechanism of Neurological Impairment in Children With Infantile Spasm: Based on Microanatomic Structure Analysis Employing Voxel-Based Morphometry and Surface-Based Morphometry.

BACKGROUND: Infantile epileptic spasms syndrome (IESS) would accompany with severe neurological impairment. Our study aimed to explore the potential mechanism by employing voxel-based and surface-based morphometry to detect brain microwould accompany with severe neurological impairment. Our study aimed to explore the potential mechanism by employing voxel-based and surface-based morphometry to detect brain microanatomic structure alteration. METHODS: The IESS group had 21 males and 13 females (mean age: 17.7 ± 15.6 months), whereas the healthy controls group had 22 males and 10 females (mean age: 29.4 ± 18.7 months). High-resolution 3D T1WI was performed. Computational Anatomy Toolbox implemented in Statistical Parametric Mapping 12 was used to measure the gray matter and white matter volume, and the cortical thickness separately. Independent sample t test was used to assess between-group differences. IESS group was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. RESULTS: The IESS group showed a significantly decreased volume of gray matter in right middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, right fusiform, and bilateral precuneus (P < 0.001). There were no significant between-group differences with respect to white matter volume or cortical thickness (P > 0.001). The results of Bayley Scales of Infant Development showed that the Mental Development Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index scores of children with IESS were almost concentrated in the range of <70. MDI score showed a positive correlation with gray matter reduction area in IESS group. CONCLUSION: Children with IESS had impaired cognitive and delayed motor development. And the decreased gray matter in the right temporal lobe, fusiform, and bilateral precuneus could be the potential anatomic basis for impaired function, such as hearing, visual, and language.

Myeloid Deletion of Cdc42 Protects Liver From Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Inhibiting Macrophage-Mediated Inflammation in Mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) often occurs in liver surgery, such as partial hepatectomy and liver transplantation, in which myeloid macrophage-mediated inflammation plays a critical role. Cell division cycle 42 (Cdc42) regulates cell migration, cytoskeleton rearrangement, and cell polarity. In this study, we explore the role of myeloid Cdc42 in HIRI. METHODS: Mouse HIRI models were established with 1-hour ischemia followed by 12-hour reperfusion in myeloid Cdc42 knockout (Cdc42mye) and Cdc42flox mice. Myeloid-derived macrophages were traced with RosamTmG fluorescent reporter under LyzCre-mediated excision. The experiments for serum or hepatic enzymic activities, histologic and immunologic analysis, gene expressions, flow cytometry analysis, and cytokine antibody array were performed. RESULTS: Myeloid deletion of Cdc42 significantly alleviated hepatic damages with the reduction of hepatic necrosis and inflammation, and reserved hepatic functions following HIRI in mice. Myeloid Cdc42 deficiency suppressed the infiltration of myeloid macrophages, reduced the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, restrained M1 polarization, and promoted M2 polarization of myeloid macrophages in livers. In addition, inactivation of Cdc42 promoted M2 polarization via suppressing the phosphorylation of STAT1 and promoting phosphorylation of STAT3 and STAT6 in myeloid macrophages. Furthermore, pretreatment with Cdc42 inhibitor, ML141, also protected mice from hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition or deletion of myeloid Cdc42 protects liver from HIRI via restraining the infiltration of myeloid macrophages, suppressing proinflammatory response, and promoting M2 polarization in macrophages.

Estimating genome-wide DNA methylation heterogeneity with methylation patterns.

BACKGROUND: In a heterogeneous population of cells, individual cells can behave differently and respond variably to the environment. This cellular diversity can be assessed by measuring DNA methylation patterns. The loci with variable methylation patterns are informative of cellular heterogeneity and may serve as biomarkers of diseases and developmental progression. Cell-to-cell methylation heterogeneity can be evaluated through single-cell methylomes or computational techniques for pooled cells. However, the feasibility and performance of these approaches to precisely estimate methylation heterogeneity require further assessment. RESULTS: Here, we proposed model-based methods adopted from a mathematical framework originally from biodiversity, to estimate genome-wide DNA methylation heterogeneity. We evaluated the performance of our models and the existing methods with feature comparison, and tested on both synthetic datasets and real data. Overall, our methods have demonstrated advantages over others because of their better correlation with the actual heterogeneity. We also demonstrated that methylation heterogeneity offers an additional layer of biological information distinct from the conventional methylation level. In the case studies, we showed that distinct profiles of methylation heterogeneity in CG and non-CG methylation can predict the regulatory roles between genomic elements in Arabidopsis. This opens up a new direction for plant epigenomics. Finally, we demonstrated that our score might be able to identify loci in human cancer samples as putative biomarkers for early cancer detection. CONCLUSIONS: We adopted the mathematical framework from biodiversity into three model-based methods for analyzing genome-wide DNA methylation heterogeneity to monitor cellular heterogeneity. Our methods, namely MeH, have been implemented, evaluated with existing methods, and are open to the research community.

TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100 composite used as an electrochemical aptasensor for detection of trace tetracycline residues.

In this work, a metal-organic framework@covalent organic framework composite (TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100) was prepared and used as a sensing material to construct an aptasensor for trace detection of tetracycline (TET). The TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100 integrates a large surface area, porous structure, excellent electrochemical activity, rich chemical functionality, and strong bioaffinity for aptamers, providing abundant active sites to effectively anchor aptamer strands. As a result, the TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100-based aptasensor shows high sensitivity for detecting TET via specific recognition between aptamer and TET to form G-quadruplex. An ultralow detection limit of 1.227 fg mL-1 is deduced from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy within a wide linear range of 0.01-10000 pg mL-1 for TET. The TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100-based aptasensor also exhibits good selectivity, reproducibility, stability, regenerability, and applicability for a real milk sample. Therefore, the TPN-COF@Fe-MIL-100-based aptasensor will be promising for detecting trace harmful antibiotics residues for food safety.

Identification of neutralizing epitopes on the D/A domain of the E2 glycoprotein of classical swine fever virus.

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) shares high antigenic homology with other members of the genus Pestivirus. Because several pestivirus species can also infect swine, eliciting cross-reactive antibodies, it is important to define CSFV-specific epitopes for the differential diagnosis of classical swine fever (CSF) by serology. For this purpose, epitope mapping of seven monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), recognizing sites on the D/A domain of glycoprotein E2, was performed using recombinant expressed antigenic domains and mutants of E2, as well as an overlapping peptide library. Three CSFV-specific epitopes, i.e., 780-IEEMGDDFGFGLCPF-794, 810-NGSAFYLVCPIGWTG-824, and 846-REKPF-850, were identified within the D/A domain of E2. Site-directed mutagenesis further confirmed that residues 783-MGD-785, 789-FGLCPF-794, 813-AFYLVCPIGWTG-824, and 846-REK-848 were critical residues in these regions. In addition, a F789S difference within the epitope 780-IEEMGDDFGFGLCPF-794 was responsible for the absence of binding of two mAbs to the E2 protein of the live attenuated CSFV vaccine strain Riems. Structural modeling revealed that, the three epitopes are located near each other, suggesting that they may form a more complex conformational epitope on the D/A domain in vivo. Six of the mAbs neutralized viruses of diverse genotypes, indicating that the target epitopes are involved in virus interaction with cells. The binding of CSFV to cells was significantly reduced after pre-incubation with either truncated E2 proteins comprising the D/A domain or with the CSFV-specific mAbs targeting the domain D/A. These epitopes identified on the D/A domain are important targets for virus neutralization that might be involved in the early steps of CSFV infection. These findings reveal potential candidates for improving the differential diagnosis of pestiviruses by serology.

Construction of MOF@COF composite-based electrochemical aptasensor for detection of Staphylococcus aureus.

In this work, a biological metal-organic framework@conductive covalent organic framework composite (bio-MOF@con-COF, denoted as Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF, here, Glu indicates L-glutamic acid, PT indicates 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarbaldehyde, and BD indicates benzene-1,4-diamine) was prepared and used as sensing material to fabricate aptasensor for trace detection of Staphylococcus aureus (SA). The Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF integrates the mesoporous structure and abundant defects of the MOF framework, the excellent conductivity of the COF framework, and high stability of the composite, providing abundant active sites to effectively anchor aptamers. As a result, the Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF-based aptasensor shows high sensitivity to detect SA via specific recognition between aptamer and SA, as well as the formation of aptamer-SA complex. Low detection limits of 2.0 and 1.0 CFU·mL-1 are deduced from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry within a wide linear range of 10-108 CFU·mL-1 for SA, respectively. The Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF-based aptasensor also shows good selectivity, reproducibility, stability, regenerability, and applicability for real milk and honey samples. Therefore, the Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF-based aptasensor will be promising for fast screening of foodborne bacteria in food service industry. Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF composite was prepared and used as sensing material to fabricate aptasensor for trace detection of Staphylococcus aureus (SA). Low detection limits of 2.0 and 1.0 CFU·mL-1 are deduced from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry within a wide linear range of 10-108 CFU·mL-1 for SA, respectively. The Zn-Glu@PTBD-COF-based aptasensor also shows good selectivity, reproducibility, stability, regenerability, and applicability for real milk and honey samples.

Roles of protein tyrosine phosphatases in hepatocellular carcinoma progression (Review).

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents almost 80% of all liver cancers, is the sixth most common cancer and is the second­highest cause of cancer­related deaths worldwide. Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), which are encoded by the largest family of phosphatase genes, play critical roles in cellular responses and are implicated in various signaling pathways. Moreover, PTPs are dysregulated and involved in various cellular processes in numerous cancers, including HCC. Kinases and phosphatases are coordinators that modulate cell activities and regulate signaling responses. There are multiple interacting signaling networks, and coordination of these signaling networks in response to a stimulus determines the physiological outcome. Numerous issues, such as drug resistance and inflammatory reactions in the tumor microenvironment, are implicated in cancer progression, and the role of PTPs in these processes has not been well elucidated. Therefore, the present review focused on discussing the relationship of PTPs with inflammatory cytokines and chemotherapy/targeted drug resistance, providing detailed information on how PTPs can modulate inflammatory reactions and drug resistance to influence progression in HCC.

Organic ultraviolet filters regulate hyaluronan metabolism in human epidermal keratinocytes through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway.

Chronic exposure of skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is responsible for skin ageing, which includes degradation of the epidermal and dermal layers. Filtering UV light is key in the sunscreen industry. We studied the effects of organic UV filters on hyaluronan (HA) metabolism and skin hydration in human HaCaT keratinocytes. The gene expression of HA receptors, HA synthase (HAS), hyaluronidase (HYAL), and water channel aquaporin 3 (AQP3) was evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR. The state of oxidative stress was determined by measuring the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The results showed that five organic UV filters reduced the extracellular contents of HA, and a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor partially restored the decreased HA levels after octinoxate, octocrylene, and oxybenzone treatment. The expression levels of HA receptors, including cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), receptor for hyaluronic acid-mediated motility (RHAMM), and toll-like receptors (TLRs), were determined. Avobenzone, octinoxate, oxybenzone, and padimate O exerted inhibitory effects on RHAMM expression. Oxybenzone led to a significant increase in CD44 and AQP3 expression. Both octinoxate and octocrylene increased TLR4 expression but decreased ROS accumulation by activating the PI3K pathway. However, the organic UV filters differentially regulated the mRNA expression of HAS and HYAL. Taken together, these results suggest that certain organic UV filters regulate HA metabolism in human keratinocytes in a PI3K pathway-dependent manner.

Gum Arabic in combination with IFN-γ promotes the M1 polarization in macrophage.

Gum Arabic, a mixture of polysaccharide and glycoprotein, is used as an emulsifying stabilizer in the food industry. It might have immunomodulatory effects. We hypothesized that the combination of IFN-γ and Gum Arabic promotes the production of pro-inflammatory factors in RAW 264.7 cells. Treatment of RAW 264.7 cells with the combination of 3% Gum Arabic and 40 ng/mL IFN-γ resulted in a drastic increase (320%) in nitric oxide production compared with that induced by IFN-γ alone. PGE-2 was produced after the cells were treated with 3% Gum Arabic and 40 ng/mL IFN-γ for 6 h. Gum Arabic and IFN-γ increased the production of iNOS and COX-2 proteins, and triggered TNF-α release. Apart from TNF-α, the release of both G-CSF and IL-6 increased by more than 100 times. The release of IL-3, RANTES, and IL-10 increased by more than ten times. Gum Arabic and IFN-γ also increased the secretion of IL-10, IL-1α, IL-1ß, IL-13, KC, IL-5, IL-4, IL-12, Eotaxin, IL-9, MCP-1, and ROS. Cytokines associated with M1 polarization of macrophages such as TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-12, NO, and ROS were induced by Gum Arabic and IFN-γ. Our findings help to explore the inflammatory reaction caused by Gum Arabic in cosmetics.

Aberrant overexpression of HOTAIR inhibits abdominal adipogenesis through remodelling of genome-wide DNA methylation and transcription.

OBJECTIVE: Abdominal adiposity is strongly associated with diabetic and cardiovascular comorbidities. The long noncoding RNA HOTAIR (HOX Transcript Antisense Intergenic RNA) is an important epigenetic regulator with fat depot-specific expression. Its functional roles and epigenetic regulation in abdominal adipogenesis remain uncertain. METHODS: We collected different fat depots from healthy, severely obese, and uraemic subjects to measure fat-depot specific gene expression and quantify regional adiposity via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). HOTAIR was overexpressed to evaluate its functional roles. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), RNA-sequencing, real-time qPCR and RNA/chromatin immunoprecipitation were performed to analyse HOTAIR-mediated epigenetic regulation. RESULTS: A negative correlation between adipose tissue HOTAIR expression (arm or abdominal subcutaneous fat depots) and regional adiposity under the status of severe obesity or uraemia was observed. HOTAIR overexpression using human immortalized abdominal preadipocytes further revealed its anti-adipogenic effects. Integrative analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation by reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) and gene expression was performed. Overall, the differentially methylated genes were functionally enriched for nervous system development, suggesting that HOTAIR may be epigenetically associated with cell lineage commitment. We specifically found that HOTAIR-mediated genes showed strong changes in both DNA methylation and gene expression during abdominal adipogenesis. We observed that two HOTAIR-repressed genes, SLITRK4 and PITPNC1, present an obesity-driven fat-depot specific expression pattern that is positively correlated with the central body fat distribution. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicated that HOTAIR is a key regulator of abdominal adipogenesis via intricate DNA methylation and is likely to be associated with the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in nervous system development and lipid metabolism, such as SLITRK4 and PITPNC1.

Disentangling interoceptive abilities in alexithymia.

In recent years, research on interoceptive abilities (i.e., sensibility, accuracy, and awareness) and their associations with emotional experience has flourished. Yet interoceptive abilities in alexithymia-a personality trait characterized by a difficulty in the cognitive interpretation of emotional arousal, which impacts emotional experience-remain under-investigated, thereby limiting a full understanding of subjective emotional experience processing. Research has proposed two contrasting explanations thus far: in one model, the dimensions of interoceptive sensibility and accuracy in alexithymia would increase; in the other model, they would decrease. Surprisingly, the contribution of interoceptive awareness has been minimally researched. In this study (N = 182), the relationship between participants' level of alexithymia and the three interoceptive dimensions was tested. Our results show that the higher the level of alexithymia is, the higher interoceptive accuracy and sensibility (R2 = 0.29 and R2 = 0.14); conversely, the higher the level of alexithymia is, the lower interoceptive awareness (R2 = 0.36). Moreover, an ROC analysis reveals that interoceptive awareness is the most accurate predictor of alexithymia, yielding over 92% accuracy. Collectively, these results support a coherent understanding of interoceptive abilities in alexithymia, whereby the dissociation of interoceptive accuracy and awareness may explain the underlying psycho-physiological mechanisms of alexithymia. A possible neurocognitive mechanism is discussed which suggests insurgence of psychosomatic disorders in alexithymia and related psychotherapeutic approaches.

The efficacy of Lactobacillus acidophilus and rhamnosus in the reduction of bacterial load of Helicobacter pylori and modification of gut microbiota-a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Probiotics may alter the gut microbiota and may reduce antibiotic-related dysbiosis after H. pylori eradication. However, whether probiotics are effective in reducing the bacterial load of H. pylori and modifying the gut microbiota remains unknown. We aimed to assess the efficacy of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus in reducing the bacterial load of H. pylori and modifying the gut microbiota. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited 40 adult subjects with moderate to high bacterial loads of H. pylori, defined as a mean delta over baseline (DOB) value of the 13 C-urea breath test (13 C-UBT) of 10 or greater every 4 days 6 times. Eligible subjects were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either probiotics containing Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus or placebo twice daily for 4 weeks. 13 C-UBT was measured weekly from the beginning of treatment to 2 weeks after treatment. Amplification of the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA was performed for fecal microbiota. RESULTS: A total of 40 subjects were randomized to receive probiotics or placebo. The DOB value was significantly lower in the probiotic group than in the placebo group after 4 weeks of treatment (26.0 vs. 18.5, p = .045). The DOB value was significantly reduced compared to that at baseline in the probiotic group (18.5 vs. 26.7, p = .001) but not in the placebo group (26.0 vs. 25.0, p = .648). However, the eradication rate for H. pylori was 0% in both groups. There was no significant difference in the DOB values between the two groups 1 and 2 weeks after discontinuation of the probiotics. There were also no significant changes observed in the α-diversity and ß-diversity at week 4 compared to baseline in the probiotic group (p = .77 and 0.91) and the placebo group (p = .26 and 0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Although the use of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus may reduce the bacterial load of H. pylori, there were no significant changes in the composition of gut microbiota. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02725138.

Identification of a Common Conformational Epitope on the Glycoprotein E2 of Classical Swine Fever Virus and Border Disease Virus.

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) shares high structural and antigenic homology with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and border disease virus (BDV). Because all three viruses can infect swine and elicit cross-reactive antibodies, it is necessary to differentiate among them with regard to serological diagnosis of classical swine fever. To understand the mechanism of cross-reactivity, it is important to define common or specific epitopes of these viruses. For this purpose, epitope mapping of six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was performed using recombinant expressed antigenic domains of CSFV and BDV E2 proteins. One CSFV-specific conformational epitope and one CSFV and BDV common epitope within domain B/C of E2 were identified. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that residues G725 and V738/I738 of the CSFV-specific epitope and P709/L709 and E713 of the second epitope are important for mAbs binding. Infection of CSFV in porcine cells was significantly reduced after pre-incubation of the cells with the domain B/C of E2 or after pre-incubation of CSFV with the mAbs detecting domain B/C. 3D structural modeling suggested that both epitopes are exposed on the surface of E2. Based on this, the identified epitopes represent a potential target for virus neutralization and might be involved in the early steps of CSFV infection.

Evaluating the Antioxidants, Whitening and Antiaging Properties of Rice Protein Hydrolysates.

Plant-derived protein hydrolysates have potential applications in nutrition. Rice protein hydrolysates (RPHs), an excellent source of proteins, have attracted attention for the development of cosmeceuticals. However, few studies have reported the potential application of RPH in analysis, and this study examined their antioxidant activities and the inhibitory activities of skin aging enzymes. The results indicated that the total phenolic and flavonoid concentrations were 2.06 ± 0.13 mg gallic acid equivalent/g RPHs and 25.96 ± 0.52 µg quercetin equivalent/g RPHs, respectively. RPHs demonstrated dose-dependent activity for scavenging free radicals from 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl [half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 42.58 ± 2.1 mg/g RPHs] and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (IC50 = 2.11 ± 0.88 mg/g RPHs), dose-dependent reduction capacity (6.95 ± 1.40 mg vitamin C equivalent/g RPHs) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (473 µmol Trolox equivalent/g RPHs). The concentrations of the RPH solution required to achieve 50% inhibition of hyaluronidase and tyrosinase activities were determined to be 8.91 and 107.6 mg/mL, respectively. This study demonstrated that RPHs have antioxidant, antihyaluronidase, and antityrosinase activities for future cosmetic applications.

High Thermal Dissipation of Normally off p-GaN Gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on 6-Inch N-Doped Low-Resistivity SiC Substrate.

Efficient heat removal through the substrate is required in high-power operation of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). Thus, a SiC substrate was used due to its popularity. This article reports the electrical characteristics of normally off p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on a low-resistivity SiC substrate compared with the traditional Si substrate. The p-GaN HEMTs on the SiC substrate possess several advantages, including electrical characteristics and good qualities of epitaxial crystals, especially on temperature performance. Additionally, the price of the low-resistivity SiC substrate is three times lower than the ordinary SiC substrate.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of thiophenylbenzofuran derivatives as potential P-glycoprotein inhibitors.

P-Glycoprotein (P-gp) overexpression is a major mechanism by which cancer cells acquire the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype, and is associated with poor clinical outcome in patients. In an effort to develop MDR-reversal agents, we synthesized and evaluated a series of thiophenylbenzofuran derivatives (4-31) as P-gp inhibitors, among which compounds 4, 10, and 14 represented the optimal agent in reversing the MDR phenotype. These P-gp inhibitors were dramatically effective than verapamil in sensitizing the human ABCB1-overexpressing ABCB1/Flp-In™-293 cells and MDR KBvin cells to a series of chemotherapeutic agents, including vincristine and paclitaxel, as manifested by multi-fold decreases in the respective IC50 values to therapeutically attainable levels.

Extrinsic Calibration of Multiple Two-Dimensional Laser Rangefinders Based on a Trihedron.

Multiple two-dimensional laser rangefinders (LRFs) are applied in many applications like mobile robotics, autonomous vehicles, and three-dimensional reconstruction. The extrinsic calibration between LRFs is the first step to perform data fusion and practical application. In this paper, we proposed a simple method to calibrate LRFs based on a corner composed of three mutually perpendicular planes. In contrast to other methods that require a special pattern or assistance from other sensors, the trihedron corner needed in this method is common in daily environments. In practice, we can adjust the position of the LRFs to observe the corner until the laser scanning plane intersects with three planes of the corner. Then, we formed a Perspective-Three-Point problem to solve the position and orientation of each LRF at the common corner coordinate system. The method was validated with synthetic and real experiments, showing better performance than existing methods.

Diversity of Fungal DNA Methyltransferases and Their Association With DNA Methylation Patterns.

DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) are a group of proteins that catalyze DNA methylation by transferring a methyl group to DNA. The genetic variation in DNMTs results in differential DNA methylation patterns associated with various biological processes. In fungal species, DNMTs and their DNA methylation profiles were found to be very diverse and have gained many research interests. We reviewed fungal DNMTs in terms of their biological functions, protein domain structures, and their associated epigenetic regulations compared to those known in plant and animal systems. In addition, we summarized recent reports on potential RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) related to DNMT5 in fungi. We surveyed up to 40 fungal species with published genome-wide DNA methylation profiles (methylomes) and presented the associations between the specific patterns of fungal DNA methylation and their DNMTs based on a phylogenetic tree of protein domain structures. For example, the main DNMTs in Basidiomycota, DNMT1 with RFD domain + DNMT5, contributing to CG methylation preference, were distinct from RID + Dim-2 in Ascomycota, resulting in a non-CG methylation preference. Lastly, we revealed that the dynamic methylation involved in fungal life stage changes was particularly low in mycelium and DNA methylation was preferentially located in transposable elements (TEs). This review comprehensively discussed fungal DNMTs and methylomes and their connection with fungal development and taxonomy to present the diverse usages of DNA methylation in fungal genomes.

Extrinsic Calibration between a Camera and a 2D Laser Rangefinder using a Photogrammetric Control Field.

The combination of a camera and a 2D laser rangefinder (LRF) is widely used in robotics, mapping, and unmanned driving to simultaneously obtain the 3D geometry and color texture of a scene. However, data misregistration between the camera and the LRF frequently occurs due to the difficulty of precise installation and alignment between them. Extrinsic calibration between the camera and the LRF is necessary. In this study, a photogrammetric control field is used to perform a robust and accurate calibration between the camera and the LRF which requires only one shot. With the use of the photogrammetric control field as the common reference, extrinsic calibration between two sensors is decoupled by calibrating each sensor separately. First, using the room corner of the control field, the LRF is calibrated with respect to the control field by solving a simplified perspective-three-point problem. Then, a large number of control points are used to obtain the robust and accurate extrinsic parameters of the camera with respect to the control field. Experiments with simulated and real data were performed. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme is accurate, precise, and robust under different noise levels, and the calibration results can be utilized in indoor and outdoor applications.