Continuous Finger Gesture Recognition Based on Flex Sensors.

The goal of this work is to present a novel continuous finger gesture recognition system based on flex sensors. The system is able to carry out accurate recognition of a sequence of gestures. Wireless smart gloves equipped with flex sensors were implemented for the collection of the training and testing sets. Given the sensory data acquired from the smart gloves, the gated recurrent unit (GRU) algorithm was then adopted for gesture spotting. During the training process for the GRU, the movements associated with different fingers and the transitions between two successive gestures were taken into consideration. On the basis of the gesture spotting results, the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation was carried out for the final gesture classification. Because of the effectiveness of the proposed spotting scheme, accurate gesture recognition was achieved even for complicated transitions between successive gestures. From the experimental results, it can be observed that the proposed system is an effective alternative for robust recognition of a sequence of finger gestures.

Constructing the HBV-human protein interaction network to understand the relationship between HBV and hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have clearly validated the association between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with chronic HBV infection are at increased risk of HCC, in particular those with active liver disease and cirrhosis. METHODS: We catalogued all published interactions between HBV and human proteins, identifying 250 descriptions of HBV and human protein interactions and 146 unique human proteins that interact with HBV proteins by text mining. RESULTS: Integration of this data set into a reconstructed human interactome showed that cellular proteins interacting with HBV are made up of core proteins that are interconnected with many pathways. A global analysis based on functional annotation highlighted the enrichment of cellular pathways targeted by HBV. CONCLUSIONS: By connecting the cellular proteins targeted by HBV, we have constructed a central network of proteins associated with hepatocellular carcinoma, which might be to regard as the basis of a detailed map for tracking new cellular interactions, and guiding future investigations.

Modified arterialization of orthotopic liver transplantation in a mouse model.

BACKGROUND: With the establishment of genetically modified and gene knock-out models, the mouse has become an important animal model for liver transplantation. We examined hepatic rearterialization after liver transplantation in a mouse model. METHODS: Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in 70 mice and sham-operation was performed in a control group of 40 mice. Based on the "two-cuff" method, a continuous suture approach was applied to the suprahepatic inferior vena cava and a cuff approach to the portal vein and the infrahepatic inferior vena cava. A biliary stent was inserted into the bile duct. The hepatic artery was reconstructed with end-to-side anastomosis. The survival rate of recipients was monitored at 24 hours, one week, and one month after the operation. Liver function and morphology were evaluated one month postoperatively. RESULTS: Postoperative survival rates were 94.3% at 24 hours, 91.4% at one week, and 85.7% at one month. No significant difference was seen between the experimental and control groups in liver function. The hepatic tissue preserved normal structure. CONCLUSION: Owing to its high survival rate and stability, this surgical approach is ideal for establishing an orthotopic liver transplantation mouse model with hepatic artery reconstruction.