A Robust Nonrigid Point Set Registration Method Based on Collaborative Correspondences.

The nonrigid point set registration is one of the bottlenecks and has the wide applications in computer vision, pattern recognition, image fusion, video processing, and so on. In a nonrigid point set registration problem, finding the point-to-point correspondences is challengeable because of the various image degradations. In this paper, a robust method is proposed to accurately determine the correspondences by fusing the two complementary structural features, including the spatial location of a point and the local structure around it. The former is used to define the absolute distance (AD), and the latter is exploited to define the relative distance (RD). The AD-correspondences and the RD-correspondences can be established based on AD and RD, respectively. The neighboring corresponding consistency is employed to assign the confidence for each RD-correspondence. The proposed heuristic method combines the AD-correspondences and the RD-correspondences to determine the corresponding relationship between two point sets, which can significantly improve the corresponding accuracy. Subsequently, the thin plate spline (TPS) is employed as the transformation function. At each step, the closed-form solutions of the affine and nonaffine parts of TPS can be independently and robustly solved. It facilitates to analyze and control the registration process. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can achieve better performance than several existing state-of-the-art methods.

Prevalence and etiology of abnormal liver tests in an adult population in Jilin, China.

BACKGROUND: Serum biochemical liver tests (LTs) (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma glutamyltransferase) and platelet counts are often used to screen for chronic liver disease. We determined the prevalence and etiologies of abnormal LTs in an adult population in Jilin, China. METHODS: A total of 3791 individuals between the ages of 18 and 79 years were interviewed and then underwent ultrasonography and blood tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of abnormal LTs was 14.77% (560 out of 3791 subjects). The risk factors for abnormal LTs were non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) alone, which accounted for 11.61%, metabolic syndrome alone for 25%, or both for 22.14%. Abnormal LTs were more common in male than in female subjects. The development of abnormal LTs was correlated with older age males, increased daily alcohol intake, poor quality of sleep, smoking, fasting plasma glucose, body mass index, triglyceridemia, and low-density lipoprotein. Abnormal LTs in patients with metabolic syndrome and NAFLD were associated with high fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, body mass index, low density lipoprotein, male, young age, poor sleep quality, smoking, and alcohol intake. However, abnormal LTs in patients with hepatitis B virus were associated with gender and increased age. CONCLUSIONS: The results from the current study demonstrated that the prevalence of abnormal LTs is high in the population (14.77%). Metabolic syndrome, NAFLD, and alcohol intake appear to be potentially important causes of the observed abnormal LTs.

Immunologic characterization of posthepatitis cirrhosis caused by HBV and HCV infection.

No specific treatment can reverse the liver injury in cirrhosis. This study aims to characterize immune status and correlations between cirrhosis induced by HBV and HCV. Phenotypes of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets (T, NK, regulatory T cells) and Th cytokine secretion were analyzed using flow cytometry in 42 HBV-cirrhotic and 40 HCV-cirrhotic patients. Cirrhotic patients had a lower proportion of CD3(+)CD8(+)T cells and NK cells, while the proportion of CD3(+)CD4(+)T cells and Treg cells were higher than those of healthy controls. The levels of Th2 cytokine (IL-6) in cirrhotic patients were increased, while only the Th1 cytokine (IFN-gamma) increased in HBV-cirrhotic patients. These findings show that there is no difference between the cirrhotic groups except in the IFN-gamma level. In cirrhosis, defects in innate, adaptive immune cells are likely regardless of which virus is involved. A cytokine imbalance may play a role in the development of posthepatitic cirrhosis.

Kinesin Family Member 11 Enhances the Self-Renewal Ability of Breast Cancer Cells by Participating in the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway / 한국유방암학회지

Etiology and prevalence of abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase levels in a general population in Northeast China.

BACKGROUND: Chronic liver diseases are a major burden in China. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) can be used as an indicator of hepatocyte damage. In this study, we determined the prevalence and etiologies of elevated ALT in an adult population in Jilin, China. METHODS: A total of 4072 individuals aged between 18 and 79 years were first interviewed, and then underwent ultrasonography and blood tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of elevated ALT was 17.53%. The most noticeable risk factor for ALT elevation was non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (accounting for 10.79%), metabolic syndrome (16.25%), or both (20.31%). The development of NAFLD occurred mostly in female peasants and small businessmen with increased income, age, fasting plasma glucose, body mass index, triglyceridemia, and low-density lipoprotein and decreased education level, high-density lipoprotein. Elevated ALT frequently occurred in low education level, male peasants and small businessmen with increased income, body mass index and triglyceride who had NAFLD and/or metabolic syndrome. However, elevated ALT with infection of hepatitis B or C virus was not associated with metabolic disorders, but rather with gender, occupation and increased age. CONCLUSION: The results from the current study demonstrate that elevated ALT is fairly high in the Northeast population (17.53%) and that the cause of its elevation is mostly due to NAFLD and metabolic syndrome.

[Investigation of the characteristics of HCV genotypes of Han and Korean in Yanbian area of Jilin province].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of HCV genotypes of Han and Korean in Yanbian area of Jilin Province. METHODS: The HCV RNA load and genotypes of the 119 chronic hepatitis C patients in Yanbian area of Jilin Province were determined by real-time PCR and LiPA. The differences of the HCV genotypes in Han and Korean cases, in severity of the diseases, in HCV-RNA load, and in the relation with type 2 diabetes mellitus were analyzed. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the distribution of each HCV genotype between Han and Korean patients (P > 0.05) with chronic hepatitis C. The difference between HCV genotype and HCV-RNA load was not significant (P > 0.05). With and without type 2 diabetes mellitus in these patients. The distribution of HCV genotype was also not significantly different (P > 0.05). The type 1b of HCV genotype in the moderate to severe chronic hepatitis C patients accounted for 58.06%. It was different compared with mild chronic hepatitis C patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: 1) The type 1b is the most popular HCV genotype in Yanbian area of Jilin Province, type 2a is the second and there are still a few other genotypes. 2) There is no significant difference in the distribution of HCV genotypes between Han and Korean cases. 3) The HCV genotypes has nothing to do with the load of HCV-RNA. 4) The distribution of HCV genotypes in chronic hepatitis C patients with and without diabetes mellitus is not significantly different. 5) Type 1b of HCV infection is relatively severe.