Sign language (SL) has strong structural features. Various gestures and the complex trajectories of hand movements bring challenges to sign language recognition (SLR). Based on the inherent ...correlation between gesture and trajectory of SL action, SLR is organically divided into gesture-based recognition and gesture-related movement trajectory recognition. One hundred and twenty commonly used Chinese SL words involving 9 gestures and 8 movement trajectories, are selected as research and test objects. The method based on the amplitude state of surface electromyography (sEMG) signal and acceleration signal is used for vocabulary segmentation. The multi-sensor decision fusion method of coupled hidden Markov model is used to complete the recognition of SL vocabulary, and the average recognition rate is 90.41%. Experiments show that the method of sEMG signal and motion information fusion has good practicability in SLR.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article reports on a noninvasive approach in detecting and following-up individuals who are at-risk or have an existing COVID-19 infection, with a potential ability to serve as an epidemic ...control tool. The proposed method uses a developed breath device composed of a nanomaterial-based hybrid sensor array with multiplexed detection capabilities that can detect disease-specific biomarkers from exhaled breath, thus enabling rapid and accurate diagnosis. An exploratory clinical study with this approach was examined in Wuhan, China, during March 2020. The study cohort included 49 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 58 healthy controls, and 33 non-COVID lung infection controls. When applicable, positive COVID-19 patients were sampled twice: during the active disease and after recovery. Discriminant analysis of the obtained signals from the nanomaterial-based sensors achieved very good test discriminations between the different groups. The training and test set data exhibited respectively 94% and 76% accuracy in differentiating patients from controls as well as 90% and 95% accuracy in differentiating between patients with COVID-19 and patients with other lung infections. While further validation studies are needed, the results may serve as a base for technology that would lead to a reduction in the number of unneeded confirmatory tests and lower the burden on hospitals, while allowing individuals a screening solution that can be performed in PoC facilities. The proposed method can be considered as a platform that could be applied for any other disease infection with proper modifications to the artificial intelligence and would therefore be available to serve as a diagnostic tool in case of a new disease outbreak.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) are a group of toxic substances specific to tobacco. 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a tobacco-specific nitrosamine measurable in urine ...with a much longer half-life than cotinine. We aimed to examine the association between urinary tobacco-specific NNAL and HPV infection among American women. We used cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2007 and 2014 to collect details on their urinary NNAL, HPV infection status, and other essential variables. The association between dietary urinary NNAL and HPV infection status was analyzed by using a weighted multivariate logistic regression model, and stratified subgroup analysis. In total, 5197 participants aged 18-59 years were identified, with overall prevalence of high-risk and low-risk HPV infection of 22.0% and 19.1%, respectively. The highest quartile of NNAL(Q4) was more positively associated with low-risk HPV infection than the lowest quartile of NNAL(Q1) (OR = 1.83 (1.35,2.50), p<0.001). the highest quartile of NNAL(Q4) was more positively associated with high-risk HPV infection than the lowest quartile of NNAL(Q1) (OR = 2.20 (1.57,3.08), p < 0.001). In subgroup analyses, the positive correlation between urinary NNAL levels and low-risk HPV infection status was inconsistent in marital status and BMI (interaction p < 0.05). The positive association of urinary NNAL levels with high-risk HPV infection status was inconsistent in smoking and BMI. (interaction p < 0.05). Tobacco-specific NNAL levels positively correlate with high- and low-risk HPV. Future well-designed longitudinal studies are still needed to validate the effect of tobacco exposure on HPV infection by NNAL.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Remodeling of auxin distribution during the integration of plant growth responses with the environment requires the precise control of auxin influx and efflux transporters. The plasma ...membrane-localized PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins facilitate auxin efflux from cells, and their activity is regulated by reversible phosphorylation. How PIN modulates plant cellular responses to external stresses and whether its activity is coordinated by phospholipids remain unclear. Here, we reveal that, in Arabidopsis (
), the phosphatidic acid (PA)-regulated PINOID (PID) kinase is a crucial modulator of PIN2 activity and auxin redistribution in response to salt stress. Under salt stress, loss of phospholipase D function impaired auxin redistribution and resulted in markedly reduced primary root growth; these effects were reversed by exogenous PA. The phospholipase D-derived PA interacted with PID and increased PID-dependent phosphorylation of PIN2, which activated auxin efflux and altered auxin accumulation, promoting root growth when exposed to salt stress. Ablation of the PA binding motif not only diminished PID accumulation at the plasma membrane but also abolished PA-promoted PID phosphorylation of PIN2 and its function in coping with salt stress; however, this ablation did not affect inflorescence and cotyledon development or PIN2-dependent gravitropic and halotropic responses. Our data indicate a role for PA in coupling extracellular salt signaling to PID-directed PIN2 phosphorylation and polar auxin transport, highlighting the importance of lipid-protein interactions in the spatiotemporal regulation of auxin signaling.
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel hybrid optimization algorithm named GPOFWA, which integrates political optimizer (PO) with fireworks algorithm (FWA) to solve numerical and engineering ...optimization problems. The original PO uses subgroup optimal solutions such as party leaders and constituency winners to guide the movement of the search agent. However, the number of such subgroup optimal solutions is limited, which leads to insufficient global exploration capabilities of PO. In addition, the recent past-based position updating strategy (RPPUS) of PO lacks effective verification of the updated candidate solutions, which reduces the convergence speed of the algorithm. The proposed hybrid algorithm uses the spark explosion mechanism in FWA to perform explosion spark and Gauss explosion spark operations on the subgroup optimal solutions (party leader and constituency winner) respectively based on the greedy strategy, which optimizes the subgroup optimal solution and enhances the exploitative ability of the algorithm. Moreover, Gaussian explosion sparks are also used to correct the candidate solutions after RPPUS, which makes up for the shortcomings of the original PO. In addition, a new subgroup optimal solution called the Converged Mobile Center (CMC) based on two-way consideration is designed to guide the movement of search agents and maintain the population diversity. We test the presented hybrid algorithm on 30 well-known benchmark functions, CEC2019 benchmark functions and three engineering optimization problems. The experimental results show that GPOFWA is superior to many statE−of-thE−art methods in terms of the quality of the resulting solution.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In the recent decade, gut microbiota has received growing interest due to its role in human health and disease. On the one hand, by utilizing the signaling pathways of the host and interacting with ...the immune system, the gut microbiota is able to maintain the homeostasis in human body. This important role is mainly modulated by the composition of microbiota, as a normal microbiota composition is responsible for maintaining the homeostasis of human body, while an altered microbiota profile could contribute to several pathogenic conditions and may further lead to oncogenesis and tumor progression. Moreover, recent insights have especially focused on the important role of gut microbiota in current anticancer therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery. Research findings have indicated a bidirectional interplay between gut microbiota and these therapeutic methods, in which the implementation of different therapeutic methods could lead to different alterations in gut microbiota, and the presence of gut microbiota could in turn contribute to different therapeutic responses. As a result, manipulating the gut microbiota to reduce the therapy-induced toxicity may provide an adjuvant therapy to achieve a better therapeutic outcome. Given the complex role of gut microbiota in cancer treatment, this review summarizes the interactions between gut microbiota and anticancer therapies, and demonstrates the current strategies for reshaping gut microbiota community, aiming to provide possibilities for finding an alternative approach to lower the damage and improve the efficacy of cancer therapy.
Innate immunity can facilitate early brain injury (EBI) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Numerous studies suggest that pyroptosis could exacerbate extracellular immune responses by promoting ...secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) is a quintessential kinase that positively regulates inflammation through NF-κB and MAPK signaling cascades. However, the effects of TAK1 on neuroinflammation in EBI following SAH are largely unknown.
Two hundred and forty-six male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to the endovascular perforation model of SAH. A selective TAK1 inhibitor, 5Z-7-oxozeaenol (OZ) was administered by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v) injection at 30 min after SAH induction. To genetic knockdown of TAK1, small interfering RNA (siRNA) was i.c.v injected at 48 h before SAH induction. SAH grade, brain water content, BBB permeability, neurological score, western blot, real-time PCR, ELISA, transmission electron microscope, and immunofluorescence staining were performed. Long-term behavioral sequelae were evaluated by the rotarod and Morris water maze tests. Furthermore, OZ was added to the culture medium with oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) to mimic SAH in vitro. The reactive oxygen species level was detected by DCFH-DA staining. Lysosomal integrity was assessed by Lyso-Tracker Red staining and Acridine Orange staining.
The neuronal phosphorylated TAK1 expression was upregulated following SAH. Pharmacologic inhibition of TAK1 with OZ could alleviate neurological deficits, brain edema, and brain-blood barrier (BBB) disruption at 24 h after SAH. In addition, OZ administration restored long-term neurobehavioral function. Furthermore, blockade of TAK1 dampened neuronal pyroptosis by downregulating the N-terminal fragment of GSDMD (GSDMD-N) expression and IL-1β/IL-18 production. Mechanistically, both in vivo and in vitro, we demonstrated that TAK1 can induce neuronal pyroptosis through promoting nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 and activating nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. TAK1 siRNA treatment mitigated SAH-induced neurobehavioral deficits and restrained phosphorylated NF-κB p65 expression and NLRP3 inflammasome activation. TAK1 blockade also ameliorated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and prevented lysosomal cathepsin B releasing into the cytoplasm.
Our findings demonstrate that TAK1 modulates NLRP3-mediated neuronal pyroptosis in EBI following SAH. Inhibition of TAK1 may serve as a potential candidate to relieve neuroinflammatory responses triggered by SAH.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
As the crucial component of the ORC-WHR system, the turbine not only directly influences the system's thermodynamic performance but also dominates the investment cost of ORC-WHR components. ...Therefore, making the turbine standardization or serialization is a promising way to reduce ORC-WHR system investment costs and promote its application. In this paper, a novel optimization framework for the ORC-WHR system is proposed which is based on the serialized turbine database, which highlights the matching degree between heat sources and turbines. The approach for constructing the turbine database was investigated firstly, then several case studies were conducted to illustrate the effectiveness and innovation of the proposed optimization framework. This research demonstrates that it is an effective way to realize ORC-WHR system optimization through optimally interpolating in a multi-dimensional space based on database characteristic parameters including FluidORC, r4, Ma4, and R. This paper presents a totally new optimization idea for the ORC-WHR system and gives contributions to promoting its application.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The effectiveness of rituximab in anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) dermatomyositis (DM) with interstitial lung disease (ILD) has been explored only in isolated case reports and ...small series. This paper aims to review the current evidence regarding rituximab (RTX) use in the treatment of ILD related to anti-MDA5 DM (anti-MDA5 DM-ILD).
We conducted a review by searching PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane for articles with information on patients with anti-MDA5 DM and RTX treatment, published until August 2021, in English language. The selected studies listed variation in chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and/or pulmonary function test (PFT) as a primary outcome, in patients with anti-MDA5 DM-related ILD after using RTX.
Of the 145 potentially eligible articles, 17 were selected. The information gathered from a total of 35 patients with anti-MDA5 DM-ILD was reviewed, including 13 men and 22 women. Patient age at onset was 47.60 ± 13.72 years old. A total of 11.43% (4/35) of the patients were found to have chronic ILD (C-ILD) and 88.57% (31/30) exhibited rapidly progressive ILD (RP-ILD). Most patients (29/30) had typical DM rashes. Prior to RTX administration, the majority of patients (27/35) were treated with medium- or high-dose glucocorticoids and at least one additional immunotherapeutic agent. With regard to RTX efficacy for ILD in anti-MDA5 DM, 71.43% (25/35) of the patients responded to treatment. Skin rash also improved in more than half of the patients after RTX treatment. The most common side effects were infections, reported by 37.14% (13/35) of the patients after using RTX.
As a CD20 targeting drug, RTX is a promising therapeutic tool for anti-MDA5 DM-ILD, although the risk of infections should be considered before treatment. Further prospective controlled studies are required to evaluate the optimal RTX treatment regimen.
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021289714, identifier CRD42021289714.
Various antibiotics have been used in the treatment of cancers, via their anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) capabilities. However, increasingly ...studies have indicated that antibiotics may also induce cancer generation by disrupting intestinal microbiota, which further promotes chronic inflammation, alters normal tissue metabolism, leads to genotoxicity and weakens the immune response to bacterial malnutrition, thereby adversely impacting cancer treatment. Despite the advent of high-throughput sequencing technology in recent years, the potential adverse effects of antibiotics on cancer treatments via causing microbial imbalance has been largely ignored. In this review, we discuss the double-edged sword of antibiotics in the field of cancer treatments, explore their potential mechanisms and provide solutions to reduce the potential negative effects of antibiotics.
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