The analogues of the
L
p
mixed volumes inequality, the
L
p
Brunn–Minkowski inequality, the
L
p
Blaschke–Santaló inequality, and the
L
p
Petty projection inequality in Gaussian space are established.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
We propose a new computer-aided detection system that uses 3D convolutional neural networks (CNN) for detecting lung nodules in low dose computed tomography. The system leverages both a priori ...knowledge about lung nodules and confounding anatomical structures and data-driven machine-learned features and classifier. Specifically, we generate nodule candidates using a local geometric-model-based filter and further reduce the structure variability by estimating the local orientation. The nodule candidates in the form of 3D cubes are fed into a deep 3D convolutional neural network that is trained to differentiate nodule and non-nodule inputs. We use data augmentation techniques to generate a large number of training examples and apply regularization to avoid overfitting. On a set of 99 CT scans, the proposed system achieved state-of-the-art performance and significantly outperformed a similar hybrid system that uses conventional shallow learning. The experimental results showed benefits of using a priori models to reduce the problem space for data-driven machine learning of complex deep neural networks. The results also showed the advantages of 3D CNN over 2D CNN in volumetric medical image analysis.
Human action recognition is challenging, due to large temporal and spatial variations in actions performed by humans. These variations include significant nonlinear temporal stretching. In this ...paper, we propose an intuitively simple method to extract action templates from 3D human joint data that is insensitive to nonlinear stretching. The extracted action templates are used as the training instances of the actions to train multiple classifiers including a multi-class SVM classifier. Given an unknown action, we first extract and classify all its constituent atomic actions and then assign the action label via an equal voting scheme. We have tested the method on two public datasets that contain 3D human skeleton data. The experimental results show the proposed method can obtain a comparable or better performance than published state-of-the-art methods. Additional experiments also demonstrate the method works robustly on randomly stretched actions.
In recent years, molybdenum disulfide (MoS
2
) based field-effect transistors (FETs) have attracted much attention because of the unique properties of MoS
2
nano-materials as an ideal channel ...material. Using a MoS
2
FET as a glucose solution biosensor has the advantages of high sensitivity and rapid response. This paper is concerned with the fabrication of a bilayer MoS
2
-based FET and the study of its application in the high sensitivity detection of an extremely low concentration glucose solution. It was found that the source-drain current (
I
ds
) increases as the concentration of the glucose solution increases at the same gate voltage (
V
gs
) and drain voltage (
V
ds
). The sensitivity of the biosensor as high as 260.75 mA mM
−1
has been calculated and the detection limit of 300 nM was measured. The unknown concentration of a glucose solution was also detected using data based on the relationship between
I
ds
and glucose solution concentration. In addition, many significant advantages of the biosensor were observed, such as short response time (<1 s), good stability, wide linear detection range (300 nM to 30 mM) and the micro-detection of glucose solutions. These unique properties make the bilayer MoS
2
-based FET a great potential candidate for next generation biosensors.
The high sensitivity (260.75 mA mM
−1
) detection of an extremely low concentration (300 nM) glucose solution is demonstrated by the bilayer MoS
2
FET based biosensor.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Polysaccharides isolated from natural plants may represent a novel source of vaccine adjuvants. In this research, we focused on a natural plant polysaccharide, PCP-I, which is derived from Poria ...cocos, a Chinese traditional herbal medicine. We chose the anthrax protective antigen (PA) as a model to evaluate the adjuvant ability of PCP-I in enhancing the immunogenicity and protection of a PA-based anthrax vaccine. According to our results, PCP-I could significantly enhance anthrax specific anti-PA antibodies, toxin-neutralizing antibodies, anti-PA antibody affinity, as well as IgG1 and IgG2a levels. Besides, PCP-I increased the frequency of PA-specific memory B cells, increased the proliferation of PA-specific splenocytes, significantly stimulated the secretion of IL-4, and enhanced the activation of Dendritic cells (DCs) in vitro. The combination of PCP-I and CpG significantly enhanced the level of anti-PA antibodies and neutralizing antibodies, particularly PA-specific IgG2a, and shifted the Th2-bias to a Th1/Th2 balanced response. In addition, PCP-I with or without CpG could significantly improve the survival rate of immunized mice following challenge with the anthrax lethal toxin. These findings suggest that PCP-I may be a promising vaccine adjuvant that warrants further study.
More and more people choose to learn Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) in the world. The traditional teaching materials have focused on training for the skills of writing and reading in Japanese. ...However, it seems that the JFL learners would like to train their speaking and listening rather than writing and reading because the speaking and listening are necessary to make conversations. We use Japanese animation which is called “Anime” in the world as a new teaching material of Japanese. Anime has a huge amount of scenes in which characters speak with their voice in the standard and clear pronunciations. It means that Anime has many good examples of Japanese dialogues for JFL learners to improve their speaking and listening. The goal of our research is to propose a new method to classify dialogues in Anime depending on the dialogues’ degrees of difficulty. In this paper, we analyzed the words and expressions used in the Anime dialogues and the scripts of listening tests of the previous Japanese Language Proficiency Tests (JLPT). Each word and expression were classified into different Japanese language levels. We used the analysis results of JLPT as a standard reference to be compared with Anime dialogues. The analysis results showed that the genres of Anime had effects on using words and expressions. We also found that the scripts of listening tests of high-level included many high-level words and expressions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
It is widely accepted that hydrogeochemistry of saline springs is extremely important to understand the water circulation and evolution of saline basins and to evaluate the potential of potassiumrich ...evaporites. The Kuqa Basin, located in the northern part of the Tarim Basin in Northwest China, is a saline basin regarded as the most potential potash-seeking area. However, the origin and water circulation processes of saline springs have yet to be fully characterized in this saline basin. In this study, a total of 30 saline spring samples and 11 river water samples were collected from the Qiulitage Structural Belt (QSB) of the Kuqa Basin. They were analyzed for major (K
+
, Ca
2+
, Na
+
, Mg
2+
, SO
4
2−
, Cl
−
and HCO
3
−
) and trace (Sr
2+
and Br
−
) ion concentrations, stable H-O-Sr isotopes and tritium concentrations in combination with previously published hydrogeochemical and isotopic (H-O) data in the same area. It is found that the water chemical type of saline springs in the study area belonged to the Na-Cl type, and that of river water belonged to the Ca-Mg-HCO
3
-SO
4
type. The total dissolved solid (TDS) of saline springs in the QSB ranged from 117.77 to 314.92 g/L, reaching the brine level. On the basis of the general chemical compositions and the characteristics of the stable H-O-Sr isotopes of saline springs, we infer that those saline springs mainly originated from precipitation following river water recharging. In addition, we found that saline springs were not formed by evapo-concentration because it is unlikely that the high chloride concentration of saline springs resulted in evapo-concentration and high salinity. Therefore, we conclude that saline spring water may have experienced intense evapo-concentration before dissolving the salty minerals or after returning to the surface. The results show that the origin of salinity was mainly dominated by dissolving salty minerals due to the river water and/or precipitation that passed through the halite-rich stratum. Moreover, there are two possible origins of saline springs in the QSB: one is the infiltration of the meteoric water (river water), which then circulates deep into the earth, wherein it dissolves salty minerals, travels along the fault and returns to the surface; another is the mixture of formation water, or the mixture of seawater or marine evaporate sources and its subsequent discharge to the surface under fault conditions. Our findings provide new insight into the possible saltwater circulation and evolution of saline basins in the Tarim Basin.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
•An arabinogalactan was firstly isolated from the root of Isatis indigotica.•The arabinogalactan is a highly branched molecule with a 3, 6-galactan backbone.•The polysaccharide showed good adjuvant ...activity to H1N1 influenza vaccine and HBsAg antigen in mice.•It may be a safe and efficacious adjuvant candidate for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.
Isatis indigotica is an important medical herb in China and has been used for treating influenza and epidemic hepatitis for hundreds of years in China. In this study, an arabinogalactan (IIP-2) was firstly isolated from root of Isatis indigotica. Its chemical structure was identified and its adjuvant activity was investigated in mice co-immunised with H1N1 influenza vaccine or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The results revealed that IIP-2 has a molecular weight of 66,400 Da and is composed of arabinose and galactose at a ratio of 1.0:1.5. Its structure contained a β-(1→3, 6)-galacan backbone. Pharmacological data demonstrated that IIP-2 could increase antigen-specific antibody levels in immunised mice. IIP-2-adjuvanted influenza or HBsAg vaccines improved proliferation of splenocytes and macrophages, stimulate cytokine productions. IIP-2 itself cannot show effects listed above. These results suggested that IIP-2-adjuvanted vaccines enhanced humoral and cellular immunity. IIP-2 could be developed as an efficacious adjuvant in human and animal vaccines.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Marburg virus (MARV), which is one of the most virulent agents in the world, causes lethal haemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs) with a mortality rate of up to 90%. Currently, ...there is no effective treatment or approved vaccine for MARV for human use to control disease outbreak and spread. Virus‐like particles (VLPs), which are morphologically identical to the native infectious virus particle, are efficacious as vaccines against many viruses, including human papilloma virus (HPV), porcine circovirus (PCV) type 2 and hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, we generated MARV virus‐like particles (VLPs) by co‐expressing a glycoprotein (GP) and matrix protein (VP40) using the baculovirus expression system. Rhesus macaques vaccinated with MARV VLPs mixed with adjuvant Poria cocos polysaccharides (PCP‐II) produced a GP‐specific IgG titer of up to 1:1280 and virus‐neutralizing antibody titers that reached 1:320. MARV VLPs also elicited interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) and interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) secretion associated with T‐helper 1 cell (Th1)‐ and T‐helper 2 cell (Th2)‐mediated immunity, as detected using enzyme‐linked immunospot (ELISpot) assays. These data indicate that MARV VLPs mixed with adjuvant PCP‐II have excellent immunogenicity in rhesus macaques and may be a promising candidate vaccine against MARV.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
To investigate the chemical characters of water-extract of Baqi Lingmao formula (BQLM formula) and its effects on anti-liver injury in model mice and live cells.
BQLM formula was composed of ten ...herbal medicines. We determined the contents of alkaloids, saponins, phenolic acids and flavonoid in BQLM formula by UV spectrophotometry. The active components of alkaloids and phenolic acids in BQLM formula were identified by HPLC chromatography. The anti-hepatic injury effects of BQLM formula were investigated with concanavalin A (ConA)-induced hepatitis model of mice, human liver LO2 and HepG2.2.15 cells.
BQLM formula (2 and 10 g/kg, orally) significantly improved the damages of liver tissues and functions caused by ConA in mice, reduced the infiltration of inflammatory cells into liver and inhibited the inflammatory cytokine secretion of interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. BQLM formula simultaneously decreased the levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase of liver and serum, and recovered the superoxide dismutase and catalase activities of liver to normal levels in ConA-induced hepatic-injury mice. The serum of BQLM formula group stimulated the human liver LO2 cell proliferation in vitro. Further, BQLM formula obviously promoted the proliferation of normal hepatocytes (LO2 cells) and inhibited the hepatocytes death induced by ConA. It also significantly inhibited the proliferation of HepG2.2.15 cells and decreased the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg in vitro.
BQLM formula has anti-inflammation and anti-hepatitis virus Beffects, and is capable of improving liver injury in vivo and in vitro.
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