The Ultra-wideband (UWB) system for indoor positioning and tracking with the characteristics of arbitrary target orientation, optimal anchor location, and adaptive non-line-of-sight (NLOS) mitigation ...characteristics is proposed and implemented by introducing the circularly polarized antenna, the genetic algorithm (GA), and the machine learning method. The time-domain characteristic of the UWB system using the proposed circularly polarized antennas with wide bandwidth and omnidirectional radiation is investigated by transient response. Contrary to UWB system using the conventional linearly polarized antenna, the pulse distortion is insignificant and is verified by the measured antenna performance with high signal fidelity (>0.98) and low standard deviation (STD) of time delay (<0.05 ns). By considering the NLOS electromagnetic wave propagation models, the locations of the anchors in the UWB system are effectively optimized by using the proposed GA to minimize the average root-mean-square error (RMSE) of each tag location in the dense multipath area. By optimizing the three anchor locations, the average RMSE of tag location is minimized to 36.72 cm for a 45 m 2 area with concrete walls and pillars. The adaptive NLOS mitigation is investigated by using and optimizing machine learning models, including deep neural network (DNN), convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM). The three-anchor UWB system for a 45 m 2 area is established to track an autonomous vehicle in severe NLOS environment by using the proposed circularly polarized antenna combined with the optimized LSTM model, achieving the measured positioning error of 26.1 cm. Moreover, the measured result of 20-30 cm positioning error with concrete walls, pillars and walking humans is demonstrated and analyzed.
This study showed an interaction between oral bacteria, lifestyle factors and genetic polymorphisms on the risk of oral cancer. The results also provided biological support for the established ...association between poor oral hygiene and oral cancer risk.
Abstract
Poor oral hygiene may lead to overgrowth of pathogenic oral bacteria, which may induce chronic inflammation to promote the oncogenesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study investigated the association between oral bacterial profile and OSCC risk in a case-control study of 138 OSCC cases and 151 controls (88 cases and 90 controls for the discovery group and 50 cases and 61 controls for the validation group). Oral bacterial profiles were characterized by targeted sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Three species of periodontopathogenic bacteria, Prevotella tannerae, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Prevotella intermedia, were associated with an increased OSCC risk. This association was modified by the genetic polymorphisms of TLR2 and TLR4. Use of alcohol, betel quids and cigarettes and poor oral hygiene were associated with a higher percentage of oral periodontopathogenic bacteria. The association between alcohol and periodontopathogenic bacteria was modified by the genetic polymorphism of ALDH2, with a stronger positive association observed among the ALDH2-deficient individuals. The percentage of periodontopathogenic bacteria was positively correlated with the level of salivary IL1β, an inflammatory cytokine. Overall, our results showed a positive association between periodontopathogenic bacteria and OSCC risk and this relationship may be influenced by lifestyle and genetic factors. Our results provided further biological support for the established association between poor oral hygiene and OSCC risk. This suggested that improving oral hygiene may reduce OSCC risk and should be part of a public health campaign to prevent the occurrence of OSCC.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides, which negatively regulate the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. This study describes an update of the ...miRTarBase (http://miRTarBase.mbc.nctu.edu.tw/) that provides information about experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions (MTIs). The latest update of the miRTarBase expanded it to identify systematically Argonaute-miRNA-RNA interactions from 138 crosslinking and immunoprecipitation sequencing (CLIP-seq) data sets that were generated by 21 independent studies. The database contains 4966 articles, 7439 strongly validated MTIs (using reporter assays or western blots) and 348 007 MTIs from CLIP-seq. The number of MTIs in the miRTarBase has increased around 7-fold since the 2014 miRTarBase update. The miRNA and gene expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) are integrated to provide an effective overview of this exponential growth in the miRNA experimental data. These improvements make the miRTarBase one of the more comprehensively annotated, experimentally validated miRNA-target interactions databases and motivate additional miRNA research efforts.
Due to the COVID-19 virus being highly transmittable, frequently cleaning and disinfecting facilities is common guidance in public places. However, the more often the environment is cleaned, the ...higher the risk of cleaning staff getting infected. Therefore, strong demand for sanitizing areas in automatic modes is undoubtedly expected. In this paper, an autonomous disinfection vehicle with an Ultraviolet-C (UVC) lamp is designed and implemented using an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning sensor. The UVC dose for 90% inactivation of the reproductive ability of COVID-19 is 41.7 J/m2, which a 40 W UVC lamp can achieve within a 1.6 m distance for an exposure time of 30 s. With this UVC lamp, the disinfection vehicle can effectively sterilize in various scenarios. In addition, the high-accuracy UWB positioning system, with the time difference of arrival (TDOA) algorithm, is also studied for autonomous vehicle navigation in indoor environments. The number of UWB tags that use a synchronization protocol between UWB anchors can be unlimited. Moreover, this proposed Gradient Descent (GD), which uses Taylor method, is a high-efficient algorithm for finding the optimal position for real-time computation due to its low error and short calculating time. The generalized traversal path planning procedure, with the edge searching method, is presented to improve the efficiency of autonomous navigation. The average error of the practical navigation demonstrated in the meeting room is 0.10 m. The scalability of the designed system to different application scenarios is also discussed and experimentally demonstrated. Hence, the usefulness of the proposed UWB sensor applied to UVC disinfection vehicles to prevent COVID-19 infection is verified by employing it to sterilize indoor environments without human operation.
The combination of transition‐metal catalysis and organocatalysis increasingly offers chemists opportunities to realize diverse unprecedented chemical transformations. By combining iridium with ...chiral thiourea catalysis, direct enantioselective reductive cyanation and phosphonylation of secondary amides have been accomplished for the first time for the synthesis of enantioenriched chiral α‐aminonitriles and α‐aminophosphonates. The protocol is highly efficient and enantioselective, providing a novel route to the synthesis of optically active α‐functionalized amines from the simple, readily available feedstocks. In addition, the reactions are scalable and the thiourea catalyst can be recycled and reused.
The first enantioselective reductive cyanation and phosphonylation of secondary amides have been achieved by the combination of iridium with chiral thiourea catalysis. The protocol is highly efficient and enantioselective, providing a novel route for the synthesis of optically active α‐aminonitriles and α‐aminophosphonates from bench‐stable feedstocks.
The immunosuppressive microenvironment that is shaped by hepatic metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is essential for tumor cell evasion of immune destruction. Neutrophils are ...important components of the metastatic tumor microenvironment and exhibit heterogeneity. However, the specific phenotypes, functions and regulatory mechanisms of neutrophils in PDAC liver metastases remain unknown. Here, we show that a subset of P2RX1-negative neutrophils accumulate in clinical and murine PDAC liver metastases. RNA sequencing of murine PDAC liver metastasis-infiltrated neutrophils show that P2RX1-deficient neutrophils express increased levels of immunosuppressive molecules, including PD-L1, and have enhanced mitochondrial metabolism. Mechanistically, the transcription factor Nrf2 is upregulated in P2RX1-deficient neutrophils and associated with PD-L1 expression and metabolic reprogramming. An anti-PD-1 neutralizing antibody is sufficient to compromise the immunosuppressive effects of P2RX1-deficient neutrophils on OVA-activated OT1 CD8+ T cells. Therefore, our study uncovers a mechanism by which metastatic PDAC tumors evade antitumor immunity by accumulating a subset of immunosuppressive P2RX1-negative neutrophils.
Sarcopenia, a gradual loss of muscle mass and function, has been associated with poor health outcomes. Its correlation with another age-related degenerative process, impaired cognition, remains ...uncertain. This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether there is an association between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment.
PubMed and Scopus were searched for observational studies that investigated the association between sarcopenia and cognitive dysfunction. Participants' demographics and measurements, definition of sarcopenia, and tools for evaluating cognitive function were retrieved. The correlations between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment were expressed as crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Seven cross-sectional studies comprising 5994 participants were included. The crude and adjusted odds ratios were 2.926 (95% CI, 2.297-3.728) and 2.246 (95% CI, 1.210-4.168), respectively. The subgroup analysis showed that different target populations and sex specificity did not significantly modify the association, whereas the tools for evaluating cognitive function and modalities for measuring body composition did.
Sarcopenia was independently associated with cognitive impairment. Future cohort studies are warranted to clarify the causal correlation. The inclusion of relevant biomarkers and functional measurements is also recommended to elucidate the underlying biological mechanism.
The site selectivity for lysine conjugation on a native protein is difficult to control and characterize. Here, we applied mass spectrometry to examine the conjugation kinetics of Trastuzumab-IgG ...(Her-IgG) and α-lactalbumin under excess linker concentration (L
) based on the modified Michaelis-Menten equation, in which the initial rate constant per amine (k
= V
/K
) was determined by the maximum reaction rate (V
) under saturated accessible sites and initial amine-linker affinity (1/K
). Reductive amination (RA) displayed 3-4 times greater V
and a different panel of conjugation sites than that observed for N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (NHS) chemistry using the same length of polyethylene glycol (PEG) linkers. Moreover, faster conversion power rendered RA site selectivity among accessible amine groups and a greater tunable range of linker/protein ratio for aldehyde-linkers compared to those of the same length of NHS-linkers. Single conjugation with high yield or poly-conjugations with site homogeneity was demonstrated by controlling L
or gradual addition to minimize the L
/K
ratio. Formaldehyde, the shortest aldehyde-linker with the greatest 1/K
, exhibited the highest selectivity and was shown to be a suitable probe to predict conjugation profile of aldehyde-linkers. Four linkers on the few probe-predicted hot spots were elucidated by kinetically controlled RA with conserved drug efficacy when conjugated with the payload. This study provides insights into controlling factors for homogenous and predictable amine bioconjugation.
To achieve high performed zinc metal batteries, it is imperative to address the issues of dendrite growth and the side‐reactions occurring at the Zn anode, particularly when the batteries are ...operated at high current densities and high temperature. Herein, a flexible and dendrite‐free Zn metal anode (AgNPs@CC/Zn), which is prepared by inkjet printing silver nanoparticles on a 3D carbon matrix, is reported. Experimental observations and DFT calculation reveal that the Ag nanoparticles can work as heterometallic seeds for zinc deposition, and thus simultaneously improve the zincophilicity and thermal conductivity of the carbon matrix. This not only lowers the Zn nucleation overpotential and guides the uniform Zn nucleation but also promotes the reversible zinc stripping/plating via AgZn alloying/de‐alloying reactions. As a result, the AgNPs@CC/Zn anode presents low voltage hysteresis of 80 mV and superior cycling over 480 h at a high current density of 10 mA cm−2. The AgNPs@CC/Zn anode can enable full cells with exceptional cyclic stability and enhanced high‐temperature endurance. Furthermore, the foldable pouch cell using the AgNPs@CC/Zn anode exhibits high capacity retention regardless of different deformation status. This work demonstrates the promising potential of inkjet printing technology in developing 3D dendrite‐free zinc anode for foldable and heat‐resistant zinc batteries.
A flexible and dendrite‐free Zn metal anode is prepared by inkjet printing silver nanoparticles on a 3D carbon matrix, boosting electrochemical performance of zinc metal batteries. The Ag nanoparticles as heterometallic seeds can promote reversible zinc stripping/plating via AgZn alloying/de‐alloying reactions and improve the zincophilicity and thermal conductivity of the carbon matrix.
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is associated with dehydration and which can cause acute kidney injury (AKI). The proportion of AKI in children and adolescents with DKA has not been reported in East ...Asian population. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of AKI and to determine whether there is an association between AKI severity and recovery time from metabolic acidosis in children and adolescents with DKA. Medical records of children and adolescents (aged 1.5 times the calculated expected baseline creatinine level. Patients were divided into three groups based on AKI severity: no AKI, mild AKI, and severe AKI. In total, 170 (56.5%) patients with DKA presented AKI (mild AKI, 116 38.5%; severe AKI, 54 18.0%). Heart rate and laboratory parameters related to dehydration, such as corrected sodium level and blood urea nitrogen, were strongly associated with AKI development (P0.01). Blood pH, plasma glucose, and potassium levels were also associated with AKI. A negative correlation with borderline significance between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and recovery time from metabolic acidosis was observed in the severe AKI group. AKI was highly prevalent in children and adolescents with DKA. An association between AKI and biomarkers indicating dehydration was noted. The recovery time from metabolic acidosis following treatment may be longer in children with a decreased eGFR who present with severe AKI. AKI is a common complication in children with DKA.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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