Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (Ngal, 24p3, SIP24, lipocalin 2, or siderocalin) was originally purified from neutrophils, but with unknown function. Recently, it was identified that Ngal ...activates nephron formation in the embryonic kidney, is rapidly and massively induced in renal failure and possesses kidney-protective activity. We would like to propose that blood, urine, and kidney Ngal levels are the real-time indicators of active kidney damage, rather than one of many markers of functional nephron number (as Forest Fire Theory). Ngal is a novel iron-carrier protein exerting pleiotropic actions including the upregulation of epithelial marker E-cadherin expression, opening an exciting field in cell biology.
Duplication of image regions is a common method for manipulating original images, using typical software like Adobe Photoshop, 3DS MAX, etc. In this study, we propose a duplication detection approach ...that can adopt two robust features based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). Both schemes provide excellent representations of the image data for robust block matching. Multiresolution wavelet coefficients and KPCA-based projected vectors corresponding to image-blocks are arranged into a matrix for lexicographic sorting. Sorted blocks are used for making a list of similar point-pairs and for computing their offset frequencies. Duplicated regions are then segmented by an automatic technique that refines the list of corresponding point-pairs and eliminates the minimum offset-frequency threshold parameter in the usual detection method. A new technique that extends the basic algorithm for detecting Flip and Rotation types of forgeries is also proposed. This method uses global geometric transformation and the labeling technique to indentify the mentioned forgeries. Experiments with a good number of natural images show very promising results, when compared with the conventional PCA-based approach. A quantitative analysis indicate that the wavelet-based feature outperforms PCA- or KPCA-based features in terms of average precision and recall in the noiseless, or uncompressed domain, while KPCA-based feature obtains excellent performance in the additive noise and lossy JPEG compression environments.
ABSTRACT
We investigate the dependence of the angular momentum transport (AMT) on the spatial scales with numerical simulation of solar-like stars. It is thought that turbulence has an essential role ...in constructing solar differential rotation (DR). In a widely used method to analyse the construction mechanism of DR, the flow is divided into two components, ‘mean flow’ and ‘turbulence’, where ‘turbulence’ includes a broad spectrum of spatial scales. The features of the AMT are expected to depend on the scale. In this study, we decompose the angular momentum flux (AMF) to investigate the dependence of the AMF on the spatial scale. We compare the results with anti-solar (fast pole) and solar-type (fast equator) DR. Our conclusions are summarized as (1) Radially outward AMT is seen on a large scale (60 Mm ≤ L < 120 Mm) in rotationally constrained systems. (2) Even when the scale-integrated AMF is negative, we sometimes observe positive AMF on certain scales. (3) Small-scale turbulence tends to transport the angular momentum radially inward and causes the anti-solar DR, indicating that high-resolution simulation is a negative factor for solar-like DR. Our method to decompose the AMF provides a deep understanding of the angular momentum and construction mechanism of DR.
At present there is no
'ideal' thin-film transistor technology for demanding display applications, such as organic light-emitting diode displays, that allows combining the low-temperature, ...solution-processability offered by organic semiconductors with the high level of performance achievable with microcrystalline silicon. N-type amorphous mixed metal oxide semiconductors, such as ternary oxides Mx1My2Oz, where M1 and M2 are metals such as In, Ga, Sn, or Zn, have recently gained momentum because of their high carrier mobility and stability and good optical transparency, but they are mostly deposited by sputtering. So far no route is available for forming high-performance mixed oxide materials from solution at low process temperatures <250 °C. Ionic mixed metal oxides should in principle be ideal candidates for solution-processable materials because the conduction band states derived from metal s-orbitals are relatively insensitive to the presence of structural disorder and high charge carrier mobilities are achievable in amorphous structures. Here we report the formation of amorphous metal oxide semiconducting thin-films using a 'sol-gel on chip' hydrolysis approach from soluble metal alkoxide precursors, which affords unprecedented high field-effect mobilities of 10 cm2 V−1 s−1, reproducible and stable turn-on voltages Von≈0 V and high operational stability at maximum process temperatures as low as 230 °C.
ABSTRACT
In this work, we systematically investigate the scale-dependent angular momentum flux by analysing high-resolution three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations in which the solar-like ...differential rotation is reproduced without using any manipulations. More specifically, the magnetic angular momentum transport (AMT) plays a dominant role in the calculations. We examine the important spatial scales for the magnetic AMT. The main conclusions of our approach can be summarized as follows: 1. Turbulence transports the angular momentum radially inward. This effect is more pronounced in the highest resolution calculation. 2. The dominant scale for the magnetic AMT is the smallest spatial scale. 3. The dimensionless magnetic correlation is low in the high-resolution simulation. Thus, chaotic but strong small-scale magnetic fields achieve efficient magnetic AMT.
Aims/hypothesis
Hyperlipidaemia is an independent risk factor for the progression of diabetic nephropathy, but its molecular mechanism remains elusive. We investigated in mice how diabetes and ...hyperlipidaemia cause renal lesions separately and in combination, and the involvement of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the process.
Methods
Diabetes was induced in wild-type (WT) and
Tlr4
knockout (KO) mice by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). At 2 weeks after STZ injection, normal diet was substituted with a high-fat diet (HFD). Functional and histological analyses were carried out 6 weeks later.
Results
Compared with treatment with STZ or HFD alone, treatment of WT mice with both STZ and HFD markedly aggravated nephropathy, as indicated by an increase in albuminuria, mesangial expansion, infiltration of macrophages and upregulation of pro-inflammatory and extracellular-matrix-associated gene expression in glomeruli. In
Tlr4
KO mice, the addition of an HFD to STZ had almost no effects on the variables measured. Production of protein S100 calcium binding protein A8 (calgranulin A; S100A8), a potent ligand for TLR4, was observed in abundance in macrophages infiltrating STZ-HFD WT glomeruli and in glomeruli of diabetic nephropathy patients. High-glucose and fatty acid treatment synergistically upregulated
S100a8
gene expression in macrophages from WT mice, but not from KO mice. As putative downstream targets of TLR4, phosphorylation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) was enhanced in kidneys of WT mice co-treated with STZ and HFD.
Conclusions/interpretation
Activation of S100A8/TLR4 signalling was elucidated in an animal model of diabetic glomerular injury accompanied with hyperlipidaemia, which may provide novel therapeutic targets in progressive diabetic nephropathy.
A tailored die quenching process of steel parts having a strength distribution using bypass resistance heating in hot stamping was developed. In the tailored die quenching process, zones requiring ...high strength in a quenchable steel sheet were heated, and then were quenched. In the bypass resistance heating, zones in contact with copper bypasses having a low resistance and large cross-sectional area were not heated due to the passage of the current though the copper bypasses. The bypass resistance heating was stable even for the heavy current in rapid heating of the steel sheets because of passage of current in one direction, and the electrical power loss was small. The hardenability for the bypass resistance heating was first examined by sandwiching a partially heated sheet between large steel blocks without deformation. Next, the tailored die quenching process using bypass resistance heating in the hat-shaped bending of the steel sheet was performed to form a part having high strength around the corners. A hat-shaped part having a tensile strength of approximately 1.5GPa around the corners was formed, and the input energy and punching load in the bottom of the bent sheet were considerably smaller than those for whole heating.
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