In this paper, a novel method for real-time horizon-based attitude estimation using panoramic images is presented with results from real flight tests showing accurate attitude estimation for a ...rotary-wing aircraft in cluttered environments. The vision system is biologically inspired from the function of the Ocelli organ present in some insects and the fact that ultraviolet images provide better sky/ground contrast enhancement. A new method for panoramic sky/ground thresholding is proposed, consisting of a sky/ground masking and a sun-tracking system that works effectively even when the horizon line is difficult to detect by normal thresholding methods due to flares and other effects from the presence of the sun in the image. The use of optic flow to determine body rates is investigated using the panoramic image and the image interpolation algorithm. A Kalman filter is used to fuse the unfiltered measurements from inertial sensors and the vision system.
Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILCs) promote tissue homeostasis, contribute to the immune defense mechanisms, and play important roles in the initiation of immune responses and chronic inflammation.
To ...understand the roles of innate lymphoid cells in the pathophysiology of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the mouse model.
CRC was induced using azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in Balb/c mice (the chemically induced group=18 mice), or orthotopic injection of CT-26 cell line into the colon of another set of Balb/c mice (the orthotopic group=14mice). Normal saline was injected into 18 mice, as the sham group. After 80 days, the chemically induced group was divided into two subgroups, dysplasia (8 mice) and reparative change (10 mice), based on pathological examinations. The frequencies of ILC1, 2, and 3 were then measured in colon tissues using flow cytometry by four markers including an anti-mouse lineage cocktail (FITC anti-mCD3/FITC anti-mGr-1/FITC anti-mCD11b/ FITC anti-mCD45R (B220)/FITC anti-mTer-119), PE/Cy7 anti-mouse CD45, PE anti-mouse CD117 (c-kit), and APC anti-mouse IL-33 Rα (ST2).
The total ILC population was significantly higher in the chemically induced reparative change compared with the sham group. ILC1 percentage in the chemically induced reparative change was significantly higher compared to those in the other three groups (Sham, chemically induced dysplasia and orthotopic dysplasia). The orthotopic dysplasia group showed more ILC3 percentage than the other groups.
ILC1 and ILC3 subgroups increased significantly in reparative and dysplastic experimental CRC respectively. Thus ILC1 may have an inhibitory effect on tumor growth whereas ILC3 promotes tumor progression.
Sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is a stem cell transcription factor and a major regulator of self-renewal and pluripotency of cancer stem cells (CSCs). In many types of cancer, SOX2 is ...dysregulated due to overexpression associated with tumor progression and low survival rate. Many HCC cases encounter recurrence and metastasis which might be due to CSCs and also apoptosis. Since little is known about the expression pattern of SOX2 and apoptotic genes in HCC, we aimed to determine the prognostic significance of SOX2, Bax, and Bcl-2 in clinicopathological features, tumor progression, and survival rate of the HCC patients. The expression of SOX2, Bax, and Bcl-2 were evaluated using qRT-PCR in 53 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) of patients and 44 controls. Correlation of these genes was analyzed with clinicopathological features and tumor progression. The correlationship between SOX2 expression and ALBI grade as prognostic indicators were calculated. Survival rates were determined by Kaplan-Meier survival curves. SOX2 and Bcl-2 were remarkably overexpressed in HCC patients compared to controls (
= 0.04 and
= 0.003, respectively). A significant association was found for both SOX2 and Bcl-2 overexpression with TNM staging (
= 0.02,
= 0.04) and tumor grading (
= 0.01,
= 0.003), respectively. A significant correlation was observed: patients with SOX2 overexpression had a lower 5-year overall survival rate (
= 0.04); however, there was no significant association between Bcl-2 and survival (
= 0.5). Collectively, overexpression of SOX2 and Bcl-2, alone or combined, may be a potential marker to evaluate prognosis and response to HCC treatment.
Phytoremediation method, in combination with porous concrete and some additives, has been examined in order to reduce the contamination of unconventional water resources. This treatment system is ...economically cost-effective and easy to apply, compared to other treatment methods. The current study was focused on evaluating the effects of arrangement of vetiver grass and porous concrete specimens (four types of grass-specimens arrangements), vetiver grass layout on polystyrene sheets (5 × 5 and 10 × 10 cm spacing), porous concrete mixture (basic design as control, basic design + 5% zeolite, basic design + 10% zeolite, basic design + 5% pumice), temperature of the test room (10 ± 2, 20 ± 2 and 30 ± 2 °C), type of the unconventional water (domestic wastewater effluent and urban runoff) and Portland cement type (2 and 5) on the reduction of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and fecal coliforms. Taguchi method (robust design) and Qualitek-4 software were used to optimize the combination of aforementioned factors. Results indicated that temperature was the most effective parameter on reducing the BOD, COD, and fecal coliforms. The vetiver grass layout on the polystyrene sheets and porous concrete mixture design were more effective than vetiver grass-porous concrete arrangement. Effect of vetiver grass roots was significant in reducing the TSS content. The cement type had minimum impact on reducing the qualitative parameters of the wastewater samples. Based on the results, combination of 10 × 10 cm spacing of vetiver grass on polystyrene sheets, third type of vetiver grass-porous concrete arrangement, porous concrete mixture with 10% zeolite, Portland cement Type 2, and room temperature of 30 ± 2 °C was the best for improving the quality of wastewater effluent as compared to urban runoff. The treated effluents can be used with caution for urban green spaces or irrigation purposes, and the difficulties of the proposed combined system should be taken into consideration.
The role of immune checkpoint receptors in T-cell exhaustion has been demonstrated in several cancers. We investigated the co-expression of TIGIT/PD-1 and LAG-3/PD-1 cells in patients with chronic ...lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The frequencies of TIGIT+PD-1+CD8+and LAG-3+PD-1+CD8+cells and relative mRNA expression of LSECtin and CD155 were examined in PBMCs from 33 CLL patients and 20 controls. The percentage of TIGIT+PD-1+CD8+cells was significantly higher in CLL patients than in control subjects, with the preference in advanced stage patients. However, LAG-3+PD-1+CD8+cell percentage was significantly lower in CLL patients than in the control subjects and no significant difference were found between the early and advanced stages of the disease. An increase in the mRNA expression level of LSECtin, but not that of CD155, was observed in CLL patients compared to the control subjects. Collectively, a higher co-expression of PD-1 and TIGIT on CD8+ T-cells in CLL compared to control subjects suggests an important role of TIGIT in T-cell exhaustion in CLL patients especially those with advanced disease.
Thymocyte selection-associated high mobility group box protein (TOX) and members of the nuclear receptor 4A (NR4A) are known as transcription factors involved in T cell exhaustion.
To evaluate the ...mRNA expression of TOX and NR4A1-3 in CD8+ T cells in acute leukemia.
Blood samples were obtained from 21 ALL and 6 AML patients as well as 20 control subjects. CD8+ T cells were isolated using MACS. Relative gene expression of TOX and NR4A1-3 was then evaluated using qRT-PCR.
Comparison of mRNA expression of TOX in CD8+ T cells showed no significant difference among the study groups (p>0.05), while the expression of NR4A1 was significantly lower in AML patients than in the control group (p=0.0006). Also, the expression of NR4A2 and NR4A3 was significantly lower in both ALL (p=0.0049 and p=0.0005, respectively) and AML (p=0.0019 and p=0.0055, respectively) patients.
NR4As expressions were found to be lower in CD8+ T cells from patients with AML and ALL compared to controls, whereas the mRNA expression of TOX showed no significant difference. Although TOX and NR4As are associated with CD8+ T cell exhaustion in solid tumors, they might play different roles in acute leukemia, which requires further investigation.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia in the western world. This health problem is caused due to the accumulation of mature B-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and ...bone marrow. In the course of cancer, CD4+ T cells become "exhausted" and characterized with poor effector functions and the expression of multiple inhibitory receptors.
To investigate the frequency and functional properties of exhausted CD4+ T lymphocytes in patients with CLL.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from 25 untreated CLL patients and 15 healthy volunteers. CLL patients were clinically classified according to the Rai staging system. The frequency of CD4+/Tim-3+/PD-1+ cells was obtained by flow cytometry. To evaluate cell proliferation and cytokine production, CD4+ T cells were isolated and stimulated with phytohemagglutinin and PMA/ionomycin. Concentrations of IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10 were measured in the culture supernatants of stimulated cells by the ELISA technique.
The percentage of CD4+/Tim-3+/PD-1+ cells was significantly higher in CLL patients than that of healthy controls. CD4+ T cells from CLL patients showed lower proliferative responses, a lower production of IL-2, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, and a higher production of IL-10, compared to healthy controls. CD4+ T cells from CLL patients in advanced clinical stages showed more exhaustion features than those of early stages.
Given that the exhaustion phase of T cells can be reversible, targeted blocking of immune inhibitory molecules could be a promising tool to restore the host immune responses against leukemic cells in CLL.
BackgroundImmune checkpoint molecules have critical roles in directing immune responses into co-inhibitory and co-stimulatory signals. Herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) is a receptor of tumor ...necrosis factor receptor superfamily with unique features due to its interaction with both inhibitory and stimulatory ligands. The aim of this study was to measure the serum level of the soluble form of HVEM in patients with gastric, colorectal and breast cancers and evaluating its diagnostic and prognostic value. MethodsThe concentration of the soluble HVEM (sHVEM) was determined in the serum of 36 patients with breast cancer, 50 patients with colorectal cancer and 59 patients with gastric cancer using ELISA method. Moreover, 50 healthy donors (HD) as well as 31 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) were used as control groups. The patients' samples were obtained from the Biobank of Cancer Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. ResultsThe level of sHVEM was significantly higher in patients with gastric (P=0.001) and breast cancer (P=0.01) than in control groups (HD). The higher level of sHVEM was observed in colorectal cancer patients in comparison with HD group, although it was not significant. Moreover, the elevated level of sHVEM was shown to be higher significantly in stage III and IV compared to stage I and II in breast cancer (P=0.03). Similar finding was detected in gastric and colorectal cancers, but not to be statistically significant. ConclusionThe results of the present study suggest that the serum level of sHVEM may be considered as a promising indicator for diagnosis as well as evaluating the progression of cancers such as gastric, breast and colorectal cancers.
In this paper, we investigate spectrum trading via auction approach for exclusive usage spectrum access model in cognitive radio networks. We consider a realistic valuation function which depends on ...channel capacity, delay sensitive and delay-insensitive data traffics of secondary users (SUs), and propose an efficient concurrent Vickrey-Clarke-Grove (VCG) mechanism for non-identical channel allocation among r-minded bidders in two different cases. In the first case, the SUs are r-minded but they can submit bid only for single channels. In the second case, the SUs are r-minded and they can submit bid for bundles of channels. We show that the first case is solvable in polynomial time but in the other one, the problem of determining auction outcomes is NP-hard. We propose two sub-optimal methods for solving this problem, namely greedy algorithm and randomized rounding linear programming (LP) relaxation algorithm. Due to the sub-optimal nature of solutions in the second case, VCG mechanism is not truthful anymore and the SUs can lie to maximize their utilities. To address this, we propose an auction mechanism with limited truthfulness property based on an iterative greedy algorithm.
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