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- ArticleWang Q, Zhu Y, Li H.Opt Express. 2015 Dec 28;23(26):33753-76.Digital Radiography (DR) images obtained by OCD-based (optical coupling detector) Micro-CT system usually suffer from low contrast. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to describe the image formation process in scintillator. By solving the correlative inverse problem, the quality of DR images is improved, i.e. higher contrast and spatial resolution. By analyzing the radiative transfer process of visible light in scintillator, scattering is recognized as the main factor leading to low contrast. Moreover, involved blurring effect is also concerned and described as point spread function (PSF). Based on these physical processes, the scintillator imaging model is then established. When solving the inverse problem, pre-correction to the intensity of x-rays, dark channel prior based haze removing technique, and an effective blind deblurring approach are employed. Experiments on a variety of DR images show that the proposed approach could improve the contrast of DR images dramatically as well as eliminate the blurring vision effectively. Compared with traditional contrast enhancement methods, such as CLAHE, our method could preserve the relative absorption values well.
- ArticleWang HW, Kim YH, Park SO.Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 May 19;102(20):e33753.RATIONALE: Liposarcoma is an uncommon malignant tumor that develops in the fatty tissue; thus, the long-term follow-up results of extremely large liposarcomas in the submuscular layer of the thigh have rarely been reported. Here we share the course and outcome of 2 cases of a huge deep-seated liposarcoma in the thigh.
PATIENT CONCERNS: Two patients visited our clinic, each with a deep-seated mass in the thigh. First, a 44-year-old man presented to the outpatient clinic with a left thigh mass. Approximately 1 year later, an 80-year-old man presented to the outpatient clinic with a right posterior thigh mass.
DIAGNOSIS: Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an approximately 14 × 8 × 21 cm well-differentiated liposarcoma between the sartorius and iliopsoas muscle and an approximately 14 × 12 × 31.5 cm lipomatous mass in the posterior compartment of the right thigh involving the right adductor muscles. After complete marginal resection, an excisional biopsy was performed to confirm the diagnosis.
INTERVENTIONS: Both patients underwent complete marginal resection without chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
OUTCOMES: A biopsy showed a 20 × 17 × 7 cm well-differentiated, well-encapsulated liposarcoma in the 44-year-old man and a 30 × 17 × 10 cm well-differentiated liposarcoma in the 80-year-old man. These patients have achieved approximately 61 and 44 months of recurrence-free survival to date, respectively.
LESSONS: Here we described the long-term outcomes of 2 patients with a huge deep-seated liposarcoma in the lower extremity. Complete marginal excision of well-differentiated liposarcoma can achieve excellent recurrence-free survival. - ArticleBadar F, Cheema MAI, Iftikhar A.Cureus. 2023 Jan;15(1):e33753.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 virus) has been reported to cause significant injury to the central nervous system (CNS). Herein, we describe the case of a 48-year-old male with a past medical history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hypertension, and hyperlipidemia who developed typical symptomatology of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) with cognitive impairment, gait dysfunction, and urinary incontinence after a mild coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection. The diagnosis was confirmed by imaging and lumbar puncture (LP). The patient was treated with a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placed by neurosurgery and had a complete recovery. Despite increasing reports of neurological manifestations of COVID-19 infection, the mechanism of such pathology is still not well understood. Hypotheses include viral invasion of the CNS either through the nasopharynx and olfactory epithelium or directly through the blood brain barrier.
- ArticleMaisano Delser P, Corrigan S, Hale M, Li C, Veuille M, Planes S, Naylor G, Mona S.Sci Rep. 2016 09 21;6:33753.Population genetics studies on non-model organisms typically involve sampling few markers from multiple individuals. Next-generation sequencing approaches open up the possibility of sampling many more markers from fewer individuals to address the same questions. Here, we applied a target gene capture method to deep sequence ~1000 independent autosomal regions of a non-model organism, the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus). We devised a sampling scheme based on the predictions of theoretical studies of metapopulations to show that sampling few individuals, but many loci, can be extremely informative to reconstruct the evolutionary history of species. We collected data from a single deme (SID) from Northern Australia and from a scattered sampling representing various locations throughout the Indian Ocean (SCD). We explored the genealogical signature of population dynamics detected from both sampling schemes using an ABC algorithm. We then contrasted these results with those obtained by fitting the data to a non-equilibrium finite island model. Both approaches supported an Nm value ~40, consistent with philopatry in this species. Finally, we demonstrate through simulation that metapopulations exhibit greater resilience to recent changes in effective size compared to unstructured populations. We propose an empirical approach to detect recent bottlenecks based on our sampling scheme.
- ArticleAmakpe F, Kenali HI, Sinsin B.Heliyon. 2024 Jul 15;10(13):e33753.The honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) rely on nectars and pollens they collect the yearlong in the tropical areas and pollination is one of the most important ecological services the honeybees perform. Shifting cultivation, deforestation, husbandry, bushfires, and pesticides are challenging factors to the melliferous flora to which the honeybees adapt for their survival. In order to assess the anthropogenic impacts on the honeybee foraging behaviour, honeys of 23 established apiaries from feral bee swarms were collected in 2012 and 2022 and submitted to palynologic analyses. The decennial analyses were performed on honeys of May 2012 and May 2022 while the seasonal analyses were performed on May, July, and November 2022 honeys. The average number of pollens per 10 g of honey dropped from 1211.26 ± 1400.54 in 2012 to 697,5 ± 668.62 in 2022. Anthropogenic plants (36.11 % of the plant diversity) represented 40.79 % of relative frequency (F%) and 11.36 % of the pollen relative density (P %) in 2012. Ten years later, the dominant pollen species shifted to anthropogenic trees, dominated by Khaya senegalensis (P % = 37.5; F % = 5.1) Vitellaria paradoxa (P % = 7.6; F % = 2.5); Cassia siamea (P % = 6.7; F % = 5.9) and Parkia biglobosa (P % = 5.0; F % = 5.9). Though the pollen species varied a lot upon the season in 2022, the number of pollen grain per 10 g of honey didn't significantly change between the seasons. The frequency of the pollen species was positively correlated to the number of collected pollen at the beginning of the dry season which may be considered as the honey flow season in the northern part of Benin. Reforestation of multipurpose autochthone plants and a better agricultural pesticides use will help secure the diversified and abundant melliferous flora required for a sustainable hive products and pollination services in the Republic of Benin.
- ArticleNormahani P, Poushpas S, Alaa M, Bravis V, Aslam M, Jaffer U.BMJ Open. 2020 02 05;10(2):e033753.INTRODUCTION: In the UK, over 7000 amputations are performed each year because of diabetes. Up to 80% of these are preceded by a foot ulcer and could therefore be prevented with improvements in ulcer care. Peripheral arterial disease is an important risk factor for the development of diabetic foot ulceration. However, its diagnosis in diabetes is challenging due to the presence of neuropathy and arterial calcification. Commonly used bedside tests either have low sensitivities or little supporting evidence to justify their use. Duplex ultrasound (DUS) has good correlation to angiography findings but a full scan is difficult to learn and time consuming to perform. We have previously demonstrated that a focused DUS of the distal anterior and posterior tibial arteries at the ankle (podiatry ankle duplex scan (PAD-scan)) can be readily learnt by novices and performed rapidly and accurately. The primary aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the PAD-scan and other commonly used bedside tests in detecting arterial disease in diabetes.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study will include 305 patients presenting to diabetic foot clinics at two centres. Arterial assessment will be performed using the following index tests: the PAD-scan, pulse palpation, audible handheld Doppler, Ankle Brachial Pressure Index, Toe Brachial Pressure Index and transcutaneous pressure of oxygen. Patients will then undergo a full lower limb arterial DUS by a blinded vascular scientist as a reference test.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval was gained from NRES Committee London (REC reference 17/LO/1447). Findings will be disseminated by various methods including international presentations and publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT04058626). - ArticleYang X, Tang X, Liu Y, Bin J, Leng Y.Opt Express. 2023 Sep 25;31(20):33753-33764.Post-compression can effectively further improve the peak power of laser pulses by shortening the pulse duration. Which has been investigated in various ranges of energy and central wavelength. However, the spatial intensity profile of high-peak-power laser pulses is generally inhomogeneous due to pump lasers, imperfect optical components, and dust in the optical layout. In post-compression, the B-integral is proportional to intensity, and wavefront distortions are induced in the spectral broadening stage, leading to a decrease in focusing intensity. Moreover, the beam intensity may be strongly modulated and beam inhomogeneity will be intensified in this process, causing damage to optical components and limiting the achievement of high peak power enhancement. In this study, to address these challenges, the laser pulse is first smoothed by introducing spatial dispersion using prism pairs or asymmetric four-grating compressors, and then the smoothed pulse is used for post-compression. The simulation results indicate that this method can effectively remove hot spots from laser pulses and maintain high peak power enhancement in post-compression.
- ArticleTanaka Y, Gavrielides MV, Mitsuuchi Y, Fujii T, Kazanietz MG.J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 05;278(36):33753-62.Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) by phorbol esters or diacylglycerol mimetics induces apoptosis in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells, an effect that involves both the activation of the classic PKC alpha and the novel PKC delta isozymes (Fujii, T., García-Bermejo, M. L., Bernabó, J. L., Caamaño, J., Ohba, M., Kuroki, T., Li, L., Yuspa, S. H., and Kazanietz, M. G. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 7574-7582 and Garcia-Bermejo, M. L., Leskow, F. C., Fujii, T., Wang, Q., Blumberg, P. M., Ohba, M., Kuroki, T., Han, K. C., Lee, J., Marquez, V. E., and Kazanietz, M. G. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 645-655). In the present study we explored the signaling events involved in this PKC-mediated effect, using the androgen-dependent LNCaP cell line as a model. Stimulation of PKC by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) leads to the activation of ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and JNK in LNCaP cells. Here we present evidence that p38 MAPK, but not JNK, mediates PKC-induced apoptosis. Because LNCaP cells have hyperactivated Akt function due to PTEN inactivation, we examined whether this survival pathway could be affected by PKC activation. Interestingly, activation of PKC leads to a rapid and reversible dephosphorylation of Akt, an effect that was prevented by the pan-PKC inhibitor GF109302X and the cPKC inhibitor Gö6976. In addition, the diacylglycerol mimetic agent HK654, which selectively stimulates PKC alpha in LNCaP cells, also induced the dephosphorylation of Akt in LNCaP cells. Inactivation of Akt function by PKC does not involve the inhibition of PI3K, and it is prevented by okadaic acid, suggesting the involvement of a phosphatase 2A in PMA-induced Akt dephosphorylation. Finally, we show that, when an activated form of Akt is delivered into LNCaP cells by either transient transfection or adenoviral infection, the apoptotic effect of PMA is significantly reduced. Our results highlight a complex array of signaling pathways regulated by PKC isozymes in LNCaP prostate cancer cells and suggest that both p38 MAPK and Akt play critical roles as downstream effectors of PKC isozymes in this cellular model.
- ArticleXue N, Wu X, Shi H, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Lv Y, Zhang X, Chen X, Yu Y, Liu W.ACS Nano. 2024 Dec 10;18(49):33743-33753.Spinel LiMn2O4 (LMO) is commonly used for electrochemically extracting lithium ions from brine. However, its cycle stability is significantly reduced due to Mn2+ dissolution. Here, we report high-performance LMO particles decorated by Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (LAGP) as an electrode for electrochemical lithium extraction. Compared with bare sample, the modified electrode presents higher Li-ion selectivity because LAGP is a single Li-ion conductor, and as a result of avoiding the cointercalation of other ions in brine, the sample exhibits a higher Li-ion extraction capacity of 2.44 mmol·g-1. The cycling stability is also improved in LMO with LAGP coating by alleviating the loss of manganese, indicating a reduced Mn loss of 0.20% after 100 cycles compared to the LAGP free counterpart of 0.47%. Our work demonstrates an effective method for lithium purification from brine, and the detailed mechanism is also studied systematically.
- ArticleGao Y, Chen Y, Li Y, Liu W, Lu B.RSC Adv. 2023 Nov 16;13(48):33743-33753.To counter the hyperspectral detection under the background of vegetation, a light scattering camouflage polyvinyl alcohol membrane containing lithium chloride, chlorophyll (Chl) and titanium dioxide (TD) particles was developed according to the bionic principle. Based on the reflectance and transmittance of the membrane, the optical constants of all components of the membrane were inverted via the ray tracing model and four flux Kubelka-Munk model. Using the determined optical constants, the reflectances of the membranes with different component contents were predicted through the model, and the effects of TD, Chl and water contents on the reflectance of the membrane were elucidated, respectively. Besides, a military specification of the USA in the region of 760 to 1200 nm and an Osmanthus fragrans leaf were used as a spectrum requirement and a simulation object of the camouflage membrane, respectively, to determine the appropriate contents of TD, Chl and water. It is found that when the volume fractions of TD, Chl and water are 0.7%, 5% and 50%, respectively, the 0.3 mm thick membrane can not only meet the military specification but also exhibit a reflection spectrum similar to that of the leaf with a similarity of 0.976.
- ArticleGuilford T, Wynn R, McMinn M, Rodríguez A, Fayet A, Maurice L, Jones A, Meier R.PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33753.Using combined miniature archival light and salt-water immersion loggers, we characterise the year-round individual at-sea movements of Europe's only critically endangered seabird, the Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, for the first time. Focusing on the non-breeding period, we show that all of the 26 breeding birds tracked from their breeding site on Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea successfully made a 2-4 month migration into the Atlantic Ocean, where they utilised well-defined core areas off Portuguese and French coasts. As well as identifying high-risk areas in the Atlantic, our results confirm that breeding birds spend most of the year concentrated around productive waters of the Iberian shelf in the western Mediterranean. Migration phenology appeared largely unrelated to the subsequent (distinctly synchronous) breeding attempt, suggesting that any carry-over effects were compensated for during a long pre-laying period spent over winter in the Mediterranean. Using the light and salt-water immersion data alone we were also able to characterise the pattern of pre-laying visits to the colony in considerable detail, demonstrating that breeding pairs appear to coordinate their over-day visits using a high frequency of night-time visits throughout the winter. Our study shows that geolocation technology is a valuable tool for assessing the spatial distribution of risks to this critically endangered species, and also provides a low-impact method for remotely observing the detailed behaviour of seabird species that may be sensitive to disturbance from traditional study methods.
- ArticleMohankumar A, Shanmugam G, Kalaiselvi D, Levenson C, Nivitha S, Thiruppathi G, Sundararaj P.RSC Adv. 2018 Oct 03;8(59):33753-33774.East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) has diverse beneficial effects and has been used for thousands of years in traditional folk-medicine for treatment of different human ailments. However, there has been no in-depth scientific investigation to decipher the neuroprotective and geroprotective mechanism of EISO and its principle components, α- and β-santalol. Hence the current study was undertaken to assess the protective effects of EISO, and α- and β-santalol against neurotoxic (6-OHDA/6-hydroxydopamine) and proteotoxic (α-synuclein) stresses in a Caenorhabditis elegans model. Initially, we found that EISO and its principle components exerted an excellent antioxidant and antiapoptotic activity as it was able to extend the lifespan, and inhibit the ROS generation, and germline cell apoptosis in 6-OHDA-intoxicated C. elegans. Further, we showed that supplementation of EISO, and α- and β-santalol reduced the 6-OHDA and α-synuclein-induced Parkinson's disease associated pathologies and improved the physiological functions. The genetic and reporter gene expression analysis revealed that an EISO, or α- and β-santalol-mediated protective effect does not appear to rely on DAF-2/DAF-16, but selectively regulates SKN-1 and its downstream targets involved in antioxidant defense and geroprotective processes. Together, our findings indicated that EISO and its principle components are worth exploring further as a candidate redox-based neuroprotectant for the prevention and management of age-related neurological disorders.
- ArticleJalili-Jahani N, Fatehi A, Zeraatkar E.RSC Adv. 2020 Sep 10;10(56):33753-33761.Multivariate image analysis applied to quantitative structure-property relationships (MIA-QSPR) has been used to predict photodegradation half-lives of polychlorinated biphenyls in n-hexane solution under UV irradiation. Owing to the high cost and laboriousness in experimental tests, developing a simple method to assess the photostability of the compounds is important in environmental risk assessment. The predictor block was built by superposition of the chemical structures (2D images), which was unfolded to a matrix, suitable for multilinear and classical partial least squares, N-PLS and PLS, respectively, as regression methods, demonstrating different predictive capability to each other. Model performance was improved after removing an outlier, and the results were in general more accurate than the ones previously obtained through quantum chemical descriptors analysis. Model validation and Y-randomization test proved that the developed model has goodness-of-fit, predictive power, and robustness. Additionally, the applicability domain of the developed model was visualized by Williams plot. This study showed that a simple procedure is able to give highly predictive models, useful in ecotoxicology, independent of the regression method used for this class of compounds.
- ArticleJo S, Seo M, Nguyen TH, Cha JW, An YJ, Park S.J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Dec 11;146(49):33753-33762.Fatty acid de novo synthesis (FADNS) is a critical process in lipogenesis that is characteristically altered in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), which is the major type of kidney cancer. An important challenge in studying the FADNS process has been the accurate measurement of cytosolic lipogenic acetyl-CoA (AcCoA), the precursor in FADNS, due to its compartmentalization within cells. Here, we describe a novel NMR-based method to decode the isotopic enrichment of lipogenic AcCoA, which, as we demonstrated, is encoded in the simple signal ratios of the geminal methyl groups of lanosterol during its biosynthesis. The approach was validated based on the independence of the tracer enrichment and species along with the expected FADNS modulation using differentially enriched tracers and a well-studied drug. Application of this technique to 786-O ccRCC cells showed that glucose may serve as a major carbon source for lipogenic AcCoA in FADNS at physiological nutrient concentrations, at odds with previous studies that indicated glutamine's dominant role through reductive carboxylation under higher nutrient conditions. Further investigation into glutamine's alternative roles in ccRCC cells suggested its major involvement in the bioenergetic TCA cycle, pyrimidine synthesis, and glutathione synthesis, which is also critical in ccRCC growth. The glutamine-dependent glutathione synthesis was also suggested as a possible metabolic vulnerability compared to normal kidney cells using a glutathione synthesis inhibitor. The current study provides a simple tool for studying an important aspect of lipid metabolism and suggests translational implications for targeting glucose-driven lipogenesis and glutamine-supported glutathione synthesis in ccRCC.
- ArticleSevinc H, Hazar H.Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Sep;27(27):33753-33772.Thermal barrier coating (TBC) implementations and oxygenated additives are remarkable issues that may decrease the exhaust emissions of engines. This study examines the effect of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) coating and the addition of ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN) on exhaust emissions of a diesel engine. In addition, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was designed which estimates exhaust emissions based on engine speed in order to reduce time, labor, and costs lost in experimental studies, and the performance of the ANN was evaluated. Piston crown and valves of engine were processed with Cr2O3. The E3, E6, and E9 blends were produced by blending 3%, 6%, and 9% (vol.) ratios of 2-ethylhexyl nitrate with diesel fuel. Engine speed was used as input parameter and carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOX), hydrocarbon (HC), and smoke density were used as output parameters. To evaluate the performance of ANN, error rates, and regression (R) values were considered. Experimental results revealed that CO, HC, and smoke density decreased in the CE whereas NOX values increased compared with the UE. The addition of EHN reduced NOX emission and smoke density, whereas it increased CO and HC emissions. The result showed that ANN model can predict the exhaust emissions at a high accuracy rate. The lowest regression results were achieved as 0.98395, 0.99047, 0.99268, and 0.98383 for the CO, NOX, smoke density, and HC, respectively. Moreover, the average R values of NOX, HC, CO, and smoke density were obtained as 0.99767, 0.99131, 0.99396, and 0.99741. The maximum error rates of the estimated outcomes were obtained as 5.25% on average. Graphical abstract.
- ArticleTan SH, Low ME.Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 03;3753:96-100.
- ArticleRojas RR, De Carvalho VT, Gordo M, Avila RW, Farias IP, Hrbek T.Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 03;3753:79-95.Amazophrynella is a genus of the family Bufonidae, currently represented by three species. The type species of the genus, Amazophrynella minuta, however, is a complex of species occurring throughout the Amazonian biome. This group remains problematic taxonomically; the difficulty lays principally in the lack of diagnostic characters in the original description of A. minuta, the lack of molecular data and refined taxonomic comparison of individuals through its wide distribution. We describe a new species of the genus Amazophrynella, distributed in the southwestern part of the Guiana Shield of Brazil based on a series of morphological and molecular characters. The new species differs from others of the genus by presenting a slightly truncated triangular snout, ventral texture covered by many fine granules, white belly covered with black spots and by fifteen molecular autapomorphies in the 16S rDNA fragment. Uncorrected p-distances of a fragment of the 16S mitochondrial rDNA gene revealed high divergence among other Amazophrynella species (9%-14%). Additionally we provide a new diagnosis of topotypic material of Amazophrynella minuta including molecular data. Our results show the existence of a subestimated diversity in the genus Amazophrynella.
- ArticleVenegas PJ, Echevarria LY, Alvarez SC.Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 03;3753:47-58.We describe a new species of Stenocercus from the interandean valley of Río Chotano on the Amazonian slope of the northern portion of the Cordillera Occidental of Peru (Cajamarca Region), at elevations of between 1997 and 2318 m. Stenocercus arndti sp. nov. differs from other Stenocercus, except from S. bolivarensis, S. carrioni, S. chlorostictus, S. crassicaudatus, S. empetrus, S. eunetopsis, S. simonsii, and S. torquatus, in having granular scales on the posterior surface of the thighs, two caudal whorls per autotomic segment, mucronate caudal scales, and distinct longitudinal row of enlarged vertebral scales. However, Stenocercus arndti sp. nov. is easily distinguished from these species in having a bold black transversal band at midbody that extends ventrolaterally in adult males.
- ArticleZhang W, Liu X, Aspöck H, Aspöck U.Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 03;3753:10-24.The pleasing lacewing genus Dilar Rambur is a dominant group of the family Dilaridae in Asia and is diverse in China with 18 described species. Herein we record five species of Dilar. Three species, i.e. Dilar hastatus sp.nov., Dilar spectabilis sp.nov. and Dilar taibaishanus sp.nov. are described as new to science. Dilar sinicus Nakahara and Dilar septentrionalis Navás are also redescribed. A key to the species of Dilar from northern China is given.
- ArticleLi W, Murányi D, Wang R.Zootaxa. 2014 Jan 03;3753:1-9.Two new species of the genus Neoperla are described from Yunnan Province, China: Neoperla lihuae Li & Murányi, sp. nov. and Neoperla yanlii Li & Wang, sp. nov. They are compared with related congeners. Brief comments on the taxonomy of N. cavaleriei (Navás, 1922), N. limbatella Navás, 1933, N. obscurofulva Wu, 1962 and N. lui Du, 2004 are also presented.