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Accurate segregation of retinal blood vessels network plays a crucial role in clinical assessments, treatments, and rehabilitation process. Owing to the presence of acquisition and instrumentation anomalies, precise tracking of vessels network is challenging. For this, a new fundus image segmentation framework is proposed by combining deep neural networks, and hidden Markov model. It has three main modules: the Atrous spatial pyramid pooling-based encoder, the decoder, and hidden Markov model vessel tracker. The encoder utilized modified ResNet18 deep neural networks model for low-and-high-levels features extraction. These features are concatenated in module-II by the decoder to perform convolution operations to obtain the initial segmentation. Previous modules detected the main vessel structure and overlooked some small capillaries. For improved segmentation, hidden Markov model vessel tracker is integrated with module-I and-II to detect overlooked small capillaries of the vessels network. In last module, final segmentation is obtained by combining multi-oriented sub-images using logical OR operation. This novel framework is validated experimentally using two standard DRIVE and STARE datasets. The developed model offers high average values of accuracy, area under the curve, and sensitivity of 99.8, 99.0, and 98.2%, respectively. Analysis of the results revealed that the developed approach offered enhanced performance in terms of sensitivity 18%, accuracy 3%, and specificity 1% over the state-of-the-art approaches. Owing to better learning and generalization capability, the developed approach tracked blood vessels network efficiently and automatically compared to other approaches. The proposed approach can be helpful for human eye assessment, disease diagnosis, and rehabilitation process.

Flexible/wearable gas sensor technology is gaining huge interest in the current era of the Internet of Things for its applications in personal environmental monitoring, healthcare, and safety.

A facile method of Zn ion doping into Sn-based perovskite through a redox potential difference causes lattice strain relaxation, resulting in the enhancement of optoelectronic properties.

Distinctive surface functional groups on 3D MXenes as Pt-supports are correlated with optimized Pt–H affinity and HER activity in alkaline media.

Single-crystalline CeO2−x hollow nanorods possess more Ce3+ states and wider surface area than other types of cerium oxide nanostructures and those enable the resultant organic photovoltaic cells to have improved photostability.

A new benzodithiophene (BDT)-based building block, 3-FBDT, was synthesized and incorporated into PBDB-T-2F to yield an eco-friendly (non-aromatic and non-halogenated) solvent-processible photovoltaic copolymer, PBDB-T-2F(3/4).

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a major neurodevelopmental disorder in which patients present with core symptoms of social communication impairment, restricted interest, and repetitive behaviors. Although various studies have been performed to identify ASD-related mechanisms, ASD pathology is still poorly understood. CNTNAP2 genetic variants have been found that represent ASD genetic risk factors, and disruption of Cntnap2 expression has been associated with ASD phenotypes in mice. In this study, we performed an integrative multi-omics analysis by combining quantitative proteometabolomic data obtained with Cntnap2 knockout (KO) mice with multi-omics data obtained from ASD patients and forebrain organoids to elucidate Cntnap2-dependent molecular networks in ASD. To this end, a mass spectrometry-based proteometabolomic analysis of the medial prefrontal cortex in Cntnap2 KO mice led to the identification of Cntnap2-associated molecular features, and these features were assessed in combination with multi-omics data obtained on the prefrontal cortex in ASD patients to identify bona fide ASD cellular processes. Furthermore, a reanalysis of single-cell RNA sequencing data obtained from forebrain organoids derived from patients with CNTNAP2-associated ASD revealed that the aforementioned identified ASD processes were mainly linked to excitatory neurons. On the basis of these data, we constructed Cntnap2-associated ASD network models showing mitochondrial dysfunction, axonal impairment, and synaptic activity. Our results may shed light on the Cntnap2-dependent molecular networks in ASD.

Objective: Alcohol is known to cause inflammation in the stomach by decreasing the protective substances of the gastric mucosa and increasing oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of Artemisiae Argyi Folium extract (AF) on alcohol-induced gastritis.Methods: The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of AF were confirmed through an in vitro experiment. Radical scavenging activities were confirmed using DPPH and ABTS assays. In vivo experiments were conducted on mice divided into 5 groups (n=8): a normal group (Nor), an alcohol-induced gastritis group (Con), an alcohol-induced gastritis group administered 10 mg/kg sucralfate (SC), an alcohol-induced gastritis group administered 100 mg/kg AF (AFL), and an alcohol-induced gastritis group administered 200 mg/kg AF(AFH). The serum levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined, and protein expressions were confirmed in gastric tissues.Results: In alcohol-induced gastritis, AF alleviated damage to the gastric mucosa caused by alcohol. AF also decreased the serum ROS levels. Western blots showed that AF decreased the expression of NADPH oxidase and decreased the expression of the NF-κB pathway associated with inflammation. AF also decreased the expression of adhesion molecules and chemokine proteins, and increased the expression of anti-inflammatory proteins.Conclusions: AF not only reduced oxidative stress in alcohol-induced gastritis, but it also relieved gastric mucosal inflammation by regulating the expression of the NF-κB pathway.

While many scholars point out the effect of the Jewish War on the formation of early Christian identities, not many have analyzed the generational dynamic over this traumatic experience and how the New Testament authors address this issue through their literary efforts. In this article, by utilizing sociological discussions on intergenerational tensions and integration in post-war societies, I present a generational interpretation of the literary efforts in Luke-Acts. I explore how Luke addresses the different understandings of the Temple between the older and younger generations and the trauma of its destruction persisting in the diaspora assemblies of Christ-followers. I argue that Luke, by portraying the old and young in particular ways (ex. Mary-Zechariah; early apostles-Stephen; Saul), attempts to heal the communal trauma of the war, promote mutual understanding between generations, and empower the next generation for the survival of the ekklēsia.

6-Bromoindirubin (6BrIR), found in Murex sea snails, is a precursor of indirubin-derivatives anticancer drugs. However, its synthesis remains limited due to uncharacterized biosynthetic pathways and difficulties in site-specific bromination and oxidation at the indole ring. Here, we present an efficient 6BrIR production strategy in Escherichia coli by using four enzymes, that is, tryptophan 6-halogenase fused with flavin reductase Fre (Fre-L3-SttH), tryptophanase (TnaA), toluene 4-monooxygenase (PmT4MO), and flavin-containing monooxygenase (MaFMO). Although most indole oxygenases preferentially oxygenate the electronically active C3 position of indole, PmT4MO was newly characterized to perform C2 oxygenation of 6-bromoindole with 45% yield to produce 6-bromo-2-oxindole. In addition, 6BrIR was selectively generated without indigo and indirubin byproducts by controlling the reducing power of cysteine and oxygen supply during the MaFMO reaction. These approaches led to 34.1 mg/L 6BrIR productions, making it possible to produce the critical precursor of the anticancer drugs only from natural ingredients such as tryptophan, NaBr, and oxygen.

In this post hoc analysis of the PRODIGY study, we aimed to investigate factors associated with survival outcomes and provide evidence for designing optimal perioperative treatment strategies for gastric cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.A total of 212 patients in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group of the PRODIGY study were included as the study population. The prognostic impact of clinicopathologic factors, including the initial radiological clinical stage (cStage) and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy pathological stage (ypStage), was analyzed.The median age was 58 years. The majority of patients (77.4%) had cStage III disease, and about 10% and 25% had ypStage 0 and I disease, respectively. According to the initial cStage, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were significantly different (P 0.01). PFS and OS were also different according to the ypStage (P 0.01). In multivariate analyses, cStage IIIC disease (vs. cStage II) and ypStage II and III disease (vs. ypStage 0/I) were independent factors for poor survival outcomes. Based on the patterns of PFS and OS according to both cStage and ypStage, three patient groups were defined. These groups showed distinct PFS and OS (P 0.01) with 5-year PFS rates of 95.7%, 77.9%, and 31.3% and 5-year OS rates of 95.7%, 82.4%, and 42.5%, respectively.Both initial cStage and ypStage were independent factors for survival outcomes of gastric cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Efforts should be made to develop optimal peri-operative treatment strategies for patients at different risks according to cStage and ypStage.

Glycoprotein (G protein)-based DNA vaccines are effective in protecting aquaculture fish from rhabdoviruses but the degree of immune response they elicit depends on plasmid concentration and antigen cassette. Here, we developed a DNA vaccine using the viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus G (VG) gene and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 19 (CCL19)a.2 regulated by the CMV promoter as the molecular adjuvant. After transfection of the prepared plasmid (pVG + CCL19) into epithelioma papulosum cyprini cells, mRNA expression was confirmed through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The vaccine was intramuscularly injected into zebrafish (Danio rerio), and 28 days after immunization, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (10

This study introduces "shortcut routing," a novel routing mechanism in capsule networks that addresses computational inefficiencies by directly activating global capsules from local capsules, eliminating intermediate layers. An attention-based approach with fuzzy coefficients is also explored for improved efficiency. Experimental results on Mnist, smallnorb, and affNist datasets show comparable classification performance, achieving accuracies of 99.52%, 93.91%, and 89.02% respectively. The proposed fuzzy-based and attention-based routing methods significantly reduce the number of calculations by 1.42 and 2.5 times compared to EM routing, highlighting their computational advantages in capsule networks. These findings contribute to the advancement of efficient and accurate hierarchical pattern representation models., 8 pages, published at IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics Communications and Computer Sciences E104.A(8)

This study explored the effects of trust in a supervisor (TIS) on social loafing behaviors of employees. In addition, this study examined the mediating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship between trust in a supervisor and employees’ social loafing behaviors. It also examined the moderating effects of perceived organizational politics (POP) on the relationship between TIS and POS, TIS and social loafing behaviors, and POS and social loafing behaviors. Data were collected from local government employees in Korea, and the final sample was 260. Our results indicate that trust in a supervisor has indirect negative effects on social loafing behaviors mediated by POS. In addition, it was found that the effects of TIS on POS and POS on social loafing behaviors were moderated by POP. The results of this study contribute to the extant literature on social loafing behaviors. Moreover, the findings imply that political behaviors in organizations might induce social loafing behaviors.

Koreanohadra koreana (K. koreana) is an endemic species in South Korea that is listed as endangered. While the ecology and phylogenetics of K. koreana have been studied, its morphological similarity to the related species Koreanohadra kurodana (K. kurodana), can make species identification difficult. Furthermore, this has led to confusion when determining essential habitat information for the conservation of K. koreana. To bypass this issue, we have developed a noninvasive species identification method that can genetically differentiate between them. While there are already various noninvasive genomic DNA (gDNA) extraction methods that utilize the mucus from mollusks, they are limited as they require the target species to be physically located. To address this, in this investigation a method of extracting gDNA from the feces of snails was developed. The method utilized a primer set to amplify a cytochrome b fragment from K. koreana but not K. kurodana or other terrestrial snails. The feces of terrestrial snails could thus be used to obtain gDNA to a genetically usable level if collected within 5 days of excretion. This noninvasive species identification method using feces will help to facilitate genetic research without harming the endangered species and if the target species is not physically in the habitat. Moreover, K. koreana and K. kurodana could perhaps be further distinguished, using their habitat information to help facilitate essential conservation measures.

With photovoltaic performance of metal halide perovskite-based solar cells skyrocketing to approximately 26% and approaching the theoretical Shockley–Queisser limit of single junction solar cells, researchers are now exploring multi-junction tandem solar cells that use perovskite materials to achieve high efficiency next-generation photovoltaics. Various types of bottom subcells, including silicon solar cells used commercially in industry, chalcogenide thin film cells, and perovskite cells, have been combined with perovskite top subcells on the strength of facile fabrication methods based on solution processes. However, owing to the nature that photovoltages of the subcells are added up and the structure containing numerous layers, interfacial issues that cause open-circuit voltage (VOC) deficit need to be handled carefully. In addition, morphological issues or process compatibility make it difficult to fabricate solution-processed perovskite top cells. In this paper, we summarize and review the fundamentals and strategies to overcome interfacial issues in tandem solar cells for high efficiency and stability confronting this field. Graphical Abstract