Search

To prospectively investigate the potential correlation between qualitative and quantitative assessment of aneurysm wall enhancement (AWE) on initial enhanced high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) and aneurysm progression during follow-up.From June 2016 to January 2021, we prospectively recruited patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) for enhanced HR-MRI examination. The patients' demographic and clinical data and aneurysm characteristics, including AWE features, were collected and analyzed. Follow-up images were compared to evaluate IA progression. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors associated with aneurysm progression.Seventy-seven patients with 95 UIAs met our research criteria, and the median follow-up time was 15.7 months. Progression was observed in 18 aneurysms; the remaining 77 remained stable. Progressive UIAs were larger in size, more frequently displayed obvious AWE and showed a higher enhancement ratio (ER) than nonprogressive UIAs. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that both ER (hazard ratio, 6.304, p0.001) and aneurysm size (hazard ratio, 1.343, p = 0.014) were independent risk factors for aneurysm progression. The combination of ER and aneurysm size had an area under the curve of 0.920 for the prediction of aneurysm progression, with a sensitivity of 88.9% and specificity of 87.0%.A higher ER value of the aneurysm wall and a larger aneurysm size on initial HR-MRI may predict an increased risk of aneurysm progression, which suggests that closer monitoring by imaging or preventive intervention may be required for the clinical management of these aneurysms.

360-degree images allow an immersive experience. They offer multiple views of a scene and the viewpoint can be selected by the user. However, the huge amount of data that is necessary for real-time transmission of 360-degree image and video requires efficient coding techniques, particularly for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications. The viewer is only interested in a part of the scene so compressing the entire scene with equal quality is inefficient. This study initially constructs a saliency model of the 360-degree image and then a visual attention guided coding scheme is developed using a predicted saliency map. For saliency prediction, two methods of saliency prediction are used and the results are fused, to address the problem of geometry distortion in the ERP (Equirectangular Projection) format. A smoothing-based optimization is then realized in the spherical domain to improve the saliency map. Using the saliency map of the 360-degree image, the distortion of the rate-distortion optimization is modified to ensure a better visual experience. The experimental results show that the viewports of greatest interest are rendered with the highest quality and there is a maximum of 14.33% reduction in the bitrate when the quality measurement is performed in these regions.

In middle-aged and older adults, attitude toward aging (ATA) exerts significant influences on their current and future health. For health promotion to be successful, participants’ ATA requires health care providers’ attention. Knowing the factors associated with ATA can facilitate future studies to investigate effective interventions. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with ATA in middle-aged and older adults. This cross-sectional study analyzed data of a nationally representative sample of adults aged 58 years and older collected in a population-based longitudinal study: the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA). To identify the factors associated with ATA, we investigated demographic factors (age, gender, education, marital and cohabitation status, and financial satisfaction status) and health-related factors (number of co-morbidities, depression, physical function dependency) with bivariate analysis and multiple regression analysis. To identify the activities beneficial to ATA over and above demographic and health-related factors, various activities (exercise, volunteer service, and leisure activities) were each examined individually by multiple regression analysis. The factors detrimental to ATA were advanced age, a higher number of co-morbidities, living alone, depression, and dependence on physical function. Those beneficial to ATA were higher education, financial satisfaction, physical exercise, volunteer service, and six leisure activities.

Terpios hoshinota is an aggressive, space-competing sponge that kills various stony corals. Outbreaks of this species have led to intense damage to coral reefs in many locations. Here, the first large-scale 16S rRNA gene survey across three oceans revealed that bacteria related to the taxa Prochloron, Endozoicomonas, SAR116, Ruegeria, and unclassified Proteobacteria were prevalent in T. hoshinota. A Prochloron-related bacterium was the most dominant and prevalent cyanobacterium in T. hoshinota. The complete genome of this uncultivated cyanobacterium and pigment analysis demonstrated that it has phycobiliproteins and lacks chlorophyll b, which is inconsistent with the definition of Prochloron. Furthermore, the cyanobacterium was phylogenetically distinct from Prochloron, strongly suggesting that it should be a sister taxon to Prochloron. Therefore, we proposed this symbiotic cyanobacterium as a novel species under the new genus Candidatus Paraprochloron terpiosi. Comparative genomic analyses revealed that 'Paraprochloron' and Prochloron exhibit distinct genomic features and DNA replication machinery. We also characterized the metabolic potentials of 'Paraprochloron terpiosi' in carbon and nitrogen cycling and propose a model for interactions between it and T. hoshinota. This study builds a foundation for the study of the T. hoshinota microbiome and paves the way for better understanding of ecosystems involving this coral-killing sponge.

Terpios hoshinota is a ferocious, space-competing sponge that kills a variety of stony corals by overgrowth. Outbreaks of this species have led to intense coral reef damage and declines in living corals on the square kilometer scale in many geographical locations. Our large-scale 16S rRNA gene survey across three oceans revealed that the core microbiome of T. hoshinota included operational taxonomic units (OTUs) related to Prochloron, Endozoicomonas, Pseudospirillum, SAR116, Magnetospira, and Ruegeria. A Prochloron- related OTU was the most dominant cyanobacterium in T. hoshinota in the western Pacific Ocean, South China Sea, and Indian Ocean. The complete metagenome-assembled genome of the Prochloron-related cyanobacterium and our pigment analysis revealed that this bacterium had phycobiliproteins and phycobilins and lacked chlorophyll b, inconsistent with the iconic definition of Prochloron. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes and 120 single-copy genes demonstrated that the bacterium was phylogenetically distinct to Prochloron, strongly suggesting that it should be a sister taxon to Prochloron; we therefore proposed this symbiotic cyanobacterium as a novel species under a new genus: Candidatus Paraprochloron terpiosii. With the recovery of the complete genome, we characterized the metabolic potentials of the novel cyanobacterium in carbon and nitrogen cycling and proposed a model for the interaction between Ca. Pp. terpiosi LD05 and T. hoshinota. In addition, comparative genomics analysis revealed that Ca. Paraprochloron and Prochloron showed distinct features in transporter systems and DNA replication.ImportanceThe finding that one species predominates cyanobacteria in T. hoshinota from different geographic locations indicates that this sponge and Ca. Pp. terpiosi LD05 share a tight relationship. This study builds the foundation for T. hoshinota’s microbiome and paves a way for understanding the ecosystem, invasion mechanism, and causes of outbreak of this coral-killing sponge. Also, the first Prochloron-related complete genome enables us to study this bacterium with molecular approaches in the future and broadens our knowledge of the evolution of symbiotic cyanobacteria.

Based on cascaded Raman scattering, near-infrared (NIR) noise-like pulses (NLPs) were successfully demonstrated using a Yb-doped fiber amplifier system. Through a nonlinear fiber amplifier using a germanium-zirconia-silica Yb3+-doped single mode fiber as a gain fiber, the fourth-order Stokes wave (4 th -SW) can be excited to extend the emission peak of approximately 1.2-µm and a 3-dB bandwidth of approximately 130 nm. To further shift the wavelength more efficiently toward 1.3 µm, filtered NLPs with an emission peak at 1075 nm were adopted as seeded pulses to excite the fifth-order Stokes wave (5 th -SW) because of the better conversion efficiency of stimulated Raman scattering without gain competition with Yb-doped fiber. The generated NIR NLPs were shown to be an excellent light source for the photoluminescence emission from three photon absorption of perovskite to illustrate the red shift of the emission peak owing to the reabsorption effect.

This paper introduces an optimized microridge-punch design for deep-drawing processes with improved formability and punch service life. Reducing the thickness of metal sheets results in a marked decrease in the microscale/mesoscale deep drawing rates. Prior studies have recognized that the drawing punch with a microridge design next to the punch nose lowers the thinning rate and improves the deep-drawing formability. However, the increased stripping force associated with the microridge design may result in deformation of the drawn cup and shorten the punch service life. Here, we present a parameter optimization of the microridge design, in which there is a tradeoff between multiple objectives in the deep-drawing process. We introduce a fuzzy inference to synthesize two design objectives, i.e., the thinning rate and stripping force, into single design fitness. We use Deform-2D software to simulate deep-drawing performance for design optimization. Since the simulation of design objectives is computationally expensive, we introduce a novel sequential surrogate-based optimization to improve the sampling and searching efficiencies. The proposed optimal microridge design outperforms the best design for both the thinning rate and stripping force of all the samples, as well as the design obtained by the Taguchi method based on the fuzzy design fitness. Compared with the Taguchi design, the proposed optimum design improves the fuzzy design fitness by 29.2%, whereby the stripping force is significantly reduced by 35.2%, with only a slight 2% increase in the thinning rate. The proposed design effectively ensures both the deep drawing formability and the microridge-punch service life.

This paper proposes a new scheme in cloud service applied to smart home systems based on the technology of the Internet of Things (IoT), and the key technologies include sensing technology and cloud computing ability. The IoT refers to the network of objects, devices, machines, and other physical systems with computing and communication capabilities. On the smart home paradigm, the data collected from sensors can be sensitive information and that security breaches can have devastating economic and social impact. This paper proposes a platform to prevent collusion between users and the cloud service provider (CSP). To protect the privacy of the checked data, the leakage of personnel information in the protocol for the proof must be considered. The proposed protocol can verify users who modify shared files, so that a cloud-storage practice is considered safe. In addition, the proposed method preserves data privacy and minimizes computational cost by applying the bilinearity property of bilinear pairings.

// Cheng-Yu Yang 1, 6 , Chih-Kung Lin 3 , Chang-Huei Tsao 7, 8 , Cheng-Chih Hsieh 5 , Gu-Jiun Lin 4 , Kuo-Hsing Ma 4 , Yi-Shing Shieh 6 , Huey-Kang Sytwu 1, 7 and Yuan-Wu Chen 1, 2, 6 1 Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 2 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 3 Division of Anatomic Pathology, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 4 Department of Biology and Anatomy, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 5 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 6 School of Dentistry, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 7 Graduate Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 8 Department of Medical Research, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan Correspondence to: Yuan-Wu Chen, email: h6183@yahoo.com.tw Keywords: patient-derived tumor xenograft, LSD1, melatonin, oral cancer, cell proliferation Received: June 16, 2016 Accepted: March 08, 2017 Published: April 04, 2017 ABSTRACT Aberrant activation of histone lysine-specific demethylase (LSD1) increases tumorigenicity; hence, LSD1 is considered a therapeutic target for various human cancers. Although melatonin, an endogenously produced molecule, may defend against various cancers, the precise mechanism involved in its anti-oral cancer effect remains unclear. Patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDTX) models are preclinical models that can more accurately reflect human tumor biology compared with cell line xenograft models. Here, we evaluated the anticancer activity of melatonin by using LSD1-overexpressing oral cancer PDTX models. By assessing oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue arrays through immunohistochemistry, we examined whether aberrant LSD1 overexpression in OSCC is associated with poor prognosis. We also evaluated the action mechanism of melatonin against OSCC with lymphatic metastases by using the PDTX models. Our results indicated that melatonin, at pharmacological concentrations, significantly suppresses cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The observed suppression of proliferation was accompanied by the melatonin-mediated inhibition of LSD1 in oral cancer PDTXs and oral cancer cell lines. In conclusion, we determined that the beneficial effects of melatonin in reducing oral cancer cell proliferation are associated with reduced LSD1 expression in vivo and in vitro .

Significant phenotypic heterogeneity exists in patients with all subtypes of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), including essential thrombocythaemia (ET). Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) holds the promise of unravelling the biology of MPN at an unprecedented level of resolution. Herein we employed this approach to dissect the transcriptomes in the CD34+ cells from the peripheral blood of seven previously untreated ET patients and one healthy adult. The mutational profiles in these patients were as follows: JAK2 V617F in two, CALR in three (one type I and two type II) and triple-negative (TN) in two. Our results reveal substantial heterogeneity within this enrolled cohort of patients. Activation of JAK/STAT signalling was recognized in discrepant progenitor lineages among different samples. Significantly disparate molecular profiling was identified in the comparison between ET patients and the control, between patients with different driver mutations (JAK2 V617F and CALR exon 9 indel), and even between patients harbouring the same driver. Intra-individual clonal diversity was also found in the CD34+ progenitor population of a patient, possibly indicating the presence of multiple clones in this case. Estimation of subpopulation size based on cellular immunophenotyping suggested differentiation bias in all analysed samples. Furthermore, combining the transcriptomic information with data from targeted sequencing enabled us to unravel key somatic mutations that are molecularly relevant. To conclude, we demonstrated that scRNA-Seq extended our knowledge of clonal diversity and inter-individual heterogeneity in patients with ET. The obtained information could potentially leapfrog our efforts in the elucidation of the pathogenesis of the disease.

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the adverse clinicopathologic features of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), including margin status, depth of invasion, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and extranodal extension that significantly affect survival outcomes. Materials and methods This retrospective cross-sectional study included 341 patients with OSCC who underwent therapeutic surgical treatment in Taiwan. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate survival outcomes. A multivariable Cox regression model was used to evaluate the associations of various clinicopathologic features with 5-year overall survival (OS) outcomes in patients with pN0 and pN+ tumors. Results Overall, the patients had 5-year OS and progression-free survival rates of 60.0 and 47.9%, respectively. In the pN0 group, the multivariate analysis identified a positive margin (odds ratio [OR] = 16.3, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 3.7–72.3; P = 0.001), depth of invasion >5 mm (OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2–3.7; P = 0.012), presence of lymphovascular space invasion (OR = 5.4, 95% CI: 1.3–22.0; P = 0.018), and presence of perineural invasion (OR = 4.3, 95% CI: 1.7–11.1; P = 0.002) as independent and significant prognosticators of OS. In the pN+ group, only the presence of extranodal extension independently predicted OS (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.7; P = 0.0026). Conclusions When determining survival prognosis for patients with a pN0 status, we recommended including all adverse features. In contrast, extranodal extension was the most important prognostic factor for patients with a pN+ status.

Background Estimating the parameters that describe the ecology of viruses,particularly those that are novel, can be made possible using metagenomic approaches. However, the best-performing existing methods require databases to first estimate an average genome length of a viral community before being able to estimate other parameters, such as viral richness. Although this approach has been widely used, it can adversely skew results since the majority of viruses are yet to be catalogued in databases. Results In this paper, we present ENVirT, a method for estimating the richness of novel viral mixtures, and for the first time we also show that it is possible to simultaneously estimate the average genome length without a priori information. This is shown to be a significant improvement over database-dependent methods, since we can now robustly analyze samples that may include novel viral types under-represented in current databases. We demonstrate that the viral richness estimates produced by ENVirT are several orders of magnitude higher in accuracy than the estimates produced by existing methods named PHACCS and CatchAll when benchmarked against simulated data. We repeated the analysis of 20 metavirome samples using ENVirT, which produced results in close agreement with complementary in virto analyses. Conclusions These insights were previously not captured by existing computational methods. As such, ENVirT is shown to be an essential tool for enhancing our understanding of novel viral populations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12859-018-2398-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Remote data possession is becoming an increasingly important issue in cloud storage. It enables users to verify if their outsourced data have remained intact while in cloud storage. The existing remote data audit (RDA) protocols were designed with the public key infrastructure (PKI) system. However, this incurs considerable costs when users need to frequently access data from the cloud service provider with PKI. This study proposes a protocol, called identity-based RDA (ID-RDA) that addresses this problem without the need for users’ certificates. This study outperforms existing RDA protocols in computation and communication.

Background: Biological and prognostic roles of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) remain unclear in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The controversies role of tumor microenvironmental IFN-γ, pivotal roles in host responses to malignant cells, in oral cancer growth and PD-L1 expression was under-investigated. We examined the mechanism of PD-L1 regulation with focus on interferon gamma in vitro and in clinical samples. Triptolide is the bioactive compound isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii, which has been reported exhibit anti‑inflammatory and antitumor activities. Moreover, we investigated whether TPL affected suppression of PD-L1 is involved in its anti-cancer activity. Methods: The PD-L1 expressions were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 135 tissues samples. We analysed the production of IFN-γ at oral cancer cell by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis. IFN-ϒ on oral cancer cell proliferation were examined. We investigated the anticancer of the TPL on human oral cancer by targeted PD-L1 in vitro and patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDTX) models. Findings: PD-L1 overexpression was significant in the tumor site of oral cancer (P < .01). IFN-γ driven the PD-L1 expression oral cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. The TPL inhibits tumor growth in oral cancer PDTX model with suppressing the PD-L1 expression. The TPL also suppresses the oral cancer cell PD-L1 expression in an interferon-gamma microenvironment. Interpretation: Our results provide evidence for clinical development of PD-L1 targeting therapy in OSCC treatment in future. Funding Statement: This study was supported by research grants from Tri-Service General Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China (grants Nos. TSGH-C106-004- 006-008-S05, TSGH-C107-008-S06, TSGH-C108-007-008-S06), Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China (grants No. MOST 105- 2314-MAB-106-090). Declaration of Interests: All authors have completed the disclosure forms and declare that: no support, financial or otherwise, has been received from any organization that may have an interest in the submitted work; and there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. Ethics Approval Statement: The experiments were conducted according to the ethical guidelines of the institutional review board (TSGH-2-102-05-111) of the National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan.

Screening for oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) with dysplasia in high-risk groups is suggested in countries with a high prevalence of the disorders. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of diagnoses of OPMDs with dysplasia made by a primary examiner (general dental clinician) and a specialist (oral and maxillofacial surgeon) using the current Taiwanese Nationwide Oral Mucosal Screening Program (TNOMSP). A total of 134 high-risk participants were enrolled for oral mucosal screening via the TNOMSP. A primary examiner and a specialist examined each participant. Mucosal biopsies were obtained and subjected to histopathological analysis. The OPMD most frequently diagnosed by the primary examiner was thin homogeneous leukoplakia (48/134; 35.8%), and in 39/134 participants (29.1%) the diagnosis was uncertain, but abnormalities were suggested. The OPMDs most frequently diagnosed by the specialist were erythroleukoplakia (23/134; 17.2%) and thin homogeneous leukoplakia (21/134; 15.7%), and 51/134 participants (38.1%) were diagnosed with other diseases. Via histopathology, 70/134 participants (52.3%) were diagnosed with dysplasia, and 58/134 (43.3%) were diagnosed with benign conditions. The specialist’s diagnoses exhibited a higher specificity, positive predictive value, and accuracy than the primary examiners. A specialist using the current TNOMSP for high-risk participants diagnosed OPMDs with dysplasia more accurately than a primary examiner. Early diagnosis of high-risk OPMDs is crucial in countries with a high prevalence of the disorders. Proficient examination via the current TNOMSP by trained clinician is effective for the management of OPMDs with dysplasia.

Biological and prognostic roles of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) remain unclear in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Moreover, the pivotal role of tumor microenvironmental interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in host responses to malignant cells, oral cancer growth, and PD-L1 expression has not been adequately studied. Thus, PD-L1 expression in 130 OSCC samples was analyzed using immunohistochemistry, which was found significantly overexpressed at the tumor site (P

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequently found malignant tumor of the oral cavity, and the annual death rate of OSCC patients has been increasing rapidly among the Taiwanese population. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate if poor nutrition is a potential adverse prognostic factor in patients with OSCC. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 322 patients with OSCC who underwent therapeutic surgical treatment in Taiwan. The pretreatment body mass index (BMI) and serum uric acid and albumin levels were measured as common indicators of the nutritional status, and overall survival (OS) was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method and a Cox regression model. Results: The optimal cut-off values were 24.0 kg/m[2], 5.05 mg/dL, and 3.85 g/dL for BMI, serum uric acid, and serum albumin, respectively. The multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated lower BMI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.557, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.070–2.265; P = 0.021), lower serum uric acid (HR = 1.857, 95% CI: 1.265–2.724; P = 0.002), and lower serum albumin (HR = 2.011, 95% CI: 1.278–3.163; P = 0.003) as independent and significant prognosticators of OS. Advanced stage, depth of invasion of more than 5 mm, and extranodal extension were prognostic predictors of poor OS. Conclusion: A lower preoperative BMI and lower serum uric acid and albumin levels are predictors of significantly worse survival among OSCC patients. Maintaining a healthy nutritional status is crucial to improving the survival of patients with oral cancer. The treatment for patients with poor nutritional status should be more aggressive and cautious.

The manufacture of deep drawn parts involves many stages, which results in high costs. Therefore, the design goal for these processes is to reduce the number of stages. This study used punches with micro-ridges to simplify the multistage deep drawing process for stainless steel. To achieve this objective with minimal changes, the characteristics (i.e., the high drawing ratio) of punches with micro-ridges are leveraged to replace two stages of a deep drawing process that uses a punch without micro-ridges with one stage that uses a punch with micro-ridges. Using DEFORM 2D software, the multistage deep drawing process for a stainless steel vibration motor casing that is manufactured using a six-stage deep drawing process is simulated. The punch that does not have micro-ridges (used in the first and fifth stages) is replaced with a punch that has micro-ridges, which eliminates the second and sixth stages of the initial process, so the six-stage deep drawing process is reduced to four stages. The simulation results show that the punch that has micro-ridges allows fabrication and this is subsequently verified through experimental testing. The analysis and test results show that using the punch with micro-ridges enables two stages of the initial deep drawing process to be eliminated, which reduces the overall thinning rate and forming load for the process. The test results are also consistent with those from the simulation analysis.

Reducing the thickness of metal sheets causes a marked decrease in microscale/mesoscale deep drawing rates. This study examined the influences of a drawing punch with a microridged surface on the deep drawing of stainless steel. First, this study proposes a novel drawing punch design with microridges on the surface neighboring the punch nose for deep drawing processes used in the manufacture of stainless steel cylindrical cups. Subsequently, the microridged drawing punch design geometric variables were tested based on the Taguchi method. Moreover, Abaqus simulation software and an ANOVA analysis were employed to determine the combination of design variables that produced the minimal thinning rate. Finally, a drawing die was designed, produced, and employed to confirm the analysis results. The test and simulation results were highly consistent, where the significance at which the geometric variables influenced the thinning rate was, in order of significance, the ridge nose radius, ridge-to-punch nose distance, ridge height, and ridge distance. The microridged design increased the forming force of deep drawing by only 7 %; however, it increased the forming depth by more than 60 % when compared to a nonridged drawing punch.