pH and Redox Dual-Responsive Nanoparticle with Enhanced Dendritic Cell Maturation for Cancer Therapy.

Type I interferons (IFNs) are essential for activating dendritic cells (DCs) and presenting tumor-associated antigens to T cells. IFNs are primarily produced from DCs among immune cells. A combination of chemotherapy and metalloimmunotherapy induces IFN production by activating the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS-STING) pathway.

Feasibility of artificial intelligence assisted quantitative muscle ultrasound in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Background: In case of focal neuropathy, the muscle fibers innervated by the corresponding nerves are replaced with fat or fibrous tissue due to denervation, which results in increased echo intensity (EI) on ultrasonography. EI analysis can be conducted quantitatively using gray scale analysis. Mean value of pixel brightness of muscle image defined as EI.

Application of Principal Component Analysis Approach to Predict Shear Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Stirrups.

The reinforced concrete (RC) member's shear strength estimation has been experimentally studied in most cases due to its nonlinear behavior. Many empirical equations have been derived from the experimental data; however, even those adopted in the construction codes do not thoroughly and accurately describe their shear behavior. Theoretically explained equations, on the other hand, are aligned with the experiment; however, they are complicated to use in practice.

Ophthalmoplegia Due to Scrub Typhus.

Scrub typhus is an acute febrile infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. The illness is usually characterized by fever, rash, and lymphadenopathy, but severe cases progress to pulmonary and neurological involvement. We report a 69-year-old man who developed ptosis and ophthalmoplegia with a focal nodular lesion in the anterior cavernous sinus detected with magnetic resonance imaging.

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Associated Protein 1 (TRAP1) is Released from the Mitochondria Following 6-hydroxydopamine Treatment.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Most cases are sporadic and its etiology is incompletely understood. However, increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.

Nuclear translocation of anamorsin during drug-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration in culture and in rat brain.

Anamorsin, also called cytokine-induced apoptosis inhibitor 1 (CIAPIN1), was recently identified to confer resistance to apoptosis induced by growth factor deprivation and to be indispensible for hematopoiesis. Recently, it was demonstrated that anamorsin is also widely distributed in both fetal and adult tissues. In this study, we evaluated the tissue distribution of anamorsin in the central nervous system (CNS) during development.

Limited sampling of radical prostatectomy specimens with excellent preservation of prognostic parameters of prostate cancer.

Context: The widespread use of the serum prostate-specific antigen test has increased the early detection of prostate cancer and consequently reduced grossly definable prostate cancers.

Objective: To find the most efficient gross sampling method for radical prostatectomy specimens not only preserving important prognostic factors but also being cost effective.

Design: We initially analyzed clinicopathologic features of the entire prostate sections from 148 radical prostatectomy specimens, which then were used to examine the impact of 5 partial sampling methods on tumor stage, Gleason score, extraprostatic extension, resection margin status, and paraffin block numbers.

Oxidative modification of peroxiredoxin is associated with drug-induced apoptotic signaling in experimental models of Parkinson disease.

The aim of this study was to investigate changes in protein profiles during the early phase of dopaminergic neuronal death using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in conjunction with mass spectrometry. Several protein spots were identified whose expression was significantly altered following treatment of MN9D dopaminergic neuronal cells with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). In particular, we detected oxidative modification of thioredoxin-dependent peroxidases (peroxiredoxins; PRX) in treated MN9D cells.

Mode propagation in optical nanowaveguides with dielectric cores and surrounding metal layers.

The mode spectrum in an optical nanowaveguide consisting of a dielectric-core layer surrounded by two identical metal layers is investigated. A simple model based on mode matching to predict the properties of mode propagation in such optical nanowaveguides is proposed. It is shown that quasi-TM00 and quasi-TM10 modes supported by an optical microstrip line do not have a cutoff frequency, regardless of the size of the metal strips, the thickness of the dielectric slab, and the cross-sectional shape.

Automated preparation of 188Re-labeled radiopharmaceuticals for endovascular radiation therapy.

We have developed an automated system for the preparation of highly concentrated 188Re-perrhenate, diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) and mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3). The three procedural steps include concentration of 188Re-perrhanerate, chelation and purification and sterilization. The steps are operated by a small micro-controller.

Ball stud inspection system using machine vision.

In this paper, a vision-based inspection system that measures the dimensions of a ball stud is designed and implemented. The system acquires silhouetted images by backlighting and extracts the outlines of the nearly dichotomized images in subpixel accuracy. The sets of boundary data are modeled with reasonable geometric primitives and the parameters of the models are estimated in a manner that minimizes error.