Development of RNAi Methods for the Mormon Cricket, (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae).

Mormon crickets are a major rangeland pest in the western United States and are currently managed by targeted applications of non-specific chemical insecticides, which can potentially have negative effects on the environment. In this study, we took the first steps toward developing RNAi methods for Mormon crickets as a potential alternative to traditional broad-spectrum insecticides. To design an effective RNAi-based insecticide, we first generated a de novo transcriptome for the Mormon cricket and developed dsRNAs that could silence the expression of seven housekeeping genes.

Outage Probability and Ergodic Capacity of a Two-User NOMA Relaying System with an Energy Harvesting Full-Duplex Relay and Its Interference at the Near User.

In this paper, we consider a two-user downlink full-duplex (FD) non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) relay system where the FD relay uses an energy harvesting (EH) technique to assist the communication between the base station and far user over flat, independent and non-identically Rayleigh fading channels. Importantly, since the relay operates in FD mode, we take into account the effect of the interference caused by relay on the near user. Considering this EH-FD-NOMA relay system, we derive the exact mathematical expressions of the outage probabilities and ergodic capacities of near and far users.

Road Lane Detection Robust to Shadows Based on a Fuzzy System Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

Recently, autonomous vehicles, particularly self-driving cars, have received significant attention owing to rapid advancements in sensor and computation technologies. In addition to traffic sign recognition, road lane detection is one of the most important factors used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles for maintaining the safety of semi-autonomous and fully autonomous systems. Unlike traffic signs, road lanes are easily damaged by both internal and external factors such as road quality, occlusion (traffic on the road), weather conditions, and illumination (shadows from objects such as cars, trees, and buildings).

SET contributes to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer has a devastating prognosis due to 80-90% of diagnostic cases occurring when metastasis has already presented. Activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a prerequisite for metastasis because it allows for the dissemination of tumor cells to blood stream and secondary organs. Here, we sought to determine the role of SET oncoprotein, an endogenous inhibitor of PP2A, in EMT and pancreatic tumor progression.

Recognition of Damaged Arrow-Road Markings by Visible Light Camera Sensor Based on Convolutional Neural Network.

Automobile driver information as displayed on marked road signs indicates the state of the road, traffic conditions, proximity to schools, etc. These signs are important to insure the safety of the driver and pedestrians. They are also important input to the automated advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), installed in many automobiles.

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes.

Using protein microarray technology to screen anti-ERCC1 monoclonal antibodies for specificity and applications in pathology.

Background: An antibody with cross-reactivity can create unexpected side effects or false diagnostic reports if used for clinical purposes. ERCC1 is being explored as a predictive diagnostic biomarker for cisplatin-based chemotherapy. High ERCC1 expression is linked to drug resistance on cisplatin-based chemotherapy.