Inverse Piezoresistive Nanocomposite Sensors for Identifying Human Sitting Posture.

Sitting posture is the position in which one holds his/her body upright against gravity while sitting. Poor sitting posture is regarded as an aggravating factor for various diseases. In this paper, we present an inverse piezoresistive nanocomposite sensor, and related deciphering neural network, as a new tool to identify human sitting postures accurately.

Quantitative comparisons of three automated methods for estimating intracranial volume: A study of 270 longitudinal magnetic resonance images.

Total intracranial volume (TIV) is often used as a measure of brain size to correct for individual variability in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based morphometric studies. An adjustment of TIV can greatly increase the statistical power of brain morphometry methods. As such, an accurate and precise TIV estimation is of great importance in MRI studies.

Subtype classification and heterogeneous prognosis model construction in precision medicine.

Common diseases including cancer are heterogeneous. It is important to discover disease subtypes and identify both shared and unique risk factors for different disease subtypes. The advent of high-throughput technologies enriches the data to achieve this goal, if necessary statistical methods are developed.

Predicting auditory feedback control of speech production from subregional shape of subcortical structures.

Although a growing body of research has focused on the cortical sensorimotor mechanisms that support auditory feedback control of speech production, much less is known about the subcortical contributions to this control process. This study examined whether subregional anatomy of subcortical structures assessed by statistical shape analysis is associated with vocal compensations and cortical event-related potentials in response to pitch feedback errors. The results revealed significant negative correlations between the magnitudes of vocal compensations and subregional shape of the right thalamus, between the latencies of vocal compensations and subregional shape of the left caudate and pallidum, and between the latencies of cortical N1 responses and subregional shape of the left putamen.

Hierarchical Subcortical Sub-Regional Shape Network Analysis in Alzheimer's Disease.

In this paper, by utilizing surface diffeomorphic deformations, we constructed and analyzed subcortical shape morphometric networks in 210 healthy control (HC) subjects and 175 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD), aiming to identify AD-induced abnormalities in the subcortical shape network. We quantitatively analyzed pertinent network attributes of the entire network and each node. Further to this, hierarchical analyses were performed; group comparisons were conducted at the structure level first and then the sub-region level.

Region-specific atrophy of precentral gyrus in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Purpose: To assess the region-specific atrophy of precentral gyrus (PrCG) and its correlation to clinical function score in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients with sporadic ALS and 28 healthy controls underwent high-resolution 3D T1-BRAVO magnetic resonance imaging at 3T. The bilateral PrCG segmentations were automatically obtained from a validated segmentation pipeline based on diffeomorphic multi-atlas likelihood fusion.

Surface-based vertexwise analysis of morphometry and microstructural integrity for white matter tracts in diffusion tensor imaging: With application to the corpus callosum in Alzheimer's disease.

In this article, we present a unified statistical pipeline for analyzing the white matter (WM) tracts morphometry and microstructural integrity, both globally and locally within the same WM tract, from diffusion tensor imaging. Morphometry is quantified globally by the volumetric measurement and locally by the vertexwise surface areas. Meanwhile, microstructural integrity is quantified globally by the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and trace values within the specific WM tract and locally by the FA and trace values defined at each vertex of its bounding surface.

Large-scale identification of human protein function using topological features of interaction network.

The annotation of protein function is a vital step to elucidate the essence of life at a molecular level, and it is also meritorious in biomedical and pharmaceutical industry. Developments of sequencing technology result in constant expansion of the gap between the number of the known sequences and their functions. Therefore, it is indispensable to develop a computational method for the annotation of protein function.

Geodesic distance on a Grassmannian for monitoring the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

We propose a geodesic distance on a Grassmannian manifold that can be used to quantify the shape progression patterns of the bilateral hippocampi, amygdalas, and lateral ventricles in healthy control (HC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 754 subjects (3092 scans in total) were used in this study. Longitudinally, the geodesic distance was found to be proportional to the elapsed time separating the two scans in question.

Integrated ZnO Nano-Electron-Emitter with Self-Modulated Parasitic Tunneling Field Effect Transistor at the Surface of the p-Si/ZnO Junction.

The development of high performance nano-electron-emitter arrays with well reliability still proves challenging. Here, we report a featured integrated nano-electron-emitter. The vertically aligned nano-emitter consists of two segments.

When do myopia genes have their effect? Comparison of genetic risks between children and adults.

Previous studies have identified many genetic loci for refractive error and myopia. We aimed to investigate the effect of these loci on ocular biometry as a function of age in children, adolescents, and adults. The study population consisted of three age groups identified from the international CREAM consortium: 5,490 individuals aged <10 years; 5,000 aged 10-25 years; and 16,274 aged >25 years.

Education is associated with sub-regions of the hippocampus and the amygdala vulnerable to neuropathologies of Alzheimer's disease.

We evaluated the correlation of educational attainment with structural volume and shape morphometry of the bilateral hippocampi and amygdalae in a sample of 110 non-demented, older adults at elevated sociodemographic risk for cognitive and functional declines. In both men and women, no significant education-volume correlation was detected for either structure. However, when performing shape analysis, we observed regionally specific associations with education after adjusting for age, intracranial volume, and race.

Universal diffusion-limited injection and the hook effect in organic thin-film transistors.

The general form of interfacial contact resistance was derived for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) covering various injection mechanisms. Devices with a broad range of materials for contacts, semiconductors, and dielectrics were investigated and the charge injections in staggered OTFTs was found to universally follow the proposed form in the diffusion-limited case, which is signified by the mobility-dependent injection at the metal-semiconductor interfaces. Hence, real ohmic contact can hardly ever be achieved in OTFTs with low carrier concentrations and mobility, and the injection mechanisms include thermionic emission, diffusion, and surface recombination.

DNA signals at isoform promoters.

Transcriptional heterogeneity is extensive in the genome, and most genes express variable transcript isoforms. However, whether variable transcript isoforms of one gene are regulated by common promoter elements remain to be elucidated. Here, we investigated whether isoform promoters of one gene have separated DNA signals for transcription and translation initiation.

Profiling kidney microRNAs from juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) after 56days of oral exposure to decabromodiphenyl ethane.

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is one of the most important species in China. Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) is a brominated flame retardant that has been used widely in industry, and has been observed to accumulate in the tissues of fish from South China. Evidence has shown that DBDPE is toxic to aquatic animals, but the molecular response has been unclear.

Asymmetric exponential amplification reaction on a toehold/biotin featured template: an ultrasensitive and specific strategy for isothermal microRNAs analysis.

The sensitive and specific analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) without using a thermal cycler instrument is significant and would greatly facilitate biological research and disease diagnostics. Although exponential amplification reaction (EXPAR) is the most attractive strategy for the isothermal analysis of miRNAs, its intrinsic limitations of detection efficiency and inevitable non-specific amplification critically restrict its use in analytical sensitivity and specificity. Here, we present a novel asymmetric EXPAR based on a new biotin/toehold featured template.

Shape and diffusion tensor imaging based integrative analysis of the hippocampus and the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease.

We analyzed, in an integrative fashion, the morphometry and structural integrity of the bilateral hippocampi and amygdalas in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using T1-weighted images and diffusion tensor images (DTIs). We detected significant hippocampal and amygdalar volumetric atrophies in AD relative to healthy controls (HCs). Shape analysis revealed significant region-specific atrophies with the hippocampal atrophy mainly being concentrated on the CA1 and CA2 while the amygdalar atrophy was concentrated on the basolateral and basomedial.

CCSI: a database providing chromatin-chromatin spatial interaction information.

Distal regulatory elements have been shown to regulate gene transcription through spatial interactions, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are linked with distal gene expression by spatial proximity, which helps to explain the causal role of disease-associated SNPs in non-coding region. Therefore, studies on spatial interactions between chromatin have created a new avenue for elucidating the mechanism of transcriptional regulation in disease pathogenesis. Recently, a growing number of chromatin interactions have been revealed by means of 3C, 4C, 5C, ChIA-PET and Hi-C technologies.

Triple cascade reactions: An ultrasensitive and specific single tube strategy enabling isothermal analysis of microRNA at sub-attomole level.

Sensitive and specific analysis of microRNAs (miRNAs) in a single tube without the need of thermal cycler instrument would greatly facilitate the investigation of miRNA-associated regulatory circuits and diseases. Homogeneous isothermal amplification assays are attractive in conducting single tube assays that can minimize contamination-prone steps and simplifies assay procedures. However, the relative low amplification efficiency and high detection background remain as bottlenecks restricting their more versatile applications.

Electrically robust silver nanowire patterns transferrable onto various substrates.

We report a facile technique for patterning and transferring silver nanowires (AgNWs) onto various substrates. By employing only UV/O3 and vapor treatment of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), we are able to accurately manipulate the surface energy via alternating the terminal groups of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, so as to assist selective formation and exfoliation of AgNW films. A simple UV/O3 treatment on PDMS enables uniform, well-defined, and highly conductive patterns of AgNWs after spin-coating.

Specific Tandem 3'UTR Patterns and Gene Expression Profiles in Mouse Thy1+ Germline Stem Cells.

A recently developed strategy of sequencing alternative polyadenylation (APA) sites (SAPAS) with second-generation sequencing technology can be used to explore complete genome-wide patterns of tandem APA sites and global gene expression profiles. spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) maintain long-term reproductive abilities in male mammals. The detailed mechanisms by which SSCs self-renew and generate mature spermatozoa are not clear.

Identification of Genes Associated with Smad3-dependent Renal Injury by RNA-seq-based Transcriptome Analysis.

Transforming growth factor-β/Smad3 signaling plays a critical role in the process of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but targeting Smad3 systematically may cause autoimmune disease by impairing immunity. In this study, we used whole-transcriptome RNA-sequencing to identify the differential gene expression profile, gene ontology, pathways, and alternative splicing related to TGF-β/Smad3 in CKD. To explore common dysregulation of genes associated with Smad3-dependent renal injury, kidney tissues of Smad3 wild-type and knockout mice with immune (anti-glomerular basement membrane glomerulonephritis) and non-immune (obstructive nephropathy)-mediated CKD were used for RNA-sequencing analysis.

Z-type control of populations for Lotka-Volterra model with exponential convergence.

The population control of the Lotka-Volterra model is one of the most important and widely investigated issues in mathematical ecology. In this study, assuming that birth rate is controllable and using the Z-type dynamic method, we develop Z-type control laws to drive the prey population and/or predator population to a desired state to keep species away from extinction and to improve ecosystem stability. A direct controller group is initially designed to control the prey and predator populations simultaneously.

Association Tests of Multiple Phenotypes: ATeMP.

Joint analysis of multiple phenotypes has gained growing attention in genome-wide association studies (GWASs), especially for the analysis of multiple intermediate phenotypes which measure the same underlying complex human disorder. One of the multivariate methods, MultiPhen (O' Reilly et al. 2012), employs the proportional odds model to regress a genotype on multiple phenotypes, hence ignoring the phenotypic distributions.