Key Sequence Research Articles

Can solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas without degeneration be diagnosed with imaging? a comparison study of the solid component of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm, neuroendocrine neoplasm, and ductal adenocarcinoma.

To investigate the MR findings of the solid components within pancreatic solid pseudopapillary neoplasms (SPNs) to characterize solid SPN without degeneration. After case matching, 23 patients with SPNs, 23 with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNENs), and 46 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) were included in this retrospective comparative study. The MR findings of the solid components within the pancreatic tumors were assessed qualitatively and semi-quantitatively. In the qualitative assessment, significant differences were noted in T2-weighted imaging and MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). SPNs with a score of 4-5 (iso- to hyper-intense compared with the renal cortex) were observed in 18/19 (94.7%) by reader 1 and 15/19 (78.9%) by reader 2 (score 5, 52.6% and 47.4%) on fast spin-echo (FSE) T2-weighted imaging. On MRCP, the two readers identified 12 (63.2%) and 8 (42.1%) SPNs, respectively. The semi-quantitative signal-intensity ratio (SIR, signal intensity of tumor/signal intensity of the pancreatic parenchyma) of SPNs on FSE T2-weighted imaging was significantly higher (mean, 1.99-2.01) than that of PNENs (1.30-1.31) or PDACs (1.26-1.28). The sensitivity/specificity of 'hyper' on T2-weighted imaging (qualitative score of 4-5, or SIR of ≥ 1.5) were 78.9-100.0%/63.8-79.7%. The sensitivity/specificity of 'remarkably hyper' (score of 5, SIR of ≥ 2.0, or visible on MRCP) or salt-and-pepper pattern were 36.8-68.4%/85.5-98.6%. T2-weighted imaging may be the key sequence for solid SPN. Solid tumors with hyper-intensity on T2-weighted imaging (especially, more hyper-intense than the renal cortex, more than twice the signal of the pancreatic parenchyma, depicted on MRCP, or salt-and-pepper appearance) may be suspected to be SPNs.

An Enhancement Method Based on Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network for Short-Term Natural Gas Consumption Forecasting

Artificial intelligence models have been widely applied for natural gas consumption forecasting over the past decades, especially for short-term consumption forecasting. This paper proposes a three-layer neural network forecasting model that can extract key information from input factors and improve the weight optimization mechanism of long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network to effectively forecast short-term consumption. In the proposed model, a convolutional neural network (CNN) layer is adopted to extract the features among various factors affecting natural gas consumption and improve computing efficiency. The LSTM layer is able to learn and save the long-distance state through the gating mechanism and overcomes the defects of gradient disappearance and explosion in the recurrent neural network. To solve the problem of encoding input sequences as fixed-length vectors, the layer of attention (ATT) is used to optimize the assignment of weights and highlight the key sequences. Apart from the comparisons with other popular forecasting models, the performance and robustness of the proposed model are validated on datasets with different fluctuations and complexities. Compared with traditional two-layer models (CNN-LSTM and LSTM-ATT), the mean absolute range normalized errors (MARNE) of the proposed model in Athens and Spata are improved by more than 16% and 11%, respectively. In comparison with single LSTM, back propagation neural network, support vector regression, and multiple linear regression methods, the improvement in MARNE exceeds 42% in Athens. The coefficient of determination is improved by more than 25%, even in the high-complexity dataset, Spata.

In vitro fecal fermentation characteristics of mutant rice starch depend more on amylose content than crystalline structure

To obtain the relation between rice starch features and fermentation characteristics, rice starches with various polymorphic types and apparent amylose contents were subjected to in vitro fecal fermentation. Gas and short-chain fatty acid production was evaluated as a function of fermentation time, and the microbial responses were monitored by 16S rRNA sequencing technique at the end of fermentation. Regardless of polymorphic type, three high-amylose mutant rice starches (i.e., GM03, A-type; BP577, B-type; Wx21TT, C-type) displayed significantly slower fermentation rate during the first 12 h and higher final butyrate yield (17.6–17.9 mM) compared to the A-type normal starches (9311 and Wx22TT), and promoted the proliferation of Roseburia. However, A-type normal rice starches presented higher propionate production, and increased the growth of Bacteroides and Megamonas. The principal component and redundancy analyses indicated that three high-amylose mutant rice starches showed similar abundance and migration of microbial communities, and the apparent amylose content was closely correlated with the abundance of their five key amplicon sequence variants. Our results demonstrated that amylose content might be a controlling factor in determining the fermentation properties of rice starches than crystalline structure.

A review of Ellescus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in North America: new species and synonyms revealed through integrative taxonomy

Abstract A combination of morphological and molecular techniques were used to revise the genus Ellescus Dejean, 1821 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Ellescini) in North America. Four valid species of Ellescus are documented from the Nearctic Region. These are the widespread, hypervariable E. ephippiatus (Say, 1831), the Holarctic E. bipunctatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (of which E. borealis (Carr, 1920) new synonym is found to be a new junior synonym), the west coast endemic E. californicus (Casey, 1885) (resurrected from synonymy with E. ephippiatus (Say, 1831)), and the temperately distributed E. michaelinew species. A neotype is designated for E. bipunctatus. The European species, E. scanicus (Paykull, 1792), is determined to have been erroneously reported from North America. An illustrated identification key, distributional data, and DNA sequences (CO1, ITS2) are provided to facilitate identification of the Ellescus species in North America. Notably, CO1 failed to delineate E. ephippiatus and E. michaeli, but the faster-evolving ITS2 reliably separated these taxa, further supporting the use of multiple markers in taxonomic studies and the utility of ITS2 in weevil species delineation.

Multiplexed ISSR Genotyping by Sequencing (MIG-Seq).

Multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) genotyping by sequencing (MIG-seq) is a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method for detecting single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using next-generation sequencing (NGS). The advantages of MIG-seq include easy application to various species without prior genetic information. In addition, this method opens the door to genome-wide nucleotide sequence analyses of low-quality and trace-level deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, which have previously been difficult to analyze. Another advantage is that the procedure is simple, time-saving, and inexpensive. Recently, MIG-seq has been applied to wild and cultivated plants and has produced novel results. Using invisible DNA information, questions related to gene flow through pollination and seed dispersal, the genetic structure and diversity of populations, clonality, and the hybridization of wild and cultivated plants are being rapidly answered. In this chapter, I present the results of plant research based on MIG-seq and describe the procedure for this method as a user of MIG-seq.

Analysis of loss of cooling accident in VVER-1000/V446 spent fuel pool using RELAP5 and MELCOR codes

Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the simulation of accidents in the spent fuel pool has become more noticeable. Despite the low amount of decay heat power, the consequences of the accidents in a spent fuel pool (SFP) can be severe due to the high content of long-lived radionuclides and lack of protection by the pressure vessel.In this study, the loss-of-cooling accident (LOFA) for the VVER-1000/V446 spent fuel pool is simulated by employing RELAP5 and MELCOR 1.8.6 as the best estimate and severe accident analysis codes, respectively. For two cases with different total power levels, decay heat of spent fuels is calculated by ORIGEN-II code. For modeling SFP of a VVER-1000, a qualified nodalizations are considered in both codes. During LOFA in SFP, the key sequences such as heating up of the pool water, boiling and reducing the water level, uncovering the spent fuels, increasing the temperature of the spent fuels, starting oxidation process (generating Hydrogen and extra power), the onset of fuel melting, and finally releasing radionuclides are studied for both cases. The obtained results show a reasonable consistency between the RELAP5 and MELCOR codes, especially before starting the oxidation process.

Proposed Approach for Key Generation Based on the RNA

Due to fundamental role of random key in the design of cryptography algorithms, a new method is proposed for generating random key based on the bases of RNA translation to protein chain. The proposed method accept a key sequence size(9,18,27,…) byte and generate key sequence with extended length appropriate with plain message length. The security strength of generated key is acceptable according to the results of statistical tests of randomness

Relative Afterslip Moment Does Not Correlate With Aftershock Productivity: Implications for the Relationship Between Afterslip and Aftershocks

AbstractAseismic afterslip has been proposed to drive aftershock sequences. Both afterslip moment and aftershock number broadly increase with mainshock size, but can vary beyond this scaling. We examine whether relative afterslip moment (afterslip moment/mainshock moment) correlates with several key aftershock sequence characteristics, including aftershock number and cumulative moment (both absolute and relative to mainshock size), seismicity rate change, b‐value, and Omori decay exponent. We select Mw ≥ 4.5 aftershocks for 41 tectonically varied mainshocks with available afterslip models. Against expectation, relative afterslip moment does not correlate with tested aftershock characteristics or background seismicity rate. Furthermore, adding afterslip moment to mainshock moment does not improve predictions of aftershock number. Our findings place useful empirical constraints on the link between afterslip and potentially damaging Mw ≥ 4.5 aftershocks and raise questions regarding the role afterslip plays in aftershock generation.

“Moving media, that’s what we recommend”: Intermedial Reception in The Square (Ruben Östlund, 2017)

Through the analysis of key sequences in the film and more generally of The Square’s unique way of including various media, this article argues that the film purports to place its viewers in a state of confused reception, resulting from the overlapping areas between multiple forms of mediation. It proposes that The Square cleverly ascribes the current inability to identify the boundaries between performance and reality, fiction and non-fiction, etc., to an intermedial type of viewership born from overexposure to different yet similar media forms that include the Internet in general, the viewing platform YouTube in particular, the global surveillance apparatus, television, and of course, ultimately, the art of film itself. It finally argues that the blurring of thresholds prompts a reception mode that is applied to a media continuum that extends from high art to popular culture.

FINANCIAL HARDSHIP AND INCOME SECURITY AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG OLDER WORKERS: MULTI-CHANNEL SEQUENCE APPROACH

Abstract Drawing on the life course perspective and multi-channel sequence approach, this research identifies long-term financial hardship and income security patterns among older adults and examines their relationship with depressive symptoms. Data were from the 2010 to 2018 HRS with 3,077 older workers aged 62–71 in 2010. Four clusters of key sequences were identified: 1) High food and low medical insecurities with private pension plans (43%); 2) Moderate food and low medical insecurities with gradually acquired private pension plans (13%); 3) High food and low medical insecurities with both private and employment-based pension plans (40%); 4) High food insecurity with employment-based pension plans(3%). Regarding the association with depressive symptoms, a group of people who experienced high food and low medical insecurities with private pension plans (b= 0.14, p < 0.1) and those who experienced moderate food and low medical insecurities with gradually acquired private pension plans (b= 0.32, p < 0.01) were more likely to have depressive symptoms compared to those high food and low medical insecurities with both private and employment-based pension plans. These findings highlight the heterogeneity of long-term patterns of financial hardships and patterns of income security, including the limited accessibility for a pension plan through their occupation and that an individual pension plan may not be sufficient to ensure mental health in later life. The results imply the importance of dual security of private and employment-based pensions on their mental health and provide important insights for future tailored income support programs for older adults.

Ann Petry and the Existential Phenomenology of Race

AbstractThis article places Ann Petry’s work in conversation with the existential phenomenology of contemporaneous writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Frantz Fanon. Examining a key sequence in her final novel, The Narrows (1953), the author shows how Petry’s work calls for and models a Black existentialist reading practice that is in productive tension with the prescriptive protocols of social protest literature—then and now—and invites us to read for choices within situations rather than determining environments or ontological foreclosures.

An PPG signal and body channel based encryption method for WBANs

With the rapid development of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) in recent years, Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) has become a hot topic in the scientific and industrial community, since it defines a novel network architecture for medical and healthcare circumstances in IoT and loMT. Considering that unauthorized data tampering and information leakage in WBAN may cause life-threatening issues, Data security is an important technical support to ensure the smooth implementation of WBAN. Due to the characteristics of the WBAN system, the traditional wireless communication data security method is not suitable for WBAN because of the high complexity and high cost. This paper adopts the Photoplethysmography (PPG) signal feature and the channel characteristic values from the WBAN system to calculate the base key, then generates the key sequence for data encryption of WBAN through Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR). Experimental results show that this data security method has the advantages of less resource consumption, low computational complexity, and dynamic key update.

Protective Effect of Foxtail Millet Protein Hydrolysate on Ethanol and Pyloric Ligation-Induced Gastric Ulcers in Mice.

Foxtail millet has been traditionally considered to possess gastroprotective effects, but studies evaluating its use as a treatment for gastric ulcers are lacking. Here, we assessed the antiulcer effects of foxtail millet protein hydrolysate (FPH) and explored its mechanism by using blocking agents. In a mouse model of ethanol-induced gastric ulcers, pretreatment with FPH reduced the ulcerative lesion index, downregulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines in the gastric tissue, increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and improved the oxidative status. FPH increased constitutive the activity of nitric oxide synthase (cNOS), NO levels, and mucin expression in gastric mucosa, and inhibited the activation of the ET-1/PI3K/Akt pathway. In a mouse model of pyloric ligation-induced gastric ulcers, FPH inhibited gastric acid secretion and decreased the activity of gastric protease. Pretreatment of mice with the sulfhydryl blocker NEM and the NO synthesis inhibitor L-NAME abolished the gastroprotective effect of FPH, but not the KATP channel blocker glibenclamide and the PGE2 synthesis blocker indomethacin. Among the peptides identified in FPH, 10 peptides were predicted to have regulatory effects on the gastric mucosa, and the key sequences were GP and PG. The results confirmed the gastroprotective effect of FPH and revealed that its mechanism was through the regulation of gastric mucosal mucus and NO synthesis. This study supports the health effects of a millet-enriched diet and provides a basis for millet protein as a functional food to improve gastric ulcers and its related oxidative stress.

Deuterohemin-Ala-His-Thr-Val-Glu-Lys (DhHP-6) Mimicking Enzyme as Synergistic Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Material for Periodontitis Therapy.

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease induced by plaque microorganisms. In the clinic, antibiotic assistant periodontal mechanical therapy is the most effective therapy for the treatment of periodontitis. However, the drug resistance of the antibiotics and the repeated coming and diminishing of the disorder of oxidation-reduction balance in the inflammatory tissue could not meet the high requirements for periodontic health control in long periods. Deuterohemin-ala-his-thr-val-glu-lys (DhHP-6) is a biomimetic oxidase-mimicking enzyme that simulates the reactive oxygen radical scavenger function of heme by synthesizing the new molecular material following the key structure and amino acid sequence of heme. In this article, we report the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of DhHP-6 by building a inflammatory model for human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) stimulated by lipolysaccharide (LPS) and its effects on periodontitis in Wistar rats. DhHP-6 reduced the oxidative stress of HGFs by increasing the amount of the reductase species of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) while decreasing the amount of oxidase species of malonaldehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS). DhHP-6 had a dose-dependent protective effect on alveolar bone absorption in rats with periodontitis, enhanced antioxidant capacity, and reduced inflammation. As determined by Micro-CT scanning, DhHP-6 reduced alveolar bone loss and improved the bone structure of the left maxillary first molar of rats. There were no obvious morphological and histological differences in the rat organs with or without DhHP-6 treatment. These results suggest that DhHP-6 can be used to treat periodontitis by increasing the expression levels of antioxidant enzymes and antioxidants in systemic and local tissues, thereby reducing levels of oxidation products and cyto-inflammatory factors. The synergistic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of DhHP-6 suggest that there are promising applications of this biomimetic enzyme molecular material for the next generation of agents for periodontitis therapy.

Calcium interactions in amelogenin-derived peptide assembly.

Phosphorylation of serine residues has been recognized as a pivotal event in the evolution of mineralized tissues in many biological systems. During enamel development, the extracellular matrix protein amelogenin is most abundant and appears to be critical to the extreme high aspect ratios (length:width) of apatite mineral fibers reaching several millimeters in larger mammalian teeth. A 14-residue peptide (14P2, residues Gly8 to Thr21) was previously identified as a key sequence mediating amelogenin assembly formation, the domain also contains the native single phosphoserine residue (Ser16) of the full-length amelogenin. In this research, 14P2 and its phosphorylated form (p14P2) were investigated at pH 6.0 with various calcium and phosphate ion concentrations, indicating that both peptides could self-assemble into amyloid-like conformation but with differences in structural details. With calcium, the distance between 31P within the p14P2 self-assemblies is averaged to be 4.4 ± 0.2Å, determined by solid-state NMR 31P PITHIRDS-CT experiments. Combining with other experimental results, solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SSNMR) suggests that the p14P2 self-assemblies are in parallel in-register β-sheet conformation and divalent calcium ions most likely connect two adjacent peptide chains by binding to the phosphate group of Ser16 and the carboxylate of Glu18 side-chain. This study on the interactions between calcium ions and amelogenin-derived peptides provides insights on how amelogenin may self-assemble in the presence of calcium ions in early enamel development.

Image encryption approach using improved chaotic system incorporated with differential evolution and genetic algorithm

Meta-heuristic techniques are widely used to solve different complex real-life problems in recent scenarios. In this work, traditional key-generation mechanisms have been combined with meta-heuristic techniques to derive new key generation models in chaos-based image cryptography. Initially, one among the key-strings has been generated using the logistic map approach that is known for its ability to produce effective chaotic performance. In this paper, the chaotic effect of the key-string generated by the logistic map has further been enhanced by the application of differential evolution (DE), a population-based meta-heuristic optimization algorithm. This improved key sequence is used to produce chaotic a map which has been applied to images for diffusion operation. The confusion operation on the other hand is performed by the transposition process using another key-string produced by the application of another meta-heuristic technique, namely, Genetic Algorithm (GA). After thorough experimental works, the results have been compared with the state-of-the-art and it is observed that the approach proposed here provides strong cryptographic behavior in terms of information entropy, key sensitivity, robustness against noise, and hereby stands against all kinds of statistical and differential attacks including brute force.

Exploring biomarkers for prognosis and neoadjuvant chemosensitivity in rectal cancer: Multi-omics and ctDNA sequencing collaboration.

This study aimed to identified the key genes and sequencing metrics for predicting prognosis and efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) in rectal cancer (RC) based on genomic DNA sequencing in samples with different origin and multi-omics association database. We collected 16 RC patients and obtained DNA sequencing data from cancer tissues and plasma cell-free DNA before and after nCT. Various gene variations were analyzed, including single nucleotide variants (SNV), copy number variation (CNV), tumor mutation burden (TMB), copy number instability (CNI) and mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity (MATH). We also identified genes by which CNV level can differentiate the response to nCT. The Cancer Genome Atlas database and the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium database were used to further evaluate the specific role of therapeutic relevant genes and screen out the key genes in multi-omics levels. After the intersection of the screened genes from differential expression analysis, survival analysis and principal components analysis dimensionality reduction cluster analysis, the key genes were finally identified. The genes CNV level of principal component genes in baseline blood and cancer tissues could significantly distinguish the two groups of patients. The CNV of HSP90AA1, EGFR, SRC, MTOR, etc. were relatively gained in the better group compared with the poor group in baseline blood. The CNI and TMB was significantly different between the two groups. The increased expression of HSP90AA1, EGFR, and SRC was associated with increased sensitivity to multiple chemotherapeutic drugs. The nCT predictive score obtained by therapeutic relevant genes could be a potential prognostic indicator, and the combination with TMB could further refine prognostic prediction for patients. After a series of analysis in multi-omics association database, EGFR and HSP90AA1 with significant differences in multiple aspects were identified as the key predictive genes related to prognosis and the sensitivity of nCT. This work revealed that effective combined application and analysis in multi-omics data are critical to search for predictive biomarkers. The key genes EGFR and HSP90AA1 could serve as an effective biomarker to predict prognose and neoadjuvant chemosensitivity.

Secured Compression for 2D Medical Images Through the Manifold and Fuzzy Trapezoidal Correlation Function

In biomedical imaging, the imaging of secured storage and maintaining medical images like MRI, CT, and ultrasound scans are challenging with ever-growing tremendous image data. This article has proposed a systematic approach for secured compression of the image data that would compress the image data at multiple levels at each instance that would substitute with a smaller size data block through dictionary mechanism. The resultant image is encrypted through a 256-bit symmetric key dynamically generated through the hashing-based technique for multiple rounds. In each round, a 16-bit key sequence obtained from the hashing-based technique is an integral part of the 256-bit key used in the encryption process, and the same key sequence is being used in the decryption phase. Finally, the resultant image is stored for future reference for further medical examinations. In reconstructing the original image, the same approach is performed in reverse order to get back the original image without any significant impact on the image standard through the Fuzzy Trapezoidal correlation method. The proposed mechanism is being practically implemented over the medical images, and the outcome seems to be very pleasing compared to the counterparts. It is observed on implementation. The medical images are compressed to 58% of their original size without significant impact on the quality of the image that is being reconstructed. The approximated entropy in the majority of the cases is less than zero has proven the proposed mechanism is robust for secured compression of the medical images for secured storage.

Enhancing Molecular Testing for Effective Delivery of Actionable Gene Diagnostics.

There is a deep need to navigate within our genomic data to find, understand and pave the way for disease-specific treatments, as the clinical diagnostic journey provides only limited guidance. The human genome is enclosed in every nucleated cell, and yet at the single-cell resolution many unanswered questions remain, as most of the sequencing techniques use a bulk approach. Therefore, heterogeneity, mosaicism and many complex structural variants remain partially uncovered. As a conceptual approach, nanopore-based sequencing holds the promise of being a single-molecule-based, long-read and high-resolution technique, with the ability of uncovering the nucleic acid sequence and methylation almost in real time. A key limiting factor of current clinical genetics is the deciphering of key disease-causing genomic sequences. As the technological revolution is expanding regarding genetic data, the interpretation of genotype-phenotype correlations should be made with fine caution, as more and more evidence points toward the presence of more than one pathogenic variant acting together as a result of intergenic interplay in the background of a certain phenotype observed in a patient. This is in conjunction with the observation that many inheritable disorders manifest in a phenotypic spectrum, even in an intra-familial way. In the present review, we summarized the relevant data on nanopore sequencing regarding clinical genomics as well as highlighted the importance and content of pre-test and post-test genetic counselling, yielding a complex approach to phenotype-driven molecular diagnosis. This should significantly lower the time-to-right diagnosis as well lower the time required to complete a currently incomplete genotype-phenotype axis, which will boost the chance of establishing a new actionable diagnosis followed by therapeutical approach.

Research of “one key sequence control” test method based on panoramic digital simulation technology

Aiming at the problem that the current “one key sequence control” system cannot effectively carry out the test work after being deployed in a substation project, a “one key sequential control” test method based on panoramic digital simulation technology is proposed. The actual primary and secondary equipment is replaced by digital analog simulation, the instanced sequential control operation ticket is completed based on professional atlas theory, and the full logic test of the “one key sequence control” equipment status configuration library, operation ticket configuration library, operation process, error prevention logic, dual criteria, etc., is completed so as to realize the visual test of all configurations of the “one key sequence control” system. It provides an efficient and reliable technical method for the testing and acceptance of the “one key sequential control” system.