364 research outputs found
Rising plasma nociceptin level during development of HCC: A case report
No full textAIM: Although liver cirrhosis is a predisposing factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), relatively few reports are available on HCC in primary biliary cirrhosis. High plasma nociceptin (N/OFQ) level has been shown in Wilson disease and in patients with acute and chronic pain.
METHODS: We report a follow-up case of HCC, which developed in a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis. The tumor appeared 18 years after the diagnosis of PBC and led to death within two years. Alfa fetoprotein and serum nociceptin levels were monitored before and during the development of HCC. Nociceptin content was also measured in the tumor tissue.
RESULTS: The importance and the curiosity of the presented case was the novel finding of the progressive elevation of plasma nociceptin level up to 17-fold (172 pg/mL) above the baseline (9.2 +/- 1.8 pg/mL) parallel with the elevation of alpha fetoprotein (from 13 ng/mL up to 3 480 ng/mL) during tumor development. Nociceptin content was more than 15-fold higher in the neoplastic tissue (0.16 pg/mg) than that in the tumor-free liver tissue samples (0.01 pg/mg) taken during the autopsy.
CONCLUSION: Results are in concordance with our previous observation that a very high plasma nociceptin level may be considered as an indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma
Neuropeptide orphanin FQ inhibits dendritic morphogenesis through activation of RhoA
No full textBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a facilitatory role in neuronal development and promotion of differentiation. Mechanisms that oppose BDNF's stimulatory effects create balance and regulate dendritic growth. However, these mechanisms have not been studied. We have focused our studies on the BDNFinduced neuropeptide OrphaninFQ/Nociceptin (OFQ); while BDNF is known to enhance synaptic activity, OFQ has opposite effects on activity, learning and memory. We have now examined whether OFQ provides a balance to the stimulatory effects of BDNF on neuronal differentiation in the hippocampus. Golgi staining in OFQ knockout (KO) mice revealed an increase in primary dendrite length as well as spine density, suggesting that endogenous OFQ inhibits dendritic morphology. We have also used cultured hippocampal neurons to demonstrate that exogenous OFQ has an inhibitory effect on dendritic growth and that the neuropeptide alters the response to BDNF when re-administered. To determine if BDNF and OFQ act in a feedback loop, we inhibited the actions of the BDNF and OFQ receptors, TrkB and NOP using ANA-12 and NOP KO mice respectively but our data suggests that the two factors do not act in a negative feedback loop. We found that the inhibition of dendritic morphology induced by OFQ is via enhanced RhoA activity. Finally, we have evidence that RhoA activation is required for the inhibitory effects of OFQ on dendritic morphology. Our results reveal basic mechanisms by which neurons not only regulate the formation of proper dendritic growth during development but also control plasticity in the mature nervous system.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Alder, J., Kallman, S., Palmieri, A., Khadim, F., Ayer, J. J., Kumar, S., Tsung, K., Grinberg, I. and Thakker-Varia, S. (2013), Neuropeptide orphanin FQ inhibits dendritic morphogenesis through activation of RhoA. Devel Neurobio, 73: 769–784, which has been published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dneu.22101. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Peer reviewe
THE NUMBER OF Fq-POINTS ON DIAGONAL HYPERSURFACES WITH MONOMIAL DEFORMATION
No full text© 2024 The Author, under license to MSP (Mathematical Sciences Publishers). Distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). Open Access made possible by subscribing institutions via Subscribe to Open. cc-byWe consider the family of diagonal hypersurfaces with monomial deformation Dd,λ,h: xd1 + xd2 +· · ·+ xdn − dλ xh21 xh32… xhn n = 0, where d = h1 + h2 +· · ·+ hn with gcd(h1, h2,…, hn) = 1. We first provide a formula for the number of Fq-points on Dd,λ,h in terms of Gauss and Jacobi sums. This generalizes a result of Koblitz, which holds in the special case d | q −1. We then express the number of Fq-points on Dd,λ,h in terms of a p-adic hypergeometric function previously defined by the author. The parameters in this hypergeometric function mirror exactly those described by Koblitz when drawing an analogy between his result and classical hypergeometric functions. This generalizes a result by Sulakashna and Barman, which holds in the case gcd(d, q −1)=1. In the special case h1 = h2 =· · ·= hn =1 and d = n, i.e., the Dwork hypersurface, we also generalize a previous result of the author which holds when q is prime
Watermarking Protocol for Deep Neural Network Ownership Regulation in Federated Learning
No full textWith the wide application of deep learning models, it is important to verify an author's possession over a deep neural network model by watermarks and protect the model. The development of distributed learning paradigms such as federated learning raises new challenges for model protection. Each author should be able to conduct independent verification and trace traitors. To meet those requirements, we propose a watermarking protocol, Merkle-Sign to meet the prerequisites for ownership verification in federated learning. Our work paves the way for generalizing watermark as a practical security mechanism for protecting deep learning models in distributed learning platforms.No Full Tex
Towards an understanding of the effectiveness of advertising
No full textThe author has been concerned with a study of
"The Measurement of Advertising Effectiveness"
since 1972. . During the course of this study,
some 11 reports have been produced. In accor-
dance with Regulation 14.9 of CIT's Regulations
governing the submission of material for higher
degrees, these reports are submitted, together
with an exposition of the material contained
within them.
The exposition which is presented here attempts
to describe the contents of the reports in the
overall context of the study of which they were
a part. Hence,
-this exposition contains: a
description of the study; a description of the
overall methodology employed; a summary of the
contents of the reports; and, an appraisal of
the study's methods and outputs.
No precedent exists for such expositions and
the author has chosen the form and content
which he believes will best. allow the contents
of the reports to be appreciated
Hauntings – A nodalist study
No full textSince Deleuze and Guattari first described the concept of the rhizome as a model of cultural transmission in A Thousand Plateaus (1980), a new way of processing information in the Arts and Social Sciences has emerged – ‘Nodalism’. Philip Gochenour has convincingly argued that units of culture can now be thought of as ‘nodes’ existing in a nonhierarchical, web-like network. Information transfer between nodes in the network is horizontal, omni-directional and not necessarily teleological, a way of viewing the world which has been paralleled and actualized in the last twenty years by the emergence, growth and ubiquity of the internet and the World Wide Web.
The author – a developing audiovisual artist – here offers four videomusic pieces and one virtual sound-synthesis tool. At first glance, the pieces may appear to have little in common. However, the commentary will attempt to show that they are subtly linked together, immersed in a cocoon of rhizomatic, pluralistic, thread-like connections.
The strongest ‘thread’ holding them together appears to be the trope of being ‘haunted’ in some way – either by influence, genre, or overarching concept. However, this thesis will attempt to show how a detailed consideration of each piece results in a highly complex final picture in which the pieces can be thought of as individual cultural nodes suspended in a dense rhizomatic mass of lateral cultural threads. For the sake of completion, however, the project has received the name Hauntings in reference to one of the strongest shared tropes running throughout all five works
WQ-3810: A new fluoroquinolone with a high potential against fluoroquinolone-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
No full textFluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), caused by amino acid substitutions in DNA gyrase, has been increasingly reported worldwide. WQ-3810 is a newly developed FQ that is highly active against FQ-resistant pathogens; however, its activity against Mtb has not been evaluated. Herein we examined the efficacy of WQ-3810 against Mtb through the use of recombinant Mtb DNA gyrases. In addition, in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity of WQ-3810 was evaluated against recombinant Mtb var. bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin strains in which gyrase-coding genes were replaced with Mtb variants containing resistance-conferring mutations. WQ-3810 showed a higher inhibitory activity than levofloxacin against most recombinant DNA gyrases with FQ-resistance mutations. Furthermore, WQ-3810 showed inhibition even against a DNA gyrase variant harboring a G88C mutation which is thought to confer the highest resistance against FQs in clinical Mtb isolates. In contrast, the FQ susceptibility test showed that WQ-3810 had relatively weak mycobactericidal activity compared with moxifloxacin. However, the combination of WQ-3810 and ethambutol showed the greatest degree of synergistic activity against recombinant strains. Since FQs and ethambutol have been used in multi-drug therapy for tuberculosis, WQ-3810 might represent a new, potent anti-tuberculosis drug that can be effective even against FQ-resistant Mtb strains
Case Report - Torsion of undescended testis
No full textWe report the case of a three year old boy with torsion of undescended
testis, within the inguinal canal, which is a very rare entity. The
pathophysiology and the management is discussed in detail
Classification of permutation polynomials of the form x3g(xq-1) of Fq2 where g(x) = x3+ bx+ c and b,c∈Fq∗
No full text© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.We classify all permutation polynomials of the form x3g(xq-1) of Fq2 where g(x) = x3+ bx+ c and b,c∈Fq∗. Moreover we find new examples of permutation polynomials and we correct some contradictory statements in the recent literature. We assume that gcd (3 , q- 1) = 1 and we use a well known criterion due to Wan and Lidl, Park and Lee, Akbary and Wang, Wang, and Zieve
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