Cytotoxic T Cell Expression of Leukocyte-Associated Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor-1 (LAIR-1) in Viral Hepatitis C-Mediated Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) pathogenesis involves liver inflammation, therefore, despite successful treatment, hepatitis C virus (HCV) may progress to HCC from initiated liver cirrhosis. Cytotoxic T cells (Tcs) are known to be involved in HCV-related cirrhotic complications and HCC pathogenesis. The inhibitory checkpoint leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor-1 (LAIR-1) is expressed on Tcs. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether the Tc expression level of LAIR-1 is associated with HCC progression and to evaluate LAIR-1 expression as a noninvasive biomarker for HCC progression in the context of liver cirrhosis related to HCV genotype 4 (G4) in Egyptian patients’ peripheral venous blood liquid biopsy. A total of 64 patients with HCC and 37 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in this case-controlled study, and their LAIR-1 expression on Tc related to the progression of liver cirrhosis was examined and compared to that of the apparently healthy control group (n = 20). LAIR-1 expression was analyzed using flow cytometry. Results: The HCC group had significantly higher LAIR-1 expression on Tc and percentage of Tc positive for LAIR-1 (LAIR-1+Tc%) than the HCV G4-related liver cirrhosis group. LAIR-1+Tc% was correlated with the HCC surrogate tumor marker AFP (r = 0.367, p = 0.001) and insulin resistance and inflammation prognostic ratios/indices. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve revealed that adding LAIR-1+Tc% to AFP can distinguish HCC transformation in the Egyptian patients’ cohort. Upregulated LAIR-1 expression on Tc could be a potential screening noninvasive molecular marker for chronic inflammatory HCV G4 related liver cirrhosis. Moreover, LAIR-1 expression on Tc may be one of the players involved in the progression of liver cirrhosis to HCC.     

A robust learning based evolutionary approach for thermal-economic optimization of compact heat exchangers

This paper presents a robust, efficient and parameter-setting-free evolutionary approach for the optimal design of compact heat exchangers. A learning automata based particle swarm optimization (LAPSO) is developed for optimization task. Seven design parameters, including discreet and continuous ones, are considered as optimization variables. To make the constraint handling straightforward, a self-adaptive penalty function method is employed. The efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed method are demonstrated through two illustrative examples that include three objectives, namely minimum total annual cost, minimum weight and minimum number of entropy generation units. Numerical results indicate that the presented approach generates the optimum configuration with higher accuracy and a higher success rate when compared with genetic algorithms (GAs) and particle swarm optimization (PSO).     

High‐accuracy hierarchical parallel technique for hidden Markov model‐based 3D magnetic resonance image brain segmentation

Scientific applications represent a dominant sector of compute‐intensive applications. Using massively parallel processing systems increases the feasibility to automate such applications because of the cooperation among multiple processors to perform the designated task. This paper proposes a parallel hidden Markov model (HMM) algorithm for 3D magnetic resonance image brain segmentation using two approaches. In the first approach, a hierarchical/multilevel parallel technique is used to achieve high performance for the running algorithm. This approach can speed up the computation process up to 7.8× compared with a serial run. The second approach is orthogonal to the first and tries to help in obtaining a minimum error for 3D magnetic resonance image brain segmentation using multiple processes with different randomization paths for cooperative fast minimum error convergence. This approach achieves minimum error level for HMM training not achievable by the serial HMM training on a single node. Then both approaches are combined to achieve both high accuracy and high performance simultaneously. For 768 processing nodes of a Blue Gene system, the combined approach, which uses both methods cooperatively, can achieve high‐accuracy HMM parameters with 98% of the error level and 2.6× speedup compared with the pure accuracy‐oriented approach alone. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interference-free energy efficient scheduling in wireless ad hoc networks

This paper studies the problem of interference-free broadcast in wireless ad hoc networks. In particular, we are interested in asymmetric power assignments so that the induced broadcast communication graph is both, energy efficient and has a short collision-free broadcast schedule. We consider both random and deterministic node layouts and develop four different broadcast schemes with provable performance guarantees on three optimization objectives simultaneously: total energy consumption, network lifetime and collision-free schedule length. We also show extensive numerical results which support our findings.     

Comparison of Bougainvillea spectabilis and Bougainvillea glabra species inhibited in Pakistan based on microscopic studies: Light microscope and scanning electron microscope

The anatomical variations of two plants from the Nyctaginaceae family, Bougainvillea spectabilis and Bougainvillea glabra, were studied using light and scanning electron microscopy methods in this work. Bougainvillea is a dicotyledonous with defensive traits that can withstand extreme (hot and dry) settings; according to the findings, crystal inclusions in cells, woody spines, and an abnormal development pattern are all features that help them survive against predators and are unique to this species. The Bougainvillea plant's leaves are arranged in simple pattern, alternate to each other along stem having an undulate leaves edge and an oval form. The xylem and phloem, palisade, parenchyma midrib, spongy mesophyll, raphide crystal bundles, and trichomes were all visible when bracts and leaves were transversally sectioned and dyed with toluidine blue O (TBO). The presence of crystals was confirmed by a detailed examination of the transverse leaves by using bright-field and cross-polarizing microscopy. Dissecting microscopic examination showed that all the leaves revealed leaves venation pattern that had midvein, lateral veins areoles, and trichomes. Although trichomes have been identified on both sides, a closer look at a cleaned leaf dyed with TBO showed multicellular abundant trichomes on adaxial surface. Stomata complexes were typically found on the abaxial surface of the leaf according to epidermal peels. Present studies also showed that on adaxial side, stomata were lesser in number or were absent and also showed that the morphologies of the pavement cells on the adaxial and abaxial sides of the leaf differed.