Slipped capital femoral epiphysis associated with radiation therapy

We reviewed 32 children with 41 radiation-therapy associated slipped capital femoral epiphyses (RTASCFE). Ten were from the authors' institutions and 22 from the literature. Gender distribution was equal. The age at diagnosis of the malignancy was 4.3 +/- 3.1 years; the amount of radiation was 4,240 +/- 1,445 rads. Children with RTASCFE presented younger (10.4 +/- 3.2 years) than a routine SCFE. The average symptom duration was 5 +/- 6 months. Children with RTASCFE are usually thin (median weight, 10th percentile) in contrast to children with typical SCFE, who are usually obese (<95th percentile). The majority (82%) of the slips were mild, compared to routine SCFEs (approximately 50%); 28% were bilateral. There was a positive linear relationship between the age at presentation of the SCFE and the age at diagnosis of the malignancy; there was a negative linear relationship between the age at presentation of the SCFE and the amount of radiation therapy.     

Two regions in the CD80 cytoplasmic tail regulate CD80 redistribution and T cell costimulation

CD28 is a major T cell costimulatory molecule, delivering signals distinct from those of the CD3/TCR complex, which regulate cytokine and cytokine receptor expression, cell proliferation, and cell viability. CD28 needs to be cross-linked to initiate signals, yet both of its ligands, CD80 and CD86, are expressed as monomers. Previously, we determined the cytoplasmic tail of CD80 is required for CD28-mediated costimulation and subcellular relocalization of CD80 in lymphocytes. In this study, we report that Reh B cell transfectants expressing CD80 with mutations in the cytoplasmic tail region either at 275-278 (RRNE-->AAAA, CD80/4A) or serine 284 (S-->A, CD80/SA) can bind ligand similar to transfectants expressing wild-type CD80, yet are unable to costimulate T cell proliferation. These mutant CD80 molecules are expressed on the surface of the Reh cells in small clusters or foci indistinguishable from those of wild-type CD80 molecules. However, mutant CD80 molecules unlike wild-type CD80 cannot be readily induced by ligand into caps. Thus, small clusters of CD80 found on APC are insufficient to initiate CD28-mediated signals, and the formation of CD80 caps appears to be a critical factor regulating the initiation of T cell costimulation. A 30-kDa phosphoprotein that associates with the cytoplasmic tail of CD80 in activated cells may play a role in CD80 redistribution and thus CD28-mediated costimulation. These results indicate two distinct regions of the CD80 cytoplasmic tail regulate its costimulatory function, and both regions are required for CD80 function.     

Performance of TZCD-MBOK watermarking scheme in T-DMB systems

Recently, watermarking based data transmission techniques using terrestrial digital TV signal have been proposed since they are also cost-free and can overcome the limitations of GPS. However, in the previous watermarking based methods, the detection accuracy is low and additional data rate is too low. Thus, we propose the throughput enhancement method by employing the TZCD-MBOK watermarking technique in T-DMB system. By applying the proposed scheme to T-DMB, it allows additional data transmission for disaster broadcasting and improves efficiency of data transmission in shadow region and indoor to mobile environment through watermarking spread code. From the simulation results, we confirm the proposed watermarking scheme affected on the existing T-DMB signal. Moreover, it was also confirmed that the system capacity increases as the power of additional watermarking signal rose. The results of the paper can be applied to wireless multimedia digital broadcasting systems.     

Power- and time-aware buffer cache management for real-time embedded databases

Due to the explosive increases of data from both the cyber and physical worlds, the demand for database support in embedded systems is increasing. Databases for embedded systems, or embedded databases, are expected to provide timely in situ data services under various resource constraints, such as limited energy. However, traditional buffer cache management schemes, in which the primary goal is to minimize the number of I/O operations, is problematic since they do not consider the constraints of modern embedded devices such as limited energy and distinctive underlying storage. In particular, due to asymmetric read/write characteristics of flash memory-based storage of modern embedded devices, minimum buffer cache misses neither coincide with minimum power consumption nor minimum I/O deadline misses. In this paper we propose a novel power- and time-aware buffer cache management scheme for embedded databases. A novel multi-dimensional feedback control architecture is proposed and the characteristics of underlying storage of modern embedded devices is exploited for the simultaneous support of the desired I/O power consumption and the I/O deadline miss ratio. We have shown through an extensive simulation that our approach satisfies both power and timing requirements in I/O operations under a variety of workloads while consuming significantly smaller buffer space than baseline approaches.     

Signal tracking method of GNSS receivers for spinning vehicles

A signal tracking method of GNSS receivers for spinning vehicles is proposed in order to eliminate the influence of spinning to the GNSS signal of a vehicle. In the proposed method, a rotation tracking loop is added into the carrier tracking loop of a conventional GNSS receiver. The proposed method was verified through computer simulations and an experiment for live GPS signals. The results show that the proposed method gives an accurate tracking performance.     

Minimal-drift heading measurement using a MEMS gyro for mobile robots: Fused with odometry

To achieve the goal of low-cost MEMS gyros for the precise self-localization of mobile robots, this paper presents a simple, yet effective method to minimize drifts on the heading angle by combining measurements from a gyro with measurements from wheel encoders (odometry). The main idea of the proposed approach is to estimate the accuracy of both sensors as a function of the actual maneuver being carried out, and then the output of both sensors are fused by the complementary filter taking into account the maneuvering conditions. The proposed method is applied to a mobile robot and the experimental data demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.     

Activation of Nrf2/HO-1 by Peptide YD1 Attenuates Inflammatory Symptoms through Suppression of TLR4/MYyD88/NF-κB Signaling Cascade

In this study, we investigate the immunomodulatory effects of a novel antimicrobial peptide, YD1, isolated from Kimchi, in both in vitro and in vivo models. We establish that YD1 exerts its anti-inflammatory effects via up-regulation of the Nrf2 pathway, resulting in the production of HO-1, which suppresses activation of the NF-κB pathway, including the subsequent proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. We also found that YD1 robustly suppresses nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂) production by down-regulating the expression of the upstream genes, iNOS and COX-2, acting as a strong antioxidant. Collectively, YD1 exhibits vigorous anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, presenting it as an interesting potential therapeutic agent.