A Novel Architecture for an Intrusion Detection System Utilizing Cross-Check Filters for In-Vehicle Networks.

The Controller Area Network (CAN), widely used for vehicular communication, is vulnerable to multiple types of cyber-threats. Attackers can inject malicious messages into the CAN bus through various channels, including wireless methods, entertainment systems, and on-board diagnostic ports. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a reliable intrusion detection system (IDS) capable of effectively distinguishing between legitimate and malicious CAN messages. In this paper, we propose a novel IDS architecture aimed at enhancing the cybersecurity of CAN bus systems in vehicles. Various machine learning (ML) models have been widely used to address similar problems; however, although existing ML-based IDS are computationally efficient, they suffer from suboptimal detection performance. To mitigate this shortcoming, our architecture incorporates specially designed rule-based filters that cross-check outputs from the traditional ML-based IDS. These filters scrutinize message ID and payload data to precisely capture the unique characteristics of three distinct types of cyberattacks: DoS attacks, spoofing attacks, and fuzzy attacks. Experimental evidence demonstrates that the proposed architecture leads to a significant improvement in detection performance across all utilized ML models. Specifically, all ML-based IDS achieved an accuracy exceeding 99% for every type of attack. This achievement highlights the robustness and effectiveness of our proposed solution in detecting potential threats.

Predictive DNA damage signaling for low­dose ionizing radiation.

Numerous studies have attempted to develop biological markers for the response to radiation for broad and straightforward application in the field of radiation. Based on a public database, the present study selected several molecules involved in the DNA damage repair response, cell cycle regulation and cytokine signaling as promising candidates for low­dose radiation­sensitive markers. The HuT 78 and IM­9 cell lines were irradiated in a concentration­dependent manner, and the expression of these molecules was analyzed using western blot analysis. Notably, the activation of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2), p53 and H2A histone family member X (H2AX) significantly increased in a concentration­dependent manner, which was also observed in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. To determine the radioprotective effects of cinobufagin, as an ATM and CHK2 activator, an in vivo model was employed using sub­lethal and lethal doses in irradiated mice. Treatment with cinobufagin increased the number of bone marrow cells in sub­lethal irradiated mice, and slightly elongated the survival of lethally irradiated mice, although the difference was not statistically significant. Therefore, KU60019, BML­277, pifithrin­α, and nutlin­3a were evaluated for their ability to modulate radiation­induced cell death. The use of BML­277 led to a decrease in radiation­induced p­CHK2 and γH2AX levels and mitigated radiation­induced apoptosis. On the whole, the present study provides a novel approach for developing drug candidates based on the profiling of biological radiation­sensitive markers. These markers hold promise for predicting radiation exposure and assessing the associated human risk.

Role of Tumor-Associated Macrophages in Cervical Cancer: Integrating Classical Perspectives with Recent Technological Advances.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a pivotal role in the tumor microenvironment, influencing cancer progression and contributing to poor prognosis. However, in cervical cancer (CC), their significance and involvement are relatively less studied than in other gynecological cancers such as ovarian and endometrial cancer. This review aims to provide an overview of TAMs, covering their origins and phenotypes and their impact on CC progression, along with major TAM-targeted therapeutic approaches. Furthermore, we advocate for the integration of cutting-edge research methodologies, such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial RNA sequencing, to enable in-depth and comprehensive investigations into TAMs in CC, which would be beneficial in leading to more personalized and effective immunotherapy strategies for patients with CC.

First Report of Anthracnose on Euonymus japonicus Thunb. Caused by a Provisionally Novel Species of Colletotrichum in the Magnum Complex in South Korea.

Euonymus japonicus Thunb., also known as the evergreen spindle tree, is an evergreen tree, which is widely planted as a hedge plant along streets in South Korea. In April 2022, severe anthracnose symptoms were observed on the leaves of this tree in Jangsu in the Jeonbuk Province of the country (35°43'49.44″N, 127°34'53.7″E). About 80% of the leaves of each affected tree within a 0.03-ha area showed incidence of the disease on approximately 30 trees were planted along the roadside (~30 m). These symptoms typically included circular or irregularly shaped whitish-gray lesions with a diameter of 2.0 to 3.0 cm. In cases where some leaves were severely affected, larger blotches formed. To isolate the pathogen, about ten leaves showing anthracnose symptoms on each tree were randomly selected and brought to the laboratory. Fungal isolations were made from acervuli filled with conidial masses on infected evergreen tissues, followed by plating onto 2% potato dextrose agar (PDA) as well as incubated at 25℃. On the PDA, colonies were circular, raised, green-grey or dark grey, and had a distinct white margin. The conidia were single-celled, transparent, cylindrical with rounded ends, had smooth walls, with a length ranging from 12 µm to 16.7 µm and a width raging from 4 µm to 6.5 µm (av. = 14.1 X 5.0 µm, n=40). Of those that were successfully recovered with approximately 90% frequency, two monoconidial isolates were deposited to the culture collection at Chungnam National University in South Korea (Accession number: CDH059-060). To ensure the identity of the fungus, genomic DNAs were extracted from the selected isolates, CDH059-060, and were sequenced. This was achieved based on partial sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), actin and beta-tubulin (TUB2) gene regions which were amplified using ITS1F / ITS4 (Gardes and Bruns 1993; White et al. 1990), ACT-512F / ACT-783R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), and T1 / Bt2b (O'Donnell and Cigelnik 1997; Glass and Donaldson 1995) primer pairs, respectively. The resulting sequences were deposited to GenBank (OR984424-425) for ITS, (OR996289-290) for actin, and (OR996291-292) for TUB2. For a phylogenetic analysis, sequences from different gene regions (ITS, actin and TUB2) retrieved from GenBank were aligned, concatenated, and analyzed as a single dataset based on a maximum likelihood analysis. The phylogenetic result revealed that the fungus isolated in this study was positioned in a clearly distinct lineage, provisionally representing an undetermined species of Colletotrichum, which is most closely related to Colletotrichum liaoningense (Y.Z. Diao, C. Zhang, L. Cai & X.L. Liu, CGMCC3.17616 (KP890104 for ITS, KP890097 for actin, and KP890111 for TUB, Diao et al. 2017). Sequence comparisons revealed that this pathogen differed from C. liaoningense at 20 of 494 characters (∼4.0%) in the ITS and 2 of 251 (∼1.0%) in the actin sequences. For pathogenicity tests, three seedlings of E. japonicus were used. The leaves for each tree were treated with 10 ml of a conidial suspension by spraying (1x106 conidia ml-1 of the isolate, CDH059), while the three seedlings were treated with distilled water as control. After sprayed, the treated areas were sealed with plastic bags for a day to maintain humidity. Anthracnose symptoms identical to those observed in the field appeared seven days after inoculations, while no symptoms were observed in the control. Re-isolations were successfully achieved from the treatments, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Anthracnose associated with the provisionally novel species of Colletotrichum sp. on E. japonicus has not been recorded elsewhere, and in this regard, this is the first report of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum sp. on E. japonicus in Korea. To effectively control the disease, more attention should be paid to the host range of the pathogen and other regions where the disease caused by the pathogen might occur in the country.

First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum siamense on Machilus thunbergii Siebold & Zucc. in South Korea.

Machilus thunbergii Siebold & Zucc., known as Japanese bay tree, is an evergreen tree distributed widely in East Asia, including South Korea, where the species is of ecological importance. Machilus thunbergii provides habitat for wildlife species and is a common urban tree. In September 2022, anthracnose symptoms on leaves were observed in Jeju (33°26'02.4"N, 126°19'48.8"E) and Tongyeong (34°49'27.1"N, 128°24'01.8"E) in South Korea. Disease incidence on leaves of each affected tree, naturally growing in an urban forest area covering approximately 0.5 ha was approximately ~ 70 % in each study area. Anthracnose symptoms that were observed on 70 to 80% leaves per tree in each study area included orbicular or irregular, whitish-grey spots on leaves that were 1.5 to 3.0 cm in diam. In some cases where leaves were severely affected, larger blotches were formed, leading to bleaching symptoms and eventually defoliation. For pathogen isolation, two or three leaves showing anthracnose symptoms from each of the 15 trees were randomly selected and brought to the laboratory. Fungal isolations were then directly made by transferring spores from acervuli that developed on diseased leaves onto potato dextrose agar (PDA) media. Cushion shaped acervuli filled with salmon to orange-colored conidial masses were produced on media approximately two weeks after the incubation at 25 ± 1°C with a photoperiod of 12 h. Conidia were single celled, hyaline, cylindrical with rounded ends, smooth walls, 13.7 to 18.1 µm long and 3.1 to 4.5 µm wide (n=30). Among 15 cultures that were successfully isolated, 10 isolates were retained based on culture characteristics, and two randomly selected monoconidial cultures were deposited in the culture collection (CDH) of the Chungnam National University, Republic of Korea (Accession No. CDH057-58). Two isolates selected, CDH057 and CDH058, were subjected to identification, and this was achieved based on multiplesequence comparisons using on internal transcribed spacer regions of rDNA (ITS1 and ITS2), partial sequences of actin (ACT) and ß-tubulin (TUB2) gene regions amplified using ITS1F / ITS4, ACT-512F / ACT-783R and T1 / Bt2b, respectively (Weir et al. 2012). The representative sequence data were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers OR473277 and OR473278 for the ITS, OR480772 and OR480773 for ACT, and OR480774 and OR480775 for TUB2. The resulting sequences were further used for a phylogenetic analysis based on the maximum likelihood method using a concatenated dataset of the ITS, ACT and TUB2 gene sequences for Colletotrichum species in the C. gloeosporioides clade. The results showed that the pathogen isolated in this study clustered with Colletotrichum siamense (Vouchered specimens: MFLU 090230, COUFPI291, and COUFPI294) (Prihastuti et al. 2009). Sequence comparisons revealed that the isolates obtained in this study differed from the type species of C. siamense (MFLU 090230; FJ972613 for ITS, FJ 907423 for ACT, FJ907438 for TUB2) at 2 of 258 bp (∼0.8%) and 6 of 387 bp (∼1.6%) in the ACT and TUB2 sequences, respectively, while the ITS was identical to the type species. For pathogenicity tests, a total of ten three-year-old seedlings of M. thunbergii were used. The leaves of each tree were sprayed with 5 ml of conidial suspension (105 conidia/ml, isolate CDH057). Three control plants were sprayed with sterile water. After being sprayed, treated areas were sealed with a plastic bag for 24 hours to preserve humidity. Anthracnose symptoms, identical to those observed in the field, appeared five to seven days after the inoculations, while no symptoms were observed on control plants. The isolates used in the pathogenicity test were reisolated from 90% of lesions, and their identity was confirmed based on sequence comparisons, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Species of the C. gloeosporioides species complex include important plant pathogens, particularly C. siamense, which cause significant losses of economic and ecological relevance on a wide range of hosts (~ 100 hosts) (Talhinhas and Baroncelli 2021). Although C. fioriniae in the C. acutatum species complex, was found on M. thunbergii in South Korea (Thao et al. 2023), anthracnose associated with C. siamense on M. thunbergii has not been reported in the country. In this regard, this is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. siamense on M. thunbergii in South Korea. To effectively control the disease, more attention should be paid on the host range of the pathogen and other regions where the disease caused by the pathogen might occur in the country.

Clinical Performance Comparison of Ultrahigh-speed Dual Pneumatic Vitrectomy Probes: Is Faster and Smaller Better?

PURPOSE: Various vitrectomy probes are currently being used commercially, and there are ongoing efforts toward developing probes with higher cutting rates and smaller gauges. This study aimed to compare the efficiency and safety of various commercially available small gauge ultrahigh-speed dual pneumatic vitrectomy probes. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients and recorded intraoperative videos while they underwent microincision three-port vitrectomy surgery for idiopathic epiretinal membrane at Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital. The patients were categorized into four groups based on the vitrectomy probe used during surgery: 23-7500 (UltraVit 23-gauge 7,500 cuts per minute [CPM]), 23-7500 (UltraVit 25-gauge 7,500 CPM), 25-10K (Advanced UltraVit 25-gauge 10,000 CPM), and 27-10K (Advanced UltraVit 27-gauge 10,000 CPM). RESULTS: In total, 82 eyes from 82 patients were included in this work, with 16, 11, 26, and 29 eyes in groups 23-7500, 25-7500, 25-10K, and 27-10K, respectively. The corresponding vitrectomy times were 295.56 ± 53.55, 293.09 ± 50.28, 299.92 ± 59.42, and 349.38 ± 67.23 seconds, respectively. There was a significant difference in the vitrectomy time between the groups (p = 0.004). The mean number of sutures was 3, 3, 2.96, and 0.83, respectively. In the 23-7500 group, there was one case of iatrogenic retinal break, while in the 27-10K group, there was one case of postoperative hypotony. CONCLUSIONS: Although advancements have been made in the 27-gauge vitrectomy probe, it still takes more vitrectomy time than it does when using the 23- and 25-gauge probes. However, the delay was within an average of 1 minute, and considering the significantly reduced need for sutures, there is a substantial benefit in terms of postoperative discomfort. Therefore, when choosing a probe for epiretinal membrane surgery among the four options, it is reasonable to select the 27-gauge probe according to the surgeon's preference.

Improving Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Score Prediction in Breast Cancer with Self-Supervised Learning.

Tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a pivotal role in immuno-oncology, which investigates the intricate interactions between tumors and the human immune system. Specifically, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are crucial biomarkers for evaluating the prognosis of breast cancer patients and have the potential to refine immunotherapy precision and accurately identify tumor cells in specific cancer types. In this study, we conducted tissue segmentation and lymphocyte detection tasks to predict TIL scores by employing self-supervised learning (SSL) model-based approaches capable of addressing limited labeling data issues. Our experiments showed a 1.9% improvement in tissue segmentation and a 2% improvement in lymphocyte detection over the ImageNet pre-training model. Using these SSL-based models, we achieved a TIL score of 0.718 with a 4.4% improvement. In particular, when trained with only 10% of the entire dataset, the SwAV pre-trained model exhibited a superior performance over other models. Our work highlights improved tissue segmentation and lymphocyte detection using the SSL model with less labeled data for TIL score prediction.

Photoredox-Enabled Dearomative [2π + 2σ] Cycloaddition of Phenols.

Dearomative photocycloaddition of monocyclic arenes is an appealing strategy for comprehending the concept of "escape from flatland". This brings the replacement of readily available planar aromatic hydrocarbon units with a 3D fused bicyclic core with sp3-enriched carbon units. Herein, we outline an intermolecular approach for the dearomative photocycloaddition of phenols. In order to circumvent the ground-state aromaticity and to construct conformationally restrained building blocks, bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes were chosen as coupling partners. This dearomative approach renders straightforward access to a bicyclo[2.1.1]hexane unit fused to a cyclic enone moiety, which further contributed as a synthetic linchpin for postmodifications. Mechanistic experiment advocates for a plausible onset from both the reactants, depending on the redox potential.

Heterogeneity of gut microbiome compositions in the third decade of life in Japanese women: insights from a comparative analysis.

The reasons for sex-associated gut microbiota differences have not been determined, and although sex hormones, diet, and other factors are considered to contribute to them, many of these factors are age related. To shed light on this complex interplay, our study aimed to investigate and compare the gut microbial compositions of males and females across a broad range of ages, aiming to identify sex-associated disparities and potential causal factors. Our study encompassed a comprehensive analysis of gut microbiota data obtained from 444 Japanese individuals, ranging from newborns to centenarians, sourced from the DNA Data Bank of Japan. We categorized the subjects into 13 distinct age groups and examined their relative microbial abundances, as well as alpha and beta diversities, in relation to sex and age. No difference was observed between gut microbiota relative abundances or alpha diversities between men and women at any age. However, the study showed that the heterogeneity of gut microbiota among women in their 20s was greater than in men. To confirm the general occurrence of this difference, we conducted additional analyses using seven datasets: three from Japan and four from other countries. Interestingly, this variance was particularly noticeable within Japanese women. We also showed a potential link between the observed heterogeneity and dietary fiber intake. It is hoped this study will provide clues that aid in the identification of factors responsible for sex-associated differences in gut microbiota compositions.

Improving model-data mismatch for photon-counting detector model using global and local model parameters.

BACKGROUND: An energy-discriminating capability of a photon counting detector (PCD) can provide many clinical advantages, but several factors, such as charge sharing (CS) and pulse pileup (PP), degrade the capability by distorting the measured x-ray spectrum. To fully exploit the merits of PCDs, it is important to characterize the output of PCDs. Previously proposed PCD output models showed decent agreement with physical PCDs; however, there were still scopes to be improved: a global model-data mismatch and pixel-to-pixel variations. PURPOSES: In this study, we improve a PCD model by using count-rate-dependent model parameters to address the issues and evaluate agreement against physical PCDs. METHODS: The proposed model is based on the cascaded model, and we made model parameters condition-dependent and pixel-specific to deal with the global model-data mismatch and the pixel-to-pixel variation. The parameters are determined by a procedure for model parameter estimation with data acquired from different thicknesses of water or aluminum at different x-ray tube currents. To analyze the effects of having proposed model parameters, we compared three setups of our model: a model with default parameters, a model with global parameters, and a model with global-and-local parameters. For experimental validation, we used CdZnTe-based PCDs, and assessed the performance of the models by calculating the mean absolute percentage errors (MAPEs) between the model outputs and the actual measurements from low count-rates to high count-rates, which have deadtime losses of up to 24%. RESULTS: The outputs of the proposed model visually matched well with the PCD measurements for all test data. For the test data, the MAPEs averaged over all the bins were 49.2-51.1% for a model with default parameters, 8.0-9.8% for a model with the global parameters, and 1.2-2.7% for a model with the global-and-local parameters. CONCLUSION: The proposed model can estimate the outputs of physical PCDs with high accuracy from low to high count-rates. We expect that our model will be actively utilized in applications where the pixel-by-pixel accuracy of a PCD model is important.

Does Bladder Cancer Subtype Influence Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) and Pelvic Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DW-MRI) Response Evaluation After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy? Pathological Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to provide a pathological perspective on the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) by correlating the prechemotherapy transurethral resection of bladder tumor findings and postchemotherapy radiologic evaluation with final radical cystectomy (RC) findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 79 MIBC patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and RC. Pelvic diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and pathologic reports were retrieved from our institutional database. All pathology slides were reviewed based on diagnostic criteria with high interobserver reproducibility. RESULTS: Pathologic complete response (pCR) was confirmed in 32 patients (40.5%). The concordance and discordance between MRI and RC findings occurred in 68.3% and 31.7% of cases, respectively. The 21.5% of cases that were clinical CR (cCR) on MRI actually achieved pCR on RC specimens and 46.8% of cases that were non-cCR on MRI were actually non-pCR on RC specimens. In 19.0% of cases, RC findings were pCR, but MRI demonstrated residual tumor and the opposite was 12.7%. The greatest discrepancy between the 2 methods (75%, 3/4) was for the plasmacytoid subtype. Plasmacytoid histology was the most common histological subtype identified in RC specimens after NAC, followed by micropapillary and squamous histologies. CONCLUSIONS: We found that all cases with plasmacytoid and micropapillary subtypes, and squamous differentiation did not show pCR. In particular, the largest discrepancy between MRI findings and RC pathology after NAC was seen in the plasmacytoid subtype. An accurate pathologic diagnosis based on strict criteria to identify histological subtypes of MIBC is necessary for proper treatment.

Circulating-tumor DNA Assessment in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma to Determine Up-front Stem Cell Transplantation: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study evaluated the possibility of clinical use of circulating-tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker to determine up-front autologous stem cell transplantation (auto-SCT) for patients with high-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in practice. PATIENTS AND METHODS: To explore the dynamics of ctDNA in DLBCL, blood samples were collected sequentially before and after treatment from patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL who received rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy. To conduct ctDNA genotyping and ctDNA monitoring simultaneously, targeted sequencing by cancer personalized profiling using deep sequencing was used. RESULTS: Ten patients between the ages of 50 and 60 years were enrolled. Based on the international prognostic index (IPI), seven patients were classified as high-IPI-risk group, and three patients were classified as low-IPI-risk group. The IPI risk group correlated with total metabolic tumor volume. All patients completed six cycles of R-CHOP chemotherapy, and seven patients achieved complete response. Changes in ctDNA mutation numbers did not correlate with changes in PET scan images and treatment response. In most high-risk patients, new mutations appeared in ctDNA after completion of chemotherapy that conceivably marked resistant clones. Notably, disease relapse did not occur in high-risk patients with poor prognostic mutations who underwent autologous SCT. CONCLUSION: ctDNA monitoring was meaningful in high-risk patients. Moreover, ctDNA and well-known prognostic factors should be considered in the decision making for auto-SCT. If a new genetic mutation in ctDNA with a negative prognosis would emerge during treatment, high-risk patients should consider auto-SCT.

Profiling of Lymphovascular Space Invasion in Cervical Cancer Revealed PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway Overactivation and Heterogenic Tumor-Immune Microenvironments.

Lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) is the presence of tumor emboli in the endothelial-lined space at the tumor body's invasive edge. LVSI is one of three Sedlis criteria components-a prognostic tool for early cervical cancer (CC)-essential for indicating poor prognosis, such as lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, or shorter survival rate. Despite its clinical significance, an in-depth comprehension of the molecular mechanisms or immune dynamics underlying LVSI in CC remains elusive. Therefore, this study investigated tumor-immune microenvironment (TIME) dynamics of the LVSI-positive group in CC. RNA sequencing included formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) slides from 21 CC patients, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed. Functional analysis and immune deconvolution revealed aberrantly enriched PI3K/Akt pathway activation and a heterogenic immune composition with a low abundance of regulatory T cells (Treg) between LVSI-positive and LVSI-absent groups. These findings improve the comprehension of LSVI TIME and immune mechanisms, benefiting targeted LVSI therapy for CC.

The complete mitochondrial genome of a wood-decaying fungus Vanderbylia fraxinea (Polyporaceae, Polyporales).

Vanderbylia fraxinea (Bull.) D.A. Reid, 1973 is an important wood-inhabiting fungus that plays a significant role in nutrient recycling in most forest ecosystems. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of V. fraxinea was characterized through de novo assembly using Illumina sequencing data and genome annotation. The mitochondrial genome is a circular molecule of 115,473 bp with a GC content of 28.66%. It comprises a total of 62 genes. Among these, 36 are protein-coding genes including 21 free-standing open reading frames (ORFs), 24 transfer RNA genes, and two ribosomal RNA genes. Core gene set commonly found in fungal mitochondrial genomes is also present in this genome, such as the apocytochrome b (cob), three subunits of the cytochrome c oxidase (cox1, cox2, and cox3), seven subunits of the NADH dehydrogenase (nad1, nad2, nad3, nad4, nad4L, nad5, and nad6), and three subunits of the ATP synthase (atp6, atp8, and atp9), as well as ribosomal RNA subunits (rns and rnl) and a set of transfer RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the protein-coding sequences from the mitochondrial genome revealed a close relationship between V. fraxinea and the Ganoderma species within the Polyporaceae family.

Relationship between maternal Group B Streptococcal colonization and gestational vaginal microbiome composition: A pilot study.

PURPOSE: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonization and vaginal microbiome (VMB) dysbiosis are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the role of GBS colonization in maternal VMB remains unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate this relationship and identify additional pathogens associated with GBS colonization for potential implications in understanding their clinical significance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Vaginal swab samples were obtained before delivery from nine women with normal pregnancies for GBS detection and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The diversity analysis and community state types clustering were used to compare the GBS-positive vs. GBS-negative groups. ANCOM-BC was implemented to identify differentially abundant microbes (DAMs) associated with GBS colonization. The correlation and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between DMAs and clinical parameters. RESULTS: There were 6/9 (66,7%) GBS-negative pregnant women. The α-diversity index (p â€‹= â€‹0.71 for observed operational taxonomic units and p â€‹= â€‹0.90 for Shannon diversity), ß-diversity index (p â€‹= â€‹0.583), and community state types clustering (p â€‹= â€‹0.23) were not significantly different between the GBS-positive and -negative groups. Four DAMs, namely, Actinomyces, Shigella, Fenollaria, and Gemella, were significantly associated with GBS colonization, reflecting the dynamicity of the gestational VMB. Their abundances were negatively correlated with birth weight and had acceptable discriminating ability in premature membrane rupture (area under the curve, 0.9). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the absence of significant effects on overall VMB composition, our preliminary results investigated that maternal GBS colonization related to high abundance of four pathogens with potential clinical utility as microbial signatures.

Image quality improvement in bowtie-filter-equipped cone-beam CT using a dual-domain neural network.

BACKGROUND: The bowtie-filter in cone-beam CT (CBCT) causes spatially nonuniform x-ray beam often leading to eclipse artifacts in the reconstructed image. The artifacts are further confounded by the patient scatter, which is therefore patient-dependent as well as system-specific. PURPOSE: In this study, we propose a dual-domain network for reducing the bowtie-filter-induced artifacts in CBCT images. METHODS: In the projection domain, the network compensates for the filter-induced beam-hardening that are highly related to the eclipse artifacts. The output of the projection-domain network was used for image reconstruction and the reconstructed images were fed into the image-domain network. In the image domain, the network further reduces the remaining cupping artifacts that are associated with the scatter. A single image-domain-only network was also implemented for comparison. RESULTS: The proposed approach successfully enhanced soft-tissue contrast with much-reduced image artifacts. In the numerical study, the proposed method decreased perceptual loss and root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of the images by 84.5% and 84.9%, respectively, and increased the structure similarity index measure (SSIM) by 0.26 compared to the original input images on average. In the experimental study, the proposed method decreased perceptual loss and RMSE of the images by 87.2% and 92.1%, respectively, and increased SSIM by 0.58 compared to the original input images on average. CONCLUSIONS: We have proposed a deep-learning-based dual-domain framework to reduce the bowtie-filter artifacts and to increase the soft-tissue contrast in CBCT images. The performance of the proposed method has been successfully demonstrated in both numerical and experimental studies.

Cable-Driven Haptic Interface With Movable Bases Achieving Maximum Workspace and Isotropic Force Exertion.

Haptic interactions play an essential role in education to enhance learning efficiency; however, haptic information for virtual educational content remains lacking. This article proposes a planar cable-driven haptic interface with movable bases that can display isotropic force feedback with maximum workspace extension on a commercial screen display. A generalized kinematic and static analysis of the cable-driven mechanism is derived by considering movable pulleys. Based on the analyses, a system including movable bases is designed and controlled to maximize the workspace subject to isotropic force exertion for the target screen area. The proposed system is evaluated experimentally as a haptic interface represented by the workspace, isotropic force-feedback range, bandwidth, Z-width, and user experiment. The results indicate that the proposed system can maximize workspace to the target rectangular area and exert isotropic force up to 94.0% of the theoretical computed one within the workspace.

Relationship between Human Papillomavirus Status and the Cervicovaginal Microbiome in Cervical Cancer.

Uterine cervical cancer (CC) is a complex, multistep disease primarily linked to persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). However, it is widely acknowledged that HR-HPV infection alone cannot account for the formation and progression of CC. Emerging evidence suggests that the cervicovaginal microbiome (CVM) also plays a significant role in HPV-related CC. Certain bacteria, such as Fusobacterium spp., Porphyromonas, Prevotella, and Campylobacter, are currently being considered as potential microbiomarkers for HPV-positive CC. However, the composition of the CVM in CC is inconsistent; thus, further studies are needed. This review comprehensively discusses the complex interplay between HPV and the CVM in cervical carcinogenesis. It is postulated that the dynamic interaction between HPV and the CVM creates an imbalanced cervicovaginal microenvironment that triggers dysbiosis, enhances HPV persistence, and promotes cervical carcinogenesis. Moreover, this review aims to provide updated evidence on the potential role of bacteriotherapy, particularly probiotics, in the treatment of CC.

Selectively Nitrogen Doped ALD-IGZO TFTs with Extremely High Mobility and Reliability.

Achieving high mobility and reliability in atomic layer deposition (ALD)-based IGZO thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an amorphous phase is vital for practical applications in relevant fields. Here, we suggest a method to effectively increase stability while maintaining high mobility by employing the selective application of nitrous oxide plasma reactant during plasma-enhanced ALD (PEALD) at 200 °C process temperature. The nitrogen-doping mechanism is highly dependent on the intrinsic carbon impurities or nature of each cation, as demonstrated by a combination of theoretical and experimental research. The Ga2O3 subgap states are especially dependent on plasma reactants. Based on these insights, we can obtain high-performance indium-rich PEALD-IGZO TFTs (threshold voltage: -0.47 V; field-effect mobility: 106.5 cm2/(V s); subthreshold swing: 113.5 mV/decade; hysteresis: 0.05 V). In addition, the device shows minimal threshold voltage shifts of +0.45 and -0.10 V under harsh positive/negative bias temperature stress environments (field stress: ±2 MV/cm; temperature stress: 95 °C) after 10000 s.

Photoelectrochemical Selective Oxidation of Glycerol to Glyceraldehyde with Bi-Based Metal-Organic-Framework-Decorated WO3 Photoanode.

The conversion of glycerol to high-value-added products via photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation has emerged as a promising approach for utilizing a sustainable and clean energy source with environmental and economic benefits. Moreover, the energy requirement for glycerol to produce hydrogen is lower than that for pure water splitting. In this study, we propose the use of WO3 nanostructures decorated with Bi-based metal-organic frameworks (Bi-MOFs) as the photoanode for glycerol oxidation with simultaneous hydrogen production. The WO3-based electrodes selectively converted glycerol to glyceraldehyde, a high-value-added product, with remarkable selectivity. The Bi-MOF-decorated WO3 nanorods enhanced the surface charge transfer and adsorption properties, thereby improving the photocurrent density and production rate (1.53 mA/cm2 and 257 mmol/m2·h at 0.8 VRHE). The photocurrent was maintained for 10 h, ensuring stable glycerol conversion. Furthermore, at 1.2 VRHE, the average production rate of glyceraldehyde reached 420 mmol/m2·h, with a selectivity of 93.6% between beneficial oxidized products over the photoelectrode. This study provides a practical approach for the conversion of glycerol to glyceraldehyde via the selective oxidation of WO3 nanostructures and demonstrates the potential of Bi-MOFs as a promising cocatalyst for PEC biomass valorization.