Therapeutic potential of menstrual blood-derived endometrial stem cells in cardiac diseases

Abstract

Despite significant developments in medical and surgical strategies, cardiac diseases remain the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Numerous studies involving preclinical and clinical trials have confirmed that stem cell transplantation can help improve cardiac function and regenerate damaged cardiac tissue, and stem cells isolated from bone marrow, heart tissue, adipose tissue and umbilical cord are the primary candidates for transplantation. During the past decade, menstrual blood-derived endometrial stem cells (MenSCs) have gradually become a promising alternative for stem cell-based therapy due to their comprehensive advantages, which include their ability to be periodically and non-invasively collected, their abundant source material, their ability to be regularly donated, their superior proliferative capacity and their ability to be used for autologous transplantation. MenSCs have shown positive therapeutic potential for the treatment of various diseases. Therefore, aside from a brief introduction of the biological characteristics of MenSCs, this review focuses on the progress being made in evaluating the functional improvement of damaged cardiac tissue after MenSC transplantation through preclinical and clinical studies. Based on published reports, we conclude that the paracrine effect, transdifferentiation and immunomodulation by MenSC promote both regeneration of damaged myocardium and improvement of cardiac function.

http://bit.ly/2WLnUBM

Is there a causal relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and the pathophysiology of intracranial aneurysm?

Abstract

Rupture of an intracranial aneurysm (IA) leads to a rare subtype of intracranial bleeding, i. e., subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). However, SAH is associated with high long-term morbidity and mortality. Risk factors for the development and rupture of IA include modifiable factors, i. e., smoking and arterial hypertension. Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are commonly reported following the rupture of an IA. The purpose of this review is to summarize the currently available evidence on the prevalence and effect of OSA in patients with IA. With an exploratory intent, we further identified potential mechanisms by which OSA might promote the development, growth, and rupture of IA.

http://bit.ly/2BmNG6C

Assessment of ability to drive in obstructive sleep apnea patients using a driving simulator

Abstract

Excessive daytime sleepiness, as a cardinal symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, leads to a reduced ability to drive, particularly among professional drivers. Alongside test procedures used in sleep medicine such as the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) and Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT), driving simulators that provide realistic simulation of road traffic can also be used to diagnose performance. The aim of this study was to use reaction time in a driving simulator as an indicator of the ability to drive in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

http://bit.ly/2Tw1UsQ

Endophyte-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles and their biological applications

Abstract

Biosynthesis has emerged as a frontier technology for fabrication of functionally diverse nanoparticles that possess tremendous therapeutic implications. Various biological resources have already demonstrated their potential to produce nanoparticles with interesting features. Endophytic microbes live in a symbiotic relationship with plants possessing a unique and versatile reservoir of potentially therapeutic secondary metabolites having the tendency to reduce metallic ions into nanoparticles. Successful biosynthesis of AgNPs using endophytic organisms has already been reported; however, the overall picture about its synthesis and applications is still not clear. In the current article, a comprehensive review of literature was performed for comparing different physical and biological properties of endophytic microbe-derived AgNPs. In addition, the present paper mechanistically explains the synthesis of AgNPs and their diverse pharmacognostic properties. Further studies are encouraged to understand the mechanism of biopharmaceutical effects of these endophyte-mediated NPs.

http://bit.ly/2GsVeIp

Fast video encoding based on random forests

Abstract

Machine learning approaches have been increasingly used to reduce the high computational complexity of high-efficiency video coding (HEVC), as this is a major limiting factor for real-time implementations, due to the decision process required to find optimal coding modes and partition sizes for the quad-tree data structures defined by the standard. This paper proposes a systematic approach to reduce the computational complexity of HEVC based on an ensemble of online and offline Random Forests classifiers. A reduced set of features for training the Random Forests classifier is proposed, based on the rankings obtained from information gain and a wrapper-based approach. The best model parameters are also obtained through a consistent and generalizable method. The proposed Random Forests classifier is used to model the coding unit and transform unit-splitting decision and the SKIP-mode prediction, as binary classification problems, taking advantage from the combination of online and offline approaches, which adapts better to the dynamic characteristics of video content. Experimental results show that, on average, the proposed approach reduces the computational complexity of HEVC by 62.64% for the random access (RA) profile and 54.57% for the low-delay (LD) main profile, with an increase in BD-Rate of 2.58% for RA and 2.97% for LD, respectively. These results outperform the previous works also using ensemble classifiers for the same purpose.

http://bit.ly/2UFURhd

A fast coding method for distortion-free data hiding in high dynamic range image

Abstract

Reversible data hiding (RDH) technique allows the original cover to be lossless restored after the secret message is extracted, and high dynamic range (HDR) images are becoming more and more popular. We found that the existing RDH schemes for HDR image will cause serious stream expansion, which means that the storage size of the cover HDR image will expand. Noticing that we proposed a fast coding method named reverse-Golomb code for message embedding in all-zero cover to reduce the number of the alteration of pixel's status, and thus reduce the stream expansion of cover HDR images. The experimental results show the superiority of our method.

http://bit.ly/2S8XdZt

Morphological and molecular characterization of a new species Myxobolus gutturocola n. sp. (Myxozoa: Myxobolidae) from the throat of Hypophthalmichthys molitrix in China

Abstract

Myxobolus gutturocola n. sp. was isolated from the throat of silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, in Chongqing, China. Myxospore valves are unsymmetrical and smooth. Mature spores are ellipsoidal in frontal view, measuring 12.5 ± 0.2 μm (n = 25) in length, 8.4 ± 0.2 μm (n = 25) in width and 7.1 ± 0.2 μm (n = 25) in thickness. Each spore has two pyriform and unequal sizes polar capsules, the large one with 5.7 ± 0.2 μm in length × 3.6 ± 0.2 μm in width and the small one with 4.6 ± 0.2 μm in length × 2.6 ± 0.1 μm in width. Polar filaments are coiled seven or eight turns in the large polar capsule and four or five turns in the small polar capsule. The coils are arranged almost perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the polar capsule. Morphological analysis revealed that M. gutturocola n. sp. is distinct from related species of Myxobolus Bütschli, 1882. Molecular analysis has demonstrated that its SSU rDNA sequences do not match with any available sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis of the SSU rDNA sequences indicated this species clustered in a clade composed exclusively of parasites infecting the fishes of the Leucisini lineage and most closely related to Myxobolus pavlovskii isolated from the gill filaments of silver carp in Hungary.

http://bit.ly/2t5ydDf