Lung cancer remains the main leading cancer-related cause of death in the world. For early-stage tumor, surgery stands out as the best curative option offering the greatest chance for cure. Despite improvement of per- and postoperative management, surgery continues to carry a high morbidity with a significant mortality. Among postoperative complications, respiratory failures (nosocomial pneumon...

Voltage- and calcium-dependent BK channels regulate calcium-dependent cellular events such as neurotransmitter release by limiting calcium influx. Their plasma membrane abundance is an important factor in determining BK current and thus regulation of calcium-dependent events. In C. elegans, we show that ERG-28, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein, promotes the trafficking of SLO-1 BK...

Speech signal processing and other man-machine interaction technologies have been developed for improved child-computer interaction for education, entertainment, as well as other applications [1, 2]. However, for very young children (in the age range of 0 to 4 years old, and especially 0 to 2), such interaction is not encouraged [3, 4]. Instead, parent-child interaction is highly recommended [3...

Osteoporosis is characterised by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture.1 Osteoporosis is more common in older people, and complications of fragility fractures are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although there was a slight decline in the age-specific incidence of hip fracture f...

Although nervous systems are largely bilaterally symmetric on a structural level, they display striking degrees of functional left/right (L/R) asymmetry. In Caenorhabditis elegans, two structurally symmetric pairs of sensory neurons, ASE and AWC, display two distinctly controlled types of functional L/R asymmetries (stereotyped versus stochastic asymmetry). Beyond these two cases, the extent of...

Caenorhabditis elegans explores its environment by interrupting its forward movement with occasional turns and reversals. Turns and reversals occur at stable frequencies but irregular intervals, producing probabilistic exploratory behaviors. Here we dissect the roles of individual sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in exploratory behaviors under different conditions. After animals...

A parallel algorithm for solving distributed constraint networks (DCNs) is presented. The DCNs are composed of agents, each holding a local network of constraints, where all agents are connected by constraints. The parallel backtracking algorithm (PBT) initiates multiple search processes (SPs) that operate in parallel. Parallel search processes scan different parts of the search tree, each repr...

Spatial variation and temporal changes in ground subsidence over the Nobi Plain, Central Japan, are assessed using GIS techniques and ground level measurements data taken over this area since the 1970s. Notwithstanding the general slowing trend observed in ground subsidence over the plains, we have detected ground rise at some locations, more likely due to the ground expansion because of recove...

Objective Electronic medical records (EMR) are increasingly utilized in clinical practice and research, allowing for more efficient availability of rich patient records. However, most use of EMR is limited to coded, structured, administrative data, while the vast majority of patient information (e.g. disease subtype, severity, medical device usage, etc.) is tied up in narrative clinical notes. ...