A Novel Reversible Data Hiding Scheme for VQ-Compressed Images Using Index Set Construction Strategy

( Chuan Qin ),( Chin-chen Chang ),( Yen-chang Chen ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2013 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.7 No.8

In this paper, we propose a novel reversible data hiding scheme in the index tables of the vector quantization (VQ) compressed images based on index set construction strategy. On the sender side, three index sets are constructed, in which the first set and the second set include the indices with greater and less occurrence numbers in the given VQ index table, respectively. The index values in the index table belonging to the second set are added with prefixes from the third set to eliminate the collision with the two derived mapping sets of the first set, and this operation of adding prefixes has data hiding capability additionally. The main data embedding procedure can be achieved easily by mapping the index values in the first set to the corresponding values in the two derived mapping sets. The same three index sets reconstructed on the receiver side ensure the correctness of secret data extraction and the lossless recovery of index table. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Effective Fragile Watermarking for Image Authentication with High-quality Recovery Capability

( Chuan Qin ),( Chin-chen Chang ),( Tai-jung Hsu ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2013 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.7 No.11

In this paper, we propose an effective fragile image watermarking scheme for tampering detection and content recovery. Cover image is divided into a series of non-overlapping blocks and a block mapping relationship is constructed by the secret key. Several DCT coefficients with direct current and lower frequencies of the MSBs for each block are used to generate the reference bits, and different coefficients are assigned with different bit numbers for representation according to their importance. To enhance recovery performance, authentication bits are generated by the MSBs and the reference bits, respectively. After LSB substitution hiding, the embedded watermark bits in each block consist of the information of itself and its mapping blocks. On the receiver side, all blocks with tampered MSBs can be detected and recovered using the valid extracted reference bits. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

The potential neuritogenic activity of aqueous extracts from Morchella importuna in rat pheochromocytoma cells

Chuan Xiong,Qiang Luo,Wenli Huang,Qiang Li,Cheng Chen,Zu-Qin Chen,Zhirong Yang 한국식품과학회 2017 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.26 No.6

The aim of this study was to explore the neuritogenic effects of aqueous extracts from the fruiting bodies of Morchella importuna (MEA). 3-(4, 5-dimethythiazol-2- yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was carried out to assess the cytotoxicity of MEA. Neurite outgrowth stimulation assay was used to evaluate the potentiation of neuritogenic activity induced by MEA. The specific inhibitors for TrkA, MEK/ERK and PI3K signaling pathway were served to clarify the mechanism of MEA’s neuritogenic effects. It was shown that MEA could mimic neuritogenic activity of NGF, a kind of representative neurotrophic factors with no significant cytotoxicity, and stimulate neurite outgrowth in a dose-dependent manner of PC12 cells. The neuritogenic activity induced by MEA required activity of PI3K/Akt and MEK/ERK1/2 signaling pathways, as well as parts of TrkA receptor. Accordingly, MEA could be used as a promising neuritogenic-stimulation compound for nervous diseases treatment.

Fracture property of steel fiber reinforced concrete at early age

Chuan-Qing Fu,Qin-yong Ma,Xianyu Jin,A.A. Shah,Ye Tian 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2014 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.13 No.1

This research is focused on obtaining the fracture property of steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) specimens at early ages of 1, 2, 3 and 7-day, respectively. For this purpose, three point bending tests of nine groups of SFRC beams with notch of 40mm depth and different steel fiber ratios were conducted. The experimental results of early age specimens were compared with the 28-day hardened SFRC specimens. The test results indicated that the steel fiber ratios and curing age significantly influenced the fracture properties of SFRC. A reasonable addition of steel fiber improved the fracture toughness of SFRC, while the fracture energy of SFRC developed with curing age. Moreover, a quadratic relationship between splitting strength and fracture toughness was established based on the experiment results. Additionally, afinite element (FE) method was used to investigate the fracture properties of SFRC.A comparison between the FE analysis and experiment results was also made. The numerical analysis fitted well with the test results, and further details on the failure behaviors of SFRC could be revealed by the suggested numerical simulation method.

Modulatory Potential of LncRNA Zfas1 for Inflammation and Neuronal Apoptosis in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Chuan He,Caixia Su,Wentong Zhang,Qin Zhou,Xu Shen,Junjie Yang,Naixian Shi 연세대학교의과대학 2021 Yonsei medical journal Vol.62 No.3

Purpose: This study aimed to elucidate whether lncRNA ZFAS1 is involved in neuronal apoptosis and inflammation in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Materials and Methods: Ninety-six TLE patients were recruited, and their peripheral venous blood was gathered to determine Zfas1 expression with polymerase chain reaction. Neurons were separated from hippocampal tissue of newborn SD rats, and siZfas1 or pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 was transfected into the neurons. Inflammatory cytokines released by neurons were determined, and neuronal activities were evaluated through MTT assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. Results: Serum levels of Zfas1 were higher in TLE patients than in healthy controls (p<0.05). Furthermore, Zfas1 expression in neurons was raised by pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 and declined after silencing of Zfas1 (p<0.05). Transfection of pcDNA-Zfas1 weakened the viability and proliferation of neurons and increased neuronal apoptosis (p<0.05). Meanwhile, pcDNA3.1-Zfas1 transfection promoted lipopolysaccharide-induced release of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (p<0.05), and boosted NF-κB activation by elevating the expression of NF-κB p65, pIκBα, and IKKβ in neurons (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results indicated that lncRNA ZFAS1 exacerbates epilepsy development by promoting neuronal apoptosis and inflammation, implying ZFAS1 as a promising treatment target for epilepsy.

Effects of Doctor-patient Communication on Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Patients in Southern China

Zhou, Qin,Shen, Ji-Chuan,Liu, Ying-Zhi,Lin, Guo-Zhen,Dong, Hang,Li, Ke Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.14

Objective: This study aimed to determine effects of doctor-patient communication on the quality of life among breast cancer survivors in 16 communities in southern China. Methods: Multistage random sampling was to use to recruit 260 females from the Guangzhou Cancer Registry Database who were diagnosed with breast cancer. A questionnaire provided data on the doctor-patient communication (including the doctor's attitude, the patient's participation with the medical decision and information about the disease) and QOL (quality of life), as measured using FACT-B. Univariate analysis, non-conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the associations between the doctor-patient communication and QOL. Results: Females who received good attitudes from doctors demonstrated higher FACT-B (OR=4.65, 95% CI: 1.68-12.86), social well-being (OR=5.88, 95% CI: 2.16-16.05), emotional well-being (OR=4.77, 95% CI: 1.92-11.88), and functional well-being ((OR=5.26, 95% CI: 1.90-14.52) compared to the females who encountered worse attitudes from their doctor, adjusting for age, education, marriage, employment, family income, years since diagnosis, TNM stage, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and side effects, particularly when the TNM stage was 0-II and the patients exhibited no side effects. Regardless of the length of time after diagnosis, doctors' good attitudes resulted in higher QOL scores. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the doctor-patient communication has a significant association with the QOL of breast cancer survivors, mainly dependent on the doctors' attitude. Effective intervention is required to develop optimal doctor-patient communication.

Bioinformatic Prediction of SNPs within miRNA Binding Sites of Inflammatory Genes Associated with Gastric Cancer

Song, Chuan-Qing,Zhang, Jun-Hui,Shi, Jia-Chen,Cao, Xiao-Qin,Song, Chun-Hua,Hassan, Adil,Wang, Peng,Dai, Li-Ping,Zhang, Jian-Ying,Wang, Kai-Juan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.2

Polymorphisms in miRNA binding sites have been shown to affect miRNA binding to target genes, resulting in differential mRNA and protein expression and susceptibility to common diseases. Our purpose was to predict SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) within miRNA binding sites of inflammatory genes in relation to gastric cancer. A complete list of SNPs in the 3'UTR regions of all inflammatory genes associated with gastric cancer was obtained from Pubmed. miRNA target prediction databases (MirSNP, Targetscan Human 6.2, PolymiRTS 3.0, miRNASNP 2.0, and Patrocles) were used to predict miRNA target sites. There were 99 SNPs with MAF>0.05 within the miRNA binding sites of 41 genes among 72 inflammation-related genes associated with gastric cancer. NF-${\kappa}B$ and JAK-STAT are the two most important signaling pathways. 47 SNPs of 25 genes with 95 miRNAs were predicted. CCL2 and IL1F5 were found to be the shared target genes of hsa-miRNA-624-3p. Bioinformatic methods could identify a set of SNPs within miRNA binding sites of inflammatory genes, and provide data and direction for subsequent functional verification research.

Study on the Flavor Contribution of Phospholipids and Triglycerides to Pork

Ye-Chuan Huang,Hong-Jun Li,Zhi-Fei He,Ting Wang,Gang Qin 한국식품과학회 2010 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.19 No.5

For investigating the flavor contribution of phospholipids and triglycerides to pork, the longissimus muscle of Rongchang (RC) and PIC (bred by PIC Company of England) pig were selectively removed of intramuscular triglycerides or total intramuscular lipids. After cooking, the flavor of different samples was compared by sensory evaluation, gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS), and electronic nose. The results showed that removing triglycerides had little effect on the aroma of the cooked meat, but when total intramuscular lipids were removed a remarkable difference was observed. The control samples covaried strongly with some lipid-derived products, and the petroleum ether defatted samples also positively related to these compounds,but to a lesser extent, both of them negatively covaried with chloroform-methanol extracted samples which associated with some Maillard reaction products. Moreover the flavor difference between 2 breeds would decrease when triglycerides were removed, and reduce further when phospholipids and triglycerides were removed simultaneously. These results suggested that intramuscular lipids especially phospholipids contributed significantly to pork flavor, the flavor difference between 2 breeds resulted mainly from different intramuscular lipids content and composition.

Fixed point theorem in probabilistic inner product spaces and its applications

Huang Xiao-Qin,Zhu Chuan-Xi,Liu Xiao-Jie 한국전산응용수학회 2005 Journal of applied mathematics & informatics Vol.19 No.1-2

In this paper, we obtain a new fixed point theorem in complete probabilistic -inner product space. As an example of applications, we utilize the results of this paper to study the existence and uniqueness of solutions for linear Valterra integral equation.

A Dynamic Hand Gesture Recognition System Incorporating Orientation-based Linear Extrapolation Predictor and Velocity-assisted Longest Common Subsequence Algorithm

( Min Yuan ),( Heng Yao ),( Chuan Qin ),( Ying Tian ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2017 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.11 No.9

The present paper proposes a novel dynamic system for hand gesture recognition. The approach involved is comprised of three main steps: detection, tracking and recognition. First, the gesture contour captured by a 2D-camera is detected by combining the three-frame difference method and skin-color elliptic boundary model. Then, the trajectory of the hand gesture is extracted via a gesture-tracking algorithm based on an occlusion-direction oriented linear extrapolation predictor, where the gesture coordinate in next frame is predicted by the judgment of current occlusion direction. Finally, to overcome the interference of insignificant trajectory segments, the longest common subsequence (LCS) is employed with the aid of velocity information. Besides, to tackle the subgesture problem, i.e., some gestures may also be a part of others, the most probable gesture category is identified through comparison of the relative LCS length of each gesture, i.e., the proportion between the LCS length and the total length of each template, rather than the length of LCS for each gesture. The gesture dataset for system performance test contains digits ranged from 0 to 9, and experimental results demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach.