PRP4 Kinase Domain Loss Nullifies Drug Resistance and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells

Ahmed, Muhammad Bilal,Islam, Salman Ul,Sonn, Jong Kyung,Lee, Young Sup Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2020 Molecules and cells Vol.43 No.7

We have investigated the involvement of the pre-mRNA processing factor 4B (PRP4) kinase domain in mediating drug resistance. HCT116 cells were treated with curcumin, and apoptosis was assessed based on flow cytometry and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cells were then transfected with PRP4 or pre-mRNA-processing-splicing factor 8 (PRP8), and drug resistance was analyzed both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we deleted the kinase domain in PRP4 using Gateway™ technology. Curcumin induced cell death through the production of ROS and decreased the activation of survival signals, but PRP4 overexpression reversed the curcumin-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis. PRP8 failed to reverse the curcumin-induced apoptosis in the HCT116 colon cancer cell line. In xenograft mouse model experiments, curcumin effectively reduced tumour size whereas PRP4 conferred resistance to curcumin, which was evident from increasing tumour size, while PRP8 failed to regulate the curcumin action. PRP4 overexpression altered the morphology, rearranged the actin cytoskeleton, triggered epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and decreased the invasiveness of HCT116 cells. The loss of E-cadherin, a hallmark of EMT, was observed in HCT116 cells overexpressing PRP4. Moreover, we observed that the EMT-inducing potential of PRP4 was aborted after the deletion of its kinase domain. Collectively, our investigations suggest that the PRP4 kinase domain is responsible for promoting drug resistance to curcumin by inducing EMT. Further evaluation of PRP4-induced inhibition of cell death and PRP4 kinase domain interactions with various other proteins might lead to the development of novel approaches for overcoming drug resistance in patients with colon cancer.

A Study on Sintering Inhibition of La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO_3-_∂ Cathode Material for Cathode-Supported Fuel Cells

Ahmed, Bilal,Lee, Seung-Bok,Song, Rak-Hyun,Lee, Jong-Won,Lim, Tak-Hyoung,Park, Seok-Joo The Korean Ceramic Society 2016 한국세라믹학회지 Vol.53 No.5

In this work, the effects of different sintering inhibitors added to $La_{0.8}Sr_{0.2}MnO_{3-{\partial}}$ (LSM) were studied to obtain an optimum cathode material for cathode-supported type of Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in terms of phase stability, mechanical strength, electric conductivity and porosity. Four different sintering inhibitors of $Al_2O_3$, $CeO_2$, NiO and gadolinium doped ceria (GDC) were mixed with LSM powder, sintered at $1300^{\circ}C$ and then they were evaluated. The phase stability, sintering behavior, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength and microstructure were evaluated in order to assess the performance of the mixture powder as cathode support material. It has been found that the addition of $Al_2O_3$ undesirably decreased the electrical conductivity of LSM; other sintering inhibitors, however, showed sufficient levels of electrical conductivity. GDC and NiO addition showed a promising increase in mechanical strength of the LSM material, which is one of the basic requirements in cathode-supported designs of fuel cells. However, NiO showed a high reactivity with LSM during high temperature ($1300^{\circ}C$) sintering. So, this study concluded that GDC is a potential candidate for use as a sintering inhibitor for high temperature sintering of cathode materials.

Monocular Camera based Desk-Integrated Handwriting Digitizing System

Bilal Ahmed,Yong Yi Lee(이용이),Kwan H. Lee(이관행) (사)한국CDE학회 2015 한국 CAD/CAM 학회 학술발표회 논문집 Vol.2015 No.동계

Recently we have seen a lot of digitizing devices that digitize the handwriting in real time to a connected computer, mostly requiring special paper and propriety cameras or sensors embedded into the stylus or placed above the paper to recognize the characters being written, making it necessary to buy special equipment in order to use the gadget. We have developed an algorithm that only relies on a monocular camera, an ordinary pen and a sheet of paper to digitize whatever user is writing in real time. Using a camera we track the tip of the pen and based on its motion we generate the digitized image. After capturing a frame, we increase the contrast to find edges using canny edge detector. Then by applying the K-curvature algorithm on the extracted edges, pencil tip location can be found. A curve is drawn based on these locations. The algorithm works per frame and hence does not need any temporal information. Using such approach allows avoiding using any training or device calibration. This makes it fast and robust against any re-initializations. Using our method the extraction process is simplified into a simpler per-pixel operation hence improving the performance of the algorithm. The algorithm runs on consumer hardware at interactive rates.

Fusion of Kinect range images and leap motion data for immersive AR applications

Bilal Ahmed,Jae Doug Yoo,Yong Yi Lee,In Yeop Jang,Kwan H. Lee (사)한국CDE학회 2014 한국 CAD/CAM 학회 학술발표회 논문집 Vol.2014 No.2

We propose a method to quickly and accurately extract fingertips from a single Kinect depth image using an object recognition approach and to fuse the extracted information with the leap motion sensor provided output for the same object under observation. Kinect sensor output is jittery in nature and is not too reliable for precise tracking like fingers. Since leap motion provides accurate finger estimates, we can fuse two datasets and can use in many immersive AR applications. Using our method the extraction process can be simplified into a simpler per-pixel operation hence improving the performance of the algorithm. The algorithm can run on consumer hardware at interactive rates hence can be used in many immersive augmented reality applications. We avoid using training data sets and by this approach we can make it possible to run the algorithm with minimal computing effort. The algorithm is not temporal in nature so even if we lose track of our area of interest there is no need to reinitialize the procedure. We use per frame operations and it enhances the robustness of the proposed method. We aim to achieve state of the art accuracy targets only by using consumer hardware and hence contributing to a better use of publicly available depth sensors and other gaming consoles.

Simultaneous Equation Estimation in Finance and Corporate Financial Decision: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange

AHMED, Wahab,KHAN, Hadi Hassan,RAUF, Abdul,ULHAQ, SM Nabeel,BANO, Safia,SARWAR, Bilal,HUDA, Shams ul,KHAN, Mirwaise,WALI, Ahmed,DURRANI, Maryam Najeeb Korea Distribution Science Association 2021 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.8 No.3

In the last few years, there is growing interest in the field of simultaneous equation estimation in finance due to the endogeneity problem caused by measurement errors, simultaneity, or omitted variables. This study aims to discuss the endogeneity problem in corporate financing decisions and investigate the interrelationship of financial decision-making such as investment decision, dividend decision, and external financing decision in Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) using two-stage least squares (2SLS) and generalized method of moment (GMM) estimation. The Bruech-Pagan test shows that the data has no heteroskedasticity issue and 2SLS is a better approach in the context of this study as compared to the GMM approach, and internal instruments are also sufficiently strong and valid. The three financial decision-making attributes are not jointly determined, and the dividend is influenced by one-sided investment. In the emerging stock market context, external financing and investment are not inter-related and did not affect each other. The question of whether the simultaneous equation estimation can be useful in the context of the emerging stock markets and newly-growing firms remains unanswered. The inclusive evidence shows that the theoretical link in the emerging stock market is difficult to prove like in developed stock markets.

Enhancing Depth maps from Microsoft Kinect using multiple Sensors

Bilal Ahmed,In Yeop Jang,Jae Doug Yoo,Kwan H. Lee (사)한국CDE학회 2013 한국CAD/CAM학회 국제학술발표 논문집 Vol.2010 No.8

During recent years a new type of depth sensors was made available in the market known as Microsoft Kinect Sensor. Its active sensing technology is well suited for applications that may require higher frame rates. However, it can totally fail in situations where the subject absorbs or reflects the infrared pattern casted by the sensor i.e. specular or transparent and near or far away objects. Kinect depth output contains holes in areas where these objects exist. In this paper we formulate a framework to overcome this shortcoming. We utilized two Kinect sensors placed to have a different viewing angle in coordination with two Kinect RGB cameras forming a stereo pair. As Kinect provides information about unreliable depths, therefore enhancements were performed selectively only in those areas where necessary. In this way, two separately placed depth sensors are able to offer some enhancements due to their different viewing angles. In addition, we first align depth images and look for the areas that still require enhancements. Thus, those areas can be improved using stereo matching. Using adaptive algorithms for stereo matching provides us with faster possibilities to come up with a better depth map.

Magnetic Characteristics of Biological Fluid in Nonlinear Thermally Radiated Blood Flow

Bilal Ahmed,Sami Ullah Khan,M. Ijaz Khan,Soumaya Gouadria,Abdul H. Hamid,Mehreen Yousaf,M. Y. Malik 한국자기학회 2022 Journal of Magnetics Vol.27 No.1

The numerical solution of the flow non-Newtonian fluid induced by stretching sheet in the region of oblique stagnation point flow under inducement of externally applied uniform magnetic field orthogonal to the flow is presented. The analysis is made under the assumption of boundary layer which arrives to the system of partial differential equations which are then transformed to ordinary differential equations by using appropriate similarity transformations. The numerical solution of the modeled system of equation is obtained by parallel shooting technique and presented for different variations of involved parameters. It is noted that enhancement in magnetic field results in decrease in horizontal velocity and boundary layer becomes thinner. The obtained results are compared with the available results in the literature and found in excellent agreement in the limiting cases.

Regional Precipitation Variability Associated with Zonal Movement of Indian Ocean High Pressure System

Bilal Ahmed Usmani,Saqib-Ur-Rehman,Syed Adnan Hussain,Kamran Khan,Atia Elahi 한국기상학회 2019 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.55 No.4

Several studies have linked ongoing austral winter drying conditions in southwest Western Australia (SWWA) to changes in regional and large scale sea level pressure. As the region bounded by SWWA occupies limited observation of a typical global climate model (GCM), it is not easy to infer the influence of global climate change during the drought inSWWA. In this study, we explore the relationships between early winter (May-Aug) rainfall in Kent river catchment (KRC), Southwestern Australia and Indian Ocean High Pressure system.We construct two objective indices of Indian Ocean High Pressure system (IOHPS), viz., (i) the intensity of Indian Ocean High Pressure (IOHP) and, (ii) the Indian Ocean High Longitude (IOHLN) using National Center of Environmental Prediction mean sea-level pressure (MSLP) reanalysis data. The station data of seasonal rainfall is obtained from Australian Bureau of Meteorology. A representative rainfall index for the KRC was built by averaging the seasonal rainfall three major stations for the period of 1951–2016. Significant inverse relationship is found between early wintertime precipitation in KRC, Southwestern Australia and the IOHP and IOHLN. The IOHPS accounts for more of the early winter (May–August) precipitation variation in KRC than the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Southern Annular mode (SAM) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Our significant findings suggest that strengthening of IOHP and zonal movement of IOHPS has a major contribution in decline of early winter precipitation in KRC.

A simple method for making large panoramic displays using multiple projectors

Bilal Ahmed,Yong Hwi Kim(김용휘),Kwan H. Lee(이관행) (사)한국CDE학회 2016 한국 CAD/CAM 학회 학술발표회 논문집 Vol.2016 No.동계

Making large panoramic displays using multiple projectors has been a topic of sheer interest since decades. Most of the proposed approaches are very complex to implement and the result is an extensive explanation of projector-camera relationships. We propose a simple approach for calibrating and rendering a seamless rectangular image on a planar surface. Our method is based on describing the projection on a planar surface as perspective projections and then describing the projector to projector relationships using homographs. We use a single fixed camera that automatically computes the relative pose between the projectors. We explain the automatic calibration of full system to achieve the perfect registration and color intensity blending at the overlapping areas of the projection. Our method does not need a pre-calibrated camera or projectors and can efficiently warp the images so they can be displayed appropriately. Once warping is done, image intensity blending is carried out efficiently using intensity varying masks. Our results show acceptable quality along the overlapping edge with providing high resolutions at interactive rates.

Analytical Study on Effects of Substrate Properties on the Performance of Microstrip Patch Antenna

Bilal Ahmed,Ilyas Saleem,H. Zahra,Hunaina Khurshid,S. Muzahir Abbas 보안공학연구지원센터 2012 International Journal of Future Generation Communi Vol.5 No.4