среда, 8 августа 2012 г.

Games

Games

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 9877-9892: Wogonin Induces Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Cell Apoptosis in Human Glioma Cancer Cells

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Glioma is the most common primary adult brain tumor with poor prognosis because of the ease of spreading tumor cells to other regions of the brain. Cell apoptosis is frequently targeted for developing anti-cancer drugs. In the present study, we have assessed wogonin, a flavonoid compound isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, induced ROS generation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and cell apoptosis. Wogonin induced cell death in two different human glioma cells, such as U251 and U87 cells but not in human primary astrocytes (IC 50 > 100 μM). Wogonin-induced apoptotic cell death in glioma cells was measured by propidine iodine (PI) analysis, Tunnel assay and Annexin V staining methods. Furthermore, wogonin also induced caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation as well as up-regulation of cleaved PARP expression. Moreover, treatment of wogonin also increased a number of signature ER stress markers glucose-regulated protein (GRP)-78, GRP-94, Calpain I, and phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor-2α (eIF2α). Treatment of human glioma cells with wogonin was found to induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Wogonin induced ER stress-related protein expression and cell apoptosis was reduced by the ROS inhibitors apocynin and NAC (N-acetylcysteine). The present study provides evidence to support the fact that wogonin induces human glioma cell apoptosis mediated ROS generation, ER stress activation and cell apoptosis.

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 9864-9876: Acute Effect of Ghrelin on Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in the Rat Spinal Cord

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Ghrelin, a 28-amino acid peptide, is mainly secreted by the stomach. Ghrelin has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. However, whether ghrelin protects the spinal cord from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. To investigate this, 60 rats were randomly divided into three different groups: the sham group (n = 20), the vehicle group (n = 20), and the Ghrelin group (100 µg/kg, n = 20). Rats were sacrificed 12, 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia. After the evaluation of neurologic function (48 h), the spinal cords were immediately removed for the determination of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (12–72 h). Apoptosis was quantitatively measured using the terminal transferase UTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method (24 h). The expression of bax and bcl-2 were evaluated by Western blot analysis (1 h), and GHSR-1a mRNA expression was detected using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (24 h). The neurological motor function was evaluated by 'Tarlov's score'. The neurologic outcomes in the ghrelin-group were significantly better than those in the vehicle group (p < 0.05). Serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels were assessed in the peripheral venous blood. Ghrelin decreased the serum TNF-α levels and ameliorated the down regulation of spinal cord MPO activity. The expression of ghrelin receptors (GHSR-1a) in the rat spinal cord was decreased by I/R injury and increased by ghrelin. Ghrelin reduced the TUNEL-positive rate. Greater bcl-2, HSP27, HSP70, and attenuated bax expression were observed in the ghrelin-treated rats. Our results suggest that ghrelin administration may inhibit spinal I/R injury. Moreover, the improvement of neurologic function in rats was increased after the ghrelin treatment.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9489-9495: Computerized Modeling of Adenosine Triphosphate, Adenosine Triarsenate and Adenosine Trivanadate

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Computerized molecular models of adenosine triphosphate, adenosine tri-arsenate and adenosine trivanadate have been generated using the molecular mechanics technique. The analysis of structural parameters indicated that, at least theoretically, adenosine triarsenate is a realistic candidate for replacement of adenosine triphosphate in biochemical pathways. On the contrary, the structural arrangement of the inorganic segment of adenosine trivanadate does not seem to be capable of withstanding a swift hydrolytical splitting in aqueous milieu. It was shown that the universal force field as implemented in Gaussian software packages is an appropriate tool for the optimization of less-common bioactive compositions.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9476-9488: Preservation of Bacillus firmus Strain 37 and Optimization of Cyclodextrin Biosynthesis by Cells Immobilized on Loofa Sponge

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

The preservation of Bacillus firmus strain 37 cells by lyophilization was evaluated and response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) production by cells immobilized on loofa sponge. Interactions were studied with the variables temperature, pH and dextrin concentration using a central composite design (CCD). Immobilization time influence on β-CD production was also investigated. B. firmus strain 37 cells remained viable after one year of storage, showing that the lyophilization is a suitable method for preservation of the microorganism. From the three-dimensional diagrams and contour plots, the best conditions for β-CD production were determined: temperature 60 °C, pH 8, and 18% dextrin. Considering that the amount of dextrin was high, a new assay was carried out, in which dextrin concentrations of 10, 15, and 18% were tested and the temperature of 60 °C and pH 8 were maintained. The results achieved showed very small differences and therefore, for economic reasons, the use of 10% dextrin is suggested. Increasing the immobilization time of cells immobilized on synthetic sponge the β-CD production decreased and did not change for cells immobilized on loofa sponge. The results of this research are important for microorganism preservation and essential in the optimization of the biosynthesis of CD.

Microarrays, Vol. 1, Pages 95-106: Development and Optimization of a Thrombin Sandwich Aptamer Microarray

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

A sandwich microarray employing two distinct aptamers for human thrombin has been optimized for the detection of subnanomolar concentrations of the protein. The aptamer microarray demonstrates high specificity for thrombin, proving that a two-site binding assay with the TBA1 aptamer as capture layer and the TBA2 aptamer as detection layer can ensure great specificity at times and conditions compatible with standard routine analysis of biological samples. Aptamer microarray sensitivity was evaluated directly by fluorescent analysis employing Cy5-labeled TBA2 and indirectly by the use of TBA2-biotin followed by detection with fluorescent streptavidin. Sub-nanomolar LODs were reached in all cases and in the presence of serum, demonstrating that the optimized aptamer microarray can identify thrombin by a low-cost, sensitive and specific method.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9469-9475: Demethylzeylasteral Exhibits Strong Inhibition towards UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A6 and 2B7

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Inhibition of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) isoforms can result in severe clinical results, including clinical drug-drug interactions (DDI) and metabolic disorders of endogenous substances. The present study aims to investigate the inhibition of demethylzeylasteral (an important active component isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F.) towards three important UGT isoforms UGT1A6, UGT1A9 and UGT2B7. The results showed that 100 μM of demethylzeylasteral exhibited strong inhibition towards UGT1A6 and UGT2B7, with negligible influence towards UGT1A9. Furthermore, Dixon and Lineweaver-Burk plots showed the inhibition of UGT1A6 and UGT2B7 by demethylzeylasteral was best fit to competitive inhibition, and the inhibition kinetic parameters (Ki) were calculated to be 0.6 μM and 17.3 μM for UGT1A6 and UGT2B7, respectively. This kind of inhibitory effect need much attention when demethylzeylasteral and demethylzeyasteral-containing herbs (e.g., Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F.) were co-administered with the drugs mainly undergoing UGT1A6, UGT2B7-catalyzed metabolism. However, when extrapolating the in vivo clinical results using our present in vitro data, many complex factors might affect final results, including the contribution of UGT1A6 and UGT2B7 to the metabolism of compounds, and the herbal or patients' factors affecting the in vivo concentration of demethylzeylasteral.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 9462-9468: Effect of Acute and Fractionated Irradiation on Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Ionizing radiation has become an inevitable health concern emanating from natural sources like space travel and from artificial sources like medical therapies. In general, exposure to ionizing radiation such as γ-rays is one of the methods currently used to stress specific model systems. In this study, we elucidated the long-term effect of acute and fractionated irradiation on DCX-positive cells in hippocampal neurogenesis. Groups of two-month-old C57BL/6 female mice were exposed to whole-body irradiation at acute dose (5 Gy) or fractional doses (1 Gy × 5 times and 0.5 Gy × 10 times). Six months after exposure to γ-irradiation, the hippocampus was analyzed. Doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry was used to measure changes of neurogenesis in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). The number of DCX-positive cells was significantly decreased in all acute and fractionally irradiation groups. The long-term changes in DCX-positive cells triggered by radiation exposure showed a very different pattern to the short-term changes which tended to return to the control level in previous studies. Furthermore, the number of DCX-positive cells was relatively lower in the acute irradiation group than the fractional irradiation groups (approximately 3.6-fold), suggesting the biological change on hippocampal neurogenesis was more susceptible to being damaged by acute than fractional irradiation. These results suggest that the exposure to γ-irradiation as a long-term effect can trigger biological responses resulting in the inhibition of hippocampal neurogenesis.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 11013-11060: Fully Integrated Biochip Platforms for Advanced Healthcare

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Recent advances in microelectronics and biosensors are enabling developments of innovative biochips for advanced healthcare by providing fully integrated platforms for continuous monitoring of a large set of human disease biomarkers. Continuous monitoring of several human metabolites can be addressed by using fully integrated and minimally invasive devices located in the sub-cutis, typically in the peritoneal region. This extends the techniques of continuous monitoring of glucose currently being pursued with diabetic patients. However, several issues have to be considered in order to succeed in developing fully integrated and minimally invasive implantable devices. These innovative devices require a high-degree of integration, minimal invasive surgery, long-term biocompatibility, security and privacy in data transmission, high reliability, high reproducibility, high specificity, low detection limit and high sensitivity. Recent advances in the field have already proposed possible solutions for several of these issues. The aim of the present paper is to present a broad spectrum of recent results and to propose future directions of development in order to obtain fully implantable systems for the continuous monitoring of the human metabolism in advanced healthcare applications.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10990-11012: A Comparison between Metaheuristics as Strategies for Minimizing Cyclic Instability in Ambient Intelligence

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In this paper we present a comparison between six novel approaches to the fundamental problem of cyclic instability in Ambient Intelligence. These approaches are based on different optimization algorithms, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Bee Swarm Optimization (BSO), micro Particle Swarm Optimization ( μ-PSO), Artificial Immune System (AIS), Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Mutual Information Maximization for Input Clustering (MIMIC). In order to be able to use these algorithms, we introduced the concept of Average Cumulative Oscillation (ACO), which enabled us to measure the average behavior of the system. This approach has the advantage that it does not need to analyze the topological properties of the system, in particular the loops, which can be computationally expensive. In order to test these algorithms we used the well-known discrete system called the Game of Life for 9, 25, 49 and 289 agents. It was found that PSO and μ-PSO have the best performance in terms of the number of agents locked. These results were confirmed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. This novel and successful approach is very promising and can be used to remove instabilities in real scenarios with a large number of agents (including nomadic agents) and complex interactions and dependencies among them.

Bomb Peng

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 03:19 AM PDT

In this bomb game you have to make sure that you will let the enemy fall down of the platform. Do this by planting bombs on the right spots.

Another made man - Marty Angelina - to plead guilty

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 02:30 AM PDT

The "made" member of the Philadelphia Mafia who got pinched in last year's roundup of reputed boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his top lieutenants has had a change of heart.

Know Death - Darksiders II UK Trailer

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 02:18 AM PDT

Get to know Death in the final Darksiders II gameplay trailer before it launches on August 14th, 2012.

 

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Know Death - Darksiders II UK Trailer" was posted by sarahl on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 02:18:09 -0700

Grid 2: Street Racing For The COD Addicted

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Codemasters is aiming to make more than just a great street racer: it wants to rule your online gaming world too.

Racing, as a genre, has been declared dead by many. Or, if not dead, then at least bloodily beaten; forced into a vicious retirement at the brutal hands of the first-person-shooter and the relentless name-calling of the free-to-play MMO. And I too have been guilty of such talk. But why? The genre has had its fair share of great games over the years. There have been sims like Forza and F1, arcade smashers like Burnout and Dirt Showdown, and sometimes even something completely batshit-crazy, like Motorstorm Apocalypse.

It's a troubling development. If a string of great, thoroughly enjoyable games can't inspire confidence in a genre then what can? The answer came as Codemasters unveiled Grid 2. And it wasn't the visuals, stunning as they were. Nor was it the handling, being primed for simulation, yet friendly to beginners. No, the answer came from an understanding of what it means to be a great game in a world filled with CODs and Warcrafts: competitive, compelling, and vengeance-led online play.

It dawned on me that of all the racing games I've played over the years, few have been compelling enough to keep me on the track. Bizarre Creations' tragically short-lived Blur came close to capturing that harsh, competitive spirit online--if only more had bought into its charms. But here was a developer, a big one, acknowledging that its biggest rivals weren't other racing games, but those fantastically addictive online epics that keep us glued to our screens more than any racer could ever hope to.

After four long years, Grid returns not just as fast-paced street racer, but as an online experience that hopes to rank among the very best that gaming has to offer. The multiplayer isn't just an extension of the single-player, say Codemasters, but an entirely separate entity created to keep players locked behind the wheel. Rivalries will be nurtured, race types will be bent to the wills of players, and a progression system will ensure that everyone starts on a level playing field--none of your single-player progress is taken into account online.

And it stretches beyond the confines of your console. Racenet--Codemasters' web-based profile system--will let you access your account, send challenges, and chase up those rivalries wherever you are. There are even mobile apps for devices like the iPhone and iPad in development too. And for those who prefer to face their rivals face-to-face, yes, there will be split-screen.

It's an ambitious undertaking, but one that's backed up by some similarly ambitious work in Grid 2's underlying technology. The handling, dubbed True Feel, aims to mix the ultimate in car feel and realism with the ability for newcomers to get a car around the track with ease--and all without using any driver aids whatsoever. It's done, say Codemasters, by first creating realistic simulations of vehicles with the help of pro-racing drivers. And then the vehicles are scaled back, the edges smoothed off, while leaving unique characteristics like under-steer and over-steer intact.

It results in a handling that makes each car feel unique, but somehow manageable. In two separate races I could feel the differences in the cars, the ferocious grunt of a Ford Mustang as it spat its way across a rocky mountain road standing in stark contrast to the smooth, vice-like handling of a McLaren Mercedes. And yet, each time, I could get the car around the track. Not with total ease, mind, but well enough to register to a time, provided I didn't try to hammer it around each and every corner.

When I did, I inevitably crashed, and crashed hard. The damage modeling is severe, with pieces of bodywork flying haphazardly across the circuit with each and every bash of the barriers and scrape against competitors. It was beautiful to look at, in a sadistic kind of way, and was helped along by gratuitous use of bounce lighting, motion blur, and cinematic style bokeh, all rendered smoothly by an updated version of the Ego engine.

Vehicles weren't the only things to benefit from the visual overhaul, with the circuits themselves looking like they'd been pulled from the frames of the world's best photographers. Sunlight crept through the spaces between the tall city streets of Chicago, reflecting off the vast glass panels of buildings and lighting the roads. The cliff-tops of the California coast gave way to breathtaking views of the ocean, which whooshed past as my Ford grunted through the tree-lined roads.

The final game promises circuits located over three continents--the USA, Europe, and Asia--as well as numerous cars, which include the BMW E30 M3, Nissan R34 Skyline, and the majestic Pagani Huayra. But according to Codemasters, Grid 2 is not a numbers game. Cars and circuits have been hand-picked to showcase the very best that motor racing has to offer, while there are just three select modes--Street Racing, Road Racing, and Track Racing.

All will be available online and in single-player, which promises to be something special. There will be your traditional XP-based progression, but rather than just feel the effects of it in an upgraded car, or even a brand new one, the environment of the game itself will change. Your home garage will become more extravagant, gaining fancier toys and even fancier lighting. The tracks, initially empty, gradually get filled with spectators, each cheering you and your competitors onto victory. And your car, a blank slate of metal, becomes a mobile advertising board as companies begin to recognize your success.

That's just scratching the surface when it comes to Grid 2. It's littered with smaller tweaks, ranging from improved Flashback to more intelligent driver AI. After four long years, and after a string of hit racing games, it comes as no surprise that Grid 2 is on its way to equaling, if not eclipsing Codemasters' already stellar work. But I couldn't help but ask Producer Clive Moody why, only now, after all this time is the game finally on its way? "Our ambition outstripped the technology", he said. An audacious answer perhaps, but after what I've seen of Grid 2, I can't help but believe it.

Grid 2 is due for release next summer on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Grid 2: Street Racing For The COD Addicted" was posted by Mark Walton on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700

GRID 2 Screens

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

8 new shots posted.

     

Get the full article at GameSpot

"GRID 2 Screens" was posted on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Race Returns - GRID 2 Announcement Trailer

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Codemasters is set to return to the streets next year with GRID 2.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"The Race Returns - GRID 2 Announcement Trailer" was posted by sarahl on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Vortex Wars 2

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 02:49 AM PDT

Second installment of popular turn-based strategy game. Even more content, player�s rating and social features. Pick one of many races and play ..

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10980-10989: Use of a Combined SpO2/PtcCO2 Sensor in the Delivery Room

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and partial arterial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) are important respiratory parameters in critically ill neonates. A sensor combining a pulse oximeter with the Stow-Severinghaus electrode, required for the measurement of peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PtcCO2), respectively, has been recently used in neonatal clinical practice (TOSCA500ÒRadiometer). We evaluated TOSCA usability and reliability in the delivery room (DR), throughout three different periods, on term, late-preterm, and preterm neonates. During the first period (period A), 30 healthy term neonates were simultaneously monitored with both TOSCA and a MASIMO pulse oximeter. During the second period (period B), 10 healthy late-preterm neonates were monitored with both TOSCA and a transcutaneous device measuring PtcCO2 (TINAÒ TCM3, Radiometer). During the third period (period C), 15 preterm neonates were monitored with TOSCA and MASIMO after birth, during stabilization, and during transport to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Blood gas analyses were performed to compare transcutaneous and blood gas values. TOSCA resulted easily and safely usable in the DR, allowing reliable noninvasive SaO2 estimation. Since PtcCO2 measurements with TOSCA required at least 10 min to be stable and reliable, this parameter was not useful during the early resuscitation immediately after birth. Moreover, PtcCO2 levels were less precise if compared to the conventional transcutaneous monitoring. However, PtcCO2 measurement by TOSCA was useful as trend-monitoring after stabilization and during transport to NICU.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10964-10979: The Combined Application of Impinger System and Permeation Tube for the Generation of Volatile Organic Compound Standard Gas Mixtures at Varying Diluent Flow Rates

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Commercial standard gas generators are often complex and expensive devices. The objective of this research was to assess the performance of a simplified glass impinger system for standard gas generation from a permeation tube (PT) device. The performance of the impinger standard gas generation system was assessed for four aromatic VOCs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and m-xylene; BTEX) at varying flow rates (FR) of 50 to 800 mL·min−1. Because actual permeation rate (APR) values deviated from those computed by the manufacturer's formula (MPR), new empirical relationships were developed to derive the predicted PR (PPR) of the target components. Experimental results corrected by such a formula indicate that the compatibility between the APR and MPR generally increased with low FR, while the reproducibility was generally reduced with decreasing flow rate. Although compatibility between different PRs is at a relatively small and narrow FR range, the use of correction formula is recommendable for the accurate use of PT.

Sensors, Vol. 12, Pages 10947-10963: Adaptive Color Calibration Based One-Shot Structured Light System

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In one-shot color structured light systems, the color of stripe patterns are typically distorted with respect to color crosstalk, ambient light and the albedo of the scanned objects, leading to mismatch in the correspondence of color stripes between the projected and captured images. In this paper, an adaptive color calibration and Discrete Trend Transform algorithm are presented to achieve high-resolution 3D reconstructions. The adaptive color calibration, according to the relative albedo in RGB channels, can improve the accuracy of labeling stripe by alleviating the effect of albedo and ambient light while decoding the color. Furthermore, the Discrete Trend Transform in the M channel makes the color calibration an effective method for detecting weak stripes due to the uneven surfaces or reflectance characteristics of the scanned objects. With this approach, the presented system is suitable for scanning moving objects and generating high-resolution 3D reconstructions without the need of dark laboratory environments.

Entropy, Vol. 14, Pages 1478-1500: Wavelet q-Fisher Information for Scaling Signal Analysis

Posted: 08 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Abstract: This article first introduces the concept of wavelet q-Fisher information  and then derives a closed-form  expression of this quantifier for scaling signals of parameter α.  It is shown that this information measure appropriately describes the complexities  of scaling signals and provides further analysis flexibility with the parameter q. In the limit of q → 1, wavelet q-Fisher information  reduces to the standard wavelet Fisher information  and for q  > 2 it reverses its behavior. Experimental results on synthesized fGn signals validates the level-shift  detection capabilities of wavelet q-Fisher information. A comparative study also shows that wavelet q-Fisher information  locates structural changes in correlated and anti-correlated fGn signals in a way comparable with standard breakpoint location techniques but at a fraction of the time. Finally, the application of this quantifier to H.263 encoded video signals is presented.
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