A system that encodes a sequence of integers using a variable-length compression technique is described. During operation, the system scans the sequence of integers and observes the sizes of the integers to determine a threshold value K from the observed sizes. For a given integer which is N bits in length, if N−K is greater than or equal to zero, the system generates a tag for the encoded integer which comprises a sequence of N−K zeros followed by a one, and generates a set of remaining bits for the encoded integer as a sequence of the N bits which make up the integer. Otherwise, if N−K is less than zero, the system generates a tag for the encoded integer as a single one, and generates a set of remaining bits for the encoded integer by padding the N bits which make up the integer with zeros so that the set of remaining bits is K bits in length.

A method for derivation of a temporal motion data (TMD) candidate for a prediction unit (PU) in video encoding or video decoding is provided. The derived TMD candidate is for inclusion in an inter-prediction candidate list for the PU. The method includes determining a primary TMD position relative to a co-located PU in a co-located largest coding unit (LCU), wherein the co-located PU is a block in a reference picture having a same size, shape, and coordinates as the PU, and selecting at least some motion data of a secondary TMD position as the TMD candidate when the primary TMD position is in a bottom neighboring LCU or in a bottom right neighboring LCU of the co-located LCU, wherein the secondary TMD position is determined relative to the co-located PU.

A method and apparatus of image coding including adaptive entropy coding are disclosed. According to this method, input pixels associated with a group of symbols generated from image or video data are received. Maximum bit-depth of the group of symbols is then determined. If the maximum bit-depth of the group of symbols is smaller than a first bit-depth threshold, the group of symbols is encoded or decoded using Golomb-Rice coding. If the maximum bit-depth of the group of symbols is greater than or equal to the first bit-depth threshold, the group of symbols is encoded or decoded using second entropy coding, where the second entropy coding is different from the Golomb-Rice coding. Outputs corresponding to encoded or decoded output associated with the group of symbols are provided. The maximum bit-depth of the group of symbols is signaled at the encoder or recovered at the decoder by parsing the bitstream.

Reconstructed picture quality for a video codec system may be improved by categorizing reconstructed pixels into different histogram bins with histogram segmentation and then applying different filters on different bins. Histogram segmentation may be performed by averagely dividing the histogram into M bins or adaptively dividing the histogram into N bins based on the histogram characteristics. Here M and N may be a predefined, fixed, non-negative integer value or an adaptively generated value at encoder side and may be sent to decoder through the coded bitstream.

Provided is an inter-layer video decoding method including determining a size of a subblock of a current block by comparing at least one of a height and a width of a predetermined minimum size of the subblock with at least one of a height and a width of the current block of a first layer image; determining at least one subblock from the current block according to the size of the subblock of the current block; determining a candidate block that corresponds to the current block and is included in an encoded second layer image; determining a candidate subblock from the candidate block of the second layer image by using the subblock of the current block; determining motion information of the subblock included in the current block by using motion information of the candidate subblock included in the candidate block; and generating a prediction block of the current block by using the motion information of the subblock included in the current block.

Provided are video encoding and decoding methods and apparatuses. The video encoding method includes: encoding a video based on data units having a hierarchical structure; determining a context model used for entropy encoding a syntax element of a data unit based on at least one piece of additional information of the data units; and entropy encoding the syntax element by using the determined context model.

A method and apparatus of reusing reference data for video decoding are disclosed. Motion information associated with motion vectors for coded blocks processed after the current block are derived without storing decoded residuals associated with the coded blocks. Reuse information regarding reference data required for Inter prediction or Intra block copy of the coded blocks is determined based on the motion information. If the current block is coded in the Inter prediction mode or the Intra block copy mode, whether required reference data for the current block are in an internal memory is determined and the reference data are fetched from an external memory to the internal memory if the required reference data are not stored in the internal memory. The reference data in the internal memory is managed according to the reuse information to reduce data transferring between the external memory and the internal memory.

Disclosed are a transcoding method and electronic apparatus. The method includes: obtaining 16 H.264 video macro blocks; determining encoding type of the 16 H.264 video macro blocks; transcoding the 16 H.264 video macro blocks into a H.265 coding tree unit CTU according to preset intra-frame transcoding correspondence if the encoding type of the 16 H.264 video macro blocks is intra-frame coding; transcoding the 16 H.264 video macro blocks into one H.265 CTU according to preset inter-frame transcoding correspondence if the encoding type of the 16 H.264 video macro blocks is inter-frame coding. The device includes: capturing module, determination module, first transcoding module and second transcoding module. The present invention has no need to decode H.264 video macro blocks to produce original video data, so the transcoding process can speed up and save time.

The present invention relates to a video encoding method, a video decoding method, and a device using the same, and the video encoding method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: specifying a tile and a slice by partitioning an inputted picture; performing encoding on the basis of the tile and the slice; and transmitting the encoded video information, wherein the picture is partitioned into one or more tiles and one or more slices, and the restrictions for parallel processing can be applied to the tiles and the slices.

A video coding apparatus for encoding a compressive sensing signal has a processor. The processor obtains a compressive sensing sampling matrix; andcaptures the compressive sensing signal representing image data based on the compressive sensing sampling matrix, wherein the compressive sensing sampling matrix is non-uniform varied.

An object of the present invention is to increase efficiency of information compression in coding and decoding. A moving picture encoding apparatus 10 of the present invention has a motion vector predicting part for performing, based on a temporal relation among adjacent reference frame images 703a, 703b, 703c referred to for detecting motion vectors of adjacent blocks adjacent to a coding target block, a target reference frame image 702 referred to for detecting a motion vector of the target block, and a target frame image 701 being the frame image of the coding target, or based on time information thereof, a correction of scaling the motion vectors 751a, 751b, 751c of the adjacent blocks on the basis of the target reference frame image 702; and a determination of an optimum predicted motion vector based on the motion vectors of the adjacent blocks; and thereby predicting the optimum predicted motion vector after the correction.

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for encoding/decoding a motion vector and a method and apparatus for encoding/decoding video using same. The motion vector encoding method includes selecting a predicted motion vector candidate set including one or more predicted motion vector candidates for a block; determining one or more search ranges for predicted motion vector candidate set; selecting one predicted motion vector candidate among one or more predicted motion vector candidates as predicted motion vector for each search point with respect to each search point within search range by first determination criterion prearranged with video decoding apparatus; selecting one predicted motion vector among the predicted motion vectors for each search point by a second determination criterion not prearranged with the video decoding apparatus, and determining predicted motion vector, differential motion vector, and current motion vector; and generating and encoding the differential motion vector as motion information.

A first vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a first motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of encoded neighboring blocks to blocks to be encoded. A second vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a second motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of blocks at the same positions as the blocks to be encoded in an encoded image and neighboring blocks to the blocks at the same positions. A combination determining unit determines whether to generate a third vector predictor candidate list combining the first and second vector predictor candidate lists by comparison of a block size of the blocks to be encoded and a threshold size. A vector predictor candidate list deciding unit generates the third vector predictor candidate list from the first vector predictor candidate list.

A first vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a first motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of encoded neighboring blocks to blocks to be encoded. A second vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a second motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of blocks at the same positions as the blocks to be encoded in an encoded image and neighboring blocks to the blocks at the same positions. A combination determining unit determines whether to generate a third vector predictor candidate list combining the first and second vector predictor candidate lists by comparison of a block size of the blocks to be encoded and a threshold size. A vector predictor candidate list deciding unit generates the third vector predictor candidate list from the first vector predictor candidate list.

Methods and apparatus for parsing friendly and error resilient merge flag coding in video coding are provided. In some methods, in contrast to merging candidate list size dependent coding of the merge flag in the prior art, a merge flag is always encoded in the encoded bit stream for each inter-predicted prediction unit (PU) that is not encoded using skip mode. In some methods, in contrast to the prior art that allowed the merging candidate list to be empty, one or more zero motion vector merging candidates formatted according to the prediction type of the slice containing a PU are added to the merging candidate list if needed to ensure that the list is not empty and/or to ensure that the list contains a maximum number of merging candidates.

A video decoding method using an inter prediction, includes: reconstructing a first differential motion vector and a second differential motion vector of a current block by decoding encoded data; deriving a first predicted motion vector and a second predicted motion vector of the current block from one or more neighboring blocks of the current block; generating a first motion vector of the current block by adding the first candidate motion vector to the first differential motion vector, and a second motion vector of the current block by adding the second candidate motion vector to the second differential motion vector; generating a predicted block of the current block by using the first and second motion vectors; reconstructing a residual block by decoding residual signals included in the encoded data; and adding each pixel value of the predicted block to a corresponding pixel value of the residual block.

A video decoding method using an inter prediction, includes: reconstructing a first differential motion vector and a second differential motion vector of a current block by decoding encoded data; deriving a first predicted motion vector and a second predicted motion vector of the current block from one or more neighboring blocks of the current block; generating a first motion vector of the current block by adding the first candidate motion vector to the first differential motion vector, and a second motion vector of the current block by adding the second candidate motion vector to the second differential motion vector; generating a predicted block of the current block by using the first and second motion vectors; reconstructing a residual block by decoding residual signals included in the encoded data; and adding each pixel value of the predicted block to a corresponding pixel value of the residual block.

The present disclosure generally relates to a method and device for encoding a frame. The method and the device comprises a processor configured for: —encoding (12) a backlight frame determined (11) from the frame; —obtaining (13) at least one component of a residual frame by dividing each component of the frame by a decoded version of the backlight frame; —mapping each component (YRes) of the residual frame (Res) such that the mapping of each pixel (YRes,P) of a component (YRes) of the residual frame Res depends on the pixel value (Balp) of either the backlight frame (Bal) or a decoded version of the backlight frame (Bal), associated with this pixel (p); and—encoding (18) the mapped residual frame. The disclosure further relates to a decoding method and device.

The present invention relates to a method for decoding a video signal, comprising the steps of: acquiring a transform size flag of the current macroblock from a video signal; checking the number of non-zero transform coefficients at each pixel position in a first transform block which corresponds to the transform size flag; changing a scan order of the first transform block by prioritizing the position of the pixel having the greatest number of the non-zero transform coefficients in the first transform block; determining the number of the non-zero transform coefficients at each pixel position in a second transform block, and setting the changed scan order of the first transform block as an initialized scan order of the second transform block; adding the number of the non-zero transform coefficients at each pixel position in the first transform block and the number of the non-zero transform coefficients at each pixel position in the second transform block, and changing the scan order of the second transform block by prioritizing the position of the pixel having the greatest number of the non-zero transform coefficients; and decoding the transform coefficients arranged in the scan order changed in the previous step, wherein the first transform block and the second transform block have sizes corresponding to the transform size flag, and are contained in the current macroblock.

The image decoding method includes: determining a context for use in a current block to be processed, from among a plurality of contexts; and performing arithmetic decoding on a bit sequence corresponding to the current block, using the determined context, wherein in the determining: the context is determined under a condition that control parameters of neighboring blocks of the current block are used, when the signal type is a first type, the neighboring blocks being a left block and an upper block of the current block; and the context is determined under a condition that the control parameter of the upper block is not used, when the signal type is a second type, and the second type is “inter_pred_flag”.

Disclosed is a device for encoding information written on a readable surface, the device including a device housing containing at least one ink reservoir, an ink dispensing tip in communication with said at least one ink reservoir; and ink stored in the at least one ink reservoir and configured to flow from the ink dispensing tip, the ink being encodable to include supplemental encoded information, the supplemental encoded information being detectable by at least one detecting sensor when dispensed on the readable surface, wherein the readable surface is any surface that will accept the ink.

Disclosed is a device for encoding information written on a readable surface, the device including a device housing containing at least one ink reservoir, an ink dispensing tip in communication with said at least one ink reservoir; and ink stored in the at least one ink reservoir and configured to flow from the ink dispensing tip, the ink being encodable to include supplemental encoded information, the supplemental encoded information being detectable by at least one detecting sensor when dispensed on the readable surface, wherein the readable surface is any surface that will accept the ink.

Systems, devices and methods are disclosed. In an embodiment of one such method, a method of decoding received command signals, the method comprises decoding the received command signals in combination with a signal provided to a memory address node at a first clock edge of a clock signal to generate a plurality of memory control signals. The received command signals, in combination with the signal provided to the memory address node at the first clock edge of the clock signal, represent a memory command. Furthermore, the signal provided to the memory address node at a second clock edge of the clock signal is not decoded in combination with the received command signals. The memory command may be a reduced power command and/or a no operation command.

The system and corresponding process includes a system for producing a mechanical image of original audio source media and a system for encoding the mechanical image information into a digital file. A processing system recovers the mechanical image information from the digital file at a receiving end. Audio processing is used to produce the original audio source material without the standard losses associated with digital encoding of audio material

An integrated circuit (IC) of a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) coded aperture radar (CAR) configured to step through a range of frequencies in each sweep and a method of assembling the FMCW CAR are described. The IC includes an antenna element to transmit and receive at a given time duration, a transmit channel to process a signal for transmission, the transmit channel including a transmit switch to change a state of a transmit phase shifter between two states based on a first code, and a receive channel to process a received signal, the receive channel including a receive switch to change a state of a receive phase shifter between two states based on a second code. The IC also includes a switch controller to control the first code and the second code, wherein the switch controller controls the first code to remain constant within the sweep.

Embodiments of the invention provides a decoder for decoding a signal received through a transmission channel in a communication system, said signal carrying information symbols selected from a given alphabet and being associated with a signal vector, said transmission channel being represented by a channel matrix, wherein said decoder comprises: a sub-block division unit (301) configured to divide the received signal vector into a set of sub-vectors in correspondence with a division of a matrix related to said channel matrix;a candidate set estimation unit (305) for recursively determining candidate estimates of sub-blocks of the transmitted signal corresponding to said sub-vectors, each estimate of a given sub-block being determined from at least one candidate estimate of the previously processed sub-blocks,wherein said candidate set estimation unit is configured to determine a set of candidate estimates for at least one sub-block of the transmitted signal by applying at least one iteration of a decoding algorithm using the estimates determined for the previously processed sub-blocks, the number of candidate estimates determined for said sub-block being strictly inferior to the cardinal of the alphabet and superior or equal to two, the decoder further comprising a signal estimation unit (306) for calculating an estimate of the transmitted signal from said candidate estimates determined for said sub-blocks.

A method for adaptively regulating a coding mode and a digital correction circuit thereof are provided. The method is for a successive-approximation-register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). In the method, whether to regulate a binary weight corresponding to each of digital bits is determined according to the number of completed comparison cycles to provide a first coding sequence. The first coding sequence is directly compensated according to uncompleted comparison cycles to provide a correct digital output code.

The invention relates to an encoder and a decoder and methods therein for supporting split gain shape vector encoding and decoding. The method performed by an encoder, where the encoding of each vector segment is subjected to a constraint related to a maximum number of bits, BMAX, allowed for encoding a vector segment. The method comprises, determining an initial number, Np—init, of segments for a target vector x; and further determining an average number of bits per segment, BAVG, based on a vector bit budget and Np—init. The method further comprises determining a final number of segments to be used, for the vector x, in the gain shape vector encoding, based on energies of the Np—init segments and a difference between BMAX and BAVG. The performing of the method enables an efficient allocation of the bits of the bit budget over the target vector.

A system, method and computer program product for encoding an input string of binary characters representing alphanumeric characters. A system includes: a character writing engine for writing a binary character to an empty cell of a multi-dimensional shape beginning with a starting empty cell; a next cell determination engine for determining a next empty cell by traversing neighboring cells in the multi-dimensional shape until an empty cell is located; a loop facilitator for looping back to the character writing engine and the next cell determining engine until no more data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; and a serialization engine for serializing the cells into a one dimensional binary string of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumeric characters.

This invention relates to a system, method and computer program product for encoding an input string of binary characters including: a cellular data structure definition including a starting empty cell; one or more path definitions defining paths through the data structure; a character reading and writing engine for writing a binary character to an empty cell with a predefined initial position; a next cell determination engine for determining a next empty cell by methodically checking cells along one of the paths in the data structure until an empty cell is located; a loop facilitator for looping back to the writing next character step and the determining next cell step until there are no more data characters or a next empty cell is not determined; and a serialization deserialization engine for methodically serializing the data structure into a one dimensional binary string of characters representing an encoded string of alphanumeric characters.

To enable a user to readily determine the gauge of the needle of a needle assembly that has a base and a needle protective housing pivotably attached thereto, the needle assembly is injection molded from a color coded molding material which color was preassigned to correspond to the gauge of the needle. As a result, both the base and the protective housing of the needle assembly have—the same specific color, and reflect or provide an indication of the given gauge of the needle. The needle sheath that covers the needle prior to use may be made of a plastics material that may be clear, or have the same or a different color than that of the needle assembly. The gauge of the needle of a fixed needle syringe could also be ascertained by its color coded needle protective housing. Color coded markings that correspond to the gauge of the needle may also be printed onto the syringe barrel of the fixed needle syringe.

This video shows you how to create IBM Watson Workspace chatbots, using Open Source resources and the Watson Workspace framework and SDK, which help you develop applications faster and with less code.

What better way to learn a new programming language than to create a favorite old game? In this tutorial, learn how to create a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

The songs and stories of prehistoric humans are gone. All that remains of their culture is their art. IDEAS contributor Neil Sandell introduces us to the French archaeologist Jean Clottes, a man who’s devoted his lifetime trying to decipher the rich, enigmatic world of cave art.

Date: April 27, 2020

As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people and families everywhere are spending more time at home. In light of this, we’re launching a throwback Doodle series looking back at some of our popular interactive Google Doodle games!

Stay and play at home with today’s featured throwback: 

Our 2017 Doodle game celebrating 50 years of Kids Coding!

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Learn more here about the latest ways we’re responding, and how our products can help people stay connected during this time.

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pncRNA-D is an irradiation-induced 602-nt long noncoding RNA transcribed from the promoter region of the cyclin D1 (CCND1) gene. CCND1 expression is predicted to be inhibited through an interplay between pncRNA-D and RNA-binding protein TLS/FUS. Because the pncRNA-D–TLS interaction is essential for pncRNA-D–stimulated CCND1 inhibition, here we studied the possible role of RNA modification in this interaction in HeLa cells. We found that osmotic stress induces pncRNA-D by recruiting RNA polymerase II to its promoter. pncRNA-D was highly m6A-methylated in control cells, but osmotic stress reduced the methylation and also arginine methylation of TLS in the nucleus. Knockdown of the m6A modification enzyme methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) prolonged the half-life of pncRNA-D, and among the known m6A recognition proteins, YTH domain-containing 1 (YTHDC1) was responsible for binding m6A of pncRNA-D. Knockdown of METTL3 or YTHDC1 also enhanced the interaction of pncRNA-D with TLS, and results from RNA pulldown assays implicated YTHDC1 in the inhibitory effect on the TLS–pncRNA-D interaction. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of candidate m6A site decreased the m6A level in pncRNA-D and altered its interaction with the RNA-binding proteins. Of note, a reduction in the m6A modification arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and pncRNA-D knockdown partially reversed this arrest. Moreover, pncRNA-D induction in HeLa cells significantly suppressed cell growth. Collectively, these findings suggest that m6A modification of the long noncoding RNA pncRNA-D plays a role in the regulation of CCND1 gene expression and cell cycle progression.

pncRNA-D is an irradiation-induced 602-nt long noncoding RNA transcribed from the promoter region of the cyclin D1 (CCND1) gene. CCND1 expression is predicted to be inhibited through an interplay between pncRNA-D and RNA-binding protein TLS/FUS. Because the pncRNA-D–TLS interaction is essential for pncRNA-D–stimulated CCND1 inhibition, here we studied the possible role of RNA modification in this interaction in HeLa cells. We found that osmotic stress induces pncRNA-D by recruiting RNA polymerase II to its promoter. pncRNA-D was highly m6A-methylated in control cells, but osmotic stress reduced the methylation and also arginine methylation of TLS in the nucleus. Knockdown of the m6A modification enzyme methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) prolonged the half-life of pncRNA-D, and among the known m6A recognition proteins, YTH domain-containing 1 (YTHDC1) was responsible for binding m6A of pncRNA-D. Knockdown of METTL3 or YTHDC1 also enhanced the interaction of pncRNA-D with TLS, and results from RNA pulldown assays implicated YTHDC1 in the inhibitory effect on the TLS–pncRNA-D interaction. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of candidate m6A site decreased the m6A level in pncRNA-D and altered its interaction with the RNA-binding proteins. Of note, a reduction in the m6A modification arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and pncRNA-D knockdown partially reversed this arrest. Moreover, pncRNA-D induction in HeLa cells significantly suppressed cell growth. Collectively, these findings suggest that m6A modification of the long noncoding RNA pncRNA-D plays a role in the regulation of CCND1 gene expression and cell cycle progression.

pncRNA-D is an irradiation-induced 602-nt long noncoding RNA transcribed from the promoter region of the cyclin D1 (CCND1) gene. CCND1 expression is predicted to be inhibited through an interplay between pncRNA-D and RNA-binding protein TLS/FUS. Because the pncRNA-D–TLS interaction is essential for pncRNA-D–stimulated CCND1 inhibition, here we studied the possible role of RNA modification in this interaction in HeLa cells. We found that osmotic stress induces pncRNA-D by recruiting RNA polymerase II to its promoter. pncRNA-D was highly m6A-methylated in control cells, but osmotic stress reduced the methylation and also arginine methylation of TLS in the nucleus. Knockdown of the m6A modification enzyme methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) prolonged the half-life of pncRNA-D, and among the known m6A recognition proteins, YTH domain-containing 1 (YTHDC1) was responsible for binding m6A of pncRNA-D. Knockdown of METTL3 or YTHDC1 also enhanced the interaction of pncRNA-D with TLS, and results from RNA pulldown assays implicated YTHDC1 in the inhibitory effect on the TLS–pncRNA-D interaction. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of candidate m6A site decreased the m6A level in pncRNA-D and altered its interaction with the RNA-binding proteins. Of note, a reduction in the m6A modification arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and pncRNA-D knockdown partially reversed this arrest. Moreover, pncRNA-D induction in HeLa cells significantly suppressed cell growth. Collectively, these findings suggest that m6A modification of the long noncoding RNA pncRNA-D plays a role in the regulation of CCND1 gene expression and cell cycle progression.

Coenzyme Q (Qn) is a vital lipid component of the electron transport chain that functions in cellular energy metabolism and as a membrane antioxidant. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, coq1–coq9 deletion mutants are respiratory-incompetent, sensitive to lipid peroxidation stress, and unable to synthesize Q6. The yeast coq10 deletion mutant is also respiratory-deficient and sensitive to lipid peroxidation, yet it continues to produce Q6 at an impaired rate. Thus, Coq10 is required for the function of Q6 in respiration and as an antioxidant and is believed to chaperone Q6 from its site of synthesis to the respiratory complexes. In several fungi, Coq10 is encoded as a fusion polypeptide with Coq11, a recently identified protein of unknown function required for efficient Q6 biosynthesis. Because “fused” proteins are often involved in similar biochemical pathways, here we examined the putative functional relationship between Coq10 and Coq11 in yeast. We used plate growth and Seahorse assays and LC-MS/MS analysis to show that COQ11 deletion rescues respiratory deficiency, sensitivity to lipid peroxidation, and decreased Q6 biosynthesis of the coq10Δ mutant. Additionally, immunoblotting indicated that yeast coq11Δ mutants accumulate increased amounts of certain Coq polypeptides and display a stabilized CoQ synthome. These effects suggest that Coq11 modulates Q6 biosynthesis and that its absence increases mitochondrial Q6 content in the coq10Δcoq11Δ double mutant. This augmented mitochondrial Q6 content counteracts the respiratory deficiency and lipid peroxidation sensitivity phenotypes of the coq10Δ mutant. This study further clarifies the intricate connection between Q6 biosynthesis, trafficking, and function in mitochondrial metabolism.

Coenzyme Q (Qn) is a vital lipid component of the electron transport chain that functions in cellular energy metabolism and as a membrane antioxidant. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, coq1–coq9 deletion mutants are respiratory-incompetent, sensitive to lipid peroxidation stress, and unable to synthesize Q6. The yeast coq10 deletion mutant is also respiratory-deficient and sensitive to lipid peroxidation, yet it continues to produce Q6 at an impaired rate. Thus, Coq10 is required for the function of Q6 in respiration and as an antioxidant and is believed to chaperone Q6 from its site of synthesis to the respiratory complexes. In several fungi, Coq10 is encoded as a fusion polypeptide with Coq11, a recently identified protein of unknown function required for efficient Q6 biosynthesis. Because “fused” proteins are often involved in similar biochemical pathways, here we examined the putative functional relationship between Coq10 and Coq11 in yeast. We used plate growth and Seahorse assays and LC-MS/MS analysis to show that COQ11 deletion rescues respiratory deficiency, sensitivity to lipid peroxidation, and decreased Q6 biosynthesis of the coq10Δ mutant. Additionally, immunoblotting indicated that yeast coq11Δ mutants accumulate increased amounts of certain Coq polypeptides and display a stabilized CoQ synthome. These effects suggest that Coq11 modulates Q6 biosynthesis and that its absence increases mitochondrial Q6 content in the coq10Δcoq11Δ double mutant. This augmented mitochondrial Q6 content counteracts the respiratory deficiency and lipid peroxidation sensitivity phenotypes of the coq10Δ mutant. This study further clarifies the intricate connection between Q6 biosynthesis, trafficking, and function in mitochondrial metabolism.

Depth-encoding detectors with single-ended readout provide a practical, cost-effective approach for constructing high resolution and high sensitivity PET scanners. However, the current iteration of such detectors utilizes a uniform glass light guide to achieve depth-encoding, resulting in non-uniform performance throughout the detector array due to suboptimal intercrystal light sharing. We introduce Prism-PET, a single-ended readout PET detector module with a segmented light guide composed of an array of prismatoids that introduces enhanced, deterministic light sharing. Methods: High resolution PET detector modules were fabricated with single-ended readout of polished multicrystal lutetium yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO) scintillator arrays directly coupled 4-to-1 and 9-to-1 to arrays of 3.2 x 3.2 mm² silicon photomultiplier pixels. Each scintillator array was coupled at the non-readout side to a light guide (one 4-to-1 module with a uniform glass light guide, one 4-to-1 Prism-PET module and one 9-to-1 Prism-PET module) to introduce intercrystal light sharing, which closely mimics the behavior of dual-ended readout with the additional benefit of improved crystal identification. Flood histogram data was acquired using a 3 MBq Na-22 source to characterize crystal identification and energy resolution. Lead collimation was used to acquire data at specific depths to determine depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution. Results: The flood histogram measurements showed excellent and uniform crystal separation throughout the Prism-PET modules while the uniform glass light guide module had performance degradation at the edges and corners. A DOI resolution of 5.0 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) and energy resolution of 13% were obtained in the uniform glass light guide module. By comparison, the 4-to-1 coupled Prism-PET module achieved 2.5 mm FWHM DOI resolution and 9% energy resolution. Conclusion: PET scanners based on our Prism-PET modules with segmented prismatoid light guide arrays can achieve high and uniform spatial resolution (9-to-1 coupling with ~ 1 mm crystals), high sensitivity, good energy and timing resolutions (using polished crystals and after applying DOI-correction), and compact size (depth-encoding eliminates parallax error and permits smaller ring-diameter).

Coenzyme Q (Qn) is a vital lipid component of the electron transport chain that functions in cellular energy metabolism and as a membrane antioxidant. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, coq1–coq9 deletion mutants are respiratory-incompetent, sensitive to lipid peroxidation stress, and unable to synthesize Q6. The yeast coq10 deletion mutant is also respiratory-deficient and sensitive to lipid peroxidation, yet it continues to produce Q6 at an impaired rate. Thus, Coq10 is required for the function of Q6 in respiration and as an antioxidant and is believed to chaperone Q6 from its site of synthesis to the respiratory complexes. In several fungi, Coq10 is encoded as a fusion polypeptide with Coq11, a recently identified protein of unknown function required for efficient Q6 biosynthesis. Because “fused” proteins are often involved in similar biochemical pathways, here we examined the putative functional relationship between Coq10 and Coq11 in yeast. We used plate growth and Seahorse assays and LC-MS/MS analysis to show that COQ11 deletion rescues respiratory deficiency, sensitivity to lipid peroxidation, and decreased Q6 biosynthesis of the coq10Δ mutant. Additionally, immunoblotting indicated that yeast coq11Δ mutants accumulate increased amounts of certain Coq polypeptides and display a stabilized CoQ synthome. These effects suggest that Coq11 modulates Q6 biosynthesis and that its absence increases mitochondrial Q6 content in the coq10Δcoq11Δ double mutant. This augmented mitochondrial Q6 content counteracts the respiratory deficiency and lipid peroxidation sensitivity phenotypes of the coq10Δ mutant. This study further clarifies the intricate connection between Q6 biosynthesis, trafficking, and function in mitochondrial metabolism.

When you run an SQL query using SAS/ACCESS Interface to ODBC under the following conditions, you might receive an error: You run SAS 9.4M5 (TS1M5) or SAS 9.4M6 (TS1M6)  i

For many of you Christmas is over and, you’re back to work. Admin piled up over christmas? Feeling resentful for all those forms, and the weird codes they make you put in them? In this podcast I hope we can explain why that’s important, with 17th century death, the esoteria of reed codes, and why the WHO cares about spaceship...

Joy Dugan
Oct 1, 2017; 35:232-238
Practical Pointers

The ADA is releasing a guide intended to help dental offices navigate issues related to coding and billing for virtual check-ins in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The American Dental Association sent a letter to third-party payers urging that administrators of dental benefit plans adjust and adapt reimbursement procedures important to dentists and patients — including coverage for temporary procedures and adjusting fee schedules to account for cost of increasing infection control procedures ¬— in the midst of the “unprecedented and extraordinary circumstances dentists and their patients face” during the pandemic.

As the source of dental procedure codes, the ADA has created a new online training course to ensure that dentists and their team members confidently understand CDT codes and how to use them correctly.