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To study the influence of thermal shock caused by water-cooling on the physical and mechanical properties of high-temperature granite, granite was subjected to an increasing number of high-temperature (300 °C) water-cooling and thermal shock treatment cycles, and static mechanical experiments were carried out on the treated granite. The results support the following conclusions: (1) thermal shock causes an increase in the number and size of the pores and cracks within the granite; thus, its volume expands, density decreases, water absorption rate increases, and P-wave velocity decreases. (2) With an increase in the number of thermal shocks, both the compressive strength and tensile strength of the granite decrease, and there is a linear relationship between the compressive strength and tensile strength. (3) With an increase in the number of thermal shocks, the plasticity of the granite increases and its resistance to deformation weakens, which is manifested as a decrease in both the compressive modulus and tensile modulus of the granite. After 15 cycles of thermal shock, the compressive elastic modulus and tensile modulus of the granite decreased by 25.18% and 46.76%, respectively. (4) The m and s values of the damaged granite were calculated based on the Hoek–Brown empirical criterion, and it was found that both of these parameters decrease with the increase in the number of thermal shocks. The calculation results can provide a reference for engineering rock mass failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed a method to evaluate the potentially bioavailable fraction of Pu in agricultural soils by determining their water soluble and exchangeable fractions. Three commonly used pretreatment methods were compared for their ability and performances to process the extracted solutions. Results showed that these three methods were able to obtain consistent Pu concentration results; however, based on the experimental performance factors, we considered that wet-ashing followed by Fe(OH)3 co-precipitation was the best pretreatment method, with which high 242Pu recoveries for the overall process were realized for the water soluble fraction (69.8%) and the exchangeable fraction (70.6%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidrug resistance is a major challenge to cancer chemotherapy. The multidrug resistance phenotype is associated with the overexpression of the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-driven transmembrane efflux pumps in cancer cells. Here, we report a lipid membrane-coated silicacarbon (LSC) hybrid nanoparticle that targets mitochondria through pyruvate, to specifically produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in mitochondria under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. The ROS can oxidize the NADH into NAD+ to reduce the amount of ATP available for the efflux pumps. The treatment with LSC nanoparticles and NIR laser irradiation also reduces the expression and increases the intracellular distribution of the efflux pumps. Consequently, multidrug-resistant cancer cells lose their multidrug resistance capability for at least 5 days, creating a therapeutic window for chemotherapy. Our in vivo data show that the drug-laden LSC nanoparticles in combination with NIR laser treatment can effectively inhibit the growth of multidrug-resistant tumors with no evident systemic toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, facile and eco-friendly synthesis of quinoxalines from α-azido ketones and 1,2-diamines was developed. An attractive feature of this protocol is that the desired products could be generated efficiently in water and without any catalyst, which is in accordance with the aim of green chemistry. A plausible mechanism has been proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulations of the severe precipitation event that occurred in the warm sector over southern China on 08 May 2014 are conducted using the Advanced Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARWv3.5.1) model to investigate the roles of microphysical latent heating and surface heat fluxes during the severe precipitation processes. At first, observations from surface rain gauges and groundbased weather radars are used to evaluate the model outputs. Results show that the spatial distribution of 24-h accumulated precipitation is well reproduced, and the temporal and spatial distributions of the simulated radar reflectivity agree well with the observations. Then, several sensitive simulations are performed with the identical model configurations, except for different options in microphysical latent heating and surface heat fluxes. From the results, one of the significant findings is that the latent heating from warm rain microphysical processes heats the atmosphere in the initial phase of the precipitation and thus convective systems start by self-triggering and selforganizing, despite the fact that the environmental conditions are not favorable to the occurrence of precipitation event at the initial phase. In the case of the severe precipitation event over the warm sector, both warm and ice microphysical processes are active with the ice microphysics processes activated almost two hours later. According to the sensitive results, there is a very weak precipitation without heavy rainfall belt when microphysical latent heating is turned off. In terms of this precipitation event, the warm microphysics processes play significant roles on precipitation intensity, while the ice microphysics processes have effects on the spatial distribution of precipitation. Both surface sensible and latent heating have effects on the precipitation intensity and spatial distribution. By comparison, the surface sensible heating has a strong influence on the spatial distribution of precipitation, and the surface latent heating has only a slight impact on the precipitation intensity. The results indicate that microphysical latent heating might be an important factor for severe precipitation forecast in the warm sector over southern China. Surface sensible heating can have considerable influence on the precipitation spatial distribution and should not be neglected in the case of weak large-scale conditions with abundant water vapor in the warm sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial for the physical realization of quantum information networks to first establish entanglement among multiple space-separated quantum memories and then, at a user-controlled moment, to transfer the stored entanglement to quantum channels for distribution and conveyance of information. Here we present an experimental demonstration on generation, storage, and transfer of deterministic quantum entanglement among three spatially separated atomic ensembles. The off-line prepared multipartite entanglement of optical modes is mapped into three distant atomic ensembles to establish entanglement of atomic spin waves via electromagnetically induced transparency light-matter interaction. Then the stored atomic entanglement is transferred into a tripartite quadrature entangled state of light, which is space-separated and can be dynamically allocated to three quantum channels for conveying quantum information. The existence of entanglement among three released optical modes verifies that the system has the capacity to preserve multipartite entanglement. The presented protocol can be directly extended to larger quantum networks with more nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants have evolved a repertoire of strategies collectively termed the shade-avoidance syndrome to avoid shade from canopy and compete for light with their neighbors. However, the signaling mechanism governing the adaptive changes of adult plant architecture to shade is not well understood. Here, we show that in Arabidopsis, compared with the wild type, several PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORS (PIFS) overexpressors all display constitutive shade-avoidance syndrome under normal high red to far-red light ratio conditions but are less sensitive to the simulated shade, whereas the MIR156 overexpressors exhibit an opposite phenotype. The simulated shade induces rapid accumulation of PIF proteins, reduced expression of multiple MIR156 genes, and concomitant elevated expression of the SQUAMOSA- PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) family genes. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro assays indicate that PIFs bind to the promoters of several MIR156 genes directly and repress their expression. Our results establish a direct functional link between the phytochrome-PIFs and miR156-SPL regulatory modules in mediating shade-avoidance syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is among the most aggressive primary brain tumors, with a median survival rate of 12-15 months. MicroRNAs have been implicated in GBM development as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. In this study, we demonstrated that miR-519a expression was frequently downregulated in GBM specimens and cell lines, and that low-levels miR-519a expression significantly correlated with poor outcomes associated with GBM. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas also demonstrated that low miR-519a expression can predict poor clinical outcomes in classical and proneural GBM subtypes. Functionally, re-expression of miR-519a effectively reduced GBM cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, we confirmed that the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) 3′-UTR was a putative target of miR-519a, and that re-expression of STAT3 abrogated miR-519a function in GBM cells. Furthermore, we found that STAT3 expression negatively correlated with that of miR-519a in human GBM tissues. These results elucidated the prognostic value and tumor-suppressor role of miR-519a in GBM and further suggested it as a potential therapeutic target for GBM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the effects of solvent fractions (F, F, F, and F), which partitioned by liquid-liquid extraction from the methanol extract of Ulva pertusa, on the growth of red tide microalgae ( Karenia mikimitoi, Skeletonema costatum, Alexandrium tamarense, Heterosigma akashiwo, Prorocentrum donghaiense), and F, F, and F exhibited significantly antialgal activity. The chemical constituent analysis showed the existence of bioactive compounds such as phenols and alkaloids. Further, four solvent fractions were applied to silica gel column and repeated preparative TLC to produce 13 samples and their purity qualified as thin-layer chromatographic grade. Among these purified samples, F, F F, F, and F exhibited stronger antialgal activity. Furthermore, their functional groups were analyzed by colorimetric methods and UV spectra data. F and F were temptatively identified as alkaloids; the others were initially identified as phenolic acids. This is a preliminary study and the structure identification of these purified samples requires further investigation. While concentration of these purified samples in this algae was very small, they showed excellent effects against red tide microalgae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of nanostructures from biodegradable precursors and shell/core crosslinking have been pursued as strategies to solve the problems of toxicity and limited stability, respectively. Polyphosphoester (PPE)-based micelles and crosslinked nanoparticles with non-ionic, anionic, cationic, and zwitterionic surface characteristics for potential packaging and delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents, were constructed using a quick and efficient synthetic strategy, and importantly, demonstrated remarkable differences in terms of cytotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and biofouling properties, as a function of their surface characteristics and also with dependence on crosslinking throughout the shell layers. For instance, crosslinking of zwitterionic micelles significantly reduced the immunotoxicity, as evidenced from the absence of secretions of any of the 23 measured cytokines fromRAW264.7 mouse macrophages treated with the nanoparticles. The micelles and their crosslinked analogs demonstrated lower cytotoxicity than several commercially-available vehicles, and their degradation products were not cytotoxic to cells at the range of the tested concentrations. PPE-nanoparticles are expected to have broad implications in clinical nanomedicine as alternative vehicles to those involved in several of the currently available medications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop low-cost low carbon bainitic steel, Mo-bearing and Cr-bearing steels were melted in a vacuum induction furnace and were researched by thermal simulation and hot rolling at the laboratory. As the cooling rate increases from 0.2 to 50°C/s, the transformation temperatures of two steels lie between 650 and 400°C, and the final microstructures of them change from quasi-polygonal ferrite and granular bainite to lath bainite. Compared with cooling in air or by interrupted cooling, Mo-bearing and Cr-bearing steel plates cooled by sprayed water boast higher strength and superior toughness, for large-size islands are responsible for the poor mechanical properties. Compared to Mo, Cr is effective to isolate the bainitic reaction in low carbon steel, and the bainitic microstructure can also be obtained in Cr-bearing steel cooled at a wide range of cooling rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The amelioration effects of crop straws and their biochars on an acidic ultisol were compared in incubation experiments to determine suitable organic amendments for acid soils. Materials and methods: Four crop straws, including non-legumes (canola straw and rice straw) and legumes (soybean straw and pea straw) were used to prepare biochars using a low temperature (350°C) oxygen-limited pyrolysis method. Two application rates of 1% and 2% were used for both crop straws and their biochars in incubation experiments lasting 90 days. Soil pH (1:2.5 soil to water), soil exchangeable acidity, soil exchangeable base cations, and soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined to evaluate the amelioration effects of these crop straws and their biochars on an acidic ultisol. Results and discussion: The incorporation of crop straws increased or decreased the soil pH depending on the relative contribution of alkalinity of the straws, mineralization of organic N and nitrification of NH. The incorporation of biochars produced from crop straws increased the soil pH, and their ameliorating effects increased with the application rates of biochars. The biochars from legume straws induced more increase in soil pH than non-legume biochars. The addition of both crop straws and their biochars decreased soil exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al, and increased soil exchangeable base cations and base saturation degree. The biochars (especially legumes) induced a greater decrease in soil exchangeable acidity and a greater increase in soil exchangeable base cations compared to their feedstock due to their much higher contents of base cations. The CEC of biochars were 10-20 times that of soil CEC and thus biochar incorporation increased the soil CEC significantly, as well as the retention of Ca, Mg, K, and NH by acid soils. Conclusions: The biochars produced from legume crop straws were better choices as amendments for acid soils than their feedstock. Organic anions and carbonates were the main forms of alkali in the biochar; both contributed to neutralizing soil acidity and increasing soil pH. The incorporation of biochar cannot only neutralize soil acidity, but can also improve soil fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of anomaly detection in wireless network streams. We have developed a new technique, called Stream Projected Outlier deTector (SPOT), to deal with the problem of anomaly detection from multi-dimensional or high-dimensional data streams. We conduct a detailed case study of SPOT in this paper by deploying it for anomaly detection from a real-life wireless network data stream. Since this wireless network data stream is unlabeled, a validating method is thus proposed to generate the ground-truth results in this case study for performance evaluation. Extensive experiments are conducted and the results demonstrate that SPOT is effective in detecting anomalies from wireless network data streams and outperforms existing anomaly detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein mono-ADP-ribosylation post-translationally transfers the ADP-ribose moiety from the β-NAD donor to various protein acceptors. This type of modification has been widely characterized and shown to regulate protein activities in animals, yeast and prokaryotes, but has never been reported in plants. In this study, using [P]NAD as the substrate, ADP-ribosylated proteins in Arabidopsis were investigated. One protein substrate of 32 kDa in adult rosette leaves was found to be radiolabeled. Heat treatment, protease sensitivity and nucleotide derivative competition assays suggested a covalent reaction of NAD with the 32 kDa protein. [carbonyl-C]NAD could not label the 32 kDa protein, confirming that the modification was ADP-ribosylation. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor failed to suppress the reaction, but chemicals that destroy mono-ADP-ribosylation on specific amino acid residues could break up the linkage, suggesting that the reaction was not a poly-ADP-ribosylation but rather a mono-ADP-ribosylation. This modification mainly existed in leaves and was enhanced by oxidative stresses. In young seedlings, two more protein substrates with the size of 45 kDa and over 130 kDa, respectively, were observed in addition to the 32 kDa protein, indicating that different proteins were modified at different developmental stages. Although the substrate proteins remain to be identified, this is the first report on the characterization of endogenously mono-ADP-ribosylated proteins in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell growth can be suppressed by stressful environments, but the role of stress pathways in this process is largely unknown. Here we show that a cascade of p38β mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p38-regulated/activated kinase (PRAK) plays a role in energy-starvation-induced suppression of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and that energy starvation activates the p38β-PRAK cascade. Depletion of p38β or PRAK diminishes the suppression of mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and reduction of cell size induced by energy starvation. We show that p38β-PRAK operates independently of the known mTORC1 inactivation pathways-phosphorylation of tuberous sclerosis protein 2 (TSC2) and Raptor by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-and surprisingly, that PRAK directly regulates Ras homologue enriched in brain (Rheb), a key component of the mTORC1 pathway, by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of Rheb at Ser 130 by PRAK impairs the nucleotide-binding ability of Rheb and inhibits Rheb-mediated mTORC1 activation. The direct regulation of Rheb by PRAK integrates a stress pathway with the mTORC1 pathway in response to energy depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) encompasses a heterogeneous group of tumors. Based upon the microarray of MBCs, these tumors showed features of basal-like carcinoma and myoepithelial differentiation. However, MBCs entity still remained unclear. So we performed a systematic research to explicit metaplastic breast carcinomas further. A panel of ER, PR, HER-2, CK5/6, CK14, P63 and EGFR were prepared for detection of MBCs, and fluorescence in situ hybridization for HER-2 gene amplification and ultrastructure observation were also performed. Sensitiveness between CK5/6 and other antibodies in diagnosis was analysed, and survival analysis was also carried out. ER, PR and HER-2 were negative. CK5/6 (12/12), CK14 (9/12), EGFR (10/12) and P63 (8/12) were positive. FISH for HER-2 displayed no amplification (ratio values < 1.8). Ultrastructure showed tonofibrils, thin filament and dense body in the cytoplasm. Significant statistical differences were detected between groups ( F = 8.080, P = 0.000) of score of CK5/6, CK14, P63 and EGFR. Significant statistical differences were also detected between age and lymph node involvement and survival (χ = 10.835, P = 0.004). MBCs may be actually basal-like carcinomas. In the diagnosis of MBCs, CK5/6, CK14, P63 and EGFR may be effective and CK5/6 may be more sensitive than CK14 and P63. Survival of MBCs may be associated with age and lymph node involvement. However, given the limitations of our research accumulated cases, prospective clinicopathologic studies are needed to further elucidate MBCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chimeric antibody 806 (Ch806) is a promising antitumor agent that recognizes both the epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) and the overexpressed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in cancer tissues but does not recognize the wild type EGFR in normal tissues. However, passive antibody immunization could not produce effective antitumor titers unless the immunization was administered repeatedly over long periods. To overcome this limitation, we generated epitope mimics that bind to Ch806 and tested whether the peptide mimics could induce the production of similar antibodies when actively immunizing mice with the peptides. We used the PH.D-12 phage display peptide library to identify peptides that bind to the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 12H23, which also recognizes similar epitopes of Ch806. Two mimotopes (WHTEILKSYPHE and LPAFFVTNQTQD) were shown to mimic the mAb 12H23 and Ch806 epitope using immunoassays. The mimotopes were conjugated to immunogenic carrier proteins and used to intraperitoneally immunize BALB/c mice. Interestingly, sera from the mice immunized with the isolated mimotopes not only recognize the recombinant or synthetic 806 eptitope, but can also recognize EGFR that is overexpressed in A431 cells and EGFRvIII expressed in Huh7-EGFRvIII cells, whereas sera from mice immunized with the control peptide-KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) and carrier KLH alone failed to show a similar reactivity. Furthermore, in an antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity assay (ADCC), the mimotope-induced antibodies specifically lysed human Huh-7-EGFRvIII cells. Our data indicate that the isolated mimotopes reported here may potentially be used as new alternative agents for treating cancer with EGFRvIII expression or EGFR overexpression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Products of proto-oncogenes c-MET and RON belong to a subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases that contribute significantly to tumorigenic progression. In primary tumors, altered c-MET/RON expression transduces signals regulating invasive growth that is characterized by cell migration and matrix invasion. These pathogenic features provide the basis for targeting c-MET/RON in cancer therapy. In the last decade, various approaches have been investigated to suppress c-MET/RON-transduced oncogenesis. Among the therapeutics developed, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and small-molecule inhibitors (SMIs) have emerged as promising candidates. The mechanism of these therapeutic candidates is the disruption of tumor dependency on c-MET/RON signals for survival. The mAbs specific to hepatocyte growth factor (AMG102) and c-MET (MetMAb) are both humanized and able to block c-MET signaling, leading to inhibition of tumor cell proliferation in vitro and inhibition of tumor growth in xenograft models. The mAb AMG102 neutralizes hepatocyte growth factor and enhances the cytotoxicity of various chemotherapeutics to tumors in vivo. AMG102 is currently in phase II clinical trials for patients with advanced solid tumors. IMC-41A40 and Zt/f2 are RON-specific mAbs that down-regulate RON expression and inhibit ligand-induced phosphorylation. Both mAbs inhibit tumor growth in mice mediated by colon and pancreatic cancer cells. SMIs specific to c-MET (ARQ107 and PF-02341066) are in various phases of clinical trials. Therapeutic efficacy has also been observed with dual inhibitors such as Compound I, which is specific to c-MET/RON. However, a potential issue is the emergence of acquired resistance to these inhibitors. Clearly, development of c-MET/RON therapeutics provides opportunities and challenges for combating cancer in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data mining with incomplete survey data is an immature subject area. Mining a database with incomplete data, the patterns of missing data as well as the potential implication of these missing data constitute valuable knowledge. This paper presents the conceptual foundations of data mining with incomplete data through classification which is relevant to a specific decision making problem. The proposed technique generally supposes that incomplete data and complete data may come from different sub-populations. The major objective of the proposed technique is to detect the interesting patterns of data missing behavior that are relevant to a specific decision making, instead of estimation of individual missing value. Using this technique, a set of complete data is used to acquire a near-optimal classifier. This classifier provides the prediction reference information for analyzing the incomplete data. The data missing behavior concealed in the missing data is then revealed. Using a real-world survey data set, the paper demonstrates the usefulness of this technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinicians have been treating poisoning by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) for more than half a century. However, the current atropine-centered therapy still cannot protect completely against all ChEIs, and poisoning by ChEIs is fatal in more than 20% of cases. Various solutions that try to enhance atropine’s antimuscarinic effects have been used, but these fail to increase the antidotal effect, and their too potent muscarinic antagonism may produce incapacitating side effects. We hypothesized that, in the treatment of ChEI poisoning, the high death rate may not be attributed to the insufficient muscarinic antagonism but to the lack of nicotinic antagonism. To test this hypothesis, we designed and synthesized benthiactzine, a drug that blocks both muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). A specific [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate-binding assay showed that benthiactzine was much weaker than atropine in binding to five different mAChR subtypes or to mAChRs expressed in 14 different tissues. Electrophysiological measures were used to identify and characterize benthiactzine’s antinicotinic effect on three typical neuronal nAChRs subtypes, α4β2, α4β4, and α7, which are expressed heterogenously in SH-EP1 cells. Finally, benthiactzine afforded better protection than atropine against the most lethal ChEI, VX or sarin, in a mouse model. These results indicate that the antidotal effect may not be directly related to the antidote’s antimuscarinic effect and that the antinicotinic effect may provide additional protection against ChEI poisoning. This new drug may benefit future antidote discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucose oxidase (GOD) was covalently immobilized onto Fe3O4/SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles (FSMNs) using glutaraldehyde (GA). Optimal immobilization was at pH 6 with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane at 2% (v/v), GA at 3% (v/v) and 0.143 g GOD per g carrier. The activity of immobilized GOD was 4,570 U/g at pH 7 and 50°C. The immobilized GOD retained 80% of its initial activity after 6 h at 45°C while free enzyme retained only 20% activity. The immobilized GOD maintained 60% of its initial activity after 6 cycles of repeated use and retained 75% of its initial activity after 1 month at 4°C whereas free enzymes retained 62% of its activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastic properties of polymethacrylimide (PMI) foams were investigated experimentally and numerically. Standard tests were carried to measure the mechanical properties of ROHACELL® WF and RIST grades foams. The tetrakaidekahedral unit cell was adopted to generate a 3D representative volume element (RVE) for the microstructure of PMI foams. It is assumed that the RVE represents the foam within the framework of elasticity. The RVE models thus created were analyzed with periodic boundary conditions to obtain the elastic properties of PMI foams by using finite element analysis (FEA). The numerical results were compared with the experimental data and the prediction of existing theoretical models, and the proposed model was found to give the best prediction for the effective modulus of PMI foams. Parameter studies were also carried out using the RVE models to investigate the effect of the foam cell size and cell thickness on the effective modulus of PMI foams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal Ag nanoparticles were formed by X-ray irradiation in the presence of a polymer. This new synthesis method is simple, rapid and leads to a high production yield. Compared to the citrate-reduced Ag colloidal, polymer-protected Ag nanoparticles are smaller in size and more stable—and therefore suitable for biomedical application—as verified by TEM observation, XAFS measurement and optical characterization. Ag nanoparticles so produced were also visualized in solution and in real time by a visible light microscope based on dark field light scattering. The color-derived size and distribution of Ag nanoparticles correlates well with the hydrodynamic size data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale macroporous TiO2 nanowires (MTN) were directly grown on spiral-shaped titanium wires as photoanodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) via a facile hydrothermal reaction without any seeds, templates, and TiO2 powder. The MTN thin film was characterized by SEM, XRD and TEM. The studies revealed that the MTN thin film had better mechanical properties and provided an efficient pathway for the diffusion of liquid electrolyte. The efficiency of 0.86% for the 3D DSSC was obtained with a Jsc of 2.30 mA/cm2, Voc of 616 mV, and FF of 0.61. This MNT-based mini 3D DSSC is a promising photovoltaic device for applications in the fields of high-integrated micro-electronic equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional PT -symmetric quantum-mechanical systems with the complex cubic potential V12 = x2 + y2 + igxy2 and the complex Hénon-Heiles potential VHH = x2 +y2 +ig(xy² - x³/3) are investigated. Using numerical and perturbative methods, energy spectra are obtained to high levels. Although both potentials respect the PT symmetry, the complex energy eigenvalues appear when level crossing happens between same parity eigenstates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Two cotton genotypes, Simian 3 (SM 3) and WC, were co-transformed using a mixture of four Agrobacterium tumefaciens cultures of strain LBA4404, each carrying a plasmid harboring the following genes, Bt + sck (for Bacillus thuringenesis protein and modified Cowpea trypsin inhibitor), bar (for glufosinate), keratin, and fibroin. The frequency of callus induction, embryogenesis, and plant regeneration were notably different between the two genotypes. However, there were no differences between the two genotypes for number of plantlets carrying multiple gene copies of different gene combinations as well as transformation frequency for different gene combinations. PCR analysis indicated that more than 80% of plantlets carried the nptII gene for kanamycin resistance. Overall, the co-transformation frequency of two or more genes was about 35%. Southern blot analysis confirmed integration of target genes into the cotton genome, and the number of copies of the transgene(s) varied from one to four. Multiple transgene expression was confirmed by RT-PCR analysis in some transgenic lines. Further analysis of T1 plants demonstrated that multiple transgenes were inherited and expressed in progenies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caspase-12 has been localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and showed to involve ER stress-induced apoptosis. In the present work we investigated the temporospatial alterations of caspase-12 immunoreactivity in the penumbra following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in rabbit. Transient cerebral ischemia was produced by intraluminal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery for 2 h followed by 1 h, 6 h, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days and 14 days of reperfusion. Caspase-12 immunohistochemistry was first increased in the penumbra 1 h after reperfusion, with a peak at day 1 to day 3, and then gradually decreased to basal level at day 14. The number of TUNEL-positive cells and ultrastructural observation of brain sections in the penumbra showed a similar change at the same time points. ER mediated by caspase-12 participated in apoptosis induced by cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, which may provide a new area for therapeutic intervention to ameliorate outcomes following cerebral ischemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple method using high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection is presented for the simultaneous determination of the antiparasitic agents avermectins (abamectin, ivermectin and doramectin) in bovine liver. Samples were extracted using acetonitrile and cleaned up on an alumina SPE column and derivatized with trifluoroacetic anhydride. The derivatives were detected using fluorescence detector set at 365 nm excitation and 475 nm emission wavelengths. As the results, the limit of quantification for three avermectins was about 1 μg/kg. Inter-assay showed the mean recoveries of avermectins in bovine liver ranged from 72% to 81%, with RSD less than 9.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive method was developed and validated for the quantitation of trenbolone residues in bovine liver. Target analytes were extracted from liver homogenate using solid phase cartridges, separated on a Phenyl column and detected using an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer operating in positive ion mode. The mean recovery of the analytes was between 62% and 69%. The method provided detection capabilities of 1 μg/kg for trenbolone. The method is suitable for application in veterinary drug residue in surveillance programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ronidazole (RNZ), metronidazole (MNZ) and dimetridazole (DMZ) residues in swine liver. Following liquid–liquid extraction, the HLB solid-phase extraction was used for further purification. The targets were detected by atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) following the reverse phase liquid chromatography separation. Consequently, the detection limits for the method were 0.5 μg/kg for MNZ, 1.0 μg/kg for RNZ and 0.5 μg/kg for DMZ, respectively. The accuracies were determined using swine liver samples fortified at levels of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 μg/kg and the mean recoveries of the analytes were between 66% and 81%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Nonspecific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP) is usually basic and secreted low-molecular-mass protein in plants. The 3-D structure of nsLTP1 resembles that of elicitin produced by the plant pathogen Phytophthora cryptogea, which can bind to the plant plasma membrane putative receptor and activate the downstream responses. It is inferred that nsLTP1 may have similar binding sites on the plasma membranes. In this work, rice recombinant protein TRX-nsLTP110 labeled with 125I was shown to bind to rice plasma membrane preparations in a saturable curve, with an apparent Kd of 13.6 nM and Bmax of 150 fmol/mg proteins. Competition experiments revealed that the binding of TRX-nsLTP110 was specific, in contrast to the nonspecific binding of the fusion tag thioredoxin. Protease treatment assay showed that the binding sites were proteinaceous. Our results suggest that the binding sites of nsLTPs on plasma membranes may be ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. They may be competed out from the binding sites under pathogen attack, supporting a role for nsLTP1 in host defense response to pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antigen 85B (Ag85B) is an important immunodominant antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and is a very promising vaccine candidate molecule. Rv3425 is a member of the subgroup 3 of the PPE family, which does not exist in all BCG strains. In this study we constructed a new rBCG which included this united gene (Ag85B-Rv3425). The level of antigen-stimulated T cells expressing IFN-γ was significantly higher in the C57BL/6 mice vaccinated with rBCG::Ag85B-Rv3425 than with BCG. In addition, the sera from mice immunized with rBCG::Ag85B-Rv3425 revealed an increase in the specific immunoglobulin G titers than that from mice immunized with BCG. Antigen specific IgG subclass analysis showed that rBCG::Ag85B-Rv3425 tended to facilitate IgG2a production, suggesting enhancement of predominant Th1 response which in turn may facilitate increased production of protective IFN-γ. These results suggested that this rBCG::Ag85B-Rv3425 could be a strong vaccine candidate for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAim:Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is an important hypertrophic and cell cycle progression factor for a number of cell types. It has been proven that IGF-1 is involved in the regulation of thyroid proliferation and cell cycle progression; however, the exact mechanism of this regulation has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of IGF-1 on the expression of cyclin D1, an important cell cycle regulatory protein, and a signaling pathway involved in IGF-1's effect on cyclinD1 expression in FRTL thyroid cells.Methods:FRTL thyroid cells were treated with IGF-1 or vector control for 24 h. As appropriate to individual experiments, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, LY294002, and/or a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor, BAY11-7082, were added 1 h prior to IGF-1 treatment. Western blotting was used to detect cyclin D1 protein expression. Immunofluorescence was performed to analyze the expression of IκBα, an NF-κB inhibitory protein. Cell cycle analysis was performed by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS).Results:IGF-1 increased the cyclin D1 expression in thyroid cells. This increase was blocked by pretreatment with LY294002 or BAY11-7082. Further studies showed that IGF-1 specifically induced NF-κB activity. Treatment with IGF-1 could accelerate cell cycle progression from G0/G1 to S phase, whereas this progression was inhibited by the presence of LY294002 or BAY11-7082.Conclusion:In summary, the results of the present study show that in FRTL cells, IGF-1 promotes cell cycle progression via an upregulation of cyclin D1 expression, at least partially through the PI3K/NF-κB signaling pathway.Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2009) 30: 113–119; doi: 10.1038/aps.2008.8; published online 8th December 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel structure of photoelectrochromic cell fabricated with titanium wirelike photo-electrode is introducedin this paper. The transmittance spectra show that average transmittance of devices is 68.0% (from 400 to 1100 nm) at bleached state and 26.1% (from 400 to 1100 nm) at colored state, respectively. And the maximal photopic transmittance of the device varies from 81.9% (bleached state) to 30.3% (colored state) at 736 nm. Compared with traditional devices, the spectral response range is improved obviously, which solves the problem of lower transmittance at bleached state for traditional devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Single crystals of ZnIICl2(C11H14N4O4)2 · 0.47H2O (I) were obtained from an aqueous solution of ZnCl2 and doxofylline in a 1: 2 molar ratio, and the crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (tetragonal, space group P41, Z = 8, a = b = 14.9481(5), c = 25.4778(11) Å). In the compound I, Zn2 cation is located at the center of a distorted tetragonal coordination polyhedron, formed by the two Cl atoms and two N atoms of doxofylline ligands. In the crystal, crystallographically independent molecules of the compound I are bonded alternatively together by Cl···N secondary bonds to form four-fold helix chain along the z axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agrobacterium- tumefaciens-mediated transformation of cotton embryogenic calli (EC) was enhanced by choosing appropriate EC and improving efficiency of coculture, selection cultivation, and plant regeneration. After 48-h cocultivation, the number of β-glucuronidase (GUS)-positive calli characterized by yellow, loose, and fine-grained EC was twofold greater than that of gray, brown, and coarse-granule EC. It indicated that efficiency of transient transformation was affected by EC morphology. And transient transformation efficiency was also improved by cocultivation on the medium adding 50 mg l−1 acetosyringone at 19°C for 48 h. Subculturing EC on the selection medium with low cell density was beneficial to production of more kanamycin-resistant (Km-R) calli lines. From an original 0.3-g EC, an average of 20 Km-R calli lines were obtained from a selection dish and the GUS-positive rate of Km-R clones was 81.97%. A large number of normal plants were rapidly regenerated on the differentiation medium with dehydration treatments and the GUS-positive rate of regeneration plants was about 72.60%. Polymerase chain reaction analysis of GUS-positive plantlets revealed a 100% positive detection rate for neomycin phosphotransferase II gene and uidA. Southern blot of transgenic plants regenerated from different Km-R calli lines demonstrated that the target gene, mostly with the low copy number, has been integrated into the cotton genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have examined the working diameter of capillary columns with diameter of 5, 7, 10 and 20 mm. These modified capillary columns were carefully filled with local Taiwan laterite (LTL). The porosity and density of these packed columns was 0.51±0.02 g/g and 1.27±0.05 g/cm3, respectively. The diffusion experiments were then carried out in synthetic groundwater with Cs loading of 0.1mM at room temperature. Experimental results have shown that the diffusion profiles of modified capillary columns fit Fick’s second law very well. This result revealed that the working diameter of a capillary column can be expanded to at least to 20 mm without affecting the validity of the derived diffusion coefficients. Among these columns, the ones with 5 mm diameter show the most consistent results of the derived K d , apparent and effective diffusion coefficients. Although the derived distribution and effective diffusion coefficients slightly decrease as the diameter of these columns increases due to the increase of the solid/liquid ratio. These values are still informative of the Cs diffusion in local Taiwan laterite. Moreover, our results clearly demonstrate the potential of using “modified capillary method” to study the diffusion behaviors of concerned radionuclide because columns with large diameter enable the filling with more versatile geological substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract   Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated gene transformation caused highly sterile phenotype in T1 transgenic populations of Arabidopsis thaliana. The phenomenon occurred independent of the genes and construct types used for transformation. The occurring frequency is less than 10% and the phenotype is inheritable. Intensive examination elucidated that the sterility is due to indehiscence or delayed dehiscence of the anthers during the flowering stage, resulting from the reduced or disordered endothecial secondary wall thickening of the anthers in the sterile flowers. Exogenous jasmonic acid application cannot rescue the sterile phenotype. Additionally, by using the Escherichia coli uidA gene encoding the β-glucuronidase as a reporter gene, we indicated that the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was not constitutively active as expected previously in the reproductive organs of Arabidopsis. These results contribute significantly to the plant community by suggesting that more careful examination and statistical analysis are needed while studying gain-of-function phenotypes of genes, especially for genes that might be involved in reproductive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Histograms have been widely used for selectivity estimation in query optimization, as well as for fast approximate query answering in many OLAP, data mining, and data visualization applications. This paper presents a new family of histograms, the Hierarchical Model Fitting (HMF) histograms, based on the Minimum Description Length principle. Rather than having each bucket of a histogram described by the same type of model, the HMF histograms employ a local optimal model for each bucket. The improved effectiveness of the locally chosen models offsets more than the overhead of keeping track of the representation of each individual bucket. Through a set of experiments, we show that the HMF histograms are capable of providing more accurate approximations than previously proposed techniques for many real and synthetic data sets across a variety of query workloads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The present work revealed there was a conceptual difference in the thermal decomposition behaviors between the complexed β-cyclodextrin (CD) in an inclusion system and the β-CD complex of guest. The thermal decomposition behaviors of the solid inclusion complexes of β-CD with ethylenediamine (Eda), diethylenetriamine (Dta) and triethylamine (Tea) were investigated using nonisothermal thermogravimetry (TG) analysis based on weight loss as a function of temperature. In view of TG profiles, a consecutive mechanism describing the formation and thermal decomposition of the three solid supermolecules of β-CD was presented. Heating rate has very different effects on the thermal decomposition behaviors of these complexes. The faster the heating rate is, the higher the melting-decomposition point of the complexed β-CD in an inclusion system is, and on the whole the bigger the rate constant (k) of the thermal decomposition reaction of the complexed β-CD is. The thermal decomposition process of the complexed β-CD for each inclusion system is determined to be simple first-order reaction using Ozawa method. The apparent activation energies (E a) and frequency factors (A) of the thermal decomposition reactions of the complexed β-CD molecules have been also calculated. It is found that when the decomposition reaction of the complexed β-CD encountered a large value of E a, such as that in Dta–β-CD system, an apparent compensation effect of A on E a can provide enough energy to conquer the reaction barrier in prompting the k value of thermal decomposition reaction of the complexed β-CD according to Arrhenius equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]