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Low-temperature stress is a destructive abiotic stress that limits the production and quality of tropical and subtropical crops. In this study, we investigated the physiological responses of the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. variety 'Kenfeng 16' and the mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) R.Wilczek) variety 'Lvfeng 2' to exogenous uniconazole S3307 and low-temperature stress at the initial flowering (R1) stage. Uniconazole S3307 increased the photosynthetic parameters [net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci)], sucrose phosphate synthetase (SPS) activity, and the contents of sucrose (SUC) and starch (STA) in 'Kenfeng 16' and 'Lvfeng 2' under low-temperature stress; but it decreased the activities of acid invertase (AI), neutral invertase (NI), total invertase (IN) as well as the contents of glucose and fructose. Additionally, sucrose synthase (SS) activity was increased in 'Kenfeng 16' but decreased in 'Lvfeng 2' with uniconazole S3307 treatment. The observed changes of Pn, SUC, and STA in 'Kenfeng 16'; the AI and IN activities in 'Lvfeng 2'; and the glucose and fructose contents in both varieties were quickly recovered after they were subjected to the 4-day recovery period. Compared with the controls, the yield and yield components of 'Lvfeng 2' were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher on day 1 (D1), D2, and D3 of the cold-stress conditions, respectively. The yield per plant was positively correlated with the number of grains per plant, number of pods per plant, Gs, SUC, and STA in 'Lvfeng 2' and 'Kenfeng 16'. S3307 enhanced the Gs and the accumulation of SUC and STA, but it decreased the NI activity, glucose content, and fructose content, thereby alleviating cold stress to increase the yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the concept for improving film cooling performance by placing a ramp upstream the film hole with compound angle. Eight cases with different geometry models are investigated, including the compound angles of 15°, 30°, 45° and the distances between the upstream ramps and film holes (upstream distances) of 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm. The effect of compound angle and upstream distance on film cooling performance is studied. The cases of film cooling on a flat plate, film cooling with compound angle, and film cooling with an upstream ramp are also presented as a contrast. The film cooling performance is evaluated at the density ratio of 0.97 with the blowing ratios ranging from 1.0 to 2.0. Results obtained show that the film cooling performance with compound angle is greatly improved by the upstream ramp, especially in the region downstream the film hole. Both the entrainment of coolant and modified kidney vortices are observed in the case of the novel geometry. The film cooling performance is greatly improved by the dual effect of coolant entrainment and modified kidney vortices. In addition, the film cooling performance is influenced by compound angle and upstream distance. With the increase of compound angle, the lateral adiabatic cooling effectiveness rises. With the increase of the upstream distance, the lateral adiabatic cooling effectiveness goes down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia coli Ras-like protein (Era) forms a special GTPase family, which functions in the regulation of the cell cycle by coupling cell division with the growth rate. A cDNA sequence coding GTPase Era mRNA has been cloned from mulberry in the present report. Sequence analysis revealed that its ORF is 1275 bp in length, encoding 424 amino acid protein. The GTPase Era gene had an era domain that belonged to the FeoB_N superfamily. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences encoded by the GTPase gene from different species reveals that Morus alba L. was closely connected to Morus notabilis, Ipomoea nill, Capsicum annuum, Solanum pennellii, Nicotiana sylvestris and Nicotiana tabacum. GTPase Era expression patterns treated under drought, low temperature, and salt stress treatment were investigated using quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) in real-time. The expression level of mRNA showed a significant change in drought, cold, and salt stress treatment compared to the standard growth environment. The highest expression were observed on the third day for drought stress, on the sixth day for low temperature and the seventh day for the salt stress. These findings provide a more definite knowledge on the molecular basis of signal transduction in mulberry trees during stress responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HOXA transcript antisense RNA myeloid-specific 1 (HOTAIRM1) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that plays a pivotal role in regulating myeloid cell development via targeting HOXA1 gene expression. We and others have previously shown that myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a heterogeneous population of immature myeloid cells, expand during chronic viral (HCV, HIV) infections. However, the role of HOTAIRM1 in the development and suppression of MDSCs during viral infection remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that the expressions of HOTAIRM1 and its target HOXA1 are substantially upregulated to promote the expressions of immunosuppressive molecules, including arginase 1, inducible nitric oxide synthase, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, and reactive oxygen species, in CD33+ myeloid cells derived from hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. We show that HCV-associated exosomes (HCV-Exo) can modulate HOTAIRM1, HOXA1, and miR124 expressions to regulate MDSC development. Importantly, overexpression of HOTAIRM1 or HOXA1 in healthy CD33+ myeloid cells promoted the MDSC differentiation and suppressive functions; conversely, silencing of HOTAIRM1 or HOXA1 expression in MDSCs from HCV patients significantly reduced the MDSC frequency and their suppressive functions. In essence, these results indicate that the HOTAIRM1-HOXA1-miR124 axis enhances the differentiation and suppressive functions of MDSCs and may be a potential target for immunomodulation in conjunction with antiviral therapy during chronic viral infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used eight millet varieties and took visible-near-infrared hyperspectral images of 480 millet samples. Spectral and image characteristics, including texture and color features, of the millet samples were extracted from the hyperspectral images. Support vector machine (SVM) models for millet variety identification were established using the extracted spectral and image characteristics. An attention-convolutional recurrent neural network (attention- CRNN) model with attention mechanism was introduced for the identification of millet varieties, and the SVM and attention- CRNN models for millet variety identification were established using an image and spectral features fusion method. We found that the highest mathematical transformation method was the reciprocal logarithmic method. The identification accuracy of the SVM cultivar classification model with the reciprocal logarithmic spectral characteristics curve was 73.13%. The overall identification accuracy of the SVM model for the eight millet varieties using the image features was only 61.25%. The identification accuracy of the SVM model using the image and spectral information fusion method greatly improved the overall accuracy rate to 77.5%, and the minimum discrimination accuracy of the millet varieties increased from 50 to 65%. The overall identification accuracy of the attention-CRNN model was 87.50%, which is 10% higher than that of the SVM model, and the minimum discrimination accuracy of the millet varieties increased from 65 to 90%. The results show that the attention-CRNN model improved the overall identification accuracy of the eight millet varieties and greatly improved the minimum identification accuracy. The attention-CRNN model shows great potential for the nondestructive identification of millet and possibly other small grain varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the concept for enhancing film cooling performance by placing shaped vortex generators (VG) upstream of the film hole. Nine cases with different shapes of vortex generators are investigated, including the rectangular shape, triangular shape, parallelogram shape, and trapezoid shape. The film cooling performance is evaluated at the density of 0.97 with the blowing ratios ranging from 0.5 to 1.5. Results obtained show that the film cooling performance is greatly improved by the upstream VG. The twisted flow rotates in the opposite direction of kidney vortices, attenuating its effect. Furthermore, the case with rectangular VG shows the most uniform coolant layer in the spanwise direction and the highest averaged adiabatic cooling effectiveness while the total pressure loss increases a bit as a penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural fracture of rock has a strong effect on the law of explosion stress wave transmission and crack propagation during blasting. Based on the stress wave theory, the influential mechanism for both the law of transmission of the stress wave and of crack propagation due to natural fracture and water jet slot are analysed. Next, an experiment is conducted to understand the crack propagation law because of the effect of an explosion shock wave, and the evolution law of the blast stress wave and blast-induced crack propagation is simulated by ANSYS/LS-DYNA. The results indicate that the existence of the water jet slot not only promotes the generation of the main crack along its direction, but also promotes the generation of the secondary crack near the water jet slot because of the explosion shock wave. The direction of propagation of the secondary crack and the main crack are seriously affected by the natural fracture. In addition, if the distance between the blast hole and the natural fracture is too small, a smash area is formed; and with an increase in the distance between the blast hole and the natural fracture, the smash area becomes smaller, and the effect on the blast-induced crack becomes weaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid analysis of 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) residue by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with a portable Raman spectrometer is reported. The results showed that the Raman signals of 6-BAP can be significantly enhanced when mixed with a gold nanoparticle colloid substrate. The typical Raman shifts of 6-BAP extraction were at 1002, 1318, and 1336 cm-1 and the intensities of normalized characteristic band at 1002 cm-1 (I1002 to I738) showed high correlation with 6-BAP concentrations. The concentration linear range was 0.1-5.0 μg/mL. The coefficient of determination (R2) was about 0.99, and calculated RSDs below 10%. The SERS data matched well with the HPLC results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, samples of the H13 steel, a commonly used hot work tool steel in the die/mould manufacturing industry, were additively manufactured using selective laser melting (SLM). Their as-built microstructures were characterised in detail using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and compared with that of the conventionally manufactured H13 (as-supplied). SLM resulted in the formation of martensite and also its partial decomposition into fine α-Fe and FeC precipitates along with retained austenite. TEM analyses further revealed that the lattice of the resulting α-Fe phase is slightly distorted due to enhanced Cr, Mo and V contents. Substantially high residual stresses in the range of 940-1420 MPa were detected in the as-built H13 samples compared with its yield strength of ~1650 MPa. In addition, it was identified that the high residual stress existed from just about two additive layers (100 µm) above the substrate along the build direction. The high residual stresses were mainly attributed to the martensitic transformation that occurred during SLM. The research findings of this study suggest that the substantially high residual stresses can be easily problematic in the AM of intricate H13 dies or moulds by SLM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to regulate tumor biology and might be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and potential therapeutic targets. Although up-regulation of lncRNA UCA1 (urothelial carcinoma-associated 1) in several cancers has been found, its role in gastric cancer remains elusive. The aim of this study was to detect the expression of lncRNA UCA1 in gastric cancer and its clinical association. The expression of UCA1 was detected in 112 pairs of tumorous and adjacent normal tissues from patients with gastric cancer, as well as in four gastric cancer cell lines and a human normal gastric epithelium cell line using RT-qPCR. Results showed that UCA1 expression was remarkably increased in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines compared with that in the normal control. Clinicopathologic analysis revealed that high UCA1 expression correlated with worse differentiation, tumor size, invasion depth and TNM stage in gastric cancer. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that increased UCA1 expression contributed to poor overall survival ( p = 0.017) and disease-free survival ( p = 0.024) of patients. A multivariate survival analysis also indicated that UCA1 could be an independent prognostic marker. The levels of UCA1 in gastric juice from gastric patients were significantly higher than those from normal subjects ( p = 0.016). Moreover, validation analysis showed that UCA1 levels were robust in differentiating gastric cancer patients from control subjects [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.721; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.655-0.788, p < 0.01]. These results suggested that UCA1 might serve as a promising biomarker for early detection and prognosis prediction of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effect of strain on specific heat, sound velocity and lattice thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline bismuth antimony telluride thin films, we performed both experimental study and modeling. The nanocrystalline thin films had mostly preferred crystal orientation along c-axis, and strains in the both directions of c-axis and a- b-axis. It was found that the thermal conductivity of nanocrystalline thin films decreased greatly as compared with that of bulk alloys. To gain insight into the thermal transport in the strained nanocrystalline thin films, we estimated the lattice thermal conductivity based on the phonon transport model of full distribution of mean free paths accounting for the effects of grain size and strain which was influenced to both the sound velocity and the specific heat. As a result, the lattice thermal conductivity was increased when the strain was shifted from compressive to tensile direction. We also confirmed that the strain was influenced by the lattice thermal conductivity but the reduction of the lattice thermal conductivity of thin films can be mainly attributed to the nano-size effect rather than the strain effect. Finally, it was found that the measured lattice thermal conductivities were in good agreement with modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) are extremely deleterious lesions that are repaired by homologous recombination (HR) through coordination of Fanconi anemia (FA) proteins and breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) product, but the exact role these proteins have remains unclear. Here we report that FANCG was modified by the addition of lysine63-linked polyubiquitin chains (K63Ub) in response to DNA damage. We show that FANCG K63Ub was dispensable for monoubiquitination of FANCD2, but was required for FANCG to interact with the Rap80-BRCA1 (receptor-associated protein 80-BRCA1) complex for subsequent modulation of HR repair of ICLs induced by mitomycin C. Mutation of three lysine residues within FANCG to arginine (K182, K258 and K347, 3KR) reduced FANCG K63Ub modification, as well as its interaction with the Rap80-BRCA1 complex, and therefore impeded HR repair. In addition, we demonstrated that K63Ub-modified FANCG was deubiquitinated by BRCC36 complex in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of BRCC36 resulted in increased K63Ub modification of FANCG. Taken together, our results identify a new role of FANCG in HR repair of ICL through K63Ub-mediated interaction with the Rap80-BRCA1 complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has essential roles in development and cancer. Although β-catenin and adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene mutations are well established and are known to drive tumorigenesis, discoveries of mutations in other components of the pathway lagged, which hinders the understanding of cancer mechanisms. Here we report that δ-catenin (gene designation: CTNND2), a primarily neural member of the β-catenin superfamily that promotes canonical Wnt/β-catenin/LEF-1-mediated transcription, displays exonic mutations in human prostate cancer and promotes cancer cell survival adaptation and metabolic reprogramming. When overexpressed in cells derived from prostate tumor xenografts, δ-catenin gene invariably gives rise to mutations, leading to sequence disruptions predicting functional alterations. Ectopic δ-catenin gene integrating into host chromosomes is locus nonselective. δ-Catenin mutations promote tumor development in mouse prostate with probasin promoter (ARR2PB)-driven, prostate-specific expression of Myc oncogene, whereas mutant cells empower survival advantage upon overgrowth and glucose deprivation. Reprogramming energy utilization accompanies the downregulation of glucose transporter-1 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage while preserving tumor type 2 pyruvate kinase expression. δ-Catenin mutations increase β-catenin translocation to the nucleus and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) expression. Therefore, introducing δ-catenin mutations is an important milestone in prostate cancer metabolic adaptation by modulating β-catenin and HIF-1α signaling under glucose shortage to amplify its tumor-promoting potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solidly mounted resonators (SMRs) have recently been adopted as alternatives to quartz crystal microbalance in bio-molecular and chemical detection field. In this study, the resonance characteristics of highly c-axis-textured AlN film-based SMR were investigated to obtain better sensitivity for mass sensing applications. The resonant frequencies and quality factors of SMR with different sizes and shapes of active resonant configuration were characterized. The results show that the effect of active resonant area on the resonance frequency is insignificant. However, the quality factor is strongly dependent on the size and shape of active resonant area. Optimized resonant patterns were applied to a 2.0 GHz SMR and mass sensor. Experimental results indicate that the sensitivity of the device achieved can be as high as 6,544 Hz cm/ng, which shows the promising application in bio-molecular and industrial detecting application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Despite its promise as a highly useful therapy for pancreatic cancer (PC), the addition of external beam radiation therapy to PC treatment has shown varying success in clinical trials. Understanding PC radioresistance and discovery of methods to sensitise PC to radiation will increase patient survival and improve quality of life. In this study, we identified PC radioresistance-associated pathways using global, unbiased techniques.Methods:Radioresistant cells were generated by sequential irradiation and recovery, and global genome cDNA microarray analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes in radiosensitive and radioresistant cells. Ingenuity pathway analysis was performed to discover cellular pathways and functions associated with differential radioresponse and identify potential small-molecule inhibitors for radiosensitisation. The expression of FDPS, one of the most differentially expressed genes, was determined in human PC tissues by IHC and the impact of its pharmacological inhibition with zoledronic acid (ZOL, Zometa) on radiosensitivity was determined by colony-forming assays. The radiosensitising effect of Zol in vivo was determined using allograft transplantation mouse model.Results:Microarray analysis indicated that 11 genes (FDPS, ACAT2, AG2, CLDN7, DHCR7, ELFN2, FASN, SC4MOL, SIX6, SLC12A2, and SQLE) were consistently associated with radioresistance in the cell lines, a majority of which are involved in cholesterol biosynthesis. We demonstrated that knockdown of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (FDPS), a branchpoint enzyme of the cholesterol synthesis pathway, radiosensitised PC cells. FDPS was significantly overexpressed in human PC tumour tissues compared with healthy pancreas samples. Also, pharmacologic inhibition of FDPS by ZOL radiosensitised PC cell lines, with a radiation enhancement ratio between 1.26 and 1.5. Further, ZOL treatment resulted in radiosensitisation of PC tumours in an allograft mouse model.Conclusions:Unbiased pathway analysis of radioresistance allowed for the discovery of novel pathways associated with resistance to ionising radiation in PC. Specifically, our analysis indicates the importance of the cholesterol synthesis pathway in PC radioresistance. Further, a novel radiosensitiser, ZOL, showed promising results and warrants further study into the universality of these findings in PC, as well as the true potential of this drug as a clinical radiosensitiser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an important pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. We have shown previously that a region from −5307 to −5202 bp upstream of the IL-6 transcriptional start site is responsible for basal IL-6 gene expression, and that there were DNA-binding proteins involved from electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and transient expression experiments. Here we have combined surface plasmon resonance technology with mass spectrometry analysis and have identified nuclear proteins bound to this region. HNRNPA1 and HNRNPA2B1 were found consistently. EMSA supershift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed the involvement of HNRNPA1, but not of HNRNPA2B1. Knocking down the HNRNPA1 expression by small interfering RNA resulted in reduced IL-6 transcriptional activity as assessed from transfection experiments using reporter constructs, mRNA and protein measurements. Overexpression of HNRNPA1 cDNA increased IL-6 mRNA expression. This regulation was dependent on the presence of the sequence from −5307 to −5202 bp of the IL-6 gene. Thus, HNRNPA1 is a novel transcriptional regulator of IL-6 expression, acting via the 5′-flanking sequence of the gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of functional regulatory polymorphism at the interleukin 6 (IL6) locus is uncertain, with many conflicting in vitro findings. To examine the in vivo effect of the three putative functional IL6 promoter variants, −174G>C, −572G>C and −6331T>C, two complementary techniques, allele-specific chromatin immunoprecipitation and allele-specific formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements, were carried out using unrelated lymphoblast cell lines of known genotype. There were no allele-specific effects for all three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) under basal conditions. Upon IL-1β stimulation, however, allele-specific effects were seen for the −6331 allele, which showed both increased RNA polymerase II loading (56%, P=0.001) and increased open chromatin (59%, P=0.004) for the T allele, which is in line with previous reports of this SNP and the effects from acute inflammation. These studies highlight the importance of examining chromatin under different environmental conditions when studying the functionality of regulatory polymorphisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:The skeletal muscle of obese humans is characterized by an inability to appropriately respond to alterations in substrate availability. The purpose of this study was to determine if this metabolic inflexibility with obesity is retained in mitochondria of human skeletal muscle cells raised in culture (HSkMC) and to identify potential mechanisms involved.Design:Mitochondrial respiration was measured in permeabilized myotubes cultured from lean and obese individuals before and after a 24-h lipid incubation.Results:Mitochondrial respiration (state 3) in the presence of lipid substrate (palmitoyl carnitine) increased by almost twofold after lipid incubation in HSkMC from lean, but not obese subjects, indicative of metabolic inflexibility with obesity. The 24-h lipid incubation increased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in HSkMC from lean subjects by +16% (P<0.05); conversely, mtDNA copy number decreased in myotubes cultured from obese individuals (−13%, P=0.06). When respiration data were normalized to mtDNA copy number and other indices of mitochondrial content (COX-IV protein content and CS activity), the significant treatment effects of lipid incubation persisted in the lean subjects, suggesting concomitant alterations in mitochondrial function; no similar adjustment was evident in HSkMC from obese individuals.Conclusion:These data indicate that the skeletal muscle of obese individuals inherently lacks metabolic flexibility in response to lipid exposure, which consists of an inability to increase mitochondrial respiration in the presence of lipid substrate and perhaps by an inability to induce mitochondrial proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is accepted that accuracy of auscultatory blood pressure (BP) measurement is influenced by measurement conditions. However, there is little comparative quantitative clinical data. The aim of this study was to provide these data. Auscultatory systolic and diastolic BPs (SBPs and DBPs) were measured in 111 healthy subjects under five different conditions (resting, deeper breathing, talking, head and arm movement). The measurement sequence was randomized, and repeated three times. BPs and their within-subject variabilities were compared with resting values. SBP and DBP changed significantly in comparison with the resting condition: decreasing by 4.4 and 4.8 mm Hg, respectively, with deeper breathing (both P<0.001), increasing by 3.7 and 5.0 mm Hg with opposite arm movement, and increasing by 5.3 and 6.2 mm Hg with talking (all P<0.001). The mean differences between deeper breathing and talking were 9.7 and 11.0 mm Hg for SBP and DBP. The within-subject variability for repeat measurement of SBP and DBP under resting condition were 3.7 and 3.2 mm Hg and increased for non-resting conditions (all P<0.05, except for DBP while talking). We have shown that measurement conditions significantly influence manual auscultatory BPs and their measurement variabilities, and we provide quantitative data to allow comparison of the effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification and characterization of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in gastric cancer are difficult owing to the lack of specific markers and consensus methods. In this study, we show that cells with the CD90 surface marker in gastric tumors could be enriched under non-adherent, serum-free and sphere-forming conditions. These CD90+ cells possess a higher ability to initiate tumor in vivo and could re-establish the cellular hierarchy of tumors from single-cell implantation, demonstrating their self-renewal properties. Interestingly, higher proportion of CD90+ cells correlates with higher in vivo tumorigenicity of gastric primary tumor models. In addition, it was found that ERBB2 was overexpressed in about 25% of the gastric primary tumor models, which correlates with the higher level of CD90 expression in these tumors. Trastuzumab (humanized anti-ERBB2 antibody) treatment of high-tumorigenic gastric primary tumor models could reduce the CD90+ population in tumor mass and suppress tumor growth when combined with traditional chemotherapy. Moreover, tumorigenicity of tumor cells could also be suppressed when trastuzumab treatment starts at the same time as cell implantation. Therefore, we have identified a CSC population in gastric primary tumors characterized by their CD90 phenotype. The finding that trastuzumab targets the CSC population in gastric tumors suggests that ERBB2 signaling has a role in maintaining CSC populations, thus contributing to carcinogenesis and tumor invasion. In conclusion, the results from this study provide new insights into the gastric tumorigenic process and offer potential implications for the development of anticancer drugs as well as therapeutic treatment of gastric cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusion proteins containing the amino terminus of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) are common in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) due to translocations. The MLL-AF4 fusion protein is generated by the translocation t(4;11)(q21;q23), and t(4;11)-positive ALL patients (MLL-AF4 ALL), have a notoriously poorer prognosis compared with patients with other MLL-associated leukemias. The detailed role of this fusion protein in leukemogenesis is not well understood. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) targeting the AF4 3′ untranslated regions may modulate MLL-AF4 fusion protein levels, raising the question of whether regulation of these miRNAs are involved in the progression of MLL-AF4 ALL. In this study, we show that miR-143 was identified as a regulator of MLL-AF4 expression in MLL-AF4 ALL samples. Restoration of miR-143 in MLL-AF4-positive RS4;11 and MV4-11 cells induced apoptosis, negatively contributing to leukemia cell growth by reducing MLL-AF4 fusion protein levels. Furthermore, miR-143 was epigenetically repressed by promoter hypermethylation in MLL-AF4-positive primary blasts and cell lines, but not in normal bone marrow cells and MLL-AF4-negative primary blasts, which was directly associated with expression of the MLL-AF4 oncogene. This is the first study to show that miR-143 functions as a tumor suppressor in MLL-AF4 B-cell ALL. These data reveal the therapeutic promise of upregulating miR-143 expression for MLL-AF4 B-cell ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High quality LaCaMnO(LCMO) thin films have been deposited on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates only buffered by yt tria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) by using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The results obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD), reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and magnetization investigations indicate that the LCMO films are highly oriented both in-plane and out-of-plane. The Curie temperature T is close to 260 K and the insulator-metal (I-M) transition appears around 220 K. The conducting mechanism at low temperatures is dominated by the electron-magnon scattering. A tensile stress from the film-substrate lattice mismatch results in magnetic 'easy axes' in the film plane and the magnetic anisotropy energy increases with cooling. A maximum magnetoresistance ( MR) is observed near 190 K, with the external magnetic field either parallel or vertical to the LCMO film plane. Moreover, the large intrinsic high-field magnetoresistance (HFMR) and the very small extrinsic low-field magnetoresistance (LFMR) again reveal that the LCMO films on SOI substrates are highly oriented thin films of good crystallinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Injection moulding optimisation seeks to achieve the highest possible moulding quality under the specified constraints. To this end, the factors (design variables) affecting the moulding quality should be adjusted, including those of process parameters, mould design, part geometry, etc. Past work in this aspect is primarily focused on tuning the process parameters and mould design (e.g., gate location, runner and cooling channel layout), with less attention on the part geometry, and none on them all. To address this problem, this paper presents a PSO (particle swarm optimisation) algorithm for the optimisation of multi-class design variables, such as the part thickness, process parameters (melt temperature, mould temperature, injection time) and gate location. The optimisation is targeted at different aspects of moulding quality, including part warpage, weld lines, air traps, and so on. In applying the PSO algorithm, the paper proposes a modified elite archiving method, which can expedite the convergence speed, hence improving the efficiency of the algorithm. A computer program was developed that automates the steps such as adjusting the part thickness, the injection moulding process parameters and the gate location, activating the CAE software to simulate the injection moulding process, retrieving the simulation results, and evaluating the objective functions. The whole procedure iterates a number of generations by following the search process of the algorithm. A case study was also presented to illustrate as well as to test the proposed methodology, which was demonstrated as both effective and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three arthropods, Locusta migratoria manilensis, Acrida chinensis, and Paraten-odera sinensis were selected to study the bioaccumulation of total and methyl mercury. Concentrations of total mercury in the tissues of Locusta migratoria manilensis and Acrida chinensis were 0.013–0.154 and 0.009–0.138 mg/kg, respectively, while those of methylmercury were 0.001–0.012 and 0.001–0.006 mg/kg, respectively. Concentrations of total mercury in Locusta migratoria manilensis and Acrida chinensis, which are the primary consumers, are lower than those in their food, while mercury is accumulated more by the secondary consumer, Paraten-odera sinensis. For total mercury, the concentrations in Locusta migratoria manilensis are inversely proportional to body length and those in Acrida chinensis increase first and then decrease with increased body length. For methyl mercury, concentration is proportional to body length for both of these arthropods. Total mercury concentrations vary in different parts of the arthropod body, and increase in the order of: abdomen > thorax > head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human protein kinases make up a large superfamily of homologous proteins, which are related by virtue of their kinase domains (also known as catalytic domains). Here, we report the cloning and characterization of a novel human MAST4 (microtubule associated serine/threonine kinase family member 4) gene, which locates on human chromosome 5q13. The MAST4 cDNA is 7587 base pairs in length and encodes a putative protein of 2435 amino acids which contains a serine/threonine kinase domain and a PDZ domain. MAST4 protein has 64, 63, 59, and 39% identical amino acid residues with MAST1, MAST2, MAST3, and MASTL, respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed a relatively high expression level of MAST4 in most normal human tissues, with the exception of in testis, small intestine, colon, and peripheral blood leukocyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of system performance is necessary at various stages of the design process. For this purpose, design equations should be identified or derived, which establish the links between the required performance and the physical structure of the designed system and system inputs/outputs. There has been no generic methodology for the derivation of design equations at the early design stage. In this paper, we present a behavioural modelling methodology to address the problem. It is achieved by modelling the system behaviours as one or more behavioural processes, and deriving design equations from each individual behaviour of the process. To simplify the task as well as those subsequent design tasks, we also discuss the issue of performance analysis oriented design decomposition. This is achieved by developing two design hierarchies with established links between them. An algorithm for automatic design decomposition is subsequently proposed. This algorithm is applicable both before and after the derivation of design equations. Finally, a design case is also studied to illustrate and demonstrate the proposed methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influences of exposure to the atmosphere on ammonium cycle in the intertidal surface sediments were in situ studied with a geochemical approach at a typical station in the Yangtze Estuary during three tidal cycles in September 2003. During an about 8-h emersion period of each diurnal tide, six high-resolution vertical profiles of adsorbed and dissolved ammonium were measured. It was observed that both adsorbed and dissolved ammonium generally had an increasing trend in sediment cores during the exposure. The rate of ammonium regeneration in sediments was estimated using the accumulation amount of ammonium including adsorbed and soluble fractions during the daytime emersion. The calculation result showed that there was relatively high ammonification rate (˜500 nmol N cm−3 day−1), which reflected that organic nitrogen in sediments was quickly decomposed with a residence time of ˜52.7 days. Due to the dramatic temperature difference observed in sediment profiles, free convection was considered an important mechanism of regulating the efflux of produced ammonium into overlying waters. The total estimated amount of regenerated ammonium was ˜1.35×105 t N year−1 in the intertidal flat of the Yangtze Estuary, which occupied 7.6% of the total inorganic nitrogen annually transported to the estuarine ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films have been grown on SrTiO3, LaAlO3, and yttria-stabilized zirconia buffered silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. While full cube-on-cube epitaxy was achieved on the SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 substrates, a coexistence of the cube-on-cube and cube-on-diagonal epitaxy was observed in the the manganite films on SOI substrates. Besides the intrinsic four-fold magnetocrystalline anisotropy, a uniaxial anisotropy also exists in the films, which is determined by the demagnetization field and the mismatch-induced strain. A tensile strain leads to an easy plane, while a compressive strain favors an easy axis. The different magnetization configurations in the films on different substrates are the reason for their varied transport and magnetic properties. Due to a combined effect of these magnetic anisotropy, the magnetization in the two crystallography domains in the film on SOI tends to lie in the film plane but align in their respective easy axes. There are always large spin angles across the domain boundaries. As a result, a quite large low-field magnetoresistance (LFMR) based on spin-dependent tunnelling was observed. It shows a resistance change of ∼20% at 50 K in a magnetic field ∼700 Oe, which is promising for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic algorithm (GA) has been widely applied to many non-polynomial hard optimisation problems, such as flow shop and job shop scheduling. It is well known that the efficiency and effectiveness of GA highly depend on its control parameters, but even setting suitable parameters often suffers from tedious trial and error. Currently, setting optimal parameters is still an open problem and one of the most important and promising areas for GA. In this paper, the determination of optimal GA control parameters with limited computational effort and total simulation replication constraint, namely, population size, crossover and mutation probabilities, is firstly formulated as a stochastic optimisation problem. Ordinal optimisation and optimal computing budget allocation are then applied to select the optimal GA control parameters while providing reasonable performance evaluation for hard flow shop scheduling problems. Lastly the effectiveness of the methodology is demonstrated by simulation results based on benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important optimisation problem with a strong engineering background, stochastic flow shop scheduling with uncertain processing time is difficult because of inaccurate objective estimation, huge search space, and multiple local minima, especially NP-hardness. As an effective meta-heuristic, genetic algorithms (GAs) have been widely studied and applied in scheduling fields, but so far seldom for stochastic cases. In this paper, a hypothesis-test method, an effective methodology in statistics, is employed and incorporated into a GA to solve the stochastic flow shop scheduling problem and to avoid premature convergence of the GA. The proposed approach is based on statistical performance and a hypothesis test. It not only preserves the global search ability of a GA, but it can also reduce repeated searches for those solutions with similar performance in a statistical sense so as to enhance population diversity and achieve better results. Simulation results based on some benchmarks demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method by comparison with traditional GAs. The effects of some parameters on the performance of the proposed algorithms are also discussed . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been widely applied for many non-polynomial hard optimisation problems, such as flow shop and job shop scheduling. It is well known that the efficiency and effectiveness of a GA is highly depend on its control parameters, but setting suitable parameters often involves tedious trial and error. Currently, setting optimal parameters is still a substantial problem and is one of the most important and promising areas for GAs. In this paper, the determination of optimal GA control parameters with limited computational effort and simulation replication constraints, namely, population size, crossover and mutation probabilities, is firstly formulated as a stochastic optimisation problem. Then, the ordinal optimisation (OO) and the optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA) are applied to select the optimal GA control parameters, thereby providing a reasonable performance evaluation for hard flow shop scheduling problems. The effectiveness of the methodology is demonstrated by simulation results based on benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A numerical model for the current conduction in single-layer organic light-emitting devices is established under the basis of trapped charge-limited conduction with an exponential trap distribution. The dependences of the current density on the operation voltage, the thickness of the organic layer, and the trap properties are numerically studied. The current density decreases nearly exponentially with the thickness of the organic layer and the relative trap depth (l), and it is inversely proportional to the lth power of the total trap density. The results from simulations for the current–voltage characteristics agree very well with those from experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A class of order-based genetic algorithm is presented for flow shop scheduling that is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem with a strong engineering background. The proposed order-based genetic algorithm borrows from the idea of ordinal optimisation to ensure the quality of the solution found with a reduction in computation effort and applies the evolutionary searching mechanism and learning capability of genetic algorithms to effectively perform exploration and exploitation. Under the guidance of ordinal optimisation and with an emphasis on order-based searching and elitist-based evolution in the proposed approach, a solution that is "good enough" can be guaranteed with a high confidence level and reduced level of computation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by numerical simulation results based on benchmarks, and its optimisation quality is much better than that of the classic genetic algorithm, the well-known NEH heuristic, as well as being better than a pure blind search. Moreover, the effects of some parameters on optimisation performance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. Two genotypes of Rubella virus have been described that differ by 8–9% at the nucleotide level in the E1 glycoprotein gene. Of these, genotype II (RGII) was only recently reported and in this study two RGII viruses, the BRDII vaccine strain and BR1 wild type strain, were characterized. Monoclonal antibodies against each of the virion proteins (capsid [C], glycoproteins E1 and E2) and polyclonal anti-rubella virus sera reacted similarly with purified virions from the RGII and reference RGI strains on Western gels, with the exception of one anti-E2 Mab, and thus the two genotypes are closely related antigenically. The genomic sequences of two genotype II (RGII) rubella virus strains were determined and compared with the six previously reported RGI sequences. The genomes of these viruses all contained 9762 nts and the lengths of the three untranslated regions (UTRs) and two open reading frames (ORF’s) were identical. The overall difference between the RGI and RGII sequences at the nt level was ∼8% and this difference was maintained across most of the genome. At the amino acid level, the RGI and RGII sequences differed overall by ∼4%, however this difference was not uniform across the ORF’s as the N-terminal third of P150 and the entirety of P90, both replicase proteins, were more conserved (<1% difference) while the C-terminal two thirds of P150 exhibited greater variation (∼8% difference), including a hypervariable region between residues 771–801 within which divergence as great as 20–30% was detected. The parent wt virus of the BRDII vaccine was not available and its sequence was compared with the BR1 sequence to identify potential attenuating mutations. The BRDII and BR1 sequences varied at 252 residues (2.59%), including twelve in the UTRs and thirty coding differences in the ORF’s. None of these differences in the BRDII sequence was vaccine-specific when compared with RGI wt and vaccine sequences and, therefore, there appeared to be no common pathway in the generation of live, attenuated rubella vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: In this research, c-axis oriented epitaxial anatase TiO2 thin films were grown on SrTiO3(100) substrates using a ceramic Ti0.95Co0.05O2 target by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD). The film growth processes were monitored by reflective high energy electronic diffraction (RHEED). Microstructure, conductivity, and magnetism of these doped films are found strongly affected by the oxygen pressure and substrate temperature Ts. Grown at a Ts around 750 °C in an oxygen pressure of 0.2 mbar, the dopants are found existing as oxide inclusions. The doped film thus behaves as an insulator and shows diamagnetism in a magnetic field parallel to the film surface. However, in the doped film grown at a reduced temperature of 630 °C in a vacuum, no impurity phase can be identified. The film shows a saturated magnetic moment of 0.16μB/Co and a fairly good conductivity at room temperature. It is then concluded that nonequilibrium growth at lower temperatures in vacuum is essential for a high solubility of Co in the TiO2 lattice and thus the ferromagnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In typical production scheduling problems, flow shop scheduling is one of the strongly NP-complete combinatorial optimisation problems with a strong engineering background. In this paper, after investigating the effect of different initialisation, crossover and mutation operators on the performances of a genetic algorithm (GA), we propose an effective hybrid heuristic for flow shop scheduling. First, the famous NEH heuristic is incorporated into the random initialisation of the GA to generate the initial population with a certain prescribed suboptimal quality and diversity. Secondly, multicrossover operators are applied to subpopulations divided from the original population to enhance the exploring potential and to enrich the diversity of the crossover templates. Thirdly, classical mutation is replaced by a metropolis sample of simulated annealing with probabilistic jump and multiple neighbour state generators to enhance the neighbour search ability and to avoid premature convergence, as well as to avoid the problem of choosing the mutation rate. Simulation results based on benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/hypothesis. Oxidized LDL is immunogenic and immune complexes formed by oxidized LDL and corresponding antibodies are pro-atherogenic and pro-inflammatory. Considering that macroalbuminuria is a risk factor for coronary heart disease and that common pathogenic factors for atherosclerosis and glomerulosclerosis exist, our aim was to determine whether the amount and/or characteristics of oxidized LDL- anti-oxidized LDL complexes correlated with the degree of albuminuria in patients with Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Methods. We studied 33 macroalbuminuric patients (albumin excretion rate >300 mg/24 h) and 29 microalbuminuric patients (albumin excretion rate ≥30 mg/24 h and ≤300 mg/24 h) who were matched for age, sex and HbA1C concentrations with 43 patients with normal albuminuria. In all patients we isolated and characterized oxidized LDL–anti-oxidized LDL complexes. A subgroup of 47 patients (22 with normal albuminuria, 11 with microalbuminuria, and 14 with macroalbuminuria) was randomly selected from the larger group for characterization of the antibody moiety of oxidized LDL immune complexes. Results. The concentrations of oxidized LDL immune complexes were increased in patients with macroalbuminuria (total cholesterol in immune complexes isolated from patients with macroalbuminuria was 272±20 vs 204±18 µg/ml in patients with normoalbuminuria, p<0.03). Also, the Kd of oxLDL antibodies isolated from the immune complexes was lower in patients with abnormal albuminuria than in patients with normoalbuminuria (0.86±0.1×10–8 vs 1.13±0.1×10–8 mol/l, p<0.05). Conclusion/interpretation. The data indicate that high concentrations of oxidized LDL–anti-oxidized LDL complexes, particularly when formed with antibodies of higher avidity, are associated with abnormal proteinuria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the data series of the length of day (LOD), the atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) for January 1970–June 1999, the relationship among Interannual LOD, AAM, and the EL Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is analyzed by the wavelet transform method. The results suggest that they have similar time-varying spectral structures. The signals of 1997–98 El Niño and 1998–99 La Niña events can be detected from the LOD or AAM data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the synthesis and dielectric properties of a porous poly(arylether) material with an ultra-low dielectric constant for interlayer dielectric applications in microelectronics. The porous polymer films were successfully fabricated by a method of organic phase separation and evaporation. A dielectric constant k of 1.8 was achieved for a porous film with an estimated porosity of 40% and average pore size of 3 nm. Electrical and mechanical properties as well as coefficient of thermal expansion for both dense and porous polymer films were measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tide gauge records of Hong Kong covering the past 45 years (1954.0–1999.0) are adopted to analyze the basic features of sea level changes in the region. Data sets of atmospheric pressure, southern oscillation index and sea surface temperature during the same time span are also used to determine the possible link between the sea level changes in Hong Kong and local and global geophysical processes. Results indicate that the sea level of Hong Kong has a rising trend of 1.9 ± 0.4 mm per year, and that there is an upward offset of about 15 cm in the pre-1957.0 tide gauge records. The effect of local atmospheric pressure variations on the amplitude of the annual sea level change is about 30% of the amplitude that is calculated after the effect is corrected. It is also found that the interannual variations in the sea level of Hong Kong are related to El Niño and La Niña events that happen frequently in the tropical Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]