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Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a soft tissue infection that can be fatal. Diagnosis may be delayed because NF is easily misdiagnosed as an abscess or cellulitis [1]. It is commonly found in the extremities, perineum, and abdominal wall, but rarely in the breast. NF of the breast can be caused by previous surgery (e.g., mastectomy, implant augmentation) or trauma [2]. In this report, we present a rare case of primary NF of the breast in a patient with untreated diabetes.

In the frequency range of 2–18 GHz, the microwave absorbing properties of a carbon black/silicone rubber blend were investigated by changing the carbon black content and the thickness. The real part (e′) and the imaginary part (e″) of permittivity of the blends were calculated from the S-parameters measured by a network analyzer. The reflection loss was simulated by using e′ and e″. The reflection loss less than −10 dB could be obtained in the frequency range of 9.6e13.5 GHz from the sample with 10 wt% of carbon black at 1.9 mm of thickness.

We present the detection of a large population of ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in two massive galaxy clusters, Abell S1063 at $z=0.348$ and Abell 2744 at $z=0.308$, based on F814W and F105W images in the Hubble Frontier Fields Program. We find 47 and 40 UDGs in Abell S1063 and Abell 2744, respectively. Color-magnitude diagrams of the UDGs show that they are mostly located at the faint end of the red sequence. From the comparison with simple stellar population models, we estimate their stellar mass to range from $10^8$ to $10^9 M_\odot$. Radial number density profiles of the UDGs show a turnover or a flattening in the central region at $r10^{13} M_\odot$ with a power law, N(UDG) $= M_{200}^{1.05\pm0.09}$. These results suggest that a majority of the UDGs have a dwarf galaxy origin, while only a small number of the UDGs are massive $L_*$ galaxies that failed to form a normal population of stars., Accepted for publication in ApJ, 17 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables

The liquidity hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between stock liquidity and dividend payout propensity, i.e., a firm will decide to pay dividends to compensate for the liquidity demand of investors. This study comprehensively examines whether the liquidity hypothesis applies to the sample of Korean firms listed in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets. The main results of this paper are as follows. First, the dividend policy in Korean firms does not support the liquidity hypothesis, contradictory to the existing empirical studies. Next, the explanatory power of the liquidity hypothesis is even weaker for the KOSDAQ market, inconsistent with international evidence. Finally, even when we focus on the firm-year observations with non-negligible dividend payments, the liquidity hypothesis does not explain the dividend policy of Korean firms either. Our findings significantly contribute to the literature by robustly confirming the very limited role of the liquidity hypothesis for Korean financial markets.

In general, various kinds of surface modifications are utilized to enhance the power output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), but they typically have limited stability. Here, a new strategy of adding electrolytes with asymmetric ion pairing to polymer friction layers of TENGs is introduced in order to enhance their triboelectric property. Indeed, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurements show that an addition of phosphoric acid (H3PO4 ), an electrolyte with more cations than anions, to polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) can make it one of the most negative triboelectric materials; whereas, an addition of calcium chloride (CaCl2 ), an electrolyte with more anions than cations, to PVA can make it one of the most positive triboelectric materials. Furthermore, the TENGs based on such solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) produce significantly higher power output than typical metal-polymer TENGs. Due to these unique features, SPEs are a promising triboelectric material for realizing high-performance TENGs for self-powered small electronics.

Poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)), as a ferroelectric polymer, offers great promise for energy harvesting for flexible and wearable applications. Here, this paper shows that the choice of solvent used to dissolve the polymer significantly influences its properties in terms of energy harvesting. Indeed, the P(VDF-TrFE) prepared using a high dipole moment solvent has higher piezoelectric and pyroelectric coefficients and triboelectric property. Such improvements are the result of higher crystallinity and better dipole alignment of the polymer prepared using a higher dipole moment solvent. Finite element method simulations confirm that the higher dipole moment results in higher piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and triboelectric potential distributions. Furthermore, P(VDF-TrFE)-based piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and triboelectric nanogenerators (NGs) experimentally validate that the higher dipole moment solvent significantly enhances the power output performance of the NGs; the improvement is about 24% and 82% in output voltage and current, respectively, for piezoelectric NG; about 40% and 35% in output voltage and current, respectively, for pyroelectric NG; and about 65% and 75% in output voltage and current for triboelectric NG. In brief, the approach of using a high dipole moment solvent is very promising for high output P(VDF-TrFE)-based wearable NGs.

Hole mobility in various p−doped organic semiconductors possessing different energetic disorder parameters in low-to-moderate doping range is reported. The hole mobility is reduced by orders of magnitude and converged to 10−7–10−6 cm2/Vs at a doping concentration of 5 mol. % for all the materials, even though the pristine organic films possess orders of magnitude of different mobilities from 10−5 to 10−3 cm2/Vs. These results indicate that the ionized dopants behave as traps for generated carriers to reduce the mobility. Further increase in the doping concentration either increases or decreases the mobility depending on the energetic disorder parameters of the organic films. These phenomena are interpreted based on the Coulomb trap depth of the ionized dopants and energetic disorder of the host layers.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors are extremely rare soft tissue sarcomas. Among various locations, the trunk and extremities are the most commonly involved sites, with only 15% of such lesions occuring in head and neck region. Here, we report a case of a 74-year-old male who presented with forehead swelling and right eye deviation. Computed tomography images revealed a tumor involving the frontal sinus, ethmoid sinus, and the orbital cavity. The patient underwent a surgical excision of the lesion, which histopathological examination revealed to be a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor.

Post-operative extradural hematoma (EDH) is a relatively common complication in patients undergoing intracranial operations. The risk factors associated with the occurrence of EDH are not well described in the literature. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors and the incidence of post-operative EDH adjacent and regional to the craniotomy or the craniectomy site.This was a retrospective study of 24 (2.6% of total) patients who underwent extradural hematoma evacuation after primary intracranial supratentorial surgery between January 2005 and December 2011. During this period, 941 intracranial operations were performed. The control group (72 patients) was selected on the basis of having undergone the same pre-operative diagnosis and treatment within 2 months of the operations for the 24 hematoma patients. The Glasgow Coma Scale score and operation character (emergency or elective) of the hematoma and control group were individually matched to minimize pre-operative conditional bias. The ages of both groups were individually matched with similar ages within 10 years of each other to minimize age bias.Univariate analysis showed that the significant pre-operative and intra-operative factors associated with post-operative EDH were an intra-operative blood loss of greater than 800 mL (p=0.007), maximal craniotomy length of greater than or equal to 100 mm (p=0.001), and craniotomy area of greater than or equal to 71.53 cm2 (p=0.018). In multivariate analysis, intra-operative blood loss exceeding 800 mL (median of total patients) placed a patient at significantly increased risk for post-operative EDH.The data did not examine established risk factors for post-operative hematoma, such as thrombocytopenia, anti-coagulant and anti-platelet therapy, and a history of heavy alcohol consumption and/or tobacco intake. Recognizing the limitations of the study, large intra-operative blood loss and wide craniotomy area are implicated with an increased risk of post-operative EDH after intracranial surgery.

We present the factors influencing the orientation of the phosphorescent dyes in phosphorescent OLEDs. And, we report that an OLED containing a phosphorescent emitter with horizontally oriented dipoles in an exciplex-forming co-host that exhibits an extremely high EQE of 32.3% and power efficiency of 142 lm/W, the highest values ever reported in literature. Furthermore, we experimentally and theoretically correlated the EQE of OLEDs to the PL quantum yield and the horizontal dipole ratio of phosphorescent dyes using three different dyes.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are among the most promising organic semiconductor devices. The recently reported external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of 29-30% for green and blue phosphorescent OLEDs are considered to be near the limit for isotropically oriented iridium complexes. The preferred orientation of transition dipole moments has not been thoroughly considered for phosphorescent OLEDs because of the lack of an apparent driving force for a molecular arrangement in all but a few cases, even though horizontally oriented transition dipoles can result in efficiencies of over 30%. Here we use quantum chemical calculations to show that the preferred orientation of the transition dipole moments of heteroleptic iridium complexes (HICs) in OLEDs originates from the preferred direction of the HIC triplet transition dipole moments and the strong supramolecular arrangement within the co-host environment. We also demonstrate an unprecedentedly high EQE of 35.6% when using HICs with phosphorescent transition dipole moments oriented in the horizontal direction.

In contrast to our extensive knowledge of vernalization, we know relatively little about the regulation of ambient temperature-responsive flowering. Recent reports revealed that FLOWERING LOCUS M (FLM) and SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) regulate high ambient temperature-responsive flowering through two different mechanisms: degradation of SVP protein and formation of a non-functional SVP-FLM-δ complex. To investigate further the mechanism of thermoregulation of flowering, we performed real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and in vitro pull-down assays. We found that FLM-β and FLM-δ transcripts show similar absolute levels at different temperatures. Also, His-SVP protein bound to the GST-FLM-β or -δ proteins with similar binding intensities. These results suggest that functional SVP-FLM-β and non-functional SVP-FLM-δ complexes form similarly at warmer temperatures, thus indicating that post-translational regulation of SVP functions as a major mechanism for thermoregulation in flowering.

A high-efficiency blue-emitting organic light-emitting diode (OLED) approaching theoretical efficiency using an exciplex-forming co-host composed of N,N'-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene (mCP) and bis-4,6-(3,5-di-3-pyridylphenyl)- 2-methylpyrimidine (B3PYMPM) is fabricated. Iridium(III)bis[(4,6-difluorophenyl)- pyridinato-N,C2']picolinate (FIrpic) is used as the emitter, which turns out to have a preferred horizontal dipole orientation in the emitting layer. The OLED shows a maximum external quantum efficiency of 29.5% (a maximum current efficiency of 62.2 cd A(-1) ), which is in perfect agreement with the theoretical prediction.

Here, we report a green fluorescent organic light emitting diode (OLED) with 30% EQE corresponding to almost 100% IQE by using an exciplex forming co-host doped with a fluorescent dye which shows strong delayed fluorescence through RISC.

The effects of remote hydrogen plasma pretreatment on the characteristics of copper films prepared by remote plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) using copper(I) hexafluoroacetylacetonate trimethylvinylsilane [Cu(hfac)(TMVS)] were studied at a pressure of 1 torr, substrate temperature of 200°C, and plasma power of 100 W. When the remote hydrogen plasma pretreatment was employed, catalytic active points were observed on the surface of the pre-deposited 500-A thick TiN substrate. These active points reduced the incubation time required for the copper nucleation on the pre-deposited TiN substrate. Enhanced copper nucleation rates were observed on the hydrogen plasma pretreated TiN substrate owing to the high concentration of the reactive hydrogen species in the reaction zone, thereby enhancing the reduction reaction and leading to improved copper qualities and increased nucleation rates. The resistivity measurements of the films yielded film resistivities in the range of approximately 2.1±0.1 μΩ cm for most samples.

We have analyzed the effect of light on the steady-state level of the chloroplast elongation factor EF-Tu (tufA) mRNAs during chloroplast biogenesis in rice. The steady-state level of thetufA mRNAs in continuously light-grown seedlings was almost equal to that in the continuously dark-grown seedlings. Furthermore, thetufA transcript level was hardly changed in the transition of dark-grown seedlings to the continuous light and during all chloroplast developmental stages examined. We have previously shown that light had a similar effect on thetufA mRNA level during chloroplast biogenesis in maize. Therefore, we also examined the possibility of the light-regulation of barleytufA mRNA. It turned out that light had no effect on the barleytufA mRNA level either. Although only three types of grass were examined, these results may show a difference oftufA gene expression between grasses and legumina.

We have examined the expression of a maize nucleartuf gene(tufA) coding for the chloroplast translation elongation factor EF-Tu. Southern analysis revealed that the maize chloroplast EF-Tu was encoded by at least two distinct genes in the nuclear genome. In order to know the effect of light on the expression of thetufA gene during maize chloroplast biogenesis, we have analyzed the steady-state level of thetufA mRNAs by Northern analysis. The steady-state level of thetufA mRNAs was similar in both continuous light- and dark-grown seedlings. The level of thetufA mRNAs also maintained at relatively same level during light-induced greening of etiolated seedlings and all examined developmental stages. These results indicate that the gene expression of the maize chloroplast EF-Tu is rarely light-regulated at it’s mRNA level during chloroplast biogenesis.

We report extremely high light out-coupling efficiency from a transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) integrated with microstructures on both sides of the device.[1] The OLED having a metal free structure offers dramatically reduced surface plasmonic loss and absorption loss. To extract the confined light inside the device, a high refractive index light extraction pattern was directly fabricated on the top side transparent conducting oxide electrode using a simple evaporation method, and a micro lens array sheet was simultaneously attached on the bottom side of the glass substrate. As a result, the external quantum efficiency of the device increased from 18.2% to 47.3% by using the microstructures, and was additionally enhanced to 62.9% by attaching an index-matched hemisphere lens instead of the micro lens array on the glass side in order to reduce additional light guiding loss inside of the device. These values showed very good agreement with the simulation performed by a combination of the dipole model and a 3-dimensional geometrical simulation.

Chilly Repression Stalls Flowering In a cool spring, flowering might be delayed compared to a warm spring, even though the change in day length marches on regardless of temperature. Lee et al. (p. 628 , published online 12 September; see the Perspective by Nilsson ) now show that this delay in flowering is a regulated process, not simply a consequence of sluggish metabolism. In the model plant Arabidopsis , transcription of the gene encoding the regulator SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) is unaffected by temperature, but the stability of the SVP protein is decreased at higher temperatures. Its regulatory partner, FLOWERING LOCUS M ( FLM )- β , is the product of alternative splicing of transcripts from the gene encoding FLM that favors the β form at lower temperatures. SVP and FLM-β form a complex that represses flowering. At lower temperatures, more of the repressive complex is present and flowering is delayed. At higher temperatures, SVP tends to degrade and FLM-β tends not to be produced, yielding reduced levels of the repressive complex, which allows flowering to proceed.

The first low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW) disposal facility is under construction in saturated granite in Korea. The safety assessment report (SAR) identified that different gases, such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane are generated at the disposal facility due to the corrosion of metal wastes and steel drum, and microbial degradation of organic matters. Reinforced concrete plays a role as an engineered barrier at the disposal facility, so its properties with regard to gas migration were evaluated in laboratory-scale experiments. Then modeling of gas migration was carried out to evaluate gas pressure build-up in the disposal facility. The gas entry pressure and relative gas permeability of the concrete was determined to be 0.97±0.15 bar, and the relative gas permeability decreased exponentially with increasing water content. The results of the modeling showed that most of hydrogen gas was dissolved in groundwater and did not significantly influence pressure build-up inside the disposal facility based on the reference case of gas generation.

High-efficiency phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) doped with Ir(ppy)2(acac) [bis(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III)-acetylacetonate] in an exciplex forming co-host have been optically analyzed. This emitter has a preferred orientation with the horizontal to vertical dipole ratio of 0.77:0.23 as compared to 0.67:0.33 in the isotropic case. Theoretical analysis based on the orientation factor (Θ, the ratio of the horizontal dipoles to total dipoles) and the photoluminescence quantum yield (qPL) of the emitter predicts that the maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the OLEDs with this emitter is about 30%, which matches very well with the experimental data, indicating that the electrical loss of the OLEDs is negligible and the device structure can be utilized as a platform to demonstrate the validity of optical modeling. Based on the results, the maximum EQE achievable for a certain emitting dye in a host can be predicted by just measuring qPL and Θ in a neat film on glass without the need to fabricate devices, which offers a universal plot of the maximum EQE as a function of qPL and Θ.

Extremely high light out-coupling efficiency from a transparent organic light-emitting diode integrated with microstructures on both sides of the device is reported. The metal free device offers dramatically reduced surface plasmonic and intrinsic absorption losses. Moreover, high refractive index micropatterns with optimal light extraction condition are fabricated based on the well-matched analysis of optical simulations.

Recently, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have received increasing interest due to their large potential for mechanical energy harvesting. Important progress has been achieved in increasing the output power and efficiency while new structures have emerged. In particular, their robustness and endurance have increased, but some critical concerns still remain about the degradation and lifetime of TENGs. How will TENGs age under intensive use in our daily lives? To address this issue, we propose in this paper to use shape memory polymers (SMPs) to extend TENGs’ lifetimes and guarantee their performance. For this purpose we introduce a new smart SMP-based self-healing TENG which has the capacity to be healed and to recover good performance after degradation of its triboelectric layer. We studied the degradation and healing process of the SMP–TENG, and the improvement in its endurance and lifetime, and thus demonstrate the huge potential of self-healing SMP–TENGs. Figure 1

The temperature-dependent electrical instability of p-type SnO thin-film transistors (TFTs) was investigated for various stress and temperature conditions. The fabricated SnO TFT was suitably passivated using an SU-8 organic layer to prevent environmental effects on the stress-induced instability. Under the negative gate bias stress, the transfer curves showed a parallel shift in the negative direction for every temperature studied (room temperature, 50 °C, and 80 °C). This result indicates that the transfer curve shift is mainly due to hole-trapping in the interface defect states of SnO TFTs. A much larger threshold voltage shift (ΔVth) was observed at higher temperatures for short stress times, but ΔVth became saturated under these conditions. This indicates that hole detrapping from the interface defect states is also accelerated at a high temperature when the stress time increases. During the recovery phase, the transfer curves shifted back toward the positive direction for each temperature point. The...

AUTOSAR was jointly developed by automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and semiconductor chip vendors in order to overcome the complexity of contemporary automotive Electrics/Electronics architecture. AUTOSAR provides memory cluster for reading and writing data to non-volatile memory media such as Flash or EEPROM memory. In this paper, we propose new memory cluster architecture which can access internal RAM, Flash ROM, and EEPROM directly. The new architecture which has additional function is AUTOSAR-compliant memory cluster architecture which can access Flash memory and EEPROM respectively. And it can also access internal RAM, Flash ROM, and EEPROM by using diagnostic message. To make a component based design possible, we designed memory cluster modules that use a layered architecture that supports the decoupling of automotive hardware and system software.

High expression of osmotically responsive genes1 (HOS1), a key regulator of low temperature response and flowering time, encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase in Arabidopsis. Here, we report characterization of a newly identified splice variant (HOS1-L) of HOS1. Comparative analyses revealed that HOS1-L has a longer 5' nucleotide sequence than that of the previously identified HOS1 (HOS1-S) and that its protein sequence was more conserved than that of HOS1-S in plants. HOS1-L transcripts were spatio-temporally more abundant than those of HOS1-S. The recovery rate of HOS1-S expression was faster than that of HOS1-L after cold treatment. Diurnal oscillation patterns of HOS1-L revealed that HOS1-L expression was affected by photoperiod. An in vitro pull-down assay revealed that the HOS1-L protein interacted with the ICE1 protein. HOS1-L overexpression caused delayed flowering in wild-type plants. Collectively, these results suggest regulation of HOS1 expression at the post-transcriptional level. [BMB Reports 2012; 45(9): 515-520]

We report the rate limiting step of charge generation in the charge generation units (CGUs) composed of a p -HTL, HATCN and n -doped electron transporting layer ( n -ETL) where TAPC was used as the HTL. Energy level alignment determined by the capacitance-voltage ( C-V ) measurements and the current density-voltage characteristics of the structure clearly showed that the electron injection at the HATCN/ n -ETL junction limits the charge generation in the CGUs rather than charge generation itself at the p -HTL/HATCN junction. Consequently, the CGUs with 30 mol% Rb 2 CO 3 doped BPhen formed with the HATCN layer generates charges very efficiently and the excess voltage required to generate the current density of ±10 mA/cm 2 was around 0.17 V, which is extremely small compared with the literature values reported up to now.

We demonstrated that an organic p–n junction was successfully adapted to inverted organic light emitting diodes (IOLEDs) as an electron injection layer (EIL). The organic p–n junction composed of a ReO 3 doped copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/Rb 2 CO 3 doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Bphen) layer showed very efficient charge generation under a reverse bias reaching to 100 mA/cm 2 at 0.3 V and efficient electron injection from indium tin oxide (ITO) when adopted in IOLEDs. Moreover, the organic p–n junction resulted in the same current density–voltage–luminance characteristics independent of the work function of the cathode, which is a valuable advantage for flexible displays.

We reported a couple of methods to improve electron injection from the ITO electrode, thereby to fabricate efficient inverted bottom emission organic light emitting diodes (IBOLEDs). The first method is to use an n-doped electron transporting layer (ETL) as the electron injection layer. Electron only device characteristics and UPS measurements confirmed that B3PYMPM homo-junction has the lowest injection barrier at the interface among three different ETLs, resulting in the highest maximum EQE of 19.8% at low voltage in IBOLEDs. The energy barrier between n-ETL and ETL is one of the most important factors for high performance inverted OLEDs. The second method is to use an organic p-n junction as an electron injection layer, where the p-n junction generated electrons and holes under reverse bias, which corresponds to the forward bias in the OLEDs. The organic p-n junction composed of a p-CuPc/n-Bphen layer shows almost the same electron injection characteristics for the cathodes with different work functions whereas the injection characteristics of the n-Bphen EIL significantly depend on the work function of the cathode. These facts indicate that the organic p-n junction can be efficiently applied as an electron injection layer for high performance flexible organic electronics, regardless of the electrodes.

SEPALLATA3 (SEP3) is important in determining flowering time as well as floral organ identity. Although much is known about the regulation of floral organ identity by SEP3, its role as a downstream gene of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) for the regulation of ambient temperature-responsive flowering is poorly understood. Here, we show that SEP3 as a downstream gene of SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE3 (SPL3) and FT modulates the flowering time in response to different ambient temperatures. SEP3 overexpression showed temperature-insensitive flowering at 23°C and 16°C. This suggests that altered SEP3 activity affects ambient temperature-responsive flowering. However, a lesion in SEP3 did not obviously affect ambient temperature-responsive flowering. SEP3 expression was affected by altered SPL3 and FT activities in the leaf and shoot apical regions at different temperatures. These results suggest that the miR156-SPL3-FT circuitry directly or indirectly regulates SEP3 expression for the regulation of ambient temperature-responsive flowering in Arabidopsis.

Although the protein CONSTANS (CO) and its close relatives CONSTANS-like (COL) 1 and COL2 exhibit high amino acid sequence similarities, only the CO protein regulates floral induction in Arabidopsis. To investigate the structural basis for the functional differences between CO, COL1, and COL2 in flowering, we performed domain-swapping between CO, COL1, and COL2, and site-directed mutagenesis on the first exon of CO. The results suggest that the lack of flowering promotion activity by COL1 and COL2 is mainly attributed to the differences between CO and the COL1 and COL2 proteins in the amino acid sequence encoded by their first exons.

The flowering time of plants is affected by modest changes in ambient temperature. However, little is known about the regulation of ambient temperature-responsive flowering by small RNAs. In this study, we show that the microRNA156 (miR156)-SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE3 (SPL3) module directly regulates FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) expression in the leaf to control ambient temperature-responsive flowering. Overexpression of miR156 led to more delayed flowering at a lower ambient temperature (16°C), which was associated with down-regulation of FT and FRUITFULL expression. Among miR156 target genes, SPL3 mRNA levels were mainly reduced, probably because miR156-mediated cleavage of SPL3 mRNA was higher at 16°C. Overexpression of miR156-resistant SPL3 [SPL3(−)] caused early flowering, regardless of the ambient temperature, which was associated with up-regulation of FT and FRUITFULL expression. Reduction of miR156 activity by target mimicry led to a phenotype similar to that of SUC2::rSPL3 plants. FT up-regulation was observed after dexamethasone treatment in GVG-rSPL3 plants. Misexpression and artificial microRNA-mediated suppression of FT in the leaf dramatically altered the ambient temperature-responsive flowering of plants overexpressing miR156 and SPL3(−). Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that the SPL3 protein directly binds to GTAC motifs within the FT promoter. Lesions in TERMINAL FLOWER1, SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE, and EARLY FLOWERING3 did not alter the expression of miR156 and SPL3. Taken together, our data suggest that the interaction between the miR156-SPL3 module and FT is part of the regulatory mechanism controlling flowering time in response to ambient temperature.

The tumor-associated antigen GA733 is a cell-surface glycoprotein highly expressed in colorectal carcinomas. In this study, 3 recombinant genes were constructed as follows: GA733 tagged to the ER retention sequence KDEL (GA733K), GA733 fused to the immunoglobulin Fc fragment (GA733-Fc), and GA733-Fc fused to the ER retention sequence (GA733-FcK).Agrobacterium-mediated transformation was used to generate transgenic plants expressing recombinant genes. The presence of transgenes was confirmed by genomic PCR. Western blot, confocal immunofluorescence, and sandwich ELISA showed the expression of recombinant proteins. The stability, flexibility, and bioactivity of recombinant proteins were analyzed and demonstrated through N-glycosylation analysis, animal trials, and sera ELISA. Our results suggest that the KDEL retained proteins in ER with oligomannose glycan structure and enhanced protein accumulation level. The sera of mice immunized with GA733-FcK purified from plants contained immunoglobulins which were at least as efficient as the mammalian-derived GA733-Fc at recognizing human colorectal cancer cell lines. Thus, a plant system can be used to express the KDEL fusion protein with oligomannose glycosylation, and this protein induces an immune response which is comparable to non-KDEL-tagged, mammalian-derived proteins.

Plant genetic engineering, which has led to the production of plant-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAb(s)(P)), provides a safe and economically effective alternative to conventional antibody expression methods. In this study, the expression levels and biological properties of the anti-rabies virus mAb(P) SO57 with or without an endoplasmic reticulum(ER)-retention peptide signal (Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu; KDEL) in transgenic tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum) were analyzed. The expression levels of mAb(P) SO57 with KDEL (mAb(P)K) were significantly higher than those of mAb(P) SO57 without KDEL (mAb(P)) regardless of the transcription level. The Fc domains of both purified mAb(P) and mAb(P)K and hybridoma-derived mAb (mAb(H)) had similar levels of binding activity to the Fc gamma RI receptor (CD64). The mAb(P)K had glycan profiles of both oligomannose (OM) type (91.7%) and Golgi type (8.3%), whereas the mAb(P) had mainly Golgi type glycans (96.8%) similar to those seen with mAb(H). Confocal analysis showed that the mAb(P)K was co-localized to ER-tracker signal and cellular areas surrounding the nucleus indicating accumulation of the mAb(P) with KDEL in the ER. Both mAb(P) and mAb(P)K disappeared with similar trends to mAb(H) in BALB/c mice. In addition, mAb(P)K was as effective as mAb(H) at neutralizing the activity of the rabies virus CVS-11. These results suggest that the ER localization of the recombinant mAb(P) by KDEL reprograms OM glycosylation and enhances the production of the functional antivirus therapeutic antibody in the plant.

Polypyrrole films with high conductivity and strechability were synthesized by an electrochemical method in acetonitrile solution at low temperature and low current density. The films were stretched to over twice their original length. The variation of stretching direction conductivity ( σ 1 ) for a stretched film was evaluated directly by in situ measurements of resistance and strain during the stretching of the polypyrrole film. The calculated values of σ 1 agreed very well with experimental conductivity data measured by the four-probe technique after drying in air.

This paper presents a fast and adaptive algorithm to estimate texture statistics based on the SGLDM for texture image segmentation. We propose several recursive equations by modifying the conventional ones in order to get the texture statistics at high speed. And also to find the more accurate texture statistics along the boundaries between regions, a locally adaptive method to obtaining a suitable size of a window is described. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, it is simulated using an artificial image. By the experimental results, we conclude that the proposed method is useful to estimate texture statistics for image segmentation.

Pteridine reductase (PTR1) is a target for drug development against Trypanosoma and Leishmania species, parasites that cause serious tropical diseases and for which therapies are inadequate. We adopted a structure-based approach to the design of novel PTR1 inhibitors based on three molecular scaffolds. A series of compounds, most newly synthesized, were identified as inhibitors with PTR1-species specific properties explained by structural differences between the T. brucei and L. major enzymes. The most potent inhibitors target T. brucei PTR1, and two compounds displayed antiparasite activity against the bloodstream form of the parasite. PTR1 contributes to antifolate drug resistance by providing a molecular bypass of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibition. Therefore, combining PTR1 and DHFR inhibitors might improve therapeutic efficacy. We tested two new compounds with known DHFR inhibitors. A synergistic effect was observed for one particular combination highlighting the potential of such an approach for treatment of African sleeping sickness.

In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of mono laser vision system which is used to measure large scale panels with various beveled-edges in the ship-building processes. Our laser vision system comprises of a mono camera including 4 laser-diodes and an optical band pass filter using triangulation technique. As clearly seen from this configuration, we can use only one camera to measure the edge points of large scale panels. Image processing which is an effective method to search for an edge point amongst various beveled edge shapes is presented below. Also to evaluate the below proposed algorithm, experiments were performed under real ship building environments.

Diversity oriented syntheses of some furo[2,3-d]pyrimidines and pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines related to folate, guanine, and diaminopyrimidine-containing drugs have been developed for the preparation of potential anti-infective and anticancer compounds. Amide couplings and Suzuki couplings on the basic heterocyclic templates were used, in the latter case yields being especially high using aromatic trifluoroborates as the coupling partner. A new ring synthesis of 6-aryl-substituted deazaguanines bearing 2-alkylthio groups has been developed using Michael addition of substituted nitrostyrenes. Diversity at C-2 has been introduced by oxidation and substitution with a range of amino nucleophiles. The chemical reactivity of these pyrrolopyrimidines with respect to both electrophilic substitution in ring synthesis and nucleophilic substitution for diversity is discussed. Several compounds were found to inhibit pteridine reductases from the protozoan parasites Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major at the micromolar level and to inhibit the growth of Trypanosma brucei brucei in cell culture at higher concentrations. From these results, significant structural features required for inhibition of this important drug target enzyme have been identified.

We propose a multi-port, multi-wavelength supervisory system for the in-service transmission line monitoring of a bidirectional WDM-PON system. Identifying unique requirements for the performance monitoring of a real field WDM-PON system, we define the architecture for the supervisory system and utilize the most up-to-date technologies (Simplex coding, tunable source, and optical switches) to demonstrate a successful interrogation of a transmission line up to 16 ports x 32 nodes (512 user) capacity. Monitoring of individual branch traces up to 60 km was achieved with the application of a 127-bit simplex code corresponding to a 7.5dB SNR coding gain. In-service transmission experiments showed negligible penalty from the monitoring system to the transmission signal quality, at a 2.5Gbps / 125Mbps (down / up stream) data rate.

We examined the effect of (+)-ABA on the in vitro interaction of rice FCA and FY homologs, OsFCA and OsFY. From this analysis, we found no disruption of the OsFCA-OsFY complexes by ABA treatment. This result prompted us to examine the effect of ABA on the FCA-FY interaction. In these experiments, we could not reproduce the inhibitory effect of (+)-ABA on the interaction between FCA and FY. Based on these combined results, we believe that the inhibitory effect of (+)-ABA on the FCA-FY interaction should be cautiously reconsidered.

Recent molecular and genetic studies in rice, a short-day plant, have elucidated both conservation and divergence of photoperiod pathway genes and their regulators. However, the biological roles of rice genes that act within the autonomous pathway are still largely unknown. In order to better understand the function of the autonomous pathway genes in rice, we conducted molecular genetic analyses of OsFVE, a rice gene homologous to Arabidopsis FVE. OsFVE was found to be ubiquitously expressed in vegetative and reproductive organs. Overexpression of OsFVE could rescue the flowering time phenotype of the Arabidopsis fve mutants by up-regulating expression of the SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CO1 (SOC1) and down-regulating FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) expression. These results suggest that there may be a conserved function between OsFVE and FVE in the control of flowering time. However, OsFVE overexpression in the fve mutants did not rescue the flowering time phenotype in in relation to the response to intermittent cold treatment.

Hydraulic conductivity (K) for an alluvial system in a riverbank filtration area in Changwon City, South Korea, has been studied using grain-size distribution, pumping and slug tests, and numerical modeling. The alluvial system is composed of layers: upper fine sand, medium sand, lower fine sand, and a highly conductive sand/gravel layer at the base. The geometric mean of K for the sand/gravel layer (9.89 × 10−4 m s−1), as determined by grain-size analyses, was 3.33 times greater than the geometric mean obtained from pumping tests (2.97 × 10−4 m s−1). The geometric mean of K estimates obtained from slug tests (3.08 × 10−6 m s−1) was one to two orders of magnitude lower than that from pumping tests and grain-size analyses. K estimates derived from a numerical model were compared to those derived from the grain-size methods, slug tests and pumping tests in order to determine the degree of deviation from the numerical model. It is considered that the K estimates determined by the slug tests resemble the uppermost part of the alluvial deposit, whereas the K estimates obtained by grain-size analyses and pumping tests are similar to those from the numerical model for the sand/gravel layer of the riverside alluvial system.