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Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Concerns exist about the benefit of cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-D) compared to those without a defibrillator (CRT-P), especially in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. We evaluated the association between defibrillator capability and all-cause mortality in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Methods From patients with nationally registered cardiomyopathy in the Korea National Health Insurance Service (KNHIS) database, after the exclusion of those with ischemic heart disease, 1,478 patients with newly-implanted CRT-P (n=258) or CRT-D (n=1220) were identified from 2008 to 2020. The association between defibrillator capability and all-cause mortality was assessed with propensity score (PS) weighting to correct for differences between the groups. Results Compared with patients receiving CRT-D, those receiving CRT-P included more subjects older than 75. After PS weighting, over a mean follow-up period of 52.9 months (interquartile interval: 23.5-75.8), CRT-D was associated with a lower rate of mortality (6.5 vs 9.2 per 100 person-years) compared with CRT-P. The weighted risk of all-cause death in patients with CRT-D was lower than those with CRT-P within 1 year (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.70 [95% CI, 0.53–0.91]; p = 0.009) and 5 years (HR: 0.71 [95% CI, 0.61–0.83]; p < 0.001). Results were consistent regardless of subgroups, such as age, sex, year of registration, and comorbidities. Conclusions In Korean patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, the defibrillator capability of CRT was associated with reduced 1-year and 5-year all-cause mortality. This association was consistent across all the investigated subgroups.

Background and Aims Wine made from the Campbell Early grape cultivar has less flavour than wine made from European grape cultivars. The aim of this study was to investigate the individual fermentation characteristics of several non‐Saccharomyces yeasts for improving the aroma of Campbell Early wine. Methods and Results Nine species of non‐Saccharomyces yeasts were used as wine starters in single or co‐fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several fermentation characteristics and physiological properties were investigated. Volatile higher alcohol and ester compounds were also analysed by GC/MS and by principal component analysis. Single‐fermented wines showed different fermentation kinetics, whereas co‐fermented wines showed similar, but slightly different, fermentation kinetics depending on their ethanol tolerance. Principal component analysis indicated that the composition of both volatile higher alcohols and esters was distinguishable between single and co‐fermented wines, but volatile esters in co‐fermented wines were more widely distributed compared to that in single fermented wines. Conclusions The fermentation kinetics of each strain was different. Volatile esters were more affected by co‐fermentation than volatile higher alcohols, which were produced during the early phase of fermentation. Moreover, interactions among the various volatile aromatic compounds affected the final wine aroma. Significance of the Study These findings could provide valuable information to researchers and winemakers on the enhancement of wine aroma using non‐Saccharomyces yeasts.

Recent development of laser scanning device increased the capability of representing rock outcrop in a very high resolution. Accurate 3D point cloud model with rock joint information can help geologist to estimate stability of rock slope on-site or off-site. An automatic plane extraction method was developed by computing normal directions and grouping them in similar direction. Point normal was calculated by moving least squares (MLS) method considering every point within a given distance to minimize error to the fitting plane. Normal directions were classified into a number of dominating clusters by fuzzy K-means clustering. Region growing approach was exploited to discriminate joints in a point cloud. Overall procedure was applied to point cloud with about 120,000 points, and successfully extracted joints with joint information. The extraction procedure was implemented to minimize number of input parameters and to construct plane information into the existing point cloud for less redundancy and high usability of the point cloud itself.

National Institute of Animal ScienceABSTRACT This work was conducted to investigate the effects of the addition level of Corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (CDDGS) and phytase in broiler diets on the broiler performance and the ileal amino acid digestibility. Three eighty four Ross broiler (one-day-old) were assigned randomly to 8 treatments groups (12 birds/pen, 4 pens/treatment) as 4×2 complex factors of CDDGS 4 treatments (0, 5, 10 and 15%) and phytase 2 treatments (0, 500 FTU/kg), and fed experimental diets for 6 weeks (starter, 02 wk; grower, 24 wk; finisher, 46 wk). After the feeding trial was finished, 12 broilers (6 weeks) with similar weights were selected from all treatments to investigate the digestibility of nutrients and amino acids for the first week. The experimental diets contained similar ME and CP of all treatments. Body weight gains and feed intakes were high at phytase treatments (P>0.05), but there was no difference in feed intake of the chicks. The amino acid digestibilities of diets were improved for iso-leucine, lysine, threonine, valine, aspartic acid, proline, serine and tyrosine (P

This work was conducted to investigate the amount and major compositions of excreta from broilers. One hundred fifty 1-d-old male and female Ross broilers were used in this work and ten broilers were selected to measure excreta. Average amount of excreta per broiler was 85.4 g, and average moisture content was 76.9%. N, P2O5 and K2O in excreta were 1.19, 0.29 and 0.49%, respectively. pH, BOD5, CODmn, and SS were 7.80, 42,134 mg/L, 52,668 mg/L, and 106,669 mg/L, respectively. Pb in poultry excreta was 0.803 mg/kg and highly lowed compared with the standard contents (150 mg/kg). Cd was not founded in excreta. Hg was founded in excreta as 0.002 mg/kg, but it was low compared with the standard level (2 mg/kg).

L ab o rtyfA n im l Nu ,G d eS ch B g sU vABSTRACT This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of induced-molting methods on visceral organs and blood stress indicators in laying hens. One hundred fifty of 63-wk-old White Leghorn hens, with over 85% of egg production and 1.7±0.4 kg of average weight, were used in this study. Treatments were control (non-molt treatment), feeding molt treatment (FM), and starving molt treatment (SM). There were 5 replicates of 10 hens for each treatment. All treatment groups were fed basal diet (15% CP and 2,700 kal/kg of ME) for two weeks as adaptation period. Heart weights were 8.2, 7.9 and 7.5 g in control, FM and SM, respectively. Liver and oviduct weights were decreased in both molting treatments compared with control (P

The objective of the present study was to compare of the effects of four molting methods on performance of laying hens. In total, 120 White Leghorn layers (62 weeks of age) were used. The four molting methods consisted of 10 days of feeding and the first 3 days of water withdrawal (FW1, 2) followed by ad libitum access to a layer diet 1 and 2 from day 11; 28 days of restricted feeding (NFW1); 28 days without withdrawing their feed (NFW2). Egg production of postmolt decreased until 3~4 days at FW1 and FW2 treatments and until 16~18 days at NFW1 and NFW2. 50% recovery of egg production were 7, 6, 7 and 5 week at FW1, FW2, NFW1, and NFW2 treatments, respectively. At day 14 of postmolt, the weight of livers, hearts, and oviducts decreased at molting treatments (P

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (CDDGS) in broiler diet on ileal amino acid digestibility and broiler performance. In experiment 1, TMEn of CGGDS ranged from 2,863 to 2,976 kcal/kg and averaged 2,904 kcal/kg on an 86% DM basis. In experiment 2, 192 male Ross broilers (one-day-old) were assigned randomly to 4 dietary treatment groups (12 birds/pen, 4 pens/treatment) as CDDGS levels (0, 6, 12 and 18%) and fed experimental diets for 6 weeks (starter (0~2wk); grower (2~4wk); finisher (4~6wk)). There was no difference in BWG of the chicks. However, feed intake and feed efficiency of chicks fed with non CDDGS groups were better than those of chicks fed with CDDGS fed groups (P

It is very important to measure and diagnose the state of knife and strip cutting face in real time in the side trimming process due to improvement of quality of strip trimming face. In this study, a diagnosis system for knife and strip cutting face was developed. Two CCD cameras facing each other are mounted at the delivery side (the entry of the bur masher roll) of the side trimmer. This system offers the operator the diagnosis result of state of knife and strip cutting face. With the help of the developed system, the knife breakage has been detected 100% and bad quality of trimming face is significantly decreased. Using CCD cameras, an on-line diagnosis system which can determine knife breakage and bad quality of trimming face in real time is developed in trimming. A diagnosis algorithm determining the state of the strip cutting face is also developed by calculating characteristic values and image processing based on the images of the strip cutting face obtained from CCD camera.

In this study, we conducted various experiments in order to develop enhanced cultural conditions for in vitro-produced porcine embryos. All embryos were produced by in vitro maturation (IVM) and fertilization (IVF) of immature oocytes from abattoir- derived ovaries. In experiment 1, we cultured IVF embryos in 4 different groups, namely, 0% bovine serum albumin (BSA), 3% BSA, 0.05% Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and 0.5% Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) added to the basal fluid cultural medium, Porcine zygote medium 3 (PZM-3). The rates of embryo development were higher in the group where the PZM-3 media had been supplemented with 3% BSA than the other groups. While not statistically significant, the percent of blastocysts and hatched blastocytes were 6.9% and 25.0% in the 3% BSA group vs. 1.2-6.4% and 0-16.7% in the other groups, respectively. In experiment 2, we added 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) to PZM-3 on day 0 of culture and observed the development rate of blastocysts per day of culture from days 0 to 5. The development rate of blastocysts was higher at 15.6% on day 4 than on any other day, and was significantly higher than on day 0 or day 1 (p

The influence of the flow phenomenon of the cooling nozzle affecting the rod temperature and the factors affecting the cooling efficiency were examined through experiments and numerical analysis. The optimal conditions featuring excellent cooling efficiency can be deduced in the future by analyzing the flow conditions and design conditions.

Extensive width reduction of slabs is an important technology for achieving continuous production between the steelmaking and hot rolling processes. However, the vertical horizontal rolling process has many disadvantages, e.g., large width deviations and less efficient width reduction. This study was carried out to investigate the deformation of slab by sizing press with two steps die. To do it, dog-bone and camber are discussed in width sizing process considering the deformation behavior according to the deviation of anvil velocity and the deviation of initial slab temperature. In this paper, the various causes of the sizing press phenomena are mentioned for the purpose of understanding of rolling conditions. As a result, the optimal anvil shape having a minimum-forming load is obtained by FE-simulation and ANN.

Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of borosilicate glass was carried out using SF"6 and SF"6/Ar plasmas in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactor. Electroplated Ni on Cu (@?50nm)/Cr (@?100nm)/glass structure using patterned SU-8 photoresist mask with a line spacing of [email protected] was used as a hard-mask for plasma etching. Plasma etching of borosilicate glass was performed by varying the various process parameters such as the gas chemistry, the gas flow ratio, the top electrode power, and the dc self-bias voltage (V"d"c). In the case of using SF"6 gas only, the profiles of the etched channel showed the undercut below the Ni hard-mask due to a chemical etching and the microtrenching at the bottom of the etched channel. An optimized process using the SF"6 plasmas showed the glass etch rate of @?750nm/min. The addition of the Ar gas to the SF"6 gas removed the undercut and microtrenching but decreased the etch rate to @?540nm/min. The increasing and decreasing time-dependent etch rates with the etch depth in the SF"6 (200sccm) and SF"6(60%)/Ar(40%) plasmas, respectively, were ascribed to the different ion-to-neutral flux ratios leading to the different etch process regime.

This study examines the anatomic relationships and variability of the facial nerve trunk and its branches, with emphasis on the intraparotid connections between the divisions. Microdissections were performed on 30 Korean half-heads, and the facial nerve trunks and branches were exposed. The average depth of the stylomastoid foramen from the skin surface was 21.0 +/- 3.1 mm, and the distance between the stylomastoid foramen and the bifurcation of the temporofacial (upper) and cervicofacial (lower) divisions was 13.0 +/- 2.8 mm. In 26 of 30 dissections (86.7%), the facial nerve trunk bifurcated into two main divisions, and a trifurcation pattern was seen in the other four cases (13.3%). According to the origin of the buccal branches, we classified the branching patterns of the facial nerve into four categories. In type I (13.8% of cases), the buccal branches arose from the two main divisions of the trunk but not from other branches of the facial nerve. In type II (44.8% of cases), the buccal branches arising from the two main divisions were interconnected with the zygomatic branch. In type III (17.3% of cases), the marginal mandibular branch sent nerve twigs to the buccal branch, which originated from the upper and lower divisions. In type IV (17.3% of cases), the nerve twigs from the zygomatic and marginal mandibular branches merged to the buccal branch arising from the two main divisions. Communications between the facial and auriculotemporal nerve branches, which are known as "communicating auriculotemporal nerves," were observed in 28 of the 30 cases (93.3%). Familiarity with these common variations in the facial anatomy provides useful information for the surgeon in careful dissection, preservation of the facial nerve, and complete removal of the tumors in parotidectomies.

A finite element-based approach is presented for the prediction of the thermal behavior of the strip occurring in the finishing mill during hot strip rolling. The approach, which is fully coupled and three dimensional, is described in detail. The validity of the proposed approach is examined through comparison with measurements. Then the capability of the approach to predict the detailed aspects of the thermal behavior is demonstrated through an application to revealing the effect of an edge heater.

Investigated via a series of finite element process simulation is the effect of diverse process variables on some selected non-dimensional parameters characterizing the thermo-mechanical behavior of the strip in hot strip rolling. Then, on the basis of these parameters an on-line model is derived for the precise prediction of roll force and roll power. The prediction accuracy of the proposed model is examined through comparison with predictions from a finite element process model.

To identify genes that are modulated under cold-stress conditions in the earthworm Eisenia andrei, we performed a genome-wide analysis of gene expression in cold-shocked earthworms by using Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). We identified 5,977 and 5,407 unique SAGE tags under normal and cold-stressed conditions, respectively. The majority of the SAGE tags did not match to any known expressed sequences, due to a paucity of expression data in earthworms. We converted the statistically significant SAGE tags for the cold-stressed condition into expressed sequence tags (ESTs), and the results showed that particular genes associated with energy homeostasis, cellular defense mechanisms, and ion balance were up-regulated or down-regulated. We constructed a regulatory network of some of these genes and identified rps-6 as a core gene in the cold-response regulatory-gene network. Our data provide a baseline for gene expression studies of cold shock in the Lumbricidae.

A new method to detect the blood pressure pulsation signal in oscillometric blood pressure measurement using stepped deflation method was developed. In stepped deflation method, morphology of the artefact signal changes much by bleed valve switching scenario. Various types of interference caused by the bleed valve switching are analyzed. The Adaptive Impulse Correlated Filter (AICF) was applied to remove the stepped deflation artefact (SDA). This AICF is performed using a parametric method which uses Finite Impulse Response (FIR) structure. The method is implemented using a specially designed acquisition system for this research. The analysis showed that amplitude and power of artefact increased with pulse-width of the bleed valve control pulse. The removal of artefact was almost accomplished without reducing the information in the blood pressure pulsation signal.

In this paper, a waveguide antenna with miniaturized-aperture using a single split-ring-resonator (SRR) is proposed. A wide bandwidth is achieved by using a single SRR and optimizing the distance between it and the ridge end. The measured bandwidth of 3.40–3.54 GHz (a fractional bandwidth of 4.03%) is much wider than that of the previous waveguide antenna using multiple rings (4.96–5.00 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of about 0.8%). The aperture of the proposed antenna was miniaturized by about 88%, and it can be utilized as a probe for near-field measurements and other applications.

In this paper, the varactor-loaded open-ring microstrip antenna is proposed. To overcome the inherent characteristics of narrow bandwidth of the open-ring microstrip antenna, the varactor is positioned on the edge of the ring. The frequency is tuned by controlling the DC voltage connected to the varactor. For the simulation model, instead of the real varactor, the discrete capacitor is used. The return loss (S 11 ) from the simulation shows that the resonant frequency is lowered by increasing the capacitance value. This frequency-tuning technique could be used in the many applications such as the frequency-reconfigurable small antenna.

We discuss the experimental results of a method for generation of nonthermal plasma at atmospheric pressure. The device uses two chambers separated by a dielectric. A low-pressure chamber produces UV emission, which is coupled to the atmospheric pressure discharge. The electrical and optical characteristics of this device are discussed. Results show that the dual-chamber discharge is more uniform compared to conventional dielectric-barrier discharges.

We assessed the pregnancy outcome of nine women inadvertently transfused with acitretin-contaminated blood products in South Korea. A total of 18 women matched to cases by age, gravidity, and singleton- or twin-pregnancy, and who were transfused with blood products not contaminated with acitretin, was also recruited. There were nine babies born in the case group. No differences (p > 0.05) were observed between cases and controls in the gestational age at delivery (38.3 +/- 1.6 weeks vs 37.8 +/- 2.2 weeks), birth weight (3,146 +/- 874 g vs 3,106 +/- 568 g), rate of pre-term deliveries (22.2% vs 11.1%) and rate of low birth weight (

The present work introduces a new type of numerical analyzing method: the contact element method with two relative coordinates (CEM). The main characteristic of the procedure is elements meshing on the basis of the contact length between objects and that each element has two relative coordinates. The ordinary expression of this procedure is DX[CXY(i)]=DY[CYX(i)]. Through this method, the CEM function of the 20-high Sendzimir mill and the deflection function expression of every roll are obtained. A computational software SM4SM for the Sendzimir mill has been developed, by which the deflection condition of rolls S, O, I, and A can be obviously seen. The results obtained by CEM have also been compared to that by the finite element method.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are known to play an important role in photoaging by mediating the degradation of extracellular matrix proteins. To develop a new anti-aging agent for cosmetics from natural products, Melothria heterophylla (Lour.) Cogn. was selected for its antioxidant activity and inhibitory effect on expression of MMP-1 in UVA-irradiated human skin fibroblasts. Two compounds (compounds 1 and 2 ) were isolated from an ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the ethanolic extracts; they were identified as 1,2,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-beta-(D)-glucopyranose (1) and 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (2). These compounds were found to scavenge radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and were measured to have SC50 values of 3.9 microM and 13.3 microM against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals and values of 4.3 microM and 4.0 microM against superoxide radicals in the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the expression and activity of MMP-1 in UVA-induced human skin fibroblasts, but no inhibition of MMP-1 mRNA expression. Therefore, we concluded that compounds 1 and 2 significantly inhibited MMP-1 expression at the protein level. Also, these compounds were determined to have a potent antioxidant activity. From these results, we suggest that these compounds might be useful as a new anti-aging agent for photodamaged skin, but the in vitro findings must be verified in in vivo studies.

To develop a new whitening agent for cosmetics from natural products, Angelica dahurica was selected for its inhibitory effect on melanogenesis in B16 melanoma cells. From the mechanism study, it was clarified that the ethanolic extracts of this plant showed the suppression of tyrosinase synthesis but no inhibition of tyrosinase activity. In order to find the active constituents from this plant, the ethanol extracts were chromatographed repeatedly with silica gel. Two coumarin compounds were isolated from A. dahurica. Their structures were identified by physicochemical and spectral data such as UV, IR, NMR, and MS. It was shown that the active substance was isoimperatorin (10-[(3-methyl-2-butenyl)oxy]-7H-furo[3,2-g][1] benzopyran-7-one) and imperatorin (9-[(3-methyl-2-butenyl)oxy]-7H-furo[3,2-g][1] benzopyran-7-one). They significantly inhibited tyrosinase synthesis in B16 melanoma cells. To elucidate the action mechanism of the active compounds of A. dahurica, we investigated the changes in the mRNA level of tyrosinase using the RT-PCR technique. As a result, the mRNA level of tyrosinase was markedly reduced by active compounds of A. dahurica. From these results, we suggest that these extracts might be useful as a new whitening agent in cosmetics, but the in vitro findings must be verified in in vivo skin-lightening studies.

This study was performed to increase the treatment efficiency and to reduce operation and maintenance costs of the existing nightsoil treatment plant. The existing nightsoil plant was not established by the nitrogen removal process, and was operated ineffectively with deterioration of treatment efficiency rate, and according to the demand of many operators, the expenses of operation and maintenance have become excessive. Modified plant has been changed through two steps. The first step, liquid decayed tank using closed oxidation ditch is operated to increase retention time only for nitrification. The second step, modified liquid decayed tank including anoxic tank is operated, it has an excellent nitrogen removal rate. In first step, when HRT was increased from 10 days to 13 days in liquid decayed tank including aeration tank using closed oxidation ditch, TN concentration of effluent appeared below 51 mg/L less than discharge limit, 60 mg/L. In second step, when anoxic tank and oxic tank were installed, HRT has been increased to 13 days and 26 days, respectively. Then average TN concentration of effluent was detected less than 13 mg/L for over one year. The simple process modified the existing two processes resulted in the reduction of costs for operation and maintenance in the personnel, chemical, and filter change sphere.

A three‐dimensional and integrated, Eulerian finite element based model is presented for the prediction of temperature, sliding velocity gradient and pressure of roll groove in the hot rod rolling. The model is comprised of basic finite element models, which are incorporated into an iterative solution procedure to deal with interdependence between the thermo‐mechanical behavior of the workpiece and that of the roll. The capability of the model to reveal detailed aspects of the complex interaction between the workpiece and the roll groove is demonstrated through a series of process simulations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the topography of the nerve distribution on the two heads of the lateral pterygoid and to clarify their morphological-functional correlations. The nerve distribution on the lateral pterygoid was studied in 24 hemi-sectioned heads. Both heads of the lateral pterygoid were innervated from the mandibular nerve branches, but with various nerve distribution patterns. The nerves innervating the superior head of the lateral pterygoid originated from the buccal nerve only in 45.8% of cases. In contrast, the nerves innervating the inferior head of the lateral pterygoid originated from both the buccal and mandibular nerve trunk in 58.3% of cases. In the seven distribution categories of the mandibular nerve branches, both the superior and inferior heads of the lateral pterygoid had a common source of nerve innervation in only 20.8% of cases, the buccal nerve. In contrast, in 45.9% of cases, additional nerve twigs from the mandibular nerve trunk were distributed on the inferior head of the lateral pterygoid. In summary, besides the buccal nerve described in anatomy textbooks, the nerve branches that originated directly from the mandibular nerve trunk innervated the lateral pterygoid.

The authors have created an interface between computer vision processes and CAD (computer-aided design) databases as part of the development of an automated visual inspection system. A recognition planning system uses rules to select the important vision features from the given CAD database and generates feature-recognition procedures. An inspection planning system provides overall inspection procedures given the CAD database. This system provides such information as a list of features to be measured, techniques to use, and the range of values allowed. Thus, after the design cycle, parts can be thoroughly inspected with no technical decisions or programming required. >

Aerated-anoxic processes operate under the principle that small additions of oxygen to an anoxic reactor induce simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. In these systems, ammonia oxidation in the anoxic zone can easily account for 30-50% of the total nitrification in the reactor, even though the dissolve oxygen concentration is usually below detection limit. To investigate whether the nitrification efficiency in aerated-anoxic processes was due to the presence of specialized ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), an analysis of the AOB population in an aerated-anoxic Orbal process and a conventional nitrogen removal process was carried out using phylogenetic analyses based on the ammonia monooxygenase A (amoA) gene. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analyses revealed that Nitrosospira-like organisms were one of the major contributors to ammonia oxidation in a full-scale aerated-anoxic Orbal reactor. However, the relative populations of Nitrosospira-like and Nitrosomonas-like AOB were not constant and appeared to have seasonal variability. Cloning and sequence comparison of amoA gene fragments demonstrated that most of the AOB in the aerated-anoxic Orbal process belonged to the Nitrosospira sp. and Nitrosomonas oligotropha lineages. The abundance of Nitrosospira-like organisms in aerated-anoxic reactors is significant, since this group of AOB has not been usually associated with nitrification in wastewater treatment plants.

Starvation for nitrogen in the absence of a fermentable carbon source causes diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to leave vegetative growth, enter meiosis, and sporulare; the former nutritional condition also induces expression of the YVH1 gene that encodes a protein phosphatase. This correlation prompted us to determine whether the Yvh1p phosphatase was a participant in the network that controls the onset of meiosis and sporulation. We found that expression of the IME2 gene, encoding a protein kinase homologue required for meiosis- and sporulation-specific gene expression, is decreased in a yvh1 disrupted strain. We also observed a decrease, albeit a smaller one, in the expression of IME1 which encodes an activator protein required for IME2 expression. Under identical experimental conditions, expression of the MCKI and IME4 genes (which promote sporulation but do not require Ime1p for expression) was not affected. These results demonstrate the specificity of the yvh1 disruption phenotype. They suggest that decreased steady-state levels of IME1 and IME2 mRNA were not merely the result of non-specific adverse affects on nucleic acid metabolism caused by the yvh1 disruption. Sporulation of a homozygous yvh1 disruption mutant was delayed and less efficient overall compared to an isogenic wild-type strain, a result which correlates with decreased IME1 and IME2 gene expression. We also observed that expression of the PTP2 tyrosine phosphatase gene (a negative regulator of the osmosensing MAP kinase cascade), but not the PTP1 gene (also encoding a tyrosine phosphatase) was induced by nitrogen-starvation. Although disruption of PTP2 alone did not demonstrably affect sporulation or IME2 gene expression, sporulation was decreased more in a yvh1, ptp2 double mutant than in a yvh1 single mutant; it was nearly abolished in the double mutant. These data suggest that the YVH1 and PTP2 encoded phosphatases likely participate in the control network regulating meiosis and sporulation. Expression of YVH1 and PTP2 was not affected by nitrogen source quality (asparagine compared to proline) suggesting that nitrogen starvation-induced YVH1 and PTP2 expression and sensitivity to nitrogen catabolite repression are on two different branches of the nitrogen regulatory network.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 13-cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) on the growth regulation of DU-145 human prostatic cancer cells. The results of these experiments demonstrate that cell growth and metastatic potential of DU-145 cells were significantly inhibited by 13-cis-RA (10 microM). In order to elucidate the possible molecular mechanisms of 13-cis-RA action on prostate cancer cells, we examined the expression of nuclear receptor genes (hRXR alpha) and found that 13-cis-RA treated cells showed higher mRNA expression for hRXR alpha nuclear receptors compared to untreated cells. To elucidate further the possible biochemical mechanisms associated with these alterations, we analyzed the phosphorous metabolites by MR spectroscopy and found that the major metabolites were PME, (PC, PE) and DPDE (UDP-GalNAc, UDP-GLcNAc). The DU-145 cells and xenografts, which were both treated with 13-cis-RA, showed a two-fold decrease in DPDE's, compared to their controls. The higher resolution spectra of perfused cells revealed that phosphocholine levels were twice as high in 13-cis-RA-treated DU-145 cells as compared to untreated cells. These investigations demonstrate for the first time that 13-cis-RA inhibits the growth of human prostatic cancer cells, and this inhibition is associated with an increase in hRXR alpha nuclear receptor gene expression and alterations in phosphorous metabolites detected by 31P MR spectroscopy.

Retinoids play a major role in regulation of epithelial cell growth and cellular differentiation, but their mechanism(s) of action are still unclear. In the present study, we examined the effects of 13-cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) on cytotoxicity, growth properties, morphology, neutral lipids, phospholipids and fatty acids in cultured human prostate cancer cell lines. The results of these experiments suggest that 13-cis-RA (10 microM) inhibits the DNA synthesis and nude mice tumorigenicity by 2- to 3-fold, compared to control. Electron microscopy revealed more differentiated phenotypes after 13-cis-RA treatment. There was a significant increase in phosphatidylcholine and decrease in sphingomyelin in 13-cis-RA treated cells compared to control. The saturated fatty acids significantly decreased whereas unsaturated fatty acids were increased after 13-cis-RA treatment in prostate cancer cells. This study demonstrates for the first time that retinoic acid mediated downregulation of saturated fatty acids and upregulation of unsaturated fatty acid in human prostate cancer cells.

We have shown that dielectric/metal composite nanowires exhibit very strong surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) signals when arranged in a random three-dimensional geometry. Since the intersections of the nanowires are critical in generating the high electric fields necessary for this enhancement, we are investigating this effect under more controlled conditions. We examined nanowire arrays formed by e-beam lithography and we have examined the plasmonic effects, both longitudinal and transverse, due to changes in crossing geometry by specific placements of dielectric/metal nanowires on these arrays. Results indicate significant angular effects on the SERS enhancement supported by electric field calculations.

Recently, the authors have shown that dielectric/metal composite nanowires exhibit very strong surface enhanced Raman (SERS) signals when arranged in a random three-dimensional geometry. Since they believe that the intersections of nanowires are critical in generating the high electric fields necessary for this enhancement, they have investigated the effect of crossing geometry under more controlled conditions. Thus, they will discuss the formation of nanowire arrays by in situ growth achieved by the control of nanowire material/substrate combination, as well as ex situ nanowire array formation involving e-beam lithography. They have examined the plasmonic effects, both longitudinal and transverse, due to changes in crossing geometry by specific placements of dielectric/metal nanowires on the fabricated arrays. The effects of nanowire geometry and the resulting SERS behavior show the importance of the dielectric/metal configuration, as well as the importance of nanowire angular geometry in the SERS enhanc...

The Si wires were grown on a Si(111) substrate using the pulsed laser deposition system. Gold was used as a metal catalyst to form the silicon wires utilizing the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism. Samples were grown under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at a growth temperature of 800 °C. Typical dimensions of the grown Si wires were 200–500 nm in diameter and 1.6 μm in height.

Flame spray pyrolysis has been utilized in order to improve the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of blue-emitting Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles for light emitting diode applications. When Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles were prepared by conventional spray pyrolysis, the PL intensity was much lower than that of commercial Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles. However, Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles prepared by the flame spray pyrolysis showed a high PL intensity compared with the commercial one. The morphology and the crystallinity of Sr 5 (PO 4 )Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles are strongly affected by the flame condition and the post-treatment environment. Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ particles prepared by flame spray pyrolysis were of smaller size than commercial ones, although their spherical morphology was not maintained after the post-treatment at 1000°C with NH 4 Cl flux. The addition of NH 4 Cl flux during post-treatment greatly enhances the PL intensity of prepared Sr 5 (PO 4 ) 3 Cl:Eu 2+ phosphor particles due to increased crystallinity. It was found that the phosphor particles with larger crystallite size have higher PL intensity regardless of the method of preparation.