Fabrication of transparent conducting amorphous Zn–Sn–In–O thin films by direct current magnetron sputtering

Amorphous ZnO–SnO2–In2O3 films were grown by direct current magnetron sputtering from vacuum hot pressed ceramic oxide targets of Zn:In:Sn cation ratios 1:2:1 and 1:2:1.5 onto glass substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the microstructure remained amorphous during annealing at 200 °C for up to 5 hours. By monitoring the electrical resistivity, oxygen content and substrate temperature were optimized during deposition. The optimal films were characterized by Hall Effect, work function and optical spectroscopy measurements. Films of 1:2:1 composition showed the lowest resistivity (7.6×10−4 Ω-cm), when deposited onto substrates preheated to 300 °C. Transmissivity of all films exceeded 80% in the visible spectral region. The energy gap was 3.52–3.74 eV, and the work function ranged 5.08–5.22 eV, suitable for cathode applications in organic light emitting diodes. Overall, the film characteristics were comparable or superior to those of amorphous tin-doped indium oxide and zinc-doped indium oxide films and may serve as viable, lower-cost alternatives

Prediction of forex trend movement using linear regression line, two-stage of multi-layer perceptron and dynamic time warping algorithms

Foreign Exchange Currency prediction has become a challenging task since the late 1970s due to uncertainty movement of exchange rates. However, most researchers in this area were neglecting to analyse trend patterns from historical Forex data as input features. Thus, this motivates us to investigate possibility of repeated trend patterns from historical Forex data. This paper aims to investigate the repeated trend patterns as features from historical Forex data, which proposes new combination techniques - Linear Regression Line, two-stage of Multi-Layer Perceptron and Dynamic Time Warping algorithms in order to improve the performance of prediction significantly, thus achieving greater accuracy

Forex prediction engine: framework, modelling techniques and implementations

Having accurate prediction in foreign exchange (Forex) market is useful because it provides intelligent information for investment strategy. This paper studies extracted repeating patterns of historical Forex time series, so to predict future trend direction by matching the forming trend with a repeating pattern. In the proposed Forex prediction engine, global pattern movements over a period of time are extracted using a linear regression line (LRL) enhanced technique, and then further segmented into what we called up and down curves. Subsequently, the artificial neural network (ANN) is applied to classify or group the uptrend and downtrend patterns. Finally, the dynamic time warping (DTW) is used through brute force to identify a trend pattern similar to the current trend at least for the beginning part. The remaining part of the matched pattern can provide predictive clues about next day trend movement. The experimental results generated on the dataset of AUD–USD and EUR–USD currencies between 2012 and 2013 demonstrate reliable accuracy performance of 72%

Molecular Genetics of Metal Detoxification: Prospects for Phytoremediation

We seek to define the genes involved in heavy metal tolerance and sequestration. Initially, two complementary strategies were taken: (1) clone and characterize the genes that complement cadmium hypersensitive mutants of fission yeast, specifically those responsible for production of metal-binding complexes, and (2) isolate genes that can confer cadmium hypertolerance to wild type strains of fission yeast. During the course of the investigation, we added a third strategy to the existing plan. In this third strategy, we sought to isolate the cDNAs that are specifically expressed during exposure to Cd. For the past year, the success in isolating a large number of genes using the second and third strategy has redirected our emphasis to concentrating on the characterization of these genes. Consequently, some of the work that was initiated with the first strategy has been put on hold

Rituximab in B-Cell Hematologic Malignancies: A Review of 20 Years of Clinical Experience

Rituximab is a human/murine, chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody with established efficacy, and a favorable and well-defined safety profile in patients with various CD20-expressing lymphoid malignancies, including indolent and aggressive forms of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since its first approval 20 years ago, intravenously administered rituximab has revolutionized the treatment of B-cell malignancies and has become a standard component of care for follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma. For all of these diseases, clinical trials have demonstrated that rituximab not only prolongs the time to disease progression but also extends overall survival. Efficacy benefits have also been shown in patients with marginal zone lymphoma and in more aggressive diseases such as Burkitt lymphoma. Although the proven clinical efficacy and success of rituximab has led to the development of other anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in recent years (e.g., obinutuzumab, ofatumumab, veltuzumab, and ocrelizumab), rituximab is likely to maintain a position within the therapeutic armamentarium because it is well established with a long history of successful clinical use. Furthermore, a subcutaneous formulation of the drug has been approved both in the EU and in the USA for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Using the wealth of data published on rituximab during the last two decades, we review the preclinical development of rituximab and the clinical experience gained in the treatment of hematologic B-cell malignancies, with a focus on the well-established intravenous route of administration. This article is a companion paper to A. Davies, et al., which is also published in this issue

Evolutionary Action Score of TP53 Identifies High-Risk Mutations Associated with Decreased Survival and Increased Distant Metastases in Head and Neck Cancer

TP53 is the most frequently altered gene in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, with mutations occurring in over two-thirds of cases, but the prognostic significance of these mutations remains elusive. In the current study, we evaluated a novel computational approach termed evolutionary action (EAp53) to stratify patients with tumors harboring TP53 mutations as high or low risk, and validated this system in both in vivo and in vitro models. Patients with high-risk TP53 mutations had the poorest survival outcomes and the shortest time to the development of distant metastases. Tumor cells expressing high-risk TP53 mutations were more invasive and tumorigenic and they exhibited a higher incidence of lung metastases. We also documented an association between the presence of high-risk mutations and decreased expression of TP53 target genes, highlighting key cellular pathways that are likely to be dysregulated by this subset of p53 mutations that confer particularly aggressive tumor behavior. Overall, our work validated EAp53 as a novel computational tool that may be useful in clinical prognosis of tumors harboring p53 mutations

Adjacent single-stranded regions mediate processing of tRNA precursors by RNase E direct entry

The RNase E family is renowned for being central to the processing and decay of all types of RNA in many species of bacteria, as well as providing the first examples of endonucleases that can recognize 50 -monophosphorylated ends thereby increasing the efficiency of cleavage. However, there is increasing evidence that some transcripts can be cleaved efficiently by Escherichia coli RNase E via direct entry, i.e. in the absence of the recognition of a 50 -monophosphorylated end. Here, we provide biochemical evidence that direct entry is central to the processing of transfer RNA (tRNA) in E. coli, one of the core functions of RNase E, and show that it is mediated by specific unpaired regions that are adjacent, but not contiguous to segments cleaved by RNase E. In addition, we find that direct entry at a site on the 50 side of a tRNA precursor triggers a series of 50 -monophosphate-dependent cleavages. Consistent with a major role for direct entry in tRNA processing, we provide additional evidence that a 50 -monophosphate is not required to activate the catalysis step in cleavage. Other examples of tRNA precursors processed via direct entry are also provided. Thus, it appears increasingly that direct entry by RNase E has a major role in bacterial RNA metabolism

PhiC31 recombination system demonstrates heritable germinal transmission of site-specific excision from the Arabidopsis genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The large serine recombinase phiC31 from broad host range <it>Streptomyces </it>temperate phage, catalyzes the site-specific recombination of two recognition sites that differ in sequence, typically known as attachment sites <it>attB </it>and <it>attP</it>. Previously, we characterized the phiC31 catalytic activity and modes of action in the fission yeast <it>Schizosaccharomyces pombe</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, the <it>phiC31 </it>recombinase gene was placed under the control of the <it>Arabidopsis OXS3 </it>promoter and introduced into <it>Arabidopsis </it>harboring a chromosomally integrated <it>attB </it>and <it>attP</it>-flanked target sequence. The phiC31 recombinase excised the <it>attB </it>and <it>attP</it>-flanked DNA, and the excision event was detected in subsequent generations in the absence of the <it>phiC31 </it>gene, indicating germinal transmission was possible. We further verified that the genomic excision was conservative and that introduction of a functional recombinase can be achieved through secondary transformation as well as manual crossing.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The phiC31 system performs site-specific recombination in germinal tissue, a prerequisite for generating stable lines with unwanted DNA removed. The precise site-specific deletion by phiC31 <it>in planta </it>demonstrates that the recombinase can be used to remove selectable markers or other introduced transgenes that are no longer desired and therefore can be a useful tool for genome engineering in plants.</p

Anti-cancer drug validation: the contribution of tissue engineered models

Abstract Drug toxicity frequently goes concealed until clinical trials stage, which is the most challenging, dangerous and expensive stage of drug development. Both the cultures of cancer cells in traditional 2D assays and animal studies have limitations that cannot ever be unraveled by improvements in drug-testing protocols. A new generation of bioengineered tumors is now emerging in response to these limitations, with potential to transform drug screening by providing predictive models of tumors within their tissue context, for studies of drug safety and efficacy. Considering the NCI60, a panel of 60 cancer cell lines representative of 9 different cancer types: leukemia, lung, colorectal, central nervous system (CNS), melanoma, ovarian, renal, prostate and breast, we propose to review current Bstate of art^ on the 9 cancer types specifically addressing the 3D tissue models that have been developed and used in drug discovery processes as an alternative to complement their studyThis article is a result of the project FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This article was also supported by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020 (H2020) under grant agreement n° 668983 — FoReCaST. FCT distinction attributed to Joaquim M. Oliveira (IF/00423/2012) and Vitor M. Correlo (IF/01214/2014) under the Investigator FCT program is also greatly acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: executive summary.

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