Transparent Fingerprint Sensor System for Large Flat Panel Display

In this paper, we introduce a transparent fingerprint sensing system using a thin film transistor (TFT) sensor panel, based on a self-capacitive sensing scheme. An armorphousindium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) TFT sensor array and associated custom Read-Out IC (ROIC) are implemented for the system. The sensor panel has a 200 ?? 200 pixel array and each pixel size is as small as 50 ??m ?? 50 ??m. The ROIC uses only eight analog front-end (AFE) amplifier stages along with a successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). To get the fingerprint image data from the sensor array, the ROIC senses a capacitance, which is formed by a cover glass material between a human finger and an electrode of each pixel of the sensor array. Three methods are reviewed for estimating the self-capacitance. The measurement result demonstrates that the transparent fingerprint sensor system has an ability to differentiate a human finger???s ridges and valleys through the fingerprint sensor array

Suppression of STAT3 and HIF-1 Alpha Mediates Anti-Angiogenic Activity of Betulinic Acid in Hypoxic PC-3 Prostate Cancer Cells

Background: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that regulates various cellular processes such as cell survival, angiogenesis and proliferation. In the present study, we examined that betulinic acid (BA), a triterpene from the bark of white birch, had the inhibitory effects on hypoxia-mediated activation of STAT3 in androgen independent human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: BA inhibited the protein expression and the transcriptional activities of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) under hypoxic condition. Consistently, BA blocked hypoxia-induced phosphorylation, DNA binding activity and nuclear accumulation of STAT3. In addition, BA significantly reduced cellular and secreted levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a critical angiogenic factor and a target gene of STAT3 induced under hypoxia. Furthermore, BA prevented in vitro capillary tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) maintained in conditioned medium of hypoxic PC-3 cells, implying anti-angiogenic activity of BA under hypoxic condition. Of note, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChiP) assay revealed that BA inhibited binding of HIF-1a and STAT3 to VEGF promoter. Furthermore, silencing STAT3 using siRNA transfection effectively enhanced the reduced VEGF production induced by BA treatment under hypoxia. Conclusions/Significance: Taken together, our results suggest that BA has anti-angiogenic activity by disturbing th

Single Dose Toxicity of Chukyu (spine-healing) Pharmacopuncture Injection in the Muscle of Rats

Objectives: This study was performed to analyze the single dose toxicity of Chukyu (spine-healing) pharmacopuncture. Methods: All experiments were conducted at the Biotoxtech, an institution authorized to perform non-clinical studies under the regulations of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations. Sprague-Dawley rats were chosen for the pilot study. Doses of Chukyu (spine-healing) pharmacopuncture, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mL, were administered to the experimental groups, and a dose of normal saline solution, 1.0 mL, was administered to the control group. This study was conducted under the approval of the Institutional Animal Ethic Committee. Results: No deaths or abnormalities occurred in any of the four groups. No significant changes in weight, hematological parameters or clinical chemistry between the control group and the experimental groups were observed. To check for abnormalities in organs and tissues, we used microscopy to examine representative histological sections of each specified organ; the results showed no significant differences in any of the organs or tissues except in one case, where interstitial infiltrating macrophages were found in one female rat in the 0.5-mL/animal experimental group. Conclusion: The above findings suggest that treatment with Chukyu (spine-healing) pharmacopuncture is relatively safe. Further studies on this subject are needed to yield more concrete evidence