Synthesis and characterization of microstructural α-​Mn2O3 materials

Low-​dimensional α-​Mn2O3 materials with novel surface morphologies were prepd. by thermal decompn. of hydrothermal-​derived MnCO3. The powder x-​ray diffraction pattern reveals that the Mn2O3 microstructures are of cubic phase structure. From FTIR results, the peaks ≈600-​450 cm-​1 correspond to Mn-​O bending vibrations. From the TGA results, the obsd. major wt. loss ≈31​% between 350 and 540° is due to the decompn. of MnCO3 into Mn2O3. The XPS results showed that Mn is in +3 oxidn. state. The peaks at 641.2 and 652.73 eV are assigned to the Mn2p3​/2 and Mn2p1​/2 of Mn3+ states, resp. The SEM images showed that the α-​Mn2O3 products exhibit spheres, dumbbell-​, and peanut-​shaped microstructure. These microstructures are mainly composed of wires​/rods and particles. The SEM results also revealed that the obtained α-​Mn2O3 maintains the frame structure of the precursor MnCO3

Photon interaction parameters of different tissues of human organs

For proper planning in the radiography of different parts of human organs, knowledge of the photon interaction parameters in different tissues of human organs are essential. Studied the x-ray and gamma photon interaction parameters such as  linear attenuation coefficient, half value layer, tenth value layer, mean free path and effective electron density of almost all tissues of human organs [Adipose tissue,  Blood, Brain, Breast, Cell Nucleus, Eye Lens, GI tract, Heart, Kidney, Liver, Lung , Lymph, Muscle, Ovary, Pancreas, Cartilage, Red marrow, Spongiosa, Yellow marrow, Skin, Spleen, Testis, Thyroid, Skeleton cortical bone, Skeleton cranium, Skeleton femur, Skeleton humerus,Skeleton mandible, Skeleton ribs (2nd,6th), Skeleton ribs (10th), Skeleton sacrum, Skeleton spongiosa, Skeleton vertebral column (C4) and Skeleton vertebral column (D6, L3)]. The present work is useful in the planning of radiography for different organs. This work also gives useful information for radiotherapy and dosimetry

Heterochromatic silencing and HP1 localization in Drosophila are dependent on the RNAi machinery

Genes normally resident in euchromatic domains are silenced when packaged into heterochromatin, as exemplified in Drosophila melanogaster by position effect variegation (PEV). Loss-of-function mutations resulting in suppression of PEV have identified critical components of heterochromatin, including proteins HP1, HP2, and histone H3 lysine 9 methyltransferase. Here, we demonstrate that this silencing is dependent on the RNA interference machinery, using tandem mini-white arrays and white transgenes in heterochromatin to show loss of silencing as a result of mutations in piwi, aubergine, or spindle-E (homeless), which encode RNAi components. These mutations result in reduction of H3 Lys9 methylation and delocalization of HP1 and HP2, most dramatically in spindle-E mutants

An Interpretable Deep Learning System for Automatically Scoring Request for Proposals

The Managed Care system within Medicaid (US Healthcare) uses Request For Proposals (RFP) to award contracts for various healthcare and related services. RFP responses are very detailed documents (hundreds of pages) submitted by competing organisations to win contracts. Subject matter expertise and domain knowledge play an important role in preparing RFP responses along with analysis of historical submissions. Automated analysis of these responses through Natural Language Processing (NLP) systems can reduce time and effort needed to explore historical responses, and assisting in writing better responses. Our work draws parallels between scoring RFPs and essay scoring models, while highlighting new challenges and the need for interpretability. Typical scoring models focus on word level impacts to grade essays and other short write-ups. We propose a novel Bi-LSTM based regression model, and provide deeper insight into phrases which latently impact scoring of responses. We contend the merits of our proposed methodology using extensive quantitative experiments. We also qualitatively asses the impact of important phrases using human evaluators. Finally, we introduce a novel problem statement that can be used to further improve the state of the art in NLP based automatic scoring systems.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Drosophila Activated Cdc42 Kinase Has an Anti-Apoptotic Function

Activated Cdc42 kinases (Acks) are evolutionarily conserved non-receptor tyrosine kinases. Activating somatic mutations and increased ACK1 protein levels have been found in many types of human cancers and correlate with a poor prognosis. ACK1 is activated by epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor signaling and functions to regulate EGF receptor turnover. ACK1 has additionally been found to propagate downstream signals through the phosphorylation of cancer relevant substrates. Using Drosophila as a model organism, we have determined that Drosophila Ack possesses potent anti-apoptotic activity that is dependent on Ack kinase activity and is further activated by EGF receptor/Ras signaling. Ack anti-apoptotic signaling does not function through enhancement of EGF stimulated MAP kinase signaling, suggesting that it must function through phosphorylation of some unknown effector. We isolated several putative Drosophila Ack interacting proteins, many being orthologs of previously identified human ACK1 interacting proteins. Two of these interacting proteins, Drk and yorkie, were found to influence Ack signaling. Drk is the Drosophila homolog of GRB2, which is required to couple ACK1 binding to receptor tyrosine kinases. Drk knockdown blocks Ack survival activity, suggesting that Ack localization is important for its pro-survival activity. Yorkie is a transcriptional co-activator that is downstream of the Salvador-Hippo-Warts pathway and promotes transcription of proliferative and anti-apoptotic genes. We find that yorkie and Ack synergistically interact to produce tissue overgrowth and that yorkie loss of function interferes with Ack anti-apoptotic signaling. Our results demonstrate how increased Ack signaling could contribute to cancer when coupled to proliferative signals

Unfolded protein response in Drosophila melanogaster: Role of IRE1/XBP1 pathway of UPR during differentiation and ER stress

Unfolded protein response (UPR) is a group of adaptive signal transduction pathways elicited in response to ER stress caused by accumulation of misfolded proteins. UPR, specifically Ire1/Xbp1 pathway is highly conserved and plays an important role during normal development and ER stress. UPR upregulates and maintains the secretory pathway components during development and differentiation of professional secretory cells like plasma cells and pancreatic beta cells. Also, UPR components are important for proper regulation of ER stress in secretory cells. Mutations or loss of these components leads to unresolved ER stress and cell death, causing diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, juvenile diabetes. Recent studies indicated that UPR pathways are crucial for cell fate decision during development of many protein misfolding diseases and any compromise in ER stress response would tilt the balance towards apoptosis from adaptive response. Thus efficiency of UPR determines time of manifestation for diseases like diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. It is thus important to understand the mechanism and regulation of UPR pathways. Since our current understanding of UPR is largely derived from cell culture experiments, there is a need for a good genetic model system like Drosophila to understand how a cell responds to ER stress in vivo. We designed a UPR reporter based on ER-stress specific endonuclease activity of Ire1 on Xbp1 mRNA. Our UPR reporter studies indicated that photoreceptors activate UPR during specific development stages, but not in adults. UPR activation is correlated with morphological and cellular changes that occur during photoreceptor development. With the same reporter we found that vitamin A deficiency, which leads to retention of rhodopsin 1 (Rh1) in photoreceptor ER, induces UPR. Similar studies showed that loss of Rh1-specific chaperone NinaA, which likewise leads to ER retention of Rh1, also activates UPR. Rhodopsin accumulates in the ER and fails to transport to the rhabdomeres in ninaA mutants lacking this essential Rh1-specific ER chaperone. Overexpression of spliced form of Xbp1 (Xbp1s) rescues rhodopsin maturation and transport to the rhabdomere. Xbp1s overexpression increases BiP levels and expression of dominant negative BiP compromised this rescue. As in other systems, Xbp1s expression causes extended ER cisternae in Drosophila photoreceptors. Thus, we propose that Xbp1s overexpression increases secretory pathway components including ER, and rescues rhodopsin transport in a BiP-dependent manner

TRANSAKSI SEMU (WASH SALE) DALAM PERDAGANGAN SAHAM PASAR MODAL

Pasar modal merupakan salah satu tempat bagi investor dan perusahaan untuk melakukan transaksi sekaligus melakukan investasi serta memegang peranan penting bagi perkembangan dalam sektor ekonomi, politik, sosial, serta hukum di Indonesia. Beberapa dinamika dalam pasar modal menyebabkan terhalangnya pencapaian tujuan dalam pasar modal itu sendiri. Kegiatan-kegiatan curang tersebut disebut dengan manipulasi pasar. Salah satu manipulasi pasar adalah transaksi semu (wash sale). Pelaku transaksi semu adalah kalangan profesional yang mempunyai pemahaman terhadap mekanisme pasar dalam perdagangan saham sehingga sulit untuk diungkap. Penelitian ini diteliti menggunakan metode yuridis normatif, yaitu penelitian hukum dikaji menggunakan aturan – aturan hukum terkait permasalahan transaksi semu dalam perdagangan saham pasar modal. Pengkajian dilakukan dengan pendekatan perundang – undangan dan pendekatan konseptual kemudian dianalisa hubungan antara aturan – aturan hukum secara sistematis. Berdasarkan hal tersebut, maka penelitian ini diberi judul “Transaksi Semu (Wash Sale) Dalam Perdagangan Saham Pasar Modal”