Modelling of photonic wire Bragg Gratings

Some important properties of photonic wire Bragg grating structures have been investigate. The design, obtained as a generalisation of the full-width gap grating, has been modelled using 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations. Different types of stop-band have been observed. The impact of the grating geometry on the lowest order (longest wavelength) stop-band has been investigated - and has identified deeply indented configurations where reduction of the stop-bandwidth and of the reflectivity occurred. Our computational results have been substantially validated by an experimental demonstration of the fundamental stop-band of photonic wire Bragg gratings fabricated on silicon-on-insulator material. The accuracy of two distinct 2D computational models based on the effective index method has also been studied - because of their inherently much greater rapidity and consequent utility for approximate initial designs. A 2D plan-view model has been found to reproduce a large part of the essential features of the spectral response of full 3D models

Trans-ancestry genome-wide association study identifies 12 genetic loci influencing blood pressure and implicates a role for DNA methylation

We carried out a trans-ancestry genome-wide association and replication study of blood pressure phenotypes among up to 320,251 individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We find genetic variants at 12 new loci to be associated with blood pressure (P = 3.9 × 10-11 to 5.0 × 10-21). The sentinel blood pressure SNPs are enriched for association with DNA methylation at multiple nearby CpG sites, suggesting that, at some of the loci identified, DNA methylation may lie on the regulatory pathway linking sequence variation to blood pressure. The sentinel SNPs at the 12 new loci point to genes involved in vascular smooth muscle (IGFBP3, KCNK3, PDE3A and PRDM6) and renal (ARHGAP24, OSR1, SLC22A7 and TBX2) function. The new and known genetic variants predict increased left ventricular mass, circulating levels of NT-proBNP, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (P = 0.04 to 8.6 × 10-6). Our results provide new evidence for the role of DNA methylation in blood pressure regulation

Formation and anisotropic properties of ion-exchanged KTiOPO4 crystal waveguides

Ferroelectrics, Letters Section221-235-39FELE

Formation and properties of proton-exchanged Z-cut MgO:LiNbO3 crystal waveguides

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers and Short Notes and Review Papers361 A139-142JAPN

Rhinosporidiosis: Differential diagnosis of a large nasal mass

10.1067/mhn.2001.110725Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery1241121-122OTOL

Asymmetry diffraction magneto-optical phenomenon of NiFe grating

10.1063/1.1404126Applied Physics Letters79132034-2036APPL

Expression of the sperm fibrous sheath protein CABYR in human cancers and identification of alpha-enolase as an interacting partner of CABYR-a

Calcium-binding tyrosine phosphorylation regulated protein (CABYR), a family of isoforms resulting from alternative splicing, has been identified as a cancer/testis antigen (CT88) in lung cancer and hypothesized to be a promising target for immunotherapy. Here, we report the expression of CABYR in various cancer tissues/cell lines. Expression profiles of individual isoforms were different among cancers. Furthermore, protein and mRNA levels did not correlate for individual isoforms. While CABYR-c/d were the most abundant splicing variants, CABYR-a was the predominant protein isoform. Finally. CABYR-a, but not CABYR-c, was found to interact with a-enolase in vivo. Collectively, the data indicate that CABYR is a CT antigen widely expressed in diverse cancer cells. However, individual protein isoforms may be differentially regulated by post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms and may have a unique role in carcinoeenesis. The protein expression pattern of various CABYR isoforms is important with regard to the consideration of using CABYR as a target antigen for the development of vaccines for cancer therapy