Estimation of utility weights for human papilloma virus-related health states according to disease severity

Scenarios for the different HPV-related health states. (DOCX 38 kb

Sound waves delay tomato fruit ripening by negatively regulating ethylene biosynthesis and signaling genes

AbstractRegulation of tomato fruit ripening may help extend fruit shelf life and prevent losses due to spoilage. Here, tomato fruit were investigated whether sound treatment could delay their ripening. Harvested fruit were treated with low-frequency sound waves (1kHz) for 6h, and then monitored various characteristics of the fruit over 14-days at 23±1°C. Seven days after the treatment, 85% of the treated fruit were green, versus fewer than 50% of the non-treated fruit. Most of the tomato fruit had transitioned to the red ripening stage by 14 days after treatment. Ethylene production and respiration rate were lower in the sound-treated than non-treated tomatoes. Furthermore, changes in surface color and flesh firmness were delayed in the treated fruit. To investigate how sound wave treatment effects on fruit ripening, the expression of ethylene-related genes was analyzed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis. The expression level of several ethylene biosynthetic (ACS2, ACS4, ACO1, E4 and E8) and ripening-regulated (RIN, TAGL1, HB-1, NOR, CNR) genes was influenced by sound wave treatment. These results indicated that sound wave treatment delays tomato fruit ripening by altering the expression of important genes in the ethylene biosynthesis and ethylene signaling pathways

Picture Quality and Sound Quality of OLED TVs

Unlike the past when cathode-ray tube (CRT) dominated display industry, many different types of flat panel displays (FPDs) are now leading the industry. Of these, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display has recently become a next-generation display since this display is recognised as having advantages over other competing technologies in picture quality and form factor. With major attributes of picture quality considered, a series of evaluations based on objective measures was performed with an OLED TV compared to an LCD TV. OLED TV outperformed LCD TV 100 times in black, 20 times in colour contrast, 30% in dynamic range coverage, 50 times in local contrast and 20 times in viewing angle. In addition, sound quality of the OLED TV was assessed using both objective and subjective evaluation methods compared to conventional TV speakers since OLED panel speaker technology was recently commercialised. The OLED panel speaker showed better performance both in objective and subjective methods

Copy number variations (CNVs) identified in Korean individuals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Copy number variations (CNVs) are deletions, insertions, duplications, and more complex variations ranging from 1 kb to sub-microscopic sizes. Recent advances in array technologies have enabled researchers to identify a number of CNVs from normal individuals. However, the identification of new CNVs has not yet reached saturation, and more CNVs from diverse populations remain to be discovered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 65 copy number variation regions (CNVRs) in 116 normal Korean individuals by analyzing Affymetrix 250 K Nsp whole-genome SNP data. Ten of these CNVRs were novel and not present in the Database of Genomic Variants (DGV). To increase the specificity of CNV detection, three algorithms, CNAG, dChip and GEMCA, were applied to the data set, and only those regions recognized at least by two algorithms were identified as CNVs. Most CNVRs identified in the Korean population were rare (<1%), occurring just once among the 116 individuals. When CNVs from the Korean population were compared with CNVs from the three HapMap ethnic groups, African, European, and Asian; our Korean population showed the highest degree of overlap with the Asian population, as expected. However, the overlap was less than 40%, implying that more CNVs remain to be discovered from the Asian population as well as from other populations. Genes in the novel CNVRs from the Korean population were enriched for genes involved in regulation and development processes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CNVs are recently-recognized structural variations among individuals, and more CNVs need to be identified from diverse populations. Until now, CNVs from Asian populations have been studied less than those from European or American populations. In this regard, our study of CNVs from the Korean population will contribute to the full cataloguing of structural variation among diverse human populations.</p

Pathogen-induced binding of the soybean zinc finger homeodomain proteins GmZF-HD1 and GmZF-HD2 to two repeats of ATTA homeodomain binding site in the calmodulin isoform 4 (GmCaM4) promoter

Calmodulin (CaM) is involved in defense responses in plants. In soybean (Glycine max), transcription of calmodulin isoform 4 (GmCaM4) is rapidly induced within 30 min after pathogen stimulation, but regulation of the GmCaM4 gene in response to pathogen is poorly understood. Here, we used the yeast one-hybrid system to isolate two cDNA clones encoding proteins that bind to a 30-nt A/T-rich sequence in the GmCaM4 promoter, a region that contains two repeats of a conserved homeodomain binding site, ATTA. The two proteins, GmZF-HD1 and GmZF-HD2, belong to the zinc finger homeodomain (ZF-HD) transcription factor family. Domain deletion analysis showed that a homeodomain motif can bind to the 30-nt GmCaM4 promoter sequence, whereas the two zinc finger domains cannot. Critically, the formation of super-shifted complexes by an anti-GmZF-HD1 antibody incubated with nuclear extracts from pathogen-treated cells suggests that the interaction between GmZF-HD1 and two homeodomain binding site repeats is regulated by pathogen stimulation. Finally, a transient expression assay with Arabidopsis protoplasts confirmed that GmZF-HD1 can activate the expression of GmCaM4 by specifically interacting with the two repeats. These results suggest that the GmZF-HD1 and –2 proteins function as ZF-HD transcription factors to activate GmCaM4 gene expression in response to pathogen

Paratubal serous borderline tumor

Although paratubal cysts are well-characterized incidental findings, paratubal serous borderline tumors are very rare, with only one case report in the literature. We describe here a 27-year-old, nulliparous, married woman with a paratubal serous borderline tumor. The patient presented with a huge pelvic mass accompanied by flank pain and underwent paratubal cystectomy and fertility-sparing surgical staging procedures. Thirteen months after surgery, she delivered a healthy baby at term. She is well, without evidence of disease, 20 months after surgery. Because paratubal serous borderline tumors are very rare, their optimal management must be extrapolated from their ovarian counterparts

Strain-Mediated Interlayer Coupling Effects on the Excitonic Behaviors in an Epitaxially Grown MoS2/WS2 van der Waals Heterobilayer.

van der Waals heterostructures composed of two different monolayer crystals have recently attracted attention as a powerful and versatile platform for studying fundamental physics, as well as having great potential in future functional devices because of the diversity in the band alignments and the unique interlayer coupling that occurs at the heterojunction interface. However, despite these attractive features, a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics accounting for the effect of interlayer coupling on the interactions between electrons, photons, and phonons in the stacked heterobilayer is still lacking. Here, we demonstrate a detailed analysis of the strain-dependent excitonic behavior of an epitaxially grown MoS2/WS2 vertical heterostructure under uniaxial tensile and compressive strain that enables the interlayer interactions to be modulated along with the electronic band structure. We find that the strain-modulated interlayer coupling directly affects the characteristic combined vibrational and excitonic properties of each monolayer in the heterobilayer. It is further revealed that the relative photoluminescence intensity ratio of WS2 to MoS2 in our heterobilayer increases monotonically with tensile strain and decreases with compressive strain. We attribute the strain-dependent emission behavior of the heterobilayer to the modulation of the band structure for each monolayer, which is dictated by the alterations in the band gap transitions. These findings present an important pathway toward designing heterostructures and flexible devices

Preclinical evaluation of injectable sirolimus formulated with polymeric nanoparticle for cancer therapy

Nanoparticles are useful delivery vehicles for promising drug candidates that face obstacles for clinical applicability. Sirolimus, an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin has gained attention for targeted anticancer therapy, but its clinical application has been limited by its poor solubility. This study was designed to enhance the feasibility of sirolimus for human cancer treatment. Polymeric nanoparticle (PNP)–sirolimus was developed as an injectable formulation and has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that PNP–sirolimus has prolonged circulation in the blood. In addition, PNP–sirolimus preserved the in vitro killing effect of free sirolimus against cancer cells, and intravenous administration displayed its potent in vivo anticancer efficacy in xenograft tumor mice. In addition, PNP–sirolimus enhanced the radiotherapeutic efficacy of sirolimus both in vitro and in vivo. Clinical application of PNP–sirolimus is a promising strategy for human cancer treatment

Overexpression of arabidopsis YUCCA6 in potato results in high-auxin developmental phenotypes and enhance

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a major plant auxin, is produced in both tryptophan-dependent and tryptophanindependent pathways. A major pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana generates IAA in two reactions from tryptophan. Step one converts tryptophan to indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) by tryptophan aminotransferases followed by a rate-limiting step converting IPA to IAA catalyzed by YUCCA proteins. We identified eight putative StYUC (Solanum tuberosum YUCCA) genes whose deduced amino acid sequences share 50%-70% identity with those of Arabidopsis YUCCA proteins. All include canonical, conserved YUCCA sequences: FATGY motif, FMO signature sequence, and FAD-binding and NADPbinding sequences. In addition, five genes were found with ~50% amino acid sequence identity to Arabidopsis tryptophan aminotransferases. Transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Jowon) constitutively overexpressing Arabidopsis AtYUC6 displayed high-auxin phenotypes such as narrow downward-curled leaves, increased height, erect stature, and longevity. Transgenic potato plants overexpressing AtYUC6 showed enhanced drought tolerance based on reduced water loss. The phenotype was correlated with reduced levels of reactive oxygen species in leaves. The results suggest a functional YUCCA pathway of auxin biosynthesis in potato that may be exploited to alter plant responses to the environment. © 2012 The Author