A 3-arm randomized controlled trial on the effects of dance movement intervention and exercises on elderly with early dementia

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sPDZD2: a novel negative modulator of hedgehog signaling

Poster Presentation - Theme 3: Development & stem cellsPDZD2 is a multi-PDZ domain-containing protein of unknown function in early development. It is proteolytically cleaved to generate its secreted form, sPDZD2. Human PDZD2 is mapped to chromosome 5p13.2, which co-localizes with the disease-associated gene in a family of Brachydactyly Type A1 (BDA1) patients, suggesting involvement of PDZD2 in limb development. Hedgehog (Hh) is an important morphogen that dictates tissue patterning during embryonic development and recent studies showed that mutations in Indian Hedgehog (IHH) resulted in ...postprin

Atypical focal cortical dysplasia in a patient with Cowden syndrome

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PDB140 Quality of Care For Patients With Diabetes Mellitus (Dm) In Canada: Findings From A National Population-Based Survey

Núm. de Catàleg de Patrimoni: 2076Primer pla d'una operària netejant una troballa d'estris de metall, a les excavacions realitzades sota el pis de la Sala Capitular del Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes des de finals de 2007 i fins a principis de 200

Large Extra Dimension effects through Light-by-Light Scattering at the CERN LHC

Observing light-by-light scattering at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has received quite some attention and it is believed to be a clean and sensitive channel to possible new physics. In this paper, we study the diphoton production at the LHC via the process $\rm pp\rightarrow p\gamma\gamma p\rightarrow p\gamma\gamma p$ through graviton exchange in the Large Extra Dimension (LED) model. Typically, when we do the background analysis, we also study the Double Pomeron Exchange (DPE) of $\gamma\gamma$ production. We compare its production in the quark-quark collision mode to the gluon-gluon collision mode and find that contributions from the gluon-gluon collision mode are comparable to the quark-quark one. Our result shows, for extra dimension $\delta=4$, with an integrated luminosity $\rm {\cal L} = 200 fb^{-1}$ at the 14 TeV LHC, that diphoton production through graviton exchange can probe the LED effects up to the scale $\rm M_S=5.06 (4.51, 5.11) TeV$ for the forward detector acceptance $\xi_1 (\xi_2, \xi_3)$, respectively, where $0.0015<\xi_1<0.5$, $0.1<\xi_2<0.5$ and $0.0015<\xi_3<0.15$.Comment: 25 pages. 7 figs. Change some grammatical error

Tracking down the migration of mouse neural crest cells

During early embryonic development, cell migration is one of the most important morphogenetic processes. Neural crest cells arise from the dorsal part of the neural tube and migrate along different pathways to numerous locations where they differentiate into a variety of tissues. In the mouse, studies of neural crest cell migration have been difficult partly because of the absence of specific markers which can label neural crest cells throughout their migration from their origin to the site of differentiation. Nevertheless, the use of different experimental strategies involving extrinsic, intrinsic or genetic cell markers has already led to a good understanding of this migration. In our studies, extrinsic markers such as wheat germ agglutinin-gold conjugates and DiI and genetic markers including Hoxb2-lacZ and green fluorescent protein have been employed in tracing migrating neural crest cells. The labelling procedures and the strength and weaknesses of the tracing methods are reviewed herein. Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.published_or_final_versio

Optical characteristics of GAN/SI micro-pixel light-emitting diode arrays

Two-dimensional arrays of emissive micro-light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDS) have been developed for a variety of applications such as high resolution micro-displays, maskless photo-lithography and multichannel visible-light optical communications amongst others. μ-LEDs have traditionally been fabricated on InGaN LED wafers grown on transparent sapphire substrates, and have suffered from optical crosstalk issues. When a single pixel is addressed, adjacent pixels and regions appear illuminated simultaneously. Such problems could result in functional failure in high-density μ-LED applications, including reduced resolution of micro-display and decreased signal-to-noise ratio in ...postprin

Diverse proteomic alterations in gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric adenocarcinoma is one of the most common cancers in Asian countries including China. Although its incidence rates in the West are lower than that in Asia, gastric cancer is still a major health problem worldwide, being second only to lung cancers in the number of deaths it causes. Helicobacter pylori infection has been identified as the major pathogen, but the detailed pathogenesis of gastric carcinoma remains elusive. Due to the lack of suitable and specific biomarkers for early detection, most cases of the disease are diagnosed at late stages and the survival rate is low. In this study, we used a proteomic approach to globally analyze the protein profiles of paired surgical specimens of primary gastric adenocarcinoma and nontumor mucosa aiming at identifying specific disease-associated proteins as potential clinical biomarkers and for carcinogenetic study. Compared to nontumor tissues, multiple protein alterations were found in tumor tissues. Some of these alterations involve variations in the expression of cytoskeleton proteins, including an increase in cytokeratin 8 and tropomyosin isoform and a decrease in cytokeratin 20. Co-up-regulations of heat-shock proteins and glycolytic enzymes were observed in tumor tissues, indicating self-protective efforts of cells and the growing energy requirement during malignant transformation. Diverse regulations also occurred with proteins involved in cell proliferation and differentiation, such as GMP reductase 2 and creatine kinase B, and proteins bearing potential tumor suppressor activities, including prohibitin and selenium binding protein 1. More interestingly, a human stomach-specific protein, 18 kDa antrum mucosa protein, was found to be dramatically under-expressed in cancer tissues, implicating a possible special pathological role for this protein in gastric carcinogenesis. Further comprehensive evaluation by globally considering the altered factors may result in the discovery of a biomarker index for effective assessment of the disease and may provide in-depth information for better understanding the pathogenesis of gastric cancer.postprin

Raf/MEK/MAPK signaling stimulates the nuclear translocation and transactivating activity of FOXM1c

The forkhead box (FOX) transcription factor FOXM1 is ubiquitously expressed in proliferating cells. FOXM1 expression peaks at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and its functional deficiency in mice leads to defects in mitosis. To investigate the role of FOXM1 in the cell cycle, we used synchronized hTERT-BJ1 fibroblasts to examine the cell cycle-dependent regulation of FOXM1 function. We observed that FOXM1 is localized mainly in the cytoplasm in cells at late-G1 and S phases. Nuclear translocation occurs just before entry into the G2/M phase and is associated with phosphorylation of FOXM1. Consistent with the dependency of FOXM1 function on mitogenic signals, nuclear translocation of FOXM1 requires activity of the Raf/MEK/MAPK signaling pathway and is enhanced by the MAPK activator aurintricarboxylic acid. This activating effect was suppressed by the MEK1/2 inhibitor U0126. In transient reporter assays, constitutively active MEK1 enhances the transactivating effect of FOXM1c, but not FOXM1b, on the cyclin B1 promoter. RT-PCR analysis confirmed that different cell lines and tissues predominantly express the FOXM1c transcript. Mutations of two ERK1/2 target sequences within FOXM1c completely abolish the MEK1 enhancing effect, suggesting a direct link between Raf/MEK/MAPK signaling and FOXM1 function. Importantly, inhibition of Raf/MEK/MAPK signaling by U0126 led to suppression of FOXM1 target gene expression and delayed progression through G2/M, verifying the functional relevance of FOXM1 activation by MEK1. In summary, we provide the first evidence that Raf/MEK/MAPK signaling exerts its G2/M regulatory effect via FOXM1c.published_or_final_versio

Determinants of 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccination among pregnant women in Hong Kong

During the 2009-2010 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, pregnant women infected with the virus experienced excess morbidity and mortality when compared with other groups. Once a vaccine was available, pregnant women were a priority group for vaccination. Only a few studies have reported on the uptake of 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccine among pregnant women during the pandemic and none were from Asia. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccine uptake among pregnant women in Hong Kong. Using a multi-center, cross-sectional design, we recruited 549 postpartum women from four post-natal wards in Hong Kong over a 4-month period during the second wave of the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic in the winter and spring of 2010. Only 6.2% (n = 34) of participants had received the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccine and 4.9% (n = 27) had received the seasonal influenza vaccine. The most common reasons for not receiving the 2009 A/H1N1 vaccine were fear of causing harm to themselves or their fetus. A high knowledge level (OR = 19.06; 95% CI 5.55, 65.48), more positive attitudes (OR = 3.52; 95% CI 1.37, 9.07), and having a family member who had the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza vaccine (OR = 7.69; 95% CI 2.92, 20.19) were independently and positively associated with vaccination. Study results show an unacceptably low uptake of the pandemic A/H1N1 influenza vaccine among pregnant women in Hong Kong. Interventions to increase influenza vaccine knowledge and uptake among this group should be a priority for future pandemic planning and seasonal vaccination campaigns.published_or_final_versio