A Clinical Study of the Pulse Wave Characteristics at the Three Pulse Diagnosis Positions of Chon, Gwan and Cheok

In this work, we analyze the baseline, signal strength, aortic augmentation index (AIx), radial AIx, time to reflection and P_T2 at Chon, Gwan, and Cheok, which are the three pulse diagnosis positions in Oriental medicine. For the pulse measurement, we used the SphygmoCor apparatus, which has been widely used for the evaluation of the arterial stiffness at the aorta. By two-way repeated measures analysis of variance, we tested two independent measurements for repeatability and investigated their mean differences among Chon, Gwan and Cheok. To characterize further the parameters that were shown to be different between each palpation position, we carried out Duncan's test for the multiple comparisons. The baseline and signal strength were statistically different (P < .05) among Chon, Gwan and Cheok, respectively, which supports the major hypothesis of Oriental medicine that all of the three palpation positions contain different clinical information. On the other hand, aortic AIx and time to reflection were found to be statistically different between Chon and the others, and radial AIx and P_T2 did not show any difference between pulse positions. In the clinical sense, however, the aortic AIx at each palpation position was found to fall within the 90% confidence interval of normal arterial compliance. The results of the multiple comparisons indicate that the parameters of arterial stiffness were independent of the palpation positions. This work is the first attempt to characterize quantitatively the pulse signals at Chon, Gwan and Cheok with some relevant parameters extracted from the SphygmoCor apparatus

30 inch Roll-Based Production of High-Quality Graphene Films for Flexible Transparent Electrodes

We report that 30-inch scale multiple roll-to-roll transfer and wet chemical doping considerably enhance the electrical properties of the graphene films grown on roll-type Cu substrates by chemical vapor deposition. The resulting graphene films shows a sheet resistance as low as ~30 Ohm/sq at ~90 % transparency which is superior to commercial transparent electrodes such as indium tin oxides (ITO). The monolayer of graphene shows sheet resistances as low as ~125 Ohm/sq with 97.4% optical transmittance and half-integer quantum Hall effect, indicating the high-quality of these graphene films. As a practical application, we also fabricated a touch screen panel device based on the graphene transparent electrodes, showing extraordinary mechanical and electrical performances

Driven Diffusion in the Two-Dimensional Lattice Coulomb Gas; A Model for Flux Flow in Superconducting Networks

We carry out driven diffusion Monte Carlo simulations of the two dimensional classical lattice Coulomb gas in an applied uniform electric field, as a model for vortex motion due to an applied d.c. current, in a periodic superconducting network. A finite-size version of dynamic scaling is used to extract the dynamic critical exponent z, and infer the non-linear response at the transition temperature. We consider the f=0 and f=1/2 cases, corresponding to no applied magnetic field, and to one half flux quantum per unit cell of the network respectively.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures (available from [email protected]), RevTex3.0, URST12

Role of spinon and spinon singlet pair excitations on phase transitions in d−waved-wave superconductors

We examine the roles of massless Dirac spinon and spin singlet pair excitations on the phase transition in $d-wave$ superconductors. Although the massless spinon excitations in the presence of the spin singlet pair excitations do not alter the nature of the phase transition at $T = 0$, that is, the XY universality class, they are seen to induce an additional attractive interaction potential between vortices, further stabilizing vortex-antivortex pairs at low temperature for lightly doped high $T_c$ samples.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

GALEX Ultraviolet Photometry of Globular Clusters in M31

We present ultraviolet photometry for globular clusters (GCs) in M31 from 15 square deg of imaging using the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). We detect 200 and 94 GCs with certainty in the near-ultraviolet (NUV; 1750 - 2750 Angstroms) and far-ultraviolet (FUV; 1350 - 1750 Angstroms) bandpasses, respectively. Our rate of detection is about 50% in the NUV and 23% in the FUV, to an approximate limiting V magnitude of 19. Out of six clusters with [Fe/H]>-1 seen in the NUV, none is detected in the FUV bandpass. Furthermore, we find no candidate metal-rich clusters with significant FUV flux, because of the contribution of blue horizontal-branch (HB) stars, such as NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, which are metal-rich Galactic GCs with hot HB stars. We show that our GALEX photometry follows the general color trends established in previous UV studies of GCs in M31 and the Galaxy. Comparing our data with Galactic GCs in the UV and with population synthesis models, we suggest that the age range of M31 and Galactic halo GCs are similar.Comment: This paper will be published as part of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Astrophysical Journal Letters Special Issue. Links to the full set of papers will be available at http://www.galex.caltech.edu/PUBLICATIONS/ after November 22, 200

STK295900, a Dual Inhibitor of Topoisomerase 1 and 2, Induces G<inf>2</inf> Arrest in the Absence of DNA Damage

STK295900, a small synthetic molecule belonging to a class of symmetric bibenzimidazoles, exhibits antiproliferative activity against various human cancer cell lines from different origins. Examining the effect of STK295900 in HeLa cells indicates that it induces G2 phase arrest without invoking DNA damage. Further analysis shows that STK295900 inhibits DNA relaxation that is mediated by topoisomerase 1 (Top 1) and topoisomerase 2 (Top 2) in vitro. In addition, STK295900 also exhibits protective effect against DNA damage induced by camptothecin. However, STK295900 does not affect etoposide-induced DNA damage. Moreover, STK295900 preferentially exerts cytotoxic effect on cancer cell lines while camptothecin, etoposide, and Hoechst 33342 affected both cancer and normal cells. Therefore, STK295900 has a potential to be developed as an anticancer chemotherapeutic agent. © 2013 Kim et al

Strong, Light, Multifunctional Fibers of Carbon Nanotubes with Ultrahigh Conductivity

Broader applications of carbon nanotubes to real-world problems have largely gone unfulfilled because of difficult material synthesis and laborious processing. We report high-performance multifunctional carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers that combine the specific strength, stiffness, and thermal conductivity of carbon fibers with the specific electrical conductivity of metals. These fibers consist of bulk-grown CNTs and are produced by high-throughput wet spinning, the same process used to produce high-performance industrial fibers. These scalable CNT fibers are positioned for high-value applications, such as aerospace electronics and field emission, and can evolve into engineered materials with broad long-term impact, from consumer electronics to long-range power transmission

The Look-back Time Evolution of Far-Ultraviolet Flux from the Brightest Cluster Elliptical Galaxies at z < 0.2

We present the GALEX UV photometry of the elliptical galaxies in Abell clusters at moderate redshifts (z < 0.2) for the study of the look-back time evolution of the UV upturn phenomenon. The brightest elliptical galaxies (M_r < -22) in 12 remote clusters are compared with the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity in the Fornax and Virgo clusters. The sample galaxies presented here appear to be quiescent without signs of massive star formation or strong nuclear activity, and show smooth, extended profiles in their UV images indicating that the far-UV (FUV) light is mostly produced by hot stars in the underlying old stellar population. Compared to their counterparts in nearby clusters, the FUV flux of cluster giant elliptical galaxies at moderate redshifts fades rapidly with ~ 2 Gyrs of look-back time, and the observed pace in FUV - V color evolution agrees reasonably well with the prediction from the population synthesis models where the dominant FUV source is hot horizontal-branch stars and their progeny. A similar amount of color spread (~ 1 mag) in FUV - V exists among the brightest cluster elliptical galaxies at z ~ 0.1, as observed among the nearby giant elliptical galaxies of comparable optical luminosity.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Special GALEX ApJ Supplement, December 200

Epigenetic inactivation of the NORE1 gene correlates with malignant progression of colorectal tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>NORE1 (RASSF5) is a newly described member of the RASSF family with Ras effector function. <it>NORE1 </it>expression is frequently inactivated by aberrant promoter hypermethylation in many human cancers, suggesting that NORE1 might be a putative tumor suppressor. However, expression and mutation status of <it>NORE1 </it>and its implication in colorectal tumorigenesis has not been evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Expression, mutation, and methylation status of <it>NORE1A </it>and <it>NORE1B </it>in 10 cancer cell lines and 80 primary tumors were characterized by quantitative PCR, SSCP, and bisulfite DNA sequencing analyses. Effect of NORE1A and NORE1B expression on tumor cell growth was evaluated using cell number counting, flow cytometry, and colony formation assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression of <it>NORE1A </it>and <it>NORE1B </it>transcript was easily detectable in all normal colonic epithelial tissues, but substantially decreased in 7 (70%) and 4 (40%) of 10 cancer cell lines and 31 (38.8%) and 25 (31.3%) of 80 primary carcinoma tissues, respectively. Moreover, 46 (57.6%) and 38 (47.5%) of 80 matched tissue sets exhibited tumor-specific reduction of <it>NORE1A </it>and <it>NORE1B</it>, respectively. Abnormal reduction of <it>NORE1 </it>was more commonly observed in advanced stage and high grade tumors compared to early and low grade tumors. While somatic mutations of the gene were not identified, its expression was re-activated in all low expressor cells after treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-dC. Bisulfite DNA sequencing analysis of 31 CpG sites within the promoter region demonstrated that abnormal reduction of <it>NORE1A </it>is tightly associated with promoter CpG sites hypermethylation. Moreover, transient expression and siRNA-mediated knockdown assays revealed that both NORE1A and NORE1B decrease cellular growth and colony forming ability of tumor cells and enhance tumor cell response to apoptotic stress.</p> <p><b>Conclusion</b></p> <p>Our data indicate that epigenetic inactivation of <it>NORE1 </it>due to aberrant promoter hypermethylation is a frequent event in colorectal tumorigenesis and might be implicated in the malignant progression of colorectal tumors.</p