EEG findings of reduced neural synchronization during visual integration in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia patients exhibit well-documented visual processing deficits. One area of disruption is visual integration, the ability to form global objects from local elements. However, most studies of visual integration in schizophrenia have been conducted in the context of an active attention task, which may influence the findings. In this study we examined visual integration using electroencephalography (EEG) in a passive task to elucidate neural mechanisms associated with poor visual integration. Forty-six schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy controls had EEG recorded while passively viewing figures comprised of real, illusory, or no contours. We examined visual P100, N100, and P200 event-related potential (ERP) components, as well as neural synchronization in the gamma (30-60 Hz) band assessed by the EEG phase locking factor (PLF). The N100 was significantly larger to illusory vs. no contour, and illusory vs. real contour stimuli while the P200 was larger only to real vs. illusory stimuli; there were no significant interactions with group. Compared to controls, patients failed to show increased phase locking to illusory versus no contours between 40-60 Hz. Also, controls, but not patients, had larger PLF between 30-40 Hz when viewing real vs. illusory contours. Finally, the positive symptom factor of the BPRS was negatively correlated with PLF values between 40-60 Hz to illusory stimuli, and with PLF between 30-40 Hz to real contour stimuli. These results suggest that the pattern of results across visual processing conditions is similar in patients and controls. However, patients have deficits in neural synchronization in the gamma range during basic processing of illusory contours when attentional demand is limited

RhoE/ROCK2 regulates chemoresistance through NF-κB/IL-6/ STAT3 signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma

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Impact of dye interlayer on the performance of organic photovoltaic devices

The influences of buffer interlayer at the donor/acceptor interface on the open circuit voltage (VOC) of typical copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) / C60 organic photovoltaic devices are studied. Six fluorescent dyes with progressively increasing ionization potentials (I P) were used to investigate the factors influencing the VOC. The short-circuit current and fill factor of CuPc/ C60 device incorporating dye interlayer are lower than those of standard bilayer device. On the other hand, the VOC increases linearly with the I P of dye material and falls off when the I P is equal to or greater than 5.6 eV, in which the energy offset between the highest occupied molecular orbitals at the interlayer/ C60 heterojunction is smaller than the C60 exciton binding energy. The findings underscore the importance of energy offsets in photovoltaic responses. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio

The effects of benfotiamine in attenuating hyperglycemia-induced cardiac pathology

Type 2 diabetes is a major global health problem. It is also a risk factor for the onset of cardiovascular diseases, the current leading cause of global mortality. The first part of this mini-review describes hyperglycemia-induced cellular alterations and its effects on cardiac function. In particular, we emphasize the role of hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress in the activation of non-oxidative glucose pathways (NOGPs), that may contribute to cardiac pathology. For the second part, we evaluate the utility of benfotiamine (a vitamin B1 derivative) in treating diabetes-related cardiac pathology. The focus is on its role in activating the pentose phosphate pathway, which may reduce flux though the NOGPs. A possible role for benfotiamine in activating pro-survival signaling and reducing cell death in the heart is also described. We also discuss benfotiamine’s potential cardioprotective role in preventing the diabetic cardiomyopathy, treating myocardial infarction and maintaining the viability of cardiac progenitor cells. These findings warrant further investigation into the therapeutic potential of benfotiamine in treating diabetes-related cardiac complications.Keywords: Diabetes; cardiovascular disease; hyperglycemia; oxidative stress; non-oxidative glucose pathways; benfotiamin

EZH2-Mediated H3K27me3 Is Involved in Epigenetic Repression of Deleted in Liver Cancer 1 in Human Cancers

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), the histone methyltransferase of the Polycomb Repressive complex 2 catalyzing histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation (H3K27me3), is frequently up-regulated in human cancers. In this study, we identified the tumor suppressor Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) as a target of repression by EZH2-mediated H3K27me3. DLC1 is a GTPase-activating protein for Rho family proteins. Inactivation of DLC1 results in hyper-activated Rho/ROCK signaling and is implicated in actin cytoskeleton reorganization to promote cancer metastasis. By chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, we demonstrated that H3K27me3 was significantly enriched at the DLC1 promoter region of a DLC1-nonexpressing HCC cell line, MHCC97L. Depletion of EZH2 in MHCC97L by shRNA reduced H3K27me3 level at DLC1 promoter and induced DLC1 gene re-expression. Conversely, transient overexpression of GFP-EZH2 in DLC1-expressing Huh7 cells reduced DLC1 mRNA level with a concomitant enrichment of EZH2 on DLC1 promoter. An inverse relation between EZH2 and DLC1 expression was observed in the liver, lung, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer tissues. Treating cancer cells with the EZH2 small molecular inhibitor, 3-Deazaneplanocin A (DZNep), restored DLC1 expression in different cancer cell lines, indicating that EZH2-mediated H3K27me3 epigenetic regulation of DLC1 was a common mechanism in human cancers. Importantly, we found that DZNep treatment inhibited HCC cell migration through disrupting actin cytoskeleton network, suggesting the therapeutic potential of DZNep in targeting cancer metastasis. Taken together, our study has shed mechanistic insight into EZH2-H3K27me3 epigenetic repression of DLC1 and advocated the significant pro-metastatic role of EZH2 via repressing tumor and metastasis suppressors.published_or_final_versio

A critical review of fragmentation issues in the construction industry

The construction industry has generally been regarded as one of the least productive sectors worldwide, with issues ranging from the more common problems, such as delays and cost overruns, to more inter-connected and complex, such as conflicts, safety, client satisfaction, quality, value for money and many more. These poor performances have been closely attributed to the fragmentation that surrounds construction industry practices, whereby construction processes often take place in a sequential manner, and parties typically work in isolation with minimal interfaces between them. This fragmented scenario has ensued the industry as unable to perform efficiently and as being synonymous with problems. This paper therefore aims to critically review past research and literatures towards identifying the fragmentation issues that have been surrounding the construction industry worldwide. The result: 46 factors were compiled from 27 sources, thus indicating that fragmentation is indeed a significant and universal problem within the construction industry. The findings in this paper is expected to provide a platform for effective solutions to be strategized in future towards improving productivity rates in construction

Photocatalytic conversion of NO using TiO?-NH?catalysts in ambient air environment

Author name used in this publication: F. B. LiAuthor name used in this publication: X. Z. LiAuthor name used in this publication: C. H. AoAuthor name used in this publication: S. C. Lee2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of VOCs using Ln??-TiO?catalysts for indoor air purification

Author name used in this publication: F. B. LiAuthor name used in this publication: X. Z. LiAuthor name used in this publication: C. H. AoAuthor name used in this publication: S. C. Lee2004-2005 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Factors influencing project delay : a case study of the Vale Malaysia Minerals Project (VMMP)

Delays are one of the biggest problems faced by the construction industry. The delays in construction projects have significant financial and social impact to parties involved in the projects. The main objective of this study is to explore the causes of delay in the Vale Malaysia Minerals Project (VMMP) in Lumut, Perak. This study was conducted by using a qualitative approach. A series of face to face interviews were conducted with an expert from construction organization and VMMP staff. Responses were analysed qualitatively using content analysis and a comprehensive interpretation was developed. The results revealed that several factors that contribute to the delay in VMMP completion, i.e. communication, delayed in material delivery, and poor management on site, etc. Time and cost overrun were the common effects of delays in construction project. The findings of this study will help the project manager or the client to take necessary measures and to use of supply chain management to avoid delays of project completion in a construction project

Dishevelled-3 phosphorylation is governed by HIPK2/PP1Cα/ITCH axis and the non-phosphorylated form promotes cancer stemness via LGR5 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Dishevelled-3 (Dvl3) is regarded as a binding hub with many different interacting partners. However, its regulation and mechanism on cancer stemness remain to be explored. In this study, we showed that Dvl3 was significantly overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and promoted cancer stemness both in vitro and in vivo. We found that the non-phosphorylated (NP)-Dvl3 was more stable than the phosphorylated form, more active in activating β-catenin transcriptional activity, and more potent in enhancing self-renewal ability in HCC cells. Mechanistically, we confirmed that the homeodomain-interacting protein kinase-2 (HIPK2) and E3 ubiquitin ligase ITCH were able to physically bind to Dvl3 protein. Knockdown of HIPK2 and the protein phosphatase regulatory unit C-alpha (PP1Cα) resulted in sustained Dvl3 phosphorylation and hence decrease in the NP form of Dvl3. On the other hand, knockdown of E3 ubiquitin ligase ITCH reduced the phosphorylation-induced degradation and stabilized the phosphorylated Dvl3 protein. Furthermore, the NP-Dvl3 enhanced the LGR5 promoter activity to upregulate LGR5 expression, which was associated with increased cancer stemness in HCC. Our findings established that HIPK2/PP1Cα/ITCH axis sustains the de-phosphorylation of Dvl3. This post-translational modification of Dvl3 in turn maintains LGR5 expression and enhances the cancer stemness properties in HCC.published_or_final_versio