UV Photofunctionalization Effect on Bone Graft in Critical One-Wall Defect around Implant: A Pilot Study in Beagle Dogs

published_or_final_versio

Vietnamese American women’s beliefs and perceptions on cervical cancer, cervical cancer screening, and cancer prevention vaccines: A community-based participatory study

Cervical cancer remains commonly diagnosed in Vietnamese American women. Despite efforts to increase cervical cancer screening among Vietnamese American women, participation rates are persistently lower than the national goal. The objective of this study is to explore beliefs of Vietnamese American women about cervical cancer, cervical cancer screening, and cancer prevention vaccines. A qualitative descriptive investigation captured group perceptions about meaning and beliefs of cervical cancer, screening, and cancer prevention vaccines, and participants’ stories using a community-based participatory research approach. Forty Vietnamese American women were recruited from the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area into four focus groups. Using a process of directed content analysis, focus group transcripts were coded for themes. We found that cervical cancer continues to be a difficult topic to discuss, and Vietnamese American women may not bring the topic up themselves to their health care providers. Some women experienced intense emotions of fear or shame of having their cervix examined. Women delayed seeking cervical cancer screening and needed to have early warning signs, which guided them as to when to seek health care. Women focused on cleanliness through vaginal and/or perineal washing as primary prevention for cervical cancer. There were limited awareness and knowledge about cancer prevention vaccines, specifically the human papillomavirus. Some women relied heavily on their informal social networks of family, friends, or community for health knowledge. Fear and misunderstanding dominated the beliefs of Vietnamese American women about cervical cancer screening and prevention. These findings underscored the importance of having culturally-specific findings, which will inform a multicomponent intervention to promote cervical cancer screening and cancer prevention vaccine uptake within this population

Gene regulatory networks elucidating huanglongbing disease mechanisms.

Next-generation sequencing was exploited to gain deeper insight into the response to infection by Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas), especially the immune disregulation and metabolic dysfunction caused by source-sink disruption. Previous fruit transcriptome data were compared with additional RNA-Seq data in three tissues: immature fruit, and young and mature leaves. Four categories of orchard trees were studied: symptomatic, asymptomatic, apparently healthy, and healthy. Principal component analysis found distinct expression patterns between immature and mature fruits and leaf samples for all four categories of trees. A predicted protein - protein interaction network identified HLB-regulated genes for sugar transporters playing key roles in the overall plant responses. Gene set and pathway enrichment analyses highlight the role of sucrose and starch metabolism in disease symptom development in all tissues. HLB-regulated genes (glucose-phosphate-transporter, invertase, starch-related genes) would likely determine the source-sink relationship disruption. In infected leaves, transcriptomic changes were observed for light reactions genes (downregulation), sucrose metabolism (upregulation), and starch biosynthesis (upregulation). In parallel, symptomatic fruits over-expressed genes involved in photosynthesis, sucrose and raffinose metabolism, and downregulated starch biosynthesis. We visualized gene networks between tissues inducing a source-sink shift. CaLas alters the hormone crosstalk, resulting in weak and ineffective tissue-specific plant immune responses necessary for bacterial clearance. Accordingly, expression of WRKYs (including WRKY70) was higher in fruits than in leaves. Systemic acquired responses were inadequately activated in young leaves, generally considered the sites where most new infections occur

Anatomical and behavioral analyses of the inheritance of audiogenic seizures in the progeny of genetically epilepsy-prone and Sprague-Dawley rats.

Our previous studies have shown an increase in the number of GABAergic and total neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) of the genetically epilepsy-prone rat (GEPR-9) as compared to the non-seizing Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat. To determine whether an increase in neuron number in the IC is genetically associated with seizure behavior, seizing and non-seizing offspring of GEPR-9 and SD progenitor strains were studied as well as offspring from backcrosses made with F1 and either GEPR-9 or SD rats. In addition, the ontogeny of seizure behavior was studied in seizing rats from these same backgrounds. The development of seizure behavior in GEPR-9s was shown to be dependent on age and the number of exposures to sound stimulus up until the age of 9 weeks. The F1 and F2 generations displayed different audiogenic seizure profiles than those of the two progenitor strains. In the F1 generation, the ratio of seizing to non-seizing rats was always greater than 3:1, and the distribution of seizure scores was similar for males and females. In addition, the off-spring from backcrosses made with F1 rats (high or low seizing) and GEPR-9s displayed maximal audiogenic response scores (ARS) of 9, a characteristic of the GEPR-9s used in this study. The results of these genetic studies indicate a polygenetic inheritance of this autosomal dominant trait of audiogenic seizure susceptibility. For the quantitative study of neuronal density in the IC, neurons were counted from cresyl violet-stained preparations from seizing and non-seizing F1 and F2 rats, backcrosses from different categories and age-matched SD rats. Statistically significant increases in the number of both small (70% increase) and medium-sized (14% increase) neurons occurred in the high seizing animals (ARS = 7-9) as compared to either the non-seizing F2 or SD rats. In addition, a significant increase in the number of small neurons (77% increase) occurred in the high seizing offspring of the F1 X GEPR-9 backcross as compared to that of the non-seizing offspring of the F1 X SD backcross. The data from 25 rats generated a 0.9 coefficient of linear correlation between ARS and the number of small neurons. The results from the anatomical studies suggest that the inheritance of audiogenic seizures appears to be closely linked to the increase in cell number. Therefore, the increase in cell number in the IC may be an important determinant of seizure behavior for GEPR-9s

Enhancement of the Seebeck effect in bilayer armchair graphene nanoribbons by tuning the electric fields

The Seebeck coefficient in single and bilayer graphene sheets has been observed to be modest due to the gapless characteristic of these structures. In this work, we demonstrate that this coefficient is significantly high in quasi-1D structures of bilayer armchair graphene nanoribbons (BL-AGNRs) thanks to the open gaps induced by the quantum confinement effect. We show that the Seebeck coefficient of BL-AGNRs is also classified into three groups 3p, 3p + 1, 3p + 2 as the energy gap. And for the semiconducting BL-AGNR of width of 12 dimer lines, the Seebeck coefficient is found as high as 707 uV/K and it increases up to 857 uV/K under the impact of the vertical electric field. While in the semimetallic structure of width of 14 dimer lines, the Seebeck coefficient remarkably enhances 14 times from 40 uV/K to 555 uV/K. Moreover, it unveils an appealing result as the Seebeck coefficient always increases with the increase of the applied potential. Such BL-AGNRs appear to be very promising for the applications of the next generation of both electronic and thermoelectric devices applying electric gates.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Numerical simulation of discharge plasma generation and nitriding the metals and alloys

This research provides the numerical simulation of the plasma generation in a hollow cathode as well as the diffusion of nitrogen atoms into the metal in the low-pressure glow discharge plasma. The characteristics of the gas discharge were obtained and the relation of the basic technological parameters and the structural and phase state of the nitrided material were defined. Authors provided the comparison of calculations with the experimental results of titanium nitriding by low-pressure glow discharge plasma in a hollow cathode

Tankyrase Inhibitors Target YAP by Stabilizing Angiomotin Family Proteins

SummaryAs the key effector in the Hippo pathway, YAP was identified as an oncoprotein whose expression is elevated in various human cancers. However, the development of potentially therapeutic compounds targeting YAP has been slow and limited. Here, we find that tankyrase inhibitors suppress YAP activity. This effect is mediated by anigomotin (AMOT) family proteins. Tankyrases associate with AMOT family proteins and promote their degradation through E3 ligase RNF146. By antagonizing tankyrase activity, tankyrase inhibitors stabilize AMOT family proteins, thereby suppressing YAP oncogenic functions. Together, our studies not only demonstrate the tankyrase-RNF146-AMOT axis as an upstream pathway regulating YAP but also reveal a therapeutic opportunity in targeting YAP for cancer treatment

Molecular Characterization of Two Monoclonal Antibodies against the Same Epitope on B-Cell Receptor Associated Protein 31

published_or_final_versio

Facile Synthesis of High Quality Graphene Nanoribbons

Graphene nanoribbons have attracted attention for their novel electronic and spin transport properties1-6, and because nanoribbons less than 10 nm wide have a band gap that can be used to make field effect transistors. However, producing nanoribbons of very high quality, or in high volumes, remains a challenge. Here, we show that pristine few-layer nanoribbons can be produced by unzipping mildly gas-phase oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotube using mechanical sonication in an organic solvent. The nanoribbons exhibit very high quality, with smooth edges (as seen by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy), low ratios of disorder to graphitic Raman bands, and the highest electrical conductance and mobility reported to date (up to 5e2/h and 1500 cm2/Vs for ribbons 10-20 nm in width). Further, at low temperature, the nanoribbons exhibit phase coherent transport and Fabry-Perot interference, suggesting minimal defects and edge roughness. The yield of nanoribbons was ~2% of the starting raw nanotube soot material, which was significantly higher than previous methods capable of producing high quality narrow nanoribbons1. The relatively high yield synthesis of pristine graphene nanoribbons will make these materials easily accessible for a wide range of fundamental and practical applications.Comment: Nature Nanotechnology in pres