All-electrical measurement of spin injection in a magnetic pp-nn junction diode

Magnetic $p$-$n$ junction diodes are fabricated to investigate spin-polarized electron transport. The injection of spin-polarized electrons in a semiconductor is achieved by driving a current from a ferromagnetic injector (Fe), into a bulk semiconductor ($n$-GaAs) via schottky contact. For detection, a diluted magnetic semiconductor ($p$-GaMnAs) layer is used. Clear magnetoresistance was observed only when a high forward bias was applied across the $p$-$n$ junction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Micronutrient status in lactating mothers before and after introduction of fortified flour: cross-sectional surveys in Maela refugee camp

Background Deficiency of micronutrients is common in refugee populations. Objectives Identify deficiencies and whether provided supplements and wheat flour fortified with 10 micronutrients impacts upon status among breast-feeding women from Maela refugee camp. Methods Two sequential cross-sectional studies were conducted in different groups of lactating mothers at 12 weeks postpartum. The first survey was before and the second 4-5 months after micronutrient fortified flour (MFF) had been provided to the camp (in addition to the regular food basket). Iron status and micronutrients were measured in serum, whole blood, and in breast milk samples. Results Iron and zinc deficiency and anemia were highly prevalent while low serum retinol and thiamine deficiency were rarely detected. Iron and zinc deficiency were associated with anemia, and their proportions were significantly lower after the introduction of MFF (21 vs. 35% with soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)>8.5 mg/L, P = 0.042, and 50 vs. 73% with serum zinc<0.66 mg/L, P = 0.001). Serum sTfR, whole-blood thiamine diphosphate (TDP) and serum β-carotene were significant predictors (P<0.001) of milk iron, thiamine and β-carotene, respectively. Lower prevalence of iron deficiency in the MFF group was associated with significantly higher iron and thiamine in breast milk. Conclusions High whole-blood TDP and breast milk thiamine reflected good compliance to provided thiamine; high prevalence of iron deficiency suggested insufficient dietary iron and low acceptance to ferrous sulfate supplements. MFF as an additional food ration in Maela refugee camp seemed to have an effect in reducing both iron and zinc deficiency postpartum. © Springer-Verlag 2012

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease.

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Research and Design of a Routing Protocol in Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

无线传感器网络，作为全球未来十大技术之一，集成了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、分布式信息处理和自组织网技术，可实时感知、采集、处理、传输网络分布区域内的各种信息数据，在军事国防、生物医疗、环境监测、抢险救灾、防恐反恐、危险区域远程控制等领域具有十分广阔的应用前景。 本文研究分析了无线传感器网络的已有路由协议，并针对大规模的无线传感器网络设计了一种树状路由协议，它根据节点地址信息来形成路由，从而简化了复杂繁冗的路由表查找和维护，节省了不必要的开销，提高了路由效率，实现了快速有效的数据传输。 为支持此路由协议本文提出了一种自适应动态地址分配算——ADAR（AdaptiveDynamicAddre...As one of the ten high technologies in the future, wireless sensor network, which is the integration of micro-sensors, embedded computing, modern network and Ad Hoc technologies, can apperceive, collect, process and transmit various information data within the region. It can be used in military defense, biomedical, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, counter-terrorism, remote control of haz...学位：工学硕士院系专业：信息科学与技术学院通信工程系_通信与信息系统学号：2332007115216

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Transflective holographic film for head worn display

A display panel assembly comprises a transflective holographic screen, i.e., a transparent screen that reflects light from a projection system, comprising at least a volume hologram, a first protective element and a second protective element, each arranged in contact with the volume hologram such that the volume hologram is sandwiched between the first protective element and the second protective element. The display panel assembly further comprises a projection system focusing an image on the volume hologram comprising at least projection optics, mounting means arranged to fixedly mount the projection system relatively to the transflective holographic screen. The volume hologram comprises a plurality of diffractive patterns disposed in sequence across the volume hologram, each of the plurality of diffractive patterns being configured to diffuse the light rays from the projection system in a determined direction corresponding to the specific diffractive pattern and oriented towards a position of an intended eye of a user wearing the display panel assembly

Dual inhibition of Raf and VEGFR2 reduces growth and vascularization of hepatocellular carcinoma in an experimental model.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase-extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways plays an important role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Importantly, Raf kinases are principal effectors within this oncogenic signaling cascade. We hypothesized that concomitant inhibition of Raf and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) will affect tumor growth and angiogenesis of HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human HCC cell lines, endothelial cells (EC), and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were used. For blocking Raf kinase and VEGFR2, the small molecule inhibitor NVP-AAL881 (Novartis, USA) was used. Activation of signaling intermediates was assessed by Western blotting, and changes in cell motility were evaluated in migration assays. Effects of NVP-AAL881 on HCC growth were determined in a subcutaneous tumor model. RESULTS: NVP-AAL881 disrupted activation of ERK and STAT3 in HCC cells and reduced cancer cell motility. In addition, the migration of ECs and VSMC was also significantly impaired. In ECs, HCC-conditioned media-induced activation of STAT3 was diminished by NVP-AAL881 treatment. In vivo, NVP-AAL881 significantly reduced tumor growth, CD31-vessel area, and numbers of BrdU-positive proliferating tumor cells. CONCLUSIONS: Combined inhibition of Raf and VEGFR2 disrupts oncogenic signaling and efficiently reduces tumor growth and vascularization of HCC. Hence, this strategy could prove valuable for therapy of HCC