A proposed minimum skill set for university graduates to meet the informatics needs and challenges of the "-omics" era

10.1186/1471-2164-10-S3-S36BMC Genomics10SUPPL. 3BGME

Development of a desalination membrane bioinspired by mangrove roots for spontaneous filtration of sodium ions

The shortage of available fresh water is one of the global issues presently faced by humanity. To determine a solution to this problem, the survival strategies of plants have been examined. In this study, a nature-inspired membrane with a highly charged surface is proposed as an effective membrane for the filtration of saline water. To mimic the desalination characteristics of mangrove roots, a macroporous membrane based on polyethylene terephthalate is treated with polyelectrolytes using a layer-by-layer deposition method. The fabricated membrane surface has a highly negative charged zeta-potential value of -97.5 +/- 4.3 mV, similar to that of the first layer of mangrove roots. Desalination of saline water using this membrane shows a high salt retention rate of 96.5%. The highly charged surface of the membrane may induce a relatively thick and stable ion depletion zone in front of the membrane. As a result, most co-ions are repelled from the membrane surface, and counterions are also rejected by virtue of their electroneutrality. The water permeability is found to be 7.60-7.69 L/m(2).h, which is 10 times higher than that of the reverse osmosis desalination method. This nature-inspired filtration membrane exhibits steady desalination performance over 72 h of operation, successfully demonstrating the stable filtration of saline water. This nature-inspired membrane is applicable to the design of a small-scale, portable, and energy-free desalination device for use in third-world countries or small villages.114Ysciescopu

A STUDY OF MUSCLE FATIGUE FOR PROLONGED STANDING USING SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAM: A CASE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to use surface Electromyogram (sEMG) for the investigation of muscle activities in the lower limbs of human subjects during prolonged standing. It has been suggested that prolonged standing leads to muscle fatigue. This is a single-subject investigation that involves a healthy female subject, performing 8 similar quiet standing trials for one hour on separate days. sEMG methods were used to record myoelectric activity from the Tibialis Anterior (TA), Peroneus Longus (PE) and Gastrocnemius muscles (GA). In the preliminary analysis, a progressive decrease in the median frequency curve has been observed in all muscle groups investigated and the trend was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The results of this study confirmed that muscle fatigue sets in during prolonged standing

Defective synapse maturation and enhanced synaptic plasticity in Shank2 Δex7(-/-) mice

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders with a strong genetic etiology. Since mutations in human SHANK genes have been found in patients with autism, genetic mouse models are used for a mechanistic understanding of ASDs and the development of therapeutic strategies. SHANKs are scaffold proteins in the postsynaptic density of mammalian excitatory synapses with proposed functions in synaptogenesis, regulation of dendritic spine morphology, and instruction of structural synaptic plasticity. In contrast to all studies so far on the function of SHANK proteins, we have previously observed enhanced synaptic plasticity in Shank2 Δex7(-/-) mice. In a series of experiments, we now reproduce these results, further explore the synaptic phenotype, and directly compare our model to the independently generated Shank2 Δex6-7(-/-) mice. Minimal stimulation experiments reveal that Shank2 Δex7(-/-) mice possess an excessive fraction of silent (i.e., α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid, short, AMPA receptor lacking) synapses. The synaptic maturation deficit emerges during the third postnatal week and constitutes a plausible mechanistic explanation for the mutants' increased capacity for long-term potentiation, both in vivo and in vitro. A direct comparison with Shank2 Δex6-7(-/-) mice adds weight to the hypothesis that both mouse models show a different set of synaptic phenotypes, possibly due to differences in their genetic background. These findings add to the diversity of synaptic phenotypes in neurodevelopmental disorders and further support the supposed existence of "modifier genes" in the expression and inheritance of ASDs

Tryptophan Oxidative Metabolism Catalyzed by Geobacillus Stearothermophilus: A Thermophile Isolated from Kuwait Soil Contaminated with Petroleum Hydrocarbons

Tryptophan metabolism has been extensively studied in humans as well as in soil. Its metabolism takes place mainly through kynurenine pathway yielding hydroxylated, deaminated and many other products of physiological significance. However, tryptophan metabolism has not been studied in an isolated thermophilic bacterium. Geobacillus stearothermophilus is a local thermophile isolated from Kuwait desert soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The bacterium grows well at 65 °C in 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 7), when supplied with organic compounds as a carbon source and has a good potential for transformation of steroids and related molecules. In the present study, we used tryptophan ethyl ester as a carbon source for the bacterium to study the catabolism of the amino acid at pH 5 and pH 7. In this endeavor, we have resolved twenty one transformation products of tryptophan by GC/LC and have identified them through their mass spectral fragmentation

Carrier-mediated ferromagnetic ordering in Mn ion-implanted p+GaAs:C

Highly p-type GaAs:C was ion-implanted with Mn at differing doses to produce Mn concentrations in the 1 - 5 at.% range. In comparison to LT-GaAs and n+GaAs:Si samples implanted under the same conditions, transport and magnetic properties show marked differences. Transport measurements show anomalies, consistent with observed magnetic properties and with epi- LT-(Ga,Mn)As, as well as the extraordinary Hall Effect up to the observed magnetic ordering temperature (T_C). Mn ion-implanted p+GaAs:C with as-grown carrier concentrations > 10^20 cm^-3 show remanent magnetization up to 280 K

Comparison of [(11)C]choline positron emission tomography with T2- and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for delineating malignant intraprostatic lesions

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of ¹¹C-choline (CHOL) positron emission tomography (PET) with the combination of T2-weighted (T2W) and diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for delineating malignant intraprostatic lesions (IPLs) for guiding focal therapies and to investigate factors predicting the accuracy of CHOL-PET. Methods and Materials: This study included 21 patients who underwent CHOL-PET and T2W-/DW-MRI prior to radical prostatectomy. Two observers manually delineated IPL contours for each scan, and automatic IPL contours were generated on CHOL-PET based on varying proportions of the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV). IPLs identified on prostatectomy specimens defined the reference standard contours. The imaging-based contours were compared with the reference standard contours using Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), sensitivity and specificity. Factors that could potentially predict the DSC of the best contouring method were analyzed using linear models. Results: The best automatic contouring method, SUV60, had similar correlations (DSC 0.59) with the manual PET contours (DSC 0.52, P=0.127) and significantly better correlations than the manual MRI contours (DSC 0.37, P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity values were 72% and 71% for SUV60; 53% and 86% for PET manual contouring; and 28% and 92% for MRI manual contouring. The tumor volume and transition zone pattern could independently predict the accuracy of CHOL-PET. Conclusions: CHOL-PET is superior to the combination of T2W- and DW-MRI for delineating IPLs. The accuracy of CHOL-PET is insufficient for gland-sparing focal therapies, 3 however may be accurate enough for focal boost therapies. The transition zone pattern is a new classification that may predict for how well CHOL-PET delineates IPLs.Joe H. Chang, Daryl Lim Joon, Ian D. Davis, Sze Ting Lee, Chee-Yan Hiew, Stephen Esler, Sylvia J. Gong, Morikatsu Wada, David Clouston, Richard O'Sullivan, Yin P. Goh, Damien Bolton, Andrew M. Scott, Vincent Kho

Minimum mass of galaxies from BEC or scalar field dark matter

Many problems of cold dark matter models such as the cusp problem and the missing satellite problem can be alleviated, if galactic halo dark matter particles are ultra-light scalar particles and in Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), thanks to a characteristic length scale of the particles. We show that this finite length scale of the dark matter can also explain the recently observed common central mass of the Milky Way satellites ($\sim 10^7 M_\odot$) independent of their luminosity, if the mass of the dark matter particle is about $10^{-22} eV$.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, accepted in JCA

B_c meson rare decays in the light-cone quark model

We investigate the rare decays $B_c \rightarrow D_s(1968) \ell \bar{\ell}$ and $B_c\rightarrow D_s^*(2317) \ell \bar{\ell}$ in the framework of the light-cone quark model (LCQM). The transition form factors are calculated in the space-like region and then analytically continued to the time-like region via exponential parametrization. The branching ratios and longitudinal lepton polarization asymmetries (LPAs) for the two decays are given and compared with each other. The results are helpful to investigating the structure of $B_c$ meson and to testing the unitarity of CKM quark mixing matrix. All these results can be tested in the future experiments at the LHC.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, version accepted for publication in EPJ