Target Deletion of the Cytoskeleton-Associated Protein Palladin Does Not Impair Neurite Outgrowth in Mice

Palladin is an actin cytoskeleton–associated protein which is crucial for cell morphogenesis and motility. Previous studies have shown that palladin is localized to the axonal growth cone in neurons and may play an important role in axonal extension. Previously, we have generated palladin knockout mice which display cranial neural tube closure defect and embryonic lethality before embryonic day 15.5 (E15.5). To further study the role of palladin in the developing nervous system, we examined the innervation of palladin-deficient mouse embryos since the 200 kd, 140 kd, 90–92 kd and 50 kd palladin isoforms were undetectable in the mutant mouse embryo brain. Contrary to the results of previous studies, we found no inhibition of the axonal extension in palladin-deficient mouse embryos. The cortical neurons derived from palladin-deficient mice also showed no significant difference in neurite outgrowth as compared with those from wild-type mice. Moreover, no difference was found in neurite outgrowth of neural stem cell derived-neurons between palladin-deficient mice and wild-type mice. In conclusion, these results suggest that palladin is dispensable for normal neurite outgrowth in mice

Multifunctional graphene woven fabrics

Tailoring and assembling graphene into functional macrostructures with well-defined configuration are key for many promising applications. We report on a graphene-based woven fabric (GWF) prepared by interlacing two sets of graphene micron-ribbons where the ribbons pass each other essentially at right angles. By using a woven copper mesh as the template, the GWF grown from chemical vapour deposition retains the network configuration of the copper mesh. Embedded into polymer matrices, it has significant flexibility and strength gains compared with CVD grown graphene films. The GWFs display both good dimensional stability in both the warp and the weft directions and the combination of film transparency and conductivity could be optimized by tuning the ribbon packing density. The GWF creates a platform to integrate a large variety of applications, e.g., composites, strain sensors and solar cells, by taking advantages of the special structure and properties of graphene

Bio-inspired algorithm optimization of neural network for the prediction of Dubai crude oil price

Previous studies proposed several bio-inspired algorithms for the optimization of Neural Network (NN) to avoid local minima and to improve accuracy and convergence speed. To advance the performance of NN, a new bio-inspired algorithm called Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) is used to optimize the weights and bias of NN due to its ability to explore very large search space and frequent chosen of similar solution. The FPA optimized NN (FPNN) was applied to build a model for the prediction of Dubai crude oil price unlike previous studies that mainly focus on theWest Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil price benchmarks. Result

Down-Regulation of MiR-127 Facilitates Hepatocyte Proliferation during Rat Liver Regeneration

Liver regeneration (LR) after partial hepatectomy (PH) involves the proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocytes, and microRNAs have been shown to post-transcriptionally regulate genes involved in the regulation of these processes. To explore the role of miR-127 during LR, the expression patterns of miR-127 and its related proteins were investigated. MiR-127 was introduced into a rat liver cell line to examine its effects on the potential target genes Bcl6 and Setd8, and functional studies were undertaken. We discovered that miR-127 was down-regulated and inversely correlated with the expression of Bcl6 and Setd8 at 24 hours after PH, a time at which hypermethylation of the promoter region of the miR-127 gene was detected. Furthermore, in BRL-3A rat liver cells, we observed that overexpression of miR-127 significantly suppressed cell growth and directly inhibited the expression of Bcl6 and Setd8. The results suggest that down-regulation of miR-127 may be due to the rapid methylation of its promoter during the first 24 h after PH, and this event facilitates hepatocyte proliferation by releasing Bcl6 and Setd8. These findings support a miRNA-mediated negative regulation pattern in LR and implicate an anti-proliferative role for miR-127 in liver cells