Two-dimensional heterogeneous photonic bandedge laser

We proposed and realized a two-dimensional (2D) photonic bandedge laser surrounded by the photonic bandgap. The heterogeneous photonic crystal structure consists of two triangular lattices of the same lattice constant with different air hole radii. The photonic crystal laser was realized by room-temperature optical pumping of air-bridge slabs of InGaAsP quantum wells emitting at 1.55 micrometer. The lasing mode was identified from its spectral positions and polarization directions. A low threshold incident pump power of 0.24mW was achieved. The measured characteristics of the photonic crystal lasers closely agree with the results of real space and Fourier space calculations based on the finite-difference time-domain method.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Single-Port Transumbilical Laparoscopic-Assisted Adnexal Surgery

Single-port transumbilical laparoscopic-assisted surgery for large, benign adnexal tumors was found to be a feasible alternative to conventional laparoscopic or open surgical methods

Enhanced Search Method for Ontology Classification

The web ontology language (OWL) has become a W3C recommendation to publish and share ontologies on the semantic web. In order to infer implicit information (classification, satisfiability and realization) of OWL ontology, a number of OWL reasoners have been introduced. Ontology classification is to compute a partial ordering or hierarchy of named concepts in the ontology using the subsumption testing. Most of the reasoners use both top-down and bottom-up searches using subsumption testing for ontology classification. As subsumption testing is costly, it is important to ensure that the classification process uses the smallest number of tests. In this paper, we propose an enhanced method of optimizing the ontology classification process of ontology reasoning. Our work focuses on two key aspects: The first and foremost, we describe classical methods for ontology classification. Next, we present description of the enhanced method of optimizing the ontology classification and the detailed algorithm. We evaluate the effect of the enhanced method on four different types of test ontology. The enhanced search method shows 30% performance improvement as compared with the classical method according to the result of the experiment

Protective effect of the DNA vaccine encoding the major house dust mite allergens on allergic inflammation in the murine model of house dust mite allergy

BACKGROUND: Vaccination with naked DNA encoding antigen induces cellular and humoral immunity characterized by the activation of specific Th1 cells. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of vaccination with mixed naked DNA plasmids encoding Der p 1, Der p 2, Der p 3, Der f 1, Der f 2, and Der f 3, the major house dust mite allergens on the allergic inflammation to the whole house dust mites (HDM) crude extract. METHODS: Three hundred micrograms of these gene mixtures were injected into muscle of BALB/c mice. Control mice were injected with the pcDNA 3.1 blank vector. After 3 weeks, the mice were actively sensitized and inhaled with the whole house dust mite extract intranasally. RESULTS: The vaccinated mice showed a significantly decreased synthesis of total and HDM-specific IgE compared with controls. Analysis of the cytokine profile of lymphocytes after challenge with HDM crude extract revealed that mRNA expression of interferon-γ was higher in the vaccinated mice than in the controls. Reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells and the prominent infiltration of CD8+ T cells were observed in histology of lung tissue from the vaccinated mice. CONCLUSION: Vaccination with DNA encoding the major house dust mite allergens provides a promising approach for treating allergic responses to whole house dust mite allergens

Structural dynamics and divergence of the polygalacturonase gene family in land plants

A distinct feature of eukaryotic genomes is the presence of gene families. The polygalacturonase (PG) (EC3.2.1.15) gene family is one of the largest gene families in plants. PG is a pectin-digesting enzyme with a glycoside hydrolase 28 domain. It is involved in numerous plant developmental processes. The evolutionary processes accounting for the functional divergence and the specialized functions of PGs in land plants are unclear. Here, phylogenetic and gene structure analysis of PG genes in algae and land plants revealed that land plant PG genes resulted from differential intron gain and loss, with the latter event predominating. PG genes in land plants contained 15 homologous intron blocks and 13 novel intron blocks. Intron position and phase were not conserved between PGs of algae and land plants but conserved among PG genes of land plants from moss to vascular plants, indicating that the current introns in the PGs in land plants appeared after the split between unicellular algae and multicelluar land plants. These findings demonstrate that the functional divergence and differentiation of PGs in land plants is attributable to intronic loss. Moreover, they underscore the importance of intron gain and loss in genomic adaptation to selective pressure