Formation of ZnO Micro-Flowers Prepared via Solution Process and their Antibacterial Activity

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of zinc oxide micro-flowers and their antibacterial activity. The micro-flowers of zinc oxide composed of hexagonal nanorods have been prepared via solution process using precursor zinc acetate di-hydrate and sodium hydroxide in 3 h of refluxing time at ~90°C. The antibacterial activities of grown micro-flowers were investigated against four pathogenic bacteria namely S. aureus, E. coli, S. typhimurium and K. pneumoniae by taking five different concentrations (5–45 μg/ml) of ZnO micro-flowers (ZnO-MFs). Our investigation reveals that at lowest concentration of ZnO-MFs solution inhibiting the growth of microbial strain which was found to be 5 μg/ml for all the tested pathogens. Additionally, on the basis of morphological and chemical observations, a chemical reaction mechanism of ZnO-MFs composed of hexagonal nanorods was also proposed

Serrated neoplasia pathway as an alternative route of colorectal cancer carcinogenesis

In the past two decades, besides conventional adenoma pathway, a subset of colonic lesions, including hyperplastic polyps, sessile serrated adenoma/polyps, and traditional serrated adenomas have been suggested as precancerous lesions via the alternative serrated neoplasia pathway. Major molecular alterations of sessile serrated neoplasia include BRAF mutation, high CpG island methylator phenotype, and escape of cellular senescence and progression via methylation of tumor suppressor genes or mismatch repair genes. With increasing information of the morphologic and molecular features of serrated lesions, one major challenge is how to reflect this knowledge in clinical practice, such as pathologic and endoscopic diagnosis, and guidelines for treatment and surveillance

Numerical Analysis of Saturated Sand Under Dynamic Loads

In this study, the behavior of reclaimed soils including the effects of excess pore water pressure and the loss of strength under dynamic loads or earthquakes are investigated and simulated. The constitutive model based on the disturbed state concept (DSC) is introduced and DSC-DYN2D program is utilized in a numerical analysis. In the laboratory test, quasi-static and cyclic triaxial tests were carried out to determine parameters for the numerical analysis. Field tests were executed in Inchon International Airport with a 10 tons hydraulic hammer. In the field test, the data of dynamic loads and excess pore water pressure were measured using a 3-D geophone and a pressure transducer respectively, The data of field tests showed the accumulation of excess pore water pressure when rapid dynamic loads were applied. Especially, a back-prediction program based on DSC model is developed and verified its accuracy using various parameters from the cyclic triaxial test. As the results of numerical simulation, the predicted trends for excess pore water pressure compare well with the observed data. Based on the result of this research, it is found that the numerical analysis based on the DSC model is compatible to predict the softening behavior of saturated reclaimed soils under dynamic loads

Sink-Independent Model in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks generally support users that send queries and receive data via the sinks. The user and the sinks are mostly connected to each other by infrastructure networks. The users, however, should receive the data from the sinks through multi-hop communications between disseminating sensor nodes if such users move into the sensor networks without infrastructure networks. To support mobile users, previous work has studied various user mobility models. Nevertheless, such approaches are not compatible with the existing routing algorithms, and it is difficult for the mobile users to gather data efficiently due to their mobility. To improve the shortcomings, we propose a view of mobility for wireless sensor networks and propose a model to support a user mobility that is independent of sinks

Overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana brassinosteroid-related acyltransferase 1 gene induces brassinosteroid-deficient phenotypes in creeping bentgrass

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are naturally occurring steroidal hormones that play diverse roles in various processes during plant growth and development. Thus, genetic manipulation of endogenous BR levels might offer a way of improving the agronomic traits of crops, including plant architecture and stress tolerance. In this study, we produced transgenic creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) overexpressing a BR-inactivating enzyme, Arabidopsis thaliana BR-related acyltransferase 1 (AtBAT1), which is known to catalyze the conversion of BR intermediates to inactive acylated conjugates. After putative transgenic plants were selected using herbicide resistance assay, genomic integration of the AtBAT1 gene was confirmed by genomic PCR and Southern blot analysis, and transgene expression was validated by northern blot analysis. The transgenic creeping bentgrass plants exhibited BR-deficient phenotypes, including reduced plant height with shortened internodes (i.e., semi-dwarf), reduced leaf growth rates with short, wide, and thick architecture, high chlorophyll contents, decreased numbers of vascular bundles, and large lamina joint bending angles (i.e., erect leaves). Subsequent analyses showed that the transgenic plants had significantly reduced amounts of endogenous BR intermediates, including typhasterol, 6-deoxocastasterone, and castasterone. Moreover, the AtBAT1 transgenic plants displayed drought tolerance as well as delayed senescence. Therefore, the results of the present study demonstrate that overexpression of an Arabidopsis BR-inactivating enzyme can reduce the endogenous levels of BRs in creeping bentgrass resulting in BR-deficient phenotypes, indicating that the AtBAT1 gene from a dicot plant is also functional in the monocot crop.111Ysciescopu

Upper Eyelid Retraction After Periorbital Trauma

We report four unusual cases of upper eyelid retraction following periorbital trauma. Four previously healthy patients were evaluated for unilateral upper eyelid retraction following periorbital trauma. A 31-year-old man (Case 1) and a 24-year-old man (Case 2) presented with left upper eyelid retraction which developed after blow-out fractures, a 44-year-old woman (Case 3) presented with left upper eyelid retraction secondary to a periorbital contusion that occurred one week prior, and a 56-year-old man (Case 4) presented with left upper eyelid retraction that developed 1 month after a lower canalicular laceration was sustained during a traffic accident. The authors performed a thyroid function test and orbital computed tomography (CT) in all cases. Thyroid function was normal in all patients, CT showed an adhesion of the superior rectus muscle and superior oblique muscle in the first case and diffuse thickening of the superior rectus muscle and levator complex in the third case. CT showed no specific findings in the second or fourth cases. Upper eyelid retraction due to superior complex adhesion can be considered one of the complications of periorbital trauma