Development of 〈110〉 texture in copper thin films

Author name used in this publication: C. H. Woo2001-2002 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Zebrafish transgenic Enhancer TRAP line database (ZETRAP)

BACKGROUND: The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is used as a model organism to study vertebrate genetics and development. An effective enhancer trap (ET) in zebrafish using the Tol2 transposon has been demonstrated. This approach could be used to study embryogenesis of a vertebrate species in real time and with high resolution. DESCRIPTION: The information gathered during the course of systematic investigation of many ET transgenic lines have been collected and compiled in the form of an online database – the Zebrafish Enhancer TRAP lines database (ZETRAP). CONCLUSION: ZETRAP is a web-based system that provides data and information to the scientific community about the developmental, genetic and genomic aspects of transgenic zebrafish lines obtained using Tol2 transposon-mediated transgenesis. The current version (version 1.0) contains description of 27 ET lines that express EGFP in various organs and tissues, for example, heart, brain, notochord, gut, etc. It also includes information on insertion sites of the Tol2 transposon in these lines

Revised spectral optimization approach to remove surface-reflected radiance for the estimation of remote-sensing reflectance from the above-water method

The effective sea-surface skylight reflectance (ρ) is an important parameter for removing the contribution of surface-reflected radiance when measuring water-leaving radiance (Lw) using the above-water approach (AWA). Radiative simulations and field measurements show that ρ varies spectrally. To improve the determination of Lw (and then remote sensing reflectance, Rrs) from the AWA, we further developed a wavelength-dependent model for ρ to remove surface-reflected radiance, which is applied with a spectral optimization approach for the determination of Rrs. Excellent agreement was achieved between the AWA-derived and skylight-blocked approach (SBA)-obtained Rrs (coefficient of determination > 0.92, mean absolute percentage deviation 0.0005 sr−1 ), even during high wave conditions. We found that the optimization approach with the new ρ model worked very well for a wide range of water types and observation geometries. For developing remote sensing algorithms and evaluating satellite products, it would be beneficial to apply this approach to current and historical above-water in situ measurements of Rrs to improve the quality of these data. In addition, this approach could also increase the number of useable spectra where previously rendered unusable when processed with a traditional schem

Extracranial head and neck schwannomas: a study of the nerve of origin

Schwannoma is a type of benign nerve sheath tumour arising from the Schwann cell. Because of the close relationship between the tumour and the nerve of origin (NOO), the operation of extracranial head and neck schwannoma may lead to palsy of major nerve. For this reason, an accurate diagnosis of schwannoma with the identification of the NOO is crucial to the management. The aim of this review was to find out the distribution of the NOO and the usefulness of the investigations in the diagnosis of schwannoma. Medical records of the patients who underwent operation of the extracranial head and neck schwannoma in our division were reviewed. Between January 2000 and December 2009, 30 cases of extracranial head and neck schwannoma were operated. Sympathetic trunk (10, 33%) and vagus nerve (6, 20%) were the two most common NOOs. In five (17%) cases, the NOO was not found to be arising from any major nerve. For these 30 patients, 20 received fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and 26 underwent imaging studies (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) before operation. The specificity of FNAC and imaging studies in making the diagnosis of schwannoma was 20 and 38%, respectively. For the patients who had nerve palsies on presentation, their deficits remained after operation. The rate of nerve palsy after tumour excision with division of NOO and intracapsular enucleation was 100 and 67%, respectively. The diagnosis of schwannoma is suggested by clinical features and supported by investigations. Most of the time, the diagnosis can only be confirmed on the histological study of the surgical specimen. Sympathetic trunk and vagus nerve are the two common NOOs. MRI is the investigation of choice in the diagnosis of schwannoma and the identification of NOO

High-throughput Screening and Sensitized Bacteria Identify an M. tuberculosis Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitor with Whole Cell Activity

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is a bacterial pathogen that claims roughly 1.4 million lives every year. Current drug regimens are inefficient at clearing infection, requiring at least 6 months of chemotherapy, and resistance to existing agents is rising. There is an urgent need for new drugs that are more effective and faster acting. The folate pathway has been successfully targeted in other pathogens and diseases, but has not yielded a lead drug against tuberculosis. We developed a high-throughput screening assay against Mtb dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a critical enzyme in the folate pathway, and screened a library consisting of 32,000 synthetic and natural product-derived compounds. One potent inhibitor containing a quinazoline ring was identified. This compound was active against the wild-type laboratory strain H37Rv (MIC99 = 207 µM). In addition, an Mtb strain with artificially lowered DHFR levels showed increased sensitivity to this compound (MIC99 = 70.7 µM), supporting that the inhibition was target-specific. Our results demonstrate the potential to identify Mtb DHFR inhibitors with activity against whole cells, and indicate the power of using a recombinant strain of Mtb expressing lower levels of DHFR to facilitate the discovery of antimycobacterial agents. With these new tools, we highlight the folate pathway as a potential target for new drugs to combat the tuberculosis epidemic

Intra-channel Interference Avoidance with the OGFDM Boosts Channel Capacity of Future Wireless Mobile Communication

The Orthogonal Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (OGFDM) with Intra-Channel Interference Avoidance (ICIA) approach is, for the first time, proposed, explored and evaluated. Since the interference manipulation currently represents a hot topic for wireless mobile communication, the conventional approach of mitigating the interference is no longer acceptable. As a result, a novel method for addressing the interference between adjacent filtered sub-carriers (in-phase/out-phase) is comprehensively investigated herein. The proposed approach utilises the oversampling factor to effectively avoid interference and improve the quality of service of affected filters under bad transmission states. Thus, this supportive method which is essentially aware of propagation conditions is employed for removing the roll-off ( α ) impact yet improving the level of Bandwidth (BW) efficiency for applied filters of the OGFDM waveform. Besides, in terms of the system performance, the trade-off relation between the channel capacity and the key Hilbert filter parameter is theoretically and practically discussed. This requires investigation of the influence of α factor on the maximum achieved bit-rate at the acceptable limit of the Bit Error Rate (BER). A MATLAB simulation was introduced to test the performance characteristics of the proposed system in the physical layer (PHY) of an electrical back-to-back wireless transmission system

The −675 4G/5G Polymorphism in Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Gene Is Associated with Risk of Asthma: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: A number of studies assessed the association of -675 4G/5G polymorphism in the promoter region of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 gene with asthma in different populations. However, most studies reported inconclusive results. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association between polymorphism in the PAI-1 gene and asthma susceptibility. METHODS: Databases including Pubmed, EMBASE, HuGE Literature Finder, Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Weipu Database were searched to find relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of association in the dominant model, recessive model, codominant model, and additive model. RESULTS: Eight studies involving 1817 cases and 2327 controls were included. Overall, significant association between 4G/5G polymorphism and asthma susceptibility was observed for 4G4G+4G5G vs. 5G5G (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.12-2.18, P = 0.008), 4G/4G vs. 4G/5G+5G/5G (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.06-1.80, P = 0.02), 4G/4G vs. 5G/5G (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.17-2.76, P = 0.007), 4G/5G vs. 5G/5G (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.07-1.84, P = 0.02), and 4G vs. 5G (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.08-1.68, P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggested that the -675 4G/5G polymorphism of PAI-1 gene was a risk factor of asthma

Novel Patient Cell-Based HTS Assay for Identification of Small Molecules for a Lysosomal Storage Disease

Small molecules have been identified as potential therapeutic agents for lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), inherited metabolic disorders caused by defects in proteins that result in lysosome dysfunctional. Some small molecules function assisting the folding of mutant misfolded lysosomal enzymes that are otherwise degraded in ER-associated degradation. The ultimate result is the enhancement of the residual enzymatic activity of the deficient enzyme. Most of the high throughput screening (HTS) assays developed to identify these molecules are single-target biochemical assays. Here we describe a cell-based assay using patient cell lines to identify small molecules that enhance the residual arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity found in patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a progressive neurodegenerative LSD. In order to generate sufficient cell lines for a large scale HTS, primary cultured fibroblasts from MLD patients were transformed using SV40 large T antigen. These SV40 transformed (SV40t) cells showed to conserve biochemical characteristics of the primary cells. Using a specific colorimetric substrate para-nitrocatechol sulfate (pNCS), detectable ASA residual activity were observed in primary and SV40t fibroblasts from a MLD patient (ASA-I179S) cultured in multi-well plates. A robust fluorescence ASA assay was developed in high-density 1,536-well plates using the traditional colorimetric pNCS substrate, whose product (pNC) acts as “plate fluorescence quencher” in white solid-bottom plates. The quantitative cell-based HTS assay for ASA generated strong statistical parameters when tested against a diverse small molecule collection. This cell-based assay approach can be used for several other LSDs and genetic disorders, especially those that rely on colorimetric substrates which traditionally present low sensitivity for assay-miniaturization. In addition, the quantitative cell-based HTS assay here developed using patient cells creates an opportunity to identify therapeutic small molecules in a disease-cellular environment where potentially disrupted pathways are exposed and available as targets