Polymorphism in Growth Hormone Gene and its Association with Growth Traits in Siniperca chuatsi

Growth hormone (GH) is a candidate gene for growth traits in fish. In this study, we assessed associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GH gene with growth traits in 357 Siniperca chuatsi individuals using high-resolution melting. Two SNPs were identified in GH gene, with one mutation in exon 5 (g.5045T>C), and one mutation in intron 5 (g.5234T>G). The corrections analysis of SNPs with the four growth traits was carried out using General Linear Model (GLM) estimation. Results showed that both of them were significantly associated with growth performance in S. chuatsi. For g.5234T>G, it was significantly associated with body weight (P＜0.01), body length (P＜0.05), body depth (P＜0.01), and body width (P＜0.01), and the individuals of genotype GG grew faster than those of genotypes TT and TG (P＜0.05). A further diplotype-trait association analysis confirmed that in fish with H3H2 (TC-GG) diplotype body weight, body length, and body width was greater than in those with other diplotypes (P＜0.05). These results demonstrated GH gene SNPs could be used as potential genetic markers in future marker assisted selection of S. chuatsi

Phase Transition and Optical Properties for Ultrathin KNbO 3

Fascicular KNbO3 nanowires with tetragonal perovskite structures and ultrasmall diameters are synthesized by hydrothermal route at about 150°C for 24 hours. The concentrations of medium alkalinity have influenced phase structures and the final morphologies of the products significantly by modifying the conditions in process. The as-prepared KNbO3 nanowires exhibit three phase transitions at about 343, 454.7, and 623 K as the temperature increases from 250 to 700 K. The band gap is about 3.78 eV for KNbO3 nanowires. Photoluminescence study at room temperature reveals two visible light emission bands peaking at ~551 and 597 nm, respectively, which may be due to the oxygen vacancies, site niobium (occupy the location of Nb), and antisite niobium (occupy the location of K) in KNbO3 nanowires

The Coupling and Competition of Crystallization and Phase Separation, Correlating Thermodynamics and Kinetics In OPV Morphology and Performances

The active layer morphology transition of organic photovoltaics under non-equilibrium conditions are of vital importance in determining the device power conversion efficiency and stability; however, a general and unified picture on this issue has not been well addressed. Using combined in situ and ex situ morphology characterizations, morphological parameters relating to kinetics and thermodynamics of morphology evolution are extracted and studied in model systems under thermal annealing. The coupling and competition of crystallization and demixing are found to be critical in morphology evolution, phase purification and interfacial orientation. A unified model summarizing different phase diagrams and all possible kinetic routes is proposed. The current observations address the fundamental issues underlying the formation of the complex multi-length scale morphology in bulk heterojunction blends and provide useful morphology optimization guidelines for processing devices with higher efficiency and stability

In vitro anti-angiogenic properties of LGD1069, a selective retinoid X-receptor agonist through down-regulating Runx2 expression on Human endothelial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>LGD1069 (Targretin^®) is a selective retinoid X receptor (RXR) ligand, which is used in patients for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Our published study reported that LGD1069 inhibited tumor-induced angiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer. In present study, we found that LGD1069 suppressed the proliferation, adhesion, invasion and migration of endothelial cells directly, and affected the expression of vegf and some matrix genes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used for <it>in vitro </it>study. MTT assay and Sulforhodamine B assay were used for cell viability assay; the tube formation assay was used to investigate the effect of LGD1069 on angiogenesis <it>in vitro</it>. <it>In vitro </it>adhesion, migration and invasion of HUVEC cells were analyzed by Matrigel adhesion, migration and invasion assay. Gene expressions were measured by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our data showed here that LGD1069 inhibited the activation of TGF-β/Smad pathway significantly. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that expression of Runx2 was suppressed pronouncedly during incubation with LGD1069. Runx2 is a DNA-binding transcription factor which plays a master role in tumor-induced angiogenesis and cancer cells metastasis by interaction with the TGF-β/Smad pathway of transcriptional modulators.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggested that LGD1069 may impair angiogenic and metastatic potential induced by tumor cells through suppressing expression of Runx2 directly on human endothelial cells, which may point out new pathway through which LGD1069 display anti-angiogenic properties, and provide new molecular evidence to support LGD1069 as a potent anti-metastatic agent in cancer therapy.</p

Integrated Photonics for NASA Applications

No abstract availabl

Tumor Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Allelic Expression Imbalances Associated with Copy Number Alterations

Due to growing throughput and shrinking cost, massively parallel sequencing is rapidly becoming an attractive alternative to microarrays for the genome-wide study of gene expression and copy number alterations in primary tumors. The sequencing of transcripts (RNA-Seq) should offer several advantages over microarray-based methods, including the ability to detect somatic mutations and accurately measure allele-specific expression. To investigate these advantages we have applied a novel, strand-specific RNA-Seq method to tumors and matched normal tissue from three patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas. Additionally, to better understand the genomic determinants of the gene expression changes observed, we have sequenced the tumor and normal genomes of one of these patients. We demonstrate here that our RNA-Seq method accurately measures allelic imbalance and that measurement on the genome-wide scale yields novel insights into cancer etiology. As expected, the set of genes differentially expressed in the tumors is enriched for cell adhesion and differentiation functions, but, unexpectedly, the set of allelically imbalanced genes is also enriched for these same cancer-related functions. By comparing the transcriptomic perturbations observed in one patient to his underlying normal and tumor genomes, we find that allelic imbalance in the tumor is associated with copy number mutations and that copy number mutations are, in turn, strongly associated with changes in transcript abundance. These results support a model in which allele-specific deletions and duplications drive allele-specific changes in gene expression in the developing tumor

Hydrogen Gas Sensors Based on Semiconductor Oxide Nanostructures

Recently, the hydrogen gas sensing properties of semiconductor oxide (SMO) nanostructures have been widely investigated. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the research progress in the last five years concerning hydrogen gas sensors based on SMO thin film and one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. The hydrogen sensing mechanism of SMO nanostructures and some critical issues are discussed. Doping, noble metal-decoration, heterojunctions and size reduction have been investigated and proved to be effective methods for improving the sensing performance of SMO thin films and 1D nanostructures. The effect on the hydrogen response of SMO thin films and 1D nanostructures of grain boundary and crystal orientation, as well as the sensor architecture, including electrode size and nanojunctions have also been studied. Finally, we also discuss some challenges for the future applications of SMO nanostructured hydrogen sensors

Hydrogen Gas Sensors Based on Semiconductor Oxide Nanostructures

Recently, the hydrogen gas sensing properties of semiconductor oxide (SMO) nanostructures have been widely investigated. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the research progress in the last five years concerning hydrogen gas sensors based on SMO thin film and one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. The hydrogen sensing mechanism of SMO nanostructures and some critical issues are discussed. Doping, noble metal-decoration, heterojunctions and size reduction have been investigated and proved to be effective methods for improving the sensing performance of SMO thin films and 1D nanostructures. The effect on the hydrogen response of SMO thin films and 1D nanostructures of grain boundary and crystal orientation, as well as the sensor architecture, including electrode size and nanojunctions have also been studied. Finally, we also discuss some challenges for the future applications of SMO nanostructured hydrogen sensors