Measurement of Organic Chemical Refractive Indexes Using an Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer

In this investigation, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a method for measuring the refractive index (RI) of liquid organic chemicals. The scheme is based on a single-mode fiber (SMF) sensor and an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR). Here, due to the different reflectance (R) between the SMF and organic liquid chemicals, the reflected power level of the backscattering light (BSL) measured by the OTDR would be different. Therefore, we can measure the RI of chemical under test via the measured BSL level. The proposed RI sensor is simple and easy to manipulate, with stable detected signals, and has the potential to be a valuable tool for use in biological and chemical applications

Establishment of a Knock-In Mouse Model with the SLC26A4 c.919-2A>G Mutation and Characterization of Its Pathology

Recessive mutations in the SLC26A4 gene are a common cause of hereditary hearing impairment worldwide. Previous studies have demonstrated that different SLC26A4 mutations may have different pathogenetic mechanisms. In the present study, we established a knock-in mouse model (i.e., Slc26a4tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh mice) homozygous for the c.919-2A>G mutation, which is a common mutation in East Asians. Mice were then subjected to audiologic assessment, a battery of vestibular evaluations, and inner ear morphological studies. All Slc26a4tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh mice revealed profound hearing loss, whereas 46% mice demonstrated pronounced head tilting and circling behaviors. There was a significant difference in the vestibular performance between wild-type and Slc26a4tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh mice, especially those exhibiting circling behavior. Inner ear morphological examination of Slc26a4tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh mice revealed an enlarged endolymphatic duct, vestibular aqueduct and sac, atrophy of stria vascularis, deformity of otoconia in the vestibular organs, consistent degeneration of cochlear hair cells, and variable degeneration of vestibular hair cells. Audiologic and inner ear morphological features of Slc26a4tm1Dontuh/tm1Dontuh mice were reminiscent of those observed in humans. These features were also similar to those previously reported in both knock-out Slc26a4−/− mice and Slc26a4loop/loop mice with the Slc26a4 p.S408F mutation, albeit the severity of vestibular hair cell degeneration appeared different among the three mouse strains

Adiponectin gene SNP 276G → T, nutrient intakes, and cardiovascular disease risk in Korean type 2 DM patients

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in adiponectin gene has been associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study was performed to investigate the association of SNP 276G→T at adiponectin gene with CVD risk factors in Korean type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. The subjects were 351 type 2 DM patients visited a DM clinic in Seoul, and the patients with known CVD were excluded. The adiponectin SNP 276G→T was analyzed and dietary intakes were assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire. The prevalence of G/G, G/T, and T/T genotype was 47.6%, 43.3%, and 9.1%, respectively. Male subjects with T/T genotype showed significantly lower level of adiponectin and HDL-cholesterol and significantly higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level compared to G/G and G/T genotypes. In G/G genotype, protein intake was negatively correlated to body weight, BMI, and waist circumference, and there were positive correlation between carbohydrate intake and BMI, waist-hip ratio, and ApoB/apoA-1 ratio in G/T genotype. However, in T/T genotype, there was no significant association between macronutrient intakes and anthropometric and hematological values. In conclusion, CVD risk would be high in type 2 DM patients with T/T genotype, and the association of macronutrient intakes with anthropometric and hematologic factors was different among the three adiponectin genotypes. These results may imply the need for different dietary management regime according to adiponectin genotype to lower CVD complications in Korean type 2 DM patients

N-terminal Pro B-type Natriuretic Peptide and the Evaluation of Cardiac Dysfunction and Severity of Disease in Cirrhotic Patients

Purpose: Cardiac dysfunction and hyperdynamic systemic circulation may be present in patients with cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to identify relations between plasma levels of N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP), reflecting early ventricular dysfunction, and the severity of liver disease and cardiac dysfunction in cirrhotic patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty-three cirrhotic patients and 15 controls (group 1) were enrolled in this study. Plasma levels of NT-proBNP were determined in echocardiographically examined patients, which were allocated to 1 of 3 groups according to Child-Pugh classification or into 2 groups, i.e., a compensated group without ascites (group 2) and decompensated group with ascites (group 3). Results: Plasma NT-proBNP levels were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients (groups 2 and 3) than in age-matched controls (155.9 and 198.3 vs. 40.3 pg/mL

Evidence for a narrow |S|=1 baryon state at a mass of 1528 MeV in quasi-real photoproduction

Evidence for a narrow baryon state is found in quasi-real photoproduction on a deuterium target through the decay channel p K^0_S --> p pi^+ pi^-. A peak is observed in the p K^0_S invariant mass spectrum at 1528 +/- 2.6 (stat) +/-2.1 (syst) MeV. Depending on the background model,the naive statistical significance of the peak is 4--6 standard deviations and its width may be somewhat larger than the experimental resolution of sigma=4.3 -- 6.2 MeV. This state may be interpreted as the predicted S=+1 exotic Theta^{+}(uuddbar(s)) pentaquark baryon. No signal for an hypothetical Theta^{++} baryon was observed in the pK^+ invariant mass distribution. The absence of such a signal indicates that an isotensor Theta is excluded and an isovector Theta is unlikely.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Ectopic over-expression of tristetraprolin in human cancer cells promotes biogenesis of let-7 by down-regulation of Lin28

Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a AU-rich element (ARE) binding protein and exhibits suppressive effects on cell growth through down-regulation of ARE-containing oncogenes. The let-7 microRNA has emerged as a significant factor in tumor suppression. Both TTP and let-7 are often repressed in human cancers, thereby promoting oncogenesis by derepressing their target genes. In this work, an unexpected link between TTP and let-7 has been found in human cancer cells. TTP promotes an increase in expression of mature let-7, which leads to the inhibition of let-7 target gene CDC34 expression and suppresses cell growth. This event is associated with TTP-mediated inhibition of Lin28, which has emerged as a negative modulator of let-7. Lin28 mRNA contains ARE within its 3′-UTR and TTP enhances the decay of Lin28 mRNA through binding to its 3′-UTR. This suggests that the TTP-mediated down-regulation of Lin28 plays a key role in let-7 miRNA biogenesis in cancer cells

Multiple testing correction in linear mixed models

BACKGROUND: Multiple hypothesis testing is a major issue in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which often analyze millions of markers. The permutation test is considered to be the gold standard in multiple testing correction as it accurately takes into account the correlation structure of the genome. Recently, the linear mixed model (LMM) has become the standard practice in GWAS, addressing issues of population structure and insufficient power. However, none of the current multiple testing approaches are applicable to LMM. RESULTS: We were able to estimate per-marker thresholds as accurately as the gold standard approach in real and simulated datasets, while reducing the time required from months to hours. We applied our approach to mouse, yeast, and human datasets to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of our approach. CONCLUSIONS: We provide an efficient and accurate multiple testing correction approach for linear mixed models. We further provide an intuition about the relationships between per-marker threshold, genetic relatedness, and heritability, based on our observations in real data. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-0903-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Using Social Capital Transaction Cost and Agency Theory to Investigate the Impact Factors on Knowledge Sharing Behavior

[[abstract]]本研究將組織中知識分享的過程視為一種交易過程，並從組織-個人的觀點探討影響組織中知識分享的因素。由於過去較少有研究採用此觀點，故本研究整合社會資本理論(Social Capital Theory)、交易成本理論(Transaction Cost)與代理理論(Agency Theory)建構出一個研究模型，探討組織中的社會資本對於組織成員間知識分享負面因素與正面因素的影響，進而瞭解組織中成員知識分享的意圖與行為。本研究採用問卷調查法蒐集資料，使用PLS進行結構方程模式分析資料之結果，大多傾向於支持本研究所提出之假說，本研究有以下發現：(1)組織成員的「知識分享意圖」對「知識分享行為」有正向顯著的影響；(2)組織成員們相互「信任」的程度對組織成員的「知識分享意圖」有正向顯著的影響；(3) 組織成員們相互「信任」的程度對組織成員間的「投機主義」行為有負向顯著的影響；(4)組織成員們的「共同願景」對組織成員的「知識分享意圖」有正向顯著的影響；(5) 組織成員們的「共同願景」對組織成員間的「內隱契約」有正向顯著的影響；(6) 組織成員們的「共同願景」對組織成員間的「不確定性」有負向顯著的影響；(7) 組織成員間的「資訊不對稱性」對組織成員間的「投機主義」行為有正向顯著的影響；(8) 組織成員間的「資訊不對稱性」對組織成員間的不確定性有正向顯著的影響；(9) 組織成員間的「投機主義」行為對組織成員的「知識分享意圖」有負向顯著的影響；(10) 組織成員間的「投機主義」行為對組織成員間的不確定性有負向顯著的影響；(11) 組織成員的「內隱契約」對組織成員的「知識分享意圖」有正向顯著的影響；(12)組織成員的「不確定性」對組織成員的「內隱契約」有負向顯著的影響。最後，根據本研究之結果對組織在促進內部成員分享知識上提供些許建議。[[abstract]]This study regards as one kind of transaction process to the processes of knowledge sharing in the organization, and explores the factors that influence knowledge sharing in the organization from organization - individual perspective. Due to it still very few studies examined it by this viewpoint. This paper integrates social capital theory, transaction cost and agency theory to conduct a model for investigating the negative factors and positive factors of individual knowledge sharing behavior in organization. A questionnaire is adopted for data collection and then PLS structure equation model was applied to analysis the data. This study concludes nine main results , including: 1.The knowledge sharing intention of members have a positive impact on the knowledge sharing behavior . 2. The trust between members have a positive impact on the knowledge sharing intention. 3. The trust between members have a negative impact on the knowledge sharing behavior. 4. The trust between members have a negative impact on the knowledge sharing behavior.5. The shared vision between members have a positive impact on the implicit contract. 6. The shared vision between members have a negative impact on the uncertainty. 7. The information asymmetric between members have a positive impact on the opportunism. 8. The information asymmetric between members have a positive impact on the uncertainty. 9. The opportunism between members have a negative impact on the of knowledge sharing behavior. 10. The opportunism between members have a negative impact on the uncertainty. 11. The implicit contract between members have a positive impact on the knowledge sharing behavior. 12. The uncertainty between members have a negative impact on the implicit contract. At last most of hypotheses were supported. Implications are also provided