349 research outputs found
Tutte polynomial of pseudofractal scale-free web
The Tutte polynomial of a graph is a 2-variable polynomial which is quite
important in both combinatorics and statistical physics. It contains various
numerical invariants and polynomial invariants, such as the number of spanning
trees, the number of spanning forests, the number of acyclic orientations, the
reliability polynomial, chromatic polynomial and flow polynomial. In this
paper, we study and gain recursive formulas for the Tutte polynomial of
pseudofractal scale-free web (PSW) which implies logarithmic complexity
algorithm is obtained to calculate the Tutte polynomial of PSW although it is
NP-hard for general graph. We also obtain the rigorous solution for the the
number of spanning trees of PSW by solving the recurrence relations derived
from Tutte polynomial, which give an alternative approach for explicitly
determining the number of spanning trees of PSW. Further more, we analysis the
all-terminal reliability of PSW and compare the results with that of Sierpinski
gasket which has the same number of nodes and edges with PSW. In contrast with
the well-known conclusion that scale-free networks are more robust against
removal of nodes than homogeneous networks (e.g., exponential networks and
regular networks). Our results show that Sierpinski gasket (which is a regular
network) are more robust against random edge failures than PSW (which is a
scale-free network). Whether it is true for any regular networks and scale-free
networks, is still a unresolved problem.Comment: 19pages,7figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1006.533
Direct generation of intense extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum with 35 fs, 11 mJ pulses from a femtosecond laser amplifier
We report on the generation of intense extreme ultraviolet (EUV)
supercontinuum with photon energies spanning from 35 eV to 50 eV (i. e.,
supporting an isolated attosecond pulse with a duration of ~271 as) by loosely
focusing 35 fs, 11 mJ pulses from a femtosecond laser amplifier into a 10-mm
long gas cell filled with krypton gas. The dramatic change of spectral and
temporal properties of the driver pulses after passing through the gas cell
indicates that propagation effects play a significant role in promoting the
generation of the EUV supercontinuum.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Suppression subtractive hybridization coupled with microarray analysis to examine differential expression of genes in virus infected cells
High throughput detection of differential expression of genes is an efficient means of identifying genes and pathways that may play a role in biological systems under certain experimental conditions. There exist a variety of approaches that could be used to identify groups of genes that change in expression in response to a particular stimulus or environment. We here describe the application of suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) coupled with cDNA microarray analysis for isolation and identification of chicken transcripts that change in expression on infection of host cells with a paramyxovirus. SSH was used for initial isolation of differentially expressed transcripts, a large-scale validation of which was accomplished by microarray analysis. The data reveals a large group of regulated genes constituting many biochemical pathways that could serve as targets for future investigations to explore their role in paramyxovirus pathogenesis. The detailed methods described herein could be useful and adaptable to any biological system for studying changes in gene expression
MMP28 (epilysin) as a novel promoter of invasion and metastasis in gastric cancer
Background\ud
The purpose of this study was to investigate invasion and metastasis related genes in gastric cancer.\ud
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Methods\ud
The transwell migration assay was used to select a highly invasive sub-line from minimally invasive parent gastric cancer cells, and gene expression was compared using a microarray. MMP28 upregulation was confirmed using qRT-PCR. MMP28 immunohistochemistry was performed in normal and gastric cancer specimens. Invasiveness and tumor formation of stable cells overexpressing MMP28 were tested in vitro and in vivo.\ud
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Results\ud
MMP28 was overexpressed in the highly invasive sub-cell line. Immunohistochemistry revealed MMP28 expression was markedly increased in gastric carcinoma relative to normal epithelia, and was significantly associated with depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and poorer overall survival. Ectopic expression of MMP28 indicated MMP28 promoted tumor cell invasion in vitro and increased gastric carcinoma metastasis in vivo.\ud
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Conclusions\ud
This study indicates MMP28 is frequently overexpressed during progression of gastric carcinoma, and contributes to tumor cell invasion and metastasis. MMP28 may be a novel therapeutic target for prevention and treatment of metastases in gastric cancer
Behavior and Impact of Zirconium in the Soil–Plant System: Plant Uptake and Phytotoxicity
Because of the large number of sites they pollute, toxic metals that contaminate terrestrial ecosystems are increasingly of environmental and sanitary concern (Uzu et al. 2010, 2011; Shahid et al. 2011a, b, 2012a). Among such metals is zirconium (Zr), which has the atomic number 40 and is a transition metal that resembles titanium in physical and chemical properties (Zaccone et al. 2008). Zr is widely used in many chemical industry processes and in nuclear reactors (Sandoval et al. 2011; Kamal et al. 2011), owing to its useful properties like hardness, corrosion-resistance and permeable to neutrons (Mushtaq 2012). Hence, the recent increased use of Zr by industry, and the occurrence of the Chernobyl and Fukashima catastrophe have enhanced environmental levels in soil and waters (Yirchenko and Agapkina 1993; Mosulishvili et al. 1994 ; Kruglov et al. 1996)
Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay
The decay channel
is studied using a sample of events collected
by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is
observed in the invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit
with an -wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of
and a
narrow width that is at the 90% confidence level.
These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width
values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics
A Piezoelectric Immunosensor Using Hybrid Self-Assembled Monolayers for Detection of Schistosoma japonicum
BACKGROUND: The parasite Schistosoma japonicum causes schistosomiasis disease, which threatens human life and hampers economic and social development in some Asian countries. An important lesson learned from efforts to reduce the occurrence of schistosomiasis is that the diagnostic approach must be altered as further progress is made towards the control and ultimate elimination of the disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using mixed self-assembled monolayer membrane (mixed SAM) technology, a mixture of mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and mercaptoethanol (ME) was self-assembled on the surface of quartz crystals by gold-sulphur-bonds. Soluble egg antigens (SEA) of S. japonicum were then cross-linked to the quartz crystal using a special coupling agent. As compared with the traditional single self-assembled monolayer immobilization method, S. japonicum antigen (SjAg) immobilization using mixed self-assembled monolayers exhibits much greater immunoreactivity. Under optimal experimental conditions, the detection range is 1:1500 to 1:60 (infected rabbit serum dilution ratios). We measured several infected rabbit serum samples with varying S. japonicum antibody (SjAb) concentrations using both immunosensor and ELISA techniques and then produced a correlation analysis. The correlation coefficients reached 0.973. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We have developed a new, simple, sensitive, and reusable piezoelectric immunosensor that directly detects SjAb in the serum. This method may represent an alternative to the current diagnostic methods for S. japonicum infection in the clinical laboratory or for analysis outside the laboratory
Involvement of focal adhesion kinase in cellular invasion of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas via regulation of MMP-2 expression
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is considered intimately involved in cancer progression. Our previous research has demonstrated that overexpression of FAK is an early and frequent event in squamous cell carcinomas of the supraglottic larynx, and it is associated with the presence of metastases in cervical lymph nodes. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional role of FAK in the progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). To this end, expression of FAK-related nonkinase (FRNK) or small interfering RNA (siRNA) against FAK was used to disrupt the FAK-induced signal transduction pathways in the HNSCC-derived SCC40 and SCC38 cell lines. Similar phenotypic effects were observed with the two methodological approaches in both cell lines. Decreased cell attachment, motility and invasion were induced by FRNK and FAK siRNA, whereas cell proliferation was not impaired. In addition, increased cell invasion was observed upon FAK overexpression in SCC cells. FRNK expression resulted in a downregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. Interestingly, MMP-2 overexpression in FRNK-expressing cells rescued FRNK inhibition of cell invasion. This is the first demonstration of a direct rescue of impaired cell invasion by the re-expression of MMP-2 in a tumour cell type with decreased expression of functional FAK. Collectively, these data reported here support the conclusion that FAK enhances invasion of HNSCC by promoting both increased cell motility and MMP-2 production, thus providing new insights into possible therapeutic intervention strategies
Characterisation of fibronectin-mediated FAK signalling pathways in lung cancer cell migration and invasion
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