Flying Cross-Border To Entrepreneurs: Business Angels In Croatia And Slovenia

The signifi cant expansion of business formation is playing a key role in the transformation of transitional economies. As a result of this and, the development of more entrepreneurial business culture, the role of endogenous venture capital, equity market provision, and the potential for business angels involvement is also growing. Despite these entrepreneurially driven developments, and the encouragement of individuals to establish new businesses, start-up companies in Croatia and Slovenia, they are facing the immediate issue of raising capital. Th is paper undertakes a comparative analysis of business angels in Croatia and Slovenia as part of they represent a key part of the response and solution to this problem. Their primary motivation is capital growth, and they seek to fi ll an equity gap and compensate for failures in the venture capital market wherever they appear. Th e study documents the current state of business angel activity and networking within the private equity market in Croatia and Slovenia, based on interviews and case studies. Th erefore, it informs the analysis of key functions that business angels can play in addressing problems faced by new small businesses in an emergent economic and investment environment

ChimerDB 2.0—a knowledgebase for fusion genes updated

Chromosome translocations and gene fusions are frequent events in the human genome and have been found to cause diverse types of tumor. ChimerDB is a knowledgebase of fusion genes identified from bioinformatics analysis of transcript sequences in the GenBank and various other public resources such as the Sanger cancer genome project (CGP), OMIM, PubMed and the Mitelman’s database. In this updated version, we significantly modified the algorithm of identifying fusion transcripts. Specifically, the new algorithm is more sensitive and has detected 2699 fusion transcripts with high confidence. Furthermore, it can identify interchromosomal translocations as well as the intrachromosomal deletions or inversions of large DNA segments. Importantly, results from the analysis of next-generation sequencing data in the short read archives are incorporated as well. We updated and integrated all contents (GenBank, Sanger CGP, OMIM, PubMed publications and the Mitelman’s database), and the user-interface has been improved to support diverse types of searches and to enhance the user convenience especially in browsing PubMed articles. We also developed a new alignment viewer that should facilitate examining reliability of fusion transcripts and inferring functional significance. We expect ChimerDB 2.0, available at http://ercsb.ewha.ac.kr/fusiongene, to be a valuable tool in identifying biomarkers and drug targets

Tailoring surface plasmons of high-density gold nanostar assemblies on metal films for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Plasmonic systems based on metal nanoparticles on a metal film have generated great interest for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) chemical sensors. In this study, we describe the fabrication of ultrasensitive SERS substrates based on high-density gold nanostar assemblies on silver films with tailored surface plasmons, where multiple field enhancements from particle-film and interparticle plasmon couplings and lightening rod effects of sharp tips of nanostars contribute to the enormous Raman enhancements. We show that the interplay between interparticle and particle-film plasmon couplings of high-density gold nanostars (GNSs) on metal and dielectric films as a function of interparticle separation can be tailored to provide maximum SERS effects. We observe that the SERS enhancement factor (EF) of GNSs on a metal film as a function of interparticle separation follows a broken power law function, where the EF increases with the interparticle separation for the strong interparticle coupling range below an interparticle separation of ???0.8 times the GNS size, but decreases for the weak interparticle coupling range (for an interparticle separation of >0.8 times the GNS size). Finally, we demonstrate the use of tailored plasmonic substrates as ultrasensitive SERS chemical sensors with an attomole level of detection capability of 2,4-dinitrotoluene, a model compound of nitroaromatic explosives.close6

Metodologias alternativas no ensino de física

Screening a compound library of quinolinone derivatives identified compound 11a as a new P2X7 receptor antagonist. To optimize its activity, we assessed structure-activity relationships (SAR) at three different positions, R_1, R_2 and R_3, of the quinolinone scaffold. SAR analysis suggested that a carboxylic acid ethyl ester group at the R_1 position, an adamantyl carboxamide group at R_2 and a 4-methoxy substitution at the R_3 position are the best substituents for the antagonism of P2X7R activity. However, because most of the quinolinone derivatives showed low inhibitory effects in an IL-1β ELISA assay, the core structure was further modified to a quinoline skeleton with chloride or substituted phenyl groups. The optimized antagonists with the quinoline scaffold included 2-chloro-5-adamantyl-quinoline derivative (16c) and 2-(4-hydroxymethylphenyl)-5-adamantyl-quinoline derivative (17k), with IC_(50) values of 4 and 3 nM, respectively. In contrast to the quinolinone derivatives, the antagonistic effects of the quinoline compounds (16c and 17k) were paralleled by their ability to inhibit the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-1β, from LPS/IFN-γ/BzATP-stimulated THP-1 cells (IC_(50) of 7 and 12 nM, respectively). In addition, potent P2X7R antagonists significantly inhibited the sphere size of TS15-88 glioblastoma cells

Color Matching Experiments using Various Types of Displays

Department of Biomedical Engineering (Human Factors Engineering)The human eye consists of complex visual systems connected, and color perception is characterized by three factors: light source, object, and the human eye. At this time, the phenomenon called metamerism refers to the situation in which people perceive two stimuli as the same if the cone signal of the eye is the same even though the spectral distribution of the light source is different. CIE 1931 Standard Colorimetric Observer was used as a standardized color matching function to indicate color so far. The display with a wide-gamut has become popular and its spectrum has sharpened, so it makes metamerism appear easily. A new problem occurred that even if the CIE 1931 coordinates are used to match the same coordinates, the appearance of two colors differs from each other. People perceive that the colors look the same at different coordinates. Therefore, a question arose as to whether this CIE 1931 Colorimetry accurately represents the human visual system. This paper aims to show observer metamerism in displays with various spectral characteristics and to propose the need for individual color matching functions that can well represent the human visual system. In this paper, two psychophysical experiments: color matching experiment and color difference experiment, and color matching function performance test were done. Through color matching experiments, color matching data set was obtained for various display types, and observer metamerism was analyzed by indicating colors on the CIE u'10 v'10 plane and calculating color difference using ???u'10 v'10 and ???E00. The results showed that people perceive colors with different XYZ tristimulus values as the same colors, and each person???s matching result is all different; 3.31 ???E00. The color difference was larger than that of individual repeatability; 2.63 ???E00. After that, a color difference experiment was conducted to confirm how people perceive others??? color matching meaningfully from a color difference perspective. People evaluated the matching data of other people to an acceptable range for colors that are adjacent to their matching; and unacceptable for colors that are far from their matching. In the color matching function performance test, the color prediction was performed using CIE 1931 2??, CIE 1964 10??, CIE 2015 10??, and Asano 151 lms-CMF. The performance of each color matching function was 5.84, 5.51, 4.93, and 4.54 ???E00 in order. Among them, the performance of Asano 151 lms-CMF was best. However, this color matching function was insufficient to explain people's color matching data. Therefore, further research is required for developing individual colorimetric observers considering individual physiological characteristics.clos

Large-Area, Solution-Processed, Hierarchical MAPbI3 Nanoribbon Arrays for Self-Powered Flexible Photodetectors

Organic-inorganic perovskites with micro-/nanostructures exhibit outstanding optical and electrical properties, thus attracting increased attention as components of high-performance optoelectronic devices, but the fabrication of complex micro-/nanostructured perovskites shows limited success. This study describes the fabrication of hierarchical methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) nanoribbon (NR) arrays with controlled internal nanorod structures by simple spin-coating with solvent treatment process and investigates the suitability of these arrays for high-performance and multifunctional photodetectors. In the UV-to-800-nm range, photodetectors based on the hierarchical MAPbI3 NR arrays exhibit specific detectivities 18.1-23.7 times higher than those of photodetectors based on MAPbI3 films due to the effective photon management and reduced charge trap states in the hierarchical MAPbI3 NR arrays. The solution-processed hierarchical MAPbI3 NRs can be fabricated on various substrates including ultrathin polyimide, which facilitates the development of flexible photodetectors with highly stable photoresponse under bending strain. Furthermore, the ferroelectricity and the highly anisotropic alignment of MAPbI3 NR arrays allow multifunctional photodetectors capable of self-powered and polarization-sensitive light detection, respectively. The strategy used to fabricate hierarchical organic-inorganic perovskite NR arrays is believed to be applicable to other types of perovskites and can probably be used to construct various optoelectronic devices based on hierarchical nanostructures

Morin Induces Melanogenesis via Activation of MAPK Signaling Pathways in B16F10 Mouse Melanoma Cells

Morin is a well-known flavonoid, and has been reported to have various properties, such as anti-cell death, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Although studies on the biochemical and biological actions of morin have been reported, the melanin biosynthesis effects and molecular mechanisms are unknown. In this study, we first found that morin has the effect of enhancing melanin biosynthesis in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells, and analyzed the molecular mechanism. In this study, we examined the effects of morin on the melanin contents and tyrosinase activity, as well as the protein expression levels of the melanogenic enzymes TRP-1, TRP-2, and microphtalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. Morin showed no cytotoxicity in the concentration range of 5–100 μM, and significantly increased the intracellular tyrosinase activity and melanin contents. In mechanism analysis, morin increased the protein expression of TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF associated with melanogenesis. Furthermore, morin increased phosphorylated ERK and p38 at the early time, and decreased phosphorylated ERK after 12 h. The results suggest that morin enhances melanin synthesis through the MAPK signaling pathways in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells

Reducing the CIE colorimetric matching failure on wide color gamut displays

Color matching experiments were conducted for 11 pairs of displays, using 7 displays with different spectral characteristics. The color matching results between the LCD display and displays that have a narrowband spectrum, such as a laser projector, QLED, or OLED, demonstrated a significant color difference between two matched colors. The maximum difference was 18.52 increment E00, which indicates the white color difference between the LCD and laser projector. There was also a clear observer variability of 2.27 increment E00. The new cone fundamental function derived from 757 metameric pairs showed good performance compared to CIE standard observers reducing the display color mismatching significantly. This function also demonstrated a better performance when evaluating color matching in color chart image

Reduction of Escherichia Coli Using Metal Plates with the Influenced of Applied Low Current and Physical Barrier of Filter Layers

Although metal contact is known to reduce bacterial growth, the effects of physical barriers and electricity need further investigation. This study examined the bacteria-reducing properties of copper and stainless-steel metal plates with an added electrical current and up to three filter layers on the growth of Escherichia coli (bacteria) and MS2 bacteriophages (virus). When used with a stainless-steel plate, electricity increased bacteria reduction by 39.5 ± 2.30% in comparison with no electricity added, whereas a three-layer physical barrier decreased its efficiency. Copper also reduced the growth of bacteria, by 58.2 ± 8.23%, and the addition of electricity reduced it further (79.5 ± 2.34%). Bacteriophages were also affected by the metal contact. Further experiments showed that MS2 was also reduced by copper, to 82.9 ± 4.5% after 24 h at 37 °C