Cdc34 and the F-box protein Met30 are required for degradation of the Cdk-inhibitory kinase Swe1

Ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis controls the abundance of many cell cycle regulatory proteins. Recent work in Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggests that a complex consisting of Cdc53, Skp1, and a third component known as an F-box protein (termed SCF) in combination with Cdc34 specifically targets regulatory proteins for degradation, and that substrate specificity is likely to be mediated by the F-box subunit. A screen for genetic interactions with a cdc34 mutation yielded MET30, which encodes an F-box protein. MET30 is an essential gene required for cell cycle progression and met30 mutations interact genetically with mutations in SCF components. Furthermore, physical interactions between Met30, Cdc53, Cdc34, and Skp1 in vivo provide evidence for an SCFMet30 complex. We demonstrate the involvement of Met30 in the degradation of the Cdk-inhibitory kinase Swe1. Swe1 is stabilized in met30 mutants and GST-Met30 pull-down experiments reveal that Met30 specifically binds Swe1 in vivo. Furthermore, extracts prepared from cdc34 or met30 mutants are defective in polyubiquitination of Swe1. Taken together, these data suggest that SCF-mediated proteolysis may contribute to the regulation of entry into mitosis. Our data, in combination with previously published results, also provide evidence for distinct SCF complexes in vivo and support the idea that their F-box subunits mediate SCF substrate specificity.     

Adopting organizational virtualization in B2B firms: An empirical study in Singapore

We empirically tested a parsimonious model that incorporates cost-benefit analysis/transaction cost theory, institutional theory, and organizational capability-based theory to predict organizational adoption of IT-facilitated virtualization in an Asian context. Virtualization implies the use of IT and communication technology by organizations in managing their interactions and key business operations with stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers and employees. Our research extends existing literature by using organizational structure adoption theories. The study should provide insights into the salient adoption issues of Asian firms. A survey was conducted of B2B organizations in Singapore. Results indicated that an increase in the level of net perceived benefits, external influences, and organizational capabilities had a positive effect on organizational decision makers’ intention to use virtualization. In particular, external influences were found to be the most important antecedents of intention to adopt virtualization in B2B organizations in Singapore.     

Interactive Mixture as a Rapid Drug Delivery System

The effectiveness of an interactive mixture as a rapid drug delivery system is compared with that of a solid dispersion. The influences of drug load, particle size, and crystallinity of these test systems are investigated. The interactive mixtures and solid dispersions were prepared from polyethylene glycol (PEG) 3350 and hydrophobic nifedipine drug by means of physical mixing and melting methods, respectively. The formed products were subjected to drug particle size and crystallinity analyses, and dissolution tests. In comparison with the interactive mixtures, the solid dispersions with low drug load were more effective as a rapid drug delivery system, as the size of a given batch of drug particles was markedly reduced by the molten PEG 3350. The rate and extent of drug dissolution were mainly promoted by decreasing effective drug particle size. However, these were lower in the solid dispersions than in the interactive mixtures when a high load of fine drug particles was used as the starting material. This was attributed to drug coarsening during the preparation of the solid dispersion. Unlike solid dispersions, the interactive mixtures could accommodate a high load of fine drug particles without compromising its capacity to enhance the rate and extent of drug dissolution. The interactive mixture is appropriate for use to deliver a fine hydrophobic drug in a formulation requiring a high drug load.     

Application of Proteomics in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Biomarker Investigations: A Review

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis is usually detected at the advanced stage of the disease. The only US Food and Drug Administration-approved biomarker that is available for PDAC, CA 19-9, is most useful in monitoring treatment response among PDAC patients rather than for early detection. Moreover, when CA 19-9 is solely used for diagnostic purposes, it has only a recorded sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 82% in symptomatic individuals. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify reliable biomarkers for diagnosis (specifically for the early diagnosis), ascertain prognosis as well as to monitor treatment response and tumour recurrence of PDAC. In recent years, proteomic technologies are growing exponentially at an accelerated rate for a wide range of applications in cancer research. In this review, we discussed the current status of biomarker research for PDAC using various proteomic technologies. This review will explore the potential perspective for understanding and identifying the unique alterations in protein expressions that could prove beneficial in discovering new robust biomarkers to detect PDAC at an early stage, ascertain prognosis of patients with the disease in addition to monitoring treatment response and tumour recurrence of patients.     

Ultrasound initiated maleic anhydride grafted onto a novel polypropylene copolymer

The reaction of maleic anhydride (MAH) grafted onto propylene‐based copolymer (DP) without adding any initiator was conducted through ultrasound assisted extrusion in this article. The effects of ultrasound power, die temperature, and MAH content on the grafting degree and efficiency were studied. With increasing ultrasound power, the grafting degree and efficiency of DP‐g‐MAH increase. The presence of ultrasound with higher power and lower die temperature is beneficial to increase the grafting degree and efficiency. The increase of MAH content can increase the grafting degree but reduce the grafting efficiency. Based on the results of melt flow index, dynamical rheological, gel permeation chromatograph (GPC), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) tests, the mechanisms of the grafting reaction were proposed. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Inter-organisational knowledge transfer in social networks: A definition of intermediate ties

A social network perspective helps identify and analyse informal knowledge transfer among people and organisations with the aim to recommend organisational interventions and improvements, for example in the form of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support. This paper particularly focuses on a key concept of social network analysis (SNA), the concept of tie strength, in an inter-organisational knowledge transfer context. Tie strength describes the strength of a social relationship. In the past, SNA literature with a knowledge management context has often emphasized the importance of strong and/or weak ties rather than of intermediate (medium strong) ties in a social network. Nevertheless, in this study, intermediate ties are identified as the dominant links among key groups of organisation in a social network. Intermediate ties also help connect otherwise weakly linked organisations. Moreover, a definition of intermediate ties in the context of knowledge management is introduced. With the help of cluster analysis and an investigation into the levels of reciprocity, intermediate ties can be clearly defined in a social network. Due to their importance for knowledge transfer in a social network, intermediate ties should be primarily supported, for example by appropriate ICT.     

LTPS circuit integration for system‐on‐glass LCDs

Abstract— A 3.5‐in. QVGA‐formatted driving‐circuit fully integrated LCD has been developed using low‐temperature poly‐Si (LTPS) technology. This display module, in which no external ICs are required, integrates all the driving circuits for a six‐bit RGB digital interface with an LTPS device called a “FASt LDD TFT” and achieves a high‐quality image, narrow frame width, and low power consumption. The LTPS process, device, and circuit technologies developed for system‐on‐glass LCD discussed. The development phase of LTPS circuit integration for system‐on‐glass LCDs is also reviewed.     

Efficient Monitoring Algorithm for Fast News Alerts

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of XML data to deliver information over the Web. Personal Weblogs, news Web sites, and discussion forums are now publishing RSS feeds for their subscribers to retrieve new postings. As the popularity of personal Weblogs and RSS feeds grows rapidly, RSS aggregation services and blog search engines have appeared, which try to provide a central access point for simpler access and discovery of new content from a large number of diverse RSS sources. In this paper, we study how the RSS aggregation services should monitor the data sources to retrieve new content quickly using minimal resources and to provide its subscribers with fast news alerts. We believe that the change characteristics of RSS sources and the general user access behavior pose distinct requirements that make this task significantly different from the traditional index refresh problem for Web search engines. Our studies on a collection of 10,000 RSS feeds reveal some general characteristics of the RSS feeds and show that, with proper resource allocation and scheduling, the RSS aggregator provides news alerts significantly faster than the best existing approach.