Evaluation of fine needle capillary sampling in superficial and deep-seated lesions. An analysis of 670 cases

The gene rafY from the plasmid pRSD2, which enables Escherichia coli to grow on raffinose, was transferred into expression plasmid pUSL77. The protein was expressed in the porin-deficient Escherichia coli strain KS26 and was isolated and purified to homogeneity. The pure protein was reconstituted into lipid bilayer membranes. It formed an ion-permeable channel with a single-channel conductance of 2.9 nS of the open state in 1 M KCl, which is approximately twice of that of the general diffusion pores OmpF and OmpC of E. coli outer membrane. At lower pH the channel exhibited rapid flickering between three substates of the open channel. The RafY channel appears to be wide and water filled and has a small selectivity for cations over anions. Although RafY is part of an uptake and fermentation system for raffinose it does not contain a binding site for carbohydrates. Our results suggest that RafY is a general diffusion pore with a diameter, larger than that of the general diffusion porins OmpF and OmpC, that allows the diffusion of high-molecular-mass carbohydrates through the outer membrane.     

Lipanor treatment of atherogenic hyperlipoproteinemia

AIM: The study of the hypolipidemic efficiency, safety and tolerance of ciprofibrate (lipanor) in therapy of atherogenic hyperlipoproteinemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The trial included 14 hypertensive postmenopausal females, 14 patients with diabetes mellitus type II, 14 males with coronary heart disease and primary hyperlipoproteinemia (total cholesterol > 6.5 mmol/l, triglycerides < 4.5 mmol/l under low-cholesterol diet). Lipanor was given for 12 weeks in a daily single dose 100 mg in the morning. Lipids and other biochemical indices were measured in a fasting state after 1 and 3 months of lipanor treatment. RESULTS: After 1 month of lipanor treatment there was a 22-30%, 24-49% decrease in the level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, respectively. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased by 16%. The hypolipidemic effect of lipanor persisted for 3 months during which triglycerides continued to fall (up to 38.5%). Lipanor was well tolerated, only one patient with diabetes mellitus had hyperactivity of creatine phosphokinase manifesting with clinical symptoms (the drug was discontinued). 3 patients developed mild side effects. Alkaline phosphatase activity inhibited in all the groups by 25-41%. CONCLUSION: Lipanor is a highly effective, safe hypolipidemic drug with good tolerance. It can be recommended for correction of atherogenic hyperlipoproteinemia in patients at high risk of atherosclerosis progression.     

Ohmic contact and transport properties of II–VI Green/Blue laser diodes

The employment of the Zn(Se,Te) pseudo-graded contacting scheme to p-type ZnSe-based alloys contributes directly to the recent demonstration of room temperature continuous-wave operation of II– VI green-blue laser diodes. Contact ohmicity is maintained down to cryogenic temperatures which enabled the investigation of electrical transport properties associated with the p-type nitrogen-doped ZnSe, Zn(S,Se), and (Zn,Mg)(S,Se). The observation of both persistent photoconductivity and a metastable population of holes which are in thermodynamic equilibrium with hydrogenic acceptors having reduced activation energy suggests the presence of a DX-like behavior for holes in p-type (Zn,Mg)(S,Se).     

Delayed self-heterodyne linewidth measurement of VCSELs

We report on high-resolution linewidth measurements of proton-implanted InGaAs-GaAs VCSELs employing the delayed self-heterodyne method. Devices with 16-/spl mu/m active diameter exhibit record low linewidths of 20 MHz and 4-MHz residual linewidth. The linewidth enhancement factor is accurately determined from the ratio of induced phase to amplitude modulation indexes.     

Performance of TZCD-MBOK watermarking scheme in T-DMB systems

Recently, watermarking based data transmission techniques using terrestrial digital TV signal have been proposed since they are also cost-free and can overcome the limitations of GPS. However, in the previous watermarking based methods, the detection accuracy is low and additional data rate is too low. Thus, we propose the throughput enhancement method by employing the TZCD-MBOK watermarking technique in T-DMB system. By applying the proposed scheme to T-DMB, it allows additional data transmission for disaster broadcasting and improves efficiency of data transmission in shadow region and indoor to mobile environment through watermarking spread code. From the simulation results, we confirm the proposed watermarking scheme affected on the existing T-DMB signal. Moreover, it was also confirmed that the system capacity increases as the power of additional watermarking signal rose. The results of the paper can be applied to wireless multimedia digital broadcasting systems.     

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Generation of Pathogen-Resistant Tomato against Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus and Powdery Mildew

Tomato is one of the major vegetable crops consumed worldwide. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and fungal Oidium sp. are devastating pathogens causing yellow leaf curl disease and powdery mildew. Such viral and fungal pathogens reduce tomato crop yields and cause substantial economic losses every year. Several commercial tomato varieties include Ty-5 (SlPelo) and Mildew resistance locus o 1 (SlMlo1) locus that carries the susceptibility (S-gene) factors for TYLCV and powdery mildew, respectively. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) is a valuable genome editing tool to develop disease-resistant crop varieties. In this regard, targeting susceptibility factors encoded by the host plant genome instead of the viral genome is a promising approach to achieve pathogen resistance without the need for stable inheritance of CRISPR components. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was employed to target the SlPelo and SlMlo1 for trait introgression in elite tomato cultivar BN-86 to confer host-mediated immunity against pathogens. SlPelo-knockout lines were successfully generated, carrying the biallelic indel mutations. The pathogen resistance assays in SlPelo mutant lines confirmed the suppressed accumulation of TYLCV and restricted the spread to non-inoculated plant parts. Generated knockout lines for the SlMlo1 showed complete resistance to powdery mildew fungus. Overall, our results demonstrate the efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to introduce targeted mutagenesis for the rapid development of pathogen-resistant varieties in tomato.     

Identification of Cyclophilin A as a Potential Anticancer Target of Novel Nargenicin A1 Analog in AGS Gastric Cancer Cells

We recently discovered a novel nargenicin A1 analog, 23-demethyl 8,13-deoxynargenicin (compound 9), with potential anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic activities against human gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells. To identify the key molecular targets of compound 9, that are responsible for its biological activities, the changes in proteome expression in AGS cells following compound 9 treatment were analyzed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), followed by MALDI/TOF/MS. Analyses using chemical proteomics and western blotting revealed that compound 9 treatment significantly suppressed the expression of cyclophilin A (CypA), a member of the immunophilin family. Furthermore, compound 9 downregulated CD147-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, including c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) by inhibiting the expression of CD147, the cellular receptor of CypA. Notably, the responses of AGS cells to CypA knockdown were significantly correlated with the anticancer and antiangiogenic effects of compound 9. CypA siRNAs reduced the expression of CD147 and phosphorylation of JNK and ERK1/2. In addition, the suppressive effects of CypA siRNAs on proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis induction of AGS cells were associated with G2/M cell cycle arrest, caspase-mediated apoptosis, inhibition of MMP-9 and MMP-2 expression, inactivation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, and inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. The specific interaction between compound 9 and CypA was also confirmed using the drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) approaches. Moreover, in silico docking analysis revealed that the structure of compound 9 was a good fit for the cyclosporin A binding cavity of CypA. Collectively, these findings provide a novel molecular basis for compound 9-mediated suppression of gastric cancer progression through the targeting of CypA.