Identification of Tumor Suppressive Genes Regulated by miR-31-5p and miR-31-3p in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

We identified the microRNA (miRNA) expression signature of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) tissues by RNA sequencing, in which 168 miRNAs were significantly upregulated, including both strands of the miR-31 duplex (miR-31-5p and miR-31-3p). The aims of this study were to identify networks of tumor suppressor genes regulated by miR-31-5p and miR-31-3p in HNSCC cells. Our functional assays showed that inhibition of miR-31-5p and miR-31-3p attenuated cancer cell malignant phenotypes (cell proliferation, migration, and invasion), suggesting that they had oncogenic potential in HNSCC cells. Our in silico analysis revealed 146 genes regulated by miR-31 in HNSCC cells. Among these targets, the low expression of seven genes (miR-31-5p targets: CACNB2 and IL34; miR-31-3p targets: CGNL1, CNTN3, GAS7, HOPX, and PBX1) was closely associated with poor prognosis in HNSCC. According to multivariate Cox regression analyses, the expression levels of five of those genes (CACNB2: p = 0.0189; IL34: p = 0.0425; CGNL1: p = 0.0014; CNTN3: p = 0.0304; and GAS7: p = 0.0412) were independent prognostic factors in patients with HNSCC. Our miRNA signature and miRNA-based approach will provide new insights into the molecular pathogenesis of HNSCC.     

Cooperative enhancement of deoxyribozyme activity by chemical modification and added cationic copolymer

Deoxyribozymes (DNAzymes) having RNA-cleaving activity have widely been explored as tools for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Both the chemical cleaving step and the turnover step should be improved for enhancing overall activity of DNAzymes. We have shown that cationic copolymer enhanced DNAzyme activity by increasing turnover efficacy. In this paper, effectｓ of the copolymer on DNAzymes modified with locked nucleic acids (LNA) or 2′-O-methylated (2′-OMe) nucleic acids were studied. The copolymer increased activity of these chemically modified DNAzymes. More than 30-fold enhancement in multiple-turnover catalytic activity was observed with 2′-OMe-modified DNAzyme in the presence of the copolymer. DNAzyme catalytic activity was successfully enhanced by cooperation of the added copolymer and chemical modification of DNAzyme.     

循环荷载下圆柱和I型钢筋混凝土剪力墙的能量消耗与损伤分析

采用非线性有限元方法,对循环荷载下圆柱和Ⅰ型钢筋混凝土剪力墙进行试验,通过能量消耗分析评估其损伤。首先,通过对荷载-位移关系、裂缝情况的研究以及经过分析所得的总应变能与试验加载能量的比较,验证分析方法的有效性。其次,对能量消耗分布以及钢筋和混凝土的配置进行研究。研究表明:能量消耗是评估剪力墙损伤的有效方法。     

Organic Analysis of Peridotite Rocks from the Ashadze and Logatchev Hydrothermal Sites

This article presents an experimental analysis of the organic content of two serpentinized peridotite rocks of the terrestrial upper mantle. The samples have been dredged on the floor of the Ashadze and Logatchev hydrothermal sites on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In this preliminary analysis, amino acids and long chain n-alkanes are identified. They are most probably of biological/microbial origin. Some peaks remain unidentified.     

Hydration behavior of perfluorinated and hydrocarbon-type proton exchange membranes: Relationship between morphology and proton conduction

The relationships between morphology and proton conduction for Nafion membranes and hydrocarbon-type proton exchange membranes, namely, sulfonated poly(arylene ether ether ketone) (S-PEEK) and sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (S-PES), were investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The direct simultaneous observation of surface morphology and active regions of proton conduction on membranes by combined high-resolution AFM phase imaging and an electrochemical technique at controlled humidity provided significant morphological information, particularly for the hydrocarbon-type membranes that exhibit few or no features on SAXS profiles. For the Nafion membranes, the active proton paths became denser and congregated with each other at over 60% RH, resulting in the formation of well-connected networks. For the hydrocarbon-type membranes, however, only the relatively small and dispersed proton paths were observed, which showed no significant change even as water content increased. We have demonstrated that the differences in microscopic morphology between the Nafion and hydrocarbon-type membranes are associated with the differences between their macroscopic proton conductivities.     

Heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a heat exchanger for recovering latent heat (effects of straight fin length and fin pitch on the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics)

In recent years, the requirement for the reduction of energy consumption has been increasing to solve the problems of global warming and the shortage of petroleum resources. A latent heat recovery type heat exchanger is one of the effective methods for improving thermal efficiency by recovering latent heat. This paper describes the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics of a latent heat recovery type heat exchanger having straight fins (fin length: 65 mm or 100 mm, fin pitch: 2.5 mm or 4 mm). These were clarified by measuring the exchange heat quantity, the pressure loss of the heat exchanger, and the heat transfer coefficient between the outer fin surface and gas. The effects of fin length and fin pitch on heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics were clarified. Furthermore, equations for predicting the heat transfer coefficient and pressure loss which are necessary for heat exchanger design were proposed. ©2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(4): 230– 247, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20153 Copyright © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Advanced quantum dot and photonic crystal technologies for integrated nanophotonic circuits

Two types of nanophotonic technologies—two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D PC) slab waveguides (WGs) and quantum dots (QDs)—were developed for key photonic device structures in the future. For an ultrafast digital photonic network, an ultrasmall and ultrafast symmetrical Mach–Zehnder (SMZ)-type all-optical switch (PC-SMZ) and an optical flip–flop device (PC-FF) have been developed. To realize these devices, one method is to develop a selective-area molecular beam epitaxial growth QD technique by employing a metal mask method. Another method is to establish a new design method, i.e., topology optimization of the 2DPC WG with a wide and flat bandwidth, high transmittance, and low reflectivity. We also fabricated an optical microcavity in a photonic crystal slab embedded with GaAs QDs by droplet epitaxy. The Purcell effect on the exciton emission of GaAs QDs was confirmed by microphotoluminescence and lifetime measurements.     

DNA Computing Boosted by a Cationic Copolymer

The huge information storage capability of DNA and its ability to self‐assemble can be harnessed to enable massively parallel computing in a small space. DNA‐based logic gates are designed that rely on DNA strand displacement reactions; however, computation is slow due to time‐consuming DNA reassembly processes and prone to failure as DNA is susceptible to degradation by nucleases and under certain solution conditions. Here, it is shown that the presence of a cationic copolymer boosts the speed of DNA logic gate operations that involve multiple and parallel strand displacement reactions. Two kinds of DNA molecular operations, one based on a translator gate and one on a seesaw gate, are successfully enhanced by the copolymer without tuning of computing conditions or DNA sequences. The copolymer markedly reduces operation times from hours to minutes. Moreover, the copolymer enhances nuclease resistance.     

Iron-Catalyzed C−C Bond Formation via Chelation-Assisted C−H Activation

This review provides a brief overview of iron-catalyzed C−C bond forming reactions via heteroatom-assisted C−H bond activation, which have been extensively developed in the last decade. Three major types of reactions are discussed, namely, (1) C−H activation/C−C coupling using organometallic reagents under oxidative conditions, (2) C−H activation/C−C coupling using organic electrophiles under redox-neutral conditions, and (3) C−H activation/C−C coupling using unsaturated hydrocarbons under redox-neutral or oxidative conditions.