Rare-earth free sensitizer in NaLuCrF4:Er upconversion material

Upconversion phosphors are known as a material system that can convert near-infrared light into visible/ultraviolet emissions by sequentially absorbing multiple photons. The studies on upconversion materials often use two rare earth (RE) ions as a sensitizer-activator pair. We investigated the influences on luminescence intensity depending on Cr-doping content (x) of hexagonal NaLu_0.98–xCr_xF₄Er_0.02 (x = 0–0.9) upconversion material by substituting Lu³⁺ ions with Cr³⁺in the absence of Gd³⁺. The change in upconversion luminescence intensity appears with saddle-like shape. We suggest that Cr³⁺ ions play the dual role as a constituent in host lattice and a sensitizer in the upconversion process. Optimal conditions for gaining the strongest upconversion emission correspond to x = 0.3–0.5, where there are effective energy transfers between Cr³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions and CrEr dimers. Apart from these values, the emission intensity decreases rapidly which can be ascribed to the absence of multiple-photon absorption for the case of low Cr³⁺ contents, and to the coupling between Cr³⁺ and/or Er³⁺ ions for the case of high Cr³⁺ contents. Magnetization and electron-spin-resonant measurements were performed to understand the correlation between the optical and magnetic properties.     

Pull-Down of Metalloproteins in Their Native States by Using Desthiobiotin-Based Probes

One-third of all proteins are estimated to require metals for structural stability and/or catalytic activity. Desthiobiotin probes containing metal binding groups can be used to capture metalloproteins with exposed active-site metals under mild conditions so as to prevent changes in metallation state. The proof-of-concept was demonstrated with carbonic anhydrase (CA), an open active site, Zn²⁺-containing protein. CA was targeted by using sulfonamide derivatives. Linkers of various lengths and structures were screened to determine the optimal structure for capture of the native protein. The optimized probes could selectively pull down CA from red blood cell lysate and other protein mixtures. Pull-down of differently metallated CAs was also investigated.     

Negation as failure for disjunctive logic programming

We generalize the Negation-as-Failure procedure for disjunctive logic programming. Then we compare our method with related methods in the literature. We also propose a new completion theory for disjunctive logic programs which allows some program clauses to have inclusive meaning and the others exclusive meaning.     

Effect of thapsigargin on calcium homeostasis in Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and epimastigotes

By using the fluorescent calcium indicator fura-2, it was found that the concentration of free Ca2+ in the cytoplasm of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes incubated in the presence or absence of external calcium was maintained at very low levels (10-20 nM). When trypomastigotes were incubated in the presence of succinate and ATP and permeabilized with digitonin, they lowered the medium calcium concentration to a submicromolar level. In the presence of 1 microM FCCP the initial rate of Ca2+ sequestration by these permeabilized cells was very slow. When succinate alone was present, the initial rate of Ca2+ accumulation was slower than with ATP plus succinate, and the calcium set point was about 0.6 microM. The succinate dependence and FCCP sensitivity of the later Ca2+ uptake indicate that it may be exerted by the mitochondria. High concentrations of the tumor promoter thapsigargin slightly increased cytosolic Ca2+ in the presence of extracellular Ca2+ but had no effect on the FCCP- and oligomycin/antimycin A-insensitive Ca2+ pool. In addition, when used at those concentrations (4-20 microM), thapsigargin was shown to release Ca2+ from the mitochondria and to decrease the inner mitochondrial membrane potential of trypomastigotes and epimastigotes as measured using safranine O. Despite the presence of inositol phosphates as determined by [3H]inositol incorporation, no IP3-sensitive Ca2+ release could be detected in trypomastigotes.     

On the SEP of Cooperative Diversity with Opportunistic Relaying

We analyze the exact symbol error probability (SEP) of cooperative diversity with opportunistic amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying. The benefit of this opportunism to the SEP is assessed by comparing with maximal ratio combining of orthogonal multiple AF relay transmissions.     

Simulating a Smartboard by Real-Time Gesture Detection in Lecture Videos

Gesture plays an important role for recognizing lecture activities in video content analysis. In this paper, we propose a real-time gesture detection algorithm by integrating cues from visual, speech and electronic slides. In contrast to the conventional “complete gesture” recognition, we emphasize detection by the prediction from “incomplete gesture”. Specifically, intentional gestures are predicted by the modified hidden Markov model (HMM) which can recognize incomplete gestures before the whole gesture paths are observed. The multimodal correspondence between speech and gesture is exploited to increase the accuracy and responsiveness of gesture detection. In lecture presentation, this algorithm enables the on-the-fly editing of lecture slides by simulating appropriate camera motion to highlight the intention and flow of lecturing. We develop a real-time application, namely simulated smartboard, and demonstrate the feasibility of our prediction algorithm using hand gesture and laser pen with simple setup without involving expensive hardware.      

Is electrogastrography a substitute for manometric studies in children with functional gastrointestinal disorders?

We performed simultaneous fasting and fed antroduodenal manometry and EGG in 25 children with functional bowel disorders. Three patients (12%) had an uninterpretable EGG. The manometric studies showed severe neuropathy in six patients; milder neuropathic changes in five patients; postprandial hypomotility in one patient; myopathy in four patients, and normal motility in the remaining six patients. The percentage of tachygastria time (frequency > 3.5 cycles/min) was higher in the patiens with mild (44.1 +/- 15.8%) and severe (48 +/- 19.1%) neuropathy than in the patients with myopathy (20 +/- 16.2%, P < 0.05) or with normal motility (23 +/- 13.3%, P < 0.05). There was a considerable overlap in the percentage of tachygastria and total arrhythmia time among the different study groups. The ratio of post- to preprandial power was significantly higher (2.5 +/- 0.07) in children with normal motility than in the other patients groups. Every child with total arrhythmia time < 35% and a ratio of post- to preprandial power > 2.4 had normal manometry. In summary, EGG differentiated groups of children with normal manometry from others with neuropathic or myopathic changes, but in a minority of patients the study was not interpretable and there was overlap in EGG results between children with normal and abnormal manometry.     

Changes in the orientation of the smooth-muscle cells of the tunica media from major arteries under constant lengthwise stretching in situ

It has been shown that changes in the orientation of arterial smooth muscle cells during a constant longitudinal stretching of the artery in vivo are not similar in different sections of the stretching zone. Cells in the proximal and distal sections keep their orientation but this orientation differs from that of smooth muscle cells in the control arteries. Cells in the central part of the stretching region lose their definite orientation to settle randomly.