Glycosylation in Indolent,Significant and Aggressive Prostate Cancer by Automated High-Throughput N-Glycan Profiling

The diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) is a major health-care concern worldwide. This cancer can manifest itself in many distinct forms and the transition from clinically indolent PCa to the more invasive aggressive form remains poorly understood. It is now universally accepted that glycan expression patterns change with the cellular modifications that accompany the onset of tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate if differential glycosylation patterns could distinguish between indolent, significant, and aggressive PCa. Whole serum N-glycan profiling was carried out on 117 prostate cancer patients’ serum using our automated, high-throughput analysis platform for glycan-profiling which utilizes ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) to obtain high resolution separation of N-linked glycans released from the serum glycoproteins. We observed increases in hybrid, oligomannose, and biantennary digalactosylated monosialylated glycans (M5A1G1S1, M8, and A2G2S1), bisecting glycans (A2B, A2(6)BG1) and monoantennary glycans (A1), and decreases in triantennary trigalactosylated trisialylated glycans with and without core fucose (A3G3S3 and FA3G3S3) with PCa progression from indolent through significant and aggressive disease. These changes give us an insight into the disease pathogenesis and identify potential biomarkers for monitoring the PCa progression, however these need further confirmation studies.     

A MEMS-Based Evaluation of the Mechanical Properties of Metallic Thin Films

Characterizing the mechanical properties of metal thin films is critical for the design and fabrication of metal microelectromechanical systems and integrated circuit devices. This paper focuses on wafer-level determination of the mechanical behavior of sputtered aluminum and nickel thin films, using a variety of measurement techniques. Elastic moduli have been determined in devices fabricated with standard micromachining techniques using bulge testing of square diaphragms and lateral resonator structures. We find a Young's modulus of ~70 GPa for Al and ~200 GPa for Ni, in agreement with data for the bulk metals. Using pressurize/depressurize cycles, the load-deflection curves of the membranes have also been determined, and in conjunction with finite element simulations, were used to determine the yield strength and fracture strength of these films. Residual stresses in the films have also been investigated using wafer curvature, bulge testing, and X-ray diffraction. The merits of each measurement technique are discussed.     

A Bethe theory for the directional dependence of stopping by molecules

We derive a Bethe formula for the stopping of swift ions by target molecules oriented with respect to the beam. The theory is characterized by a directional mean excitation energy formed from transition energies and dipole matrix elements. The expression for the mean excitation energy is similar to the one for an isotropic sample but the dipole matrix elements corresponding to the various transition moment directions carry unequal weights which depend on the orientation of the molecule with respect to the beam. For a large class of molecules, the logarithm of the mean excitation energy is linear in sin² θ, where θ denotes the angle between the beam and the principal molecular axis. We illustrate the properties of the theory in the simple case of a diatomic molecule.     

Group codes on certain algebraic curves with many rational points

We construct a series of algebraic geometric codes using a class of curves which have many rational points. We obtain codes of lengthq ² over _q , whereq = 2q ₀ ² andq ₀ = 2 ⁿ , such that dimension + minimal distance q ² + 1 – q ₀ (q – 1). The codes are ideals in the group algebra _q [S], whereS is a Sylow-2-subgroup of orderq ² of the Suzuki-group of orderq ² (q ² + 1)(q – 1). The curves used for construction have in relation to their genera the maximal number of GF _q -rational points. This maximal number is determined by the explicit formulas of Weil and is effectively smaller than the Hasse—Weil bound.Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft while visiting Essen University