Full-genome RNAi profiling of early embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans

A key challenge of functional genomics today is to generate well-annotated data sets that can be interpreted across different platforms and technologies. Large-scale functional genomics data often fail to connect to standard experimental approaches of gene characterization in individual laboratories. Furthermore, a lack of universal annotation standards for phenotypic data sets makes it difficult to compare different screening approaches. Here we address this problem in a screen designed to identify all genes required for the first two rounds of cell division in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. We used RNA-mediated interference to target 98% of all genes predicted in the C. elegans genome in combination with differential interference contrast time-lapse microscopy. Through systematic annotation of the resulting movies, we developed a phenotypic profiling system, which shows high correlation with cellular processes and biochemical pathways, thus enabling us to predict new functions for previously uncharacterized genes.     

Dominant and recessive deafness caused by mutations of a novel gene, TMC1, required for cochlear hair-cell function

Positional cloning of hereditary deafness genes is a direct approach to identify molecules and mechanisms underlying auditory function. Here we report a locus for dominant deafness, DFNA36, which maps to human chromosome 9q13-21 in a region overlapping the DFNB7/B11 locus for recessive deafness. We identified eight mutations in a new gene, transmembrane cochlear-expressed gene 1 (TMC1), in a DFNA36 family and eleven DFNB7/B11 families. We detected a 1.6-kb genomic deletion encompassing exon 14 of Tmc1 in the recessive deafness (dn) mouse mutant, which lacks auditory responses and has hair-cell degeneration. TMC1 and TMC2 on chromosome 20p13 are members of a gene family predicted to encode transmembrane proteins. Tmc1 mRNA is expressed in hair cells of the postnatal mouse cochlea and vestibular end organs and is required for normal function of cochlear hair cells.     

Histochemical characterization of the red fibres in pigeon pectoralis muscle

Summary Red fibres of the pigeon pectoralis muscle showed high ATPase reaction at pH 9.4. Veronal-acetate pretreatment completely inhibited the ATPase reaction in these red fibres but not in type I fibres of the gastrocnemius. The former are type II red muscle fibres and hence are unlike type I red, the so-called slow-twitch muscle fibres.     

99mTc-MDP extraction in relation to81mKr perfusion following a partial osteotomy in the dog tibia

Summary The bone mineral extraction of technetium-99m-methylene diphosphonate (^99mTc-MDP), and blood supply of Krypton-81m (^81mKr) have been compared in normal and osteotomy regions of the canine tibia. A partial osteotomy was carried out under aseptic conditions, and isotopic measurements made over a period of 123 days. Both blood flow and bone mineral extraction increase after a partial osteotomy.Acknowledgments. I wish to thank D. Zbrzeznj and C. Stoltenberg for their assistance.     

Electrical conductivity retention and electrochemical activity of CSA doped graphene/gold nanoparticle@ polyaniline composites

This paper reports the synthesis of CTAB mediated CSA doped PANI and GN/GNP@ PANI composite nanofibers. The as synthesized composite nanofibers were examined by TEM, SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy; UV–visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy and TGA. The CTAB mediated CSA doped composite nanofibers showed 59% higher DC electrical conductivity at ambient temperature than that of PANI,which might be due to the enhancement in the mobility of the charge carriers and reduction in hopping distance in the composite system. The CTAB mediated CSA doped composite nanofibers compared to PANI was observed to be showing enhanced DC electrical conductivity retention after various cycles of heating, suggesting an enhancement in thermal stability of the composite structure, which could be attributed to the synergistic effect of GN,GNP and PANI. Additionally, the composite nanofibers showed greater electrochemical activity and better capacitive performance and reduced optical bandgap than that of PANI.     

基于类别空间的基因选择

基因选择通常是在基因空间中进行的. 由于基因空间的维数(基因数目)比该空间中的样本数要多得多, 这种做法存在严重的维数发难(curse of dimensionality)问题, 其结果是在基因空间中所建立数据模型难于获得满意的精度, 基于所建立模型的基因选择结果可信度低. 如何对具有极少样本的极高维空间进行特征选择(基因选择)是一个极具挑战性的课题. 将基因空间变换为它的对偶空间, 称为类别空间, 从而空间的维数仅为基因空间中样本的类别数, 空间中的样本数则为基因空间的维数. 显然, 在类别空间中不存在任何维数发难现象; 提出了在类别空间中基于将不同的类尽可能分开的原则、并借助主分量分析的基于类别空间基因选择方法. 对真实基因数据的基因选择实验, 并通过Fisher指标、加权Fisher指标以及leave-one-out cross validation等可分性指标, 与其他两种基因选择方法进行了深入的比较, 结果表明该方法是十分有效的.     

Investigation of functional, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of TiO2 embedded polyester hybrid composites: A design of experiment (DoE) study

This paper presents a study on the Design of Experiments(Do E) approach to optimize the fabrication parameters of titania(TiO_2) embedded glass fiber reinforced polyester hybrid composites(HCs). HCs of unsaturated polyester resin(UPR) were fabricated using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide(MEKP) as the curing agent by hand lay-up process(HLUP) and compression molding technique(CMT). The fabrication parameters were optimized by Taguchi Do E(an orthogonal array of L25) using 3 control factors(concentration of TiO_2, concentration of MEKP and curing temperature) having 5 levels each. Statistical tools were employed to identify significant factors affecting tensile strengths and its reproducibility during HLUP. It was found that the concentration of TiO_2 in HCs significantly influenced the tensile strength(TS) followed by MEKP concentration and curing temperature. The highest value of TS was obtained at 3 wt% TiO_2, 2 wt% MEKP and 80 °C. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of TiO_2 concentration was basis for fabrication of polyester titania glass fiber hybrids(PTGFHs), which were further investigated for density and void fractions, linear shrinkage, flexural strength, impact strength, hardness and thermal behaviors. Moreover, cross-linking and hydrogen-bonding between polymeric chains, styrene, silica content of glass fiber and TiO_2 particles in PTGFHs were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.     

Study on the impact force and green properties of high-velocity compacted aluminum alloy powder

High-velocity compaction (HVC) provides an effective means in the field of powder metallurgy (P/M) to reduce the porosity as well as to ameliorate the mechanical properties of products. In this study, the green density of an aluminum alloy is found to be 2.783 g·cm-3. The ejection force for the aluminum alloy is in the range of 23 to 80 kN and the spring back is found to be less than 0.40%. The hardness of the green body is in the range of HRB 30 to 70. The bending strength of the green body is in the range of 6 to 26 MPa, which are higher than that of other aluminum alloys prepared by the traditional compaction method.