New Synthesis of Pt-Ru Nanoparticles on Surface Modified Carbon Vulcane XC-72 as an Effective Catalyst for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

1 Results Pt-Ru nanoparticles are synthesised on the surface oxidized carbon Vulcane XC-72 as catalyst support by chemically anchoring Pt and Ru onto the surface of modified carbon vulcane XC-72 (by refluxing in 70% HNO3 at 120 ℃ for 12 h to introduce surface functional groups) .The nanoparticles of Pt and Ru are synthesized by reduction of H2PtCl6 and K4Ru(CN)6 with sodium borohydride in a 5.5 buffer solution of sodium citrate,the complexation of citrate with metal ions is beneficial to the formati...     

Prolactin inducible protein in cancer, fertility and immunoregulation: structure, function and its clinical implications

Prolactin inducible protein (PIP) is a 17- kDa single polypeptide chain, known by various names due to its versatile nature and function in human reproductive and immunological systems. It is expressed in several exocrine tissues such as the lacrimal, salivary, and sweat glands. Its expression is up regulated by prolactin and androgens, and estrogens down regulate it. Due to its over-expression in metastatic breast and prostate cancer, presently PIP is considered as a prognostic biomarker. Moreover, its aspartyl-proteinase nature suggests its role in tumor progression. PIP has unique features because it is small in size and plays multiple important functions. Its ability to bind potentially with CD4-T cell receptor, immunoglobulin G (IgG), actin, zinc α2-glycoprotein (ZAG), fibronectin and enamel pellicle, reveals its important biological functions. This is the first comprehensive review on the structure and functional analysis of PIP and its clinical applications. Received 04 August 2008; received after revision 09 September 2008; accepted 15 September 2008     

Sequence variants in the autophagy gene IRGM and multiple other replicating loci contribute to Crohn's disease susceptibility

A genome-wide association scan in individuals with Crohn's disease by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium detected strong association at four novel loci. We tested 37 SNPs from these and other loci for association in an independent case-control sample. We obtained replication for the autophagy-inducing IRGM gene on chromosome 5q33.1 (replication P = 6.6 x 10(-4), combined P = 2.1 x 10(-10)) and for nine other loci, including NKX2-3, PTPN2 and gene deserts on chromosomes 1q and 5p13.     

Genome-wide meta-analysis increases to 71 the number of confirmed Crohn's disease susceptibility loci

We undertook a meta-analysis of six Crohn's disease genome-wide association studies (GWAS) comprising 6,333 affected individuals (cases) and 15,056 controls and followed up the top association signals in 15,694 cases, 14,026 controls and 414 parent-offspring trios. We identified 30 new susceptibility loci meeting genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10??). A series of in silico analyses highlighted particular genes within these loci and, together with manual curation, implicated functionally interesting candidate genes including SMAD3, ERAP2, IL10, IL2RA, TYK2, FUT2, DNMT3A, DENND1B, BACH2 and TAGAP. Combined with previously confirmed loci, these results identify 71 distinct loci with genome-wide significant evidence for association with Crohn's disease.     

WDR62 is associated with the spindle pole and is mutated in human microcephaly

Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is a disorder of neurodevelopment resulting in a small brain. We identified WDR62 as the second most common cause of MCPH after finding homozygous missense and frame-shifting mutations in seven MCPH families. In human cell lines, we found that WDR62 is a spindle pole protein, as are ASPM and STIL, the MCPH7 and MCHP7 proteins. Mutant WDR62 proteins failed to localize to the mitotic spindle pole. In human and mouse embryonic brain, we found that WDR62 expression was restricted to neural precursors undergoing mitosis. These data lend support to the hypothesis that the exquisite control of the cleavage furrow orientation in mammalian neural precursor cell mitosis, controlled in great part by the centrosomes and spindle poles, is critical both in causing MCPH when perturbed and, when modulated, generating the evolutionarily enlarged human brain.     

Effect of SrCO3 addition on the dynamic compressive strength of ZTA

Ceramic parts usually experience dynamic load in armor applications. Therefore, studying the dynamic behaviors of ceramics is important. Limited data are available on the dynamic behaviors of ceramics;thus, it is helpful to predict the dynamic strength of ceramics on the basis of their mechanical properties. In this paper, the addition of SrCO3 into zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) was demonstrated to improve the fracture toughness of ZTA due to the formation of the SrAl12O19 (SA6) phase. The porosity of ZTA was found to be increased by the addition of SrCO3. These newly formed pores served as the nucleation sites of cracks under dynamic load;these cracks eventually coalesced to form damaged zones in the samples. Although the KIC values of the samples were improved, the dynamic strength was not en-hanced because of the increase in porosity;in fact, the dynamic strength of ZTA ceramics decreased with the addition of SrCO3.     

量子关联研究综述

由EPR佯谬,薛定谔“猫态”等超越直观的纯量子现象产生的量子纠缠理论从其概念提出以来一直被人们认为既是量子理论最为重要的概念之一,也是在量子通讯中实现“稠密编码”和“隐形传态”的关键。然而,最近研究结果显示,量子纠缠并不能够完全解释量子关联所有特性。人们发现,除了纠缠以外,还存在对量子信息和量子计算具有极其重要意义的其它非经典关联,如量子失协是一个纯量子比特确定性量子计算机具有计算效率的原因。这说明,量子失协完全可以成为量子计算新的一种资源。文章介绍了非经典关联（包括量子纠缠）的基本概念及其度量方法,对量子失协在各类模型中表现出的量子关联特性进行分析和与量子纠缠,经典关联比较,从而体现出在各类量子体系中对量子失协进行研究的意义,同时引导理论和实验研究者去研究量子失协的潜在研究价值。