Population biology of infectious diseases: Part I.

If the host population is taken to be a dynamic variable (rather than constant, as conventionally assumed), a wider understanding of the population biology of infectious diseases emerges. In this first part of a two-part article, mathematical models are developed, shown to fit data from laboratory experiments, and used to explore the evolutionary relations among transmission parameters. In the second part of the article, to be published in next week's issue, the models are extended to include indirectly transmitted infections, and the general implications for infectious diseases are considered.     

Polo-like kinase-1 is activated by aurora A to promote checkpoint recovery

Polo-like kinase-1 (PLK1) is an essential mitotic kinase regulating multiple aspects of the cell division process. Activation of PLK1 requires phosphorylation of a conserved threonine residue (Thr 210) in the T-loop of the PLK1 kinase domain, but the kinase responsible for this has not yet been affirmatively identified. Here we show that in human cells PLK1 activation occurs several hours before entry into mitosis, and requires aurora A (AURKA, also known as STK6)-dependent phosphorylation of Thr 210. We find that aurora A can directly phosphorylate PLK1 on Thr 210, and that activity of aurora A towards PLK1 is greatly enhanced by Bora (also known as C13orf34 and FLJ22624), a known cofactor for aurora A (ref. 7). We show that Bora/aurora-A-dependent phosphorylation is a prerequisite for PLK1 to promote mitotic entry after a checkpoint-dependent arrest. Importantly, expression of a PLK1-T210D phospho-mimicking mutant partially overcomes the requirement for aurora A in checkpoint recovery. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the initial activation of PLK1 is a primary function of aurora A.     

Integrated Bi2O3 nanostructure modified with Au nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

An integrated Bi_2O_3(i-Bi_2O_3) nanostructure with a particle size 10 nm inducing agglomerated structure were synthesized by dissolving bismuth nitrate pentahydrate in diethylene glycol at 180 ℃ with post heat treatment.The prepared i-Bi_2O_3 nanostructures were employed for the construction of Au/i-Bi_2O_3 composite system and characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern,UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy(DRS),and transmission electron microscopy,X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS).The i-Bi_2O_3 nanostructure and Au/i-Bi_2O_3 composite system were found to exhibit high photocatalytic activity than commercial Bi_2O_3 in decomposing salicylic acid under visible light irradiation.The high catalytic activity of i-Bi_2O_3 nanostructure was deduced to be caused by charge separation facilitated by electron hopping between the particles within the integrated structure and space-charge separation between i-Bi_2O_3 and Au.The charge separation behavior in i-Bi_2O_3 nanostructure was further bolstered by comparing the measured.OH radical produced in the solution with i-Bi_2O_3 nanostructure,commercial Bi_2O_3 and Au/i-Bi_2O_3 composite which readily react with 1,4-terephthalic acid(TA) inducing 2-hydroxy terephthalic acid(TAOH) that shows unique fluorescence peak at 426 nm.The space-charge separation between i-Bi_2O_3 and An was confirmed by measuring the electron spin resonance(ESR) spectra.     

A new geometrical correction method for inaccessible area imagery

The geometric correction of a satellite imagery is performed by making a systematic correction with satellite ephemerides and attitude angles followed by employing the Ground Control Points (GCPs) or Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). In a remote area or an inaccessible area, however,GCPs are unavailable to be surveyed and thus they can be obtained only by reading maps, which is not accurate in reality.In this study, we performed the systematic correction process to the inaccessible area and the precise geometric correction process to the adjacent accessible area by using GCPs. Then we analyzed the correlation between the two geo-referenced Korea Multipurpose Satellite (KOMPSAT-1 EOC) images. A new geometrical correction for the inaccessible area imagery is achieved by applying the correlation to the inaccessible imagery. By employing this new method, the accuracy of the inaccessible area imagery is significantly improved absolutely and relatively.