Size-dependent optical properties of Au nanorods

In the fast evolving field of nanoscience and nanotechnology,where size and shape are crucial in deciding the optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials,the understanding of size and shape dependent behavior is of direct relevance to device applications.Present study reports the synthesis of Au nanorods with well controlled aspect ratios,and the influence of the aspect ratio on the surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS) activity using crystal violet(CV) as the probe molecule.The influence of pH and the concentrations of reducing agent and Ag ions in controlling the aspect ratio of gold nanorods are also investigated.The structural and optical properties of the synthesized samples have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy.The nonlinear optical(NLO) transmission of the Au nanorods investigated using the open aperture Z-scan technique revealed the absorption saturation followed by an optical limiting behavior,which may find potential applications in optoelectronic nanodevices.     

Podocalyxin enhances the adherence of cells to platelets

Podocalyxin (PODXL) is a mucin protein of the CD34 family expressed in kidney glomerular podocytes, vascular endothelium, progenitor bone marrow and tumor cells. It is assumed that PODXL plays an anti-adherent role in kidney podocytes. CHO cells stably expressing human PODXL (CHO-PODXL) or human tumor cells (Tera-1) inherently expressing PODXL showed increased adherence to platelets. The adherence of cells was inhibited (70%) by blockers of platelet P-selectin, prevented by the soluble ectodomain of human PODXL (PODXL-Δ) or by the arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGDS) peptide and partially impeded by inhibition of integrin αVβ3/αVβ5, suggesting a coordinated action of P-selectin and integrins. Colocalization of platelet P-selectin and PODXL expressed on CHO cells was demonstrated by confocal immunofluorescence. No adherence to platelets was observed when PODXL was expressed in glycomutant CHO cells deficient in sialic acid. Received 14 August 2007; received after revision 12 September 2007; accepted 13 September 2007     

A single positively selected West Nile viral mutation confers increased virogenesis in American crows

West Nile virus (WNV), first recognized in North America in 1999, has been responsible for the largest arboviral epiornitic and epidemic of human encephalitis in recorded history. Despite the well-described epidemiological patterns of WNV in North America, the basis for the emergence of WNV-associated avian pathology, particularly in the American crow (AMCR) sentinel species, and the large scale of the North American epidemic and epiornitic is uncertain. We report here that the introduction of a T249P amino acid substitution in the NS3 helicase (found in North American WNV) in a low-virulence strain was sufficient to generate a phenotype highly virulent to AMCRs. Furthermore, comparative sequence analyses of full-length WNV genomes demonstrated that the same site (NS3-249) was subject to adaptive evolution. These phenotypic and evolutionary results provide compelling evidence for the positive selection of a mutation encoding increased viremia potential and virulence in the AMCR sentinel bird species.     

A genome-wide association study for celiac disease identifies risk variants in the region harboring IL2 and IL21

We tested 310,605 SNPs for association in 778 individuals with celiac disease and 1,422 controls. Outside the HLA region, the most significant finding (rs13119723; P = 2.0 x 10(-7)) was in the KIAA1109-TENR-IL2-IL21 linkage disequilibrium block. We independently confirmed association in two further collections (strongest association at rs6822844, 24 kb 5' of IL21; meta-analysis P = 1.3 x 10(-14), odds ratio = 0.63), suggesting that genetic variation in this region predisposes to celiac disease.     

Loss of ACTN3 gene function alters mouse muscle metabolism and shows evidence of positive selection in humans

More than a billion humans worldwide are predicted to be completely deficient in the fast skeletal muscle fiber protein alpha-actinin-3 owing to homozygosity for a premature stop codon polymorphism, R577X, in the ACTN3 gene. The R577X polymorphism is associated with elite athlete status and human muscle performance, suggesting that alpha-actinin-3 deficiency influences the function of fast muscle fibers. Here we show that loss of alpha-actinin-3 expression in a knockout mouse model results in a shift in muscle metabolism toward the more efficient aerobic pathway and an increase in intrinsic endurance performance. In addition, we demonstrate that the genomic region surrounding the 577X null allele shows low levels of genetic variation and recombination in individuals of European and East Asian descent, consistent with strong, recent positive selection. We propose that the 577X allele has been positively selected in some human populations owing to its effect on skeletal muscle metabolism.     

On the self-association potential of transmembrane tight junction proteins

Tight junctions seal intercellular clefts via membrane-related strands, hence, maintaining important organ functions. We investigated the self-association of strand-forming transmembrane tight junction proteins. The regulatory tight junction protein occludin was differently tagged and cotransfected in eucaryotic cells. These occludins colocalized within the plasma membrane of the same cell, coprecipitated and exhibited fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Differently tagged strand-forming claudin-5 also colocalized in the plasma membrane of the same cell and showed fluorescence resonance energy transfer. This demonstrates self-association in intact cells both of occludin and claudin-5 in one plasma membrane. In search of dimerizing regions of occludin, dimerization of its cytosolic C-terminal coiledcoil domain was identified. In claudin-5, the second extracellular loop was detected as a dimer. Since the transmembrane junctional adhesion molecule also is known to dimerize, the assumption that homodimerization of transmembrane tight junction proteins may serve as a common structural feature in tight junction assembly is supported. Received 6 October 2005; received after revision 14 December 2005; accepted 27 December 2005 †These authors contributed equally to this work.     

基于VMD-LSTM-IPSO-GRU的电力负荷预测

为了挖掘电力负荷数据中的潜藏信息,提高负荷预测的精度,针对电力负荷强非线性、非平稳性等特点,提出一种基于变分模态分解(variational mode decomposition,VMD)、优化长短期神经网络(long-term and short-term memory network,LSTM)、改进的粒子群算法(improve particle swarm optimization,IPSO)优化门控循环单元(gated recurrent unit neural network,GRU)的混合预测模型。首先,使用相关性分析确定确定输入因素,再将负荷数据运用VMD算法结合样本熵分解为一系列本征模态分量(intrinsic mode fuction,IMF)和残差量,更加合理地确定分解层数和惩罚因子;其次,根据过零率将这些量划分为低频和高频,低频分量使用LSTM网络,高频分量利用IPSO-GRU网络分别进行预测;最后,将预测结果重构得到电力负荷的最终结果。仿真结果表明,相对于其它常规模型,该混合模型可有效的提取模态特征,具有更高的预测精度。     

含未知输入非线性系统的扩展平方根容积卡尔曼滤波算法

针对工程实际应用中存在的未知输入会导致经典的非线性滤波器状态估计精度下降甚至滤波发散的问题,提出了一种基于最小方差无偏估计(minimum variance unbiased estimation, MVUE)准则的扩展平方根容积卡尔曼滤波(extended square-root cubature Kalman filter, ESRCKF)算法。首先,结合上一时刻未知输入估计值对状态一步预测值进行修正,得到含未知输入条件下的状态预测值。其次,设计新息并采用加权最小二乘(weighted least squares, WLS)法获取当前时刻未知输入的无偏估计。最后,通过最小化协方差矩阵的迹,同时采用拉格朗日乘子法和舒尔补引理得到系统状态的最小方差无偏估计。仿真结果表明,相比于现有的非线性滤波算法,ESRCKF算法提高了在处理含未知输入非线性系统时的状态估计精度,并能同时实现系统状态和未知输入的最优估计,验证了该算法的有效性。