Large-scale genome-wide association studies in East Asians identify new genetic loci influencing metabolic traits

To identify the genetic bases for nine metabolic traits, we conducted a meta-analysis combining Korean genome-wide association results from the KARE project (n = 8,842) and the HEXA shared control study (n = 3,703). We verified the associations of the loci selected from the discovery meta-analysis in the replication stage (30,395 individuals from the BioBank Japan genome-wide association study and individuals comprising the Health2 and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Diabetes cohorts). We identified ten genome-wide significant signals newly associated with traits from an overall meta-analysis. The most compelling associations involved 12q24.11 (near MYL2) and 12q24.13 (in C12orf51) for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 2p21 (near SIX2-SIX3) for fasting plasma glucose, 19q13.33 (in RPS11) and 6q22.33 (in RSPO3) for renal traits, and 12q24.11 (near MYL2), 12q24.13 (in C12orf51 and near OAS1), 4q31.22 (in ZNF827) and 7q11.23 (near TBL2-BCL7B) for hepatic traits. These findings highlight previously unknown biological pathways for metabolic traits investigated in this study.     

Cancer spheres from gastric cancer patients provide an ideal model system for cancer stem cell research

Cancer stem cells have been hypothesized to drive the growth and metastasis of tumors. Because they need to be targeted for cancer treatment, they have been isolated from many solid cancers. However, cancer stem cells from primary human gastric cancer tissues have not been isolated as yet. For the isolation, we used two cell surface markers: the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and CD44. When analyzed by flow cytometry, the EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺ population accounts for 4.5% of tumor cells. EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺ gastric cancer cells formed tumors in immunocompromised mice; however, EpCAM^?/CD44^?, EpCAM⁺/CD44^? and EpCAM^?/CD44⁺ cells failed to do so. Xenografts of EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺ gastric cancer cells maintained a differentiated phenotype and reproduced the morphological and phenotypical heterogeneity of the original gastric tumor tissues. The tumorigenic subpopulation was serially passaged for several generations without significant phenotypic alterations. Moreover, EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺, but not EpCAM^?/CD44^?, EpCAM⁺/CD44^? or EpCAM^?/CD44⁺ cells grew exponentially in vitro as cancer spheres in serum-free medium, maintaining the tumorigenicity. Interestingly, a single cancer stem cell generated a cancer sphere that contained various differentiated cells, supporting multi-potency and self-renewal of a cancer stem cell. EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺ cells had greater resistance to anti-cancer drugs than other subpopulation cells. The above in vivo and in vitro results suggest that cancer stem cells, which are enriched in the EpCAM⁺/CD44⁺ subpopulation of gastric cancer cells, provide an ideal model system for cancer stem cell research.     

Senescence suppressors: their practical importance in replicative lifespan extension in stem cells

Recent animal and clinical studies report promising results for the therapeutic utilization of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with their pluripotent nature, have advantages over embryonic stem cells in terms of their availability and feasibility. However, their proliferative activity is destined to slow by replicative senescence, and the limited proliferative potential of MSCs not only hinders the preparation of sufficient cells for in vivo application, but also draws a limitation on their potential for differentiation. This calls for the development of safe and efficient means to increase the proliferative as well as differentiation potential of MSCs. Recent advances have led to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms and significance of cellular senescence, facilitating ways to manipulate the replicative lifespan of a variety of primary cells, including MSCs. This paper introduces a class of proteins that function as senescence suppressors. Like tumor suppressors, these proteins are lost in senescence, while their forced expression delays the onset of senescence. Moreover, treatments that increase the expression or the activity of senescence suppressors, therefore, cause expansion of the replicative and differentiation potential of MSCs. The nature of the activities and putative underlying mechanisms of the senescence suppressors will be discussed to facilitate their evaluation.     

Time synchronization module for automatic identification system

This paper proposed a design and implementation procedure of the Time Synchronization Module (TSM) for the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The proposed TSM module uses a Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) as a local reference clock, and consists of a Digitally Controlled Oscillator (DCO), a divider, a phase discriminator, and register blocks. The TSM measures time difference between the 1 PPS from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and the generated transmitter clock. The measured time difference is compensated by controlling the DCO and the transmit clock is synchronized to the Universal Time Coordinated (UTC). The designed TSM can also be synchronized to the reference time derived from the received message. The proposed module is tested using the experimental AIS transponder set. The experimental results show that the proposed module satisfies the functional and timing specification of the AIS technical standard, ITU-R M.1371.     

A quantitative histochemical study of succinic dehydrogenase in the kidney and liver of rats subjected to nephrectomy and injected with egg-white

Résumé L'activité de la déshydrogénase succinique du rein ou du foie ne peut expliquer la formation de gouttelettes dans les cellules rénales après injection i.p. de blanc d'uf associée ou non à une néphrectomie.     

Dogs cloned from adult somatic cells

Several mammals--including sheep, mice, cows, goats, pigs, rabbits, cats, a mule, a horse and a litter of three rats--have been cloned by transfer of a nucleus from a somatic cell into an egg cell (oocyte) that has had its nucleus removed. This technology has not so far been successful in dogs because of the difficulty of maturing canine oocytes in vitro. Here we describe the cloning of two Afghan hounds by nuclear transfer from adult skin cells into oocytes that had matured in vivo. Together with detailed sequence information generated by the canine-genome project, the ability to clone dogs by somatic-cell nuclear transfer should help to determine genetic and environmental contributions to the diverse biological and behavioural traits associated with the many different canine breeds.     

A simple interspike interval analyzer for study of neuronal spike trains

Summary A simple, low cost interspike interval analyzer for the analysis of trains of nerve impulses is described. The analyzer is built with readily available integrated circuits and has been used to analyze spike trains in the lateral vestibular nucleus of cats.Acknowledgment. This research is supported in part by Higher Degrees and Research Grant No. 158/363 to J.C.H. from the University of Hong Kong.     

Development of high performance and high strength heavy concrete for radiation shielding structures

Heavy concrete currently used for construction contains special materials that are expensive and difficult to work with. This study replaced natural aggregate (stones) in concrete with round steel balls, which are inexpensive and easily obtainable. The diameters of the steel balls were 0.5 and 1 cm, and their density was 7.8 kg/m3. Dense packing mixture methods were used to produce heavy concrete with densities of 3500 and 5000 kg/m3. The various properties of this concrete were tested according to the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The results indicated that the construction slump of the concrete could reach 260–280 mm and its slump flow could reach 610–710 mm. More important, its compressive strength could reach 8848 MPa. These results will significantly alter traditional construction methods that use heavy concrete and enhance innovative ideas for structural design.     

The effect of iodoacetate on the developing chick metanephros

Résumé L'iodoacétate retarde histologiquement et histo-chimiquement le développement du métanéphros de l'embryon de poule.