Optical tweezers are often applied to control the dynamics of objects by scanning light. However, there is a limitation that objects fail to track the scan when the drag exceeds the trapping force. ...In contrast, Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams can directly control the torque on objects and provide a typical model for nonequilibrium systems such as Brownian motion under external fields. Although stable "mid-water" trapping is essential for removing extrinsic hydrodynamic effects in such studies, three-dimensional trapping by LG beams has not yet been clearly established. Here we report the three-dimensional off-axis trapping of dielectric spheres using high-quality LG beams generated by a special holographic method. The trapping position was estimated as ~ half the wavelength behind the beam waist. These results establish the scientific groundwork of LG trapping and the technical basis of calibrating optical torque to provide powerful tools for studying energy-conversion mechanisms and the nonequilibrium nature of biological molecules under torque.
Background
To determine whether transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) improves early (30-day) and midterm (1-year) mortality compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), we ...performed an updated meta-analysis of all the currently available randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
Methods
To identify all RCTs providing both 30-day and 1‑year mortality after TAVI versus SAVR, PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched up to and including July 2019. A risk difference (RD) and its 95% confidence interval were generated using data of prespecified outcomes in both the TAVI and SAVR groups. Study-specific estimates were pooled using inverse variance-weighted averages of RDs in the random-effects model.
Results
We identified seven eligible high-quality RCTs including a total of 7631 as-treated patients. Pooled analyses demonstrated significantly lower 30-day (RD −0.60%;
p
= 0.046) and 1‑year all-cause mortality (RD −1.12%;
p
= 0.03) after TAVI than after SAVR. No funnel plot asymmetry was detected for 30-day and 1‑year mortality. Meta-regression analyses indicated that RDs of 30-day and 1‑year mortality between TAVI and SAVR were not modulated by mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons Predicted Risk of Mortality score. Bleeding complications at 30 days and 1 year and stage 2/3 acute kidney injury at 30 days were significantly less frequent after TAVI than after SAVR, whereas major vascular complications and new permanent pacemaker implantation at 30 days and 1 year were significantly more frequent after TAVI than after SAVR.
Conclusion
The best evidence from the present meta-analysis of all the currently available RCTs suggests that TAVI may reduce 30-day and 1‑year all-cause mortality compared with SAVR.
Tumor suppressors with extracellular function are likely to have advantages as targets for cancer therapy, but few are known. Here, we focused on angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4), which is a secreted ...glycoprotein involved in lipoprotein metabolism and angiogenesis, is methylation-silenced in human cancers, but has unclear roles in cancer development and progression. We found a deletion mutation in its coiled-coil domain at its N-terminal in human gastric cancers, in addition to hypermethylation of the ANGPTL4 promoter CpG islands. Forced expression of wild-type ANGPTL4, but not ANGPTL4 with the deletion, at physiological levels markedly suppressed in vivo tumorigenicity and tumor angiogenesis, indicating that the latter caused the former. Tumor-derived ANGPTL4 suppressed in vitro vascular tube formation and proliferation of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells, partly due to suppression of ERK signaling. These showed that ANGPTL4 is a genetically and epigenetically inactivated secreted tumor suppressor that inhibits tumor angiogenesis.
Geometric means Ando, T.; Li, Chi-Kwong; Mathias, Roy
Linear algebra and its applications,
07/2004, Letnik:
385
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We propose a definition for geometric mean of
k positive (semi) definite matrices. We show that our definition is the only one in the literature that has the properties that one would expect from a ...geometric mean, and that our geometric mean generalizes many inequalities satisfied by the geometric mean of two positive semidefinite matrices. We prove some new properties of the geometric mean of two matrices, and give some simple computational formulae related to them for 2
×
2 matrices.
Low-temperature germination is one of the major determinants for stable stand establishment in the direct seeding method in temperate regions, and at high altitudes of tropical regions. Quantitative ...trait loci (QTLs) controlling low-temperature germinability in rice were identified using 122 backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from a cross between temperate japonica varieties, Italica Livorno and Hayamasari. The germination rate at 15°C was measured to represent low-temperature germination and used for QTL analysis. The germination rate at 15°C for 7 days of Italica Livorno and Hayamasari was 98.7 and 26.8%, respectively, and that of BILs ranged from 0 to 83.3%. Using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, we constructed a linkage map which corresponded to about 90% of the rice genome. Three putative QTLs associated with low-temperature germination were detected. The most effective QTL, qLTG-3-1 on chromosome 3, accounted for 35.0% of the total phenotypic variation for low-temperature germinability. Two additional QTLs, qLTG-3-2 on chromosome 3 and qLTG-4 on chromosome 4, were detected and accounted for 17.4 and 5.5% of the total phenotypic variation, respectively. The Italica Livorno alleles in all detected QTLs increased the low-temperature germination rate.
Abstract During mid-Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, significant increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from the eruption of the large igneous provinces is hypothesized to have ...induced a humid climate and an elevation in nutrient runoff from continents to the oceans, resulting in oxygen depletion in the ocean. However, hitherto there is limited insight into the driving factors of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 from the Pacific and Asian continental margins, even though the former and the latter were the largest ocean and landmass at that time. Here, a multiproxy analysis for the Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 interval of the Yezo Group –deposited on northwestern Pacific along the active Asian continental margin– is interpretated to identify seven volcanic pulses, five of which may have elevated humidity, weathering intensity, and vegetational change in the eastern margin of Asia. Moreover, oxygen depletion occurred simultaneously in the northwest Pacific. Given that these environmental changes in the eastern margin of Asia were penecontemporaneous with the global carbon burial intervals during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, the elevated nutrient supply from the Asian continental margin to the Pacific Ocean may have, in part, contributed to the worldwide depletion of oxygen of the ocean during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2.
Key message
We fine-mapped a quantitative trait locus,
qLG
-
9
,
for seed longevity detected between Japonica-type and Indica-type cultivars.
qLG
-
9
was mapped in a 30-kb interval of the Nipponbare ...genome sequence.
A quantitative trait locus,
qLG
-
9
, for seed longevity in rice has previously been detected on chromosome 9 by using backcross inbred lines derived from a cross between Japonica-type (Nipponbare) and Indica-type (Kasalath) cultivars. In the present study, the chromosomal location of
qLG
-
9
was precisely determined by fine-scale mapping. Firstly, allelic difference in
qLG
-
9
was verified by QTL analysis of an F
2
population derived from a cross between Nipponbare and NKSL-1, in which a segment of Kasalath chromosome 9 was substituted in Nipponbare genetic background. Then, we selected F
2
plants in which recombination had occurred near
qLG
-
9
and performed F
3
progeny testing on these plants to determine the genotype classes of
qLG
-
9
. Eventually,
qLG
-
9
was mapped in a 30-kb interval (defined by two markers, CAPSb and CHPa12) of the Nipponbare genome sequence. This allowed us to nominate positional candidate genes of
qLG
-
9
. Additionally, we developed near-isogenic lines (NIL) for
qLG
-
9
by marker-assisted selection.
qLG
-
9
NIL showed significantly higher seed longevity than isogenic control of Nipponbare. These results will facilitate cloning of the gene(s) underlying
qLG
-
9
as well as marker-assisted transfer of desirable genes for seed longevity improvement in rice.
Tumor-suppressor genes on chromosome X can be inactivated by a single hit, any of the point mutations, chromosomal loss and aberrant DNA methylation. As aberrant DNA methylation can be induced ...frequently, we here aimed to identify a tumor-suppressor gene on chromosome X inactivated by promoter DNA methylation. Of 69 genes on chromosome X upregulated by treatment of a gastric cancer cell line with a DNA-demethylating agent, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, 11 genes had low or no expression in the cell line and abundant expression in normal gastric mucosae. Among them, FHL1 was frequently methylation-silenced in gastric and colon cancer cell lines, and methylated in primary gastric (21/80) and colon (5/50) cancers. Knockdown of the endogenous FHL1 in two cell lines by two kinds of shRNAs significantly increased cell growth in vitro and sizes of xenografts in nude mice. Expression of exogenous FHL1 in a non-expressing cell line significantly reduced its migration, invasion and growth. Notably, a somatic mutation (G642T; Lys214Asn) was identified in one of 144 colon cancer specimens, and the mutant FHL1 was shown to lack its inhibitory effects on migration, invasion and growth. FHL1 methylation was associated with Helicobacter pylori infection and accumulated in normal-appearing gastric mucosae of gastric cancer patients. These data showed that FHL1 is a methylation-silenced tumor-suppressor gene on chromosome X in gastrointestinal cancers, and that its silencing contributes to the formation of an epigenetic field for cancerization.
Testing models of macroevolution, and especially the sufficiency of microevolutionary processes, requires good collaboration between molecular biologists and paleontologists. We report such a test ...for events around the Late Cretaceous by describing the earliest penguin fossils, analyzing complete mitochondrial genomes from an albatross, a petrel, and a loon, and describe the gradual decline of pterosaurs at the same time modern birds radiate. The penguin fossils comprise four naturally associated skeletons from the New Zealand Waipara Greensand, a Paleocene (early Tertiary) formation just above a well-known Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary site. The fossils, in a new genus (Waimanu), provide a lower estimate of 61-62 Ma for the divergence between penguins and other birds and thus establish a reliable calibration point for avian evolution. Combining fossil calibration points, DNA sequences, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian analysis, the penguin calibrations imply a radiation of modern (crown group) birds in the Late Cretaceous. This includes a conservative estimate that modern sea and shorebird lineages diverged at least by the Late Cretaceous about 74 +/- 3 Ma (Campanian). It is clear that modern birds from at least the latest Cretaceous lived at the same time as archaic birds including Hesperornis, Ichthyornis, and the diverse Enantiornithiformes. Pterosaurs, which also coexisted with early crown birds, show notable changes through the Late Cretaceous. There was a decrease in taxonomic diversity, and small- to medium-sized species disappeared well before the end of the Cretaceous. A simple reading of the fossil record might suggest competitive interactions with birds, but much more needs to be understood about pterosaur life histories. Additional fossils and molecular data are still required to help understand the role of biotic interactions in the evolution of Late Cretaceous birds and thus to test that the mechanisms of microevolution are sufficient to explain macroevolution.
A 75-year-old Japanese man presented at our outpatient clinic with pain on the right side of his tongue. Comparison of histological and dermoscopic images showed that areas with hyperkeratosis were ...opaque white, areas above the papillary dermis were reddish, and that the lesion looked whiter on dermoscopy the longer the epithelial rete ridges were. A dermatocope shows structural information from the epidermis as well as the upper dermis, and could improve early diagnosis of oral mucosal squamous carcinoma in situ.
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