An arsenic-contaminated field trial to assess the uptake and translocation of arsenic by genotypes of rice

Compared to other cereals, rice has particular strong As accumulation. Therefore, it is very important to understand As uptake and translocation among different genotypes. A field study in Chenzhou city, Hunan province of China, was employed to evaluate the effect of arsenic-contaminated soil on uptake and distribution in 34 genotypes of rice (including unpolished rice, husk, shoot, and root). The soil As concentrations ranged from 52.49 to 83.86 mg kg-1, with mean As concentration 64.44 mg kg-1. The mean As concentrations in rice plant tissues were different among the 34 rice genotypes. The highest As concentrations were accumulated in rice root (196.27-385.98 mg kg-1 dry weight), while the lowest was in unpolished rice (0.31-0.52 mg kg-1 dry weight). The distribution of As in rice tissue and paddy soil are as follows root » soil > shoot > husk > unpolished rice. The ranges of concentrations of inorganic As in all of unpolished rice were from 0.26 to 0.52 mg kg-1 dry weight. In particular, the percentage of inorganic As in the total As was more than 67 %, indicating that the inorganic As was the predominant species in unpolished rice. The daily dietary intakes of inorganic As in unpolished rice ranged from 0.10 to 0.21 mg for an adult, and from 0.075 to 0.15 mg for a child. Comparison with tolerable daily intakes established by FAO/WHO, inorganic As in most of unpolished rice samples exceeded the recommended intake values. The 34 genotypes of rice were classified into four clusters using a criteria value of rescaled distance between 5 and 10. Among the 34 genotypes, the genotypes II you 416 (II416) with the lowest enrichment of As and the lowest daily dietary intakes of inorganic As could be selected as the main cultivar in As-contaminated field.

Dual-colour HER2/chromosome 17 chromogenic in situ hybridisation enables accurate assessment of HER2 genomic status in ovarian tumours

Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of gynaecological cancer-related morbidity and mortality. There has been increasing interest in the potential utility of anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (anti-HER2) agents in the treatment of this disease, with the attendant need to identify suitable predictive biomarkers of response to treatment.

Dual-colour HER2/chromosome 17 chromogenic in situ hybridisation assay enables accurate assessment of HER2 genomic status in gastric cancer and has potential utility in HER2 testing of biopsy samples

Determination of HER2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and genomic status by fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) are important in identifying a subset of high HER2-expressing gastric cancers that might respond to trastuzumab. Although FISH is considered the standard for determination of HER2 genomic status, brightfield ISH is being increasingly recognised as a viable alternative. Also, the impact of HER2 protein expression/genomic heterogeneity on the accuracy of HER2 testing has not been well studied in the context of gastric biopsy samples.

A Probe-Goal Approach to Agreement and Incorporation Restrictions in Southern Tiwa

Southern Tiwa (Tanoan) exhibits agreement with up to three arguments (ergative, absolutive, dative). This agreement is subject to certain restrictions resembling the Person-Case Constraint paradigm (Bonet 1991). Moreover, there is a correlation between agreement restrictions and conditions on (the obviation of) noun-incorporation in Southern Tiwa, as explicitly and elegantly captured by Rosen (1990) in terms of a heterogeneous feature hierarchy and rules of association. We attempt to recast Rosen’s central insights in terms of Anagnostopoulou’s probe-sharing model of Person-Case Constraint effects (Anagnostopoulou 2003, 2006), to show that the full range of Southern Tiwa agreement and (non-)incorporation restrictions can be given a single, unified analysis within the probe-goal-Agree framework of Chomsky (2001). In particular, we argue that Southern Tiwa’s triple-agreement system is characterized by (a) an independent class probe located on the heads T and v, and (b) a rule that allows this class probe to be deleted in the context of local-person T-agreement. The various restrictions on agreement and non-incorporation then reduce to a single source: failure of class-valuation with DP (as opposed to NP) arguments.

Toward Quantitative Electrochemical Measurements on the Nanoscale by Scanning Probe Microscopy: Environmental and Current Spreading Effects

The application of electric bias across tip–surface junctions in scanning probe microscopy can readily induce surface and bulk electrochemical processes that can be further detected though changes in surface topography, Faradaic or conductive currents, or electromechanical strain responses. However, the basic factors controlling tip-induced electrochemical processes, including the relationship between applied tip bias and the thermodynamics of local processes, remains largely unexplored. Using the model Li-ion reduction reaction on the surface in Li-ion conducting glass ceramic, we explore the factors controlling Li-metal formation and find surprisingly strong effects of atmosphere and back electrode composition on the process. We find that reaction processes are highly dependent on the nature of the counter electrode and environmental conditions. Using a nondepleting Li counter electrode, Li particles could grow significantly larger and faster than a depleting counter electrode. Significant Li ion depletion leads to the inability for further Li reduction. Time studies suggest that Li diffusion replenishes the vacant sites after 12 h. These studies suggest the feasibility of SPM-based quantitative electrochemical studies under proper environmental controls, extending the concepts of ultramicroelectrodes to the single-digit nanometer scale.

Exclusion of linkage between schizophrenia and the D2 dopamine receptor gene region of chromosome 11q in 112 Irish multiplex families

A leading theory hypothesizes that schizophrenia arises from dysregulation of the dopamine system in certain brain regions. As this dysregulation could arise from abnormal expression of D2 dopamine receptors, the D2 receptor gene (DRD2) on chromosome 11q is a candidate locus for schizophrenia. We tested whether allelic variation at DRD2 and five surrounding loci cosegregated with schizophrenia in 112 small- to moderate-size Irish families containing two or more members affected with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, defined by DSM-III-R. Evidence of linkage was assessed using varying definitions of illness and modes of transmission. Assuming genetic homogeneity, linkage between schizophrenia and large regions of 11q around DRD2 could be strongly excluded. Assuming genetic heterogeneity, variation at the DRD2 locus could be rejected as a major risk factor for schizophrenia in more than 50% of these families for all models tested and in as few as 25% of the families for certain models. The DRD2 linkage in fewer than 25% of these families could not be excluded under any of the models tested. Our results suggest that the major component of genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia is not due to allelic variation at the DRD2 locus or other genes in the surrounding chromosomal region.

A potential vulnerability locus for schizophrenia on chromosome 6p24-22:evidence for genetic heterogeneity

In 265 Irish pedigrees, with linkage analysis we find evidence for a vulnerability locus for schizophrenia in region 6p24-22. The greatest lod score, assuming locus heterogeneity, is 3.51 (P = 0.0002) with D6S296. Another test, the C test, also supported linkage, the strongest results being obtained with D6S296 (P = 0.00001), D6S274 (P = 0.004) and D6S285 (P = 0.006). Non-parametric analysis yielded suggestive, but substantially weaker, findings. This locus appears to influence the vulnerability to schizophrenia in roughly 15 to 30% of our pedigrees. Evidence for linkage was maximal using an intermediate phenotypic definition and declined when this definition was narrowed or was broadened to include other psychiatric disorders.

Evidence for a schizophrenia vulnerability locus on chromosome 8p in the Irish Study of High-Density Schizophrenia Families

This study was an attempt to replicate evidence for a vulnerability locus for schizophrenia and associated disorders in the 8p22-21 region reported by Pulver and colleagues.

No major schizophrenia locus detected on chromosome 1q in a large multicenter sample

Reports of substantial evidence for genetic linkage of schizophrenia to chromosome 1q were evaluated by genotyping 16 DNA markers across 107 centimorgans of this chromosome in a multicenter sample of 779 informative schizophrenia pedigrees. No significant evidence was observed for such linkage, nor for heterogeneity in allele sharing among the eight individual samples. Separate analyses of European-origin families, recessive models of inheritance, and families with larger numbers of affected cases also failed to produce significant evidence for linkage. If schizophrenia susceptibility genes are present on chromosome 1q, their population-wide genetic effects are likely to be small.

Novel hydrolysis-probe based qPCR assay to detect saxitoxin transcripts of dinoflagellates in environmental samples

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) is a serious human illness caused by ingestion of seafood enriched with paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). PSTs are neurotoxic compounds produced by marine dinoflagellates, specifically by Alexandrium spp., Gymnodinium catenatum and Pyrodinium bahamense. Every year, massive monitoring of PSTs and their producers is undertaken worldwide to avoid PSP incidences. Here we developed a sensitive, hydrolysis probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay to detect a gene essential for PST synthesis across different dinoflagellate species and genera and tested it on cDNA generated from environmental samples spiked with Alexandrium minutum or Alexandrium fundyense cells. The assay was then applied to two environmental sample series from Norway and Spain and the results were complemented with cell counts, LSU-based microarray data and toxin measurements (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor method). The overall agreement between the results of the qPCR assay and the complementary data was good. The assay reliably detected sxtA transcripts from Alexandrium spp. and G. catenatum, even though Alexandrium spp. cell concentrations were mostly so low that they could not be quantified microscopically. Agreement between the novel assay and toxin measurements or cell counts was generally good; the few inconsistencies observed were most likely due to disparate residence times of sxtA transcripts and PSTs in seawater, or, in the case of cell counts, to dissimilar sxtA4 transcript numbers per cell in different dinoflagellate strains or species. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Chromosome 2q31. 1 associates with ESRD in women with type 1 diabetes

Sex and genetic variation influence the risk of developing diabetic nephropathy and ESRD in patients with type 1 diabetes. We performed a genome-wide association study in a cohort of 3652 patients from the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study with type 1 diabetes to determine whether sex-specific genetic risk factors for ESRD exist. A common variant, rs4972593 on chromosome 2q31. 1, was associated with ESRD in women (P

Intermittency, quasiperiodicity and chaos in probe-induced ferroelectric domain switching

Memristive materials and devices, which enable information storage and processing on one and the same physical platform, offer an alternative to conventional von Neumann computation architectures. Their continuous spectra of states with intricate field-history dependence give rise to complex dynamics, the spatial aspect of which has not been studied in detail yet. Here, we demonstrate that ferroelectric domain switching induced by a scanning probe microscopy tip exhibits rich pattern dynamics, including intermittency, quasiperiodicity and chaos. These effects are due to the interplay between tip-induced polarization switching and screening charge dynamics, and can be mapped onto the logistic map. Our findings may have implications for ferroelectric storage, nanostructure fabrication and transistor-less logic.

Influence of test methodology and probe geometry on nanoscale fatigue mechanisms of diamond-like carbon thin film

The aim of this paper is to investigate the mechanism of nanoscale fatigue using nano-impact and multiple-loading cycle nanoindentation tests, and compare it to previously reported findings of nanoscale fatigue using integrated stiffness and depth sensing approach. Two different film loading mechanism, loading history and indenter shapes are compared to comprehend the influence of test methodology on the nanoscale fatigue failure mechanisms of DLC film. An amorphous 100 nm thick DLC film was deposited on a 500 μm silicon substrate using sputtering of graphite target in pure argon atmosphere. Nano-impact and multiple-load cycle indentations were performed in the load range of 100 μN to 1000 μN and 0.1 mN to 100 mN, respectively. Both test types were conducted using conical and Berkovich indenters. Results indicate that for the case of conical indenter, the combination of nano-impact and multiple-loading cycle nanoindentation tests provide information on the life and failure mechanism of DLC film, which is comparable to the previously reported findings using the integrated stiffness and depth sensing approach. However, the comparison of results is sensitive to the applied load, loading mechanism, test-type and probe geometry. The loading mechanism and load history is therefore critical which also leads to two different definitions of film failure. The choice of exact test methodology, load and probe geometry should therefore be dictated by the in-service tribological conditions, and where necessary both test methodologies can be used to provide better insights of failure mechanism. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the elastic response of nanoindentation is reported, which indicates that the elastic modulus of the film measured using MD simulation was higher than that experimentally measured. This difference is attributed to the factors related to the presence of material defects, crystal structure, residual stress, indenter geometry and loading/unloading rate differences between the MD and experimental results.

Task-switching deficits and repetitive behaviour in genetic neurodevelopmental disorders: Data from children with Prader-Willi syndrome chromosome 15 q11-q13 deletion and boys with Fragile X syndrome

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Fragile X syndrome (FraX) are associated with distinctive cognitive and behavioural profiles. We examined whether repetitive behaviours in the two syndromes were associated with deficits in specific executive functions. PWS, FraX, and typically developing (TD) children were assessed for executive functioning using the Test of Everyday Attention for Children and an adapted Simon spatial interference task. Relative to the TD children, children with PWS and FraX showed greater costs of attention switching on the Simon task, but after controlling for intellectual ability, these switching deficits were only significant in the PWS group. Children with PWS and FraX also showed significantly increased preference for routine and differing profiles of other specific types of repetitive behaviours. A measure of switch cost from the Simon task was positively correlated to scores on preference for routine questionnaire items and was strongly associated with scores on other items relating to a preference for predictability. It is proposed that a deficit in attention switching is a component of the endophenotypes of both PWS and FraX and is associated with specific behaviours. This proposal is discussed in the context of neurocognitive pathways between genes and behaviour.

Scanning Probe Microscopy for Energy Research : Materials, Devices, and Applications:Scanning Probe Microscopy for Energy Research : Materials, Devices, and Applications

Scanning Probes for Fuel Cells and Local Electrochemistry