Heat shock protein 40 of Streptococcus pneumoniae induces immune response of human dendritic cells via TLR4-dependent p38 MAPK and JNK signaling pathways.

Introduction: Heat shock protein 40 (HSP40) is a vaccine adjuvant candidate for Streptococcus pneumoniae. The mechanism by which HSP40 activates the human dendritic cells (DCs) is unclear.

Methods: DCs were isolated from human peripheral blood and their markers (HLA-DR, CD86, CD83, and CD80) were detected by flow cytometry.

Impact of LncRNA GAS5 Genetic Variants and the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Phenotypes on the Clinicopathological Characteristics of Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the combined effect of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in long non-coding RNA growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5) and the phenotypes of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on the clinicopathological characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma. The present study examined the relationship between the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs145204276 Ins/Del, rs55829688 T/C) and the clinicopathological factors in 539 lung adenocarcinoma patients with or without EGFR mutations. We found that the genotype distributions of the two SNPs between different EGFR genotypes were similar after adjusting for age, gender and smoking history.

Impact of carbonic anhydrase 9 gene polymorphism on the progression of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a commonly occurring tumor type worldwide, and its development is governed by a connection between genetic variations and acquired factors. Carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9) is a cell-surface pH modulator that has been demonstrated to contribute to key steps of cancer progression. Here, we attempted to interrogate the effect of gene polymorphisms on the development of CRC in 470 cases and 470 gender- and age-matched non-cancer controls.

Impact of Matrix Metalloproteinase-11 Gene Polymorphisms on Biochemical Recurrence and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Prostate Cancer.

Prostate cancer is among the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-11 is involved in extracellular matrix degradation and remodeling and plays an essential role in cancer development and metastasis. This study investigated the association of polymorphisms with the clinicopathological characteristics and biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Gender differences in femoral trochlea morphology.

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the morphology of the anterior femoral condyle using a quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction method. The morphological data were compared between genders.

Methods: Computed tomography scans of femurs were taken from 90 healthy subjects and then reconstructed in 3D modeling software.

Study of GaN-Based Thermal Decomposition in Hydrogen Atmospheres for Substrate-Reclamation Processing.

This study investigates the thermal decomposition behavior of GaN-based epilayers on patterned sapphire substrates (GaN-epi/PSSs) in a quartz furnace tube under a hydrogen atmosphere. The GaN-epi/PSS was decomposed under different hydrogen flow rates at 1200 °C, confirming that the hydrogen flow rate influences the decomposition reaction of the GaN-based epilayer. The GaN was completely removed and the thermal decomposition process yielded gallium oxyhydroxide (GaO₂H) nanostructures.

R3D-BLAST2: an improved search tool for similar RNA 3D substructures.

Background: RNA molecules have been known to play a variety of significant roles in cells. In principle, the functions of RNAs are largely determined by their three-dimensional (3D) structures. As more and more RNA 3D structures are available in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), a bioinformatics tool, which is able to rapidly and accurately search the PDB database for similar RNA 3D structures or substructures, is helpful to understand the structural and functional relationships of RNAs.

Optical and Electrical Performance of MOS-Structure Silicon Solar Cells with Antireflective Transparent ITO and Plasmonic Indium Nanoparticles under Applied Bias Voltage.

This paper reports impressive improvements in the optical and electrical performance of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS)-structure silicon solar cells through the incorporation of plasmonic indium nanoparticles (In-NPs) and an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode with periodic holes (perforations) under applied bias voltage. Samples were prepared using a plain ITO electrode or perforated ITO electrode with and without In-NPs. The samples were characterized according to optical reflectance, dark current voltage, induced capacitance voltage, external quantum efficiency, and photovoltaic current voltage.

Plasmonic Light Scattering in Textured Silicon Solar Cells with Indium Nanoparticles from Normal to Non-Normal Light Incidence.

In this study, we sought to improve the light trapping of textured silicon solar cells using the plasmonic light scattering of indium nanoparticles (In NPs) of various dimensions. The light trapping modes of textured-silicon surfaces with and without In NPs were investigated at an angle of incidence (AOI) ranging from 0° to 75°. The optical reflectance, external quantum efficiency (EQE), and photovoltaic performance were first characterized under an AOI of 0°.

Electrical and Optical Characterization of Sputtered Silicon Dioxide, Indium Tin Oxide, and Silicon Dioxide/Indium Tin Oxide Antireflection Coating on Single-Junction GaAs Solar Cells.

This study characterized the electrical and optical properties of single-junction GaAs solar cells coated with antireflective layers of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), indium tin oxide (ITO), and a hybrid layer of SiO₂/ITO applied using Radio frequency (RF) sputtering. The conductivity and transparency of the ITO film were characterized prior to application on GaAs cells. Reverse saturation-current and ideality factor were used to evaluate the passivation performance of the various coatings on GaAs solar cells.

Photovoltaic Performance Characterization of Textured Silicon Solar Cells Using Luminescent Down-Shifting Eu-Doped Phosphor Particles of Various Dimensions.

This paper reports on efforts to enhance the photovoltaic performance of textured silicon solar cells through the application of a layer of Eu-doped silicate phosphor with particles of various dimensions using the spin-on film technique. We examined the surface profile and dimensions of the Eu-doped phosphors in the silicate layer using optical microscopy with J-image software. Optical reflectance, photoluminescence, and external quantum efficiency were used to characterize the luminescent downshifting (LDS) and light scattering of the Eu-doped silicate phosphor layer.

iPARTS2: an improved tool for pairwise alignment of RNA tertiary structures, version 2.

Since its first release in 2010, iPARTS has become a valuable tool for globally or locally aligning two RNA 3D structures. It was implemented by a structural alphabet (SA)-based approach, which uses an SA of 23 letters to reduce RNA 3D structures into 1D sequences of SA letters and applies traditional sequence alignment to these SA-encoded sequences for determining their global or local similarity. In this version, we have re-implemented iPARTS into a new web server iPARTS2 by constructing a totally new SA, which consists of 92 elements with each carrying both information of base and backbone geometry for a representative nucleotide.

Inactivation kinetics of beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase from green crab (Scylla serrata) in dioxane solution.

Beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase, EC.3.2.

Rule extraction for glaucoma detection with summary data from StratusOCT.

Purpose: To extract and induce rules of association for differentiating between normal and glaucomatous eyes based on the quantitative assessment of summary data reports from the StratusOCT (optical coherence tomography; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) in a Taiwan Chinese population.

Methods: One randomly selected eye of each of the 64 patients with glaucoma and each of the 71 normal subjects was included in the study.

Effects of mercuric ion on the conformation and activity of Penaeus Vannamei beta-N-acetyl-d-glucosaminidase.

beta-N-acetyl-d-glucosaminidase (NAGase, EC.3.2.

The chemical modification of the essential groups of beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase from Turbo cornutus Solander.

The chemical modification of beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase (EC3.2.1.

Putative hAPN receptor binding sites in SARS_CoV spike protein.

Aim: To obtain the information of ligand-receptor binding between the S protein of SARS-CoV and CD13, identify the possible interacting domains or motifs related to binding sites, and provide clues for studying the functions of SARS proteins and designing anti-SARS drugs and vaccines.

Methods: On the basis of comparative genomics, the homology search, phylogenetic analyses, and multi-sequence alignment were used to predict CD13 related interacting domains and binding sites in the S protein of SARS-CoV. Molecular modeling and docking simulation methods were employed to address the interaction feature between CD13 and S protein of SARS-CoV in validating the bioinformatics predictions.

Prediction of prokaryotic promoters based on prediction of transcriptional units.

Identification of promoters is very important in understanding gene regulating relationships in an organism, and computational identification of promoters has been a long standing problem in computational biology. A new method was presented to predict promoter regions in prokaryotic organism. The method predicted transcription unit (TU) first and the TU was divided into singlet that contains only one single gene in a TU, and operon that contains more than one gene.