Growth, electronic structure and superconductivity of ultrathin epitaxial CoSifilms.

We report growth, electronic structure and superconductivity of ultrathin epitaxial CoSifilms on Si (111). At low coverages, preferred islands with 2, 5 and 6 monolayers height develop, which agrees well with the surface energy calculation. We observe clear quantum well states as a result of electronic confinement and their dispersion agrees well with density functional theory calculations, indicating weak correlation effect despite strong contributions from Co 3electrons.

Natural variation at qHd1 affects heading date acceleration at high temperatures with pleiotropism for yield traits in rice.

Background: Rice is highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Recently, the frequent occurrence of high temperature stress has heavily influenced rice production. Proper heading date in specific environmental conditions could ensure high grain yield.

Workable male sterility systems for hybrid rice: Genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and utilization.

The exploitation of male sterility systems has enabled the commercialization of heterosis in rice, with greatly increased yield and total production of this major staple food crop. Hybrid rice, which was adopted in the 1970s, now covers nearly 13.6 million hectares each year in China alone.

Competitive ability and fitness differences between two introduced populations of the invasive whitefly Bemisia tabaci Q in China.

Background: Our long-term field survey revealed that the Cardinium infection rate in Bemisia tabaci Q (also known as biotype Q) population was low in Shandong, China over the past few years. We hypothesize that (1) the Cardinium-infected (C+) B. tabaci Q population cannot efficiently compete with the Cardinium-uninfected (C-) B.

Recent advancements in optofluidics-based single-cell analysis: optical on-chip cellular manipulation, treatment, and property detection.

Cellular analysis plays important roles in various biological applications, such as cell biology, drug development, and disease diagnosis. Conventional cellular analysis usually measures the average response from a whole cell group. However, bulk measurements may cause misleading interpretations due to cell heterogeneity.

Identification and characterization of 43 novel polymorphic EST-SSR markers for arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica (Araceae).

Premise Of The Study: A new set of microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was developed for arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), which is one of the most iconic and widely recognized ornamental plants in the world. •

Methods And Results: Using 2175 unigenes derived from 4283 random ESTs in arum lily, 166 primer pairs were designed and tested for amplification in 24 accessions from Asia, Europe, and Africa. A total of 43 loci were polymorphic, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to 10.

[Optimum extraction technology of total triterpenoids from Hypodematium sinense].

Objective: To optimize the extraction technology of total triterpenoids from Hypodematium sinense.

Methods: With 5% vanillin-glacial acetic acid solution and 72% sulfuric acid as chromogenic agent and the content of total tripenoids as index,using single factor experiment and orthogonal test,the optimal extraction condition was determined.

Results: The optimal conditions were solid-liquid ratio 1:12, 60% ethanol concentration, and ultrasonic extraction time of 60 min at 60 degrees C.

Seasonal distribution of active systemic lupus erythematosus and its correlation with meteorological factors.

Objective: To explore the characteristics of seasonal distribution of active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the influences of meteorological factors including temperature and humidity on active systemic lupus erythematosus.

Methods: The characteristics of seasonal distribution of active SLE and its correlation with meteorological factors were retrospectively analyzed in 640 patients living in the city of Zhanjiang, China and had active SLE between January 1997 and December 2006.

Results: In winter, when there are weaker ultraviolet (UV) rays, the ratio of patients with active SLE to total inpatients was 3.

[Evaluation of the inhibitory effect of tripeptide tyroservatide on growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma using a hollow fiber assay].

Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of tyroservatide (YSV) on growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Methods: In vitro effects of YSV on five human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines were assayed by MTS. In vivo effects of YSV on 5 human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines were assayed by hollow fiber tumor model.

Reversal effect of tyroservatide (YSV) tripeptide on multi-drug resistance in resistant human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line BEL-7402/5-FU.

Tyroservatide (YSV) is an active, low-molecular-weight polypeptide that has been shown to have antitumor effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402 cells in vitro and in vivo. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) represents a major obstacle to the success of cancer chemotherapy. To enhance the chemosensitivity of tumor cells, attention has been focused on MDR modulators.

The decapeptide CMS001 enhances swimming endurance in mice.

Now peptides achieve distinct advantages over protein in biological application because of its quick and easy absorption, low power, and high activity. Some bioactive peptides had been developed to be used in the management of exercise-related disorders. In this study, we investigated whether the decapeptide CMS001 (Pro-Thr-Thr-Lys-Thr-Tyr-Phe-Pro-His-Phe) isolated from pig spleen had anti-fatigue effects.

Gene expression profile of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma associated with perineural invasion.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a common salivary gland malignancy characterized by slow but progressive clinical course, proclivity for hematogenous spread and perineural invasion (PNI) that exhibits inherent resistance to complete surgical resection, systemic chemotherapy and conventional radiotherapy. The molecular alterations that underlie its PNI are poorly characterized. We report the combined use of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and high-throughput cDNA microarray to monitor in vivo gene expression profile of salivary ACC and to correlate the profile with PNI.

Inhibition of five xenografted human cancers and two murine cancers by the tripeptide tyroservatide.

The tripeptide tyroservatide (tyrosyl-seryl-valine, pTyr-Ser-Val-NH2) has been shown to have antitumor effects on experimental hepatocarcinoma. This study aimed to observe the effects of tyroservatide on other five human carcinomas: A549 (nonsmall cell lung carcinoma), BGC-823 (gastric cancer), MCF-7 (breast cancer), K562 (leukemia), A375 (melanoma) and two murine cancers: Lewis lung cancer and B16 (melanoma) in vivo. In vivo nude mice bearing xenografts of five different human tumors or C57BL/6 mice bearing xenografts of two different murine tumors were given daily intraperitoneal injections of tyroservatide or saline as controls, after tumor implantation.

Identification and characterization of a novel gene, Mcpr1, and its possible function in the proliferation of embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells.

We cloned a novel mouse cDNA, Mcpr1 (mouse cleft palate-related gene 1), between retinoic acid (RA)-treated murine embryonic palatal and control shelves by improved subtractive hybridization. Its transcript was identified by Northern blotting. The open reading frame encodes 132 amino acids and shows almost no identity to other genetic products.

[CoCl2-induced chemotherapy resistance in SW480 cells and its mechanism].

Objective: To observe the proliferation of SW480 cells exposed to different concentrations of CoCl2, and to examine the expression of hypoxiainducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) during hypoxia to explore the chemotherapy resistance effect and role of HIF-1alpha and HO-1.

Methods: Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTF) method was used to detect the proliferation of SW480 cells in the presence of fluorouracil (FU). RT-PCR was applied to examine the expression of HIF-1alpha and HO-1 mRNA in hypoxia.

[Screen of inflammatory genes regulated by heat shock factor 1 and corroboration with SOCS3 gene].

Objective: To screen the inflammatory mediators genes regulated by HSF1, and explore the mechanism of downstream genes regulated by HSF1.

Methods: HSF-/- and HSF1+/+ mice were injected with 15 mg/kg LPS intraperitoneally (ip), respectively, and were treated as previous after HSR. The total RNA of lung tissues were extracted and filtrated by SuperArray gene Microarry.

Solubility of silybin in aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) solution.

Silybin is a main component in silymarin, which is an antihepatotoxic polyphenolic substance isolated from the milk thistle plant, Silybum marianum. A major problem in the development of an oral solid dosage form of this drug is the extremely poor aqueous solubility. In present work, the solubility of silybin in aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) 6,000 (PEG 6,000) solution at the temperature range from 293.

[Characteristics and expression of Mip5, a novel gene associated with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in rats].

Objective: To determine the characteristics of a novel gene Mip5 (GenBank accession number AY553870) and its expression under physiological and pathological conditions.

Methods: The characteristics of Mip5 were analyzed by bioinformatic programs including BLAST, spidey, psort, ClustalW and so on. RT-PCR was performed to detect Mip5 expression.

[Screen selection of target genes regulated by HSF1 in heat shock response from myocardium of gene knockout mice].

Objective: To screen select target genes regulated by heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1 ) in heat shock response from myocardium of HSF1 gene knockout mice using cDNA chip.

Methods: HSF1 knockout mice were subjected to heat shock treatment (42 degrees C for 15 minutes, and recovered for 3 hours), and cDNA chip containing 15 000 mouse cDNAs were employed to investigate the expression of genes regulated by HSF1 in the myocardium. Then 4 of the differentially expressed genes in the myocardium of HSF1 knockout mice were further confirmed by RT-PCR.

[In silicon cloning of the human TECTB gene].

The coding sequence of the mouse Tectb and chick Tectb gene were subjected to Blastn searching against the human dbEST and Htgs in NCBI. One BAC clone sequence(GenBank: AL157786) was obtained, which shows high homology to the two genes. We predicted the exons and introns in the homologous region of AL157786 using GENSCAN, MZEF and Blast 2 sequence program, and then assembled the predicted exons into the coding sequence of the human TECTB.

[Study of microsatellite polymorphisms between the Han nationality and French population by fluorescence-based genotype].

Objective: To facilitate the application of the large scale genome scan and individual identification by investigating the differences of microsatellite polymorphisms of the genethon human genetic linkage map between the Han nationality and French population.

Methods: Six to seventeen pairs of primers were added in one single tube with 5 microliters reaction volume and several microsatellite markers were amplified simultaneously. The products were electrophoresited on the 377XL DNA sequencer.

Cloning of Human Myelin Protein Zero-like Genes by Bioinformatics Strategy.

To clone novel myelin protein related genes, two human ESTs, which shared significant similarity with the human myelin protein zero gene, were found by the comparison of homologue between the cDNA coding region sequences of MPZ gene and the EST database of NCBI. An 801 bp EST contig was assembled, which was 100% identical with a 128 kb genomic sequence, mapped to 1q24. A 435 bp open reading frame (ORF) within the 801 bp contig was shown by computer analysis.