Functional Characterization of PhapLEAFY, a FLORICAULA/LEAFY Ortholog in Phalaenopsis aphrodite.

The plant-specific transcription factor LEAFY (LFY) is considered to be a master regulator of flower development in the model plant, Arabidopsis. This protein plays a dual role in plant growth, integrating signals from the floral inductive pathways and acting as a floral meristem identity gene by activating genes for floral organ development. Although LFY occupies an important position in flower development, the functional divergence of LFY homologs has been demonstrated in several plants including monocots and gymnosperms.

Total synthesis of cordatanine, structural reassignment of drymaritin, and anti-inflammatory activity of synthetic precursors.

In this study, cordatanine, with a canthin-6-one skeleton, was totally synthesized in four steps via a Pictet-Spengler reaction using tryptamine and methyl glyoxylate with a total yield of 8%. The NMR spectra of synthesized cordatanine compared well with those of drymaritin isolated by Hsieh et al., confirming the need to revise the original structural assignment.

Preparation and Tribological Study of Biodegradable Lubrication Films on Si Substrate.

A novel method for preparing eco-biodegradable lubricant based on hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) via hydration process is demonstrated. The smooth and homogeneous HPMC coating has a uniform thickness (~35 μm). It has been demonstrated that the preparation parameters play a critical role in controlling the lubricating behavior of the coating; in addition, excess HPMC and water concentration suppress the tribology properties.

Arecoline inhibits intermediate-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels in human glioblastoma cell lines.

Arecoline (ARE) is an alkaloid-type natural product from areca nut. This compound has numerous pharmacological and toxicological effects. Whether this agent interacts with ion channels to perturb functional activity of cells remains unknown.

Choice of generic versus brand-name antidepressants in a regulated prescription drug market: evidence from Taiwan.

Background: A health care system in which there is no separation between prescription and dispensation, combined with a regulated prescription drug market, leads to various generic substitution mechanisms for antidepressants.

Aims Of The Study: We investigated the determinants of generic versus brand-name antidepressant choices in a regulated prescription market where physicians both prescribe and dispense drugs.

Methods: Using data from a sample of one million individuals selected randomly from the registry of National Health Insurance beneficiaries in 2010, and all claims for these one million enrollees between January 1997 and December 2011, we employed logistic regression to examine the choice of generic versus brand-name antidepressants in the Taiwanese prescription drug market.

Augmented reality-based self-facial modeling to promote the emotional expression and social skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by a reduced ability to understand the emotions of other people; this ability involves recognizing facial expressions. This study assessed the possibility of enabling three adolescents with ASD to become aware of facial expressions observed in situations in a school setting simulated using augmented reality (AR) technology. The AR system provided three-dimensional (3-D) animations of six basic facial expressions overlaid on participant faces to facilitate practicing emotional judgments and social skills.

Effects of ibandronate sodium, a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, on intermediate-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels in osteoclast precursor cells (RAW 264.7).

Ibanonate sodium (Iban), a nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, is recognized to reduce skeletal complications through an inhibition of osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. However, how this drug interacts with ion channels in osteoclasts and creates anti-osteoclastic activity remains largely unclear. In this study, we investigated the possible effects of Iban and other related compounds on ionic currents in the osteoclast precursor RAW 264.

Genomic profiling of rice roots with short- and long-term chromium stress.

Cr(VI) is the most toxic valency form of Cr, but its toxicity targets and the cellular systems contributing to acquisition of tolerance remain to be resolved at the molecular level in plants. We used microarray assay to analyze the transcriptomic profiles of rice roots in response to Cr(VI) stress. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the 2,688 Cr-responsive genes were involved in binding activity, metabolic process, biological regulation, cellular process and catalytic activity.

Optimizing biodiesel production in marine Chlamydomonas sp. JSC4 through metabolic profiling and an innovative salinity-gradient strategy.

Background: Biodiesel production from marine microalgae has received much attention as microalgae can be cultivated on non-arable land without the use of potable water, and with the additional benefits of mitigating CO2 emissions and yielding biomass. However, there is still a lack of effective operational strategies to promote lipid accumulation in marine microalgae, which are suitable for making biodiesel since they are mainly composed of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Moreover, the regulatory mechanisms involved in lipid biosynthesis in microalgae under environmental stress are not well understood.

Glycogen production for biofuels by the euryhaline cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 from an oceanic environment.

Background: Oxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria and microalgae have attracted attention as an alternative carbon source for the next generation of biofuels. Glycogen abundantly accumulated in cyanobacteria is a promising feedstock which can be converted to ethanol through saccharification and fermentation processes. In addition, the utilization of marine cyanobacteria as a glycogen producer can eliminate the need for a freshwater supply.

Exploring factors influencing residents' health outcomes in long-term care facilities: 1-year follow-up using latent growth curve model.

Purpose: This study explored the residents' health outcomes of long-term care (LTC) facilities and examined the risk factors in individual and institutional levels during 1 year of admission.

Methods: The study included four stages of interviews with residents in 31 nursing homes and 64 residential care homes. Three hundred and twenty-five residents at baseline were interviewed, and 206 completed the interviews at follow-up.

Pathways involved in vanadate-induced root hair formation in Arabidopsis.

Root hair formation is controlled by environmental signals. We found significantly increased Arabidopsis root hair density and length in response to low-dose vanadate (V). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was induced with V treatment.

Polydimethyl siloxane wet etching for three dimensional fabrication of microneedle array and high-aspect-ratio micropillars.

Among various transdermal drug delivery (TDD) approaches, utilizing the microneedles (MNs) not only can penetrate the skin but also deliver the drug with reduced tissue damage, reduced pain, and no bleeding. However, the MNs with larger height are required to overcome the skin barrier for effective TDD. Unlike 2D patterning, etching polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) micropillars for fabrication of 3D microstructures is presented.

Nitrogen-incorporated ultrananocrystalline diamond and multi-layer-graphene-like hybrid carbon films.

Nitrogen-incorporated ultrananocrystalline diamond (N-UNCD) and multi-layer-graphene-like hybrid carbon films have been synthesized by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) on oxidized silicon which is pre-seeded with diamond nanoparticles. MPECVD of N-UNCD on nanodiamond seeds produces a base layer, from which carbon structures nucleate and grow perpendicularly to form standing carbon platelets. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman scattering measurements reveal that these carbon platelets are comprised of ultrananocrystalline diamond embedded in multilayer-graphene-like carbon structures.

The F-actin and adherence-dependent mechanical differentiation of normal epithelial cells after TGF-β1-induced EMT (tEMT) using a microplate measurement system.

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to involve several physiological and pathological phenomena. In this study, we utilized a microplate measurement system (MMS) approach based on the deflection of a flexible micro-cantilever to measure cell stiffness (in Pa) and adhesion force (in nN) of a single cell during EMT with nN resolution. Our results demonstrated that after transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) induced EMT (tEMT), NMuMG cells became stiffer due to thicker and more abundant F-actin and displayed stronger vinculin accumulation after long-term cell-substrate adhesion.

Application of genetic algorithm to hexagon-based motion estimation.

With the improvement of science and technology, the development of the network, and the exploitation of the HDTV, the demands of audio and video become more and more important. Depending on the video coding technology would be the solution for achieving these requirements. Motion estimation, which removes the redundancy in video frames, plays an important role in the video coding.

Incidence and risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw among the Taiwan osteoporosis population.

Unlabelled: Evidence of the incidence and risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in Asian osteoporosis populations receiving different osteoporosis medications is lacking. We found that there is no excess incidence of or risk for ONJ in osteoporosis patients >50 years old using alendronate as compared with patients using raloxifene or calcitonin under real-world conditions in Taiwan.

Introduction: To provide information on ONJ in Asian populations, this study compares the incidence and risk of ONJ between patients receiving alendronate and those receiving non-bisphosphonate osteoporosis medications in Taiwan.

Electrokinetic trapping and surface enhanced Raman scattering detection of biomolecules using optofluidic device integrated with a microneedles array.

In this study, microneedles which possess sharp tips were utilized to trap and detect the biomolecules. Owing to the large curvature, the tips of the microneedles created a substantially high gradient of electric field under the non-uniform electric field which served as not only the trapping sites but also the substrate for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Separation of polystyrene microparticles with different sizes and two kinds of biomolecules (Staphylococcus aureus (S.

Black silicon SERS substrate: effect of surface morphology on SERS detection and application of single algal cell analysis.

In this study, we have investigated the effect of the surface morphology of the black silicon substrate on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and explored its application of single algal cell detection. By adjusting the O2 and SF6 flow rates in the cryogenic plasma etching process, different surface morphologies of the black silicon substrate was produced without performing the lithographic process. It was found the Raman signals were better enhanced as the tip density of the black silicon substrate increased.

Chromium stress response effect on signal transduction and expression of signaling genes in rice.

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a non-essential metal for normal plants and is toxic to plants at high concentrations. However, signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms of its action on cell function and gene expression remain elusive. In this study, we found that Cr(VI) induced endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and Ca(2+) accumulation and activated NADPH oxidase and calcium-dependent protein kinase.

Ionospheric anomalies related to the (M = 7.3), August 27, 2012, Puerto earthquake, (M = 6.8), August 30, 2012 Jan Mayen Island earthquake, and (M = 7.6), August 31, 2012, Philippines earthquake: two-dimensional principal component analysis.

Two-dimensional principal component analysis (2DPCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) are used to examine the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) data during the time period from 00:00 on August 21 to 12: 45 on August 31 (UT), which are 10 days before the M = 7.6 Philippines earthquake at 12:47:34 on August 31, 2012 (UT) with the depth at 34.9 km.

Fabrication of long poly(dimethyl siloxane) nanochannels by replicating protein deposit from confined solution evaporation.

A relatively simple, inexpensive and reliable technique was developed to fabricate an array of nanochannels. Moreover, the nanochannels are directly integrated to microchannels as a whole, which facilitates solution loading from the millimeter-scaled loading reservoirs into the nanochannels. It is found that continuous bovine serum albumin (BSA) line structures with triangle-like cross section at nanoscale can be obtained by evaporation of BSA solution with concentration between 0.

Twisting-based spectroscopic measure of solvent polarity: the P(T) scale.

The P(T) scale, which is correlated well with the E(T)(30), Y, and Z scales, is the first twisting-based spectroscopic measure of solvent polarity. It is based on two combined mechanisms: (1) the solvent-dependent intramolecular charge-transfer absorption that displays a regular hypsochromic band shift in polar solvents and (2) overcoming the intramolecular hydrogen-bond of o-1 by its differentiated solvation in polar solvents, causing a C-C bond to twist that leads to a regular hypsochromic shift of its lowest energy electronic absorption band.