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Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a novel cancer treatment based on the tumor-specific accumulation of a photosensitizer followed by irradiation with visible light, which induces selective tumor cell death via production of reactive oxygen species. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, microarray analysis was used to analyze the changes in gene expression patterns during PDT induced by various photosensitizers. Cancer cells were subjected to four different photosensitizer-mediated PDT and the resulting gene expression profiles were compared. We identified many differentially expressed genes reported previously as well as new genes for which the functionfunctions in PDT are still unclear. Our current results not only advance the general understanding of PDT but also suggest that distinct molecular mechanisms are involved in different photosensitizer-mediated PDT. Elucidating the signaling mechanisms in PDT will provide information to modulate the antitumor effectiveness of PDT using various photosensitizers.

In this study, we demonstrated that the choice of precursor has a strong effect on the reduction of nitrate (NO3−) using zero-valent copper (Cu0) synthesized by sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Different precursors: CuSO4, CuO, Cu2O, Cu powder, and Cu mesh were used to reduce NO3− at 677 mg-N/L under the reducing conditions of NaBH4. Compared with the prehydrolyzed samples, those prepared without prehydrolysis exhibited lower reduction rates, longer times and higher concentrations of nitrite (NO2−) intermediate. It was found that one-time addition of NaBH4 resulted in higher reduction rate and less NO2− intermediate than two-step addition. Results showed that Cu0 from CuSO4 possessed the smallest particle size (890.9 nm), highest surface area (26.0 m2/g), and highest reaction rate (0.166 min−1). Values of pseudo-first-order constant (kobs) were in the order: CuSO4 > CuO > Cu2O > Cu powder >Cu mesh. However, values of surface area-normalized reaction rate (kSA) were approximately equal. It was proposed that NO3− was reduced to NO2− on Cu0, and then converted to NH4+ and N2, respectively; H2 generated from both NaBH4 hydration and Cu (II) reduction contributed to NO3− reduction as well.

To evaluate the association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)–DRB1 alleles with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) in the Taiwanese population, and to investigate the possible association of HLA-DRB1 alleles with disease severity in LN. HLA-DRB1 alleles were studied in 105 SLE patients (82 patients with LN, 23 patients without LN) and 855 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction and sequence-based typing assays. The frequency of the HLA class II alleles DRB1*0301 (Odds ratio [OR] = 2.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.31–3.10, Pc = 0.02) and DRB1*1501 (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.36–3.13, Pc = 0.01) were both increased in SLE patients, compared to healthy controls. The frequency of DRB1*1202 was significantly lower in LN patients than in SLE patients without nephritis (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.09–0.57, Pc = 0.01). No specific allele was significantly associated with an increased or decreased risk for severity of LN in this sample. In Taiwanese people, the DRB1*0301 and DRB1*1501 alleles are significant risk factors for SLE, while the DRB1*1202 allele is protective for LN.

Although zero-valent iron represents a promising approach for reduction of nitrate (NO3−) in water, its application in concentrated nitrate is limited by surface passivation. In this study, an alternative approach using in situ synthesized zero-valent copper (Cu0) produced by borohydride (NaBH4) was investigated. Complete reduction was observed within 55 min by reacting 677 mg-N/L of NO3− with CuO (0.312 g/L) and NaBH4 (4.16 g/L) at 60 °C. The pseudo-first-order rate constant was 0.059 min−1, and it increased threefold when the CuO dose was increased to 1.24 g/L. Increasing the NaBH4 dose produced less nitrite (NO2−) throughout the experiments, indicating that it is the primary agent for reducing NO2−. The initial pH exerted a significant effect on the reaction rate, and NO3− was rapidly reduced when the initial pH was less than 4. Based on the research findings, possible reaction pathways for NO3− reduction by Cu0 are proposed in this work.

Hepatitis δ virus (HDV) contains a singlestranded circular RNA genome of 1.7 kilobases. In this report we demonstrate that subfragments of HDV RNA can undergo autocatalytic cleavage. This cleavage requires at least 500 μ M of Mg2+ or Ca2+, is not affected by varying the pH from 5.0 to 9.1, and occurs with RNA fragments as small as 133 nucleotides. The larger RNA fragments containing additional HDV sequences have a lower efficiency of cleavage. Deletion analysis at both ends of RNA subfragments suggested that the catalytic ability of HDV RNA resides in a stretch of no more than 117 nucleotides around the cleavage site. The cleavage occurs at the phosphodiester bond between nucleotides 688 and 689 on the HDV genomic map, generating a 5′ fragment with a terminal uridyl 2′,3′-cyclic monophosphate residue and a 3′ fragment with a guanosyl residue with a 5′-hydroxyl group. The smallest autocleaving RNA does not contain the ``hammerhead'' sequence required for the autocleavage of other known self-cleaving RNA. The cleavage of HDV RNA occurs at a much faster rate, even at a very low Mg2+ concentration, than that of other ``ribozymes.'' Thus, HDV RNA represents a distinct class of ribozyme.

This 60GHz voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) uses an on-chip resonator with embedded artificial dielectric in place of the LC tank. The advantages are reduced metal/strate losses and higher resonator Q with 4.7 times reduction in length and 79% reduction in area. Occupying an active area of 0.015mm2, this 90nm CMOS VCO consumes only 1.9mW. It shows very low phase noise of -107dBc/Hz at 1MHz frequency offset and an unprecedented F.O.M. of -200dBc/Hz, which outperforms III-V HBT and SiGe BiCMOS technologies.

High quality factor ( > 3000) transformer-type spiral inductors are realised in a 0.18 mu m complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor with active magnetic energy feedback from the secondary coil to the primary coil. This approach is robust and compatible with the main-stream integrated circuit technologies and has potential to achieve high-Q reactance with low power, low noise and high linearity. The fabricated inductors exhibit Q [similar to] 3000 between 1.5 to 2.1 GHz.

ObjectiveTo investigate whether the administration of antibiotics affect faecal excretion time in paediatric salmonellosis with different severity.MethodsChildren with nontyphoid salmonellosis admitted to Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan who consented to receive consecutive stool cultures every 4–7 days till two consecutive negative results between 2005 and 2013 were enrolled. Faecal excretion time was defined as the timeframe of the first positive stool culture and the first of two consecutive negative results. The Severity Score was used to stratify the patients as the severe, moderate and mild group according to their fever days before admission, band cells in peripheral blood and C-reactive protein. Patients were classified into no antibiotics (mild disease without antibiotic), concordant (severe patients receiving antibiotics active in vitro) and inappropriate therapy group (mild patients receiving antibiotics or severe patients receiving antibiotics resistant in vitro).Results53 patients were enrolled. Compared with no antibiotic group (n = 28), the concordant group (n = 11) had comparable faecal excretion time (12.36 vs 9.79 days), fever days after admission and hospital stay (2.45 vs 2.25; 6.45 vs 6.39 days). The inappropriate group (n = 14) had significantly longer faecal excretion time (24.50 vs 9.79 days), hospital stay (8.50 vs 6.39 days) and higher platelet count (333.43 vs 269.82 × 1,000/mm3) than no antibiotics group. With further multiple regression analysis, only inappropriate antibiotic use affected significantly (p = 0.008) on faecal excretion time.ConclusionsAntibiotics used in severe children with salmonellosis didn’t prolong faecal excretion time, but inadequate use of antibiotics prolonged faecal excretion time in Salmonellosis.

An RF-interconnect transceiver based on the RF-modulation and capacitive coupling for a high speed digital interface is presented. The prototype transceiver is implemented in 0.18 mu m CMOS technology. It demonstrates a maximum data rate of 1.1 Gbit/s with a 10 GHz RF-modulation. This RF-interconnect is believed to be instrumental for high-speed link applications in multi-memory and microprocessor interfaces.