Proteomic analysis of sera of asymptomatic,early‐stage patients with Wilson's disease

Wilson's disease (WD) is characterized by excessive accumulation of intracellular copper in liver and extrahepatic tissues, leading to significant oxidative stress and tissue damage. To date, several diagnostic biomarkers for WD such as serum ceruloplasmin, serum or urine copper levels and copper content in liver have been identified. However, these biomarkers may not be convincing for the diagnosis in some WD patients. To identify additional novel diagnostic biomarkers, we compared the serum protein profiles of asymptomatic childhood WD patients (n=20), without neurologic manifestation or liver cirrhosis, with normal controls (n=13). Fourteen spots, five up‐regulated and nine down‐regulated (>2‐fold), were differentially expressed in WD patients in comparison to normal control on 2‐DE. Among them, three spots were down‐regulated in both male and female WD. MS/MS analysis revealed that the three spots were complement component C3, complement factor B and alpha‐2 macroglobulin. By comparative proteome analysis, complement component C3, complement factor B and alpha‐2 macroglobulin, which are related to oxidative stress and inflammation, turned out to be good candidates for novel diagnostic biomarkers for early stages of WD.     

Characterization of magnetic materials using a scanning microwave microprobe

We investigated the electromagnetic properties of metals of iron, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, gold, copper, silver, and permalloy thin films on SiO(2) substrates using a near-field microwave microprobe. The electromagnetic properties of metal sheets were estimated by measuring the microwave reflection coefficient S(11) and compared with the theoretical values. We observed the hysteresis behavior of permalloy thin films on SiO(2) substrates using a near-field scanning microwave microprobes (NSMM) system. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical model of transmission theory. In order to better characterize the electromagnetic properties of metals and magnetic metals instead of the usual method, we take advantage of the noncontact microprobing evaluation capabilities using a near-field microwave.     

Room-Temperature-Processable Highly Reliable Resistive Switching Memory with Reconfigurability for Neuromorphic Computing and Ultrasonic Tissue Classification

Reversible metal-filamentary mechanism has been widely investigated to design an analog resistive switching memory (RSM) for neuromorphic hardware-implementation. However, uncontrollable filament-formation, inducing its reliability issues, has been a fundamental challenge. Here, an analog RSM with 3D ion transport channels that can provide unprecedentedly high reliability and robustness is demonstrated. This architecture is realized by a laser-assisted photo-thermochemical process, compatible with the back-end-of-line process and even applicable to a flexible format. These superior characteristics also lead to the proposal of a practical adaptive learning rule for hardware neural networks that can significantly simplify the voltage pulse application methodology even with high computing accuracy. A neural network, which can perform the biological tissue classification task using the ultrasound signals, is designed, and the simulation results confirm that this practical adaptive learning rule is efficient enough to classify these weak and complicated signals with high accuracy (97%). Furthermore, the proposed RSM can work as a diffusive-memristor at the opposite voltage polarity, exhibiting extremely stable threshold switching characteristics. In this mode, several crucial operations in biological nervous systems, such as Ca²⁺ dynamics and nonlinear integrate-and-fire functions of neurons, are successfully emulated. This reconfigurability is also exceedingly beneficial for decreasing the complexity of systems—requiring both drift- and diffusive-memristors.     

Study on reaction time depending on display parameters of gaming displays

Display technology plays a significant role in gaming and, thus, display parameters are an important consideration when choosing a gaming display. In general, interest in display parameters such as contrast ratio, response time, refresh rate, and input lag in gaming displays is very high. In this article, we studied the reaction time of gaming displays, as a measure of game performance, with respect to different contrast ratios, response times, and refresh rates. Contrast ratio and response time turned out to be the key factors influencing reaction time. The higher the contrast ratio is, the shorter the reaction time tends to be. In addition, the faster the response time is, the shorter the reaction time is. Displays with high contrast ratio and fast response time are advantageous in terms of reaction time, which is also expected to be more advantageous in a fast-paced real gaming environment.     

Pulse colliding in a self-mode-locked ring-cavity ti:sapphire laser

A new self-mode-locked ring-cavity Ti:sapphire laser is described that is self-mode locked in both unidirectional and bidirectional operations. We found that clockwise and counterclockwise pulses collide with each other at the Ti:sapphire rod when the laser is mode locked in a bidirectional operation. Spectrum narrowing and pulse broadening were found in bidirectional rather than unidirectional mode-locked operation. This is explained by the performance of a transient grating in the gain medium that restricts oscillation to a narrow spectral range.     

Binding conformation prediction between human acetylcholinesterase and cytochrome c using molecular modeling methods

The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is important to terminate acetylcholine-mediated neurotransmission at cholinergic synapses. The pivotal role of AChE in apoptosome formation through the interactions with cytochrome c (Cyt c) was demonstrated in recent study. In order to investigate the proper binding conformation between the human AChE (hAChE) and human Cyt c (hCyt c), macro-molecular docking simulation was performed using DOT 2.0 program. The hCyt c was bound to peripheral anionic site (PAS) on hAChE and binding mode of the docked conformation was very similar to the reported crystal structure of the AChE and fasciculin-II (Fas-II) complex. Two 10ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to refine the binding mode of docked structure and to observe the differences of the binding conformations between the absent (Apo) and presence (Holo) of heme group. The key hydrogen bonding residues between hAChE and hCyt c proteins were found in Apo and Holo systems, as well as each Tyr341 and Trp286 residue of hAChE was participated in cation-pi (π) interactions with Lys79 of hCyt c in Apo and Holo systems, respectively. From the present study, although the final structures of the Apo and Holo systems have similar binding pattern, several differences were investigated in flexibilities, interface interactions, and interface accessible surface areas. Based on these results, we were able to predict the reasonable binding conformation which is indispensable for apoptosome formation.