Cryptococcus neoformans, the etiological agent of cryptococcosis, is an opportunistic fungal pathogen of immunocompromised individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the activities of E-NTPDase and E-ADA in rats experimentally infected by C. neoformans var. grubii. Adult rats (35) were divided in two groups: 18 for the control group (uninfected) (A), and 17 for the infected group (B). Each group was separated into three sub-groups (A1, A2, A3—B1, B2, B3), and samples were collected on 10, 20, and 30 days post-infection (PI). Leukocyte counts, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IgM, IgG levels, and E-NTPDase and E-ADA activities were analyzed. It was possible to observe that IgG and IgM seric levels of infected rats were significantly elevated (P < 0.01) on days 10, 20 and 30 PI, as well as the levels of TNF-α and INF-γ when compared to uninfected rodents. Regarding E-NTPDase activity in lymphocytes, it was possible to observe that the ATP hydrolysis was significantly decreased on days 20 (P < 0.01) and 30 PI (P < 0.05), while ADP hydrolysis was significantly reduced only on day 20 PI (P < 0.01) when compared with uninfected group. Seric E-ADA activity had a significant reduction (P < 0.01) during all three evaluated periods when compared to the control group, while E-ADA activity in lymphocytes increased significantly (P < 0.01) when compared to the group A on day 10 PI; however on days 20 and 30 PI, its activity was considerable reduced in lymphocytes of infected animals (P < 0.01). Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the infection caused by C. neoformans in immunocompetent rats leads to changes in the purinergic signaling (NTPDase and E-ADA), concomitantly with an inflammatory response (increased levels of cytokines and immunoglobulins) associated with inflammatory infiltrates and histological lesions in the lung.

Abstract In this work, we proposed a reflective antiferroelectric liquid crystal display (AFLCD) using a half‐wave cell whose in‐plane tilt angle is 22.5°. To check the validity of our design, we fabricated a reflective half‐wave AFLC cell of which in‐plane tilt angle is 24.9°, and measured VIS reflection spectra, contrast ratio and response time. In the results, the half‐wave AFLC cell in the reflective configuration exhibits high brightness, high contrast ratio of 20:1. and fast response time of 700 μs.

Mounting evidence indicates that deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in development of many human diseases, including cancers. Regulation of miRNA is a complicated process and some components in the regulation are known to be altered in human cancers. Among the miRNA regulation‐related genes, we found that AGO1, AGO2, TNRC6A, TNRC6C, TARBP2 and EXPORTIN5 genes have mononucleotide repeats in their coding sequences. To see whether these genes are mutated in cancers with microsatellite instability (MSI), we analysed the mononucleotide repeats in 27 gastric cancers (GCs) with high MSI (MSI‐H), 18 GC with low MSI (MSI‐L), 45 GC with stable MSI (MSS), 41 colorectal cancers (CRCs) with MSI‐H, 14 CRCs with MSI‐L and 45 CRCs with stable MSI (MSS) by single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and DNA sequencing. We found AGO2, TNRC6A, TARBP2, TNRC6C and EXPORTIN5 mutations in 10, six, one, one and one cancer(s), respectively. They were detected in MSI‐H but not in MSI‐L or MSS cancers. The GCs and CRCs with MSI‐H harboured one or more mutations of the genes in 22% and 27%, respectively. We also analysed Ago2 and TNRC6A protein expressions in GCs and CRCs with MSI‐H. In cancers with MSI‐H, loss of Ago2 expression was observed in 40% of GCs and 35% of CRCs, while loss of TNRC6A was observed in 52% of the GCs and 54% of the CRCs. Our data indicate that frameshift mutations in AGO2 and TNRC6A and their losses of expression are common in GCs and CRCs with MSI‐H, and suggest that these alterations may contribute to the cancer development by deregulating miRNA regulation. Copyright © 2010 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aim: To evaluate the antimicrobial properties of ethanolic, methanolic and other solvent extracts of Celosia cristata L. used in Korean oriental medicine against microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillus, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans.

Elevated levels and activities of Src family kinases (SFKs) have been shown in numerous human cancer cell lines and tumor tissues of patients, resulting in cell proliferation, tumorigenesis, and metastasis. SFKs phosphorylate and thereby activate signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT), a family of transcription factors which consist of seven different members (Stat1 Stat2, Stat3, Stat4, Stat5a, Stat5b, and Stat6). Constitutive activation of STAT modulates cell growth, survival, angiogenesis, and immune evasion of human cancer cells. SFKs/Stat signaling is currently being investigated as targets for human cancer treatments. Indirubin, the active component of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine used for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) treatment, was previously shown to inhibit cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) and GSK3β, associated with cell growth inhibition in human cancer cells. Here, our study shows that indirubin derivatives (IRDs) potently block SFKs/Stat signaling in human cancer cells. E804 directly inhibits Src kinase activity (IC50=0.43µM) in an in vitro kinase assay. Autophosphorylation of SFKs is also inhibited in cultured cells 30min or 4h after E804 treatment. Tyrosyl phosphorylation of Stat3 and Stat5, which are phosphorylated by SFKs, was blocked by E804, MLS2407, MLS2408, and MLS2438 in various cancer cells. E804 also suppressed constitutive Stat3 and Stat5 DNA-binding activities in cancer cells. Interestingly, E804 reduced levels of tyrosyl phosphorylation of SFKs and Stat5 in primary CML cells from patient. In addition, E804 down-regulated expression of Stat3 and Stat5 target genes, including Bcl-x, Mcl-1, and survivin, followed by induction of apoptosis. MLS2407, MLS2408, and MLS2438 strongly inhibited cell viability. Taken together, these findings demonstrate another action of mechanism of indirubin in addition to inhibition of CDK and GSK3β. E804 and MLS2438 are potent inhibitors of SFKs/Stat signaling pathway, showing potential as anti-tumor therapeutic agents in human cancers.

A novel transflective VA‐mode to realize the good display performance was developed. In order to drive both transmissive and reflective modes simultaneously without any modulation of gamma in a single‐gap structure, we have introduced a new design concept into the reflective region of each pixel, where the capacitance is separated into liquid crystal(CLC) and organic layer(COL), playing a key role as a voltage divider in our cap‐divided VA‐mode. With this single‐gamma driving method, quite suitable for practical application to the mobile multimedia system due to its merits of simplifying processes and good legibility, we have achieved good optical characteristics such as high contrast ratio and wide viewing angle in a single‐gap homeotropic panel design.

Different types of ventilation of the culture vessel with and without the ethylene inhibitor KMnO4 in the culture media were investigated in terms of their effect on hyperhydricity of in vitro cultured potato shoots. The shoots grown in a completely sealed vessel (CSV) were severely vitrified, but the shoots cultured in a gas permeable vessel (GPV) showed normal shoot proliferation. Dry weight percentage and chlorophyll content were lower in the vitrified shoots than in the normal shoots. The levels of ethylene and CO2 were significantly higher in the CSV, but little ethylene was detected in the GPV system. When an ethylene scrubber (perlite treated with KMnO4) was applied to the CSV, the shoots exhibited normal growth without any sign of vitrification. In addition, no ethylene was found in CSV with the ethylene scrubber (CSVE). These results indicate that hyperhydricity is related to the ethylene accumulated in the culture vessel during the in vitro culture of potato shoots. It is suggested to use CSVE to reduce the ethylene level and overcome hyperhydricity.

We propose a new voltage-transmittance (V-T) curve suitable to determine the driving pulse shapes. There are three alternating periods in the multiplex driving scheme; a selecting period, a holding period and a resetting period. Holding pulse shape and holding period affect the switching behavior of AFLCs. In this paper a new V-T characteristics of AFLCs applicable in the design of multiplex driving scheme is examined, where a square pulse is used for both selection and holding voltages.

Measurement ranges of pretilt angle using the conventional crystal rotation method is limited in 0 similar to 10degrees and 80degrees similar to 90degrees. So the determination of a pretilt angle for a cell which has a high pretilt angle of 10degrees similar to 80degrees is not easy by this method. We propose a new method which can find a pretilt angle for cells which have high pretilt as well as cells which have low pretilt angle. In this method, the determination of a pretilt angle is achieved by finding the rotation angles which become a maximum and a null transmittance in the crystal rotation method.