Plasmon-Induced Transparency in a Surface Plasmon Polariton Waveguide with a Right-Angled Slot and Rectangle Cavity

Plasmonics - The phenomenon of plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) is realized a in surface plasmon polariton waveguide at near-infrared frequencies. The right-angled slot and rectangle cavity...     

Association of the variants and haplotypes in the DOCK7, PCSK9 and GALNT2 genes and the risk of hyperlipidaemia

Little is known about the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes of the dedicator of cytokinesis 7 (DOCK7), pro‐protein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and polypeptide N‐acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 2 (GALNT2) and serum lipid traits in the Chinese populations. This study was to determine the association between nine SNPs in the three genes and their haplotypes and hypercholesterolaemia (HCH)/hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG), and to identify the possible gene–gene interactions among these SNPs. Genotyping was performed in 733 HCH and 540 HTG participants. The haplotype of C‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐G [in the order of DOCK7 rs1168013 (G>C), rs10889332 (C>T); PCSK9 rs615563 (G>A), rs7552841 (C>T), rs11206517 (T>G); and GALNT2 rs1997947 (G>A), rs2760537 (C>T), rs4846913 (C>A) and rs11122316 (G>A) SNPs] was associated with increased risk of HCH and HTG. The haplotypes of C‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐A and G‐C‐G‐T‐T‐G‐T‐C‐G were associated with a reduced risk of HCH and HTG. The haplotypes of G‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐A and G‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐T‐C‐G were associated with increased risk of HCH. The haplotypes of C‐T‐G‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐G, G‐C‐A‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐G and G‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐C‐C‐A were associated with an increased risk of HTG. The haplotypes of G‐C‐G‐C‐T‐G‐T‐C‐A and G‐C‐G‐T‐T‐G‐T‐C‐G were associated with a reduced risk of HTG. In addition, possible inter‐locus interactions among the DOCK7, PCSK9 and GALNT2 SNPs were also noted. However, further functional studies of these genes are still required to clarify which SNPs are functional and how these genes actually affect the serum lipid levels.     

A new silver nanochain SERS analytical platform to detect trace hexametaphosphate with a rhodamine S molecular probe

Using AgNO₃ as the precursor, stable silver nanochain (AgNC) sols, orange‐red in color, were prepared using hydrazine hydrate. A strong surface plasmon resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) peak occurred at 420 nm plus two surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peaks at 410 nm and 510 nm. Rhodamine S (RhS) cationic dye was absorbed on the as‐prepared AgNC substrate to obtain a RhS–AgNC surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobe that exhibited a strong SERS peak at 1506 cm^–1 and a strong RRS peak at 375 nm. Upon addition of the analyte sodium hexametaphosphate (HP), it reacted with RhS, which resulted in a decrease in the SERS and RRS peaks that was studied in detail. The decreased SERS and RRS intensities correlated linearly with HP concentration in the range of 0.0125–0.3 µmol/L and 0.05–1.0 µmol/L, with a detection limit of 6 nmol/L and 20 nmol/L HP respectively. Due to advantages of high sensitivity, good selectivity and simple operation, the RhS molecular probes were used to determine HP concentration in real samples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Editing of the Luteinizing Hormone Gene to Sterilize Channel Catfish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ictalurus punctatus</Emphasis>, Using a Modified Zinc Finger Nuclease Technology with Electroporation

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) is the most important freshwater aquaculture species in the USA. Genetically enhanced fish that are sterile could both profit the catfish industry and reduce potential environmental and ecological risks. As the first step to generate sterile channel catfish, three sets of zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) plasmids targeting the luteinizing hormone (LH) gene were designed and electroporated into one-cell embryos, different concentrations were introduced, and the Cel-I assay was conducted to detect mutations. Channel catfish carrying the mutated LH gene were sterile, as confirmed by DNA sequencing and mating experiments. The overall mutation rate was 19.7 % for 66 channel catfish, and the best treatment was ZFN set 1 at the concentration 25 μg/ml. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of gene editing of fish via plasmid introduction instead of mRNA microinjection. The introduction of the ZFN plasmids may have reduced mosaicism, as mutated individuals were gene edited in every tissue evaluated. Apparently, the plasmids were eventually degraded without integration, as they were not detectable in mutated individuals using PCR. Carp pituitary extract failed to induce spawning and restoration of fertility, indicating the need for developing other hormone therapies to achieve reversal of sterility upon demand. This is the first sterilization achieved using ZFN technology in an aquaculture species and the first successful gene editing of channel catfish. Our results will help understand the roles of the LH gene, purposeful sterilization of teleost fishes, and is a step towards control of domestic, hybrid, exotic, invasive, and transgenic fishes.     

Laplacian Estrada and Normalized Laplacian Estrada Indices of Evolving Graphs

Large-scale time-evolving networks have been generated by many natural and technological applications, posing challenges for computation and modeling. Thus, it is of theoretical and practical significance to probe mathematical tools tailored for evolving networks. In this paper, on top of the dynamic Estrada index, we study the dynamic Laplacian Estrada index and the dynamic normalized Laplacian Estrada index of evolving graphs. Using linear algebra techniques, we established general upper and lower bounds for these graph-spectrum-based invariants through a couple of intuitive graph-theoretic measures, including the number of vertices or edges. Synthetic random evolving small-world networks are employed to show the relevance of the proposed dynamic Estrada indices. It is found that neither the static snapshot graphs nor the aggregated graph can approximate the evolving graph itself, indicating the fundamental difference between the static and dynamic Estrada indices.