Polymorphisms in the VEGF/angiogenesis pathway have been previously implicated in cancer risk, pr... more Polymorphisms in the VEGF/angiogenesis pathway have been previously implicated in cancer risk, prognosis, and response to therapy including in esophageal adenocarcinoma. Prior esophageal adenocarcinoma studies focused on using candidate polymorphisms, limiting the discovery of novel polymorphisms. Here, we applied the tagSNP approach to identify new VEGF-pathway polymorphisms associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma prognosis and validated them in an independent cohort of esophageal adenocarcinoma patients. In 231 esophageal adenocarcinoma patients of all stages/treatment plans, 58 genetic polymorphisms (18 KDR, 7 VEGFA, 33 FLT1), selected through tagging and assessment of predicted function were genotyped. Cox-proportional hazard models adjusted for important socio-demographic and clinico-pathological factors were applied to assess the association of genetic polymorphisms with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Significantly associated polymorphisms were th...
Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 2015
A novel tri-metallic oxide nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO has been synthesized by a simple co-precipi... more A novel tri-metallic oxide nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO has been synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The nanocomposite has been characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR and PL spectra. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO was calculated using XRD data. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO mixed metal oxide annealed at 600°C is found to be in range of 15.34-44.81nm, with an average size of 29.51nm. Excitation at different wavelengths showed PL in UV and visible regions. It has been found that PL behavior of CeO2·CuO·ZnO is excitation wavelength dependent. This flexible PL property is conflicting to well-known Kasha's rule of excitation wavelength dependence of emission spectrum. The catalyst shows better photo-catalytic dye degradation efficiency in slightly alkaline pH in presence of H2O2. Nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO was found to be effective against pathogenic bacteria.
Augmentation of innate immune defenses is an appealing adjunctive strategy for treatment of pulmo... more Augmentation of innate immune defenses is an appealing adjunctive strategy for treatment of pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, especially those caused by drug-resistant strains. The effect of intranasal administration of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), an epithelial mitogen and differentiation factor, on M. tuberculosis infection in mice was tested in prophylaxis, treatment, and rescue scenarios. Infection of C57BL6 mice with M. tuberculosis resulted in inoculum size-dependent weight loss and mortality. A single dose of KGF given 1 day prior to infection with 10(5) M. tuberculosis bacilli prevented weight loss and enhanced pulmonary mycobacterial clearance (compared with saline-pretreated mice) for up to 28 days. Similar effects were seen when KGF was delivered intranasally every third day for 15 days, but weight loss and bacillary growth resumed when KGF was withdrawn. For mice with a well established M. tuberculosis infection, KGF given every 3 days beginning on da...
Journal of cytology & molecular biology, Jan 10, 2014
The macrophage mannose receptor (MR, CD206) is a C-type lectin expressed predominantly by most ti... more The macrophage mannose receptor (MR, CD206) is a C-type lectin expressed predominantly by most tissue macrophages, dendritic cells and specific lymphatic or endothelial cells. It functions in endocytosis and phagocytosis, and plays an important role in immune homeostasis by scavenging unwanted mannoglycoproteins. More attention is being paid to its particularly high expression in tissue pathology sites during disease such the tumor microenvironment. The MR recognizes a variety of microorganisms by their mannan-coated cell wall, which is exploited by adapted intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for their own survival. Despite the continued development of drug delivery technologies, the targeting of agents to immune cells, especially macrophages, for effective diagnosis and treatment of chronic infectious diseases has not been addressed adequately. In this regard, strategies that optimize MR-mediated uptake by macrophages in target tissues during infection are b...
We study the influence of dielectric function of metals on the transmission properties of teraher... more We study the influence of dielectric function of metals on the transmission properties of terahertz pulses through periodically patterned subwavelength holes. Because of a drastic increase in the value of dielectric constants, most metals become highly conductive at terahertz frequencies. Extraordinary terahertz transmission is observed in subwavelength hole arrays made from both good and poor electrical conductors. The measured transmittance of terahertz pulses is found to be enhanced with increasing ratio of the real to the imaginary dielectric constant of the constituent metals, for which the dielectric function follows the Drude model.
We study surface-plasmon-enhanced terahertz transmission through subwavelength metallic hole arra... more We study surface-plasmon-enhanced terahertz transmission through subwavelength metallic hole arrays of sub-skin-depth thickness. Dynamic evolution of surface-plasmon resonance in terms of array thickness is characterized by use of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the frequency range 0.1-4.5 THz. A critical thickness of lead array film is observed, above which surface-plasmon coupling of terahertz pulses begins and is enhanced rapidly as the array thickness is increased toward the skin depth. The experimental results indicate that high-efficiency extraordinary terahertz transmission can be achieved at an array thickness of only one third of skin depth.
Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials, Jan 15, 2004
Chitosan prepared from natural biopolymer chitin and cast into membranes has been tested as wound... more Chitosan prepared from natural biopolymer chitin and cast into membranes has been tested as wound dressing at the skin-graft donor site in patients. Bactigras, a commonly used impregnated tulle gras bandage, served as a control. Chitosan membrane, prepared with a 75% degree of deacetylation and a thickness of 10 microm, was used in nonmesh or mesh form. The progress in wound healing was compared by clinical and histological examination. Itching and pain sensitivity of the wound dressed area was scored with the use of a visual analogue scale. Mesh chitosan membrane in contrast to the nonmesh membrane allowed blood to ooze into the surrounding gauze. After 10 days, the chitosan-dressed area had been healed more promptly as compared with the Bactigras dressed area. Moreover, the chitosan mesh membrane showed a positive effect on the re-epithelialization and the regeneration of the granular layer. The data confirm that chitosan mesh membrane is a potential substitute for human wound dre...
The identification of compounds with anti-mycobacterial activity within classes of molecules that... more The identification of compounds with anti-mycobacterial activity within classes of molecules that have been developed for other purposes is a fruitful approach for the development of anti-tuberculosis (TB) agents. In this study we used the scaffold of celecoxib which exhibits several activities against different pathogens, for the design and focused synthesis of a library of 64 compounds. For the primary screen, we used a bioluminescence-based method by constructing a luciferase-expressing reporter M.tb strain which contains the entire bacterial Lux operon cloned in a mycobacterial integrative expression vector. Through the screening of this library, we identified 6 hit compounds with high in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity (IC50 ∼0.18-0.48μM). In particular, compounds 41, 51 and 53 were capable of inhibiting M.tb as effectively as the anti-TB drug isoniazid (INH) at 5μM over a 72-h period, as analyzed by both bioluminescence- and colony forming unit (CFU)-based assays. All hit co...
The accuracy in the measurement of the rate of corrosion of steel in concrete depends on many fac... more The accuracy in the measurement of the rate of corrosion of steel in concrete depends on many factors. The high resistivity of concrete makes the polarization data erroneous due to the Ohmic drop. The other source of error is the use of an arbitrarily assumed value of the Stern-Geary constant for calculating corrosion current density. This paper presents the outcomes of a research work conducted to develop a reliable and low-cost experimental setup and a simple calculation procedure that can be utilised to calculate the corrosion current density considering the Ohmic drop compensation and the actual value of the Stern-Geary constants calculated using the polarization data. The measurements conducted on specimens corroded to different levels indicate the usefulness of the developed setup to determine the corrosion current density with and without Ohmic drop compensation.
Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2012
From the published literature, we identified 23 germ line sequence variants in 17 genes from hypo... more From the published literature, we identified 23 germ line sequence variants in 17 genes from hypothesis-generating studies that were associated with prognosis of head and neck cancer, including sequence variants of DNA repair (ERCC1, ERCC4, ERCC5, MSH2, XPA, ERCC2, XRCC1, XRCC3), DNA methylation (DNMT3B), cell cycle and proliferation (CCND1, TP53), xenobiotic metabolism (GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP2D6), metastatic -potential (MMP3), immunologic (CTLA4), and growth factor pathways (FGFR4). The purpose of this study was to validate the role of these 23 sequence variants for overall (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in a large, comprehensive, well-annotated data set of patients with head and neck cancer. We genotyped these sequence variants in 531 patients with stage I and II radiation-treated head and neck cancer (originally recruited for an alpha-tocopherol/beta-carotene placebo-controlled secondary prevention study), and analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, stratified by treatme...
International journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer, 2013
Although some studies have reported associations between serum vitamin D level and prognosis in s... more Although some studies have reported associations between serum vitamin D level and prognosis in several cancers, others have found associations between genetic sequence variants (GSVs) in the vitamin D metabolism pathway genes and outcomes in various cancers including head and neck cancer (HNC). We comprehensively evaluated the association and interaction of GSVs in vitamin D metabolism pathway genes and their regulatory effects on circulatory serum vitamin D level in HNC outcome. We systemically evaluated the association of 89 tagging and candidate-based GSVs in six major vitamin D metabolism pathway genes (VDR, GC, CYP24A1, CYP27A1, CYP27B1 and CYP2R1) and the circulating serum vitamin D level with overall survival (OS) and second primary cancer (SPC) in 522 Stages I-II radiation-treated patients with HNC. For OS: median follow-up time was 8 years; for SPC, 4.4 years. The most common subsite was the larynx (84%). Three hundred and twelve patients were alive at the end of follow-up...
In a genome-wide association study, association between disease trait and hundreds of thousands o... more In a genome-wide association study, association between disease trait and hundreds of thousands of genetic markers are tested. Several methods have been proposed to control the false discovery rate in such high-throughput data to adjust for multiple hypotheses testing. For Genetic Analysis Workshop 18, we applied the method of false discovery rate control with p value weighting on family-based association tests on quantitative trait to detect association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mean arterial pressure. This method can improve statistical power by incorporating independent but relevant information about the research objective. Using the real genetic and phenotype data of chromosome 3 from Genetic Analysis Workshop 18, 1 SNP from gene CACNA2D3 was found to have significant association with mean arterial pressure.
a b s t r a c t 6 Available online xxxx 11 Keywords: 12 Coiled-coil domain containing 3 (CCDC3) 1... more a b s t r a c t 6 Available online xxxx 11 Keywords: 12 Coiled-coil domain containing 3 (CCDC3) 13 Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) 14 Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) 15 Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) 16 Endothelial inflammation 17
Optical Interactions with Tissues and Cells XXI, 2010
The terahertz (THz) region has been shown to have considerable application potential for spectros... more The terahertz (THz) region has been shown to have considerable application potential for spectroscopic imaging, nondestructive imaging through nonpolar, nonmetallic materials and imaging of biological materials. These applications have all been possible due to the recent progress in THz sources, detectors and measurement techniques. However, only moderate progress has been made in developing passive and active devices to control and
Nitrogen % in both straw and grain, nitrogen uptake by straw and grain, total nitrogen uptake and... more Nitrogen % in both straw and grain, nitrogen uptake by straw and grain, total nitrogen uptake and physiological nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) showed significant differences due to variable nutrient levels at maturity in traditional rice varieties. PNUE ranges from 40.58 to 49.88 (kg/kg N). Significantly higher PNUE without addition of nitrogen (Zero N) indicated the ability of utilization of the native nitrogen by traditional varieties. Traditional varieties produced 49.88 kg grain by the utilization of zero nitrogen treatment followed by 45.93 kg grain in cowdung (10 t/ha), while 40.58 kg grain by the application of 80 kg/ha nitrogen. The higher PNUE in zero nitrogen treatment confirmed the ability of producing similar yield level compared to added nitrogen treatment. Bashful chikon, might be important due to higher nitrogen content and Badiruzzman considered due to more straw nitrogen (0.71%). Barud also showed excellence with regards to PNUE and total nitrogen uptake. Leaf chlorophyll profile showed a very consistent level in all the varieties except Laichi. Soil plant analysis development (SPAD) value ranged from 34.06 to 41.69, while leaf nitrogen ranged from 2.99 to 3.49 %. SPAD value recorded over time showed four distinct patterns during 15 to 90 DAT.
The opening and closing of tulip petals was reproduced in the dark by changing the temperature fr... more The opening and closing of tulip petals was reproduced in the dark by changing the temperature from 5 degrees C to 20 degrees C for opening and 20 degrees C to 5 degrees C for closing. The opening process was accompanied by (3)H(2)O transport through the stem from the incubation medium to the petals. A Ca(2+)-channel blocker and a Ca(2+)-chelator inhibited petal opening and (3)H(2)O transport. Several proteins in the isolated plasma membrane fraction were phosphorylated in the presence of 25 micro M Ca(2+) at 20 degrees C. The 31-kDa protein that was phosphorylated, was suggested immunologically as the putative plasma membrane aquaporin (PM-AQP). This phosphorylated PM-AQP clearly reacted with the anti-phospho-Ser. In-gel assay revealed the presence of a 45-kDa Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase in the isolated plasma membrane. Phosphorylation of the putative PM-AQP was thought to activate the water channel composed of PM-AQP. Dephosphorylation of the phosphorylated PM-AQP was also observed during petal closing at 5 degrees C, suggesting the inactivation of the water channel.
We present experimental and numerical investigations of planar terahertz metamaterial structures ... more We present experimental and numerical investigations of planar terahertz metamaterial structures designed to interact with the state of polarization. The dependence of metamaterial resonances on polarization results in unique amplitude and phase characteristics of the terahertz transmission, providing the basis for polarimetric terahertz devices. We highlight some potential applications for polarimetric devices and present simulations of a terahertz quarter-wave plate and a polarizing terahertz beam splitter. Although this work was performed at terahertz frequencies, it may find applications in other frequency ranges as well.
Metamaterials exhibit numerous novel effects 1-5 and operate over a large portion of the electrom... more Metamaterials exhibit numerous novel effects 1-5 and operate over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum 6-10 . Metamaterial devices based on these effects include gradientindex lenses 11,12 , modulators for terahertz radiation 13-15 and compact waveguides . The resonant nature of metamaterials results in frequency dispersion and narrow bandwidth operation where the centre frequency is fixed by the geometry and dimensions of the elements comprising the metamaterial composite. The creation of frequency-agile metamaterials would extend the spectral range over which devices function and, further, enable the manufacture of new devices such as dynamically tunable notch filters. Here, we demonstrate such frequency-agile metamaterials operating in the far-infrared by incorporating semiconductors in critical regions of metallic split-ring resonators. For this first-generation device, external optical control results in tuning of the metamaterial resonance frequency by 20%. Our approach is integrable with current semiconductor technologies and can be implemented in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Polymorphisms in the VEGF/angiogenesis pathway have been previously implicated in cancer risk, pr... more Polymorphisms in the VEGF/angiogenesis pathway have been previously implicated in cancer risk, prognosis, and response to therapy including in esophageal adenocarcinoma. Prior esophageal adenocarcinoma studies focused on using candidate polymorphisms, limiting the discovery of novel polymorphisms. Here, we applied the tagSNP approach to identify new VEGF-pathway polymorphisms associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma prognosis and validated them in an independent cohort of esophageal adenocarcinoma patients. In 231 esophageal adenocarcinoma patients of all stages/treatment plans, 58 genetic polymorphisms (18 KDR, 7 VEGFA, 33 FLT1), selected through tagging and assessment of predicted function were genotyped. Cox-proportional hazard models adjusted for important socio-demographic and clinico-pathological factors were applied to assess the association of genetic polymorphisms with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Significantly associated polymorphisms were th...
Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 2015
A novel tri-metallic oxide nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO has been synthesized by a simple co-precipi... more A novel tri-metallic oxide nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO has been synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The nanocomposite has been characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR and PL spectra. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO was calculated using XRD data. The crystallite size of the CeO2·CuO·ZnO mixed metal oxide annealed at 600°C is found to be in range of 15.34-44.81nm, with an average size of 29.51nm. Excitation at different wavelengths showed PL in UV and visible regions. It has been found that PL behavior of CeO2·CuO·ZnO is excitation wavelength dependent. This flexible PL property is conflicting to well-known Kasha's rule of excitation wavelength dependence of emission spectrum. The catalyst shows better photo-catalytic dye degradation efficiency in slightly alkaline pH in presence of H2O2. Nanocomposite CeO2·CuO·ZnO was found to be effective against pathogenic bacteria.
Augmentation of innate immune defenses is an appealing adjunctive strategy for treatment of pulmo... more Augmentation of innate immune defenses is an appealing adjunctive strategy for treatment of pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, especially those caused by drug-resistant strains. The effect of intranasal administration of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), an epithelial mitogen and differentiation factor, on M. tuberculosis infection in mice was tested in prophylaxis, treatment, and rescue scenarios. Infection of C57BL6 mice with M. tuberculosis resulted in inoculum size-dependent weight loss and mortality. A single dose of KGF given 1 day prior to infection with 10(5) M. tuberculosis bacilli prevented weight loss and enhanced pulmonary mycobacterial clearance (compared with saline-pretreated mice) for up to 28 days. Similar effects were seen when KGF was delivered intranasally every third day for 15 days, but weight loss and bacillary growth resumed when KGF was withdrawn. For mice with a well established M. tuberculosis infection, KGF given every 3 days beginning on da...
Journal of cytology & molecular biology, Jan 10, 2014
The macrophage mannose receptor (MR, CD206) is a C-type lectin expressed predominantly by most ti... more The macrophage mannose receptor (MR, CD206) is a C-type lectin expressed predominantly by most tissue macrophages, dendritic cells and specific lymphatic or endothelial cells. It functions in endocytosis and phagocytosis, and plays an important role in immune homeostasis by scavenging unwanted mannoglycoproteins. More attention is being paid to its particularly high expression in tissue pathology sites during disease such the tumor microenvironment. The MR recognizes a variety of microorganisms by their mannan-coated cell wall, which is exploited by adapted intracellular pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for their own survival. Despite the continued development of drug delivery technologies, the targeting of agents to immune cells, especially macrophages, for effective diagnosis and treatment of chronic infectious diseases has not been addressed adequately. In this regard, strategies that optimize MR-mediated uptake by macrophages in target tissues during infection are b...
We study the influence of dielectric function of metals on the transmission properties of teraher... more We study the influence of dielectric function of metals on the transmission properties of terahertz pulses through periodically patterned subwavelength holes. Because of a drastic increase in the value of dielectric constants, most metals become highly conductive at terahertz frequencies. Extraordinary terahertz transmission is observed in subwavelength hole arrays made from both good and poor electrical conductors. The measured transmittance of terahertz pulses is found to be enhanced with increasing ratio of the real to the imaginary dielectric constant of the constituent metals, for which the dielectric function follows the Drude model.
We study surface-plasmon-enhanced terahertz transmission through subwavelength metallic hole arra... more We study surface-plasmon-enhanced terahertz transmission through subwavelength metallic hole arrays of sub-skin-depth thickness. Dynamic evolution of surface-plasmon resonance in terms of array thickness is characterized by use of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the frequency range 0.1-4.5 THz. A critical thickness of lead array film is observed, above which surface-plasmon coupling of terahertz pulses begins and is enhanced rapidly as the array thickness is increased toward the skin depth. The experimental results indicate that high-efficiency extraordinary terahertz transmission can be achieved at an array thickness of only one third of skin depth.
Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials, Jan 15, 2004
Chitosan prepared from natural biopolymer chitin and cast into membranes has been tested as wound... more Chitosan prepared from natural biopolymer chitin and cast into membranes has been tested as wound dressing at the skin-graft donor site in patients. Bactigras, a commonly used impregnated tulle gras bandage, served as a control. Chitosan membrane, prepared with a 75% degree of deacetylation and a thickness of 10 microm, was used in nonmesh or mesh form. The progress in wound healing was compared by clinical and histological examination. Itching and pain sensitivity of the wound dressed area was scored with the use of a visual analogue scale. Mesh chitosan membrane in contrast to the nonmesh membrane allowed blood to ooze into the surrounding gauze. After 10 days, the chitosan-dressed area had been healed more promptly as compared with the Bactigras dressed area. Moreover, the chitosan mesh membrane showed a positive effect on the re-epithelialization and the regeneration of the granular layer. The data confirm that chitosan mesh membrane is a potential substitute for human wound dre...
The identification of compounds with anti-mycobacterial activity within classes of molecules that... more The identification of compounds with anti-mycobacterial activity within classes of molecules that have been developed for other purposes is a fruitful approach for the development of anti-tuberculosis (TB) agents. In this study we used the scaffold of celecoxib which exhibits several activities against different pathogens, for the design and focused synthesis of a library of 64 compounds. For the primary screen, we used a bioluminescence-based method by constructing a luciferase-expressing reporter M.tb strain which contains the entire bacterial Lux operon cloned in a mycobacterial integrative expression vector. Through the screening of this library, we identified 6 hit compounds with high in vitro anti-mycobacterial activity (IC50 ∼0.18-0.48μM). In particular, compounds 41, 51 and 53 were capable of inhibiting M.tb as effectively as the anti-TB drug isoniazid (INH) at 5μM over a 72-h period, as analyzed by both bioluminescence- and colony forming unit (CFU)-based assays. All hit co...
The accuracy in the measurement of the rate of corrosion of steel in concrete depends on many fac... more The accuracy in the measurement of the rate of corrosion of steel in concrete depends on many factors. The high resistivity of concrete makes the polarization data erroneous due to the Ohmic drop. The other source of error is the use of an arbitrarily assumed value of the Stern-Geary constant for calculating corrosion current density. This paper presents the outcomes of a research work conducted to develop a reliable and low-cost experimental setup and a simple calculation procedure that can be utilised to calculate the corrosion current density considering the Ohmic drop compensation and the actual value of the Stern-Geary constants calculated using the polarization data. The measurements conducted on specimens corroded to different levels indicate the usefulness of the developed setup to determine the corrosion current density with and without Ohmic drop compensation.
Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2012
From the published literature, we identified 23 germ line sequence variants in 17 genes from hypo... more From the published literature, we identified 23 germ line sequence variants in 17 genes from hypothesis-generating studies that were associated with prognosis of head and neck cancer, including sequence variants of DNA repair (ERCC1, ERCC4, ERCC5, MSH2, XPA, ERCC2, XRCC1, XRCC3), DNA methylation (DNMT3B), cell cycle and proliferation (CCND1, TP53), xenobiotic metabolism (GSTM1, GSTT1, CYP2D6), metastatic -potential (MMP3), immunologic (CTLA4), and growth factor pathways (FGFR4). The purpose of this study was to validate the role of these 23 sequence variants for overall (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in a large, comprehensive, well-annotated data set of patients with head and neck cancer. We genotyped these sequence variants in 531 patients with stage I and II radiation-treated head and neck cancer (originally recruited for an alpha-tocopherol/beta-carotene placebo-controlled secondary prevention study), and analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, stratified by treatme...
International journal of cancer. Journal international du cancer, 2013
Although some studies have reported associations between serum vitamin D level and prognosis in s... more Although some studies have reported associations between serum vitamin D level and prognosis in several cancers, others have found associations between genetic sequence variants (GSVs) in the vitamin D metabolism pathway genes and outcomes in various cancers including head and neck cancer (HNC). We comprehensively evaluated the association and interaction of GSVs in vitamin D metabolism pathway genes and their regulatory effects on circulatory serum vitamin D level in HNC outcome. We systemically evaluated the association of 89 tagging and candidate-based GSVs in six major vitamin D metabolism pathway genes (VDR, GC, CYP24A1, CYP27A1, CYP27B1 and CYP2R1) and the circulating serum vitamin D level with overall survival (OS) and second primary cancer (SPC) in 522 Stages I-II radiation-treated patients with HNC. For OS: median follow-up time was 8 years; for SPC, 4.4 years. The most common subsite was the larynx (84%). Three hundred and twelve patients were alive at the end of follow-up...
In a genome-wide association study, association between disease trait and hundreds of thousands o... more In a genome-wide association study, association between disease trait and hundreds of thousands of genetic markers are tested. Several methods have been proposed to control the false discovery rate in such high-throughput data to adjust for multiple hypotheses testing. For Genetic Analysis Workshop 18, we applied the method of false discovery rate control with p value weighting on family-based association tests on quantitative trait to detect association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mean arterial pressure. This method can improve statistical power by incorporating independent but relevant information about the research objective. Using the real genetic and phenotype data of chromosome 3 from Genetic Analysis Workshop 18, 1 SNP from gene CACNA2D3 was found to have significant association with mean arterial pressure.
a b s t r a c t 6 Available online xxxx 11 Keywords: 12 Coiled-coil domain containing 3 (CCDC3) 1... more a b s t r a c t 6 Available online xxxx 11 Keywords: 12 Coiled-coil domain containing 3 (CCDC3) 13 Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) 14 Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) 15 Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) 16 Endothelial inflammation 17
Optical Interactions with Tissues and Cells XXI, 2010
The terahertz (THz) region has been shown to have considerable application potential for spectros... more The terahertz (THz) region has been shown to have considerable application potential for spectroscopic imaging, nondestructive imaging through nonpolar, nonmetallic materials and imaging of biological materials. These applications have all been possible due to the recent progress in THz sources, detectors and measurement techniques. However, only moderate progress has been made in developing passive and active devices to control and
Nitrogen % in both straw and grain, nitrogen uptake by straw and grain, total nitrogen uptake and... more Nitrogen % in both straw and grain, nitrogen uptake by straw and grain, total nitrogen uptake and physiological nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE) showed significant differences due to variable nutrient levels at maturity in traditional rice varieties. PNUE ranges from 40.58 to 49.88 (kg/kg N). Significantly higher PNUE without addition of nitrogen (Zero N) indicated the ability of utilization of the native nitrogen by traditional varieties. Traditional varieties produced 49.88 kg grain by the utilization of zero nitrogen treatment followed by 45.93 kg grain in cowdung (10 t/ha), while 40.58 kg grain by the application of 80 kg/ha nitrogen. The higher PNUE in zero nitrogen treatment confirmed the ability of producing similar yield level compared to added nitrogen treatment. Bashful chikon, might be important due to higher nitrogen content and Badiruzzman considered due to more straw nitrogen (0.71%). Barud also showed excellence with regards to PNUE and total nitrogen uptake. Leaf chlorophyll profile showed a very consistent level in all the varieties except Laichi. Soil plant analysis development (SPAD) value ranged from 34.06 to 41.69, while leaf nitrogen ranged from 2.99 to 3.49 %. SPAD value recorded over time showed four distinct patterns during 15 to 90 DAT.
The opening and closing of tulip petals was reproduced in the dark by changing the temperature fr... more The opening and closing of tulip petals was reproduced in the dark by changing the temperature from 5 degrees C to 20 degrees C for opening and 20 degrees C to 5 degrees C for closing. The opening process was accompanied by (3)H(2)O transport through the stem from the incubation medium to the petals. A Ca(2+)-channel blocker and a Ca(2+)-chelator inhibited petal opening and (3)H(2)O transport. Several proteins in the isolated plasma membrane fraction were phosphorylated in the presence of 25 micro M Ca(2+) at 20 degrees C. The 31-kDa protein that was phosphorylated, was suggested immunologically as the putative plasma membrane aquaporin (PM-AQP). This phosphorylated PM-AQP clearly reacted with the anti-phospho-Ser. In-gel assay revealed the presence of a 45-kDa Ca(2+)-dependent protein kinase in the isolated plasma membrane. Phosphorylation of the putative PM-AQP was thought to activate the water channel composed of PM-AQP. Dephosphorylation of the phosphorylated PM-AQP was also observed during petal closing at 5 degrees C, suggesting the inactivation of the water channel.
We present experimental and numerical investigations of planar terahertz metamaterial structures ... more We present experimental and numerical investigations of planar terahertz metamaterial structures designed to interact with the state of polarization. The dependence of metamaterial resonances on polarization results in unique amplitude and phase characteristics of the terahertz transmission, providing the basis for polarimetric terahertz devices. We highlight some potential applications for polarimetric devices and present simulations of a terahertz quarter-wave plate and a polarizing terahertz beam splitter. Although this work was performed at terahertz frequencies, it may find applications in other frequency ranges as well.
Metamaterials exhibit numerous novel effects 1-5 and operate over a large portion of the electrom... more Metamaterials exhibit numerous novel effects 1-5 and operate over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum 6-10 . Metamaterial devices based on these effects include gradientindex lenses 11,12 , modulators for terahertz radiation 13-15 and compact waveguides . The resonant nature of metamaterials results in frequency dispersion and narrow bandwidth operation where the centre frequency is fixed by the geometry and dimensions of the elements comprising the metamaterial composite. The creation of frequency-agile metamaterials would extend the spectral range over which devices function and, further, enable the manufacture of new devices such as dynamically tunable notch filters. Here, we demonstrate such frequency-agile metamaterials operating in the far-infrared by incorporating semiconductors in critical regions of metallic split-ring resonators. For this first-generation device, external optical control results in tuning of the metamaterial resonance frequency by 20%. Our approach is integrable with current semiconductor technologies and can be implemented in other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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Papers by Abul Azad