International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms, 2004
Marionettes are string-operated puppets. It is an ancient and universal form of performing art wh... more Marionettes are string-operated puppets. It is an ancient and universal form of performing art which still evolves slowly today. From the engineering perspective, the marionette is a wire-(or string-) driven multi-limbed under-actuated mechanism under gravity influence that exhibits rich kinematic and dynamic behaviours. This article introduces the evolution and the engineering aspect of traditional marionette design and manipulation skills. Based on the mechanics of marionette, a novel robotic marionette system that manipulates the puppet through mechatronic means is developed. The marionette may create life-like movements according to programmed motion commands issued from the computer and a motor-driven puppeteer mechanism. A simple demonstration of the robotic marionette performance is shown as well.
Purpose: This study evaluated the role of clinical examination and frozen sections in the diagnos... more Purpose: This study evaluated the role of clinical examination and frozen sections in the diagnosis and management of parotid masses. Patients and Methods: One hundred seventy patients underwent parotidectomy. Of these, the data on 65 were analyzed, with emphasis on accuracy of the clinical diagnosis and frozen section results compared with the final histologic diagnosis.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is considered to be the major o... more Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is considered to be the major oncogenic protein of EBV-encoded proteins and has always been the core of the oncogenic mechanism of EBV. Advanced studies on nuclear translocation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family have greatly improved our knowledge of the biological function of cell surface receptors. In this study, we used the Tet-on LMP1 HNE2 cell line as a cell model, which is a dual-stable LMP1-integrated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line and the expression of LMP1 which could be regulated by the Tet system. We found that LMP1 could regulate the nuclear accumulation of EGFR in a dose-dependent manner quantitatively and qualitatively. We also demonstrated that the nuclear localization sequence of EGFR played some roles in the location of the protein within the nucleus under LMP1 regulation and EGFR in the nucleus could bind to the promoters of cyclinD1 and cyclinE, respectively. We further demonstrated that EGFR is involved in the acceleration of the G1/S phase transition by LMP1 through binding to cyclinD1 and cyclinE directly. These findings provided a novel view that the acceleration of LMP1 on the G1/S transition via the nuclear accumulation of EGFR was critical in the process of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB / Société française de physiologie végétale, 2005
Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) isoenzymes, distributing in at least four distinct cell compartments, ... more Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) isoenzymes, distributing in at least four distinct cell compartments, the chloroplastic stroma (sAPX) and thylakoid membrane (tAPX), microbody (mAPX) and cytosol (cAPX), catalyze the reduction of H(2)O(2) to water by using ascorbic acid (AsA) as specific electron donor. In order to better clarify the response of APX isoenzymes and AsA regeneration enzymes to abiotic stresses, the activities of APX isoenzymes as well as monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDAR), glutathione reductase (GR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) were investigated in cucumber plants after heat, methyl viologen (MV) and H(2)O(2) treatments. The activities of cAPX, sAPX, mAPX increased after a slight decline throughout the experiment. Consistent closely with sAPX activity, the expression of sAPX followed a similar change pattern, indicating that sAPX was regulated at the transcriptional level. In contrast, constitutive expression was observed in tAPX activity and no significant chang...
In order to clarify the response of antioxidant systems in various cellular organelles to photo-o... more In order to clarify the response of antioxidant systems in various cellular organelles to photo-oxidative stress, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and enzymes of the ascorbateglutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle were investigated in chloroplasts, mitochondria and cytosol of cucumber leaves subjected to methyl viologen (MV) treatment. Photo-oxidation by MV resulted in significant reductions in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and increases in the ratio of the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), U PSII to that of the quantum efficiency of CO 2 fixation (U CO 2 ), followed by increased activities of SOD, and a general increase of AsA-GSH cycle enzymes in chloroplasts, mitochondria and cytosol. These increases were however, most significant in chloroplasts. There were also significant increases in dehydroascorbate (DHA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) except that the content of ascorbate (AsA) in chloroplasts and cytosol was slightly decreased and little effected, respectively. However, GSSG in mitochondria and GSH in cytosol were little influenced by the MV treatment. The activity of ascorbate oxidase (AO) in these organelles was independent of the MV treatment while the activity of L-galactono-1,4lactone dehydrogenase (GLDH) in mitochondria was slightly inhibited by MV treatment. These results indicate that disturbance of electron transport in chloroplasts by MV influenced the metabolism of whole cell by a crosstalk signaling system and that the AsA-GSH cycle played a primary role in sustaining the levels of AsA.
We examined the responses of the photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport and antioxidan... more We examined the responses of the photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport and antioxidant systems in cell organelles of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) leaves to infection of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) by comparing the gas exchange, Chl fluorescence, respiratory electron transport, superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle enzymes and the production of H 2 O 2 in chloroplasts, mitochondria and soluble fraction in virus-infected and non-infected leaves. Long-term CMV infection resulted in decreased photosynthesis and respiration rates. Photosynthetic electron flux to carbon reduction, respiratory electron transport via both complex I and complex II and also the Cyt respiration rate all significantly decreased, while photosynthetic alternative electron flux and alternative respiration significantly increased. These changes in electron transport were accompanied by a general increase in the activities of SOD/AsA-GSH cycle enzymes followed by an increased H 2 O 2 accumulation in chloroplasts and mitochondria. These results demonstrated that disturbance of photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport by CMV also affected the antioxidative systems, thereby leading to oxidative stress in various organelles.
To investigate the effect of exogenous Spermidine (Spd) and Spermine (Spm) on drought-induced dam... more To investigate the effect of exogenous Spermidine (Spd) and Spermine (Spm) on drought-induced damage to seedlings of Cerasus humili, relative water content (RWC), malondialdehyde content, relative electrolyte leakage, superoxide (O 2 -, SOD) generation rate, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), endogenous polyamines (PAs), antioxidant enzymes [SOD and peroxidase (POD)] activities, PA-biosynthetic enzymes [arginine decarboxylase (ADC), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC)] activities, as well as photosynthetic parameters, were measured in greenhouse cultured seedlings of C. humili. The results showed that either exogenous Spd or Spm (0.2 mM) significantly enhanced the level of RWC and prevented drought-induced lipid peroxidation. They also significantly enhanced photosynthetic capability and decreased O 2 generation rate and H 2 O 2 content. In addition, Spd and Spm helped to maintain SOD and POD activities in C. humili seedlings subjected to water stress, suggesting that they exerted a positive effect on antioxidant systems. The contents of endogenous free putrescine, Spd and Spm were increased to different extents in water-stressed C. humili seedlings.
To investigate the effects of exogenously applied brassinosteroids on the thermotolerance of plan... more To investigate the effects of exogenously applied brassinosteroids on the thermotolerance of plants, leaf CO 2 assimilation, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and antioxidant enzyme metabolism were examined in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. 9021) plants with or without 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) application. Tomato plants were exposed to 40/30°C for 8 days and then returned to optimal conditions for 4 days. High temperature significantly decreased the net photosynthetic rate (P n ), stomatal conductance (G s ), and maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (V cmax ), the maximum potential rate of electron transport contributed to ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP), as well as the relative quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (A PSII ), photochemical quenching (q P ), and increased nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). However, only slight reversible photoinhibition occurred during heat stress. Interestingly, EBR pretreatment significantly alleviated high-temperature-induced inhibition of photosynthesis. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPOD), and catalase (CAT) increased during heat treatments, and these increases proved to be more significant in EBR-treated plants. EBR application also reduced total hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and malonaldehyde (MDA) contents, while significantly increasing shoot weight following heat stress. It was concluded that EBR could alleviate the detrimental effects of high temperatures on plant growth by increasing carboxylation efficiency and enhancing antioxidant enzyme systems in leaves.
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a common cause of inflammatory arthritis. The disease is associate... more Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a common cause of inflammatory arthritis. The disease is associated with the gene HLA-B27; however, only 1%-5% of HLA-B27-positive individuals develop ankylosing spondylitis, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that other genes must also be involved. Over the last few years, the development of high-throughput microarray-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping techniques and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have helped to highlight non-HLA genetic risk factors associated with AS. In this study, we investigated the association between SNP rs10865331 and Ankylosing Spondylitis in Iranian Azari patients. 57 AS patients who fulfilled the selection criteria, were solicited sequentially at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Hospitals, Tabriz, Iran. Also, 50 cases as control group were participated in this study. There were 45 men (79%) and 12 women (21%) in the patient group. Mean age of patients was 38 ± 10.4 years (ranging 20-62). The mean BASFI score of AS patients was 7.74. Also, the mean BASDAI score was 20.11.All of the patients were heterozygote for rs10865331 SNP. Also, all of the cases in the control group were heterozygote for rs10865331 SNP. This lack of association could be related to a small sample size or racial issues. Because of this, This SNP cannot have a diagnostic application in our population and therefore complementary study with larger sample size is necessary to unravel this intergenic AS-associated SNP.
International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms, 2004
Marionettes are string-operated puppets. It is an ancient and universal form of performing art wh... more Marionettes are string-operated puppets. It is an ancient and universal form of performing art which still evolves slowly today. From the engineering perspective, the marionette is a wire-(or string-) driven multi-limbed under-actuated mechanism under gravity influence that exhibits rich kinematic and dynamic behaviours. This article introduces the evolution and the engineering aspect of traditional marionette design and manipulation skills. Based on the mechanics of marionette, a novel robotic marionette system that manipulates the puppet through mechatronic means is developed. The marionette may create life-like movements according to programmed motion commands issued from the computer and a motor-driven puppeteer mechanism. A simple demonstration of the robotic marionette performance is shown as well.
Purpose: This study evaluated the role of clinical examination and frozen sections in the diagnos... more Purpose: This study evaluated the role of clinical examination and frozen sections in the diagnosis and management of parotid masses. Patients and Methods: One hundred seventy patients underwent parotidectomy. Of these, the data on 65 were analyzed, with emphasis on accuracy of the clinical diagnosis and frozen section results compared with the final histologic diagnosis.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is considered to be the major o... more Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-encoded latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is considered to be the major oncogenic protein of EBV-encoded proteins and has always been the core of the oncogenic mechanism of EBV. Advanced studies on nuclear translocation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family have greatly improved our knowledge of the biological function of cell surface receptors. In this study, we used the Tet-on LMP1 HNE2 cell line as a cell model, which is a dual-stable LMP1-integrated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell line and the expression of LMP1 which could be regulated by the Tet system. We found that LMP1 could regulate the nuclear accumulation of EGFR in a dose-dependent manner quantitatively and qualitatively. We also demonstrated that the nuclear localization sequence of EGFR played some roles in the location of the protein within the nucleus under LMP1 regulation and EGFR in the nucleus could bind to the promoters of cyclinD1 and cyclinE, respectively. We further demonstrated that EGFR is involved in the acceleration of the G1/S phase transition by LMP1 through binding to cyclinD1 and cyclinE directly. These findings provided a novel view that the acceleration of LMP1 on the G1/S transition via the nuclear accumulation of EGFR was critical in the process of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB / Société française de physiologie végétale, 2005
Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) isoenzymes, distributing in at least four distinct cell compartments, ... more Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) isoenzymes, distributing in at least four distinct cell compartments, the chloroplastic stroma (sAPX) and thylakoid membrane (tAPX), microbody (mAPX) and cytosol (cAPX), catalyze the reduction of H(2)O(2) to water by using ascorbic acid (AsA) as specific electron donor. In order to better clarify the response of APX isoenzymes and AsA regeneration enzymes to abiotic stresses, the activities of APX isoenzymes as well as monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDAR), glutathione reductase (GR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) were investigated in cucumber plants after heat, methyl viologen (MV) and H(2)O(2) treatments. The activities of cAPX, sAPX, mAPX increased after a slight decline throughout the experiment. Consistent closely with sAPX activity, the expression of sAPX followed a similar change pattern, indicating that sAPX was regulated at the transcriptional level. In contrast, constitutive expression was observed in tAPX activity and no significant chang...
In order to clarify the response of antioxidant systems in various cellular organelles to photo-o... more In order to clarify the response of antioxidant systems in various cellular organelles to photo-oxidative stress, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and enzymes of the ascorbateglutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle were investigated in chloroplasts, mitochondria and cytosol of cucumber leaves subjected to methyl viologen (MV) treatment. Photo-oxidation by MV resulted in significant reductions in net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and increases in the ratio of the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), U PSII to that of the quantum efficiency of CO 2 fixation (U CO 2 ), followed by increased activities of SOD, and a general increase of AsA-GSH cycle enzymes in chloroplasts, mitochondria and cytosol. These increases were however, most significant in chloroplasts. There were also significant increases in dehydroascorbate (DHA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) except that the content of ascorbate (AsA) in chloroplasts and cytosol was slightly decreased and little effected, respectively. However, GSSG in mitochondria and GSH in cytosol were little influenced by the MV treatment. The activity of ascorbate oxidase (AO) in these organelles was independent of the MV treatment while the activity of L-galactono-1,4lactone dehydrogenase (GLDH) in mitochondria was slightly inhibited by MV treatment. These results indicate that disturbance of electron transport in chloroplasts by MV influenced the metabolism of whole cell by a crosstalk signaling system and that the AsA-GSH cycle played a primary role in sustaining the levels of AsA.
We examined the responses of the photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport and antioxidan... more We examined the responses of the photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport and antioxidant systems in cell organelles of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) leaves to infection of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) by comparing the gas exchange, Chl fluorescence, respiratory electron transport, superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle enzymes and the production of H 2 O 2 in chloroplasts, mitochondria and soluble fraction in virus-infected and non-infected leaves. Long-term CMV infection resulted in decreased photosynthesis and respiration rates. Photosynthetic electron flux to carbon reduction, respiratory electron transport via both complex I and complex II and also the Cyt respiration rate all significantly decreased, while photosynthetic alternative electron flux and alternative respiration significantly increased. These changes in electron transport were accompanied by a general increase in the activities of SOD/AsA-GSH cycle enzymes followed by an increased H 2 O 2 accumulation in chloroplasts and mitochondria. These results demonstrated that disturbance of photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport by CMV also affected the antioxidative systems, thereby leading to oxidative stress in various organelles.
To investigate the effect of exogenous Spermidine (Spd) and Spermine (Spm) on drought-induced dam... more To investigate the effect of exogenous Spermidine (Spd) and Spermine (Spm) on drought-induced damage to seedlings of Cerasus humili, relative water content (RWC), malondialdehyde content, relative electrolyte leakage, superoxide (O 2 -, SOD) generation rate, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), endogenous polyamines (PAs), antioxidant enzymes [SOD and peroxidase (POD)] activities, PA-biosynthetic enzymes [arginine decarboxylase (ADC), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC)] activities, as well as photosynthetic parameters, were measured in greenhouse cultured seedlings of C. humili. The results showed that either exogenous Spd or Spm (0.2 mM) significantly enhanced the level of RWC and prevented drought-induced lipid peroxidation. They also significantly enhanced photosynthetic capability and decreased O 2 generation rate and H 2 O 2 content. In addition, Spd and Spm helped to maintain SOD and POD activities in C. humili seedlings subjected to water stress, suggesting that they exerted a positive effect on antioxidant systems. The contents of endogenous free putrescine, Spd and Spm were increased to different extents in water-stressed C. humili seedlings.
To investigate the effects of exogenously applied brassinosteroids on the thermotolerance of plan... more To investigate the effects of exogenously applied brassinosteroids on the thermotolerance of plants, leaf CO 2 assimilation, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and antioxidant enzyme metabolism were examined in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. 9021) plants with or without 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) application. Tomato plants were exposed to 40/30°C for 8 days and then returned to optimal conditions for 4 days. High temperature significantly decreased the net photosynthetic rate (P n ), stomatal conductance (G s ), and maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (V cmax ), the maximum potential rate of electron transport contributed to ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP), as well as the relative quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (A PSII ), photochemical quenching (q P ), and increased nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). However, only slight reversible photoinhibition occurred during heat stress. Interestingly, EBR pretreatment significantly alleviated high-temperature-induced inhibition of photosynthesis. The activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), guaiacol peroxidase (GPOD), and catalase (CAT) increased during heat treatments, and these increases proved to be more significant in EBR-treated plants. EBR application also reduced total hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) and malonaldehyde (MDA) contents, while significantly increasing shoot weight following heat stress. It was concluded that EBR could alleviate the detrimental effects of high temperatures on plant growth by increasing carboxylation efficiency and enhancing antioxidant enzyme systems in leaves.
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a common cause of inflammatory arthritis. The disease is associate... more Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a common cause of inflammatory arthritis. The disease is associated with the gene HLA-B27; however, only 1%-5% of HLA-B27-positive individuals develop ankylosing spondylitis, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that other genes must also be involved. Over the last few years, the development of high-throughput microarray-based single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping techniques and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have helped to highlight non-HLA genetic risk factors associated with AS. In this study, we investigated the association between SNP rs10865331 and Ankylosing Spondylitis in Iranian Azari patients. 57 AS patients who fulfilled the selection criteria, were solicited sequentially at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Hospitals, Tabriz, Iran. Also, 50 cases as control group were participated in this study. There were 45 men (79%) and 12 women (21%) in the patient group. Mean age of patients was 38 ± 10.4 years (ranging 20-62). The mean BASFI score of AS patients was 7.74. Also, the mean BASDAI score was 20.11.All of the patients were heterozygote for rs10865331 SNP. Also, all of the cases in the control group were heterozygote for rs10865331 SNP. This lack of association could be related to a small sample size or racial issues. Because of this, This SNP cannot have a diagnostic application in our population and therefore complementary study with larger sample size is necessary to unravel this intergenic AS-associated SNP.
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