Gα_s signaling controls intramembranous ossification during cranial bone development by regulating both Hedgehog and Wnt/β-catenin signaling

How osteoblast cells are induced is a central question for understanding skeletal formation. Abnormal osteoblast differentiation leads to a broad range of devastating craniofacial diseases. Here we have investigated intramembranous ossification during cranial bone development in mouse models of skeletal genetic diseases that exhibit craniofacial bone defects. The GNAS gene encodes Gαs that transduces GPCR signaling. GNAS activation or loss-of-function mutations in humans cause fibrous dysplasia(FD) or progressive osseous heteroplasia(POH) that shows craniofacial hyperostosis or craniosynostosis, respectively. We find here that, while Hh ligand-dependent Hh signaling is essential for endochondral ossification, it is dispensable for intramembranous ossification, where Gαsregulates Hh signaling in a ligand-independent manner. We further show that Gαscontrols intramembranous ossification by regulating both Hh and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. In addition, Gαsactivation in the developing cranial bone leads to reduced ossification but increased cartilage presence due to reduced cartilage dissolution, not cell fate switch. Small molecule inhibitors of Hh and Wnt signaling can effectively ameliorate cranial bone phenotypes in mice caused by loss or gain of Gnas function mutations, respectively. Our work shows that studies of genetic diseases provide invaluable insights in both pathological bone defects and normal bone development, understanding both leads to better diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of bone diseases.

Latest Developments and Problems in Standardization of Resource Control Technologies for NGN

As a hot spot of next generation network, research over resource control has been carried out for years both in China and abroad. With a gradual progress in standardization, this field presents new development trends and features. Based on latest progresses in standardization promoted by ITU-T, TISPAN and 3GPP, new technologies concerned with resource control are introduced. Considering the problems faced in standardization deployment, relevant resource control functions are also analyzed in this article.

A Web-Based Pilot Implementation of the Africanized Land Administration Domain Model for Kenya—A Case Study of Nyeri County

Kenya has amassed a wealth of paper based land information records collected over the duration of more than a century. The National Land Commission (NLC) having the mandate to develop a National Land Information Management System (NLIMS) for Kenya partnered with the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology on a project to develop a pilot LIMS for Nyeri County. A pilot Land Administration System (LAS) has been developed in this work and utilizes an Africanized Land Administration Domain Model (A-LADM) fitted to the Kenyan context. Various processes involved in land administration that required to be automated were identified. Informed by the numbers of applications made for the change of User service, it was picked as the first workflow to be automated. The key outputs of this work were the A-LADM and pilot LAS. The pilot solution uses a webcentric solution, with the data stored and managed centrally from a PostGIS database backend, using the Python Django framework to implement the server side and client side frontend. This solution demonstrates the importance of automating processes and supporting standards based software development. Stakeholder participation is key when implementing systems and 2 workshops are held to capture requirements and validate the developed solution.

Genomic basis for light control of plant development

Light is one of the key environmental signals regulating plant growth and development.Therefore,understanding the mechanisms by which light controls plant development has long been of great interest to plant biologists.Traditional genetic and molecular approaches have successfully identified key regulatory factors in light signaling,but recent genomic studies have revealed massive reprogramming of plant transcriptomes by light,identified binding sites across the entire genome of several pivotal transcription factors in light signaling,and discovered the involvement of epigenetic regulation in light-regulated gene expression.This review summarizes the key genomic work conducted in the last decade which provides new insights into light control of plant development.

Receptor-like protein kinases:Key regulators controlling root hair development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Root hairs are tubular outgrowths specifically differentiated from epidermal cells in a differentiation zone. The formation of root hairs greatly increases the surface area of a root and maximizes its ability to absorb water and inorganic nutrients essential for plant growth and development. Root hair development is strictly regulated by intracellular and intercellular signal communications. Cell surface-localized receptor-like protein kinases （P, LKs） have been shown to be important components in these cellular processes, tn this review, the functions of a number of key P, LKs in regulating Arabidopsis root hair development are discussed, especially those involved in root epidermal cell fate determination and root hair tip growth.

Development of an Automatic Gain Controller Card for Next Generation EDFAs

This paper describes a low cost automatic gain controller card that provides fast transient gain control to maintain the power of the surviving channels when the number of input channels to an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) changes rapidly.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TCM AND QUALITY CONTROL OF TCM HERBS AND HERBAL PREPARATIONS IN TAIWAN

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been very popular in Taiwan in the past.TCM was incorporated in the National Insurance since 1995.Starting 2012,all new TCM physicians had to be graduated from TCM Department in Medical University.Currently,there are 6,442 TCM physicians practiced in 3,372 clinics and 95 hospitals.TCM only accounts for less than 4%of total National Health

DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL HPLC METHOD FOR QUALITY CONTROL OF SAFFRON(CROCUS SATIVUS L.)

Saffron,the dried stigma of Crocus sativus L.,findsnumerous applications in TCM.Here,a novel HPLC protocol was established and applied for the analysis of saffron samples,not only from different places of origin but also from several harvest seasons.One of the main active constituents of saffron,crocin,is also contained in

The Controlled Approach in City Planning:Technique and Practice---Take,as an example,the control type of planning for the developing area of Chigang in Guangzhou

On the basis of the practice in Guangzhou in recent years,this article proposes the tech-nique of the“control”approach in city planning,and presents its specific application and ex-plorations with the example of the planning for the developing area of Chigang inGuangzhou.With the reform of the urban economic-political system and the advancement of theopen-door policy,significant changes are evolving in the ideas and the ways of city planningand design.To meet the demand of these developments,the new“control”approach in cityplanning and design is thus adopted.

Dynamic design of green stormwater infrastructure

This paper compares ongoing research results on hydrologic performance to common design and crediting criteria, and recommends a change in direction from a static to a dynamic perspective to fully credit the performance of green infrastructure. Examples used in this article are primarily stormwater control measures built for research on the campus of Villanova University [1,2]. Evidence is presented demonstrating that the common practice of crediting water volume based on soil and surface storage underestimates the performance potential, and suggests that the profession move to a more dynamic approach that incorporates exfiltration and evapotranspiration. The framework for a dynamic approach is discussed, with a view to broaden our design focus by including climate, configuration and the soil surroundings. The substance of this work was presented as a keynote speech at the 2016 international Low Impact Development Conference in Beijing China [3].