Investigation of the binding behavior of human serum albumin and phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide

Aim To study the binding behavior between human serum albumin （HSA） and phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide （PS- ODN） and the effects of bivalent cations on the interaction. Methods Surface plasma resonance, circular dichroism and fluorescence experiments were conducted. Results （ 1 ） the binding ability was decreased along with the increase of pH; （2） Zn^2＋and Ni^2＋ enhanced the interaction between PS-ODN and HSA; （3） Upon PS-ODN binding, the conformation of HSA was changed with an increase of β - sheet. Conclusion The results provide experimental evidences to the hypothesis that PS-ODN binds with HSA in the positive potential region, and histidine residues located in the region play a crucial rule in the interaction.

Distributed Localization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network Based on Multidimensional Scaling and the Shortest Path Distance Correction

Sensor localization is crucial for the configuration and applications of wireless sensor network (WSN). A novel distributed localization algorithm, MDS-DC was proposed for wireless sensor network based on multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the shortest path distance correction. In MDS-DC, several local positioning regions with reasonable distribution were firstly constructed by an adaptive search algorithm, which ensures the mergence between the local relative maps of the adjacent local position regions and can reduce the number of common nodes in the network. Then, based on the relationships between the estimated distances and actual distances of anchors, the distance estimation vectors of sensors around anchors were corrected in each local positioning region. During the computations of the local relative coordinates, an iterative process, which is the combination of classical MDS algorithm and SMACOF algorithm, was applied. Finally, the global relative positions or absolute positions of sensors were obtained through merging the relative maps of all local positioning regions. Simulation results show that MDS-DC has better performances in positioning precision, energy efficiency and robustness to range error, which can meet the requirements of applications for sensor localization in WSN.

Method to determine α in rough set model based on connection degree

An improvement of tolerance relation is proposed in regard to rough set model based on connection degree by which reflexivity of relation can be assured without loss of information. Then, a method to determine optimal identity degree based on relative positive region is proposed so that the identity degree can be computed in an objective method without any preliminary or additional information about data, which is consistent with the notion of objectivity in rough set theory and data mining theory. Subsequently, an algorithm is proposed, and in two examples, the global optimum identity degree is found out. Finally, in regard to optimum connection degree, the method of rules extraction for connection degree rough set model based on generalization function is presented by which the rules extracted from a decision table are enumerated.

Studies on DNA-protein interactions in the upstream regulatory region of the human ε-globin gene promoter

The erythroid- and developmental stage-specific expression of the human ε-globin gene is controlled, in part,by the 5’-flanking DNA sequence of this gene. In the present study, we have used DNA-protein binding assays to identify trans-acting factors which regulate the temporal expression of the human ε-globin gene during development. Using gel mobility shift assays and DNasel footprinting assays, a nuclear protein factor (termed ε-SSF1) in the nuclear extracts from mouse haematopoietic tissues at d 11 and d 13 of gestation was identified. It could specifically bind to the positive control region (between -535 and -453bp) of the human ε-globin gene. We speculated that the E-SSF1 might be an erythroid- and developmental stage-specific activator. In addition, we found another nuclear protein factor (termed ε-R1) in the nuclear extract from mouse fetal liver at d 18 of gestation, which could strongly bind to the silencer region (between -392 and -177bp) of this gene. Therefore, we speculated that the ε-R1 might be an erythroid- and developmental stagespecific repressor. Our data suggest that both ε-SSF1 and ε-R1 might play important roles in developmental regulation of the human ε-globin gene expression during the early embryonic life. On the other hand, we observed that the binding patterns of nuclear proteins from three cell lines (K562, HEL and Raji) to these regulatory regions were partially different. These results suggest that different trans-acting factors in K562, HEL and Raji cells might be responsible for activating or silencing the human ε-globin gene in three different cell lines.

Heuristic Reduction Algorithm Based on Pairwise Positive Region

To guarantee the optimal reduct set, a heuristic reduction algorithm is proposed, which considers the distinguishing information between the members of each pair decision classes. Firstly the pairwise positive region is defined, based on which the pairwise significance measure is calculated between the members of each pair classes. Finally the weighted pairwise significance of attribute is used as the attribute reduction criterion, which indicates the necessity of attributes very well. By introducing the noise tolerance factor, the new algorithm can tolerate noise to some extent. Experimental results show the advantages of our novel heuristic reduction algorithm over the traditional attribute dependency based algorithm.

A DNA-binding protein factor in K562 nuclear extract interacts with positive control region (PCR) in the 5'flanking sequence of human β-globin gene

It has been known that there are at least three regulatory regions (NCR1, NCR2 and PCR) in the 5'-flanking sequence (from -610 bp to +1bp) of human β-globin gene and that the function of PCR is unique to the human erythroleukemia (K562) cells. Here we have detected a DNA-binding protein factor (termed NFEa) in K562 cells, which can bind specifically to the PCR of human β-globin gene. The sequence of the binding site is 5'ACTGATG3' (between -222 bp and -216 bp). The NFEa is erythroid-specific and perhaps specific for K562 cells. It seemed that this factor differed from the erythroid-specific tran-scriptional factor (NFE-1) using competition assay. The presence of the NFEa further supported that the function of the cis-acting element PCR was specific for K562 cells, and helps us to understand the mechanism of the regulation of the expression of human β-globin gene in the human K562 cells.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIP-MOUTH REGION IN SMILING POSITION FROM 80 PERSONS WITH ACCEPTABLE FACES AND INDIVIDUAL NORMAL OCCLUSIONS

OBJECTIVE: The characteristics of lip-mouth region including the soft and hard tissues in smiling position with frontal fixed position photographic computer-aided analysis were studied. METHODS: The subjects were 80 persons (40 male and 40 females, age range: 17 to approximately 25 years) with acceptable faces and individual normal occlusions. The subjects were asked to take maximum smiling position to accept photographic measurement with computer-aided analysis. RESULTS: The maximum smile line could be divided into 3 categories: low smile line (16.25%), average smile line (68.75%), and high smile line (15%). CONCLUSION: The method adopting maximum smiling position to study the lip-month region is reproducible and comparable. This study would be helpful to provide a quantitative reference for clinical investigation, diagnosis, treatment and efficacy appraisal.