The γ-secretase complex catalyzes the final cleavage step of amyloid β-protein precursor (APP) to generate amyloid β (Aβ) peptide, a pathogenic component of senile plaques in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Recent studies have shown that presenilin enhancer-2 (Pen-2), presenilin (PS, including PS1 and PS2), nicastrin, and anterior pharynx-defective 1 are essential components of ...

Pen Computers: Dream and Reality \Pen computers" [4] oer an interesting alternative to paper. One can write directly on a LDC (Liquid Crystal Display) screen with a stylus or \pen". The screen has an invisible sensitive matrix which records the position of the pen on the surface. The trajectory of the pen appears almost instantaneously on the screen giving the illusion of ink (\electronic ink")...

We have developed AirTransNote, a student notes sharing system to facilitate collaborative and interactive learning in a regular lecture at conventional classrooms. Our former student system employed ultrasonic digital pens to capture student notes on a usual paper sheet. Although the paper-based approach is intuitive for learners, the ultrasonic pen with a PDA created some difficulties when us...

Although early Gastric Cancer (EGC) generally has a very good prognosis, this is not the case for a subset of patients defined as PEN A type according to Kodama’s microscopic classification. In 530 patients operated on in our surgical department between 1976-2006, the EGC survival rate was 94%. The 5-year survival of Pen A patients was 83%, decreasing to 69.7% when there was lymph node involvem...

In this paper, we introduce the prototype of a low cost haptically augmented stylus for pen computing on touch screens. The stylus supports human-computer interaction through a dynamic haptic feedback. This reflective feedback is generated by a magnetically operated brake system. The feedback actuator is integrated in the stylus. Therefore, the pen supports the use of multiple styli on a single...

Many children with diabetes require small doses of insulin administered with syringes or pen-injector devices (at the Booth Hall Paediatric Diabetic Clinic, 20% of children aged 0-5 years receive 1-2 U insulin doses). To determine how accurately and reproducibly small doses are delivered, 1, 2, 5, and 10 U doses of soluble insulin (100 U/ml) were dispensed in random order 15 times from five new...

Because the seleno-l-cysteine (SeCys or Sec) insertion into selenoproteins occurs by a specific translational control process, it is quite difficult to express the SeCys-containing polypeptides even by the state-of-the-art genetic engineering techniques. In this paper, we describe a convenient synthetic method for the selective introduction of a SeCys derivative to polypeptides under physiologi...

Isolated beef heart mitochondria have been exposed to tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) and peroxynitrite (PeN) in order to model the effects of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species on mitochondria in vivo. The formation of malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls, lipofuscin-like pigments (LFP), and nitrotyrosine was studied during incubations with various concentrations of oxidants for up to 24...

The surface of beef cattle feedlot pens is commonly conceptualized as being packed uncomposted manure. Despite the important role that the feedlot pen may play in the transmission of veterinary and zoonotic pathogens, the bacterial ecology of feedlot surface material is not well understood. Our present study characterized the bacterial communities of the beef cattle feedlot pen surface material...