Xiaogang Liu

Bio: Xiaogang Liu is an academic researcher from National University of Singapore. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Photon upconversion. The author has an hindex of 94, co-authored 425 publications receiving 41825 citations. Previous affiliations of Xiaogang Liu include Heilongjiang University & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The regulation-of-autophagy pathway may influence Chinese stature variation : evidence from elder adults

Abstract: Recent success of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on human height variation emphasized the effects of individual loci or genes. In this study, we used a developed pathway-based approach to further test biological pathways for potential association with stature, by examining ∼370 000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the human genome in 618 unrelated elder Han Chinese. A total of 626 biological pathways annotated by any of the three major public pathway databases (KEGG, BioCarta and Ambion GeneAssist Pathway Atlas) were tested. The regulation-of-autophagy (ROA) (nominal P=0.012) pathway was marginally significantly associated with human stature after our family wise error rate multiple-testing correction. We also used 1000 random recruited US whites for further replication. Interestingly, the ROA pathway presented the strongest signals in whites for height variation (nominal P=0.002). The results correspond to biological roles of the ROA pathway in human long bone development and growth. Our findings also implied that multiple-genetic factors may work jointly as a functional unit (pathway), and the traditional GWASs could have missed important genetic information imbedded in those less significant markers.

ULA Fitting for MIMO Radar

Abstract: Uniform linear array (ULA) fitting (UF) principle is a newly proposed sparse array (SA) design scheme that aims to design SAs using cascaded ULAs, based on which a number of SAs with desired capacity are devised. In this letter, we introduce the UF idea to design sparse MIMO arrays with reduced mutual coupling and increased uniform degrees of freedom. However, existing sparse MIMO array design approach requires that the transmit and receive arrays in MIMO radar have hole-free difference coarrays (DCAs), which is no longer the best choice for the UF principle due to the fact that SAs designed via UF cannot guarantee hole-free DCAs. Considering the difference coarray of the sum coarray (DCSC) concept, a novel sparse MIMO array design strategy which is suitable for the UF principle is proposed. Based on the proposed strategy, a new sparse MIMO array is designed. Numerical simulations verify the good performance of the proposed sparse MIMO array in high coupling scenarios.

Water-soluble polyaromatic-based imidazolium for detecting picric acid: pyrene vs. anthracene

Abstract: Highly water-soluble fluorescent polyaromatic-based imidazolium compounds capable of detecting a wide-range of nitroaromatics, e.g., nitrophenols and picric acid in aqueous solution with fully quenched fluorescence are reported. The two probes contained an anthracene and pyrene group with the increased size and angularity of the pyrene ring in pyrene-based imidazolium (PIM) raising the hydrophobicity or π-π stacking and sensitivity of the probe towards all mono-, di-, and trinitrophenols even under harsh conditions (pH 4-8). The high affinity for nitrophenols was confirmed by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) reveals cation-anion interactions between the imidazolium and picrate ions causing fluorescent quenching through PET and charge transfer involving a dark S1 excited state.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

Room-temperature ultraviolet nanowire nanolasers

Abstract: Room-temperature ultraviolet lasing in semiconductor nanowire arrays has been demonstrated The self-organized, oriented zinc oxide nanowires grown on sapphire substrates were synthesized with a simple vapor transport and condensation process These wide band-gap semiconductor nanowires form natural laser cavities with diameters varying from 20 to 150 nanometers and lengths up to 10 micrometers Under optical excitation, surface-emitting lasing action was observed at 385 nanometers, with an emission linewidth less than 03 nanometer The chemical flexibility and the one-dimensionality of the nanowires make them ideal miniaturized laser light sources These short-wavelength nanolasers could have myriad applications, including optical computing, information storage, and microanalysis

Structural absorption by barbule microstructures of super black bird of paradise feathers

Abstract: Many studies have shown how pigments and internal nanostructures generate color in nature. External surface structures can also influence appearance, such as by causing multiple scattering of light (structural absorption) to produce a velvety, super black appearance. Here we show that feathers from five species of birds of paradise (Aves: Paradisaeidae) structurally absorb incident light to produce extremely low-reflectance, super black plumages. Directional reflectance of these feathers (0.05-0.31%) approaches that of man-made ultra-absorbent materials. SEM, nano-CT, and ray-tracing simulations show that super black feathers have titled arrays of highly modified barbules, which cause more multiple scattering, resulting in more structural absorption, than normal black feathers. Super black feathers have an extreme directional reflectance bias and appear darkest when viewed from the distal direction. We hypothesize that structurally absorbing, super black plumage evolved through sensory bias to enhance the perceived brilliance of adjacent color patches during courtship display.