Wall-coated open-tubular (WCOT) columns provide higher column efficiency and lower solute interfacial adsorption effect than packed columns. However, previous efforts used to measure infinite dilution activity coefficient (γ∞) via a chromatographic technique have used packed columns, because the low carrier gas flow rate (U) and the small stationary phase amount ...

The complex relationships between the human and animal species have never ceased to evolve since the emergence of the human species and have resulted in a human-animal interface that has promoted the cross-species transmission, emergence and eventual evolution of a plethora of infectious pathogens. Remarkably, most of the characteristics of ...

Background: Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause disease in healthy and immunocompromised patients. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2007 diagnostic criteria were devised to distinguish NTM disease from airway colonization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the ATS criteria. Methods: In a 4-y follow-up study that ...

One goal of regenerative medicine, to use stem cells to replace cells lost by injury or disease, depends on producing an excess of the relevant cell for study or transplantation. To this end, the stepwise differentiation of stem cells into specialized derivatives has been successful for some cell types, but ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Withania somnifera, also known as ashwagandha, is an important herb in ayurvedic and indigenous medical systems. The present study was designed to evaluate the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of an 80% aqueous methanolic extract of W. somnifera roots (WSREt), fruits (WSFEt) and leaves (WSLEt). METHODS: Several assays were ...

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of graphene and graphite show contrast with atomic periodicity. However, the contrast patterns vary depending on the atomic termination of the AFM tip apex and the tip-sample distance, hampering the identification of the atomic positions. Here, we report quantitative AFM imaging of epitaxial graphene using ...

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the solvation characteristics of neutral fullerene (C(60)) and charged fulleride anion (C(60) (5-)) in liquid ammonia. Potassium ions are present as counterions in the system containing fulleride ion. In addition to solvation characteristics, dynamical properties of solvation shells are also found out ...

Since the development of federal standards for drug approval, the practice of medicine has historically involved the compounding of medications based on a physician's determination that a US FDA-approved product either did not exist, or could not be used for medical reasons. Today, prescriptions for non-FDA-approved compounded drugs may be ...

A general implementation of the lowest nonvanishing order perturbation theory for the calculation of molecular multiphoton ionization cross sections is proposed in the framework of density functional theory. Bound and scattering wave functions are expanded in a multicentric basis set and advantage is taken of the full molecular point group ...

In view of recent tremendous advance in astronomical observations in the submillimeter to THz region brought by the Herschel space craft, laboratory high-resolution spectroscopic investigations in that frequency region into unstable molecules, in particular, light hydride ions, are urgently needed. As a part of such endeavor, rotational transitions of H(2)F(+) ...

Due to the importance of the hydrophobic interaction in protein folding, we decided to study the effect of pressure and temperature on the phase transitions of non-polar solutes in water, and thereby their solubility, using molecular dynamics simulations. The main results are: (1) within a certain range, temperature induces the ...

Elaborating reliable and versatile strategies for efficient light coupling between free space and thin films is of crucial importance for new technologies in energy efficiency. Nanostructured materials have opened unprecedented opportunities for light management, notably in thin-film solar cells. Efficient coherent light trapping has been accomplished through the careful design ...

The reason for the lack of size extensivity in the valence space in current implementations of internally contracted multireference coupled cluster theories is the procedure used to eliminate redundant components from the cluster operator. We present a simple way to restore full size extensivity by performing this critical step in ...

A protein folds into its native structure with the α-helix and∕or β-sheet in aqueous solution under the physiological condition. The relative content of these secondary structures largely varies from protein to protein. However, such structural variability is not exhibited in nonaqueous environment. For example, there is a strong trend that ...

The precursor to adenovirus protein VI, pVI, is a multifunctional protein with different roles early and late in virus infection. Here, we focus on two roles late in infection, binding of pVI to DNA and to the major capsid protein hexon. pVI bound to DNA as a monomer independent of ...

Genetic programs function to integrate environmental sensors, implement signal processing algorithms and control expression dynamics. These programs consist of integrated genetic circuits that individually implement operations ranging from digital logic to dynamic circuits, and they have been used in various cellular engineering applications, including the implementation of process control in ...

Precursor proteins used in the assembly of adenovirus virions must be processed by the virally encoded adenovirus proteinase (AVP) before the virus particle becomes infectious. An activated adenovirus proteinase, the AVP-pVIc complex, was shown to slide along viral DNA with an extremely fast one-dimensional diffusion constant, 21.0 ± 1.9 × ...

Abstract Conclusion: The study showed the value of using intravital microscopy (IVM) analysis for the study of neoangiogenesis. It demonstrated that the model and the analytical methodology could be used to evaluate in detail the effects of treatment strategies for solid tumours. Objectives: Neoangiogenesis is a key component of tumour ...

We use a fundamental-measure density functional for hard board-like polydisperse particles, in the restricted-orientation approximation, to explain the phase behaviour of platelet colloidal suspensions studied in recent experiments. In particular, we focus our attention on the behavior of the total packing fraction of the mixture, η, in the region of ...

Controlling surface structure at the atomic scale is paramount to developing effective catalysts. For example, the edge sites of MoS(2) are highly catalytically active and are thus preferred at the catalyst surface over MoS(2) basal planes, which are inert. However, thermodynamics favours the presence of the basal plane, limiting the ...

Angiogenesis is a prominent feature of central nervous system (CNS) disease and has roles in both the continued promotion of inflammation and the subsequent repair processes. Here we report that prostacyclin (or prostaglandin I(2) (PGI(2))) derived from new vessels promotes axonal remodeling of injured neuronal networks after CNS inflammation. In ...

The semiclassical instanton approach discussed by Kryvohuz [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 114103 (2011)] is applied to calculate kinetic H/D isotope effect (KIE) of intramolecular hydrogen transfer in cis-1,3-pentadiene. All 33 vibrational degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically with semiclassical approximation. Nuclear quantum effects such as tunneling under the barrier ...

The Ehrenfest force is the force acting on the electrons in a molecule due to the presence of the other electrons and the nuclei. There is an associated force field in three-dimensional space that is obtained by the integration of the corresponding Hermitian quantum force operator over the spin coordinates ...

We propose explicitly correlated Ansatz for four-component relativistic methods within the framework of the no-pair approximation. Kinetically balanced geminal basis is derived to satisfy the cusp conditions in the non-relativistic limit based on the Lévy-Leblend-like equation. Relativistic variants of strong-orthogonality projection operator (Ansätze 2α and 2β) suitable for practical calculations ...

Full dimensional multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) calculations of the dynamics of the three difluorobenzene cationic isomers in five lowest-lying doublet electronic states using the ab initio multistate multimode vibronic coupling Hamiltonian (MMVCH) model are carried out using the Heidelberg MCTDH package. The same dynamical problems, but treated with the ...

Understanding stage-dependent oncogenic mechanisms is critical to develop not only targeted therapies, but also diagnostic markers and preventive strategies. The mechanisms acting during cancer initiation remain elusive, largely owing to a lack of suitable animal models and limited availability of human precancerous lesions. Here we show using genetic mouse models ...

DNA rearrangements such as sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) are sensitive indicators of genomic stress and instability, but they are typically masked by single-cell sequencing techniques. We developed Strand-seq to independently sequence parental DNA template strands from single cells, making it possible to map SCEs at orders-of-magnitude greater resolution than was ...

We present a methodology for the design, construction and modification of synthetic gene networks. This method emphasizes post-assembly modification of constructs based on network behavior, thus facilitating iterative design strategies and rapid tuning and repurposing of gene networks. The ease of post-construction modification afforded by this approach and the ever-increasing ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly being recognized as a highly heterogeneous disorder, composed of varying pathobiology. Accurate detection of COPD subtypes by image biomarkers is urgently needed to enable individualized treatment, thus improving patient outcome. We adapted the parametric response map (PRM), a voxel-wise image analysis technique, for ...

The biosynthesis of many vitamins and coenzymes has often proven difficult to elucidate owing to a combination of low abundance and kinetic lability of the pathway intermediates. Through a serial reconstruction of the cobalamin (vitamin B(12)) pathway in Escherichia coli and by His tagging the terminal enzyme in the reaction ...

Functional assignment of uncharacterized proteins is a challenge in the era of large-scale genome sequencing. Here, we combine in extracto NMR, proteomics and transcriptomics with a newly developed (knock-out) metabolomics platform to determine a potential physiological role for a ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO)-like protein from Rhodospirillum rubrum. Our studies unraveled an ...

Interleukin 17 (IL-17) is important in infection and autoimmunity; how it signals remains poorly understood. In this study, we identified the ubiquitin-specific protease USP25 as a negative regulator of IL-17-mediated signaling and inflammation. Overexpression of USP25 inhibited IL-17-triggered signaling, whereas USP25 deficiency resulted in more phosphorylation of the inhibitor IκBα ...

A genetic bottleneck explains the marked changes in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) heteroplasmy that are observed during the transmission of pathogenic mutations, but the precise timing of these changes remains controversial, and it is not clear whether selection has a role. These issues are important for the genetic counseling of prospective ...

The vast diversity of GABAergic interneurons is believed to endow hippocampal microcircuits with the required flexibility for memory encoding and retrieval. However, dissection of the functional roles of defined interneuron types has been hampered by the lack of cell-specific tools. We identified a precise molecular marker for a population of ...

E3-19K binds to and retains MHC class I molecules in the endoplasmic reticulum, suppressing anti-adenovirus activities of T cells. We determined the structure of the adenovirus serotype 2 (Ad2, species C) E3-19K-HLA-A2 complex to 1.95-Å resolution. Ad2 E3-19K binds to the N terminus of the HLA-A2 groove, contacting the α1, ...

Persistent activity is thought to mediate working memory during behavior. Can it also occur during sleep? We found that the membrane potential of medial entorhinal cortex layer III (MECIII) neurons, a gateway between neocortex and hippocampus, showed spontaneous, stochastic persistent activity in vivo in mice during Up-Down state oscillations (UDS). ...

Control of asthma is the goal of asthma management worldwide. The Global Initiative for Asthma defined control by a composite measure of clinical findings and future risk but without using markers of airway inflammation, the hallmark of asthma. We investigated whether clinical asthma control reflects eosinophilic inflammation in a broad ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Bacteria of the genus Arthrobacter are ubiquitous in soil environments and can be considered as true survivalists. Arthrobacter sp. strain Rue61a is an isolate from sewage sludge able to utilize quinaldine (2-methylquinoline) as sole carbon and energy source. The genome provides insight into the molecular basis of the ...

Bovine TB, veterinary surveillance, dog breeding and 'one health' were all subjects on which the UK's chief veterinary officers answered questions at this year's BVA Congress. Kathryn Clark reports on the 'Ask the CVOs' session, at which the four CVOs gave their views on a range of topical issues raised ...

HIV-1 is transmitted by sexual contact across mucosal surfaces, by maternal-infant exposure, and by percutaneous inoculation. For reasons that are still incompletely understood, CCR5-tropic viruses (R5 viruses) are preferentially transmitted by all routes. Transmission is followed by an orderly appearance of viral and host markers of infection in the blood ...

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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Retinoic acid (RA) is a biologically active derivative of vitamin A. Previous studies have demonstrated that RA has protective effects against damage caused by H2O2 or oxygen-glucose deprivation in mesangial and PC12 cells. Pretreatment with 9-cis-retinoic acid (9cRA) reduced infarction and TUNEL labeling in cerebral cortex as well ...

Novel drugs and drug combinations are needed for the chemoprevention and treatment of cancer. We show that the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat [suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA)] and the methyl ester or ethyl amide derivatives of the synthetic triterpenoid 2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9(11)-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO-Me and CDDO-Ea, respectively) cooperated to inhibit the de novo ...

In this paper, we present MolFind, a highly multi-threaded pipeline type software package for use as an aid in identifying chemical structures in complex biofluids and mixtures. MolFind is specifically designed for high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) data inputs typical of metabolomics studies where structure identification is the ultimate ...

People have many concerns about managing other people, says Helen Frewin, who will discuss this subject at the BVA Careers Fair at the London Vet Show on November 16. Here, she describes managers' concerns and the issues that she will expand upon.

Abstract The ketogenic diet (KD) was initially developed for the treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsy and a possible alternative for the obesity treatment, dyslipidemia, resistance to insulin, and non-alcoholic steatosis. However, few studies evaluate the changes on the behavior, motor activity, and anxiety. The objective of this work was to analyze ...

The use of engineered nanomaterials (eNM) in consumer and industrial products is increasing exponentially. Our ability to rapidly assess their potential effects on human and environment health is limited by our understanding of nano-mediated toxicity. The use of high throughput experimentation enables probeing the nano-mediated toxicity on a genome wide ...

INTRODUCTION: A number of recent trials evaluating intra-arterial therapies for acute ischemic stroke have been completed. We present a review of prospective acute ischemic stroke trials reported in a peer-reviewed forum during the last 20 years to provide insight into the general direction of this rapidly evolving field. METHODS: Prospective ...

Uncertainty was introduced to chemical descriptors of 16 publicly available datasets to various degrees and in various ways in order to investigate the effect on the predictive performance of the state-of-the-art method ensembles of decision trees. A number of strategies to handle uncertainty in ensembles of decision trees were evaluated. ...

The following information has been produced for Veterinary Record by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to provide an update for veterinary surgeons on recent changes to marketing authorisations for veterinary medicines in the UK and on other relevant issues.