Fischerwilhelmsen8270
In this review we present the developmental, histological, evolutionary and functional properties of insect chemosensory proteins (CSPs) in insect species. CSPs are small globular proteins folded like a prism and notoriously known for their complex and arguably obscure function(s), particularly in pheromone olfaction. Here, we focus on direct functional consequences on protein function depending on duplication, expression and RNA editing. The result of our analysis is important for understanding the significance of RNA-editing on functionality of CSP genes, particularly in the brain tissue.INTRODUCTION In patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), several non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) markers and the spot sign (SS) in computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA) have been established for the prediction of hematoma growth and neurological outcome. However, the prognostic value of these markers in patients under oral anticoagulation (ORAC) is unclear. We hypothesized that outcome prediction by these imaging markers may be significantly different between patients with and without ORAC. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the predictive value of NCCT markers and SS in patients with ICH under ORAC. METHODS This is a retrospective study of the database for patients with ICH at a German tertiary stroke center. Inclusion criteria were (1) patients with ICH, (2) oral anticoagulation within the therapeutic range, and (3) NCCT and CTA performed on admission within 6 h after onset of symptoms. We defined a binary outcome modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≤ 3 = good outcome versus mRS > 3 = of poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS The distribution and prognostic value of several NCCT markers and CTA spot sign in ICH patients under ORAC is comparable to those with spontaneous ICH, even though these parameters are partly based on coagulant status. These findings suggest that a similar approach can be used for further research regarding outcome prediction in ICH patients under ORAC and those with spontaneous ICH.The marine-derived fungus Aspergillus falconensis, isolated from sediment collected from the Canyon at Dahab, Red Sea, yielded two new chlorinated azaphilones, falconensins O and P (1 and 2) in addition to four known azaphilone derivatives (3-6) following fermentation of the fungus on solid rice medium containing 3.5% NaCl. Replacing NaCl with 3.5% NaBr induced accumulation of three additional new azaphilones, falconensins Q-S (7-9) including two brominated derivatives (7 and 8) together with three known analogues (10-12). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and HRESIMS data as well as by comparison with the literature. The absolute configuration of the azaphilone derivatives was established based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 5, comparison of NMR data and optical rotations as well as on biogenetic considerations. Compounds 1, 3-9, and 11 showed NF-κB inhibitory activity against the triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 with IC50 values ranging from 11.9 to 72.0 µM.Steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) are a class of nitrogen-containing glycosides occurring in several plant families and biosynthesized through a specific pathway. HMG-CoA reductase is the first enzyme of this pathway, and its transcription can be regulated by biotic and abiotic stressors and even in a tissue-specific manner. This study aimed to characterize the HMG genes family in a tuber-bearing potato species, Solanum commersonii, using transcriptional and functional approaches. Our results provided evidence that four ScHMGs with different tissue-specificities represent the HMG gene family in S. commersonii and that they originated from ScHMG1 through segmental duplications. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that ScHMG1 is the direct ortholog of AtHMG1, which is associated with SGAs accumulation in plants. Its overexpression in S. commersonii revealed that this gene plays a key role in the accumulation of glycoalkaloids regulating the production of dehydrocommersonine.The first characterized antifungal in the orotomide class is olorofim. It targets the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway by inhibiting dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). The pyrimidines uracil, thymine and cytosine are the building blocks of DNA and RNA; thus, inhibition of their synthesis is likely to have multiple effects, including affecting cell cycle regulation and protein synthesis. Additionally, uridine-5'-triphosphate (UTP) is required for the formation of uridine-diphosphate glucose (UDP-glucose), which is an important precursor for several cell wall components. In this study, the dynamic effects of olorofim treatment on the morphology and organization of Aspergillus fumigatus hyphae were analyzed microscopically using confocal live-cell imaging. Treatment with olorofim led to increased chitin content in the cell wall, increased septation, enlargement of vacuoles and inhibition of mitosis. Furthermore, vesicle-like structures, which could not be stained or visualized with a range of membrane- or vacuole-selective dyes, were found in treated hyphae. A colocalization study of DHODH and MitoTracker Red FM confirmed for the first time that A. fumigatus DHODH is localized in the mitochondria. Overall, olorofim treatment was found to significantly influence the dynamic structure and organization of A. fumigatus hyphae.Usually, the design of composite structures is limited to the linear elastic analysis only. The experimental results discussed in the paper demonstrate the physical non-linear behaviour both for unidirectional and woven roving composites. It is mainly connected with the micromechanical damages in composite structures, particularly with the effects of matrix cracking modeled in the form of elastic-plastic physical relations. In the present paper, the effects of both physical and geometrical non-linearities are taken into account. Their influence on the limit states (understood in the sense of buckling or failure/damage) of composite structures is discussed. The numerical examples deal with the behaviour of composite pressure vessels components, such as a cylindrical shell and the reinforcement of the junction of shells. The optimisation method of the reinforcement thickness is also formulated and solved herein.The levels and distribution of 9 trace elements in apples from two orchards in north-east (NE) Romania were measured by means of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) on 42 samples of 9 different apple varieties, with average content ranges of 0.909-4.458 mg·kg-1 Zn, 0.055-0.409 mg·kg-1 Cu, 0.700-2.476 mg·kg-1 Fe, 0.328-0.695 mg·kg-1 Mn, 0.054-0.257 mg·kg-1 Ni, 0.005-0.101 mg·kg-1 Cr, 0.027-0.420 mg·kg-1 Co, 0.413-1.149 mg·kg-1 Pb, and 0.025-0.127 mg·kg-1 Cd. For some apple varieties, Pb contents are 2 times higher than the maximum contents allowed according to national standards, Cd contents are 6 times higher, and in some cases Zn contents also exceed the national threshold, showing preferential accumulation on specific apple varieties. Whilst some research has been carried out on trace element distribution in apples, this study assessed the areal distribution of toxic trace elements in connection to the adjacent roads. The first apple orchard is located near a county road, with reduced car traffic, while the second orchard shares its southern limit with a high-volume traffic road (E583). The results point towards a proportional increase of Pb and, to some extent, of Cd in the samples close to the E583 road in contrast with the other orchard, where no such observation derived. Along the areal distribution of the selected elements, the preferential accumulation of dietary recommended trace elements in different apple varieties was assessed. In matters of daily nutrients content in trace elements, the best sources of Fe, Cu, and Zn in terms of apple varieties are Golden Delicious, Jonathan, and Kaltherer Böhmer.Rutting has always been considered the main disease in asphalt pavement. Dealing with rutting disease would be benefitted by understanding the formation of rutting and testing the rutting performance of mixtures more reasonably. The objective of this paper is to systematically investigate the rutting mechanism by employing a self-designed rutting tester along with the corresponding numerical simulations. The deformation of different positions of the existing tracking tester was found to be inconsistent, and the loading was not in line with reality. Accordingly, a more practical tester was proposed the reduced scale circular tracking (RSCT) tester integrates the functions of asphalt mixture fabrication and rutting monitoring. The results demonstrated that the loading of the new tester is closer to the actual situation. In addition, determining the stress and displacement characteristics of particles in the asphalt mixture was found to be difficult due to the limitations of the testing methods. Therefore, a two-dimensional virtual rutting test based on the RSCT was built using PFC2D (Particle Flow Code 2 Dimension) to investigate the mechanism of formation in rutting and to obtain the corresponding guidance. The numerical simulation showed that all particles of the specimen tended to move away from the load location. The main cause of rutting formation was the eddy current flow of asphalt mastic driven by coarse aggregates. The aggregates with diameters ranging from 9.5 to 4.75 mm were observed to have the greatest contribution to rutting deformation. Therefore, the aggregate amount of these spans should be focused on in the design of mixture grading.I am very pleased to announce the publication of "Fluorescent Polymers for Sensing and Imaging" [...].Understanding the in vivo fate of lipoplex, which is composed of cationic liposomes and DNA, is an important issue toward gene therapy. In disease conditions, the fate of lipoplex might change compared with the normal condition. Here, we examined the contribution of interaction with serum components to in vivo transfection using lipoplex in hepatitis mice. 10074-G5 chemical structure Prior to administration, lipoplex was incubated with serum or albumin. In the liver, the interaction with albumin enhanced gene expression in hepatitis mice, while in the lung, the interaction with serum or albumin enhanced it. In normal mice, the interaction with albumin did not enhance hepatic and pulmonary gene expression. Furthermore, hepatic and pulmonary gene expression levels of albumin-interacted lipoplex were correlated with serum transaminases in hepatitis mice. The albumin interaction increased the hepatic accumulation of lipoplex and serum tumor necrosis factor-α level. We suggest that the interaction with albumin enhanced the inflammation level after the administration of lipoplex in hepatitis mice. Consequently, the enhancement of the inflammation level might enhance the gene expression level. Information obtained in the current study will be valuable toward future clinical application of the lipoplex.Geoacoustic parameter inversion is a crucial issue in underwater acoustic research for shallow sea environments and has increasingly become popular in the recent past. This paper investigates the geoacoustic parameters in a shallow sea environment using a single-receiver geoacoustic inversion method based on Bayesian theory. In this context, the seabed is regarded as an elastic medium, the acoustic pressure at different positions under low-frequency is chosen as the study object, and the theoretical prediction value of the acoustic pressure is described by the Fast Field Method (FFM). The cost function between the measured and modeled acoustic fields is established under the assumption of Gaussian data errors using Bayesian methodology. The Bayesian inversion method enables the inference of the seabed geoacoustic parameters from the experimental data, including the optimal estimates of these parameters, such as density, sound speed and sound speed attenuation, and quantitative uncertainty estimates. The optimization is carried out by simulated annealing (SA), and the Posterior Probability Density (PPD) is given as the inversion result based on the Gibbs Sampler (GS) algorithm.