Molecular recognition on acoustic wave devices

Microporous thin films composed either of zeolite crystals embedded in sol-gel derived glass or of a molecular coupling layer, zeolite crystals and a porous silica overlayer, were formed on the gold electrodes of Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCM). The microporosity of the thin films was characterized by in situ nitrogen and vapor sorption isotherms. Both preparation methods result in thin films with substantial microporosity. Selective adsorption based on molecular size exclusion from the microporous films could be achieved

A heuristic for the distribution of point counts for random curves over a finite field

How many rational points are there on a random algebraic curve of large genus $g$ over a given finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$? We propose a heuristic for this question motivated by a (now proven) conjecture of Mumford on the cohomology of moduli spaces of curves; this heuristic suggests a Poisson distribution with mean $q+1+1/(q-1)$. We prove a weaker version of this statement in which $g$ and $q$ tend to infinity, with $q$ much larger than $g$.Comment: 16 pages; v2: refereed version, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 201

Expression of a dominant negative Wnt blocks induction of MyoD in \u3ci\u3eXenopus\u3c/i\u3e embryos

During gastrulation of Xenopus embryos the prospective mesoderm is induced initially with domains of dorsal and ventral fate, then further patterned to generate somitic mesoderm by signals from the gastrula organizer. Although Xwnt-8 is expressed in future ventrolateral mesoderm and induces prospective epidermis to differentiate in vitro as ventral mesoderm, no loss-of-function studies have demonstrated a requirement for Wnt signaling for the normal expression of mesodermal genes in the gastrula. We report development of a dominant-negative Wnt (dnXwnt-8) that inhibits embryonic responses to Wnt signaling in a cell-nonautonomous fashion. By expressing dnXwnt-8 in Xenopus embryos, we uncover a requirement of Wnt signaling for localized expression in prospective mesoderm of XMyoDa and Xenopus-posterior (Xpo). Because ectopic expression of functional Xwnt-8 in the dorsal marginal zone of the gastrula induces ectopic XMyoDa and Xpo, both gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments support a model in which endogenous Xwnt-8 functions to induce expression of genes involved in specification of ventral and somitic mesoderm

Cell wall protection by the Candida albicans class I chitin synthases

Open Access funded by Medical Research Council Acknowledgments We thank Kevin Mackenzie in the Microscopy and Histology Core Facility (Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen), and Donna MacCallum for helpful statistical advice. This work was supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust (0868827 and 080088) including a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (097377) and an Investigator Award to NG (101873), an MRC New Investigator Award to ML (MR/J008230/1) and a PhD scholarship awarded to KP from the Ministry of Sciences and Technology and Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Author contributions are as follows: KP constructed strains, performed the majority of the experiments, analyzed the data and contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. JA produced Fig. S1 using the data from the phosphoproteomic analysis conducted by SP and AB. NG conceived and designed experiments, analyzed data and commented on drafts of the manuscript. ML constructed strains, conceived, designed and performed experiments, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Query Health: standards-based, cross-platform population health surveillance

Objective: Understanding population-level health trends is essential to effectively monitor and improve public health. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Query Health initiative is a collaboration to develop a national architecture for distributed, population-level health queries across diverse clinical systems with disparate data models. Here we review Query Health activities, including a standards-based methodology, an open-source reference implementation, and three pilot projects. Materials and methods Query Health defined a standards-based approach for distributed population health queries, using an ontology based on the Quality Data Model and Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture, Health Quality Measures Format (HQMF) as the query language, the Query Envelope as the secure transport layer, and the Quality Reporting Document Architecture as the result language. Results: We implemented this approach using Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) and hQuery for data analytics and PopMedNet for access control, secure query distribution, and response. We deployed the reference implementation at three pilot sites: two public health departments (New York City and Massachusetts) and one pilot designed to support Food and Drug Administration post-market safety surveillance activities. The pilots were successful, although improved cross-platform data normalization is needed. Discussions This initiative resulted in a standards-based methodology for population health queries, a reference implementation, and revision of the HQMF standard. It also informed future directions regarding interoperability and data access for ONC's Data Access Framework initiative. Conclusions: Query Health was a test of the learning health system that supplied a functional methodology and reference implementation for distributed population health queries that has been validated at three sites