The UNDIP-UCSC campaign to culture chemically prolific gram-negative bacteria from Indonesian Jaspis sponges

Indonesian marine sponges, especially Jaspis cf. coriacea and Jaspis splendens are sources for families of natural products known as the bengamides and jasplakinolides, respectively. Recent research suggests that the biosynthetic origins of these pharmaceutically important compounds may not be the sponges themselves but associated Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore samples of J. cf. coriacea and J. splendens were collected to culture the bacteria responsible for such compounds. Metabolomic analysis was performed on each of the sponges collected to ensure that the bengamides and jasplakinolides were present; therefore ensuring that the biosynthetic machinery required to produce these compounds was intact in the samples. After which Gram-negative bacteria were cultured from the Jaspis sponge samples and a total of 43 unique isolates were obtained spanning 21 taxonomic genera and three taxonomic classes

On the evaluation of global sea-salt aerosol models at coastal/orographic sites

Sea-salt aerosol global models are typically evaluated against concentration observations at coastal stations that are unaffected by local surf conditions and thus considered representative of open ocean conditions. Despite recent improvements in sea-salt source functions, studies still show significant model errors in specific regions. Using a multiscale model, we investigated the effect of high model resolution (0.1 degrees x 0.1 degrees vs. 1 degrees x 1.4 degrees) upon sea-salt patterns in four stations from the University of Miami Network: Baring Head, Chatam Island, and Invercargill in New Zealand, and Marion Island in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean. Normalized biases improved from +63.7% to +3.3% and correlation increased from 0.52 to 0.84. The representation of sea/land interfaces, mesoscale circulations, and precipitation with the higher resolution model played a major role in the simulation of annual concentration trends. Our results recommend caution when comparing or constraining global models using surface concentration observations from coastal stations. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Postprint (published version

Lack of Effect of Induction of Hypothermia after Acute Brain Injury

Background Induction of hypothermia in patients with brain injury was shown to improve outcomes in small clinical studies, but the results were not definitive. To study this issue, we conducted a multicenter trial comparing the effects of hypothermia with those of normothermia in patients with acute brain injury. Methods The study subjects were 392 patients 16 to 65 years of age with coma after sustaining closed head injuries who were randomly assigned to be treated with hypothermia (body temperature, 33°C), which was initiated within 6 hours after injury and maintained for 48 hours by means of surface cooling, or normothermia. All patients otherwise received standard treatment. The primary outcome measure was functional status six months after the injury. Results The mean age of the patients and the type and severity of injury in the two treatment groups were similar. The mean (±SD) time from injury to randomization was 4.3±1.1 hours in the hypothermia group and 4.1±1.2 hours in the normothermia group, and the mean time from injury to the achievement of the target temperature of 33°C in the hypothermia group was 8.4±3.0 hours. The outcome was poor (defined as severe disability, a vegetative state, or death) in 57 percent of the patients in both groups. Mortality was 28 percent in the hypothermia group and 27 percent in the normothermia group (P=0.79). The patients in the hypothermia group had more hospital days with complications than the patients in the normothermia group. Fewer patients in the hypothermia group had high intracranial pressure than in the normothermia group. Conclusions Treatment with hypothermia, with the body temperature reaching 33°C within eight hours after injury, is not effective in improving outcomes in patients with severe brain injury. (N Engl J Med 2001; 344:556-63.

Prostate Carcinoma Skeletal Metastases: Cross-talk between Tumor and Bone

The majority of men with progressive prostate cancer develop metastases with the skeleton being the most prevalent metastatic site. Unlike many other tumors that metastasize to bone and form osteolytic lesions, prostate carcinomas form osteoblastic lesions. However, histological evaluation of these lesions reveals the presence of underlying osteoclastic activity. These lesions are painful, resulting in diminished quality of life of the patient. There is emerging evidence that prostate carcinomas establish and thrive in the skeleton due to cross-talk between the bone microenvironment and tumor cells. Bone provides chemotactic factors, adhesion factors, and growth factors that allow the prostate carcinoma cells to target and proliferate in the skeleton. The prostate carcinoma cells reciprocate through production of osteoblastic and osteolytic factors that modulate bone remodeling. The prostate carcinoma-induced osteolysis promotes release of the many growth factors within the bone extracellular matrix thus further enhancing the progression of the metastases. This review focuses on the interaction between the bone and the prostate carcinoma cells that allow for development and progression of prostate carcinoma skeletal metastases.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44522/1/10555_2004_Article_402865.pd

Nicotine Bitartrate Reduces Falls and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson Disease: A Reanalysis

Objective: Determine if NC001, an oral formulation of nicotine that reduces levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LIDs) in MPTP-Parkinson monkeys, could reduce falls, freezing of gait (FOG), and LIDs in Parkinson disease (PD) patients.Methods: Previously collected data from a study analyzing the effects of NC001 on LIDs in PD patients were reanalyzed. Because indirect-acting cholinergic drugs are sometimes helpful in reducing falls, we hypothesized that NC001, a direct-acting cholinergic agonist, could reduce falls in PD. The original 12-center, double-blind, randomized trial enrolled 65 PD patients. NC001 or placebo was administered 4 times per day for 10 weeks, beginning at 4 mg/day and escalating to 24 mg/day. Assessments included the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS) and Parts II-III of the original Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS).Results: Randomization (1:1) resulted in 35 patients on NC001 and 30 on placebo at baseline. Thirty and 27 patients, respectively, had data available for an intent-to-treat analysis. NC001 was safe and well-tolerated. After 10 weeks, NC001 patients (14/30) had a significant reduction in falls vs. placebo patients (3/27) (p = 0.0041) as assessed by UPDRS Part II. NC001 patients (12/30) also had significantly reduced FOG vs. placebo patients (4/27) (p = 0.0043). NC001 patients, compared with placebo patients, had a significant improvement (p = 0.01) in UDysRS ambulation subtest (40% vs. 3%, respectively). Although NC001 patients had a greater reduction in dyskinesias on the UDysRS than placebo patients (30% vs. 19%, respectively), this was not significant (p = 0.09).Conclusions: NC001 significantly improved two refractory symptoms of PD, falls and FOG. The reduction in falls and FOG is attributed to selective stimulation of nicotinic receptors.Clinical Trial Registration: Conducted under IND 105, 268, serial number 0000. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00957918

Time of arrival in the presence of interactions

We introduce a formalism for the calculation of the time of arrival t at a space point for particles traveling through interacting media. We develop a general formulation that employs quantum canonical transformations from the free to the interacting cases to construct t in the context of the Positive Operator Valued Measures. We then compute the probability distribution in the times of arrival at a point for particles that have undergone reflection, transmission or tunneling off finite potential barriers. For narrow Gaussian initial wave packets we obtain multimodal time distributions of the reflected packets and a combination of the Hartman effect with unexpected retardation in tunneling. We also employ explicitly our formalism to deal with arrivals in the interaction region for the step and linear potentials.Comment: 20 pages including 5 eps figure

Lawmakers\u27 Use of Scientific Evidence Can Be Improved

Core to the goal of scientific exploration is the opportunity to guide future decision-making. Yet, elected officials often miss opportunities to use science in their policymaking. This work reports on an experiment with the US Congress-evaluating the effects of a randomized, dual-population (i.e., researchers and congressional offices) outreach model for supporting legislative use of research evidence regarding child and family policy issues. In this experiment, we found that congressional offices randomized to the intervention reported greater value of research for understanding issues than the control group following implementation. More research use was also observed in legislation introduced by the intervention group. Further, we found that researchers randomized to the intervention advanced their own policy knowledge and engagement as well as reported benefits for their research following implementation

Measurement of the Total Active 8B Solar Neutrino Flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with Enhanced Neutral Current Sensitivity

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has precisely determined the total active (nu_x) 8B solar neutrino flux without assumptions about the energy dependence of the nu_e survival probability. The measurements were made with dissolved NaCl in the heavy water to enhance the sensitivity and signature for neutral-current interactions. The flux is found to be 5.21 +/- 0.27 (stat) +/- 0.38 (syst) x10^6 cm^{-2}s^{-1}, in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of these and other solar and reactor neutrino results yields Delta m^{2} = 7.1^{+1.2}_{-0.6}x10^{-5} ev^2 and theta = 32.5^{+2.4}_{-2.3} degrees. Maximal mixing is rejected at the equivalent of 5.4 standard deviations.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Electron Antineutrino Search at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Upper limits on the \nuebar flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory have been set based on the \nuebar charged-current reaction on deuterium. The reaction produces a positron and two neutrons in coincidence. This distinctive signature allows a search with very low background for \nuebar's from the Sun and other potential sources. Both differential and integral limits on the \nuebar flux have been placed in the energy range from 4 -- 14.8 MeV. For an energy-independent \nu_e --> \nuebar conversion mechanism, the integral limit on the flux of solar \nuebar's in the energy range from 4 -- 14.8 MeV is found to be \Phi_\nuebar <= 3.4 x 10^4 cm^{-2} s^{-1} (90% C.L.), which corresponds to 0.81% of the standard solar model 8B \nu_e flux of 5.05 x 10^6 cm^{-2} s^{-1}, and is consistent with the more sensitive limit from KamLAND in the 8.3 -- 14.8 MeV range of 3.7 x 10^2 cm^{-2} s^{-1} (90% C.L.). In the energy range from 4 -- 8 MeV, a search for \nuebar's is conducted using coincidences in which only the two neutrons are detected. Assuming a \nuebar spectrum for the neutron induced fission of naturally occurring elements, a flux limit of Phi_\nuebar <= 2.0 x 10^6 cm^{-2} s^{-1}(90% C.L.) is obtained.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.