A multi-functional PEGylated gold(iii) compound: potent anti-cancer properties and self-assembly into nanostructures for drug co-delivery

published_or_final_versio

Luminescent platinum(II) complexes with functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene or diphosphine selectively probe mismatched and abasic DNA

published_or_final_versio

Congenital myopathies: characteristic and subtypes in Hong Kong

This journal suppl. entitled: 20th International Congress of The World Muscle SocietyCongenital myopathies are a group of childhood onset neuromuscular disorder with the diagnosis mainly based on genetic and pathological features. This is a unique group with phenotypic, genotypic and pathological heterogeneity, so the confirmation of an underlying diagnosis is often challenging. This is the first congenital myopathy case series in Hong Kong. A total of 15 patients have been diagnosed to have congenital myopathies with 11 patients had the genetic mutations being identified (4 patients had RYR1 mutations, 3 patients had ACTA1 mutations, 2 patients had KLHL40 mutations, 1 patient had MTM1 mutation and 1 patient had DNM2 mutation).postprin

Thinking about a limited future enhances the positivity of younger and older adults’ recall: support for socioemotional selectivity theory

Compared with younger adults, older adults have a relative preference to attend to and remember positive over negative information. This is known as the “positivity effect,” and researchers have typically evoked socioemotional selectivity theory to explain it. According to socioemotional selectivity theory, as people get older they begin to perceive their time left in life as more limited. These reduced time horizons prompt older adults to prioritize achieving emotional gratification and thus exhibit increased positivity in attention and recall. Although this is the most commonly cited explanation of the positivity effect, there is currently a lack of clear experimental evidence demonstrating a link between time horizons and positivity. The goal of the current research was to address this issue. In two separate experiments, we asked participants to complete a writing activity, which directed them to think of time as being either limited or expansive (Experiments 1 and 2) or did not orient them to think about time in a particular manner (Experiment 2). Participants were then shown a series of emotional pictures, which they subsequently tried to recall. Results from both studies showed that regardless of chronological age, thinking about a limited future enhanced the relative positivity of participants’ recall. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 2 showed that this effect was not driven by changes in mood. Thus, the fact that older adults’ recall is typically more positive than younger adults’ recall may index naturally shifting time horizons and goals with age

Social Europe. No 2/87

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is an important type of epigenetic modification involved in gene regulation. Although strong DNA methylation at promoters is widely recognized to be associated with transcriptional repression, many aspects of DNA methylation remain not fully understood, including the quantitative relationships between DNA methylation and expression levels, and the individual roles of promoter and gene body methylation. RESULTS: Here we present an integrated analysis of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA sequencing data from human samples and cell lines. We find that while promoter methylation inversely correlates with gene expression as generally observed, the repressive effect is clear only on genes with a very high DNA methylation level. By means of statistical modeling, we find that DNA methylation is indicative of the expression class of a gene in general, but gene body methylation is a better indicator than promoter methylation. These findings are general in that a model constructed from a sample or cell line could accurately fit the unseen data from another. We further find that promoter and gene body methylation have minimal redundancy, and either one is sufficient to signify low expression. Finally, we obtain increased modeling power by integrating histone modification data with the DNA methylation data, showing that neither type of information fully subsumes the other. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that DNA methylation outside promoters also plays critical roles in gene regulation. Future studies on gene regulatory mechanisms and disease-associated differential methylation should pay more attention to DNA methylation at gene bodies and other non-promoter regions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-014-0408-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Impact of leg lengthening on viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the morphological alterations of the deep fascia subjected to leg lengthening have been investigated in cellular and extracellular aspects, the impact of leg lengthening on viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia remains largely unknown. This study aimed to address the changes of viscoelastic properties of the deep fascia during leg lengthening using uniaxial tensile test.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Animal model of leg lengthening was established in New Zealand white rabbits. Distraction was initiated at a rate of 1 mm/day and 2 mm/day in two steps, and preceded until increases of 10% and 20% in the initial length of tibia had been achieved. The deep fascia specimens of 30 mm × 10 mm were clamped with the Instron 1122 tensile tester at room temperature with a constant tensile rate of 5 mm/min. After 5 load-download tensile tests had been performed, the specimens were elongated until rupture. The load-displacement curves were automatically generated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The normal deep fascia showed typical viscoelastic rule of collagenous tissues. Each experimental group of the deep fascia after leg lengthening kept the properties. The curves of the deep fascia at a rate of 1 mm/day with 20% increase in tibia length were the closest to those of normal deep fascia. The ultimate tension strength and the strain at rupture on average of normal deep fascia were 2.69 N (8.97 mN/mm²) and 14.11%, respectively. The increases in ultimate tension strength and strain at rupture of the deep fascia after leg lengthening were statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The deep fascia subjected to leg lengthening exhibits viscoelastic properties as collagenous tissues without lengthening other than increased strain and strength. Notwithstanding different lengthening schemes result in varied viscoelastic properties changes, the most comparable viscoelastic properties to be demonstrated are under the scheme of a distraction rate of 1 mm/day and 20% increase in tibia length.</p

Notch signaling during human T cell development

Notch signaling is critical during multiple stages of T cell development in both mouse and human. Evidence has emerged in recent years that this pathway might regulate T-lineage differentiation differently between both species. Here, we review our current understanding of how Notch signaling is activated and used during human T cell development. First, we set the stage by describing the developmental steps that make up human T cell development before describing the expression profiles of Notch receptors, ligands, and target genes during this process. To delineate stage-specific roles for Notch signaling during human T cell development, we subsequently try to interpret the functional Notch studies that have been performed in light of these expression profiles and compare this to its suggested role in the mouse

Modeling the Population-Level Effects of Male Circumcision as an HIV-Preventive Measure: A Gendered Perspective

BACKGROUND: Evidence from biological, epidemiological, and controlled intervention studies has demonstrated that male circumcision (MC) protects males from HIV infection, and MC is now advocated as a public-health intervention against HIV. MC provides direct protection only to men, but is expected to provide indirect protection to women at risk of acquiring HIV from heterosexual transmission. How such indirect protection interacts with the possibility that MC campaigns will lead to behavior changes, however, is not yet well understood. Our objective here is to investigate the link between individual-level effects of MC campaigns and long-term population-level outcomes resulting from disease dynamics, looking at both genders separately, over a broad range of parameters. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We use simple mathematical models of heterosexual transmission to investigate the potential effects of a circumcision scale-up, combined with possible associated behavioral disinhibition. We examine patterns in expected long-term prevalence using a simple equilibrium model based on transmission factors, and validate our results with ODE-based simulations, focusing on the link between effects on females and those on males.We find that the long-term population-level effects on females and males are not strongly linked: there are many possible ways in which an intervention which reduces prevalence in males might nonetheless increase prevalence in females. CONCLUSIONS: Since an intervention that reduces long-term male prevalence could nonetheless increase long-term female prevalence, MC campaigns should explicitly consider both the short-term and long-term effects of MC interventions on females. Our findings strongly underline the importance of pairing MC programs with education, support programs and HIV testing and counseling, together with other prevention measures