Mutational analyses reveal a novel function of the nucleotide-binding domain of γ-tubulin in the regulation of basal body biogenesis

We have used in vitro mutagenesis and gene replacement to study the function of the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) of γ-tubulin in Tetrahymena thermophila. In this study, we show that the NBD has an essential function and that point mutations in two conserved residues lead to over-production and mislocalization of basal body (BB) assembly. These results, coupled with previous studies (Dammermann, A., T. Muller-Reichert, L. Pelletier, B. Habermann, A. Desai, and K. Oegema. 2004. Dev. Cell. 7:815–829; La Terra, S., C.N. English, P. Hergert, B.F. McEwen, G. Sluder, and A. Khodjakov. 2005. J. Cell Biol. 168:713–722), suggest that to achieve the precise temporal and spatial regulation of BB/centriole assembly, the initiation activity of γ-tubulin is normally suppressed by a negative regulatory mechanism that acts through its NBD

Local Implicit Normalizing Flow for Arbitrary-Scale Image Super-Resolution

Flow-based methods have demonstrated promising results in addressing the ill-posed nature of super-resolution (SR) by learning the distribution of high-resolution (HR) images with the normalizing flow. However, these methods can only perform a predefined fixed-scale SR, limiting their potential in real-world applications. Meanwhile, arbitrary-scale SR has gained more attention and achieved great progress. Nonetheless, previous arbitrary-scale SR methods ignore the ill-posed problem and train the model with per-pixel L1 loss, leading to blurry SR outputs. In this work, we propose "Local Implicit Normalizing Flow" (LINF) as a unified solution to the above problems. LINF models the distribution of texture details under different scaling factors with normalizing flow. Thus, LINF can generate photo-realistic HR images with rich texture details in arbitrary scale factors. We evaluate LINF with extensive experiments and show that LINF achieves the state-of-the-art perceptual quality compared with prior arbitrary-scale SR methods.Comment: CVPR 2023 camera-ready versio

Toll-like receptor 2 gene polymorphisms, pulmonary tuberculosis, and natural killer cell counts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate whether the toll-like receptor 2 polymorphisms could influence susceptibility to pulmonary TB, its phenotypes, and blood lymphocyte subsets.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 368 subjects, including 184 patients with pulmonary TB and 184 healthy controls, were examined for TLR2 polymorphisms over locus -100 (microsatellite guanine-thymine repeats), -16934 (T>A), -15607 (A>G), -196 to -174 (insertion>deletion), and 1350 (T>C). Eighty-six TB patients were examined to determine the peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We newly identified an association between the haplotype [A-G-(insertion)-T] and susceptibility to pulmonary TB (p = 0.006, false discovery rate q = 0.072). TB patients with systemic symptoms had a lower -196 to -174 deletion/deletion genotype frequency than those without systemic symptoms (5.7% vs. 17.7%; p = 0.01). TB patients with the deletion/deletion genotype had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying the insertion allele (526 vs. 243.5 cells/μl, p = 0.009). TB patients with pleuritis had a higher 1350 CC genotype frequency than those without pleuritis (12.5% vs. 2.1%; p = 0.004). TB patients with the 1350 CC genotype had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying the T allele (641 vs. 250 cells/μl, p = 0.004). TB patients carrying homozygous short alleles for GT repeats had higher blood NK cell counts than those carrying one or no short allele (641 vs. 250 cells/μl, p = 0.004).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TLR2 genetic polymorphisms influence susceptibility to pulmonary TB. TLR2 variants play a role in the development of TB phenotypes, probably by controlling the expansion of NK cells.</p

CEP290 tethers flagellar transition zone microtubules to the membrane and regulates flagellar protein content

Entry and exit of proteins into flagella is gauged by CEP290 in the transition zone

Macronuclear Genome Sequence of the Ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, a Model Eukaryote

The ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila is a model organism for molecular and cellular biology. Like other ciliates, this species has separate germline and soma functions that are embodied by distinct nuclei within a single cell. The germline-like micronucleus (MIC) has its genome held in reserve for sexual reproduction. The soma-like macronucleus (MAC), which possesses a genome processed from that of the MIC, is the center of gene expression and does not directly contribute DNA to sexual progeny. We report here the shotgun sequencing, assembly, and analysis of the MAC genome of T. thermophila, which is approximately 104 Mb in length and composed of approximately 225 chromosomes. Overall, the gene set is robust, with more than 27,000 predicted protein-coding genes, 15,000 of which have strong matches to genes in other organisms. The functional diversity encoded by these genes is substantial and reflects the complexity of processes required for a free-living, predatory, single-celled organism. This is highlighted by the abundance of lineage-specific duplications of genes with predicted roles in sensing and responding to environmental conditions (e.g., kinases), using diverse resources (e.g., proteases and transporters), and generating structural complexity (e.g., kinesins and dyneins). In contrast to the other lineages of alveolates (apicomplexans and dinoflagellates), no compelling evidence could be found for plastid-derived genes in the genome. UGA, the only T. thermophila stop codon, is used in some genes to encode selenocysteine, thus making this organism the first known with the potential to translate all 64 codons in nuclear genes into amino acids. We present genomic evidence supporting the hypothesis that the excision of DNA from the MIC to generate the MAC specifically targets foreign DNA as a form of genome self-defense. The combination of the genome sequence, the functional diversity encoded therein, and the presence of some pathways missing from other model organisms makes T. thermophila an ideal model for functional genomic studies to address biological, biomedical, and biotechnological questions of fundamental importance

Fluid Flow Shear Stress Stimulation on a Multiplex Microfluidic Device for Rat Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Differentiation Enhancement

Microfluidic devices provide low sample consumption, high throughput, high integration, and good environment controllability advantages. An alternative to conventional bioreactors, microfluidic devices are a simple and effective platform for stem cell investigations. In this study, we describe the design of a microfluidic device as a chemical and mechanical shear stress bioreactor to stimulate rat bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSCs) into neuronal cells. 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (IBMX) was used as a chemical reagent to induce rBMSCs differentiation into neurons. Furthermore, the shear stress applied to rBMSCs was generated by laminar microflow in the microchannel. Four parallel microfluidic chambers were designed to provide a multiplex culture platform, and both the microfluidic chamber-to-chamber, as well as microfluidic device-to-device, culture stability were evaluated. Our research shows that rBMSCs were uniformly cultured in the microfluidic device and differentiated into neuronal cells with IBMX induction. A three-fold increase in the neuronal cell differentiation ratio was noted when rBMSCs were subjected to both IBMX and fluid flow shear stress stimulation. Here, we propose a microfluidic device which is capable of providing chemical and physical stimulation, and could accelerate neuronal cell differentiation from bone marrow stromal cells

Modeling, Analysis, and Realization of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Current Vector Control by MATLAB/Simulink and FPGA

In this paper, we present the modeling, analysis, and realization of current vector control for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive using MATLAB/Simulink and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). In AC motor drive systems, most of the current vector controls are realized by digital signal processors (DSPs) because of their complete and compact hardware functions. However, the performances of drive systems realized by low-cost DSP are limited by the hardware structure and computation capacity, which may lead to the difficulty of reaching a fast enough response, above all, for those motors with a small electrical time constant. Therefore, we use FPGA to speed up the calculation about the current vector control to attain a fast response. Simulations and practical experimental results are used to verify the correctness and performance of the designed full hardware system

Application of the Motor Abilities Assessment as Part of a Talent Identification System in Tennis Players: A Pilot Study

In this study, we sought to develop a testing system to scientifically identify tennis talent. This testing system will provide helpful information for players who intend to pursue a professional tennis career. The experimental subjects were 18 college students consisting of 10 tennis players (including 4 soft tennis) and 8 basketball players (all males). The subjects were tested on their vertical jump, 60 m shuttle runs, and shoulder joint mobility to identify tennis talent. To statistically analyze the data, an R package was used to conduct a principal component analysis of the athletic performance indicators of the samples, and the samples were further classified via agglomerative hierarchical clustering. This study found that tennis players required more flexibility than basketball players. Regarding the differences between male and female soft tennis players, the unclassified results showed that there was a significant difference in explosive power. However, there was no significant difference in flexibility between genders. The research methods and results of this study can be used as a reference for others to build a system for identifying athletic performance characteristics in the future, and it is expected that the implementation of this system can provide sports coaches with more information for talent selection and improve the accuracy of their judgments, allowing athletes to play to their strengths

EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SHEAR-STRESS STIMULATION OF HUMAN PLACENTA-DERIVED MULTIPOTENT STEM CELLS IN MICROCHANNEL

ABSTRACT Multipotent cells obtain from human postpartum term placenta is an ethically conductive, easily accessible and highyielding stem cell source. In this conference presentation, we demonstrate using microchannel platform to culture and differentiate the human placenta-derived stem cells. Both chemical and shear stress stimulation effects were investigated