1,797 research outputs found

    VIABILITY, FATTY ACID COMPOSITION, AND STRUCTURE OF THE CORALLINE ALGA CORALLINA PILULIFERA

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    The decrease in the seaweed flora in some rocky areas, known as algal whitening or barren ground, is associated with some species of coralline algae. To determine the biological characteristics of a representative species of branched coralline alga, the number of medullary tiers was counted and ranged from 12 to 16. The 18S rDNA, psbA, and rbcL genes were used to confirm the identification of Corallina pilulifera. Measuring viability using triphenyl tetrazolium chloride showed highly viability from December to January. Cultural conditions of 16 C, 16 h light:8 h dark cycle, and 40 mu E m(-2) s(-1) light intensity were optimal for maintaining the viability of the coralline alga for up to three days. The fatty acids included 31.4% omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface structure revealed unique round wells about 7.9 +/- 1.3 mu m in diameter. The coralline alga, preventing fleshy seaweeds, may be used as a potential template for the creation of new environmentally friendly biomimetic antifouling material against the attachment of soft foulants, especially micro- and macroalgae.X111Ysciescopu

    ABCD Neurocognitive Prediction Challenge 2019: Predicting individual residual fluid intelligence scores from cortical grey matter morphology

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    We predicted residual fluid intelligence scores from T1-weighted MRI data available as part of the ABCD NP Challenge 2019, using morphological similarity of grey-matter regions across the cortex. Individual structural covariance networks (SCN) were abstracted into graph-theory metrics averaged over nodes across the brain and in data-driven communities/modules. Metrics included degree, path length, clustering coefficient, centrality, rich club coefficient, and small-worldness. These features derived from the training set were used to build various regression models for predicting residual fluid intelligence scores, with performance evaluated both using cross-validation within the training set and using the held-out validation set. Our predictions on the test set were generated with a support vector regression model trained on the training set. We found minimal improvement over predicting a zero residual fluid intelligence score across the sample population, implying that structural covariance networks calculated from T1-weighted MR imaging data provide little information about residual fluid intelligence.Comment: 8 pages plus references, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submission to the ABCD Neurocognitive Prediction Challenge at MICCAI 201

    Influence of prohexadione-calcium, trinexapac-ethyl and hexaconazole on lodging characteristic and gibberellin biosynthesis of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

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    We investigated the influence of prohexadione-calcium (Pro-Ca), trinexapac-ethyl (TNE) and hexaconazole (HX) on lodging and gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis pathway of rice cultivar, Hwayeongbyeo. It was observed that these novel synthetic growth retardants suppressed lodging of rice under field conditions through blocking GA biosynthesis pathway. These growth retarding chemicals were applied at basic (20 uM) and elevated (40 uM) rates either 10 days before heading (10 DBH) or 5 days before heading (5 DBH). We found that Pro-Ca, TNE and their combined application (Pro-Ca + TNE) were most effective in decreasing rice length and lodging index, when applied at 10 DBH. Similarly, the endogenous bioactive GA1 contents of rice significantly declined with application of Pro-Ca, TNE and Pro-Ca + TNE, while they were less effected by basic and elevated rates of HX as compared to the control. The growth retardants were more effective in decreasing rice lodging and blocking GA biosynthesis when applied in elevated rates. The levels of the endogenous gibberellins in rice shoots were measured by GC/MS-SIM using 2H2-labeled gibberellins as internal standards. Effect of these synthetic chemicals on growth and GA inhibition were stronger initially but eroded rapidly under field conditions. It was thus concluded that Pro-Ca and TNE were most effective in reducing plant length and suppressing lodging of rice crop under field conditions, where lodging is a major constraint to higher productivity.Key words: Growth retardants, plant growth, gibberellin biosynthesis, lodging index, rice

    BRIM-P: A phase I, open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation study of vemurafenib in pediatric patients with surgically incurable, BRAF mutation-positive melanoma.

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    BACKGROUND: Vemurafenib, a selective inhibitor of BRAF kinase, is approved for the treatment of adult stage IIIc/IV BRAF V600 mutation-positive melanoma. We conducted a phase I, open-label, dose-escalation study in pediatric patients aged 12-17 years with this tumor type (NCT01519323). PROCEDURE: Patients received vemurafenib orally until disease progression. Dose escalation was conducted using a 3 + 3 design. Patients were monitored for dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) during the first 28 days of treatment to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Safety/tolerability, tumor response, and pharmacokinetics were evaluated. RESULTS: Six patients were enrolled (720 mg twice daily [BID], n = 3; 960 mg BID [n = 3]). The study was terminated prematurely due to low enrollment. No DLTs were observed; thus, the MTD could not be determined. All patients experienced at least one adverse event (AE); the most common were diarrhea, headache, photosensitivity, rash, nausea, and fatigue. Three patients experienced serious AEs, one patient developed secondary cutaneous malignancies, and five patients died following disease progression. Mean steady-state plasma concentrations of vemurafenib following 720 mg and 960 mg BID dosing were similar or higher, respectively, than in adults. There were no objective responses. Median progression-free survival and overall survival were 4.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.7-5.2) and 8.1 months (95% CI = 5.1-12.0), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A recommended and effective dose of vemurafenib for patients aged 12-17 years with metastatic or unresectable melanoma was not identified. Extremely low enrollment in this trial highlights the importance of considering the inclusion of adolescents with adult cancers in adult trials
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