Composition profiles of InAs–GaAs quantum dots determined by medium-energy ion scattering

The composition profile along the [001] growth direction of low-growth-rate InAs–GaAs quantum dots (QDs) has been determined using medium-energy ion scattering (MEIS). A linear profile of In concentration from 100% In at the top of the QDs to 20% at their base provides the best fit to MEIS energy spectra

The person-based development and realist evaluation of a summary report for GP consultations

Background: Use of telephone, video and e-consultations is increasing. These can make consultations more transactional. This study aimed to develop a complex intervention to address patients’ concerns more comprehensively in general practice and test the feasibility of this in a cluster-randomised framework. The complex intervention used two technologies: a patient-completed pre-consultation form used at consultation opening and a doctor-provided summary report provided at consultation closure. This paper reports on the development and realist evaluation of the summary report. Methods: A person-based approach was used to develop the summary report. An electronic protocol was designed to automatically generate the report after GPs complete a clinical template in the patient record. This was tested with 45 patients in 3 rounds each, with iterative adjustments made based on feedback after each round. Subsequently, an intervention incorporating the pre-consultation form with the summary report was then tested in a cluster-randomised framework with 30 patients per practice in six practices: four randomised to intervention, and two to control. An embedded realist evaluation was carried out. The main feasibility study results are reported elsewhere. Results: Intervention Development: 15 patients were recruited per practice. Eight patients and six GPs were interviewed and 18 changes made. The summary report improved substantially; GPs and patients in the final practice were more satisfied with the report than the first practice. Realist evaluation: The summary was most useful for consultations when safety-netting advice was important or with multiple complex follow-up steps in patients who have difficulty remembering or communicating. It generated greater clarity on the follow-up and greater patient empowerment and reassurance. Conclusions: The person-based approach was successful. The summary report creates clarity, empowerment and reassurance in certain consultations and patients. As it takes a few minutes per patient, GPs prefer to select patients who will benefit most

Ets-1 Regulates Energy Metabolism in Cancer Cells

Cancer cells predominantly utilize glycolysis for ATP production even in the presence of abundant oxygen, an environment that would normally result in energy production through oxidative phosphorylation. Although the molecular mechanism for this metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis has not been fully elucidated, it is likely that mitochondrial damage to the electron transport chain and the resulting increased production of reactive oxygen species are significant driving forces. In this study, we have investigated the role of the transcription factor Ets-1 in the regulation of mitochondrial function and metabolism. Ets-1 was over-expressed using a stably-incorporated tetracycline-inducible expression vector in the ovarian cancer cell line 2008, which does not express detectable basal levels of Ets-1 protein. Microarray analysis of the effects of Ets-1 over-expression in these ovarian cancer cells shows that Ets-1 up-regulates key enzymes involved in glycolysis and associated feeder pathways, fatty acid metabolism, and antioxidant defense. In contrast, Ets-1 down-regulates genes involved in the citric acid cycle, electron transport chain, and mitochondrial proteins. At the functional level, we have found that Ets-1 expression is directly correlated with cellular oxygen consumption whereby increased expression causes decreased oxygen consumption. Ets-1 over-expression also caused increased sensitivity to glycolytic inhibitors, as well as growth inhibition in a glucose-depleted culture environment. Collectively our findings demonstrate that Ets-1 is involved in the regulation of cellular metabolism and response to oxidative stress in ovarian cancer cells

The peripheral blood transcriptome in septic cardiomyopathy: an observational, pilot study.

BACKGROUND:Septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) is common in sepsis and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS), measured by speckle tracking echocardiography, allows improved identification of impaired cardiac contractility. The peripheral blood transcriptome may be an important window into SCM pathophysiology. We therefore studied the peripheral blood transcriptome and LV GLS in a prospective cohort of patients with sepsis. RESULTS:In this single-center observational pilot study, we enrolled adult patients (age > 18) with sepsis within 48 h of admission to the ICU. SCM was defined as LV GLS > - 17% based on echocardiograms performed within 72 h of admission. We enrolled 27 patients, 24 of whom had high-quality RNA results; 18 (75%) of 24 had SCM. The group was 50% female and had a median (IQR) age of 59.5 (48.5-67.0) years and admission APACHE II score of 21.0 (16.0-32.3). Forty-six percent had septic shock. After filtering for low-expression and non-coding genes, 15,418 protein coding genes were expressed and 73 had significantly different expression between patients with vs. without SCM. In patients with SCM, 43 genes were upregulated and 30 were downregulated. Pathway analysis identified enrichment in type 1 interferon signaling (adjusted p < 10-5). CONCLUSIONS:In this hypothesis-generating study, SCM was associated with upregulation of genes in the type 1 interferon signaling pathway. Interferons are cytokines that stimulate the innate and adaptive immune response and are implicated in the early proinflammatory and delayed immunosuppression phases of sepsis. While type 1 interferons have not been implicated previously in SCM, interferon therapy (for viral hepatitis and Kaposi sarcoma) has been associated with reversible cardiomyopathy, perhaps suggesting a role for interferon signaling in SCM

Rapid turnover of long noncoding RNAs and the evolution of gene expression.

A large proportion of functional sequence within mammalian genomes falls outside protein-coding exons and can be transcribed into long RNAs. However, the roles in mammalian biology of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) are not well understood. Few lncRNAs have experimentally determined roles, with some of these being lineage-specific. Determining the extent by which transcription of lncRNA loci is retained or lost across multiple evolutionary lineages is essential if we are to understand their contribution to mammalian biology and to lineage-specific traits. Here, we experimentally investigated the conservation of lncRNA expression among closely related rodent species, allowing the evolution of DNA sequence to be uncoupled from evolution of transcript expression. We generated total RNA (RNAseq) and H3K4me3-bound (ChIPseq) DNA data, and combined both to construct catalogues of transcripts expressed in the adult liver of Mus musculus domesticus (C57BL/6J), Mus musculus castaneus, and Rattus norvegicus. We estimated the rate of transcriptional turnover of lncRNAs and investigated the effects of their lineage-specific birth or death. LncRNA transcription showed considerably greater gain and loss during rodent evolution, compared with protein-coding genes. Nucleotide substitution rates were found to mirror the in vivo transcriptional conservation of intergenic lncRNAs between rodents: only the sequences of noncoding loci with conserved transcription were constrained. Finally, we found that lineage-specific intergenic lncRNAs appear to be associated with modestly elevated expression of genomically neighbouring protein-coding genes. Our findings show that nearly half of intergenic lncRNA loci have been gained or lost since the last common ancestor of mouse and rat, and they predict that such rapid transcriptional turnover contributes to the evolution of tissue- and lineage-specific gene expression

Field Testing of a Pneumatic Regolith Feed System During a 2010 ISRU Field Campaign on Mauna Kea, Hawaii

Lunar In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) consists of a number of tasks starting with mining of lunar regolith, followed by the transfer of regolith to an oxygen extraction reactor and finally processing the regolith and storing of extracted oxygen. The transfer of regolith from the regolith hopper at the ground level to an oxygen extraction reactor many feet above the surface could be accomplished in different ways, including using a mechanical auger, bucket ladder system or a pneumatic system. The latter system is commonly used on earth when moving granular materials since it offers high reliability and simplicity of operation. In this paper, we describe a pneumatic regolith feed system, delivering feedstock to a Carbothermal reactor and lessons learned from deploying the system during the 2010 ISRU field campaign on the Mauna Kea, Hawaii