Poly(n-butyl Methacrylate) with Primary Amine End Groups for Supporting Cell Adhesion and Proliferation of Renal Epithelial Cells

Polymer coatings that support epithelial cell culture have been developed. Ozonolysis and subsequent work up of poly(butyl methacrylate-co-butadiene) copolymers is used to form oligomers with carboxylic acid end groups, which are then further reacted with diamines to provide poly(butyl methacrylate)s with primary amine end groups. The polymers are cast as films and used as cell culture substrates for human dermal fibroblasts and human renal epithelial cells. Fibroblast and epithelial cells adhere and proliferate on acid functional materials but on amine functional films epithelial cells show greater viability than fibroblasts

Cell‐type specific visualization and biochemical isolation of endogenous synaptic proteins in mice

In recent years, the remarkable molecular complexity of synapses has been revealed, with over 1000 proteins identified in the synapse proteome. Although it is known that different receptors and other synaptic proteins are present in different types of neurons, the extent of synapse diversity across the brain is largely unknown. This is mainly due to the limitations of current techniques. Here we report an efficient method for the purification of synaptic protein‐complexes, fusing a high‐affinity tag to endogenous PSD95 in specific cell types. We also developed a strategy which enables the visualization of endogenous PSD95 with fluorescent‐proteins tag in Cre‐recombinase expressing cells. We demonstrate the feasibility of proteomic analysis of synaptic protein‐complexes and visualization of these in specific cell types. We find that the composition of PSD95‐complexes purified from specific cell types differs from those extracted from tissues with diverse cellular composition. The results suggest that there might be differential interactions in the PSD95‐complexes in different brain regions. We have detected differentially interacting proteins by comparing datasets from the whole hippocampus and the CA3 subfield of the hippocampus. Therefore, these novel conditional PSD95 tagging lines will not only serve as powerful tools for precisely dissecting synapse diversity in specific brain regions and subsets of neuronal cells, but also provide an opportunity to better understand brain region‐ and cell type‐specific alterations associated with various psychiatric/neurological diseases. These newly developed conditional gene‐tagging methods can be applied to many different synaptic proteins and will facilitate research on the molecular complexity of synapses

Making things happen : a model of proactive motivation

Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seizing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striving). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motivation. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences (e.g., personality, values, knowledge and ability) as well as contextual variations in leadership, work design, and interpersonal climate, that influence the proactive motivational states and thereby boost or inhibit proactive goal processes. Finally, the authors summarize priorities for future researc

Stepped fans and facies-equivalent phyllosilicates in Coprates Catena, Mars

Stepped fan deposits and phyllosilicate mineralogies are relatively common features on Mars but have not previously been found in association with each other. Both of these features are widely accepted to be the result of aqueous processes, but the assumed role and nature of any water varies. In this study we have investigated two stepped fan deposits in Coprates Catena, Mars, which have a genetic link to light-toned material that is rich in Fe–Mg phyllosilicate phases. Although of different sizes and in separate, but adjacent, trough-like depressions, we identify similar features at these stepped fans and phyllosilicates that are indicative of similar formation conditions and processes. Our observations of the overall geomorphology, mineralogy and chronology of these features are consistent with a two stage formation process, whereby deposition in the troughs first occurs into shallow standing water or playas, forming fluvial or alluvial fans that terminate in delta deposits and interfinger with interpreted lacustrine facies, with a later period of deposition under sub-aerial conditions, forming alluvial fan deposits. We suggest that the distinctive stepped appearance of these fans is the result of aeolian erosion, and is not a primary depositional feature. This combined formation framework for stepped fans and phyllosilicates can also explain other similar features on Mars, and adds to the growing evidence of fluvial activity in the equatorial region of Mars during the Hesperian and Amazonian

Measurement of the Positive Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.46 ppm

We present the first results of the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment for the positive muon magnetic anomaly $a_\mu \equiv (g_\mu-2)/2$. The anomaly is determined from the precision measurements of two angular frequencies. Intensity variation of high-energy positrons from muon decays directly encodes the difference frequency $\omega_a$ between the spin-precession and cyclotron frequencies for polarized muons in a magnetic storage ring. The storage ring magnetic field is measured using nuclear magnetic resonance probes calibrated in terms of the equivalent proton spin precession frequency ${\tilde{\omega}'^{}_p}$ in a spherical water sample at 34.7$^{\circ}$C. The ratio $\omega_a / {\tilde{\omega}'^{}_p}$, together with known fundamental constants, determines $a_\mu({\rm FNAL}) = 116\,592\,040(54)\times 10^{-11}$ (0.46\,ppm). The result is 3.3 standard deviations greater than the standard model prediction and is in excellent agreement with the previous Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) E821 measurement. After combination with previous measurements of both $\mu^+$ and $\mu^-$, the new experimental average of $a_\mu({\rm Exp}) = 116\,592\,061(41)\times 10^{-11}$ (0.35\,ppm) increases the tension between experiment and theory to 4.2 standard deviationsComment: 10 pages; 4 figure

Is there such a thing as Kalmia x Rhododendron?

Two putative hybrids between Kalmia and Rhododendron, their suspected progenitor species and related taxa were submitted to DNA sequencing of cpDNA trnL-F and nrDNA ITS regions in order to test whether there was DNA sequence evidence both for hybridization per se and for the direction of the cross should one be evident. Comparison of eight DNA sequences from these putative hybrids with Rhododendron and Kalmia species showed clear evidence of origin within Rhododendron. No evidence of Kalmia DNA was detected. These putative intergeneric hybrids appear to be mutants of Rhododendron and not of hybrid origin