The Expression and Function of Fatty Acid Transport Protein-2 and -4 in the Murine Placenta

Background: The uptake and trans-placental trafficking of fatty acids from the maternal blood into the fetal circulation are essential for embryonic development, and involve several families of proteins. Fatty acid transport proteins (FATPs) uniquely transport fatty acids into cells. We surmised that placental FATPs are germane for fetal growth, and are regulated during hypoxic stress, which is associated with reduced fat supply to the fetus. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using cultured primary term human trophoblasts we found that FATP2, FATP4 and FATP6 were highly expressed in trophoblasts. Hypoxia enhanced the expression of trophoblastic FATP2 and reduced the expression of FATP4, with no change in FATP6. We also found that Fatp2 and Fatp4 are expressed in the mouse amnion and placenta, respectively. Mice deficient in Fatp2 or Fatp4 did not deviate from normal Mendelian distribution, with both embryos and placentas exhibiting normal weight and morphology, triglyceride content, and expression of genes related to fatty acid mobilization. Conclusions/Significance: We conclude that even though hypoxia regulates the expression of FATP2 and FATP4 in human trophoblasts, mouse Fatp2 and Fatp4 are not essential for intrauterine fetal growth. © 2011 Mishima et al

A Supersymmetric Model with an Extra U(1) Gauge Symmetry

In the standard model the proton is protected from decay naturally by gauge symmetries, whereas in the ordinary minimal supersymmetric standard model an ad hoc discrete symmetry is imposed for the proton stability. We present a new supersymmetric model in which the proton decay is forbidden by an extra U(1) gauge symmetry. Particle contents are necessarily increased to be free from anomalies, incorporating right-handed neutrinos. Both Dirac and Majorana masses are generated for neutrinos, yielding non-vanishing but small masses. The superpotential consists only of trilinear couplings and the mass parameter $\mu$ of the minimal model is induced by spontaneous breaking of the U(1) symmetry.Comment: 10 pages, Revte

Supersymmetric Extension of the Standard Model with Naturally Stable Proton

A new supersymmetric standard model based on N=1 supergravity is constructed, aiming at natural explanation for the proton stability without invoking an ad hoc discrete symmetry through R parity. The proton is protected from decay by an extra U(1) gauge symmetry. Particle contents are necessarily increased to be free from anomalies, making it possible to incorporate the superfields for right-handed neutrinos and an SU(2)-singlet Higgs boson. The vacuum expectation value of this Higgs boson, which induces spontaneous breakdown of the U(1) symmetry, yields large Majorana masses for the right-handed neutrinos, leading to small masses for the ordinary neutrinos. The linear coupling of SU(2)-doublet Higgs superfields, which is indispensable to the superpotential of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, is replaced by a trilinear coupling of the Higgs superfields, so that there is no mass parameter in the superpotential. The energy dependencies of the model parameters are studied, showing that gauge symmetry breaking is induced by radiative corrections. Certain ranges of the parameter values compatible with phenomena at the electroweak energy scale can be derived from universal values of masses-squared and trilinear coupling constants for scalar fields at a very high energy scale.Comment: 32 pages, Revtex, 7 figure

Implementation of earlier antibiotic administration in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in Japan: a descriptive analysis of a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Time to antibiotic administration is a key element in sepsis care; however, it is difficult to implement sepsis care bundles. Additionally, sepsis is different from other emergent conditions including acute coronary syndrome, stroke, or trauma. We aimed to describe the association between time to antibiotic administration and outcomes in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in Japan. METHODS: This prospective observational study enrolled 1184 adult patients diagnosed with severe sepsis based on the Sepsis-2 criteria and admitted to 59 intensive care units (ICUs) in Japan between January 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, as the sepsis cohort of the Focused Outcomes Research in Emergency Care in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Sepsis and Trauma (FORECAST) study. We compared the characteristics and in-hospital mortality of patients administered with antibiotics at varying durations after sepsis recognition, i.e., 0-60, 61-120, 121-180, 181-240, 241-360, and 361-1440 min, and estimated the impact of antibiotic timing on risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality using the generalized estimating equation model (GEE) with an exchangeable, within-group correlation matrix, with "hospital" as the grouping variable. RESULTS: Data from 1124 patients in 54 hospitals were used for analyses. Of these, 30.5% and 73.9% received antibiotics within 1 h and 3 h, respectively. Overall, the median time to antibiotic administration was 102 min [interquartile range (IQR), 55-189]. Compared with patients diagnosed in the emergency department [90 min (IQR, 48-164 min)], time to antibiotic administration was shortest in patients diagnosed in ICUs [60 min (39-180 min)] and longest in patients transferred from wards [120 min (62-226)]. Overall crude mortality was 23.4%, where patients in the 0-60 min group had the highest mortality (28.0%) and a risk-adjusted mortality rate [28.7% (95% CI 23.3-34.1%)], whereas those in the 61-120 min group had the lowest mortality (20.2%) and risk-adjusted mortality rates [21.6% (95% CI 16.5-26.6%)]. Differences in mortality were noted only between the 0-60 min and 61-120 min groups. CONCLUSIONS: We could not find any association between earlier antibiotic administration and reduction in in-hospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis

Sub-Meter Tree Height Mapping of California using Aerial Images and LiDAR-Informed U-Net Model

Tree canopy height is one of the most important indicators of forest biomass, productivity, and species diversity, but it is challenging to measure accurately from the ground and from space. Here, we used a U-Net model adapted for regression to map the canopy height of all trees in the state of California with very high-resolution aerial imagery (60 cm) from the USDA-NAIP program. The U-Net model was trained using canopy height models computed from aerial LiDAR data as a reference, along with corresponding RGB-NIR NAIP images collected in 2020. We evaluated the performance of the deep-learning model using 42 independent 1 km$^2$ sites across various forest types and landscape variations in California. Our predictions of tree heights exhibited a mean error of 2.9 m and showed relatively low systematic bias across the entire range of tree heights present in California. In 2020, trees taller than 5 m covered ~ 19.3% of California. Our model successfully estimated canopy heights up to 50 m without saturation, outperforming existing canopy height products from global models. The approach we used allowed for the reconstruction of the three-dimensional structure of individual trees as observed from nadir-looking optical airborne imagery, suggesting a relatively robust estimation and mapping capability, even in the presence of image distortion. These findings demonstrate the potential of large-scale mapping and monitoring of tree height, as well as potential biomass estimation, using NAIP imagery.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation (RSEC

Models of Yukawa interaction in the two Higgs doublet model, and their collider phenomenology

Possible models of Yukawa interaction are discussed in the two Higgs doublet model (THDM) under the discrete symmetry imposed to avoid the flavor changing neutral current at the leading order. It is known that there are four types of such models corresponding to the possible different assignment of charges for the discrete symmetry on quarks and leptons. We first examine decay properties of Higgs bosons in each type of the models, and summarize constraints on the models from current experimental data. We then shed light on the differences among these models in collider phenomenology. In particular, we mainly discuss so-called the Type-II THDM and the Type-X THDM. The Type-II THDM corresponds to the model with the same Yukawa interaction as the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). On the other hand, in the Type-X THDM, additional Higgs bosons can predominantly decay into leptons. This scenario may be interesting because of the motivation for a light charged Higgs boson scenario such as in the TeV scale model of neutrino, dark matter and baryogenesis. We study how we can distinguish the Type-X THDM from the MSSM at the Large Hadron Collider and the International Linear Collider.Comment: 33 pages, 41 eps files, version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Shear thinning behavior of cerebrospinal fluid with elevated protein or cellular concentration

Introduction: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) plays a crucial role in the maintenance of the central nervous system (CNS) by cushioning the brain, providing nutrients, removing interstitial waste, and maintaining homeostasis. Flow characteristics of CSF may significantly contribute to brain dynamics, injury mechanics, disease pathogenesis, and the functionality of the glymphatic system. Conventionally, CSF is considered to have very similar rheological properties to water and Newtonian behavior of CSF has been assumed, despite its complex composition, which can include proteins like albumin and tau, as well as cellular content such as blood.Methods: Recent advances in rheological techniques allow for more accurate quantification of CSF characteristics and behavior. Here, we present an updated rheological characterization of CSF, including the impact of its cellular and proteinaceous constituents. CSF samples were tested for protein and cellular concentration. Using precision torsional rheometry and recently developed extensional rheology techniques, we show that CSF with elevated cellular or protein concentration exhibits significant non-Newtonian behavior, especially at low shear rates.Results: Like other biological fluids, CSF with elevated cellular or protein concentration exhibits shear thinning behavior until reaching a steady state viscosity of approximately 1 mPa·s at shear rates greater than 10 s-1. This shear thinning behavior becomes more pronounced with increasing concentration of its constituents. In extensional flow, CSF exhibited weakly non-Newtonian behavior, with an average extensional relaxation time of 0.14 ms. The extensional relaxation time is positively correlated to cellular concentration and significantly increased with elevated protein.Discussion: Our results enhance the understanding of CSF rheology with significant implications for the analysis, modeling, and treatment of CSF-related processes

CD44v6 Regulates Growth of Brain Tumor Stem Cells Partially through the AKT-Mediated Pathway

Identification of stem cell-like brain tumor cells (brain tumor stem-like cells; BTSC) has gained substantial attention by scientists and physicians. However, the mechanism of tumor initiation and proliferation is still poorly understood. CD44 is a cell surface protein linked to tumorigenesis in various cancers. In particular, one of its variant isoforms, CD44v6, is associated with several cancer types. To date its expression and function in BTSC is yet to be identified. Here, we demonstrate the presence and function of the variant form 6 of CD44 (CD44v6) in BTSC of a subset of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Patients with CD44high GBM exhibited significantly poorer prognoses. Among various variant forms, CD44v6 was the only isoform that was detected in BTSC and its knockdown inhibited in vitro growth of BTSC from CD44high GBM but not from CD44low GBM. In contrast, this siRNA-mediated growth inhibition was not apparent in the matched GBM sample that does not possess stem-like properties. Stimulation with a CD44v6 ligand, osteopontin (OPN), increased expression of phosphorylated AKT in CD44high GBM, but not in CD44low GBM. Lastly, in a mouse spontaneous intracranial tumor model, CD44v6 was abundantly expressed by tumor precursors, in contrast to no detectable CD44v6 expression in normal neural precursors. Furthermore, overexpression of mouse CD44v6 or OPN, but not its dominant negative form, resulted in enhanced growth of the mouse tumor stem-like cells in vitro. Collectively, these data indicate that a subset of GBM expresses high CD44 in BTSC, and its growth may depend on CD44v6/AKTpathway

Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.

The São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity