Programming DNA Tube Circumferences

Synthesizing molecular tubes with monodisperse, programmable circumferences is an important goal shared by nanotechnology, materials science, and supermolecular chemistry. We program molecular tube circumferences by specifying the complementarity relationships between modular domains in a 42-base single-stranded DNA motif. Single-step annealing results in the self-assembly of long tubes displaying monodisperse circumferences of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, or 20 DNA helices

Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies distinct mouse medial ganglionic eminence cell types.

Many subtypes of cortical interneurons (CINs) are found in adult mouse cortices, but the mechanism generating their diversity remains elusive. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing on the mouse embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), the major birthplace for CINs, and on MGE-like cells differentiated from embryonic stem cells. Two distinct cell types were identified as proliferating neural progenitors and immature neurons, both of which comprised sub-populations. Although lineage development of MGE progenitors was reconstructed and immature neurons were characterized as GABAergic, cells that might correspond to precursors of different CINs were not identified. A few non-neuronal cell types were detected, including microglia. In vitro MGE-like cells resembled bona fide MGE cells but expressed lower levels of Foxg1 and Epha4. Together, our data provide detailed understanding of the embryonic MGE developmental program and suggest how CINs are specified

Understanding information centric layer of adaptive collaborative caching framework in mobile disconnection-prone networks

Smart networks and services leverage in-network caching to improve transmission efficiency and support large amount of content sharing, decrease high operating costs and handle disconnections. In this paper, we investigate the complex challenges related to content popularity weighting process in collaborative caching algorithm in heterogeneous mobile disconnection prone environments. We describe a reputation-based popularity weighting mechanism built in information-centric layer of our adaptive collaborative caching framework CafRepCache which considers a realistic case where caching points gathering content popularity observed by nodes differentiates between them according to node's reputation and network's connectivity. We extensively evaluate CafRepCache with competitive protocols across three heterogeneous real-world mobility, connectivity traces and use YouTube dataset for different workload and content popularity patterns. We show that our collaborative caching mechanism CafRepCache balances the trade-off that achieves higher cache hit ratio, efficiency and success ratios while keeping lower delays, packet loss and caching footprint compared to competing protocols across three traces in the face of dynamic mobility of publishers and subscribers

Calibration to Mitigate Near-Field Antennas Effects for a MIMO Radar Imaging System

A calibration method for a high-resolution hybrid MIMO turntable radar imaging system is presented. A line of small metal spheres is employed as a test pattern in the calibration process to measure the position shift caused by undesired antenna effects. The unwanted effects in the antenna near-field responses are analysed, modelled and significantly mitigated based on the symmetry and differences in the responses of the MIMO configuration

Near-Field Propagation Analysis for Vivaldi Antenna Design: Insight Into the Propagation Process for Optimizing the Directivity, Integrity of Signal Transmission, and Efficiency

Refined optimization of complex curve–linear-shaped radiators, such as traveling-wave Vivaldi antennas, can be achieved by considering simulated near fields to interpret in detail the structural influences of a design. The relationships between the space and time distributions of electromagnetic (EM) energy clusters and the geometric features are revealed with appropriate use of impulse response analysis combined with the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm. This article reports a deeper approach when applied to the adjustment of the geometric features of a traveling-wave antenna based on an analysis of near-field propagation features

Acidification of the Oxygen Scavenging System in Single-Molecule Fluorescence Studies: In Situ Sensing with a Ratiometric Dual-Emission Probe

For most of the single-molecule fluorescence studies to date, biomolecules of interest are labeled with small organic dyes which suffer from their limited photostability evidenced by blinking and photobleaching. An enzymatic oxygen scavenging system of glucose oxidase and catalase is widely used to improve the dye photostability but with the unfavorable side effect of producing gluconic acid. It is known that accumulation of this byproduct in solution can lead to considerable acidification, but the uncertainty in its severity under experimentally relevant conditions has been a long-standing area of concern due to the lack of a suitable assay. In this paper we report a fluorescence-based analytical assay for quantitatively assessing the acidification of oxygen scavenging systems in situ. By using a ratiometric, dual-emission dye, SNARF-1, we observed the presence and, for the first time, measured the severity of solution acidification due to the oxygen scavenging system for a number of conditions relevant to single-molecule studies. On the basis of the quantitative analysis of the acidification profile under these conditions, practical guidelines for optimizing the oxygen scavenging system are provided. This in situ assay should be applicable to a large variety of future single-molecule fluorescence studies

Changes in plasma phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, and valine are associated with significant changes in intracranial pressure and jugular venous oxygen saturation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury

Changes in plasma aromatic amino acids (AAA=phenylalanine, tryptophan, tyrosine) and branched chain amino acids (BCAA=isoleucine, leucine, valine) levels possibly influencing intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral oxygen consumption (SjvO2) were investigated in 19 sedated patients up to 14days following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Compared to 44 healthy volunteers, jugular venous plasma BCAA were significantly decreased by 35% (p<0.001) while AAA were markedly increased in TBI patients by 19% (p<0.001). The BCAA to AAA ratio was significantly decreased by 55% (p<0.001) which persisted during the entire study period. Elevated plasma phenylalanine was associated with decreased ICP and increased SjvO2, while higher plasma isoleucine and leucine levels were associated with increased ICP and higher plasma leucine and valine were linked to decreased SjvO2. The amount of enterally administered amino acids was associated with significantly increased plasma levels with the exception of phenylalanine. Contrary to the initial assumption that elevated AAA and decreased BCAA levels are detrimental, increased plasma phenylalanine levels were associated with beneficial signs in terms of decreased ICP and reduced cerebral oxygen consumption reflected by increased SjvO2; concomitantly, elevated plasma isoleucine and leucine levels were associated with increased ICP while leucine and valine were associated with decreased SjvO2 following severe TBI, respectively. The impact of enteral nutrition on this observed pattern must be examined prospectively to determine if higher amounts of phenylalanine should be administered to promote beneficial effects on brain metabolism and if normalization of plasma BCAA levels is without cerebral side effect

Correlation analysis of the rates of solvolysis of 4-bromopiperidine: A reaction following a Grob fragmentation pathway

A Grunwald-Winstein treatment of the specific rates of solvolysis of 4-bromopiperidine gives for aqueous ethanol, methanol, acetone, and dioxane a very good logarithmic correlation against the YBr solvent ionizing power values with a slope (m value) of 0.46±0.02, consistent with the operation of a synchronous Grob fragmentation mechanism. When the organic component of the solvent is 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), the data points show a negative deviation, consistent with an appreciable deactivating interaction of the acidic TFE component of the solvent with the lone-pair of electrons present on the nitrogen