Further investigations of the effects of anti-β2GP1 antibodies on collagen-induced platelet aggregation

Anti-beta-2-glycoprotein 1 (anti-β2GP1) antibodies are associated with increased thrombotic risk in patients with autoimmune disease. There is conflicting evidence on the effects of anti-β2GP1 antibodies on platelets, with both enhanced and inhibited aggregation previously reported. However, previous studies did not include isotype antibodies to ensure the observed effects were due to anti-β2GP1 antibodies. The aims of this study were to (1) investigate the effects of anti-β2GP1 antibodies on collagen-induced platelet aggregation in parallel with negative control (buffer normal saline) and isotype control antibodies and (2) determine the lupus anticoagulant (LA) activity of anti-β2GP1 antibodies used. Three animal-derived anti-human-β2GP1 antibodies (1.25, 2.5, and 5 μg/mL) incubated with healthy platelet-rich plasma were activated by collagen (2.5 μg/mL). Each anti-β2GP1 antibody demonstrated the inhibition of aggregation compared to negative control, but not to isotype control. No anti-β2GP1 antibody demonstrated LA activity, suggesting they were probably nonpathological. This study highlights both negative and isotype control markers are important to validate the effects of anti-β2GP1 antibodies. Assays to measure anti-domain I-β2GP1 antibodies are recommended to be used in conjunction with functional measures to further investigate the effects of anti-β2GP1 antibodies

Mitochondria transfer can enhance the murine embryo development

Purpose To evaluate the effect of mitochondrial transfer on embryonic development. Materials and methods Mitochondria concentrates were collected from murine hepatocytes and fertilized murine zygotes from young and older mice in the 2PN stage were subjected to mitochondrial transfer and cultured in vitro to evaluate the embryonic development. Results After extended in vitro culture, 37.65% and 20.91% embryos from the young mice developed to the blastocyst stage in the injected and control groups respectively, which is statistically significant. There was no difference in terms of hatching rates (1.76% and 1.82% respectively). Zygotes from the older mice (> 20 weeks old) that received mitochondrial transfer also had a better developmental outcome than the control group (54.35% and 18.92% developed to morula stage, 43.48% and 8.11% developed to the blastocyst stage respectively), which is statistically significant. Conclusions Our results for the murine model provide direct scientific evidence that mitochondrial transfer improves embryonic development. However, potential risks such as mitochondrial heteroplasmy, nuclear-mitochondrial interaction and epigenetic aspects all deserve further evaluation before mitochondrial transfer is applied clinically

Multilevel Semantic Analysis and Problem-Solving in the Flight Domain: Final Report: NASA Grant NCCI-52, July 11, 1981-July 10, 1982

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryNASA Grant NCCI-5

Induced circular dichroism of stereoregular vinyl polymers

Stereoregular vinyl polymers, poly(2-vinyl pyridine)s (P2VPs), were synthesized to examine the tacticity effect on the induced circular dichroism (ICD) via association with chiral acids. The ICD was found to be strongly dependent on the isotacticity of the P2VPs and the acidity of chiral acid in addition to its bulkiness

Artificial Intelligence and Human Error Prevention: A Computer Aided Decision Making Approach: Technical Report No. 4: Survey and Analysis of Research on Learning Systems from Artificial Intelligence

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryU.S. Department of Transportation / DOT FA79WA-4360 ABFederal Aviation Administratio

Calculation of the interspecies s-wave scattering length in an ultracold Na-Rb vapor

We report the calculation of the interspecies scattering length for the sodium-rubidium (Na-Rb) system. We present improved hybrid potentials for the singlet $X^1\Sigma^+$ and triplet $a^3\Sigma^+$ ground states of the NaRb molecule, and calculate the singlet and triplet scattering lengths $a_{s}$ and $a_{t}$ for the isotopomers $^{23}$Na$^{87}$Rb and $^{23}$Na$^{85}$Rb. Using these values, we assess the prospects for producing a stable two-species Bose-Einstein condensate in the Na-Rb system.Comment: v2: report correct units in Table captions, fix error in conclusions for $^{23}$Na$^{85}$Rb TBEC. Otherwise, more concise presentation, typos fixed. 6 pages, 1 figur

A high performance dye-sensitized solar cell with a novel nanocomposite film of PtNP/MWCNT on the counter electrode

An imide-functionalized material, poly(oxyethylene)-segmented polymer, was synthesized from the reaction of poly(oxyethylene) diamine of 2000 g mol(-1) M(w) and 4,4'-oxydiphthalic anhydride and used to disperse hybrid nanomaterials of platinum nanoparticles and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (PtNP/MWCNT). The composite material was spin-coated into film and further prepared as the counter electrode (PtNP/MWCNT-CE) for a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The short-circuit current density (J(SC)) and power-conversion efficiency (eta) of the DSSC with PtNP/MWCNT-CE were found to be 18.01 +/- 0.91 mA cm(-2) and 8.00 +/- 0.23%, respectively, while the corresponding values were 14.62 +/- 0.19 mA cm(-2) and 6.92 +/- 0.07% for a DSSC with a bare platinum counter electrode (Pt-CE). The presence and distribution of PtNP/MWCNT on the CE were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The attachment of PtNPs on MWCNTs was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), incident-photo-to-current efficiency (IPCE) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) were correlated to explain the efficacy of this nanocomposite system