Making Magnetic Yeast

This study demonstrates that normal yeast cells can be magnetized, and identifies local redox control via carbon metabolism and iron supply as key factors involved in magnetization

Silly Gene Patent is Not My Lover: A Retrospective Analysis of Myriad

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. established that an isolated fragment of a gene—the basic unit of heredity—is not patent-eligible subject matter while simultaneously holding that complementary DNA (cDNA) of a gene is patent-eligible subject matter. The decision has been controversial and criticized for including two holdings that are internally inconsistent from both scientific and patent law perspectives. But are the short- and long-term criticisms overstated? A decade after Myriad, the various impacts of the case remain relevant, particularly to the biotechnology and genetic testing fields. First, this Note examines whether Myriad was properly decided for isolated genes and cDNA, respectively, under the modern framework for patent-eligible subject matter. Then, this Note argues that the Supreme Court correctly held that isolated human genes are not patent-eligible but wrongly held that cDNA was patent-eligible merely because it is different from its naturally-occurring counterpart. Lastly, this Note explores arguments for and against gene patenting and specifically focuses on the implications of Myriad’s “no gene patenting” holding on subsequent genetic research and diagnostic testing access with the benefit of hindsight

Nostos: On Recollecting Loss and the Physical Manifestation of Loss

This paper examines nostalgia in photo-poetry book Nostos, and nostalgia’s existence as a theoretical global condition arising from displacement, looking at nostalgia specifically not as a yearning for home, but a yearning for a lost sense of feeling at home. It traces the lineage of image-text hybrid art practices and examines the significance of conveying meaning through both synergistically. It studies the psychoanalytic process of transforming loss into object, or absence into presence, ultimately using the object as a lens to view oneself and the way in which nostalgia manifests itself

Optical Tweezers as a Micromechanical Tool for Studying Defects in 2D Colloidal Crystals

This paper reports on some new results from the analyses of the video microscopy data obtained in a prior experiment on two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals. It was reported previously that optical tweezers can be used to create mono- and di-vacancies in a 2D colloidal crystal. Here we report the results on the creation of a vacancy-interstitial pair, as well as tri-vacancies. It is found that the vacancy-interstitial pair can be long-lived, but they do annihilate each other. The behavior of tri-vacancies is most intriguing, as it fluctuates between a configuration of bound pairs of dislocations and that of a locally amorphous state. The relevance of this observation to the issue of the nature of 2D melting is discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Auditory Conflict Resolution Correlates with Medial–Lateral Frontal Theta/Alpha Phase Synchrony

When multiple persons speak simultaneously, it may be difficult for the listener to direct attention to correct sound objects among conflicting ones. This could occur, for example, in an emergency situation in which one hears conflicting instructions and the loudest, instead of the wisest, voice prevails. Here, we used cortically-constrained oscillatory MEG/EEG estimates to examine how different brain regions, including caudal anterior cingulate (cACC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC), work together to resolve these kinds of auditory conflicts. During an auditory flanker interference task, subjects were presented with sound patterns consisting of three different voices, from three different directions (45° left, straight ahead, 45° right), sounding out either the letters “A” or “O”. They were asked to discriminate which sound was presented centrally and ignore the flanking distracters that were phonetically either congruent (50%) or incongruent (50%) with the target. Our cortical MEG/EEG oscillatory estimates demonstrated a direct relationship between performance and brain activity, showing that efficient conflict resolution, as measured with reduced conflict-induced RT lags, is predicted by theta/alpha phase coupling between cACC and right lateral frontal cortex regions intersecting the right frontal eye fields (FEF) and DLPFC, as well as by increased pre-stimulus gamma (60–110 Hz) power in the left inferior fontal cortex. Notably, cACC connectivity patterns that correlated with behavioral conflict-resolution measures were found during both the pre-stimulus and the pre-response periods. Our data provide evidence that, instead of being only transiently activated upon conflict detection, cACC is involved in sustained engagement of attentional resources required for effective sound object selection performance

Skin Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease that affects the intestinal tract via an inflammatory process. Patients who suffer from IBD often have diseases that affect multiple other organ systems as well. These are called extraintestinal manifestations and can be just as, if not more debilitating than the intestinal inflammation itself. The skin is one of the most commonly affected organ systems in patients who suffer from IBD. The scientific literature suggests that a disturbance of the equilibrium between host defense and tolerance, and the subsequent over-activity of certain immune pathways are responsible for the cutaneous disorders seen so frequently in IBD patients. The purpose of this review article is to give an overview of the types of skin diseases that are typically seen with IBD and their respective pathogenesis, proposed mechanisms, and treatments. These cutaneous disorders can manifest as metastatic lesions, reactive processes to the intestinal inflammation, complications of IBD itself, or side effects from IBD treatments; these can be associated with IBD via genetic linkage, common autoimmune processes, or other mechanisms that will be discussed in this article. Ultimately, it is important for healthcare providers to understand that skin manifestations should always be checked and evaluated for in patients with IBD. Furthermore, skin disorders can predate gastrointestinal symptoms and thus may serve as important clinical indicators leading physicians to earlier diagnosis of IBD

Polysorbate 20 and 80 degradation by Group XV lysosomal phospholipase A2 Isomer X1 in monoclonal antibody formulations

Decreases in the intact polysorbate (PS-20 and PS-80) content were observed while evaluating the long-term storage stability of CHO derived, purified monoclonal antibodies. It was determined that polysorbate had been enzymatically degraded; therefore, studies were performed to identify and characterize the protein(s) responsible. Polysorbate degrading activity was enriched from CHO media leading to the identification of Group XV phospholipase A2 Isomer X1 (PLA2) by LC-MS/MS. Recombinant phospholipase A2 was expressed, purified and conformational integrity confirmed against a phosphatidylcholine substrate. Incubation of recombinantly produced PLA2 with PS-20 and PS-80 resulted in hydrolysis of both monoester and higher order PS-20 and PS-80 but a much slower rate was observed for higher order PS-80. Endogenous phospholipase A2 was detected and quantitated at less than 1 ppm in three formulated antibodies while phospholipase A2 was not detected (or less than 0.1 ppm) in a fourth formulated antibody. Furthermore, antibodies with detectable quantities of endogenous phospholipase A2 demonstrated polysorbate hydrolysis while in contrast the antibody without detectable phospholipase A2 did not show polysorbate hydrolysis. Comparison of polysorbate degradation products generated from the formulated antibody and samples of polysorbate incubated with recombinant phospholipase A2 resulted in similar elution profiles by LC-MS. These results suggest that phospholipase A2 may play a key role in polysorbate degradation in some antibody preparations. Key words: Polysorbate 20, polysorbate 80, lipase, Group XV Lysosomal Phospholipase A2 Isomer X1, antibody, hydrolysi