Use of small angle neutron scattering to study the interaction of angiotensin II with model membranes

Understanding biological processes assumes a detailed understanding of the interaction of all involved molecules. Here the effect of the peptide hormone angiotensin II (Ang II), an agonist of the angiotensin receptors, on the structure of unilamellar and multilamellar dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles was studied by small angle neutron scattering, dynamic light scattering and differential scanning calorimetry. The calorimetry data indicate a weak interaction of Ang II with the surface of the membrane bilayer, as the pretransition persists during all experiments, and the main transition is only slightly shifted towards higher temperatures. From the SANS data we were able to confirm the calorimetric data and verify the interaction of the hormone with the membrane surface. At low temperatures, when the lipid molecules are in the gel phase, more precisely in the ripple phase, the peptide penetrates in the head group core, but due to the close packing of the acyl chains, the hydrophobic region is not affected. In a temperature region below but close to the region of the phase transition, the hydrophibic core starts to be affected by the peptide, and the same is true for the fluid phase. Upon binding of the peptide, the thickness of the head group increases, and the scattering length density of the head group starts to rise with increasing peptide concentrations. This interaction and binding to the membrane surface may be relevant for the relocation, binding and reconstitution of the angiotensin receptors into the membrane. Second, the peptide adsorption to the membrane surface may contribute to the binding of Ang II in the active site of the recepto

Local treatment of a pleural mesothelioma tumor with ONCOS-102 induces a systemic antitumor CD8(+) T-cell response, prominent infiltration of CD8(+) lymphocytes and Th1 type polarization

Peer reviewe

Phase I study with ONCOS-102 for the treatment of solid tumors - an evaluation of clinical response and exploratory analyses of immune markers

Peer reviewe

MedShapeNet -- A Large-Scale Dataset of 3D Medical Shapes for Computer Vision

Prior to the deep learning era, shape was commonly used to describe the objects. Nowadays, state-of-the-art (SOTA) algorithms in medical imaging are predominantly diverging from computer vision, where voxel grids, meshes, point clouds, and implicit surface models are used. This is seen from numerous shape-related publications in premier vision conferences as well as the growing popularity of ShapeNet (about 51,300 models) and Princeton ModelNet (127,915 models). For the medical domain, we present a large collection of anatomical shapes (e.g., bones, organs, vessels) and 3D models of surgical instrument, called MedShapeNet, created to facilitate the translation of data-driven vision algorithms to medical applications and to adapt SOTA vision algorithms to medical problems. As a unique feature, we directly model the majority of shapes on the imaging data of real patients. As of today, MedShapeNet includes 23 dataset with more than 100,000 shapes that are paired with annotations (ground truth). Our data is freely accessible via a web interface and a Python application programming interface (API) and can be used for discriminative, reconstructive, and variational benchmarks as well as various applications in virtual, augmented, or mixed reality, and 3D printing. Exemplary, we present use cases in the fields of classification of brain tumors, facial and skull reconstructions, multi-class anatomy completion, education, and 3D printing. In future, we will extend the data and improve the interfaces. The project pages are: https://medshapenet.ikim.nrw/ and https://github.com/Jianningli/medshapenet-feedbackComment: 16 page

Crowdsourcing hypothesis tests: Making transparent how design choices shape research results

To what extent are research results influenced by subjective decisions that scientists make as they design studies? Fifteen research teams independently designed studies to answer fiveoriginal research questions related to moral judgments, negotiations, and implicit cognition. Participants from two separate large samples (total N > 15,000) were then randomly assigned to complete one version of each study. Effect sizes varied dramatically across different sets of materials designed to test the same hypothesis: materials from different teams renderedstatistically significant effects in opposite directions for four out of five hypotheses, with the narrowest range in estimates being d = -0.37 to +0.26. Meta-analysis and a Bayesian perspective on the results revealed overall support for two hypotheses, and a lack of support for three hypotheses. Overall, practically none of the variability in effect sizes was attributable to the skill of the research team in designing materials, while considerable variability was attributable to the hypothesis being tested. In a forecasting survey, predictions of other scientists were significantly correlated with study results, both across and within hypotheses. Crowdsourced testing of research hypotheses helps reveal the true consistency of empirical support for a scientific claim.</div

The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative: Investigating Immigration and Social Policy Preferences. Executive Report.

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social solidarity? Comparative cross-national research, relying mostly on secondary data, has findings in different directions. There is a threat of selective model reporting and lack of replicability. The heterogeneity of countries obscures attempts to clearly define data-generating models. P-hacking and HARKing lurk among standard research practices in this area.This project employs crowdsourcing to address these issues. It draws on replication, deliberation, meta-analysis and harnessing the power of many minds at once. The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative carries two main goals, (a) to better investigate the linkage between immigration and social policy preferences across countries, and (b) to develop crowdsourcing as a social science method. The Executive Report provides short reviews of the area of social policy preferences and immigration, and the methods and impetus behind crowdsourcing plus a description of the entire project. Three main areas of findings will appear in three papers, that are registered as PAPs or in process

Use of small angle neutron scattering to study the interaction of angiotensin II with model membranes

Understanding biological processes assumes a detailed understanding of the interaction of all involved molecules. Here the effect of the peptide hormone angiotensin II Ang II , an agonist of the angiotensin receptors, on the structure of unilamellar and multilamellar dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles was studied by small angle neutron scattering, dynamic light scattering and differential scanning calorimetry. The calorimetry data indicate a weak interaction of Ang II with the surface of the membrane bilayer, as the pretransition persists during all experiments, and the main transition is only slightly shifted towards higher temperatures. From the SANS data we were able to confirm the calorimetric data and verify the interaction of the hormone with the membrane surface. At low temperatures, when the lipid molecules are in the gel phase, more precisely in the ripple phase, the peptide penetrates in the head group core, but due to the close packing of the acyl chains, the hydrophobic region is not affected. In a temperature region below but close to the region of the phase transition, the hydrophibic core starts to be affected by the peptide, and the same is true for the fluid phase. Upon binding of the peptide, the thickness of the head group increases, and the scattering length density of the head group starts to rise with increasing peptide concentrations. This interaction and binding to the membrane surface may be relevant for the relocation, binding and reconstitution of the angiotensin receptors into the membrane. Second, the peptide adsorption to the membrane surface may contribute to the binding of Ang II in the active site of the recepto

Wear resistant all-PE single-component composites via 1D nanostructure formation during melt processing

Melt-flow-induced crystallization of polyethylene blends having tailored ultrabroad molar mass distribution affords extended-chain ultrahigh molar mass (UHMWPE) nanophases resembling nanofibers which effectively reinforce the polyethylene matrix. Unparalleled by state-of-the-art high density polyethylene (HDPE), the resulting melt-processable all-polyethylene single component composites exhibit simultaneously improved wear resistance, toughness, stiffness and strength. Key intermediates are trimodal blends prepared by melt compounding HDPE with bimodal UHMWPE/HDPE wax reactor blends (RB) readily tailored by ethylene polymerization on supported two-site catalysts. Whereas HDPE wax, varied up to 54 wt.-%, serves as processing aid lowering melt viscosity, UHMWPE varied up to 63 wt.-% accounts for improved blend properties. UHMWPE platelet-like nanophase separate during ethylene polymerization and readily melt during injection molding of RB/HDPE blends producing extended-chain fiber-like UHMWPE nanostructures of 100 nm diameter as shish which nucleate HDPE and HDPE wax crystallization to form shish-kebab-like structures. At 32 wt.-% UHMWPE content shish-kebab-like reinforcing phases account for massive polyethylene self-reinforcement as reflected by improved Young's modulus (+420%), tensile strength (+740%) and notched Izod impact strength (+650%) without impairing HDPE injection molding. All-PE composites exhibit high wear resistance entering ranges typical for polyamide and monomodal UHMWPE which is not processable by injection molding under identical conditions