Multi-cellular natural killer (NK) cell clusters enhance NK cell activation through localizing IL-2 within the cluster

1154Ysciescopu

Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress is Greater in Korean Patients with Coronary Artery Disease than Healthy Subjects

There are some evidences that the increased oxidative stress and thus increased oxidizability of lipoproteins and DNA can contribute to the development of certain human diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. To confirm the association of DNA damage with cardiovascular disease, we investigated susceptibility of DNA to oxidation in lymphocytes and oxidative stress related parameters in blood of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Subjects were consisted of 42 patients (27 men, 15 women) with documented CAD and 49 apparently healthy subjects (33 men, 16 women) as controls. Cellular DNA damage induced by 100 µM H2O2 was measured using Comet assay and quantified by TL. There were no differences in age (61.4 ± 1.7 years vs 62.0 ± 2.2 years) between the two groups. All the findings were shown to be independent of either sex or smoking habit. The patients showed significantly higher TL (87.3 ± 1.6 µm) compared to the control (79.3 ± 1.7 µm, p<0.01). Plasma TRAP, vitamin C, γ-tocopherol, and α-carotene levels in patients group were lower than those of control groups, while erythrocytic catalase activity increased in patients group. In conclusion, we observed that reduced overall antioxidant status was closely connected to higher susceptibility of DNA damage in CAD patients

Correlation of the Rates of Solvolysis of i-Butyl Fluoroformate and a Consideration of Leaving-Group Effects

The specific rates of solvolysis of isobutyl fluoroformate (1) have been measured at 40.0 °C in 22 pure and binary solvents. These results correlated well with the extended Grunwald-Winstein (G-W) equation, which incorporated the NT solvent nucleophilicity scale and the YCl solvent ionizing power scale. The sensitivities (l and m-values) to changes in solvent nucleophilicity and solvent ionizing power, and the kF/kCl values are very similar to those observed previously for solvolyses of n-octyl fluoroformate, consistent with the additional step of an addition-elimination pathway being rate-determining. The solvent deuterium isotope effect value (kMeOH/kMeOD) for methanolysis of 1 was determined, and for solvolyses in ethanol, methanol, 80% ethanol, and 70% TFE, the values of the enthalpy and the entropy of activation for the solvolysis of 1 were also determined. The results are compared with those reported earlier for isobutyl chloroformate (2) and other alkyl haloformate esters and mechanistic conclusions are drawn

Evaluation of Left Atrial Volumes Using Multidetector Computed Tomography: Comparison with Echocardiography

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively assess the relationship between the two different measurement methods for the evaluation of left atrial (LA) volume using cardiac multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and to compare the results between cardiac MDCT and echocardiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five patients (20 men, 15 women; mean age, 60 years) underwent cardiac MDCT angiography for coronary artery disease. The LA volumes were measured using two different methods: the two dimensional (2D) length-based (LB) method measured along the three-orthogonal planes of the LA and the 3D volumetric threshold-based (VTB) method measured according to the threshold 3D segmentation of the LA. The results obtained by cardiac MDCT were compared with those obtained by echocardiography. RESULTS: The LA end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes (LAESV and LAEDV) measured by the 2D-LB method correlated well with those measured by the 3D-VTB method using cardiac MDCT (r = 0.763, r = 0.786, p = 0.001). However, there was a significant difference in the LAESVs between the two measurement methods using cardiac MDCT (p < 0.05). The LAESV measured by cardiac MDCT correlated well with measurements by echocardiography (r = 0.864, p = 0.001), however with a significant difference (p < 0.01) in their volumes. The cardiac MDCT overestimated the LAESV by 22% compared to measurements by echocardiography. CONCLUSION: A significant correlation was found between the two different measurement methods for evaluating LA volumes by cardiac MDCT. Further, cardiac MDCT correlates well with echocardiography in evaluating the LA volume. However, there are significant differences in the LAESV between the two measurement methods using cardiac MDCT and between cardiac MDCT and echocardiographyope

Smartphone dependence classification using tensor factorization

Excessive smartphone use causes personal and social problems. To address this issue, we sought to derive usage patterns that were directly correlated with smartphone dependence based on usage data. This study attempted to classify smartphone dependence using a data-driven prediction algorithm. We developed a mobile application to collect smartphone usage data. A total of 41,683 logs of 48 smartphone users were collected from March 8, 2015, to January 8, 2016. The participants were classified into the control group (SUC) or the addiction group (SUD) using the Korean Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale for Adults (S-Scale) and a face-to-face offline interview by a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist (SUC = 23 and SUD = 25). We derived usage patterns using tensor factorization and found the following six optimal usage patterns: 1) social networking services (SNS) during daytime, 2) web surfing, 3) SNS at night, 4) mobile shopping, 5) entertainment, and 6) gaming at night. The membership vectors of the six patterns obtained a significantly better prediction performance than the raw data. For all patterns, the usage times of the SUD were much longer than those of the SUC. From our findings, we concluded that usage patterns and membership vectors were effective tools to assess and predict smartphone dependence and could provide an intervention guideline to predict and treat smartphone dependence based on usage data.112Ysciescopu

Mycobacterium abscessus activates the NLRP3 inflammasome via Dectin-1–Syk and p62/SQSTM1

Numerous atypical mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabc), cause nontuberculous mycobacterial infections, which present a serious public health threat. Inflammasome activation is involved in host defense and the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. However, inflammasome activation has not been widely characterized in human macrophages infected with atypical mycobacteria. Here, we demonstrate that Mabc robustly activates the nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome via dectin-1/Syk-dependent signaling and the cytoplasmic scaffold protein p62/SQSTM1 (p62) in human macrophages. Both dectin-1 and Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) were required for Mabc-induced mRNA expression of pro-interleukin (IL)-1β, cathelicidin human cationic antimicrobial protein-18/LL-37 and β-defensin 4 (DEFB4). Dectin-1-dependent Syk signaling, but not that of MyD88, led to the activation of caspase-1 and secretion of IL-1β through the activation of an NLRP3/apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) inflammasome. Additionally, potassium efflux was required for Mabc-induced NLRP3/ASC inflammasome activation. Furthermore, Mabc-induced p62 expression was critically involved in NLRP3 inflammasome activation in human macrophages. Finally, NLRP3/ASC was critical for the inflammasome in antimicrobial responses to Mabc infection. Taken together, these data demonstrate the induction mechanism of the NLRP3/ASC inflammasome and its role in innate immunity to Mabc infection

Air-stable n-type operation of Gd-contacted carbon nanotube field effect transistors

We report air-stable n -type operations of the single-walled carbon nanotube field effect transistors (SWNT-FETs) fabricated with Gd electrodes. Unlike previously reported n -type SWNT-FETs, our devices maintained their n -type operation characteristics in ambient atmosphere for more than two months. The shallow Gd films with a thickness below 20 nm are corroded by environmental oxygen, whereas the well-contacted Gd-SWNT interfaces underneath the thick Gd layers are protected from contaminations by air molecules. Theoretical studies based on the first-principles electronic structure calculations confirm that Gd layers have an excellent binding affinity to the SWNTs.open8