2,867 research outputs found
P011: Clinical utility of initial follow-up blood cultures in patients with catheter-related Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia
Hrk1 Plays Both Hog1-Dependent and -Independent Roles in Controlling Stress Response and Antifungal Drug Resistance in Cryptococcus neoformans
The HOG (High Osmolarity Glycerol response) pathway plays a central role in controlling stress response, ergosterol biosynthesis, virulence factor production, and differentiation of Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes fatal fungal meningoencephalitis. Recent transcriptome analysis of the HOG pathway discovered a Hog1-regulated gene (CNAG_00130.2), encoding a putative protein kinase orthologous to Rck1/2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Srk1 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Its function is not known in C. neoformans. The present study functionally characterized the role of Hrk1 in C. neoformans. Northern blot analysis confirmed that HRK1 expression depends on the Hog1 MAPK. Similar to the hog1Δ mutant, the hrk1Δ mutant exhibited almost complete resistance to fludioxonil, which triggers glycerol biosynthesis via the HOG pathway. Supporting this, the hrk1Δ mutant showed reduced intracellular glycerol accumulation and swollen cell morphology in response to fludioxonil, further suggesting that Hrk1 works downstream of the HOG pathway. However, Hrk1 also appeared to have Hog1-independent functions. Mutation of HRK1 not only further increased osmosensitivity of the hog1Δ mutant, but also suppressed increased azole-resistance of the hog1Δ mutant in an Erg11-independent manner. Furthermore, unlike the hog1Δ mutant, Hrk1 was not involved in capsule biosynthesis. Hrk1 was slightly involved in melanin production but dispensable for virulence of C. neoformans. These findings suggest that Hrk1 plays both Hog1-dependent and –independent roles in stress and antifungal drug susceptibility and virulence factor production in C. neoformans. Particularly, the finding that inhibition of Hrk1 substantially increases azole drug susceptibility provides a novel strategy for combination antifungal therapy
Characterization of Fine Particulate Matter and Associations between Particulate Chemical Constituents and Mortality in Seoul, Korea
Background: Numerous studies have linked fine particles [≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5)] and health. Most studies focused on the total mass of the particles, although the chemical composition of the particles varies substantially. Which chemical components of fine particles that are the most harmful is not well understood, and research on the chemical composition of PM2.5 and the components that are the most harmful is particularly limited in Asia
Template dissolution interfacial patterning of single colloids for nanoelectrochemistry and nanosensing
Deterministic positioning and assembly of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) onto substrates is a core requirement and a promising alternative to top-down lithography to create functional nanostructures and nanodevices with intriguing optical, electrical, and catalytic features. Capillary-assisted particle assembly (CAPA) has emerged as an attractive technique to this end, as it allows controlled and selective assembly of a wide variety of NPs onto predefined topographical templates using capillary forces. One critical issue with CAPA, however, lies in its final printing step, where high printing yields are possible only with the use of an adhesive polymer film. To address this problem, we have developed a template dissolution interfacial patterning (TDIP) technique to assemble and print single colloidal AuNP arrays onto various dielectric and conductive substrates in the absence of any adhesion layer, with printing yields higher than 98%. The TDIP approach grants direct access to the interface between the AuNP and the target surface, enabling the use of colloidal AuNPs as building blocks for practical applications. The versatile applicability of TDIP is demonstrated by the creation of direct electrical junctions for electro- and photoelectrochemistry and nanoparticle-on-mirror geometries for single-particle molecular sensing
Wnt5a stimulates chemotactic migration and chemokine production in human neutrophils
Wnt5a is a ligand that activates the noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways (??-catenin-independent pathways). Human neutrophils expressed several Wnt5a receptors, such as Frizzled 2, 5 and 8. Stimulation of human neutrophils with Wnt5a caused chemotactic migration and the production of two important chemokines, CXCL8 and CCL2. CCL2 production by Wnt5a was mediated by a pertussis toxin-sensitive G-protein-dependent pathway. Wnt5a also stimulated the phosphorylation of three mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs: ERK, p38 MAPK and JNK) and Akt. Inhibition of ERK, p38 MAPK or JNK by specific inhibitors induced a dramatic reduction in Wnt5a-induced CCL2 production. Supernatant collected from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages induced neutrophil chemotaxis, which was significantly inhibited by anti-Wnt5a antibody. Our results suggested that Wnt5a may contribute to neutrophil recruitment, mediating the inflammation response.open4
Tunable Multifunctional Topological Insulators in Ternary Heusler Compounds
Recently the Quantum Spin Hall effect (QSH) was theoretically predicted and
experimentally realized in a quantum wells based on binary semiconductor
HgTe[1-3]. QSH state and topological insulators are the new states of quantum
matter interesting both for fundamental condensed matter physics and material
science[1-11]. Many of Heusler compounds with C1b structure are ternary
semiconductors which are structurally and electronically related to the binary
semiconductors. The diversity of Heusler materials opens wide possibilities for
tuning the band gap and setting the desired band inversion by choosing
compounds with appropriate hybridization strength (by lattice parameter) and
the magnitude of spin-orbit coupling (by the atomic charge). Based on the
first-principle calculations we demonstrate that around fifty Heusler compounds
show the band inversion similar to HgTe. The topological state in these
zero-gap semiconductors can be created by applying strain or by designing an
appropriate quantum well structure, similar to the case of HgTe. Many of these
ternary zero-gap semiconductors (LnAuPb, LnPdBi, LnPtSb and LnPtBi) contain the
rare earth element Ln which can realize additional properties ranging from
superconductivity (e. g. LaPtBi[12]) to magnetism (e. g. GdPtBi[13]) and
heavy-fermion behavior (e. g. YbPtBi[14]). These properties can open new
research directions in realizing the quantized anomalous Hall effect and
topological superconductors.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
High-sensitivity surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy based on a metal nanoslit array
We have chemically modified metal nanoslit array surfaces with alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers and have characterized the resulting spectral shift of optical transmission. Adsorption of a self-assembled monolayer (1.5 nm thick) on a silver nanoslit array (slit width of 30-50 nm and grating period of 360 nm) is found to cause an 11 nm redshift of the main transmission peak. Strong confinement of optical fields in the narrow slit region allows sensitive transduction of surface modification into a shift of surface plasmon resonance wavelength. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics
Hybrid methods for accretive variational inequalities involving pseudocontractions in Banach spaces
Synergistic effects of longitudinal amyloid and vascular changes on lobar microbleeds
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether amyloid and hypertensive cerebral small vessel disease (hCSVD) changes synergistically affect the progression of lobar microbleeds in patients with subcortical vascular mild cognitive impairment (svMCI).
METHODS: Among 72 patients with svMCI who underwent brain MRI and [11C] Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)–PET, 52 (72.2%) completed the third year of follow-up. These patients were evaluated by annual neuropsychological testing, brain MRI, and follow-up PiB-PET.
RESULTS: Over 3 years, 31 of 52 patients (59.6%) had incident cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in the lobar and deep regions. Both baseline and longitudinal changes in lacune numbers were associated with increased numbers of lobar and deep microbleeds, while baseline and longitudinal changes in PiB uptake ratio were associated only with the progression of lobar microbleeds, especially in the temporal, parietal, and occipital areas. Regional white matter hyperintensity severity was also associated with regional lobar CMBs in the parietal and occipital regions. There were interactive effects between baseline and longitudinal lacune number and PiB retention on lobar microbleed progression. Increased lobar, but not deep, CMBs were associated with decreased scores in the digit span backward task and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that amyloid-related pathology and hCSVD have synergistic effects on the progression of lobar microbleeds, providing new clinical insight into the interaction between amyloid burden and hCSVD on CMB progression and cognitive decline with implications for developing effective prevention strategies
Direct calibration of PICKY-designed microarrays
Abstract Background Few microarrays have been quantitatively calibrated to identify optimal hybridization conditions because it is difficult to precisely determine the hybridization characteristics of a microarray using biologically variable cDNA samples. Results Using synthesized samples with known concentrations of specific oligonucleotides, a series of microarray experiments was conducted to evaluate microarrays designed by PICKY, an oligo microarray design software tool, and to test a direct microarray calibration method based on the PICKY-predicted, thermodynamically closest nontarget information. The complete set of microarray experiment results is archived in the GEO database with series accession number GSE14717. Additional data files and Perl programs described in this paper can be obtained from the website http://www.complex.iastate.edu under the PICKY Download area. Conclusion PICKY-designed microarray probes are highly reliable over a wide range of hybridization temperatures and sample concentrations. The microarray calibration method reported here allows researchers to experimentally optimize their hybridization conditions. Because this method is straightforward, uses existing microarrays and relatively inexpensive synthesized samples, it can be used by any lab that uses microarrays designed by PICKY. In addition, other microarrays can be reanalyzed by PICKY to obtain the thermodynamically closest nontarget information for calibration
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