Simplified user poll and experience report language (SUPER): implementation and application

Biological computing is generally organized as standalone implementation on a PC-type computer or on a central facility (e.g. a university computer center). Services provided by central facilities need to be tailored to the user community. Unless very work-intensive individual contacts are used, the feedback must be collected with generalized tools, such as questionnaires distributed in the form of a newslettter. We have developed a method to have such polls automated and tailored, as well as having multiple-choice questions combined with branching after fundamental questions. As the evaluation of the results needs to know the questions asked, we have also included a method to process the answers and give detailed tables on the answers. SUPER was applied in a poll to query the academic usership in Switzerland on the usage of molecular biology database

From Crystalline to Amorphous Germania Bilayer Films at the Atomic Scale: Preparation and Characterization

A new two-dimensional (2D) germanium dioxide film has been prepared. The film consists of interconnected germania tetrahedral units forming a bilayer structure, weakly coupled to the supporting Pt(111) metal-substrate. Density functional theory calculations predict a stable structure of 558-membered rings for germania films, while for silica films 6-membered rings are preferred. By varying the preparation conditions the degree of order in the germania films is tuned. Crystalline, intermediate ordered and purely amorphous film structures are resolved by analysing scanning tunnelling microscopy images

Concreteness and emotional valence of episodic future thinking (EFT) independently affect the dynamics of intertemporal decisions

During intertemporal decisions, the value of future rewards decreases as a function of the delay of its receipt (temporal discounting, TD). Since high discount rates have been associated with a series of problematic behaviours and clinical conditions, current research has focused on possible modulators of TD. Specifically, a reduction of individual discount rates has been shown during episodic future thinking (EFT), wherein time intervals are anchored to personal future events. However, it is not entirely clear whether this effect is mediated by a change in the representation of future events (i.e., from abstract to concrete) or by a positive-emotion modulation. Here, we investigated this issue by manipulating the valence of the EFT (i.e., using negative, neutral and positive episodic tags), and by collecting explicit and implicit measures of behaviour. The results showed a significant reduction of TD in all the three emotional conditions compared to the baseline, with differences among them, thus suggesting the existence of a cumulative effect of the concreteness and affective components of the EFT. The analyses of implicit measures additionally revealed that this effect was mediated by a simultaneous increase/decrease of attraction toward the delayed/immediate alternative. Finally, these effects appeared to be modulated by participants' baseline discounting preferences. These findings provide important insights on clinical applications in reward-related disorders

From Crystalline to Amorphous Germania Bilayer Films at the Atomic Scale: Preparation and Characterization

A new two-dimensional (2D) germanium dioxide film has been prepared. The film consists of interconnected germania tetrahedral units forming a bilayer structure, weakly coupled to the supporting Pt(111) metal-substrate. Density functional theory calculations predict a stable structure of 558-membered rings for germania films, while for silica films 6-membered rings are preferred. By varying the preparation conditions the degree of order in the germania films is tuned. Crystalline, intermediate ordered and purely amorphous film structures are resolved by analysing scanning tunnelling microscopy images

A phosphite dehydrogenase variant with promiscuous access to nicotinamide cofactor pools sustains fast phosphite-dependent growth of transplastomic chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Heterologous expression of the NAD+-dependent phosphite dehydrogenase (PTXD) bacterial enzyme from Pseudomonas stutzerii enables selective growth of transgenic organisms by using phosphite as sole phosphorous source. Combining phosphite fertilization with nuclear expression of the ptxD transgene was shown to be an alternative to herbicides in controlling weeds and contamination of algal cultures. Chloroplast expression of ptxD in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was proposed as an environmentally friendly alternative to antibiotic resistance genes for plastid transformation. However, PTXD activity in the chloroplast is low, possibly due to the low NAD+/NADP+ ratio, limiting the efficiency of phosphite assimilation. We addressed the intrinsic constraints of the PTXD activity in the chloroplast and improved its catalytic efficiency in vivo via rational mutagenesis of key residues involved in cofactor binding. Transplastomic lines carrying a mutagenized PTXD version promiscuously used NADP+ and NAD+ for converting phosphite into phosphate and grew faster compared to those expressing the wild type protein. The modified PTXD enzyme also enabled faster and reproducible selection of transplastomic colonies by directly plating on phosphite-containing medium. These results allow using phosphite as selective agent for chloroplast transformation and for controlling biological contaminants when expressing heterologous proteins in algal chloroplasts, without compromising on culture performance

The Structure of a Silica Thin Film on Oxidized Cu(111): Conservation of Honeycomb Lattice and Role of the Interlayer

There is a crucial role of the metal-oxide interface in determining the growth ofsilica thin films. However, only a few metallic substrates have been explored so far.In previous studies, metal substrates exhibiting unreconstructed surfaces under oxygenexposure have been analyzed. In this work, we study the structure of a silica thinfilm grown on Cu(111) and propose that a copper oxide film formed at the interfaceinhibits the appearance of defects and domain boundaries. Our results suggest that thesilica film structure has flexible connections with the copper oxide interlayer leadingto a lattice solely composed of six-membered rings. This honeycomb configuration iscertainly of importance in the design of well-defined two-dimensional oxide thin films onmetallic substrates as well as for catalysis applications involving metal-oxide interfaces

Memory accumulation mechanisms in human cortex are independent of motor intentions

Previous studies on perceptual decision-making have often emphasized a tight link between decisions and motor intentions. Human decisions, however, also depend on memories or experiences that are not closely tied to specific motor responses. Recent neuroimaging findings have suggested that, during episodic retrieval, parietal activity reflects the accumulation of evidence for memory decisions. It is currently unknown, however, whether these evidence accumulation signals are functionally linked to signals for motor intentions coded in frontoparietal regions and whether activity in the putative memory accumulator tracks the amount of evidence for only previous experience, as reflected in "old" reports, or for both old and new decisions, as reflected in the accuracy of memory judgments. Here, human participants used saccadic-eye and hand-pointing movements to report recognition judgments on pictures defined by different degrees of evidence for old or new decisions. A set of cortical regions, including the middle intraparietal sulcus, showed a monotonic variation of the fMRI BOLD signal that scaled with perceived memory strength (older > newer), compatible with an asymmetrical memory accumulator. Another set, including the hippocampus and the angular gyrus, showed a nonmonotonic response profile tracking memory accuracy (higher > lower evidence), compatible with a symmetrical accumulator. In contrast, eye and hand effector-specific regions in frontoparietal cortex tracked motor intentions but were not modulated by the amount of evidence for the effector outcome. We conclude that item recognition decisions are supported by a combination of symmetrical and asymmetrical accumulation signals largely segregated from motor intentions

Two-dimensional TiOx nanostructures on Au(111): a Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy investigation

We investigated the growth of titanium oxide two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures on Au(111), produced by Ti evaporation and post-deposition oxidation. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) measurements characterized the morphological, structural and electronic properties of the observed structures. Five distinct TiOx phases were identified: the honeycomb and pinwheel phases appear as monolayer films wetting the gold surface, while nanocrystallites of the triangular, row and needle phases grow mainly over the honeycomb or pinwheel layers. Density Functional Theory (DFT) investigation of the honeycomb structure supports a (2 x 2) structural model based on a Ti-O bilayer having Ti2O3 stoichiometry. The pinwheel phase was observed to evolve, for increasing coverage, from single triangular crystallites to a well-ordered film forming a (4*sqrt(7) x 4*sqrt(7))R19.1° superstructure, which can be interpreted within a moire-like model. Structural characteristics of the other three phases were disclosed from the analysis of high-resolution STM measurements. STS measurements revealed a partial metallization of honeycomb and pinwheel and a semiconducting character of row and triangular phases

Continuous network structure of two-dimensional silica across a supporting metal step edge: An atomic scale study

The network structure of a silica bilayer film at a monolayer-bilayer transition and across a supporting metal step edge was studied at the atomic scale by scanning tunneling microscopy. The ring size distribution, ring-ring distances, and height profiles are analyzed across the step edge region. Density functional theory proposes two models to explain the observed network structure: a pinning of the lower layer to the substrate and a carpetlike mode. The results indicate a continuous coverage of the silica bilayer film across the step edge

Neutropenic enterocolitis and sepsis: Towards the definition of a pathologic profile

Background: Neutropenic enterocolitis (NE), which in the past was also known as typhlitis or ileocecal syndrome for the segment of the gastrointestinal tract most affected, is a nosological entity that is difficult to diagnose and whose pathogenesis is not fully known to date. Initially described in pediatric patients with leukemic diseases, it has been gradually reported in adults with hematological malignancies and non-hematological conditions, such as leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, aplastic anemia, and also myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as being associated with other immunosuppressive causes such as AIDS treatment, therapy for solid tumors, and organ transplantation. Therefore, it is associated with high mortality due to the rapid evolution in worse clinical pictures: Rapid progression to ischemia, necrosis, hemorrhage, perforation, multisystem organ failure, and sepsis. Case report: A case report is included to exemplify the clinical profile of patients with NE who develop sepsis. Literature Review: To identify a specific profile of subjects affected by neutropenic enterocolitis and the entity of the clinical condition most frequently associated with septic evolution, a systematic review of the literature was conducted. The inclusion criteria were as follows: English language, full-text availability, human subjects, and adult subjects. Finally, the papers were selected after the evaluation of the title and abstract to evaluate their congruity with the subject of this manuscript. Following these procedures, 19 eligible empirical studies were included in the present review. Conclusions: Despite the recent interest and the growing number of publications targeting sepsis and intending to identify biomarkers useful for its diagnosis, prognosis, and for the understanding of its pathogenesis, and especially for multi-organ dysfunction, and despite the extensive research period of the literature review, the number of publications on the topic “neutropenic enterocolitis and sepsis” appears to be very small. In any case, the extrapolated data allowed us to conclude that the integration of medical history, clinical and laboratory data, radiological imaging, and macroscopic and histological investigations can allow us to identify a specific pathological profile