Proteinase production by Candida albicans in HIV infection and its attenuation by antimycotics

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Bioethanol from Germinated Grains.

The most well-known way to produce bioethanol is by the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of starch. In a new project “BioConcens” (2007) sponsored by DARCOF (DAnish Research Center for Organic Food and farming) one aim is to develop a combined ethanol and biogas production for use in organic farming using starch containing biomass. Natural enzymes from cereals will be used for hydrolysis of starch to glucose in accordance with technology in brewing technology. Commercial enzymes are often produced from gene-modified organisms and will therefore not be used in the suggested organic context or process. A preliminary study was performed in which grains of wheat, rye, and barley were germinated using traditional methods applied in malting for beer production. During malting the amylase enzymes present in the grain are activated (autoamylolytic effect). Three steps were applied in the malting process; steeping, germination, and drying of the grains. After malting the grains were milled and mixed with water to 13% DM, cooked at 57.5C for 2 hours (to activate the enzymes), and cooled to 30C before adding Bakers Yeast. The results of this study indicate that efficient hydrolysis of starch can be achieved by activation of autoamylolytic enzymes in cereal grains after a malting process. The ethanol yields obtained in the autoamylolytic hydrolysis was comparable (or slightly higher) to that of reference experiments using commercial enzymes (amylases). The highest ethanol yield was obtained with wheat (0.34 g/g DM grain), followed by barley (0.31 g/g DM grain), and rye (0.29 g/g DM grain)

Hidden Markov Models and their Application for Predicting Failure Events

We show how Markov mixed membership models (MMMM) can be used to predict the degradation of assets. We model the degradation path of individual assets, to predict overall failure rates. Instead of a separate distribution for each hidden state, we use hierarchical mixtures of distributions in the exponential family. In our approach the observation distribution of the states is a finite mixture distribution of a small set of (simpler) distributions shared across all states. Using tied-mixture observation distributions offers several advantages. The mixtures act as a regularization for typically very sparse problems, and they reduce the computational effort for the learning algorithm since there are fewer distributions to be found. Using shared mixtures enables sharing of statistical strength between the Markov states and thus transfer learning. We determine for individual assets the trade-off between the risk of failure and extended operating hours by combining a MMMM with a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) to dynamically optimize the policy for when and how to maintain the asset.Comment: Will be published in the proceedings of ICCS 2020; @Booklet{EasyChair:3183, author = {Paul Hofmann and Zaid Tashman}, title = {Hidden Markov Models and their Application for Predicting Failure Events}, howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 3183}, year = {EasyChair, 2020}

Randomized controlled trial of traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture and Tuina) in cerebral palsy: Part 1 - Any increase in seizure in integrated acupuncture and rehabilitation group versus rehabilitation group?

Objective: The objective of this study was to observe for any change in baseline seizure frequency with acupuncture in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A randomized controlled study was conducted: Group I consisted of integrated acupuncture, tuina, and rehabilitation (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and hydrotherapy) for 12 weeks; and Group II consisted of rehabilitation (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and hydrotherapy) for 12 weeks. After a washout period of 4 weeks, Group II then received acupuncture and tuina for 12 weeks. Each subject received 5 daily acupuncture sessions per week for 12 weeks (total = 60 sessions). All children were assessed for any change in seizure frequency during treatment. Results: One hundred and sixteen (116) children were recruited and randomized into Group I (N = 58) and Group II (N = 58). Thirty-three (33) children withdrew (9 from Group I and 24 from Group II). Of the remaining 83 children, Group I consisted of 49 and Group II of 34 children. For baseline, 5 children (6%; 5/83) had seizures. During phase 1 (12 weeks) of integrative treatment and subsequent 4-week follow-up, 3 children in Group I had seizures. Among those 3 children with seizures, 1 child with prior history of recurrent febrile seizure had 3 more recurrent febrile seizures during acupuncture treatment and 2 children without any prior history of seizures had new-onset seizures (1 with 3 recurrent febrile seizures and 1 with afebrile seizure). For Group I, 2 children with epilepsy had no increase in seizure frequency during acupuncture treatment. For Group II during the phase 2 acupuncture period, none had increase in seizure frequency. In both groups, 4 of 5 children (80%; 2 in Group I and 2 in Group II) with seizures had no increase in seizure frequency during acupuncture treatment and follow-up. Conclusions: The risk of increasing seizure is not increased with acupuncture treatment for cerebral palsy. © 2008 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.published_or_final_versio

The clock genes Period 2 and Cryptochrome 2 differentially balance bone formation

Background: Clock genes and their protein products regulate circadian rhythms in mammals but have also been implicated in various physiological processes, including bone formation. Osteoblasts build new mineralized bone whereas osteoclasts degrade it thereby balancing bone formation. To evaluate the contribution of clock components in this process, we investigated mice mutant in clock genes for a bone volume phenotype. Methodology/Principal Findings: We found that Per2Brdm1 mutant mice as well as mice lacking Cry2-/- displayed significantly increased bone volume at 12 weeks of age, when bone turnover is high. Per2Brdm1 mutant mice showed alterations in parameters specific for osteoblasts whereas mice lacking Cry2-/- displayed changes in osteoclast specific parameters. Interestingly, inactivation of both Per2 and Cry2 genes leads to normal bone volume as observed in wild type animals. Importantly, osteoclast parameters affected due to the lack of Cry2, remained at the level seen in the Cry2-/- mutants despite the simultaneous inactivation of Per2. Conclusions/Significance: This indicates that Cry2 and Per2 affect distinct pathways in the regulation of bone volume with Cry2 influencing mostly the osteoclastic cellular component of bone and Per2 acting on osteoblast parameters

The economic burden of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalizations in China: a retrospective survey

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Quantum phase transition to unconventional multi-orbital superfluidity in optical lattices

Orbital physics plays a significant role for a vast number of important phenomena in complex condensed matter systems such as high-T$_c$ superconductivity and unconventional magnetism. In contrast, phenomena in superfluids -- especially in ultracold quantum gases -- are commonly well described by the lowest orbital and a real order parameter. Here, we report on the observation of a novel multi-orbital superfluid phase with a {\it complex} order parameter in binary spin mixtures. In this unconventional superfluid, the local phase angle of the complex order parameter is continuously twisted between neighboring lattice sites. The nature of this twisted superfluid quantum phase is an interaction-induced admixture of the p-orbital favored by the graphene-like band structure of the hexagonal optical lattice used in the experiment. We observe a second-order quantum phase transition between the normal superfluid (NSF) and the twisted superfluid phase (TSF) which is accompanied by a symmetry breaking in momentum space. The experimental results are consistent with calculated phase diagrams and reveal fundamentally new aspects of orbital superfluidity in quantum gas mixtures. Our studies might bridge the gap between conventional superfluidity and complex phenomena of orbital physics.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Optical Lattices: Theory

This chapter presents an overview of the properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped in a periodic potential. This system has attracted a wide interest in the last years, and a few excellent reviews of the field have already appeared in the literature (see, for instance, [1-3] and references therein). For this reason, and because of the huge amount of published results, we do not pretend here to be comprehensive, but we will be content to provide a flavor of the richness of this subject, together with some useful references. On the other hand, there are good reasons for our effort. Probably, the most significant is that BEC in periodic potentials is a truly interdisciplinary problem, with obvious connections with electrons in crystal lattices, polarons and photons in optical fibers. Moreover, the BEC experimentalists have reached such a high level of accuracy to create in the lab, so to speak, paradigmatic Hamiltonians, which were first introduced as idealized theoretical models to study, among others, dynamical instabilities or quantum phase transitions.Comment: Chapter 13 in Part VIII: "Optical Lattices" of "Emergent Nonlinear Phenomena in Bose-Einstein Condensates: Theory and Experiment," edited by P. G. Kevrekidis, D. J. Frantzeskakis, and R. Carretero-Gonzalez (Springer Series on Atomic, Optical, and Plasma Physics, 2007) - pages 247-26

Genome-wide association study identifies loci associated with liability to alcohol and drug dependence that is associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activity in African- and European-Americans.

Genetic influences on alcohol and drug dependence partially overlap, however, specific loci underlying this overlap remain unclear. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of a phenotype representing alcohol or illicit drug dependence (ANYDEP) among 7291 European-Americans (EA; 2927 cases) and 3132 African-Americans (AA: 1315 cases) participating in the family-based Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. ANYDEP was heritable (h 2 in EA = 0.60, AA = 0.37). The AA GWAS identified three regions with genome-wide significant (GWS; P < 5E-08) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosomes 3 (rs34066662, rs58801820) and 13 (rs75168521, rs78886294), and an insertion-deletion on chromosome 5 (chr5:141988181). No polymorphisms reached GWS in the EA. One GWS region (chromosome 1: rs1890881) emerged from a trans-ancestral meta-analysis (EA + AA) of ANYDEP, and was attributable to alcohol dependence in both samples. Four genes (AA: CRKL, DZIP3, SBK3; EA: P2RX6) and four sets of genes were significantly enriched within biological pathways for hemostasis and signal transduction. GWS signals did not replicate in two independent samples but there was weak evidence for association between rs1890881 and alcohol intake in the UK Biobank. Among 118 AA and 481 EA individuals from the Duke Neurogenetics Study, rs75168521 and rs1890881 genotypes were associated with variability in reward-related ventral striatum activation. This study identified novel loci for substance dependence and provides preliminary evidence that these variants are also associated with individual differences in neural reward reactivity. Gene discovery efforts in non-European samples with distinct patterns of substance use may lead to the identification of novel ancestry-specific genetic markers of risk

Observation of a One-Dimensional Spin-Orbit Gap in a Quantum Wire

Understanding the flow of spins in magnetic layered structures has enabled an increase in data storage density in hard drives over the past decade of more than two orders of magnitude1. Following this remarkable success, the field of 'spintronics' or spin-based electronics is moving beyond effects based on local spin polarisation and is turning its attention to spin-orbit interaction (SOI) effects, which hold promise for the production, detection and manipulation of spin currents, allowing coherent transmission of information within a device. While SOI-induced spin transport effects have been observed in two- and three-dimensional samples, these have been subtle and elusive, often detected only indirectly in electrical transport or else with more sophisticated techniques. Here we present the first observation of a predicted 'spin-orbit gap' in a one-dimensional sample, where counter-propagating spins, constituting a spin current, are accompanied by a clear signal in the easily-measured linear conductance of the system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, supplementary informatio