Psammaplins Selectively Target Triple-Negative Metastatic Breast Tumor Cells that are Genetically Programmed to Colonize Specific Organs

Five bromotyrosine-derived marine sponge metabolites, four psammaplins (1 – 4) and the psammaplin dimer, bisaprasin (5) were isolated from a lipid extract sample of the marine sponge Dendrilla lacunosa.  Psammaplins act as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors that alter cellular gene expression.  The D. lacunosa psammaplins activated the oxygen regulated transcription factor HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor-1) in T47D human breast tumor cells and displayed cell line specific effects against aggressive organotropic metastatic cell lines that were derived from triple-negative MDA-MB-231 human breast tumor cells

A Carleman-Picard approach for reconstructing zero-order coefficients in parabolic equations with limited data

We propose a globally convergent computational technique for the nonlinear inverse problem of reconstructing the zero-order coefficient in a parabolic equation using partial boundary data. This technique is called the "reduced dimensional method". Initially, we use the polynomial-exponential basis to approximate the inverse problem as a system of 1D nonlinear equations. We then employ a Picard iteration based on the quasi-reversibility method and a Carleman weight function. We will rigorously prove that the sequence derived from this iteration converges to the accurate solution for that 1D system without requesting a good initial guess of the true solution. The key tool for the proof is a Carleman estimate. We will also show some numerical examples

Towards Measuring the Food Quality of Grocery Purchases: An Estimation Model of the Healthy Eating Index-2010 Using only Food Item Counts

AbstractMeasuring the quality of food consumed by individuals or groups in the U.S. is essential to informed public health surveillance efforts and sound nutrition policymaking. For example, the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI) is an ideal metric to assess the food quality of households, but the traditional methods of collecting the data required to calculate the HEI are expensive and burdensome. We evaluated an alternative source: rather than measuring the quality of the foods consumers eat, we want to estimate the quality of the foods consumers buy. To accomplish that we need a way of estimating the HEI based solely on the count of food items. We developed an estimation model of the HEI, using an augmented set of the What We Eat In America (WWEIA) food categories. Then we mapped ∼92,000 grocery food items to it. The model uses an inverse Cumulative Distribution Function sampling technique. Here we describe the model and report reliability metrics based on NHANES data from 2003-2010

MICROENCAPSULATION OF MERCAPTAN USING POLYCAPROLACTONE AS SHELL MATERIAL TOWARD SELF-HEALING COATING APPLICATIONS

Polymer materials incorporating microencapsulated self-healing agents have a wide range of application from paint coating, anti-corrosion coatings to automotive and construction materials. In this research, microcapsules containing reactive mercaptan compound for use in self healing polymers were successfully fabricated via the oil-in-water emulsion method. We employed for the first time the UV-initiated thiol-ene reaction between an alkene-functionalized polycaprolactone and a tetrathiol compound to form the microcapsule shell. To synthesize microcapsules, the tetrathiol was used in large excess, thus maintaining inside the microcapsules as the core material. The obtained microcapsules were analyzed by Fourier Transform infrared microscopy, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and laser diffraction particle size analysis. The core was extracted by Soxhlet extraction and analyzed by 1H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy