272 research outputs found
Poly[[diaquabis(μ3-isonicotinato-κ3 N:O:O′)bis(μ2-isonicotinato-κ2 N:O)gadolinium(III)disiliver(I)] nitrate monohydrate]
In the title compound, {[Ag2Gd(C6H4NO2)4(H2O)2]NO3·H2O}n, the GdIII ion is coordinated by eight O atoms from six isonicotinate ligands and two water molecules in a distorted square antiprismatic geometry. Two AgI ions are each bonded to two N atoms from two isonicotinate ligands in a linear or bow-like fashion [N—Ag—N angles = 178.6 (2) and 147.1 (2)°]. These metal ions are connected by the isonicotinate ligands into a layer parallel to (010). O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds donated by the coordinated and uncoordinated water molecules and intralayer π–π stacking interactions between the pyridine rings [centroid–centroid distances = 3.551 (4) and 3.555 (4) Å] are observed. The layers interact with each other by interlayer Ag⋯O(aqua) contacts [2.731 (4) Å] and π–π stacking interactions between the pyridine rings [centroid–centroid distances = 3.466 (3) and 3.516 (3) Å], resulting in the formation of a three-dimensional supramolecular structure
Iodido(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)(piperine-1-carbodithioato-κ2 S,S′)copper(II)
In the title compound, [Cu(C6H10NS2)I(C12H8N2)], the CuII ion is coordinated by one iodide ion, two N atoms of the phenanthroline ligand and two S atoms from the piperidyldithiocarbamate ligand in a distorted square-pyramidal environment
Poly[diaquatris(μ4-isophthalato)dilanthanum(III)]
In the title coordination polymer, [La2(C8H4O4)3(H2O)2]n, there are two independent LaIII atoms which are coordinated differently in slightly distorted pentagonal-bipyramidal and slightly disorted bicapped trigonal-prismatic environments. The LaIII ions are bridged by μ4-isophthalate ligands, forming two-dimensional layers. In the crystal structure, these layers are connected by intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional network
(2,2′-Bipyridine-κ2 N,N′)iodido(pyrrolidine-1-dithiocarboxylato-κ2 S,S′)copper(II)
In the title compound, [Cu(C5H8NS2)I(C10H8N2)], the CuII ion is coordinated by one iodide ion, two N atoms of the bipyridine ligand and two S atoms from the pyrrolidine-1-dithiocarboxylate ligand in a distorted square-pyramidal environment
(N,N-Diethyldithiocarbamato-κ2 S,S′)iodido(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)copper(II)
The copper(II) atom in the title compound, [Cu(C5H10NS2)I(C12H8N2)], is chelated by the N-heterocycle and the dithiocarbamate anion in a slightly distorted tetragonal coordination. The tetragonal-pyramidal coorination is completed by the iodine atom in the apical position. One ethyl group is disordered over two positions with site occupancies of 0.31 (2) and 0.69 (2)
Retinal pigment epithelial cells secrete neurotrophic factors and synthesize dopamine: possible contribution to therapeutic effects of RPE cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>New strategies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) are shifted from dopamine (DA) replacement to regeneration or restoration of the nigro-striatal system. A cell therapy using human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells as substitution for degenerated dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons has been developed and showed promising prospect in clinical treatment of PD, but the exact mechanism underlying this therapy is not fully elucidated. In the present study, we investigated whether the beneficial effects of this therapy are related to the trophic properties of RPE cells and their ability to synthesize DA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated the protective effects of conditioned medium (CM) from cultured RPE cells on the DAergic cells against 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)- and rotenone-induced neurotoxicity and determined the levels of glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) released by RPE cells. We also measured the DA synthesis and release. Finally we transplanted microcarriers-RPE cells into 6-OHDA lesioned rats and observed the improvement in apomorphine-induced rotations (AIR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We report here: (1) CM from RPE cells can secret trophic factors GDNF and BDNF, and protect DAergic neurons against the 6-OHDA- and rotenone-induced cell injury; (2) cultured RPE cells express L-dopa decarboxylase (DDC) and synthesize DA; (3) RPE cells attached to microcarriers can survive in the host striatum and improve the AIR in 6-OHDA-lesioned animal model of PD; (4) GDNF and BDNF levels are found significantly higher in the RPE cell-grafted tissues.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings indicate the RPE cells have the ability to secret GDNF and BDNF, and synthesize DA, which probably contribute to the therapeutic effects of RPE cell transplantation in PD.</p
Progress and Opportunities of Foundation Models in Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics has witnessed a paradigm shift with the increasing integration
of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly through the adoption of
foundation models (FMs). These AI techniques have rapidly advanced, addressing
historical challenges in bioinformatics such as the scarcity of annotated data
and the presence of data noise. FMs are particularly adept at handling
large-scale, unlabeled data, a common scenario in biological contexts due to
the time-consuming and costly nature of experimentally determining labeled
data. This characteristic has allowed FMs to excel and achieve notable results
in various downstream validation tasks, demonstrating their ability to
represent diverse biological entities effectively. Undoubtedly, FMs have
ushered in a new era in computational biology, especially in the realm of deep
learning. The primary goal of this survey is to conduct a systematic
investigation and summary of FMs in bioinformatics, tracing their evolution,
current research status, and the methodologies employed. Central to our focus
is the application of FMs to specific biological problems, aiming to guide the
research community in choosing appropriate FMs for their research needs. We
delve into the specifics of the problem at hand including sequence analysis,
structure prediction, function annotation, and multimodal integration,
comparing the structures and advancements against traditional methods.
Furthermore, the review analyses challenges and limitations faced by FMs in
biology, such as data noise, model explainability, and potential biases.
Finally, we outline potential development paths and strategies for FMs in
future biological research, setting the stage for continued innovation and
application in this rapidly evolving field. This comprehensive review serves
not only as an academic resource but also as a roadmap for future explorations
and applications of FMs in biology.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
PlanarTrack: A Large-scale Challenging Benchmark for Planar Object Tracking
Planar object tracking is a critical computer vision problem and has drawn
increasing interest owing to its key roles in robotics, augmented reality, etc.
Despite rapid progress, its further development, especially in the deep
learning era, is largely hindered due to the lack of large-scale challenging
benchmarks. Addressing this, we introduce PlanarTrack, a large-scale
challenging planar tracking benchmark. Specifically, PlanarTrack consists of
1,000 videos with more than 490K images. All these videos are collected in
complex unconstrained scenarios from the wild, which makes PlanarTrack,
compared with existing benchmarks, more challenging but realistic for
real-world applications. To ensure the high-quality annotation, each frame in
PlanarTrack is manually labeled using four corners with multiple-round careful
inspection and refinement. To our best knowledge, PlanarTrack, to date, is the
largest and most challenging dataset dedicated to planar object tracking. In
order to analyze the proposed PlanarTrack, we evaluate 10 planar trackers and
conduct comprehensive comparisons and in-depth analysis. Our results, not
surprisingly, demonstrate that current top-performing planar trackers
degenerate significantly on the challenging PlanarTrack and more efforts are
needed to improve planar tracking in the future. In addition, we further derive
a variant named PlanarTrack for generic object tracking from
PlanarTrack. Our evaluation of 10 excellent generic trackers on
PlanarTrack manifests that, surprisingly,
PlanarTrack is even more challenging than several popular
generic tracking benchmarks and more attention should be paid to handle such
planar objects, though they are rigid. All benchmarks and evaluations will be
released at the project webpage.Comment: Tech. Repor
The Effect of Bradykinin B2 Receptor Polymorphisms on the Susceptibility and Severity of Osteoarthritis in a Chinese Cohort
Background. The B2-bradykinin receptor (BDKRB2) has been reported to associate with onset and development of Osteoarthritis (OA); however, the role of BDKRB2 genetic polymorphisms in OA remains unknown. Method. A total of 245 patients with primary knee OA and 264 healthy volunteer were recruited. BDKRB2 gene polymorphisms, −58T/C and +9/−9 bp polymorphisms, were genotyped. Results. The genotype distributions and allele frequencies of +9/−9 bp polymorphisms significantly differed between OA and control subjects. Logistic regression analysis showed carriers with −9/−9 genotype had a significantly increased risk for knee OA compared with the +9/+9 genotype (adjusted , ). The OR for −9 allele carriage was significantly higher than +9 allele carriage (adjusted , ). The +9/−9 bp polymorphisms also determined the OA radiographic severity. The presence of −9 bp was associated with severer OA. The −58T/C polymorphisms did not affect OA risk and severity. Conclusion. The +9/−9 bp polymorphisms of BDKRB2 gene may be used as a genetic marker for the susceptibility and severity of OA
Preparation of PPI-TA-MD microcapsules by Pickering emulsion method and its effect on oxidation stability of pumpkin seed oil
Objective: This study aimed to improve the oxidation, exploitation, and utilization of pumpkin seed oil (PSO). Methods: Pea protein isolate (PPI) -Tannic acid (TA) stabilized Pickering emulsion with Maltodextrin (MD) was used as the filling material, and prepared pumpkin seed oil microcapsules by spray drying. Results: After spray drying the Pickering emulsion, the smooth surface of the medium shell structure of microcapsule powder can be obtained. By increasing TA concentration, microcapsules showed smaller particle size [(32.00±0.28) μm], lower moisture content [(1.970±0.043)%], and higher bulk density [(0.725±0.014) g/cm3]. The FFA release rate of pumpkin seed oil microcapsules with different TA content was in the range of 39.63%~69.91%, and it slowed down when TA concentration increased. Compared with the PSO encapsulated in PPI, the PPI-TA composite used as the shell material improved the thermal stability, oxidation resistance and oxidation stability of PSO. Conclusion: These results indicated that PPI-TA-MD microencapsulation technology can improve the antioxidant capacity and oxidation stability of PSO
- …