Ferromagnetism in Mn-doped Chalcopyrite AlGaP2 Semiconductor

The electronic property and the magnetism of AlGaMnP2 compound by 3.125 %, 6.25 %, and 9.375 % Mn concentrations were investigated using the first-principles calculations. The Mn-doped AlGaP2 chalcopyrite with or without defect of Al, Ga, or P atom yields a strong half-metallic ground state. The ferromagnetic state is the most energetically favorable one. The spin-polarization of Mn dopant is stable with a magnetic moment close to 4μB due to intra-atomic exchange coupling. The states of host Al, Ga, or P atoms at the Fermi level are mainly a P-3p character, which mediates a strong interaction between the Mn-3d and P-3p states. The ferromagnetic state with high magnetic moment is originated from the hybridized P(3p)-Mn(3d)-P(3p) interaction formed through the p-d coupling without the defects. It is noted that the ferromagnetism arises from two distinguishing characteristics by polarons and by holes-mediated exchange-coupling

Warm-Season Grass Monocultures and Mixtures for Sustainable Bioenergy Feedstock Production in the Midwest, USA

Biomass yield and adaptability to a broad range of environments are important characteristics of dedicated energy crops for sustainable bioenergy feedstock production. In addition to yield potential, the role of species diversity on ecosystem services is also growing in importance as we seek to develop sustainable feedstock production systems. The objective of this study was to compare the biomass yield potential of the commercially available germplasm of native warm-season grasses in monocultures and in blends (mixture of different cultivars of the same species) or mixtures of different species across an environmental gradient (temperature and precipitation) in the Midwest, USA. Warm-season grasses including switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans[L.] Nash), sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula [Michx.] Torr.) and Miscanthus × giganteus (Greef and Deu.) were planted in 2009. Biomass was annually harvested from 2010 through 2015 for Urbana, IL and Mead, NE but only in 2010 and 2011 for Ames, IA. The effect of species in monocultures and mixtures (or blends) on biomass yields was significant for all locations. In monocultures, the annual biomass yields averaged over a 6-year period were 11.12 Mg ha−1 and 10.98 Mg ha−1 at Urbana and Mead, respectively, while the annual biomass yield averaged over a 2-year period was 7.99 Mg ha−1 at Ames, IA. Also, the annual biomass yields averaged across the different mixtures and blends at each location were 10.25 Mg ha−1, 9.88 Mg ha−1, and 7.64 Mg ha−1 at Urbana, Mead, and Ames, respectively. At all locations, M. × giganteus and ‘Kanlow N1’ produced the highest biomass yield in monocultures while mixtures containing switchgrass and big bluestem had the greatest mixture yield. The results from this multi-environment study suggest mixtures of different species provided no yield advantage over monocultures for bioenergy feedstocks in Illinois and Nebraska and both systems consistently produced biomass as long as April–July precipitation was near or above the average precipitation (300 mm) of the regions

Actin Cytoskeleton and Golgi Involvement in Barley stripe mosaic virus Movement and Cell Wall Localization of Triple Gene Block Proteins.

Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) induces massive actin filament thickening at the infection front of infected Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. To determine the mechanisms leading to actin remodeling, fluorescent protein fusions of the BSMV triple gene block (TGB) proteins were coexpressed in cells with the actin marker DsRed: Talin. TGB ectopic expression experiments revealed that TGB3 is a major elicitor of filament thickening, that TGB2 resulted in formation of intermediate DsRed:Talin filaments, and that TGB1 alone had no obvious effects on actin filament structure. Latrunculin B (LatB) treatments retarded BSMV cell-to-cell movement, disrupted actin filament organization, and dramatically decreased the proportion of paired TGB3 foci appearing at the cell wall (CW). BSMV infection of transgenic plants tagged with GFP-KDEL exhibited membrane proliferation and vesicle formation that were especially evident around the nucleus. Similar membrane proliferation occurred in plants expressing TGB2 and/or TGB3, and DsRed: Talin fluorescence in these plants colocalized with the ER vesicles. TGB3 also associated with the Golgi apparatus and overlapped with cortical vesicles appearing at the cell periphery. Brefeldin A treatments disrupted Golgi and also altered vesicles at the CW, but failed to interfere with TGB CW localization. Our results indicate that actin cytoskeleton interactions are important in BSMV cell-to-cell movement and for CW localization of TGB3

A set of stage-specific gene transcripts identified in EK stage X and HH stage 3 chick embryos

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The embryonic developmental process in avian species is quite different from that in mammals. The first cleavage begins 4 h after fertilization, but the first differentiation does not occur until laying of the egg (Eyal-Giladi and Kochav (EK) stage X). After 12 to 13 h of incubation (Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 3), the three germ layers form and germ cell segregation in the early chick embryo are completed. Thus, to identify genes associated with early embryonic development, we compared transcript expression patterns between undifferentiated (stage X) and differentiated (HH stage 3) embryos.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Microarray analysis primarily showed 40 genes indicating the significant changes in expression levels between stage X and HH stage 3, and 80% of the genes (32/40) were differentially expressed with more than a twofold change. Among those, 72% (23/32) were relatively up-regulated at stage X compared to HH stage 3, while 28% (9/32) were relatively up-regulated at HH stage 3 compared to stage X. Verification and gene expression profiling of these GeneChip expression data were performed using quantitative RT-PCR for 32 genes at developmental four points; stage X (0 h), HH stage 3 (12 h), HH stage 6 (24 h), and HH stage 9 (30 h). Additionally, we further analyzed four genes with less than twofold expression increase at HH stage 3. As a result, we identified a set of stage-specific genes during the early chick embryo development; 21 genes were relatively up-regulated in the stage X embryo and 12 genes were relatively up-regulated in the HH stage 3 embryo based on both results of microarray and quantitative RT-PCR.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We identified a set of genes with stage-specific expression from microarray Genechip and quantitative RT-PCR. Discovering stage-specific genes will aid in uncovering the molecular mechanisms involved the formation of the three germ layers and germ cell segregation in the early chick embryos.</p

The Use of T1 Sagittal Angle in Predicting Cervical Disc Degeneration

Study DesignRetrospective evaluation.PurposeTo analyze the effect of T1 slope on degree of degeneration in patients with cervical disc degeneration.Overview of LiteratureThe T1 slope is well known parameter that may be very useful in evaluating sagittal balance. There are no reports on the analysis of the relationship between T1 slope and cervical disc degeneration. We hypothesized that T1 slope has an effect on the degree of cervical degeneration.MethodsSixty patients who had cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in our orthopedic clinic were enrolled. Patients were divided into two groups according to T1 slope. Radiologic parameters obtained from radiography and cervical spine MRI were compared between low T1 slope group (≤25) and high T1 slope group (>25).ResultsAmong low T1 slope group, average degeneration grade of each cervical segment was 2.65 in C2-3, 2.50 in C3-4, 2.62 in C4-5, 3.23 in C5-6, and 2.81 in C6-7. And that of high T1 group was 2.35 in C2-3, 2.32 in C3-4, 2.59 in C4-5, 2.79 in C5-6, and 2.32 in C6-7. Grade of degeneration of low T1 group was significantly higher, as compared with high T1 group in C5-6 (p=0.028) and C6-7 (p=0.009). Percentage of high grade degeneration of more than grand III was 65.4% in low T1 group and 32.4% in high T1 group (p=0.018). Risk of high grade degeneration of C6-7 was significantly higher in low T1 group (odds ratio, 5.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.665-19.057; p=0.005).ConclusionsPatients with low T1 slope had higher grade of degeneration regardless of age and gender. Low T1 slope is a potential risk factor of cervical spondylosis especially in the C6-7 cervical segment

Left anterior descending artery dissection with retrograde aortic dissection during percutaneous coronary intervention: a case report

Retrograde catheter-induced coronary artery dissection during percutaneous coronary intervention is an exceedingly rare occurrence, and the likelihood of it extending into the aorta is even more uncommon. Typically, surgical treatment involves aortic root replacement combined with coronary artery bypass grafting. However, in this particular case, a meticulous approach was employed. By carefully guiding wires into the true lumens and placing stents in the proximal left main and left anterior descending arteries, the immediate complications were averted by obstructing the retrograde flow in the false lumen. Subsequently, an off-pump coronary artery bypass was performed using the left internal mammary artery to the left anterior descending artery, without the need to manipulate the aorta. This approach resulted in a short operation time and the absence of any other complications

Coculture of Marine Streptomyces sp. With Bacillus sp. Produces a New Piperazic Acid-Bearing Cyclic Peptide

Microbial culture conditions in the laboratory, which conventionally involve the cultivation of one strain in one culture vessel, are vastly different from natural microbial environments. Even though perfectly mimicking natural microbial interactions is virtually impossible, the cocultivation of multiple microbial strains is a reasonable strategy to induce the production of secondary metabolites, which enables the discovery of new bioactive natural products. Our coculture of marine Streptomyces and Bacillus strains isolated together from an intertidal mudflat led to discover a new metabolite, dentigerumycin E (1). Dentigerumycin E was determined to be a new cyclic hexapeptide incorporating three piperazic acids, N-OH-Thr, N-OH-Gly, β-OH-Leu, and a pyran-bearing polyketide acyl chain mainly by analysis of its NMR and MS spectroscopic data. The putative PKS-NRPS biosynthetic gene cluster for dentigerumycin E was found in the Streptomyces strain, providing clear evidence that this cyclic peptide is produced by the Streptomyces strain. The absolute configuration of dentigerumycin E was established based on the advanced Marfey's method, ROESY NMR correlations, and analysis of the amino acid sequence of the ketoreductase domain in the biosynthetic gene cluster. In biological evaluation of dentigerumycin E (1) and its chemical derivatives [2-N,16-N-deoxydenteigerumycin E (2) and dentigerumycin methyl ester (3)], only dentigerumycin E exhibited antiproliferative and antimetastatic activities against human cancer cells, indicating that N-OH and carboxylic acid functional groups are essential for the biological activity