Weak Poincar\'e Inequality for Convolution Probability Measures

By using Lyapunov conditions, weak Poincar\'e inequalities are established for some probability measures on a manifold $(M,g)$. These results are further applied to the convolution of two probability measures on $\R^d$. Along with explicit results we study concrete examples

Molecular Evolution of the Deuterolysin (M35) Family Genes in Coccidioides

Coccidioides is a primary fungal pathogen of humans, causing life-threatening respiratory disease known as coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) in immunocompromised individuals. Recently, Sharpton et al (2009) found that the deuterolysin (M35) family genes were significantly expanded in both the Coccidioides genus and in U. reesii, and that Coccidioides has acquired three more M35 family genes than U. reesii. In the present work, phylogenetic analyses based on a total of 28 M35 family genes using different alignments and tree-building methods consistently revealed five clades with high nodal supports. Interestingly, likelihood ratio tests suggested significant differences in selective pressure on the ancestral lineage of three additional duplicated M35 family genes from Coccidioides species compared to the other lineages in the phylogeny, which may be associated with novel functional adaptations of M35 family genes in the Coccidioides species, e.g., recent pathogenesis acquisition. Our study adds to the expanding view of M35 family gene evolution and functions as well as establishes a theoretical foundation for future experimental investigations

Exponential contraction in Wasserstein distance on static and evolving manifolds

In this article, exponential contraction in Wasserstein distance for heat semigroups of diffusion processes on Riemannian manifolds is established under curvature conditions where Ricci curvature is not necessarily required to be non-negative. Compared to the results of Wang (2016), we focus on explicit estimates for the exponential contraction rate. Moreover, we show that our results extend to manifolds evolving under a geometric flow. As application, for the time-inhomogeneous semigroups, we obtain a gradient estimate with an exponential contraction rate under weak curvature conditions, as well as uniqueness of the corresponding evolution system of measures

Drug-Loaded Chitosan Film Prepared via Facile Solution Casting and Air-Drying of Plain Water-Based Chitosan Solution for Ocular Drug Delivery

Chitosan is a nature-based polymer with low toxicity, excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, the intractable solubility of chitosan in water and most conventional solvents hampers its biomedical applications. Following the dissolution method for dissolving chitosan in plain water developed by us, chitosan was dissolved in ionic liquid followed by overnight freezing at −20 °C and subsequent solvent exchange with plain water at room temperature. In this study, we fabricated a drug-carrying chitosan film via solution casting and air-drying by using the plain water-based chitosan solution. Specifically, brimonidine tartrate (BT), an antiglaucoma drug, was dissolved in the plain-water based solution and used to prepare BT-loaded chitosan film, i.e., chitosan-BT film. The resulting film is transparent, structurally stable, and mucoadhesive. Micro-sized antiglaucoma BT drug crystals form and are well dispersed in the chitosan film. The chitosan-BT film enables BT to have a high corneal permeability with fast drug release kinetics for potential ocular drug delivery

An ancient Chinese mathematical algorithm and its application to nonlinear oscillators

AbstractAn ancient Chinese mathematical method is briefly introduced, and its application to nonlinear oscillators is elucidated where He’s amplitude–frequency formulation is outlined. Three examples are given to show the extremely simple solution procedure and remarkably accurate solutions

Canine Mesenchymal Stem Cell Bone Regenerative Capacity is Regulated by Site-Specific Multi-Lineage Differentiation

Objectives Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising therapies in dentistry due to their multipotent properties. Selecting donor MSCs is crucial because beagle dogs (canines) commonly used in pre-clinical studies have shown variable outcomes and it is unclear whether canine MSCs (cMSCs) are skeletal site-specific. This study tested whether jaw and long bone cMSCs have disparate in vitro and in vivo multilineage differentiation capabilities. Study Design Primary cMSCs were isolated from mandible (M-cMSCs) and femur (F-cMSCs) of four healthy Beagle dogs. Femur served as non-oral control. Clonogenic and proliferative abilities were assessed. In vitroosteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic and neural multilineage differentiation were correlated with in vivobone regeneration and potential for clinical applications. Results M-cMSCs displayed two-fold increase in clonogenic and proliferative capacities relative to F-cMSCs (p =0.006). M-cMSCs in vitro osteogenesis based on alkaline phosphatase (p =0.04), bone sialoprotein (p =0.05), and osteocalcin (p =0.03), as well as adipogenesis (p =0.007), and chondrogenesis (p =0.009) were relatively higher and correlated with enhanced M-cMSC bone regenerative capacity. Neural expression markers, nestin and βIII-tubulin were not significantly different. Conclusions The enhanced differentiation and bone regenerative capacity of mandible MSCs may make them favorable donor graft materials for site-specific jaw bone regeneration