Sensitivity of serum concentration of cartilage biomarkers to 21-days of bed rest

The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that serum levels of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) would decrease and serum levels of tumor-necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and selected matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) would increase in response to bed rest (BR) and that these changes are unaffected by the intake of potassium bicarbonate or whey protein. Seven and nine healthy male subjects participated in two 21-day 6° head down tilt crossover BR-studies with nutrition interventions. Serum samples were taken before, during, and after BR and biomarker concentrations were measured using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. MMP-3 during BR was significantly lower than at baseline (reduction greater 20%; p < 0.001). MMP-3 increased significantly from 14 to 21 days of BR (+7%; p = 0.049). COMP during BR was significantly lower than at baseline (reduction greater 20%; p < 0.001). MMP-3 and COMP returned to baseline within 1 day after BR. MMP-9 on day 3 of BR was significantly lower than at baseline (-31%; p < 0.033) and on days 3, 5, and 14 of BR significantly lower than at the end of and after BR (reduction greater 35%; p < 0.030). The nutritional countermeasures did not affect these results. The observed changes in cartilage biomarkers may be caused by altered cartilage metabolism in response to the lack of mechanical stimulus during BR and inflammatory biomarkers may play a role in changes in biomarker levels.; Immobilization independently from injury can cause altered cartilage biomarker concentration. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res

USE OF ELLIPSOMETRY AND SURFACE PLASMON RESONANCE IN MONITORING THIN FILM DEPOSITION OR REMOVAL FROM A SUBSTRATE SURFACE

Improved methodology for monitoring deposition or removal of material to or from a process and/or Wittness substrate Which demonstrates a negative e1 at some Wave length. The method involves detection of changes in P-polarized electromagnetism ellipsometric DELTA at SPR Resonance Angle-of-lncidence (A01) to monitor deposition of and/or removal of minute amounts of materials onto, or from, said process and/or Witness substrate. The methodology can optionally monitor ellipsometric PS1, and involves simultaneously or sequentially applying non-P-polarized electromagnetism at the same angle of incidence, or electromagnetic radiation of any polarization at a different angle-of-incidence and Wavelength to the process or Witt ness substrate and application of conventional ellipsometric analysis

SAMPLE INVESTIGATING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE

A spectroscopic system for adjusting spacing between an adjacent source/detector as a unit, and a sample, and a reflecting means for directing an incident beam which reflects from said sample back onto said sample and then into the detector along a locus which is in a plane of incidence that is offset from that of the incident beam, or directly from the reflecting means into the detector, including means for reducing reflections of a beam of electromagnetic from the back of a sample, including methodology of use

Bi(OTf)(3)-, TfOH-, and TMSOTf-Mediated, One-Pot Epoxide Rearrangement, Addition, and Intramolecular Silyl-Modified Sakurai (ISMS) Cascade toward Dihydropyrans: Comparison of Catalysts and Role of Bi(OTf)(3)

Catalytic quantities of bismuth(III) triflate efficiently initiate the rearrangement of epoxides to aldehydes, which subsequently react with (Z)-delta-hydroxyalkenylsilanes to afford 2,6-disubstituted 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans. Isolated yields of desired products using Bi(OTf)(3) were compared with yields obtained when the reactions were run with TfOH and TMSOTf in the presence and absence of several additives. These studies, as well as NMR spectroscopic analyses, indicate an initial Lewis acid/base interaction between Bi(OTf)(3) and substrates providing TfOH in situ

SAMPLE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY UTILIZNGELECTROMAGNETIC RADATION

Simultaneous use of wavelengths in at least two ranges Selected from RADIO, MICRO. FIR, IR, NIR-VIS-NUV. UV, DUV, VUV EUV, XRAY in a regression procedure to evaluate parameters in mathematical dispersion structures to model dielectric functions

The Interplay between Chemistry and Mechanics in the Transduction of a Mechanical Signal into a Biochemical Function

There are many processes in biology in which mechanical forces are generated. Force-bearing networks can transduce locally developed mechanical signals very extensively over different parts of the cell or tissues. In this article we conduct an overview of this kind of mechanical transduction, focusing in particular on the multiple layers of complexity displayed by the mechanisms that control and trigger the conversion of a mechanical signal into a biochemical function. Single molecule methodologies, through their capability to introduce the force in studies of biological processes in which mechanical stresses are developed, are unveiling subtle intertwining mechanisms between chemistry and mechanics and in particular are revealing how chemistry can control mechanics. The possibility that chemistry interplays with mechanics should be always considered in biochemical studies.Comment: 50 pages, 18 figure

Entropy production for mechanically or chemically driven biomolecules

Entropy production along a single stochastic trajectory of a biomolecule is discussed for two different sources of non-equilibrium. For a molecule manipulated mechanically by an AFM or an optical tweezer, entropy production (or annihilation) occurs in the molecular conformation proper or in the surrounding medium. Within a Langevin dynamics, a unique identification of these two contributions is possible. The total entropy change obeys an integral fluctuation theorem and a class of further exact relations, which we prove for arbitrarily coupled slow degrees of freedom including hydrodynamic interactions. These theoretical results can therefore also be applied to driven colloidal systems. For transitions between different internal conformations of a biomolecule involving unbalanced chemical reactions, we provide a thermodynamically consistent formulation and identify again the two sources of entropy production, which obey similar exact relations. We clarify the particular role degenerate states have in such a description

Efficient computational methods for sampling-based metabolic flux analysis

The aim of metabolic flux analysis is to determine the rates at which the processes in metabolism take place. Stationary isotopomer labeling experiments are the state-of-the-art method to generate data for metabolic flux analysis. The analysis of such experiments requires an atom transition model which is able to simulate the carbon atom transitions that take place in metabolism. The operational state of metabolism is represented by the rates at which the considered processes take place. We call this operational state the flux distribution, and it is a parameter of the atom transition model. By comparing the results of the model simulation against experimental data, we gain information about the flux distribution. To increase the identifiability of this inverse problem, we use constraint-based modeling, i.e. we restrict the flux distribution by applying linear constraints that can be derived directly from the stoichiometry of the considered processes. We took a probabilistic view on this inverse problem. We developed computational methods for the complete computational pipeline which is required to carry out metabolic flux analysis based on stationary isotopomer labeling experiments. First, we developed methods for the parametrization of the solution space that arises from constraint-based modeling. We then implemented the software necessary to simulate and evaluate data from labeling experiments. We next formulated the probabilistic framework which describes labeling experiments. The key to carrying out this probabilistic analysis was the development of efficient sampling methods that are able to sample from polytope-supported probability distributions in high dimensions. We first improved the efficiency of existing MCMC methods for sampling uniformly from convex polytopes. We then developed an efficient sampling procedure for the sampling of general convex polytopes-supported probability distribution based on nested sampling. We analyzed datasets from labeling experiments and compared different methods for the computation of confidence intervals for the estimated fluxes. We further generated synthetic data representing simulated labeling experiments, outlining new ways of experimental design

Fast Substructure Search in Combinatorial Library Spaces

We present an efficient algorithm for substructure search in combinatorial libraries defined by synthons, i.e. substructures with connection points. Our method improves on existing approaches by introducing powerful heuristics and fast fingerprint screening to quickly eliminate branches of non matching combinations of synthons. With this we achieve typical response times of a few seconds on a standard desktop computer for searches in large combinatorial libraries like the Enamine REAL space. We published the Java source as part of the OpenChemLib under the BSD license, and we implemented tools to enable substructure search in custom combinatorial libraries

SAMPLE INVESTIGATING SYSTEM

A spectroscopic system for adjusting spacing between an adjacent source/detector as a unit, and a sample, and a reflecting means for directing an incident beam which refelcts from said sample back onto said sample and then into the detector along a locus which is in a plance of incidence that is offset from that of the incident beam, or directly from the reflecting means into the detecor, including means for reducing reflections of a beam fo electromagnetic from the back of a sample, including methodology of use