Antioxidents or reduced oxygen tension as a defense system in T cells ex vivo and in vitro

Age-related deterioration and dysregulation of T cell function, termed ‘immunosenescence’, may lead to increased mortality and morbidity in humans through greater susceptibility to infections and disease. Previous research from the group of Barnett, suggested that oxidative stress may play a role in the immunosenescence process, through resultant genomic instability, cell cycle delay and arrest. The aim of this research programme was to investigate the effect of the antioxidants, ebselen, NAcetyl L- Cysteine (NAC) or mitoQ or reduced oxygen (O2) tension on markers of T cell function and integrity using CD4+ T cell clones and ex vivo polyclonal human peripheral blood derived mononuclear cells or CD4+ T cells derived from healthy young and older aged donors. The results of this investigation revealed that 30μM ebselen or 7.5mM NAC supplementation significantly increased the lifespan and reduced levels of oxidative DNA damage in clones supplemented from a young in vitro age and in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and CD4+ T cells ex vivo derived from either age group. The GSH:GSSG ratio was also significantly higher in supplemented clones and cells ex vivo. Ebselen or NAC were not able to bring about such biological effects in clones when supplemented from the midpoint of their in vitro lifespan. In this latter situation, age related changes in T cell physiology example: reduced DNA repair capacity, heat shock response and an accumulation of biomolecule damage may have contributed to these findings

The Hype of Big Data Analytics and Auditors

In the era of fast-tracking digitization and unconventional big data analytics, business models are being reshaped and they impact auditing amongst auditors. This viewpoint paper takes into account the procedures underlying on big data and its analytics in driving the evolution of business and identifies some of the unresolved issues and concerns on auditors, especially in the context of cognitive tasks. The paper continues to focus on the current spate of discussions on big data and auditing profession. It explains the nature of big data and its characteristics as well as the output types. This paper also tries to find answers for what is new in it, how it assists the auditors along with some unresolved  issues and concerns. Since big data analytics is the future, auditors need to reshape themselves in terms of skills and competencies to meet the emerging technological challenges.

Nucleotide-dependent DNA gripping and an end-clamp mechanism regulate the bacteriophage T4 viral packaging motor.

ATP-powered viral packaging motors are among the most powerful biomotors known. Motor subunits arranged in a ring repeatedly grip and translocate the DNA to package viral genomes into capsids. Here, we use single DNA manipulation and rapid solution exchange to quantify how nucleotide binding regulates interactions between the bacteriophage T4 motor and DNA substrate. With no nucleotides, there is virtually no gripping and rapid slipping occurs with only minimal friction resisting. In contrast, binding of an ATP analog engages nearly continuous gripping. Occasional slips occur due to dissociation of the analog from a gripping motor subunit, or force-induced rupture of grip, but multiple other analog-bound subunits exert high friction that limits slipping. ADP induces comparably infrequent gripping and variable friction. Independent of nucleotides, slipping arrests when the end of the DNA is about to exit the capsid. This end-clamp mechanism increases the efficiency of packaging by making it essentially irreversible

Multipartite entanglement groups

We propose to define multipartite entanglement of pure states as transformations acting on some parts of a system that can be undone by transformations acting on other parts. This leads to a definition of multipartite entanglement in terms of groups, namely certain quotients of the stabilizer group and its subgroups. We analyze properties of these entanglement groups and show that they lead to restrictions which give a precise meaning to monogamy of entanglement. We use these groups to propose a finite classification of entanglement types in multi-partite quantum systems and we show that this characterization of entanglement underlies several well-known quantum tasks.Comment: 36 page

Quality In E-Procurement Success

Nowadays, the quality of virtual service is diminishing, in which different aspects of E-business industry is signifying, especially in the business to business (B2B). E-procurement is part of the e-business, therefore, quality factors of E-procurement originates from e-business. Much research has focused on the critical success factors of E-procurement, however, when it comes to implementation, many E-procurements fail, which can be very costly. This article attempts to increase the success rate of E-procurement, and ensures that the success of E-procurement is more sustainable. This research estimates the structural equation model by collecting data from 208 managers to employ quantitative analysis to investigate the relationship between E-procurement quality factors. The result of this research shows that the quality of the organization culture has partial mediator relationship to the success of E-procurement. Meanwhile, the quality of IT infrastructure does not have a mediator relationship with the success of E-procurement. Lastly, quality of knowledge management has a full mediator relationship with the success of E-procurement and it does not affect the dynamic capability of organization directly

Critical factors for diffusion of web technologies for supply chain management functions: Malaysian perspective

Good supply chain management is essential for a successful company. Supply chain management can reach beyond the boundaries of a single company to share that information between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. This is where the information technologies play an important role. Information technology (IT) facilitates companies to share of large amounts of information along the supply chain, and is often referred to as vital facilitator of supply chain management (SCM) functions. As a new medium of communication, the Internet has conquered the world with break taking speed, and it’s the worldwide penetration and high level of standardization contributes to increase globalization. With new web technologies, Internet based systems can deliver functionality and information to user a standard web browser, thereby eliminating requirement for traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or client based software and reducing information technology implementation and maintenance costs, cycles and burdens. The Internet offers the supply chain immense potential and entirely new ways for streamlining coordination between business partners and customers. Therefore, this study explores the use of use technologies for organizational SCM. Based on an extensive survey of Malaysian organizations, it investigates the diffusion of web technologies into supply chain functions. The findings suggested that top management support and Trialability play crucial role for diffusing web technologies in supply chain. This study provides a greater understanding of managers’ perception of web technologies diffusion in their organizations. Those interested in adopting web technologies in their supply chain activates may find these results helpful in guiding their effort

Embracing technology and propelling SMEs through open innovation transformation

Purpose: Open innovation exploration in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lack comprehensive review. This study integrates empirical findings in analyzing open innovation adoption by integrating relevant theories to support the arguments. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research uses cross sectional data from the survey mode from SMEs industries. Simple random sampling technique was used and hierarchical multiple regression was employed to test the related hypothesis variables. The theories utilized in this research are drawn from multiple theoretical perspectives from Open Innovation concept, Social Exchange Theory and Actor Network theory. Cross-sectional data were collected using the survey method in obtaining data. Hierarchical multiple regression was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. This research utilizes quantitative techniques and the findings of this study will support SMEs in fostering new tools and technologies that are driven by open innovation concept. Findings: The results indicate that the relationships between organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational culture, managerial ties and transactional costs are significant and thus all the hypothesis are supported. Practical Implications: The study will benefit SMEs in adopting technologies that are driven by open innovation concept in achieving sustainable productivity and performances in the long run. From theoretical aspect, the dimensions of various behaviours provide guidelines to SMEs for tackling employees’ obstacles in adopting technology based productions. Originality/Value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, lack of research is attempted to study the open innovation concept which is a an influential factors that affect SMEs as well as the behavioural and cost factors that determines the success of open innovation adoption.peer-reviewe

SENIEUR status of the originating cell donor negates certain ‘anti-immunosenescence’ effects of ebselen and N-acetyl cysteine in human T cell clone cultures

BACKGROUND: Damage to T cells of the immune system by reactive oxygen species may result in altered cell function or cell death and thereby potentially impact upon the efficacy of a subsequent immune response. Here, we assess the impact of the antioxidants Ebselen and N-acetyl cysteine on a range of biological markers in human T cells derived from a SENIEUR status donor. In addition, the impact of these antioxidants on different MAP kinase pathways in T cells from donors of different ages was also examined. METHODS: T cell clones were derived from healthy 26, 45 and SENIEUR status 80 year old people and the impact of titrated concentrations of Ebselen or N-acetyl cysteine on their proliferation and in vitro lifespan, GSH:GSSG ratio as well as levels of oxidative DNA damage and on MAP kinase signaling pathways was examined. RESULTS: In this investigation neither Ebselen nor N-acetyl cysteine supplementation had any impact on the biological endpoints examined in the T cells derived from the SENIEUR status 80 year old donor. This is in contrast to the anti-immunosenescent effects of these antioxidants on T cells from donors of 26 or 45 years of age. The analysis of MAP kinases showed that pro-apoptotic pathways become activated in T cells with increasing in vitro age and that Ebselen or N-acetyl cysteine could decrease activation (phosphorylation) in T cells from 26 or 45 year old donors, but not from the SENIEUR status 80 year old donor. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this investigation demonstrate that the biological phenotype of SENIEUR status derived human T cells negates the anti-immunosenescence effects of Ebselen and also N-acetyl cysteine. The results highlight the importance of pre-antioxidant intervention evaluation to determine risk-benefit

Identification of stable senescence-associated reference genes

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest activated in response to damaging stimuli. Many hallmarks associated with senescent cells are measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). As the selection of stable reference genes for interpretation of qPCR data is often overlooked, we performed a systematic review to understand normalization strategies entailed in experiments involving senescent cells. We found that, in violation of the Minimum Information for publication of qPCR Experiments (MIQE) guidelines, most reports used only one reference gene to normalize qPCR data, and that stability of the reference genes was either not tested or not reported. To identify new and more stable reference genes in senescent fibroblasts, we analyzed the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and the coefficient of variation per gene using in public RNAseq datasets. We then compared the new reference gene candidates with commonly used ones by using both RNAseq and qPCR data. Finally, we defined the best reference genes to be used universally or in a strain-dependent manner. This study intends to raise awareness of the instability of classical reference genes in senescent cells and to serve as a first attempt to define guidelines for the selection of more reliable normalization methods