Developmental asynchrony might not reduce fitness in early life in painted turtles

Synchronous hatching and emergence of turtles from nests may be adaptive in predator avoidance during dispersal. However, little is known about the phenotypic consequences of such synchrony or the generality of predator avoidance in driving the evolution of this trait. Colbert et al. (2010) found that less advanced embryos hatched early in the presence of more advanced sibs, sustaining a persistent reduction in neuromuscular function. In this study, we experimentally assessed the influence of such accelerated embryonic development on hatching success, winter survival, and survival during terrestrial dispersal from the nest. Although we predicted that shortened incubation periods would reduce survival, early-hatching individuals suffered no detectable fitness costs at any stage considered in this study. Incubation temperature did not affect hatching success, and offspring sex did not affect survival across treatment groups. Incubation regime influenced offspring body size and was negatively correlated with dispersal time, however, there was no effect on survival during winter or terrestrial dispersal. Lack of a detectable fitness cost in these key early-life stages associated with hatching synchrony is consistent with a single, predator avoidance origin for this trait and retention in C. picta and other derived turtles via phylogenetic inertia

2,2,3,30-Tetraphenyl-7,70-biquinoxaline

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C40H26N4, mol­ecules reside on crystallographic centers of inversion and are linked via C-HN inter­actions about inversion centers into one-dimensional chains: longer C-H(arene) inter­actions complete the inter­molecular inter­actions

A Click Chemistry Strategy for the Synthesis of Efficient Photoinitiators for Two‐Photon Polymerization

It is reported that efficient photoinitiators, suitable for two‐photon polymerization, can be obtained using the copper catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition reaction. This click chemistry strategy provides a modular approach to the assembly of photoinitiators that enables the rapid variation of key fragments to produce photoinitiators with desirable properties. To assess the performance of the first‐in‐class photoinitiators generated by this approach, a screening method is developed to enable the rapid determination of polymerization and damage thresholds in numerous photoresists during two‐photon polymerization. The degree of consumption of vinyl groups (DC) and homogeneity of the polymerization are further assessed by micro‐Raman spectroscopy. Finally, more complex structures are fabricated to demonstrate that the efficient two‐photon polymerization of stable 3D microarchitectures can be achieved using triazole‐based photoinitiators

Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Programs in Data Science

The Park City Math Institute (PCMI) 2016 Summer Undergraduate Faculty Program met for the purpose of composing guidelines for undergraduate programs in Data Science. The group consisted of 25 undergraduate faculty from a variety of institutions in the U.S., primarily from the disciplines of mathematics, statistics and computer science. These guidelines are meant to provide some structure for institutions planning for or revising a major in Data Science

Achieving Microparticles with Cell-Instructive Surface Chemistry by Using Tunable Co-Polymer Surfactants

© 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim A flow-focusing microfluidic device is used to produce functionalized monodisperse polymer particles with surface chemistries designed to control bacterial biofilm formation. This is achieved by using molecularly designed bespoke surfactants synthesized via catalytic chain transfer polymerization. This novel approach of using polymeric surfactants, often called surfmers, containing a biofunctional moiety contrasts with the more commonly employed emulsion methods. Typically, the surface chemistry of microparticles are dominated by unwanted surfactants that dilute/mask the desired surface response. Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) analysis of particles demonstrates that the comb-graft surfactant is located on the particle surface. Biofilm experiments show how specifically engineered surface chemistries, generated by the surfactants, successfully modulate bacterial attachment to both polymer films, and microparticles. Thus, this paper outlines how the use of designed polymeric surfactants and droplet microfluidics can exert control over both the surface chemistry and size distribution of microparticle materials, demonstrating their critical importance for controlling surface-cell response

Clinical Development of Novel Drug-Radiotherapy Combinations.

Radiotherapy is a fundamental component of treatment for the majority of patients with cancer. In recent decades, technological advances have enabled patients to receive more targeted doses of radiation to the tumor, with sparing of adjacent normal tissues. There had been hope that the era of precision medicine would enhance the combination of radiotherapy with targeted anticancer drugs; however, this ambition remains to be realized. In view of this lack of progress, the FDA-AACR-ASTRO Clinical Development of Drug-Radiotherapy Combinations Workshop was held in February 2018 to bring together stakeholders and opinion leaders from academia, clinical radiation oncology, industry, patient advocacy groups, and the FDA to discuss challenges to introducing new drug-radiotherapy combinations to the clinic. This Perspectives in Regulatory Science and Policy article summarizes the themes and action points that were discussed. Intelligent trial design is required to increase the number of studies that efficiently meet their primary outcomes; endpoints to be considered include local control, organ preservation, and patient-reported outcomes. Novel approaches including immune-oncology or DNA-repair inhibitor agents combined with radiotherapy should be prioritized. In this article, we focus on how the regulatory challenges associated with defining a new drug-radiotherapy combination can be overcome to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer

Role of vitamin D supplementation in modifying outcomes after surgery:a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Background: There is increasing evidence to suggest vitamin D plays a role in immune and vascular function; hence, it may be of biological and clinical relevance for patients undergoing major surgery. With a greater number of randomised studies being conducted evaluating the impact of vitamin D supplementation on surgical patients, it is an opportune time to conduct further analysis of the impact of vitamin D on surgical outcomes. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Trials Register were interrogated up to December 2023 to identify randomised controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation in surgery. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. A narrative synthesis was conducted for all studies. The primary outcome assessed was overall postoperative survival. Results: We screened 4883 unique studies, assessed 236 full-text articles and included 14 articles in the qualitative synthesis, comprising 1982 patients. The included studies were highly heterogeneous with respect to patient conditions, ranging from open heart surgery to cancer operations to orthopaedic conditions, and also with respect to the timing and equivalent daily dose of vitamin D supplementation (range: 0.5–7500 mcg; 20–300 000 IU). No studies reported significant differences in overall survival or postoperative mortality with vitamin D supplementation. There was also no clear evidence of benefit with respect to overall or intensive care unit length of stay. Discussion: Numerous studies have reported the benefits of vitamin D supplementation in different surgical settings without any consistency. However, this systematic review found no clear evidence of benefit, which warrants the supposition that a single biological effect of vitamin D supplementation does not exist. The observed improvement in outcomes in low vitamin D groups has not been convincingly proven beyond chance findings. Trial registration number: CRD42021232067

A Chemical Genomics Approach to Drug Reprofiling in Oncology: Antipsychotic Drug Risperidone as a Potential Adenocarcinoma Treatment

Drug reprofiling is emerging as an effective paradigm for discovery of cancer treatments. Herein, an antipsychotic drug is immobilised using the Magic Tag® chemical genomics tool and screened against a T7 bacteriophage displayed library of polypeptides from Drosophila melanogaster, as a whole genome model, to uncover an interaction with a section of 17-β-HSD10, a proposed prostate cancer target. A computational study and enzyme inhibition assay with full length human 17-β-HSD10 identifies risperidone as a drug reprofiling candidate. When formulated with rumenic acid, risperidone slows proliferation of PC3 prostate cancer cells in vitro and retards PC3 prostate cancer tumour growth in vivo in xenografts in mice, presenting an opportunity to reprofile risperidone as a cancer treatment