catena-Poly[[[tetra­aqua­cadmium(II)]-μ-4,4′-bipyridine] fumarate tetra­hydrate]

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [Cd(C10H8N2)(H2O)4](C4H2O4)·4H2O, the CdII atom, on an inversion centre, is six-coordinated by four O atoms from four water mol­ecules and two N atoms from 4,4′-bpy mol­ecules in a distorted octa­hedral coordination geometry. Weak C—H⋯O inter­actions between uncoordinated carboxyl­ate O atoms of fumaric acid and water mol­ecules contribute to the crystal packing stability

X-ray absorption of liquid water by advanced ab initio methods

Oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption spectra of liquid water are computed based on the configurations from advanced ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, as well as an electron excitation theory from the GW method. One one hand, the molecular structures of liquid water are accurately predicted by including both van der Waals interactions and hybrid functional (PBE0). On the other hand, the dynamic screening effects on electron excitation are approximately described by the recently developed enhanced static Coulomb hole and screened exchange approximation by Kang and Hybertsen [Phys. Rev. B 82, 195108 (2010)]. The resulting spectra of liquid water are in better quantitative agreement with the experimental spectra due to the softened hydrogen bonds and the slightly broadened spectra originating from the better screening model.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Studies on the two new stereo-saponins from Morchella conica

825- 82

The mass-dependent star formation histories of disk galaxies: infall model versus observations

We introduce a simple model to explore the star formation histories of disk galaxies. We assume that the disk origins and grows by continuous gas infall. The gas infall rate is parametrized by the Gaussian formula with one free parameter: infall-peak time $t_p$. The Kennicutt star formation law is adopted to describe how much cold gas turns into stars. The gas outflow process is also considered in our model. We find that, at given galactic stellar mass $M_*$, model adopting late infall-peak time $t_p$ results in blue colors, low metallicity, high specific star formation rate and high gas fraction, while gas outflow rate mainly influences the gas-phase metallicity and star formation efficiency mainly influences the gas fraction. Motivated by the local observed scaling relations, we construct a mass-dependent model by assuming low mass galaxy has later infall-peak time $t_p$ and larger gas outflow rate than massive systems. It is shown that this model can be in agreement with not only the local observations, but also the observed correlations between specific star formation rate and galactic stellar mass $SFR/M_* \sim M_*$ at intermediate redshift $z<1$. Comparison between the Gaussian-infall model and exponential-infall model is also presented. It shows that the exponential-infall model predicts higher star formation rate at early stage and lower star formation rate later than that of Gaussian-infall. Our results suggest that the Gaussian infall rate may be more reasonable to describe the gas cooling process than the exponential infall rate, especially for low-mass systems.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, ApJ, 2010, 722, 38

Microdialysis Determination of Cefquinome Pharmacokinetics in Murine Thigh From Healthy, Neutropenic, and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae-Infected Mice

This study was aimed at applying microdialysis to explore cefquinome pharmacokinetics in thigh and plasma of healthy, neutropenic, and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae-infected mice. The relative recoveries (RRs) were tested in vitro by dialysis and retrodialysis and in vivo by retrodialysis. ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups: H-40 (healthy mice receiving cefquinome at 40 mg/kg), H-160, N-40 (neutropenic mice), and I-40 mg/kg (thigh infected-mice with A. pleuropneumoniae). After cefquinome administration, plasma was collected by retro-orbital puncture and thigh dialysate was collected by using a microdialysis probe with Ringer’s solution at a perfusion rate of 1.5 μL/min. Plasma and thigh dialysate samples were assessed by HPLC–MS/MS and analyzed by a non-compartment model. The mean in vivo recoveries in the thigh were 39.35, 38.59, and 37.29% for healthy, neutropenic, and infected mice, respectively. The mean plasma protein-binding level was 16.40% and was independent of drug concentrations. For all groups, the mean values of the free AUCinf in plasma were higher than those in murine thigh, while the elimination T1/2β for plasma were lower than those for murine thigh. Cefquinome penetration (AUCthigh/AUCplasma) from the plasma to thigh was 0.76, 0.88, 0.47, and 0.98 for H-40, N-40, I-40, and H-160 mg/kg, respectively. These results indicated that infection significantly affected cefquinome pharmacokinetics in murine thigh. In conclusion, we successfully applied a microdialysis method to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of cefquinome in murine thigh of healthy, neutropenic, and A. pleuropneumonia-infected mice and the pharmacokinetics of cefquinome was obviously affected by infection in thigh

PKD1 Phosphorylation-Dependent Degradation of SNAIL by SCF-FBXO11 Regulates Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis

SummaryMetastatic dissemination is often initiated by the reactivation of an embryonic development program referred to as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The transcription factor SNAIL promotes EMT and elicits associated pathological characteristics such as invasion, metastasis, and stemness. To better understand the posttranslational regulation of SNAIL, we performed a luciferase-based, genome-wide E3 ligase siRNA library screen and identified SCF-FBXO11 as an important E3 that targets SNAIL for ubiquitylation and degradation. Furthermore, we discovered that SNAIL degradation by FBXO11 is dependent on Ser-11 phosphorylation of SNAIL by protein kinase D1 (PKD1). FBXO11 blocks SNAIL-induced EMT, tumor initiation, and metastasis in multiple breast cancer models. These findings establish the PKD1-FBXO11-SNAIL axis as a mechanism of posttranslational regulation of EMT and cancer metastasis

Experimental application to a water delivery canal of a distributed MPC with stability constraints

In this work, a novel distributed MPC algorithm, denoted D-SIORHC, is applied to upstream local control of a pilot water delivery canal. The D-SIORHC algorithm is based on MPC control agents that incorporate stability constraints and communicate only with their adjacent neighbors in order to achieve a coordinated action. Experimental results that show the effect of the parameters configuring the local controllers are presented

Proliferation and Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induced by a Short Isoform of NELL-1

Neural epidermal growth factor-like (NEL)-like protein 1 (NELL-1) has been identified as an osteoinductive differentiation factor that promotes mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) osteogenic differentiation. In addition to full-length NELL-1, there are several NELL-1-related transcripts reported. We used rapid amplification of cDNA ends to recover potential cDNA of NELL-1 isoforms. A NELL-1 isoform with the N-terminal 240 amino acid (aa) residues truncated was identified. While full-length NELL-1 that contains 810 aa residues (NELL-1810) plays an important role in embryologic skeletal development, the N-terminal-truncated NELL-1 isoform (NELL-1570) was expressed postnatally. Similar to NELL-1810, NELL-1570 induced MSC osteogenic differentiation. In addition, NELL-1570 significantly stimulated MSC proliferation in multiple MSC-like populations such as murine C3H10T1/2 MSC cell line, mouse primary MSCs, and perivascular stem cells, which is a type of stem cells proposed as the perivascular origin of MSCs. In contrast, NELL-1810 demonstrated only limited stimulation of MSC proliferation. Similar to NELL-1810, NELL-1570 was found to be secreted from host cells. Both NELL-1570 expression lentiviral vector and column-purified recombinant protein NELL-1570 demonstrated almost identical effects in MSC proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, suggesting that NELL-1570 may function as a pro-osteogenic growth factor. In vivo, NELL-1570 induced significant calvarial defect regeneration accompanied by increased cell proliferation. Thus, NELL-1570 has the potential to be used for cell-based or hormone-based therapy of bone regeneration. Stem Cells 2015;33:904-915 © 2014 AlphaMed Press

Delayed Wound Closure in Fibromodulin-Deficient Mice Is Associated with Increased TGF-β3 Signaling

Fibromodulin (FMOD), a small leucine-rich proteoglycan, mediates scarless fetal skin wound repair through, in part, transforming growth factor-Β (TGF-Β) modulation. Using an adult fmod-null (fmod -/-) mouse model, this study further elucidates the interplay between FMOD and TGF-Β expression during cutaneous repair and scar formation. Full-thickness skin wounds on fmod -/- and wild-type (WT) mice were closed primarily and analyzed. Histomorphometry revealed delayed dermal cell migration leading to delayed wound closure and significantly increased scar size in fmod -/- mice relative to WT, which was partially rescued by exogenous FMOD administration. In addition, fmod -/- wounds exhibited early elevation (within 24 hours post-wounding) of type I and type II TGF-Β receptors as well as unexpectedly high fibroblast expression of TGF-Β3, a molecule with reported antifibrotic and antimigratory effects. Consistent with elevated fibroblastic TGF-Β3, fmod -/- fibroblasts were significantly less motile than WT fibroblasts. fmod -/- fibroblasts were also more susceptible to migration inhibition by TGF-Β3, leading to profound delays in dermal cell migration. Increased scarring in fmod -/- mice indicates that TGF-Β3\u27s antimotility effects predominate over its antifibrotic effects when high TGF-Β3 levels disrupt early fibroblastic wound ingress. These studies demonstrate that FMOD presence is critical for proper temporospatial coordination of wound healing events and normal TGF-Β bioactivity. © 2011 The Society for Investigative Dermatology