1,942 research outputs found
Translational genetic modelling of 3D craniofacial dysmorphology: elaborating the facial phenotype of neurodevelopmental disorders through the prism of schizophrenia
Purpose of Review:
In the context of human developmental conditions, we review the conceptualisation of schizophrenia as a neurodevelopmental disorder, the status of craniofacial dysmorphology as a clinically accessible index of brain dysmorphogenesis, the ability of genetically modified mouse models of craniofacial dysmorphology to inform on the underlying dysmorphogenic process and how geometric morphometric techniques in mutant mice can extend quantitative analysis.
Recent Findings:
Mutant mice with disruption of neuregulin-1, a gene associated meta-analytically with risk for schizophrenia, constitute proof-of-concept studies of murine facial dysmorphology in a manner analogous to clinical studies in schizophrenia. Geometric morphometric techniques informed on the topography of facial dysmorphology and identified asymmetry therein.
Summary:
Targeted disruption in mice of genes involved in individual components of developmental processes and analysis of resultant facial dysmorphology using geometric morphometrics can inform on mechanisms of dysmorphogenesis at levels of incisiveness not possible in human subjects
Narrowband spectroscopy by all-optical correlation of broadband pulses
High peak power ultrafast lasers are widely used in nonlinear spectroscopy
but often limit its spectral resolution because of the broad frequency
bandwidth of ultrashort laser pulses. Improving the resolution by achieving
spectrally narrow excitation of, or emission from, the resonant medium by means
of multi-photon interferences has been the focus of many recent developments in
ultrafast spectroscopy. We demonstrate an alternative approach, in which high
resolution is exercised by detecting narrow spectral correlations between
broadband excitation and emission optical fields. All-optical correlation
analysis, easily incorporated into the traditional spectroscopic setup, enables
direct, robust and simultaneous detection of multiple narrow resonances with a
single femtosecond pulse.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Biological Characteristics of Colon Cancer Cells in In Vitro Models and its Use for Individualization of Therapy
ZhoubnĂ© nádory patřà celosvÄ›tovÄ› na druhĂ© mĂsto mezi pĹ™ĂÄŤinami ĂşmrtĂ hned po kardiovaskulárnĂch onemocnÄ›nĂch. Trend se ale zvláštÄ› v rozvinutĂ˝ch zemĂch (dle SvÄ›tovĂ© zdravotnickĂ© organizace, WHO - World Health Organization) vyrovnává, v nÄ›kterĂ˝ch oblastech se dokonce diagnĂłza zhoubnĂ©ho novotvaru dostala jiĹľ na mĂsto prvnĂ.(Ferlay 2012) ProtoĹľe se rakovina stala ve dvacátĂ©m stoletĂ závaĹľnĂ˝m celosvÄ›tovĂ˝m socioekonomickĂ˝m problĂ©mem, patřà jejĂ vĂ˝zkum ve spolupráci s MezinárodnĂ agenturou k vĂ˝zkumu rakoviny (IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer) k prioritám WHO. (Mendis 2014) Incidence stále roste, a to jak relativnÄ›, tak absolutnÄ›, coĹľ je dáno, mimo jinĂ©, celkovĂ˝m stárnutĂm populace a zvyšovánĂm prĹŻmÄ›rnĂ©ho vÄ›ku obyvatel. ProtoĹľe se k hlavnĂm prognostickĂ˝m faktorĹŻm vĂ˝skytu nádorovĂ˝ch onemocnÄ›nĂ Ĺ™adĂ vÄ›k, majĂ tak lidĂ© vÄ›tšà šanci se nádorovĂ©ho onemocnÄ›nĂ "doĹľĂt". Zlepšily se i moĹľnosti diagnostiky, a tak je mnoho nádorĹŻ odhaleno jiĹľ v ÄŤasnĂ˝ch stádiĂch, coĹľ zpÄ›tnÄ› zlepšuje moĹľnosti a Ăşspěšnost lĂ©ÄŤby. K tomu pĹ™ispĂvá i zavedenĂ nÄ›kterĂ˝ch screeningovĂ˝ch vyšetĹ™enĂ do běžnĂ© zdravotnĂ praxe (napĹ™. mamografie, prostatickĂ˝ specifickĂ˝ antigen, test okultnĂho krvácenĂ nebo koloskopie) a s tĂm spojená osvÄ›ta v běžnĂ© populaci. (Dušek et al. 2005; Mendis 2014) V neposlednĂ Ĺ™adÄ› se za poslednĂch 15 aĹľ...Malignant tumours are the second most common cause of death worldwide right behind the cardiovascular diseases. This tendency is by the opinion of the World Health Organisation increasing especially in well developed countries. (Ferlay 2012) Because cancer has become in 20th century serious social and economic problem, research on it is for WHO and IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) the top priority. (Mendis 2014) Relative and absolute incidence is also rising. The reason, besides others, is aging of population. Because age is one of the main prognostic factors for cancer, people are more likely to "survive" till the onset of it. However, diagnostic options are improved and many tumours are detected in early stage which in turn boosts the ability and effectiveness of treatment. Screening programmes are introduced into routine medical practice (e.g. mammography, prostate-specific antigene, occult blood testing or colonoscopy) inducing awareness in the general population. (Dušek et al. 2005; Mendis 2014) Last but not least, the treatment itself has developed considerably over the last 15 to 20 years, with the focus on patient "tailor-made" therapy. It includes new mini-invasive or robot-assisted surgical techniques, new radiation techniques (IG-IMRT - Image-Guided Intensity-Modulated...Ăšstav lĂ©kaĹ™skĂ© biologie a genetikyDepartment of Medical Biology and GeneticsLĂ©kaĹ™ská fakulta v Hradci KrálovĂ©Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králov
Numerical Modeling of Self-Propagating Polymerization Fronts: The Role of Kinetics on Front Stability
Frontal propagation of a highly exothermic polymerization reaction in a liquid is studied with the goal of developing a mathematical model of the process. As a model case we consider monomers such as methacrylic acid and n-butyl acrylate with peroxide initiators, although the model is not limited to these reactants and can be applied to any system with the similar basic polymerization mechanism. A three-step reaction mechanism, including initiation, propagation and termination steps, as well as a more simple one-step mechanism, were considered. For the one-step mechanism the loss of stability of propagating front was observed as a sequence of period doubling bifurcations of the front velocity. It was shown that the one-step model cannot account for less than 100% conversion and product inhomogeneities as a result of front instability, therefore the three-step mechanism was exploited. The phenomenon of superadiabatic combustion temperature was observed beyond the Hopf bifurcation point for both kinetic schemes and supported by the experimental measurements. One- and two-dimensional numerical simulations were performed to observe various planar and nonplanar periodic modes, and the results for different kinetic schemes were compared. It was found that stability of the frontal mode for a one-step reaction mechanism does not differ for 1-D and 2-D cases. For the three-step reaction mechanism 2-D solutions turned out to be more stable with respect to the appearance of nonplanar periodic modes than corresponding 1-D solutions. Higher Zeldovich numbers (i.e., higher effective activation energies or lower initial temperatures) are necessary for the existence of planar and nonplanar periodic modes in the 2-D reactor with walls than in the 1-D case
Quasi-Materials and the Making of Interior Atmospheres
In The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment, Reyner Banham presents a parable in which, having come across an amount of wood, a nomadic tribe must decide how to use it to keep warm overnight: build a structure or build a fire (and burn the wood as fuel). The first of these uses the materials directly to create an amenable interior condition using the tangible materiality of geometric construction. The second, however, generates heat from combustion, thereby creating an intangible, graduated, thermal interiority, which one can draw deeper into, by moving closer to the fire, or recede from, by moving away.
Interior architecture has largely been concerned with achieving shelter and creating an interior atmosphere through the dependability and predictability of physical materials. Less often has interior architecture considered the interiority achieved through the temporal contingency of atmospheric quasi-materials (taking a cue from Tonino Griffero’s quasithings), phenomena such as light, sound, temperature, and humidity. While these often strike one as outside of the realm of designers, their effects profoundly colour our experiences of our environments: the smells of street food, the heat of the metro air exhaust, the veil of fog rolling in. A selection of student projects probing quasi-materials in interior architecture reveals their nature and potential for making interior environments. More akin to building a fire than fitting out a shell, these projects question existing tenets of interior architecture, while they enable types of interiority that are fluid, graduated and temporal
Exoplanet Catalogues
One of the most exciting developments in the field of exoplanets has been the
progression from 'stamp-collecting' to demography, from discovery to
characterisation, from exoplanets to comparative exoplanetology. There is an
exhilaration when a prediction is confirmed, a trend is observed, or a new
population appears. This transition has been driven by the rise in the sheer
number of known exoplanets, which has been rising exponentially for two decades
(Mamajek 2016). However, the careful collection, scrutiny and organisation of
these exoplanets is necessary for drawing robust, scientific conclusions that
are sensitive to the biases and caveats that have gone into their discovery.
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and demonstrate important
considerations to keep in mind when examining or constructing a catalogue of
exoplanets. First, we introduce the value of exoplanetary catalogues. There are
a handful of large, online databases that aggregate the available exoplanet
literature and render it digestible and navigable - an ever more complex task
with the growing number and diversity of exoplanet discoveries. We compare and
contrast three of the most up-to-date general catalogues, including the data
and tools that are available. We then describe exoplanet catalogues that were
constructed to address specific science questions or exoplanet discovery space.
Although we do not attempt to list or summarise all the published lists of
exoplanets in the literature in this chapter, we explore the case study of the
NASA Kepler mission planet catalogues in some detail. Finally, we lay out some
of the best practices to adopt when constructing or utilising an exoplanet
catalogue.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Invited review chapter, to appear in "Handbook
of Exoplanets", edited by H.J. Deeg and J.A. Belmonte, section editor N.
Batalh
Factors Affecting the Adoption of Peer Instruction in Computing Courses
Peer Instruction (PI) as defined by Mazur, and variations on this pedagogic technique, have been in use in computing courses for about a decade. Despite dozens of educational research publications documenting positive learning effects, improved retention, student acceptance, and effectiveness for large classes; PI does not appear to be widely adopted for computing courses. This paper reports on a three-way investigation into this apparent contradiction. First, the authors reflect on their own adoption, practice, experience, and abandonment of the use of PI in computing courses. Second, we surveyed the literature regarding the use of PI in computing courses and present a summary of the research findings, variations, and extensions to PI used in computing courses. Third, a survey of computing instructors was conducted to gauge the attitude toward PI in computing courses. To add context, this report considers publications documenting usage of PI in STEM courses, and the adoption of other pedagogic techniques in computing. Particular effort was made to identify the reasons computing instructors don’t adopt PI. This report also includes advice to instructors considering adopting PI in computing courses
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The most reactive amide as a transition-state mimic for cis-trans interconversion.
1-Azatricyclo[3.3.1.1(3,7)]decan-2-one (3), the parent compound of a rare class of 90°-twisted amides, has finally been synthesized, using an unprecedented transformation. These compounds are of special interest as transition-state mimics for the enzyme-catalyzed cis-trans rotamer interconversion of amides involved in peptide and protein folding and function. The stabilization of the amide group in its high energy, perpendicular conformation common to both systems is shown for the rigid tricyclic system to depend, as predicted by calculation, on its methyl group substitution pattern, making 3 by some way the most reactive known "amide".Financial assistance from Enamine Ltd. (www.enamine.net) is
gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Dr. V. Stepanenko for
valuable advice and encouragement which helped to find the
nonstandard solutions to the synthetic problems, and Vitaliy
Bilenko for drawing our attention to the instructive EI mass
spectrum of compound 8.This is the final published version of the article, originally published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015, 137 (2), pp 926–93, DOI: 10.1021/ja511460
Differences in genome, transcriptome, miRNAome, and methylome in synchronous and metachronous liver metastasis of colorectal cancer
Despite distant metastases being the critical factor affecting patients' survival, they remain poorly understood. Our study thus aimed to molecularly characterize colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRCLMs) and explore whether molecular profiles differ between Synchronous (SmCRC) and Metachronous (MmCRC) colorectal cancer. This characterization was performed by whole exome sequencing, whole transcriptome, whole methylome, and miRNAome. The most frequent somatic mutations were in APC, SYNE1, TP53, and TTN genes. Among the differently methylated and expressed genes were those involved in cell adhesion, extracellular matrix organization and degradation, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. The top up-regulated microRNAs were hsa-miR-135b-3p and -5p, and the hsa-miR-200-family while the hsa-miR-548-family belonged to the top down-regulated. MmCRC patients evinced higher tumor mutational burden, a wider median of duplications and deletions, and a heterogeneous mutational signature than SmCRC. Regarding chronicity, a significant down-regulation of SMOC2 and PPP1R9A genes in SmCRC compared to MmCRC was observed. Two miRNAs were deregulated between SmCRC and MmCRC, hsa-miR-625-3p and has-miR-1269-3p. The combined data identified the IPO5 gene. Regardless of miRNA expression levels, the combined analysis resulted in 107 deregulated genes related to relaxin, estrogen, PI3K-Akt, WNT signaling pathways, and intracellular second messenger signaling. The intersection between our and validation sets confirmed the validity of our results. We have identified genes and pathways that may be considered as actionable targets in CRCLMs. Our data also provide a valuable resource for understanding molecular distinctions between SmCRC and MmCRC. They have the potential to enhance the diagnosis, prognostication, and management of CRCLMs by a molecularly targeted approach
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