Deoxyribonucleic Acid as a Universal Electrolyte for Bio-Friendly Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells [in press]

In the search for bio and eco‐friendly light sources, light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are promising candidates for the implementation of biomaterials in their device architecture thanks to their low fabrication complexity and wide range of potential technological applications. In this work, the use of the DNA derivative DNA‐cetyltrimethylammonium (DNA‐CTMA) is introduced as the ion‐solvating component of the solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) in the active layer of solution‐processed LECs. The focus is particularly on the investigation of its electrochemical and ionic conductivity properties demonstrating its suitability for device fabrication and correlation with thin film morphology. Furthermore, upon blending with the commercially available emissive polymer Super Yellow, the structure property relationship between the microstructure and the ionic conductivity is investigated and yields an optimized LEC performance. The large electrochemical stability window of DNA‐CTMA enables a stable device performance for a variety of emitters covering the complete visible spectral range, thus highlighting the universal character of this naturally sourced SPE

Bryophyllum pinnatum enhances the inhibitory effect of atosiban and nifedipine on human myometrial contractility: an in vitro study

BACKGROUND The herbal medicine Bryophyllum pinnatum has been used as a tocolytic agent in anthroposophic medicine and, recently, in conventional settings alone or as an add-on medication with tocolytic agents such as atosiban or nifedipine. We wanted to compare the inhibitory effect of atosiban and nifedipine on human myometrial contractility in vitro in the absence and in the presence of B. pinnatum press juice (BPJ). METHODS Myometrium biopsies were collected during elective Caesarean sections. Myometrial strips were placed under tension into an organ bath and allowed to contract spontaneously. Test substances alone and at concentrations known to moderately affect contractility in this setup, or in combination, were added to the organ bath, and contractility was recorded throughout the experiments. Changes in the strength (measured as area under the curve (AUC) and amplitude) and frequency of contractions after the addition of all test substances were determined. Cell viability assays were performed with the human myometrium hTERT-C3 and PHM1-41 cell lines. RESULTS BPJ (2.5 μg/mL), atosiban (0.27 μg/mL), and nifedipine (3 ng/mL), moderately reduced the strength of spontaneous myometrium contractions. When BPJ was added together with atosiban or nifedipine, inhibition of contraction strength was significantly higher than with the tocolytics alone (p = 0.03 and p < 0.001, respectively). In the case of AUC, BPJ plus atosiban promoted a decrease to 48.8 ± 6.3% of initial, whereas BPJ and atosiban alone lowered it to 70.9 ± 4.7% and to 80.9 ± 4.1% of initial, respectively. Also in the case of AUC, BPJ plus nifedipine promoted a decrease to 39.9 ± 4.6% of initial, at the same time that BPJ and nifedipine alone lowered it to 78.9 ± 3.8% and 71.0 ± 3.4% of initial. Amplitude data supported those AUC data. The inhibitory effects of BPJ plus atosiban and of BPJ plus nifedipine on contractions strength were concentration-dependent. None of the test substances, alone or in combination, decreased myometrial cell viability. CONCLUSIONS BPJ enhances the inhibitory effect of atosiban and nifedipine on the strength of myometrial contractions, without affecting myometrium tissue or cell viability. The combination treatment of BPJ with atosiban or nifedipine has therapeutic potential

Dynamic Analysis of Vascular Morphogenesis Using Transgenic Quail Embryos

Background: One of the least understood and most central questions confronting biologists is how initially simple clusters or sheet-like cell collectives can assemble into highly complex three-dimensional functional tissues and organs. Due to the limits of oxygen diffusion, blood vessels are an essential and ubiquitous presence in all amniote tissues and organs. Vasculogenesis, the de novo self-assembly of endothelial cell (EC) precursors into endothelial tubes, is the first step in blood vessel formation [1]. Static imaging and in vitro models are wholly inadequate to capture many aspects of vascular pattern formation in vivo, because vasculogenesis involves dynamic changes of the endothelial cells and of the forming blood vessels, in an embryo that is changing size and shape. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have generated Tie1 transgenic quail lines Tg(tie1:H2B-eYFP) that express H2B-eYFP in all of their endothelial cells which permit investigations into early embryonic vascular morphogenesis with unprecedented clarity and insight. By combining the power of molecular genetics with the elegance of dynamic imaging, we follow the precise patterning of endothelial cells in space and time. We show that during vasculogenesis within the vascular plexus, ECs move independently to form the rudiments of blood vessels, all while collectively moving with gastrulating tissues that flow toward the embryo midline. The aortae are a composite of somatic derived ECs forming its dorsal regions and the splanchnic derived ECs forming its ventral region. The ECs in the dorsal regions of the forming aortae exhibit variable mediolateral motions as they move rostrally; those in more ventral regions show significant lateral-to-medial movement as they course rostrally. Conclusions/Significance: The present results offer a powerful approach to the major challenge of studying the relative role(s) of the mechanical, molecular, and cellular mechanisms of vascular development. In past studies, the advantages of the molecular genetic tools available in mouse were counterbalanced by the limited experimental accessibility needed for imaging and perturbation studies. Avian embryos provide the needed accessibility, but few genetic resources. The creation of transgenic quail with labeled endothelia builds upon the important roles that avian embryos have played in previous studies of vascular development

THE SURFACE FEATURES OF DROSOPHILA EMBRYONIC CELL LINES

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73303/1/j.1440-169X.1977.00345.x.pd

Empiricism Without the Senses: How the Instrument Replaced the Eye

On receiving news of Galileo’s observations of the four satellites of Jupiter and the rugged face of the moon through his newly invented perspicillum, Kepler in great excitement exclaimed: Therefore let Galileo take his stand by Kepler’s side. Let the former observe the moon with his face turned skyward, while the latter studies the sun by looking down at a screen (lest the lens injure his eyes). Let each employ his own device, and from this partnership may there some day arise an absolutely perfect theory of the distances. This Hollywood-like scene of the two astronomers marching hand in hand toward the dawn of a new scientific era was no attempt by Kepler to appropriate Galileo’s success or to diminish the novelty of the telescope. On the contrary, Kepler repeatedly asserted how short sighted he was in misjudging the potential for astronomical observations inherent in lenses, and how radically Galileo’s instrument transformed the science of astronomy. It was a deep sense of recognition that beyond their different scientific temperaments and projects, they shared a common agenda of a new mode of empirical engagement with the phenomenal world: the instrument. For Kepler and Galileo, empirical investigation was no longer a direct engagement with nature, but an essentially mediated endeavor. The new instruments were not to assist the human senses, but to replace them

A novel BRCA-1 mutation in Arab kindred from east Jerusalem with breast and ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND: The incidence of breast cancer (BC) in Arab women is lower compared to the incidence in the Jewish population in Israel; still, it is the most common malignancy among Arab women. There is a steep rise in breast cancer incidence in the Arab population in Israel over the last 10 years that can be attributed to life style changes. But, the younger age of BC onset in Arab women compared with that of the Jewish population is suggestive of a genetic component in BC occurrence in that population. METHODS: We studied the family history of 31 women of Palestinian Arab (PA) origin affected with breast (n = 28), ovarian (n = 3) cancer. We used denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) to screen for mutations of BRCA1/2 in 4 women with a personal and family history highly suggestive of genetic predisposition. RESULTS: A novel BRCA1 mutation, E1373X in exon 12, was found in a patient affected with ovarian cancer. Four of her family members, 3 BC patients and a healthy individual were consequently also found to carry this mutation. Of the other 27 patients, which were screened for this specific mutation none was found to carry it. CONCLUSION: We found a novel BRCA1 mutation in a family of PA origin with a history highly compatible with BRCA1 phenotype. This mutation was not found in additional 30 PA women affected with BC or OC. Therefore full BRCA1/2 screening should be offered to patients with characteristic family history. The significance of the novel BRCA1 mutation we identified should be studied in larger population. However, it is likely that the E1373X mutation is not a founder frequent mutation in the PA population

In-situ observations of young contrails – overview and selected results from the CONCERT campaign

Lineshaped contrails were detected with the research aircraft Falcon during the CONCERT – CONtrail and Cirrus ExpeRimenT – campaign in October/November 2008. The Falcon was equipped with a set of instruments to measure the particle size distribution, shape, extinction and chemical composition as well as trace gas mixing ratios of sulfur dioxide (SO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;), reactive nitrogen and halogen species (NO, NO&lt;sub&gt;y&lt;/sub&gt;, HNO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;, HONO, HCl), ozone (O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) and carbon monoxide (CO). During 12 mission flights over Europe, numerous contrails, cirrus clouds and a volcanic aerosol layer were probed at altitudes between 8.5 and 11.6 km and at temperatures above 213 K. 22 contrails from 11 different aircraft were observed near and below ice saturation. The observed NO mixing ratios, ice crystal and soot number densities are compared to a process based contrail model. On 19 November 2008 the contrail from a CRJ-2 aircraft was penetrated in 10.1 km altitude at a temperature of 221 K. The contrail had mean ice crystal number densities of 125 cm&lt;sup&gt;−3&lt;/sup&gt; with effective radii &lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&lt;sub&gt;eff&lt;/sub&gt; of 2.6 μm. The presence of particles with &lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt;&gt;50 μm in the less than 2 min old contrail suggests that natural cirrus crystals were entrained in the contrail. Mean HONO/NO (HONO/NO&lt;sub&gt;y&lt;/sub&gt;) ratios of 0.037 (0.024) and the fuel sulfur conversion efficiency to H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;SO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; (&amp;epsilon;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;↓&lt;/sub&gt;) of 2.9 % observed in the CRJ-2 contrail are in the range of previous measurements in the gaseous aircraft exhaust. On 31 October 2010 aviation NO emissions could have contributed by more than 40% to the regional scale NO levels in the mid-latitude lowest stratosphere. The CONCERT observations help to better quantify the climate impact from contrails and will be used to investigate the chemical processing of trace gases on contrails

Early Development of the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems Is Coordinated by Wnt and BMP Signals

The formation of functional neural circuits that process sensory information requires coordinated development of the central and peripheral nervous systems derived from neural plate and neural plate border cells, respectively. Neural plate, neural crest and rostral placodal cells are all specified at the late gastrula stage. How the early development of the central and peripheral nervous systems are coordinated remains, however, poorly understood. Previous results have provided evidence that at the late gastrula stage, graded Wnt signals impose rostrocaudal character on neural plate cells, and Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signals specify olfactory and lens placodal cells at rostral forebrain levels. By using in vitro assays of neural crest and placodal cell differentiation, we now provide evidence that Wnt signals impose caudal character on neural plate border cells at the late gastrula stage, and that under these conditions, BMP signals induce neural crest instead of rostral placodal cells. We also provide evidence that both caudal neural and caudal neural plate border cells become independent of further exposure to Wnt signals at the head fold stage. Thus, the status of Wnt signaling in ectodermal cells at the late gastrula stage regulates the rostrocaudal patterning of both neural plate and neural plate border, providing a coordinated spatial and temporal control of the early development of the central and peripheral nervous systems

Interspecific Germline Transmission of Cultured Primordial Germ Cells

In birds, the primordial germ cell (PGC) lineage separates from the soma within 24 h following fertilization. Here we show that the endogenous population of about 200 PGCs from a single chicken embryo can be expanded one million fold in culture. When cultured PGCs are injected into a xenogeneic embryo at an equivalent stage of development, they colonize the testis. At sexual maturity, these donor PGCs undergo spermatogenesis in the xenogeneic host and become functional sperm. Insemination of semen from the xenogeneic host into females from the donor species produces normal offspring from the donor species. In our model system, the donor species is chicken (Gallus domesticus) and the recipient species is guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), a member of a different avian family, suggesting that the mechanisms controlling proliferation of the germline are highly conserved within birds. From a pragmatic perspective, these data are the basis of a novel strategy to produce endangered species of birds using domesticated hosts that are both tractable and fecund