Crystal structure of ethyl 5-formyl-3,4-dimethylpyrrole-2-carboxylate–1-(propan-2-ylidene)thiosemicarbazide (1/1), C14H22N4O3S

Abstract C13H17N3OS, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 6.9906(9) Å, b = 8.0075(11) Å, c = 16.057(2) Å, α = 81.822(2)°, β = 89.151(2)°, γ = 70.735(2)°, V = 839.4(2) Å3, Z = 2, R gt(F) = 0.0444, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1299, T = 296(2) K

Crystal structure of dichlorido-bis(N-benzyl-2-(quinolin-8-yloxy)acetamide-κ2N,O)copper(II) — ethyl acetate (1/1), C38H36N4O6Cl2Cu

Abstract C38H36N4O6Cl2Cu, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 10.749(5) Å, b = 11.074(5) Å, c = 15.951(7) Å, α = 80.471(8)°, β = 80.987(8)°, γ = 77.283(8)°, V = 1812.3(14) Å3, Z = 2, R gt(F) = 0.0465, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1279, T = 296(2) K

DIFFERENTIAL RHOA ACTIVITY IN CHONDROCYTES UNDER FLOW

poster abstractMechanical force environment is a major factor that influences cellular homeostasis and remodeling. The prevailing wisdom in this field demon-strated that a threshold of mechanical forces or deformation was required to affect cell signaling. However, we hypothesized that RhoA activities can be either elevated or reduced by selecting different levels of shear stress inten-sities. To test this hypothesis, a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based approach was used. The result revealed that C28/I2 chondro-cytes exhibited an increase in RhoA activities in response to high shear stress (10 or 20 dyn/cm2), while they showed a decrease in their RhoA activ-ities to intermediate shear stress at 5 dyn/cm2. No changes were observed under low shear stress (2 dyn/ cm2). The observed two-level switch of RhoA activities was closely linked to the shear stress-induced alterations in actin cytoskeleton and traction forces. In the presence of constitutively active RhoA (RhoA-V14), intermediate shear stress suppressed RhoA activities, while high shear stress failed to activate them. Collectively, these results here suggest that intensities of shear stress are critical in differential activa-tion and inhibition of RhoA activities in chondrocytes

Learning Volatility Surfaces using Generative Adversarial Networks

In this paper, we propose a generative adversarial network (GAN) approach for efficiently computing volatility surfaces. The idea is to make use of the special GAN neural architecture so that on one hand, we can learn volatility surfaces from training data and on the other hand, enforce no-arbitrage conditions. In particular, the generator network is assisted in training by a discriminator that evaluates whether the generated volatility matches the target distribution. Meanwhile, our framework trains the GAN network to satisfy the no-arbitrage constraints by introducing penalties as regularization terms. The proposed GAN model allows the use of shallow networks which results in much less computational costs. In our experiments, we demonstrate the performance of the proposed method by comparing with the state-of-the-art methods for computing implied and local volatility surfaces. We show that our GAN model can outperform artificial neural network (ANN) approaches in terms of accuracy and computational time.Comment: This is a working draf

Portrayals of women in Chen Hongshou’s figure paintings

Chen Hongshou (1598/1599-1652), a famous artist of late Ming and early Qing China, was particularly well-known for his figure paintings, which exerted a noticeable influence on later generations and has been the subject most commonly discussed by scholars. Among Chen’s figure painting oeuvre, this study is especially concerned with his portrayals of women ranging between the 1630s and 1650s with an intention to explore what their representations, audience and function reveal about the artist. The existing monographs on Chen’s female figures is limited to only few case studies, from which the artist’s depictions of women have not been clearly sorted out, so there is room for further investigation of the relation between female imagery, cultural meanings and the artist’s identity. The contribution of this study is to research on some specific questions in these regards. The three chapters of this dissertation consider Chen’s depictions of women from different perspectives. It begins by analyzing Chen’s appropriations and innovations revealed in his female figures in terms of iconographic and thematic aspects. The artist’s works demonstrate identifiable features ascribed to the past paintings that indicate his considerable familiarity with the subject established in the broad history. At the same time, they are distinguished by innovative traits which show his awareness of popular trends in his own time and his facility in reinvention. This thesis then proceeds to examine Chen’s attitude towards women by positioning his representations of female figures in relation to the social and cultural context in the seventeenth century. It is found that Chen’s portrayals of women, on the whole, reveal the artist’s ambivalent stance towards women as he on one hand shows positive on female talent, bonding and emotional disclosure, but on the other hand treats women as object of desire. His conflicting attitudes in fact correspond to the complex status of women at that time. The final chapter of this thesis explores the intended audience and functions of Chen’s rendering of women, from which the artist’s dual identities as a literate man and a professional painter in his late life are strongly revealed

Correlation between diopters and refractive parameters among 5 to 12 years old school-age children of Lanzhou city

AIM: To investigate the epidemiological status of refractive state among school-age children of 5 to 12 years in Chengguan district of Lanzhou city, and to analyze the correlation with axial length(AL), horizontal and vertical corneal refractive power(K1, K2), anterior chamber depth(ACD)and corneal diameter(W-W). <p>METHODS: The value of AL, K1, K2, ACD and W-W of 813 school-age children(1626 eyes)aged 8.46±2.30 years old(5-12 years)were measured by IOL-Master, refractive error was measured by computer refractor. The eyes were divided into 5 groups according to different mean spherical equivalent(SE)diopter: high myopia, moderate myopia, low myopia, emmetropia and hyperopia. The correlation between diopter and different refractive parameters of different ages and different diopter groups were analyzed respectively, the SPSS 19.0 was used for the statistical analysis.<p>RESULTS: There were statistically significant difference(<i>P</i><0.05)in uncorrected visual acuity and refractive state among the different groups of 5-12 years school-age children, the prevalence of myopia tended to increase with the age. There were statistically significant difference in AL and ACD among the different age groups(<i>P</i><0.05), AL and ACD increased with the age. There were statistically significant difference in AL among three myopic groups(<i>P</i><0.05). There were statistically significant difference in ACD between low myopia and moderate myopia, low myopia and high myopia(<i>P</i><0.05). There were statistically significant difference in corneal refractive power and corneal diameter between low myopia and high myopia, moderate myopia and high myopia(<i>P</i><0.05). SE was negatively correlated with AL(<i>r</i>=-0.764, <i>P</i><0.01)and ACD(<i>r</i>=-0.498, <i>P</i><0.01), but had week correlation with corneal refractive power or corneal diameter.<p>CONCLUSION: The increase of AL plays an important role in the changes of refractive among school-age children of 5-12 years, AL is the main morphological variable related to myopia. Meanwhile, refractive changes may be affected by corneal refractive power(K1, K2), ACD and corneal diameter(W-W). 7-8 years old can be regarded as the main phase from emmetropization to myopization of school-age children

Binding mode of the activity-modulating C-terminal segment of NS2B to NS3 in the dengue virus NS2B–NS3 protease

The two-component dengue virus NS2B–NS3 protease (NS2B–NS3pro) is an established drug target but inhibitor design is hampered by uncertainties about its 3D structure in solution. Crystal structures reported very different conformations for the functionally important C-terminal segment of the NS2B cofactor (NS2Bc), indicating open and closed conformations in the absence and presence of inhibitors, respectively. An earlier NMR study in solution indicated that a closed state is the preferred conformation in the absence of an artificial linker engineered between NS2B and NS3pro. To obtain direct structural information on the fold of unlinked NS2B–NS3pro in solution, we tagged NS3pro with paramagnetic tags and measured pseudocontact shifts by NMR to position NS2Bc relative to NS3pro. NS2Bc was found to bind to NS3pro in the same way as reported in a previously published model and crystal structure of the closed state. The structure is destabilized, however, by high ionic strength and basic pH, showing the importance of electrostatic forces to tie NS2Bc to NS3pro. Narrow NMR signals previously thought to represent the open state are associated with protein degradation. In conclusion, the closed conformation of the NS2B–NS3 protease is the best model for structure-guided drug design