Diplomatic Gifts on Henri III\u27s Visit to Venice in 1574

Appendix 1 (pp. 101-6) translated from the French by Pamela J. Warner

Substrate Binding by the Catalytic Domain and Carbohydrate Binding Module of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 Xyloglucanase/ Endoglucanase

Binding and thermodynamic properties of a carbohydrate binding module (CBM) and a glycoside hydrolase family 44 xyloglucanase/endoglucanase catalytic domain (CD) fromRuminococcus flavefaciens, both when separate and when linked to each other, have been quantified when binding various β-1,4-linked glucans and xylans. The three constructs bind cellotetraose, cellopentaose, and cellohexaose with association constants that increase with chain length. The CBM does not bind xylotetraose, xylopentaose, or xylohexaose. The CD appears to bind carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and xylan only weakly, while the CBM and the CD/CBM bind them much more strongly than they bind the cellooligosaccharides. CMC is bound to a much greater degree than is xylan. Association constants for the cellooligosaccharides are in the order CBM CD \u3c CD/CBM, while those on CMC and xylan are CD CBM CD/CBM. A synergistic effect was observed for the association constants of cellopentaose and cellohexaose with the CD/CBM when compared to the CD and CBM alone. Binding of all ligands by all three constructs is energetically favorable, enthalpy-driven, and subject to enthalpy–entropy compensation

Documents of Court Gifts Collected by Johann von Besser (1654-1729)

Appendix (pp. 121-73) translated from the German by Nicola Imrie, from the French by Pamela J. Warner, and from the Latin by Frederick J. McGuinness

Historical trends of airborne trace metals in Detroit from 1971 to 1992

Ambient concentrations of particulate Fe, Zn, Ph, Ni, Cr, Cd and Hg were measured at nine sites located in the metropolitan area of Detroit from 1971 to 1992. The ambient concentrations of all the trace metals were found to be generally higher at industrial and commercial sites. The concentrations show significant variations between residential and commercial areas and between residential and industrial areas; however, no significant variation was found between the industrial and commercial settings. The spatial variation of trace metal levels within the urban area was influenced by the frequency distribution of the wind direction as well as type and location of emission sources. The ambient concentrations of the trace metals during the decade of 1971–1981 declined by 37–88%. In the 1980s many of the trace metals reversed this trend with the exception of Fe and Pb which continued to decline at annual rates of 2% and 9.8%, respectively. The sharp decrease in Pb concentrations during the 1980s, reflected the significant reduction of Pb content in gasoline from 0.28 g/liter in the 1982 to 0.026 g/liter in the 1989. The ambient concentrations of Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd and Hg showed an upward trend during the 1980s with an annual rate in the range of 0.6% to 10.6%. The long-term trends of selected U.S. market parameters, analyzed as potential long-term indicators of emission sources activityies, were consistent with the changes of ambient concentrations, the correlation coefficient being in the range of 0.58 to 0.84 for most of the trace metals.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43917/1/11270_2004_Article_BF00157419.pd

Sensing of the Molecular Spin in Spin-Crossover Nanoparticles with Micromechanical Resonators

In the past years, the use of highly sensitive silicon microelectromechanical cantilevers has been proposed as a tool to characterize the spin-crossover phenomenon by employing fast optical readout of the motion. In this work, FeII-based spin-crossover nanoparticles of the well-known [Fe(Htrz)2(trz)](BF4) complex wrapped with thin silica shells of different sizes will be studied by means of silicon microresonators. The silica shell will enhance its chemical stability, whereas the low thickness will allow a proper mechanical coupling between the cantilever and the spin-crossover core. To maximize the sensing of the spin-crossover phenomena, different cantilever geometries and flexural modes were employed. In addition, the experimental observations were also compared with COMSOL numerical simulations, which are in close agreement with them. The probe of spin-crossover phenomena with micro- and nanoelectromechanical actuators offers the possibility of preparing smart sensing memory devices near/above room temperature

Calmodulin interacts with angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) and inhibits shedding of its ectodomain

AbstractAngiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is a regulatory protein of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) and a receptor for the causative agent of severe-acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the SARS-coronavirus. We have previously shown that ACE2 can be shed from the cell surface in response to phorbol esters by a process involving TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE; ADAM17). In this study, we demonstrate that inhibitors of calmodulin also stimulate shedding of the ACE2 ectodomain, a process at least partially mediated by a metalloproteinase. We also show that calmodulin associates with ACE2 and that this interaction is decreased by calmodulin inhibitors

The 2016 Italian seismic hazard model

The Italian reference seismic hazard model was released in 2004, but it has been adopted for the definition of seismic zones in 2006 and for building code only in 2009. At the beginning of 2015 the Seismic Hazard Center (CPS) of INGV was commissioned to coordinate the national scientific community with the aim of elaborating a new reference seismic hazard model, mainly finalized to the update of seismic code. The CPS designed a roadmap to release within 2 years a significantly renewed model, with regard both to the updated input elements and to the strategies to follow, in order to obtain a shared and largely accepted PSHA. The main requirements of the model were discussed in meetings with the experts on earthquake engineering. A public call was opened according to a transparent procedure; we received 24 proposals from many national institutions. The activities were organized in 6 tasks: project coordination, input data, seismicity models, ground motion prediction equations, computation and rendering, validation. In the first phase, the working groups of each task worked separately; in the second phase of the project they collaborated to release a final model. During the project, many scientific aspects were carefully considered, as in many other seismic hazard projects: the use of a declustered catalogue versus a non declustered one, the adoption of the logic-tree approach instead of an ensemble modeling, the definition of objective strategies to assign the weight to each single model, and so on.PublishedSantiago Chile5T. Modelli di pericolosità sismica e da maremot

Differences in breast cancer treatment pathways for women participating in screening through BreastScreen New South Wales

BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that mammographic screening is associated with earlier stage diagnosis of breast cancer and use of breast conserving surgery.AimsThe current study aimed to quantify and validate these associations in multivariate analysis and investigate surgery type, adjuvant radiotherapy and immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) for invasive breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) by participation in BreastScreen NSW mammographic screening.Methods A data linkage study of 10,931 women aged 40+ years surgically treated for breast cancers diagnosed in 2009-2011 using registry and routinely-collected data. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust treatment outcomes for patient and tumour characteristics.Results A third of women undergoing surgery had never screened, 46 per cent had screened recently (within 24 months) through BreastScreen NSW. Breast conserving surgery (BCS) and use of adjuvant radiotherapy following BCS were more common among recently screened compared with never screened women. Differences in treatment outcomes remained after adjusting for patient and tumour characteristics. There were no significant differences in use of IBR with mastectomy by screening participation, with 9 per cent and 33 per cent of women receiving IBR for invasive cancer and DCIS respectively.ConclusionTreatments received by women with invasive breast cancer and DCIS varied by mammographic screening history. This may be due to differences in treatment referral pathways or patient engagement in healthcare

The Influence of HIV on the Evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

HIV significantly affects the immunological environment during tuberculosis coinfection, and therefore may influence the selective landscape upon which M. tuberculosis evolves. To test this hypothesis whole genome sequences were determined for 169 South African M. tuberculosis strains from HIV-1 coinfected and uninfected individuals and analyzed using two Bayesian codon-model based selection analysis approaches: FUBAR which was used to detect persistent positive and negative selection (selection respectively favoring and disfavoring nonsynonymous substitutions); and MEDS which was used to detect episodic directional selection specifically favoring nonsynonymous substitutions within HIV-1 infected individuals. Among the 25,251 polymorphic codon sites analyzed, FUBAR revealed that 189-fold more were detectably evolving under persistent negative selection than were evolving under persistent positive selection. Three specific codon sites within the genes celA2b, katG, and cyp138 were identified by MEDS as displaying significant evidence of evolving under directional selection influenced by HIV-1 coinfection. All three genes encode proteins that may indirectly interact with human proteins that, in turn, interact functionally with HIV proteins. Unexpectedly, epitope encoding regions were enriched for sites displaying weak evidence of directional selection influenced by HIV-1. Although the low degree of genetic diversity observed in our M. tuberculosis data set means that these results should be interpreted carefully, the effects of HIV-1 on epitope evolution in M. tuberculosis may have implications for the design of M. tuberculosis vaccines that are intended for use in populations with high HIV-1 infection rates