Safety of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Clinical Application

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great promise as therapeutic agents in regenerative medicine and autoimmune diseases, based on their differentiation abilities and immunosuppressive properties. However, the therapeutic applications raise a series of questions about the safety of culture-expanded MSCs for human use. This paper summarized recent findings about safety issues of MSCs, in particular their genetic stability in long-term in vitro expansion, their cryopreservation, banking, and the role of serum in the preparation of MSCs

Light Wave Propagation and Scattering Through Particles

The study of light propagating and scattering for various particles has always been important in many practical applications, such as optical diagnostics for combustion, monitoring of atmospheric pollution, analysis of the structure and pathological changes of the biological cell, laser Doppler technology, and so on. This chapter discusses propagation and scattering through particles. The description of the solution methods, numerical results, and potential application of the light scattering by typical particles is introduced. The generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT) for solving the problem of Gaussian laser beam scattering by typical particles with regular shapes, including spherical particles, spheroidal particles, and cylindrical particles, is described. The numerical methods for the scattering of Gaussian laser beam by complex particles with arbitrarily shape and structure, as well as random discrete particles are introduced. The essential formulations of numerical methods are outlined, and the numerical results for some complex particles are also presented

Large-scale prediction of long disordered regions in proteins using random forests

Background: Many proteins contain disordered regions that lack fixed three-dimensional (3D) structure under physiological conditions but have important biological functions. Prediction of disordered regions in protein sequences is important for understanding protein function and in high-throughput determination of protein structures. Machine learning techniques, including neural networks and support vector machines have been widely used in such predictions. Predictors designed for long disordered regions are usually less successful in predicting short disordered regions. Combining prediction of short and long disordered regions will dramatically increase the complexity of the prediction algorithm and make the predictor unsuitable for large-scale applications. Efficient batch prediction of long disordered regions alone is of greater interest in large-scale proteome studies. Results: A new algorithm, IUPforest-L, for predicting long disordered regions using the random forest learning model is proposed in this paper. IUPforest-L is based on the Moreau-Broto auto-correlation function of amino acid indices (AAIs) and other physicochemical features of the primary sequences. In 10-fold cross validation tests, IUPforest-L can achieve an area of 89.5% under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Compared with existing disorder predictors, IUPforest-L has high prediction accuracy and is efficient for predicting long disordered regions in large-scale proteomes. Conclusion: The random forest model based on the auto-correlation functions of the AAIs within a protein fragment and other physicochemical features could effectively detect long disordered regions in proteins. A new predictor, IUPforest-L, was developed to batch predict long disordered regions in proteins, and the server can be accessed from http://dmg.cs.rmit.edu.au/IUPforest/IUPforest-L.php

Determining the physical conditions of extremely young Class 0 circumbinary disk around VLA1623A

We present detailed analysis of high-resolution C18O (2-1), SO (88-77), CO (3-2) and DCO+ (3-2) data obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) towards a Class 0 Keplerian circumbinary disk around VLA1623A, which represents one of the most complete analysis towards a Class 0 source. From the dendrogram analysis, we identified several accretion flows feeding the circumbinary disk in a highly anisotropic manner. Stream-like SO emission around the circumbinary disk reveals the complicated shocks caused by the interactions between the disk, accretion flows and outflows. A wall-like structure is discovered south of VLA1623B. The discovery of two outflow cavity walls at the same position traveling at different velocities suggests the two outflows from both VLA1623A and VLA1623B overlays on top of each other in the plane of sky. Our detailed flat and flared disk modeling shows that Cycle 2 C18O J = 2-1 data is inconsistent with the combined binary mass of 0.2 Msun as suggested by early Cycle 0 studies. The combined binary mass for VLA1623A should be modified to 0.3 ~ 0.5 Msun.Comment: 26 pages, 20 figures, accepted by ApJ 2020.2.2

SjTPdb: integrated transcriptome and proteome database and analysis platform for Schistosoma japonicum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Schistosoma japonicum </it>is one of the three major blood fluke species, the etiological agents of schistosomiasis which remains a serious public health problem with an estimated 200 million people infected in 76 countries. In recent years, enormous amounts of both transcriptomic and proteomic data of schistosomes have become available, providing information on gene expression profiles for developmental stages and tissues of <it>S. japonicum</it>. Here, we establish a public searchable database, termed SjTPdb, with integrated transcriptomic and proteomic data of <it>S. japonicum</it>, to enable more efficient access and utility of these data and to facilitate the study of schistosome biology, physiology and evolution.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>All the available ESTs, EST clusters, and the proteomic dataset of <it>S. japonicum </it>are deposited in SjTPdb. The core of the database is the 8,420 <it>S. japonicum </it>proteins translated from the EST clusters, which are well annotated for sequence similarity, structural features, functional ontology, genomic variations and expression patterns across developmental stages and tissues including the tegument and eggshell of this flatworm. The data can be queried by simple text search, BLAST search, search based on developmental stage of the life cycle, and an integrated search for more specific information. A PHP-based web interface allows users to browse and query SjTPdb, and moreover to switch to external databases by the following embedded links.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SjTPdb is the first schistosome database with detailed annotations for schistosome proteins. It is also the first integrated database of both transcriptome and proteome of <it>S. japonicum</it>, providing a comprehensive data resource and research platform to facilitate functional genomics of schistosome. SjTPdb is available from URL: <url>http://function.chgc.sh.cn/sj-proteome/index.htm</url>.</p

A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF RESVERATROL ON LIPID METABOLISM IN HYPERLIPIDEMIC MICE

Background: The content of resveratrol is relatively high in Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc., and the resveratrol has the effect of blood vessel dilating, microcirculation improving, platelet aggregation inhibiting and anti-cancer. The objective of this paper was to study the effect of resveratrol on lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemia mice. Materials and Methods: Through the establishment of an experimental mouse model of hyperlipidemia, the effect of resveratrol on change in total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels in mouse serum were determined. Results: Resveratrol group can apparently reduce TC, TG, LDL-c and AI of hyperlipidemic mice in a dose effect manner. Conclusion: We concluded that resveratrol can effectively reduce blood lipid levels of hyperlipidemic mice

[μ-11,23-Dibromo-3,7,15,19-tetra­aza­tri­cyclo­[19.3.1.19,13]hexa­cosa-1(25),2,7,9,11,13(26),14,19,21,23-deca­ene-25,26-diolato-κ4 N 3,N 7,O,O′:κ4 O,O′,N 15,N 19]bis[perchloratocopper(II)]

The title complex, [Cu2(C22H20Br2N4O2)(ClO4)2], was prepared by the condensation of 2,6-diformyl-4-bromo­phenol with 1,3-diamino­propane in the presence of copper(II) ions. The macrocyclic ligand shows an approximately planar structure except for the two propene groups in the macrocycle. The coordination polyhedron of each Cu atom can be described as distorted square pyramidal. The two Cu atoms are bridged by two phenolate O atoms of the macrocycle, with a Cu⋯Cu distance of 3.109 (2) Å

Monitoring, cataloguing, and weather scenarios of thunderstorm outflows in the northern Mediterranean

High sampling rate (10Hz) anemometric measurements of the "Wind, Ports, and Sea" monitoring network in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea have been analysed to extract the thunderstorm-related signals and catalogue them into three families according to the different time-scale of each event, subdivided among 10min, 1, and 10h events. Their characteristics in terms of direction of motion and seasonality/daily occurrence have been analysed: The results showed that most of the selected events come from the sea and occur from 12:00 to 00:00UTC during the winter season. In terms of peak wind speed, the strongest events all belonged to the 10min family, but no systematic correlation was found between event duration and peaks. Three events, each one representative of the corresponding class of duration, have been analysed from the meteorological point of view, in order to investigate their physical nature. According to this analysis, which was mainly based on satellite images, meteorological fields obtained from GFS analyses related to convection in the atmosphere, and lightning activity, the thunderstorm-related nature of the 10min and 1h events was confirmed. The 10h event turned out to be a synoptic event, related to extra-tropical cyclone activity

Bis{2-eth­oxy-6-[2-(methyl­ammonio)ethyl­imino­meth­yl]phenolato}thio­cyanato­zinc(II) nitrate

In the title compound, [Zn(NCS)(C12H18N2O2)2]NO3, the ZnII ion is chelated by the phenolate O and imine N atoms from two zwitterionic Schiff base ligands and is also coordinated by the N atom of a thio­cyanate ligand, giving a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal geometry. Intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds are observed in the complex cation. The nitrate anions are linked to the complex cations through N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds