Enantioselective Total Synthesis of (–)-Myrifabral A and B

A catalytic enantioselective approach to the Myrioneuron alkaloids (−)-myrifabral A and (−)-myrifabral B is described. The synthesis was enabled by a palladium-catalyzed enantioselective allylic alkylation, that generates the C(10) all-carbon quaternary center. A key N-acyl iminium ion cyclization forged the cyclohexane fused tricyclic core, while vinyl boronate cross metathesis and oxidation afforded the lactol ring of (−)-myrifabral A. Adaptation of previously reported conditions allowed for the conversion of (−)-myrifabral A to (−)-myrifabral B

Goal-directed attention alters the tuning of object-based representations in extrastriate cortex

Humans survive in environments that contain a vast quantity and variety of visual information. All items of perceived visual information must be represented within a limited number of brain networks. The human brain requires mechanisms for selecting only a relevant fraction of perceived information for more in-depth processing, where neural representations of that information may be actively maintained and utilized for goal-directed behavior. Object-based attention is crucial for goal-directed behavior and yet remains poorly understood. Thus, in the study we investigate how neural representations of visual object information are guided by selective attention. The magnitude of activation in human extrastriate cortex has been shown to be modulated by attention; however, object-based attention is not likely to be fully explained by a localized gain mechanism. Thus, we measured information coded in spatially distributed patterns of brain activity with fMRI while human participants performed a task requiring selective processing of a relevant visual object category that differed across conditions. Using pattern classification and spatial correlation techniques, we found that the direction of selective attention is implemented as a shift in the tuning of object-based information representations within extrastriate cortex. In contrast, we found that representations within lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) coded for the attention condition rather than the concrete representations of object category. In sum, our findings are consistent with a model of object-based selective attention in which representations coded within extrastriate cortex are tuned to favor the representation of goal-relevant information, guided by more abstract representations within lateral PFC

Odorant Inhibition in Mosquito Olfaction.

How chemical signals are integrated at the peripheral sensory system of insects is still an enigma. Here we show that when coexpressed with Orco in Xenopus oocytes, an odorant receptor from the southern house mosquito, CquiOR32, generated inward (regular) currents when challenged with cyclohexanone and methyl salicylate, whereas eucalyptol and fenchone elicited inhibitory (upward) currents. Responses of CquiOR32-CquiOrco-expressing oocytes to odorants were reduced in a dose-dependent fashion by coapplication of inhibitors. This intrareceptor inhibition was also manifested in vivo in fruit flies expressing the mosquito receptor CquiOR32, as well in neurons on the antennae of the southern house mosquito. Likewise, an orthologue from the yellow fever mosquito, AaegOR71, showed intrareceptor inhibition in the Xenopus oocyte recording system and corresponding inhibition in antennal neurons. Inhibition was also manifested in mosquito behavior. Blood-seeking females were repelled by methyl salicylate, but repellence was significantly reduced when methyl salicylate was coapplied with eucalyptol

DNA-PKcsのリジン3241と3260はゲノムの安定性と放射線抵抗性に重要である

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays an essential role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. The DNA-PK holoenzyme consists of a catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and DNA-binding subunit (Ku70/80, Ku). Ku is a molecular sensor for double-stranded DNA and once bound to DSB ends it recruits DNA-PKcs to the DSB site. Subsequently, DNA-PKcs is activated and heavily phosphorylated, with these phosphorylations modulating DNA-PKcs. Although phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs is well studied, other post-translational modifications of DNA-PKcs are not. In this study, we aimed to determine if acetylation of DNA-PKcs regulates DNA-PKcs-dependent DSB repair. We report that DNA-PKcs is acetylated in vivo and identified two putative acetylation sites, lysine residues 3241 and 3260. Mutating these sites to block potential acetylation results in increased radiosensitive, a slight decrease in DSB repair capacity as assessed by γH2AX resolution, and increased chromosomal aberrations, especially quadriradial chromosomes. Together, our results provide evidence that acetylation potentially regulates DNA-PKcs.博士（医学）・甲第670号・平成29年6月28日Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

DNA-PKcsのリジン3241と3260はゲノムの安定性と放射線抵抗性に重要である

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays an essential role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. The DNA-PK holoenzyme consists of a catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and DNA-binding subunit (Ku70/80, Ku). Ku is a molecular sensor for double-stranded DNA and once bound to DSB ends it recruits DNA-PKcs to the DSB site. Subsequently, DNA-PKcs is activated and heavily phosphorylated, with these phosphorylations modulating DNA-PKcs. Although phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs is well studied, other post-translational modifications of DNA-PKcs are not. In this study, we aimed to determine if acetylation of DNA-PKcs regulates DNA-PKcs-dependent DSB repair. We report that DNA-PKcs is acetylated in vivo and identified two putative acetylation sites, lysine residues 3241 and 3260. Mutating these sites to block potential acetylation results in increased radiosensitive, a slight decrease in DSB repair capacity as assessed by γH2AX resolution, and increased chromosomal aberrations, especially quadriradial chromosomes. Together, our results provide evidence that acetylation potentially regulates DNA-PKcs.博士（医学）・甲第670号・平成29年6月28日Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

A Venture Capital Fund for Undergraduate Engineering Students at Rowan University

All engineering students at Rowan University are required to take the 8-semester Engineering Clinic sequence wherein multidisciplinary student teams engage in semester-long design projects. In addition to projects that are funded by local industry, faculty research grants or departmental budgets, a Venture Capital Fund has been created, which is specifically ear-marked for the development of original student inventions. Funding of up to $2500 per student team per semester is competitively awarded based on student-generated proposals to the Venture Capital Fund, which has been created through a series of grants from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). To qualify for funding, a multidisciplinary student team must propose, plan and implement an original, semester-long product development enterprise. To date, eleven projects have been funded through the Venture Capital Fund. This paper describes the results of several student entrepreneurial projects and compares the results of student surveys to assess the effectiveness of entrepreneurial projects in satisfying the technical objectives of the Engineering Clinic. The results suggest that students engaged in entrepreneurial projects devote more hours per week on their projects, have more “ownership” in their projects, and have a better understanding of the technical aspects and societal impact of their projects than their counterparts who are engaged in the more traditional engineering design projects

The kinetics and pore structure of sorbents during the simultaneous calcination/sulfation of limestone in CFB

The interaction of calcination and sulfation in the simultaneous calcination/sulfation of limestone sorbent under circulating fluidized bed boiler conditions was studied. A specially designed constant-temperature reactor which can stop the reaction at a given time was employed. When limestone entered the furnace of mixed gases of CO2, O2, SO2, etc., its weight went down first, then up, so there was a minimum weight point. The whole reaction period could be divided into two stages by this minimum weight point, named the weight-loss stage and the weight-growth stage, which were dominated by the calcination reaction and by the sulfation reaction, respectively. In the weight-loss stage, the sulfation reaction took place and CaSO4 formed simultaneously together with limestone calcination as long as SO2 was present. In the weight-growth stage, the sulfation ratio at 60 min in simultaneous calcination/sulfation is 30.7% higher than that in the sequential calcination then sulfation process. The weight loss rate of limestone calcined in the presence of SO2 was lower than that without SO2 present but the final weight was higher. The calcination of limestone was slowed by the presence of SO2; a probable mechanism was proposed, namely that the CaSO4 formed may fill or plug the pores in the CaO layer, and impede the transfer of CO2 and, therefore, retard the calcination reaction. This mechanism was supported by the observation that the effective diffusion coefficient of CO2 in CaO produced in the presence of SO2 was reduced. The impeding effect increased with increasing SO2 concentration (0–3000 ppm), while, when the particle size decreased from 0.4–0.45 mm to 0.2–0.25 mm, the calcination rate of limestone was higher, no matter whether there was SO2 present or not. The impeding effect was less pronounced at 880 °C than at 850 °C. The reason for this appears to be the fact that there was less CaSO4 formed at 880 °C and, therefore, fewer pores of the particle were filled or plugged

The Absolute Magnitudes of Red Horizontal Branch Stars in the ugriz System

Based on photometric data of the central parts of eight globular clusters and one open cluster presented by An and his collaborators, we select red horizontal branch (RHB) stars in the (g-r)0-g0 diagram and make a statistical study of the distributions of their colors and absolute magnitudes in the SDSS ugriz system. Meanwhile, absolute magnitudes in the Johnson VRI system are calculated through the translation formulae between gri and VRI in the literature. The calibrations of absolute magnitude as functions of metallicity and age are established by linear regressions of the data. It is found that metallicity coefficients in these calibrations decrease, while age coefficients increase, from the blue $u$ filter to the red $z$ filter. The calibration of Mi= 0.06[Fe/H]+0.040t+0.03 has the smallest scatter of 0.04 mag, and thus i is the best filter in the $ugriz$ system when RHB stars are used for distance indicators. The comparison of the MI calibration from our data with that from red clump stars indicates that the previous suggestion that the $I$ filter is better than the V filter in distance determination may not be true because of its significant dependence on age.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap