Combining Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Infusion in an Integrated Device: A Narrative Review of Challenges and Proposed Solutions.

The introduction of automated insulin delivery (AID) systems has enabled increasing numbers of individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to improve their glycemic control largely. However, use of AID systems is limited due to their complexity and costs associated. The user must wear both a continuously monitoring glucose system and an insulin infusion pump.

Castration of Male Mice Induces Metabolic Remodeling of the Heart.

Androgen deprivation therapy of prostate cancer, which suppresses serum testosterone to castrate levels, is associated with increased risk of heart failure. Here we tested the hypothesis that castration alters cardiac energy substrate uptake, which is tightly coupled to the regulation of cardiac structure and function. Short-term (3-4 weeks) surgical castration of male mice reduced the relative heart weight.

DNA threading intercalation of enantiopure [Ru(phen)bidppz] induced by hydrophobic catalysis.

The enantiomers of a novel mononuclear ruthenium(ii) complex [Ru(phen)2bidppz]2+ with an elongated dppz moiety were synthesized. Surprisingly, the complex showed no DNA intercalating capability in an aqueous environment. However, by the addition of water-miscible polyethylene glycol ether PEG-400, self-aggregation of the hydrophobic ruthenium(ii) complexes was counter-acted, thus strongly promoting the DNA intercalation binding mode.

Hydrophobic catalysis and a potential biological role of DNA unstacking induced by environment effects.

Hydrophobic base stacking is a major contributor to DNA double-helix stability. We report the discovery of specific unstacking effects in certain semihydrophobic environments. Water-miscible ethylene glycol ethers are found to modify structure, dynamics, and reactivity of DNA by mechanisms possibly related to a biologically relevant hydrophobic catalysis.

Diastereomeric Crowding Effects in the Competitive DNA Intercalation of Ru(phenanthroline)dipyridophenazine Enantiomers.

The biexponential excited-state emission decay characteristic of DNA intercalated tris-bidentate dppz-based ruthenium complexes of the general form Ru(L)dppz has previously been explained by a binding model with two distinct geometry orientations of the bound ligands, with a distinct lifetime associated with each orientation. However, it has been found that upon DNA binding of Ru(phen)dppz the fractions of short and long lifetimes are strongly dependent on environmental factors such as salt concentration and, in particular, temperature. Analyzing isothermal titration calorimetry for competitive binding of Ru(phen)dppz enantiomers to poly(dAdT), we find that a consistent binding model must assume that the short and long lifetimes states of intercalated complexes are in equilibrium and that this equilibrium is altered when neighboring bound ligands affect each other.

Effects of methyl substitution on DNA binding enthalpies of enantiopure Ru(phenanthroline)dipyridophenazine complexes.

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has been utilized to investigate the effect of methyl substituents on the intercalating dppz ligand of the enantiomers of the parent complex Ru(phen)2dppz2+ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) on DNA binding thermodynamics. The methylated complexes (10-methyl-dppz and 11,12-dimethyl-dppz) have large, concentration-dependent, positive heats of dilution, and a strong endothermic background is also apparent in the ITC-profiles from titration of methylated complexes into poly(dAdT)2, which make direct comparison between complexes difficult. By augmenting a simple cooperative binding model with one equilibrium for complex self-aggregation in solution and one equilibrium for complex aggregation on saturated DNA, it was possible to find an excellent global fit to the experimental data with DNA affinity parameters restricted to be equal for all Δ-enantiomers as well as for all Λ-enantiomers.

Competitive DNA binding of Ru(bpy)dppz enantiomers studied with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) using a direct and general binding isotherm algorithm.

While isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is widely used and sometimes referred to as the "gold standard" for quantitative measurements of biomolecular interactions, its usage has so far been limited to the analysis of the binding to isolated, non-cooperative binding sites. Studies on more complicated systems, where the binding sites interact, causing either cooperativity or anti-cooperativity between neighboring bound ligands, are rare, probably due to the complexity of the methods currently available. Here we have developed a simple algorithm not limited by the complexity of a binding system, meaning that it can be implemented by anyone, from analyzing systems of simple, isolated binding sites to complicated interactive multiple-site systems.

Diastereomeric bactericidal effect of Ru(phenanthroline) dipyridophenazine.

Metal susceptibility assays and spot plating were used to investigate the antimicrobial activity of enantiopure [Ru(phen) dppz] (phen =1,10-phenanthroline and dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2´,3´-c]phenazine) and [μ-bidppz(phen) Ru ] (bidppz =11,11´-bis(dipyrido[3,2-a:2´,3´-c]phenazinyl)), on Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis as bacterial models. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) were determined for both complexes: while [μ-bidppz(phen) Ru ] only showed a bactericidal effect at the highest concentrations tested, the antimicrobial activity of [Ru(phen) dppz] against B. subtilis was comparable to that of tetracyline.

Binding of Ru(terpyridine)(pyridine)dipyridophenazine to DNA studied with polarized spectroscopy and calorimetry.

Linear and circular dichroism (LD and CD) spectroscopy as well as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) have been used to investigate the interaction of Ru(tpy)(py)dppz(2+) (tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridyl; py = pyridine; dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2'3'-c]phenazine) with DNA, providing detailed information about the DNA binding thermodynamics and binding geometry of the metal complex. Flow LD, CD and isotropic absorption indicate that Ru(tpy)(py)dppz(2+) bind to DNA from the minor groove with the dppz ligand intercalated between base pairs, very similar to its chiral structural isomers Δ- and Λ-Ru(bpy)2dppz(2+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine). A simple cooperative binding model with one binding geometry provide an excellent fit for calorimetric and absorption titration data.

Concentration- and time-dependent effects of isothiocyanates produced from Brassicaceae shoot tissues on the pea root rot pathogen Aphanomyces euteiches.

Isothiocyanates (ITCs) hydrolyzed from glucosinolates (GSLs) in Brassicaceae tissue are toxic to soil organisms. In this study, the effect of aliphatic and aromatic ITCs from hydrated dry Brassicaceae shoot tissues on the mycelium and oospores of the pea root rot pathogen Aphanomyces euteiches was investigated. The profile and concentrations of GSLs in two test Brassicaceae species, Sinapis alba and Brassica juncea, and the ITCs from the dominant hydrolyzed parent GSLs were monitored.

CD34+ cell subpopulations detected by 8-color flow cytometry in bone marrow and in peripheral blood stem cell collections: application for MRD detection in leukemia patients.

Fast development in polychromatic flow cytometry (PFC) makes it possible to study CD34+ cells with two scatter and eight fluorescence parameters. Minimal residual disease (MRD) is determined as persistence of leukemic cells at submicroscopic levels in bone marrow (BM) of patients in complete remission. MRD can be present in collections of hematopoietic stem cell from blood (HSC-B).

Effects of ageing and microbial component on chemical availability of (137)Cs in a long-term experimental site.

A loamy soil contaminated with (137)CsCl 40 years ago was investigated by a sequential extraction technique to determine the effect of ageing on chemical availability of (137)Cs. The soil samples were sequentially extracted with H(2)O, NH(4)Ac, NH(2)OH x HCl, H(2)O(2), and HNO(3). Extractability of (137)Cs decreased in the order: HNO(3) > Residual > H(2)O(2) > NH(4)Ac > NH(2)OH x HCl > H(2)O.

Rhizoplane colonisation of peas by Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viceae and a deleterious Pseudomonas putida.

Pseudomonas putida strain A313, a deleterious rhizosphere bacterium, reduced pea nitrogen content when inoculated alone or in combination with Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viceae on plants in the presence of soil under greenhouse conditions. When plants were grown gnotobiotically in liquid media, mixed inocula of A313 and rhizobia gave a higher proportion of small evenly distributed nodules when compared with a single rhizobial inoculation.