Disseminated infection associated to COVID-19.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus associated with immune dysregulation. The use of immunosuppressant drugs as part of COVID-19 treatment (such as Tocilizumab or high -dose corticosteroids) increases the risk of opportunistic infections. Here we present a case of a patient without prior immunosuppression that developed a serious fungal infection after the use of high dose corticosteroids in the setting of severe COVID-19 and cryptogenic organizing pneumonia.

A Purely Algebraic Justification of the Kabsch-Umeyama Algorithm.

The constrained orthogonal Procrustes problem is the least-squares problem that calls for a rotation matrix that optimally aligns two matrices of the same order. Over past decades, the algorithm of choice for solving this problem has been the Kabsch-Umeyama algorithm, which is effectively no more than the computation of the singular value decomposition of a particular matrix. Its justification, as presented separately by Kabsch and Umeyama, is not totally algebraic since it is based on solving the minimization problem via Lagrange multipliers.

The Major Storage Protein in Potato Tuber Is Mobilized by a Mechanism Dependent on Its Phosphorylation Status.

The role of the protein phosphorylation mechanism in the mobilization of vegetative storage proteins (VSPs) is totally unknown. Patatin is the major VSP of the potato ( L.) tuber that encompasses multiple differentially phosphorylated isoforms.

Association of Patatin-Based Proteomic Distances with Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) Quality Traits.

Patatin is the major tuber storage protein constituted by multiple isoforms highly variable across potato ( S. tuberosum) varieties. Here, we report a first association study of the variability of patatin isoforms between cultivars with their differences in tuber quality traits.

Advances in the Biology of Seed and Vegetative Storage Proteins Based on Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis Coupled to Mass Spectrometry.

Seed storage proteins play a fundamental role in plant reproduction and human nutrition. They accumulate during seed development as reserve material for germination and seedling growth and are a major source of dietary protein for human consumption. Storage proteins encompass multiple isoforms encoded by multi-gene families that undergo abundant glycosylations and phosphorylations.

SAGRAD: A Program for Neural Network Training with Simulated Annealing and the Conjugate Gradient Method.

SAGRAD (Simulated Annealing GRADient), a Fortran 77 program for computing neural networks for classification using batch learning, is discussed. Neural network training in SAGRAD is based on a combination of simulated annealing and Møller's scaled conjugate gradient algorithm, the latter a variation of the traditional conjugate gradient method, better suited for the nonquadratic nature of neural networks. Different aspects of the implementation of the training process in SAGRAD are discussed, such as the efficient computation of gradients and multiplication of vectors by Hessian matrices that are required by Møller's algorithm; the (re)initialization of weights with simulated annealing required to (re)start Møller's algorithm the first time and each time thereafter that it shows insufficient progress in reaching a possibly local minimum; and the use of simulated annealing when Møller's algorithm, after possibly making considerable progress, becomes stuck at a local minimum or flat area of weight space.

Evaluating two-dimensional electrophoresis profiles of the protein phaseolin as markers of genetic differentiation and seed protein quality in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

High-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) profiles of the protein phaseolin, the major seed storage protein of common bean, display great number of spots with differentially glycosylated and phosphorylated α- and β-type polypeptides. This work aims to test whether these complex profiles can be useful markers of genetic differentiation and seed protein quality in bean populations. The 2-DE phaseolin profile and the amino acid composition were examined in bean seeds from 18 domesticated and wild accessions belonging to the Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools.

Testing Equality of Cell Populations Based on Shape and Geodesic Distance.

Image cytometry has emerged as a valuable in vitro screening tool and advances in automated microscopy have made it possible to readily analyze large cellular populations of image data. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the viability of using cell shape to test equality of cell populations based on image data. Shape space theory is reviewed, from which differences between shapes can be quantified in terms of geodesic distance.

Synthesis of new gold(I) thiolates containing amino acid moieties with potential biological interest.

The reaction of the gold(I) complex [Au(SpyCOOH)(PPh3)], which contains nicotinic acid thiolate, with several amino acid esters such as glycine methyl ester or the enantiomerically pure L isomers of alanine methyl ester, phenylalanine methyl ester, valine methyl ester, methionine methyl ester, and proline methyl ester produces the gold(I) derivatives with the new thiolate containing amino acid ester ligands [Au{SpyCONHCH(R)COOMe}(PPh3)]. The reaction of these amino acid ester derivatives with LiOH in methanol and acidification with KHSO4 until pH 3-4 afford the corresponding acids, which are water-soluble species. These amino acid compounds can be further coupled with other amines, such as, for example, isopropylamine, to give the corresponding amide derivatives.

Evaluation of segmentation algorithms on cell populations using CDF curves.

Cell segmentation is a critical step in the analysis pipeline for most imaging cytometry experiments and evaluating the performance of segmentation algorithms is important for aiding the selection of segmentation algorithms. Four popular algorithms are evaluated based on their cell segmentation performance. Because segmentation involves the classification of pixels belonging to regions within the cell or belonging to background, these algorithms are evaluated based on their total misclassification error.

Comparison of segmentation algorithms for fluorescence microscopy images of cells.

The analysis of fluorescence microscopy of cells often requires the determination of cell edges. This is typically done using segmentation techniques that separate the cell objects in an image from the surrounding background. This study compares segmentation results from nine different segmentation techniques applied to two different cell lines and five different sets of imaging conditions.

Integer Representation of Decimal Numbers for Exact Computations.

A scheme is presented and software is documented for representing as integers input decimal numbers that have been stored in a computer as double precision floating point numbers and for carrying out multiplications, additions and subtractions based on these numbers in an exact manner. The input decimal numbers must not have more than nine digits to the left of the decimal point. The decimal fractions of their floating point representations are all first rounded off at a prespecified location, a location no more than nine digits away from the decimal point.