Human bronchial epithelial cell transcriptome: gene expression changes following acute exposure to whole cigarette smoke in vitro.

Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4,000 constituents. Its effects on cell biology are poorly understood, partly because whole smoke exposure in vitro is technically challenging. To investigate the effects of smoke on cell signaling and function, a three-dimensional air-liquid interface model of tracheobronchial epithelium, grown from primary human lung epithelial cells, was exposed to air or whole mainstream cigarette smoke for 1 h in a purpose-designed chamber.

Iron- and 4-hydroxy-2-alkylquinoline-containing periplasmic inclusion bodies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a chemical analysis.

Dark aggregated particles were seen on pellets of iron-rich, mid-logarithmic phase Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Transmission electron microscopy of these cells showed inclusion bodies in periplasmic vacuoles. Aggregated particles isolated from the spent medium of these cells contained iron as indicated by atomic absorption spectroscopy and by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy that revealed Fe(3+).

Measures of semantic similarity and relatedness in the biomedical domain.

Measures of semantic similarity between concepts are widely used in Natural Language Processing. In this article, we show how six existing domain-independent measures can be adapted to the biomedical domain. These measures were originally based on WordNet, an English lexical database of concepts and relations.

Theoretical investigation of intramolecular magnetic interaction through an ethylenic coupler.

We show that an ethylenic coupler provides a very strong intramolecular magnetic interaction. A recently synthesized nitronyl nitroxide derivative, D-NIT2, is investigated by ab initio quantum chemical methods. The broken symmetry approach yields a coupling constant -541 K that is in good agreement with the observed value in solid state.

Novel nanocomposites from spider silk-silica fusion (chimeric) proteins.

Silica skeletal architectures in diatoms are characterized by remarkable morphological and nanostructural details. Silk proteins from spiders and silkworms form strong and intricate self-assembling fibrous biomaterials in nature. We combined the features of silk with biosilica through the design, synthesis, and characterization of a novel family of chimeric proteins for subsequent use in model materials forming reactions.

A new stepwise synthesis of a family of propylamines derived from diatom silaffins and their activity in silicification.

A new method for the stepwise synthesis of propylamines containing fragments of N-methyl propylamine as found in diatom bioextracts is presented and their activity in silicic acid condensation is described.

Conformation and assembly of polypeptide scaffolds in templating the synthesis of silica: an example of a polylysine macromolecular "switch".

Although the role of polycationic macromolecules in catalyzing the synthesis of silica structures is well established, detailed understanding of the mechanisms behind the production of silica structures of controlled morphologies remains unclear. In this study, we have used both poly-L-lysine (PLL) and/or poly-D-lysine (PDL) for silica synthesis to investigate mechanisms controlling inorganic morphologies. The formation of both spherical silica particles and hexagonal plates was observed.

Monte Carlo simulation of light-tissue interaction: three-dimensional simulation for trans-illumination-based imaging of skin lesions.

Three-dimensional, voxel-based, and wavelength-dependent skin lesion models are developed and simulated using Monte Carlo techniques. The optical geometry of the Nevoscope with trans-illumination is used in the simulations for characterizing the lesion thickness. Based on the correlation analysis between the lesion thickness and the diffuse reflectance, optical wavelengths are selected for multispectral imaging of skin lesions using the Nevoscope.

Putrescine homologues control silica morphogenesis by electrostatic interactions and the hydrophobic effect.

A systematic model study on the role(s) of putrescine homologues on silicification is presented and it is proposed that electrostatic forces between additive and silicic acid, and the hydrophobic behaviour of the additives are both important in silicification.

Multi-spectral image analysis and classification of melanoma using fuzzy membership based partitions.

The sensitivity and specificity of melanoma diagnosis can be improved by adding the lesion depth and structure information obtained from the multi-spectral, trans-illumination images to the surface characteristic information obtained from the epi-illumination images. Wavelet transform based bi-modal channel energy features obtained from the images are used in the analysis. Methods using both crisp and fuzzy membership based partitioning of the feature space are evaluated.

Time-dependent whole-body fluorescence tomography of probe bio-distributions in mice.

We present a fast scanning fluorescence optical tomography system for imaging the kinetics of probe distributions through out the whole body of small animals. Configured in a plane parallel geometry, the system scans a source laser using a galvanometer mirror pair (tauswitch~1ms) over flexible source patterns, and detects excitation and emission light using a high frame rate low noise, 5 MHz electron multiplied charge-coupled device (EMCCD) camera. Phantom studies were used to evaluate resolution, linearity, and sensitivity.

On the role(s) of additives in bioinspired silicification.

Biological organisms are able to direct the formation of patterned and hierarchical biomineral structures. Extractable organic materials have been found entrapped in diatom, sponge and plant biosilica, some of which have been isolated by selective chemical dissolution methods and their composition and structure studied. Information gained from the bioextracts has inspired materials chemists to design biomimetic analogues and develop bioinspired synthetic schemes for silica formation.

Classification of melanoma using tree structured wavelet transforms.

This paper presents a wavelet transform based tree structure model developed and evaluated for the classification of skin lesion images into melanoma and dysplastic nevus. The tree structure model utilizes a semantic representation of the spatial-frequency information contained in the skin lesion images including textural information. Results show that the presented method is effective in discriminating melanoma from dysplastic nevus.

Bioinspired synthesis of new silica structures.

Silicon and oxygen are the two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust but despite the vast scientific literature on crystalline and amorphous silica, new chemistries, structures and applications continue to be discovered for compounds formed from these elements--thus we present here for the first time the formation of new amorphous silica structures that were uniquely synthesized by a bioinspired synthetic system.

PEFR in pregnancy: a longitudinal study.

Peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) were measured in 60 pregnant women aged 20-28 years (average 24 yrs) height between 130-160 cm (average 154.5 cm), each month beginning from 3rd month of gestation and also 8-10 weeks postpartum using, Wright's Peak Flow Meter. The PEFR declined from 329.

A longitudinal study of pulmonary function tests during pregnancy.

The study deals with evaluation of pulmonary function status in fifty normal pregnant women tested monthly. The parameters studied were Vital Capacity (VC) Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1st second (FEV1) using Vitalograph Spirometer; tidal volume (VT), inspiratory capacity (IC) and expiratory reserve volume (ERV) using Expirograph and resting minute ventilation (VE) using Tissot's spirometer. Control values were obtained in the same subject 8-10 weeks after delivery.

Serum level of iron and transferrin in pregnancy and postpartum period.

This study presents a composite picture of haemoglobin (Hb), serum level of iron (SI), total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and percent iron saturation of transferrin in women during different trimesters of pregnancy and postpartum period. The results were correlated with age and parity. A total of 75 subjects, 15 from each trimester and 15 postpartal, were studied and compared with 15 nonpregnant normal subjects.

Action of some new insect growth regulators on mosquito vectors. Part II: Geraniol based diethers.

Biological activity of saturated diethers viz. 1-benzyloxy/phenoxy-8-alkoxy and 1-alkoxy-8-benzyloxy-3,7-dimethyl-1, 8-octanes (IIa-IIq) prepared from Geraniol, were studied on three mosquito species and the bug Dysdercus koenigii. These diethers exhibited oviposition deterrent and developmental inhibition activities of greater magnitudes than the compounds based on citronellol reported in Part I of this paper.

EGR3, a novel member of the Egr family of genes encoding immediate-early transcription factors.

We have previously described two cellular immediate-early genes, Egr-1 (mouse) and EGR2 (human) that encode zinc finger proteins. Here we report the characterization of a new member of the Egr family referred to as EGR3 (human). This cDNA clone was isolated using low stringency hybridization with the zinc finger domain of Egr-1.

Action of some insect growth regulators on mosquito vectors: Part I--Citronellol based diethers.

New series of compounds starting from common terpenoids (Geraniol, citronellol) have been examined for biological activity on mosquito larvae. Many of these exhibited development disruption on eggs as well larvae. Some also affected adult oviposition behaviour.

Cyclopcidal activity of some new insect growth regulators.

A series of synthetic terpenoid diethers, with known mosquito development inhibitory activity, were tested for cyclopcidal activity against adult cyclops, Mesocyclops leuckarti. Four among these exhibited promising activity comparable to that of the conventional organophosphate, temephos, thus providing for the first time a possible reserve arsenal for the control of the guineaworm disease vector.

ACG, the initiator codon for a Sendai virus protein.

Deletion and site-directed point mutants of the polycistronic P/C mRNA of Sendai virus revealed that one of the nonstructural proteins of this virus, the C' protein, initiates from an ACG codon. This ACG codon occurs in an optimum sequence context and precedes the first AUG of the P/C mRNA. The results presented in this communication are consistent with the concept that the ribosomes scan the P/C mRNA to initiate several proteins from its different initiator codons.

Translation initiation potential of the 5' proximal AUGs of the polycistronic P/C mRNA of Sendai virus. A multipurpose vector for site-specific mutagenesis.

To determine the translation initiation potential of the 5' proximal four AUGs of the polycistronic P/C mRNA of Sendai virus, we have developed an efficient system for oligonucleotide-directed site-specific mutagenesis utilizing a plasmid vector which contains the replication origin of the single-stranded DNA phage f1 and the phage SP6 promoter. Utilizing uridine containing single-stranded DNA templates of the plasmid vector carrying the P/C gene we introduced point mutations in all four of the putative initiator codons (AUGs) of the P/C gene. Based on the analysis of in vitro translation products from the SP6 polymerase-directed transcripts of the mutants, the first and second AUG codons were assigned to the P and C proteins, respectively.