Substitution (CH, Cl, or Br) effects of the imidazolate linker on benzene adsorption kinetics for the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-8.

Herein, the time dependence of benzene adsorption uptake was examined for ZIF-8, Cl-ZIF-8, and Br-ZIF-8 and analysed using an intra-crystalline (Fick's) diffusion model, yielding the diffusion coefficient and saturated adsorption amount of benzene. The saturated adsorption amount of benzene decreased in the order of ZIF-8, Cl-ZIF-8, and Br-ZIF-8. Notably, ZIF-8, with an intermediate pore volume among the three specimens, accommodated the greatest number of molecules (5.

Sex-dependent and sex-independent regulatory systems of size variation in natural populations.

Size of organs/organisms is a polygenic trait. Many of the growth-regulatory genes constitute conserved growth signaling pathways. However, how these multiple genes are orchestrated at the systems level to attain the natural variation in size including sexual size dimorphism is mostly unknown.

CRISPR-induced double-strand breaks trigger recombination between homologous chromosome arms.

CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing has transformed the life sciences, enabling virtually unlimited genetic manipulation of genomes: The RNA-guided Cas9 endonuclease cuts DNA at a specific target sequence and the resulting double-strand breaks are mended by one of the intrinsic cellular repair pathways. Imprecise double-strand repair will introduce random mutations such as indels or point mutations, whereas precise editing will restore or specifically edit the locus as mandated by an endogenous or exogenously provided template. Recent studies indicate that CRISPR-induced DNA cuts may also result in the exchange of genetic information between homologous chromosome arms.

Quantitative Determination of Stilbenoids and Dihydroisocoumarins in Shorea roxburghii and Evaluation of Their Hepatoprotective Activity.

A simultaneous quantitative analytical method for 13 stilbenoids including (-)-hopeaphenol (), (+)-isohopeaphenol (), hemsleyanol D (), (-)-ampelopsin H (), vaticanols A (), E (), and G (), (+)-α-viniferin (), pauciflorol A (), hopeafuran (), (-)-balanocarpol (), (-)-ampelopsin A (), and -resveratrol 10--β-d-glucopyranoside (), and two dihydroisocoumarins, phayomphenols A₁ () and A₂ () in the extract of (dipterocarpaceae) was developed. According to the established protocol, distributions of these 15 polyphenols (-) in the bark and wood parts of and a related plant were evaluated. In addition, the principal polyphenols (, , , -) exhibited hepatoprotective effects against d-galactosamine (d-galN)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced liver injury in mice at a dose of 100 or 200 mg/kg, p.

Direct Observation of Siloxane Chirality on Twisted and Helical Nanometric Amorphous Silica.

Synthesis of chiral inorganic or hybrid nanomaterials through sol-gel transcription of chiral organic templates has attracted a great deal of interest for more than a decade. However, the chiral nature of these inorganic matrices has never been directly observed. For the first time, we report a direct evaluation of chirality on noncrystalline silica chiral nanoribbons by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) measurements.

Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis without pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid.

Pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid is a key finding for the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis presenting in normal cerebrospinal fluid is rare in adult patients. We describe the case of a patient with pneumococcal meningitis without cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis.

Formation of the long range Dpp morphogen gradient.

The TGF-β homolog Decapentaplegic (Dpp) acts as a secreted morphogen in the Drosophila wing disc, and spreads through the target tissue in order to form a long range concentration gradient. Despite extensive studies, the mechanism by which the Dpp gradient is formed remains controversial. Two opposing mechanisms have been proposed: receptor-mediated transcytosis (RMT) and restricted extracellular diffusion (RED).

Antagonistic growth regulation by Dpp and Fat drives uniform cell proliferation.

We use the Dpp morphogen gradient in the Drosophila wing disc as a model to address the fundamental question of how a gradient of a growth factor can produce uniform growth. We first show that proper expression and subcellular localization of components in the Fat tumor-suppressor pathway, which have been argued to depend on Dpp activity differences, are not reliant on the Dpp gradient. We next analyzed cell proliferation in discs with uniformly high Dpp or uniformly low Fat signaling activity and found that these pathways regulate growth in a complementary manner.

Refined LexA transactivators and their use in combination with the Drosophila Gal4 system.

The use of binary transcriptional systems offers many advantages for experimentally manipulating gene activity, as exemplified by the success of the Gal4/UAS system in Drosophila. To expand the number of applications, a second independent transactivator (TA) is desirable. Here, we present the optimization of an additional system based on LexA and show how it can be applied.

A novel mode of action of an ArfGAP, AMAP2/PAG3/Papa lpha, in Arf6 function.

Previously we reported that AMAP2/PAG3/Papalpha/KIAA0400, a GTPase-activating protein (GAP), acts to antagonize Arf6 function when overexpressed, whereas it was shown to exhibit efficient GAP activities for other Arf isoforms in vitro. Here, we found that AMAP2, through its ArfGAP domain, binds to GTP-Arf6 but not to GDP-Arf6 or other Arfs irrespective of nucleotide status. The majority of AMAP2 was localized to intracellular tubulovesicular structures and redistributed to Arf6-enriched membrane areas upon Arf6 activation.

Localized suppression of RhoA activity by Tyr31/118-phosphorylated paxillin in cell adhesion and migration.

RhoA activity is transiently inhibited at the initial phase of integrin engagement, when Cdc42- and/or Rac1-mediated membrane spreading and ruffling predominantly occur. Paxillin, an integrin-assembly protein, has four major tyrosine phosphorylation sites, and the phosphorylation of Tyr31 and Tyr118 correlates with cell adhesion and migration. We found that mutation of Tyr31/118 caused enhanced activation of RhoA and premature formation of stress fibers with substantial loss of efficient membrane spreading and ruffling in adhesion and migration of NMuMG cells.