Site-specific Labeling of B Cell Receptor and Soluble Immunoglobulin.

B lymphocyte activation is regulated by its membrane-bound B cell receptors (BCRs) upon recognizing diverse antigens. It is hypothesized that antigen binding would trigger conformational changes within BCRs, followed by a series of downstream signaling activation. To measure the BCR conformational changes in live cells, a fluorescent site-specific labeling technique is preferred.

Variation of Shear Wave Elastography With Preload in the Thyroid: Quantitative Validation.

Objectives: Thyroid shear wave elastography (SWE) has been shown to have advantages compared to biopsy or other imaging modalities in the evaluation of thyroid nodules. However, studies show variability in its assessment. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether stiffness measurements of the normal thyroid, as estimated by SWE, varied due to preload force or the pressure applied between the transducer and the patient.

Two-dimensional halide perovskite lateral epitaxial heterostructures.

Epitaxial heterostructures based on oxide perovskites and III-V, II-VI and transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors form the foundation of modern electronics and optoelectronics. Halide perovskites-an emerging family of tunable semiconductors with desirable properties-are attractive for applications such as solution-processed solar cells, light-emitting diodes, detectors and lasers. Their inherently soft crystal lattice allows greater tolerance to lattice mismatch, making them promising for heterostructure formation and semiconductor integration.

Dynamic Modulation of Device-Arterial Coupling to Determine Cardiac Output and Vascular Resistance.

Clinical adoption of mechanical circulatory support for shock is rapidly expanding. Achieving optimal therapeutic benefit requires metrics of state to guide titration and weaning of support. Using the transvalvular positioning of a percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD), device:heart interactions are leveraged to determine cardiac output (CO) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) near-continuously without disrupting therapeutic function.

Publisher Correction: Microfluidic assessment of metastatic potential.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Engineering single-atom dynamics with electron irradiation.

Atomic engineering is envisioned to involve selectively inducing the desired dynamics of single atoms and combining these steps for larger-scale assemblies. Here, we focus on the first part by surveying the single-step dynamics of graphene dopants, primarily phosphorus, caused by electron irradiation both in experiment and simulation, and develop a theory for describing the probabilities of competing configurational outcomes depending on the postcollision momentum vector of the primary knock-on atom. The predicted branching ratio of configurational transformations agrees well with our atomically resolved experiments.

Crosstalk between developing vasculature and optogenetically engineered skeletal muscle improves muscle contraction and angiogenesis.

Capillary networks surrounding skeletal muscle play an important role in not only supplying oxygen and nutrients but also in regulating the myogenesis and repair of skeletal muscle tissues. Herein, we model the early stages of 3D vascularized muscle fiber formation in vitro using a sequential molding technique to investigate interactions between angiogenesis of endothelial cells and myogenesis of skeletal muscle cells. Channelrhodopsin-2 C2C12 muscle fiber bundles and 3D vascular structures (600 μm diameter) were formed at 500 μm intervals in a collagen gel.

Acquired Vitamin K Deficiency as Unusual Cause of Bleeding Tendency in Adults: A Case Report of a Nonhospitalized Student Presenting with Severe Menorrhagia.

We report a rare case of acquired vitamin K deficiency presenting with severe menorrhagia and without any gynecological problem. Partial thromboplastin time (59.2 seconds) and prothrombin time (33.

In Vitro Microfluidic Models for Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Microfluidic devices enable novel means of emulating neurodegenerative disease pathophysiology in vitro. These organ-on-a-chip systems can potentially reduce animal testing and substitute (or augment) simple 2D culture systems. Reconstituting critical features of neurodegenerative diseases in a biomimetic system using microfluidics can thereby accelerate drug discovery and improve our understanding of the mechanisms of several currently incurable diseases.

Foreign Body Response to Silicone in Cochlear Implant Electrodes in the Human.

Hypothesis: Silicone as part of a cochlear implant electrode may be responsible for a foreign body response in the human.

Background: Clinical evidence of a foreign body response to a cochlear implant has been reported. In a previous study, particulate material found within the fibrous sheath and within macrophages surrounding a cochlear implant has been identified as being consistent with platinum.

Modeling and validating HL7 FHIR profiles using semantic web Shape Expressions (ShEx).

Background: HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is an emerging open standard for the exchange of electronic healthcare information. FHIR resources are defined in a specialized modeling language. FHIR instances can currently be represented in either XML or JSON.

The genome of the chicken DT40 bursal lymphoma cell line.

The chicken DT40 cell line is a widely used model system in the study of multiple cellular processes due to the efficiency of homologous gene targeting. The cell line was derived from a bursal lymphoma induced by avian leukosis virus infection. In this study we characterized the genome of the cell line using whole genome shotgun sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism array hybridization.

The Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP): a novel translatable model for increasing interest in nephrology careers.

Despite the increasing prevalence of CKD in the United States, there is a declining interest among United States medical graduates in nephrology as a career choice. Effective programs are needed to generate interest at early educational stages when career choices can be influenced. The Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP) is a novel program initiated at Harvard College that increases student knowledge of and interest in kidney health and disease, interest in nephrology career paths, and participation in kidney disease research.

Proton-coupled electron transfer in biology: results from synergistic studies in natural and model systems.

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) underpins energy conversion in biology. PCET may occur with the unidirectional or bidirectional transfer of a proton and electron and may proceed synchronously or asynchronously. To illustrate the role of PCET in biology, this review presents complementary biological and model systems that explore PCET in electron transfer (ET) through hydrogen bonds [azurin as compared to donor-acceptor (D-A) hydrogen-bonded networks], the activation of C-H bonds [alcohol dehydrogenase and soybean lipoxygenase (SLO) as compared to Fe(III) metal complexes], and the generation and transport of amino acid radicals [photosystem II (PSII) and ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) as compared to tyrosine-modified photoactive Re(I) and Ru(II) complexes].

Two-dimensional standing wave total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy: superresolution imaging of single molecular and biological specimens.

The development of high resolution, high speed imaging techniques allows the study of dynamical processes in biological systems. Lateral resolution improvement of up to a factor of 2 has been achieved using structured illumination. In a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope, an evanescence excitation field is formed as light is total internally reflected at an interface between a high and a low index medium.

Organic nitriles from acid chlorides: an isovalent N for (O)CL exchange reaction mediated by a tungsten nitride complex.

Nitride NW(N[i-Pr]Ar)3 (1, Ar = 3,5-C6H3Me2) was synthesized in two steps from known NW(O-t-Bu)3 (41% overall yield). Complex 1 is the tungsten congener of NMo(N[i-Pr]Ar)3, a known molecule that has been synthesized using N2 as the nitrido nitrogen source, but which undergoes no reaction with pivaloyl chloride. Compound 1 undergoes metathesis with pivaloyl chloride at 25 degrees C to form the corresponding nitrile in 97% yield.

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E regulates expression of cyclin D1 at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels.

Regulation of the cell cycle is orchestrated by cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases. We have demonstrated previously that overexpression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF-4E) in NIH 3T3 cells growing in 10% fetal calf serum leads to highly elevated levels of cyclin D1 protein without significant increase in cyclin D1 mRNA levels, suggesting that a post-transcriptional mechanism is involved. (Rosenwald, I.

Composition of transcription factor B-TFIID.

Initiation of transcription by RNA polymerase II requires a TFIID factor, which can recognize the TATA element common to many promoters. Two distinct multisubunit TFIID factors can be resolved from extracts of mammalian cells, and both of them contain the well-characterized TATA-binding protein (TBP) and are capable of supporting RNA polymerase II transcription in an in vitro reaction system. The smaller complex, B-TFIID, was purified and its subunit composition was determined.

Identification of C-terminal extensions that protect proteins from intracellular proteolysis.

Revertants of defective mutants in the Arc repressor of bacteriophage P22 were isolated. Five of the six reverting mutations were frameshifts near the end of the coding sequence which resulted in proteins with C-terminal extensions. Each of the reverting mutations prolong the half-lives in vivo of the proteins in which they reside, yet they do not alter the thermodynamic stability, structure, oligomeric form, or DNA-binding properties of these proteins.