| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
-
Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
-
In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
|
|
| 2. |
- Imamura, Fumiaki, et al.
(author)
-
Fatty acids in the de novo lipogenesis pathway and incidence of type 2 diabetes : A pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies
- 2020
-
In: PLoS Medicine. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1549-1277 .- 1549-1676. ; 17:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundDe novo lipogenesis (DNL) is the primary metabolic pathway synthesizing fatty acids from carbohydrates, protein, or alcohol. Our aim was to examine associations of in vivo levels of selected fatty acids (16:0, 16:1n7, 18:0, 18:1n9) in DNL with incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods and findingsSeventeen cohorts from 12 countries (7 from Europe, 7 from the United States, 1 from Australia, 1 from Taiwan; baseline years = 1970–1973 to 2006–2010) conducted harmonized individual-level analyses of associations of DNL-related fatty acids with incident T2D. In total, we evaluated 65,225 participants (mean ages = 52.3–75.5 years; % women = 20.4%–62.3% in 12 cohorts recruiting both sexes) and 15,383 incident cases of T2D over the 9-year follow-up on average. Cohort-specific association of each of 16:0, 16:1n7, 18:0, and 18:1n9 with incident T2D was estimated, adjusted for demographic factors, socioeconomic characteristics, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, menopausal status, and adiposity. Cohort-specific associations were meta-analyzed with an inverse-variance-weighted approach. Each of the 4 fatty acids positively related to incident T2D. Relative risks (RRs) per cohort-specific range between midpoints of the top and bottom quintiles of fatty acid concentrations were 1.53 (1.41–1.66; p < 0.001) for 16:0, 1.40 (1.33–1.48; p < 0.001) for 16:1n-7, 1.14 (1.05–1.22; p = 0.001) for 18:0, and 1.16 (1.07–1.25; p < 0.001) for 18:1n9. Heterogeneity was seen across cohorts (I2 = 51.1%–73.1% for each fatty acid) but not explained by lipid fractions and global geographical regions. Further adjusted for triglycerides (and 16:0 when appropriate) to evaluate associations independent of overall DNL, the associations remained significant for 16:0, 16:1n7, and 18:0 but were attenuated for 18:1n9 (RR = 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.94–1.13). These findings had limitations in potential reverse causation and residual confounding by imprecisely measured or unmeasured factors.ConclusionsConcentrations of fatty acids in the DNL were positively associated with T2D incidence. Our findings support further work to investigate a possible role of DNL and individual fatty acids in the development of T2D.
|
|
| 3. |
- Li, Constance H., et al.
(author)
-
Sex differences in oncogenic mutational processes
- 2020
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sex differences have been observed in multiple facets of cancer epidemiology, treatment and biology, and in most cancers outside the sex organs. Efforts to link these clinical differences to specific molecular features have focused on somatic mutations within the coding regions of the genome. Here we report a pan-cancer analysis of sex differences in whole genomes of 1983 tumours of 28 subtypes as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. We both confirm the results of exome studies, and also uncover previously undescribed sex differences. These include sex-biases in coding and non-coding cancer drivers, mutation prevalence and strikingly, in mutational signatures related to underlying mutational processes. These results underline the pervasiveness of molecular sex differences and strengthen the call for increased consideration of sex in molecular cancer research.
|
|
| 4. |
- Luo, Yang, et al.
(author)
-
Three-dimensional and temperature-dependent electronic structure of the heavy-fermion compound CePt2In7 studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
- 2020
-
In: Physical Review B. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2469-9950 .- 2469-9969. ; 101:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The three-dimensional and temperature-dependent electronic structures of the heavy-fermion superconductor CePt2In7 are investigated. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy using variable photon energy establishes the existence of quasi-two- and three-dimensional Fermi surface topologies. Temperature-dependent 4d-4f on-resonance photoemission spectroscopies data reveal that heavy quasiparticle bands begin to form at a temperature well above the characteristic (coherence) temperature T+. The emergence of low-lying crystal electric field excitation may be responsible for the "relocalization" or the precursor to the establishment of heavy electrons coherence in heavy-fermion compounds. These findings provide critical insight into understanding the hybridization in heavy-fermion systems.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Sun, M. D., et al.
(author)
-
Fine structure in the alpha decay of U-223
- 2020
-
In: Physics Letters B. - : ELSEVIER. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 800
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fine structure in the alpha decay of U-223 was observed in the fusion-evaporation reaction Re-187(Ar-40, p3n) by using fast digital pulse processing technique. Two alpha-decay branches of U-223 feeding the ground state and 244 keV excited state of Th-219 were identified by establishing the decay chain U-223 (alpha(1)) under right arrow Th-219 (alpha(2)) under right arrow Ra-215 (alpha(3)) under right arrow Rn-211. The alpha-particle energy for the ground-state to ground-state transition of U-223 was determined to be 8993(17) keV, 213 keV higher than the previous value, the half-life was updated to be 62(-10)(+14) mu s. Evolution of nuclear structure for N = 131 even-Z isotones from Po to U was discussed in the frameworks of nuclear mass and reduced alpha-decay width, a weakening octupole deformation in the ground state of U-223 relative to its lighter isotones Ra-219 and Th-221 was suggested.
|
|
| 7. |
- Wang, Yu-Cheng, et al.
(author)
-
Porous Carbon Membrane-Supported Atomically Dispersed Pyrrole-Type Fe-N-4 as Active Sites for Electrochemical Hydrazine Oxidation Reaction
- 2020
-
In: Small. - : Wiley. - 1613-6810 .- 1613-6829. ; 16:31
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rational design of catalytically active sites in porous materials is essential in electrocatalysis. Herein, atomically dispersed Fe-N-x sites supported by hierarchically porous carbon membranes are designed to electrocatalyze the hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR), one of the key techniques in electrochemical nitrogen transformation. The high intrinsic catalytic activity of the Fe-N-x single-atom catalyst together with the uniquely mixed micro-/macroporous membrane support positions such an electrode among the best-known heteroatom-based carbon anodes for hydrazine fuel cells. Combined with advanced characterization techniques, electrochemical probe experiments, and density functional theory calculation, the pyrrole-type Fe-N-4 structure is identified as the real catalytic site in HzOR.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
