| 1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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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.
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| 2. |
- Bjartmar, Lisa, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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Neuronal pentraxins mediate synaptic refinement in the developing visual system
- 2006
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In: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 26:23, s. 6269-6281
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neuronal pentraxins (NPs) define a family of proteins that are homologous to C-reactive and acute-phase proteins in the immune system and have been hypothesized to be involved in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. To investigate the role of NPs in vivo, we generated mice that lack one, two, or all three NPs. NP1/2 knock-out mice exhibited defects in the segregation of eye-specific retinal ganglion cell (RGC) projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, a process that involves activity-dependent synapse formation and elimination. Retinas from mice lacking NP1 and NP2 had cholinergically driven waves of activity that occurred at a frequency similar to that of wild-type mice, but several other parameters of retinal activity were altered. RGCs cultured from these mice exhibited a significant delay in functional maturation of glutamatergic synapses. Other developmental processes, such as pathfinding of RGCs at the optic chiasm and hippocampal long-term potentiation and long-term depression, appeared normal in NP-deficient mice. These data indicate that NPs are necessary for early synaptic refinements in the mammalian retina and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. We speculate that NPs exert their effects through mechanisms that parallel the known role of short pentraxins outside the CNS.
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| 3. |
- Chen, Kang, et al.
(author)
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Immunoglobulin D enhances immune surveillance by activating antimicrobial, proinflammatory and B cell-stimulating programs in basophils
- 2009
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In: Nature Immunology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1529-2908 .- 1529-2916. ; 10:8, s. 121-889
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Immunoglobulin D (IgD) is an enigmatic antibody isotype that mature B cells express together with IgM through alternative RNA splicing. Here we report active T cell-dependent and T cell-independent IgM-to-IgD class switching in B cells of the human upper respiratory mucosa. This process required activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and generated local and circulating IgD-producing plasmablasts reactive to respiratory bacteria. Circulating IgD bound to basophils through a calcium-mobilizing receptor that induced antimicrobial, opsonizing, inflammatory and B cell-stimulating factors, including cathelicidin, interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-4 and B cell-activating factor (BAFF), after IgD crosslinking. By showing dysregulation of IgD class-switched B cells and 'IgD-armed' basophils in autoinflammatory syndromes with periodic fever, our data indicate that IgD orchestrates an ancestral surveillance system at the interface between immunity and inflammation.
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| 4. |
- Kang, Naixin, et al.
(author)
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Antischistosomal Properties of Hederacolchiside A1 Isolated from Pulsatilla chinensis
- 2018
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In: Molecules. - : MDPI. - 1431-5157 .- 1420-3049. ; 23:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Schistosomiasis is a major neglected disease for which the current control strategy involves mass treatment with praziquantel, the only available drug. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop new antischistosomal compounds.Methods: The antischistosomal activity of hederacolchiside A1 (HSA) were determined by total or female worm burden reductions in mice harboring Schistosoma japonicum or S. mansoni. Pathology parameters were detected on HSA against 1-day-old S. japonicum-harboring mice. Moreover, we confirmed the antischistosomal effect of HSA on newly transformed schistosomula (NTS) of S. japonicum in vitro.Results: HSA, a natural product isolated from Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel, was initially corroborated to possess promising antischistosomal properties. We demonstrated that HSA had high activity against S. japonicum and S. mansoni less in 11 days old parasites harbored in mice. The antischistosomal effect was even more than the currently used drugs, praziquantel, and artesunate. Furthermore, HSA could ameliorate the pathology parameters in mice harboring 1-day-old juvenile S. japonicum. We also confirmed that HSA-mediated antischistosomal activity is partly due to the morphological changes in the tegument system when NTS are exposed to HSA.Conclusions: HSA may have great potential to be an antischistosomal agent for further research.
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| 5. |
- Liu, Zhan, et al.
(author)
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Thermodynamic analysis on the feasibility of a liquid energy storage system using CO2-based mixture as the working fluid
- 2022
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In: Energy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0360-5442 .- 1873-6785. ; 238
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pioneering investigation is conducted on the feasibility of designing novel liquid energy storage system by using working fluid blending CO2 with organic fluids to address the condensation problem of subcritical CO2. Organic substances are cautiously screened according to the criteria of environment effect, temperature glide, critical temperature and flammability of working fluid as well as the system performance. Mathematical model of the system is built for thermodynamic examination. An in-house code is developed to complete the system simulations combing with REFPROP subroutine. Results demonstrate that compared to the system with pure CO2, the system with mixture produces an improvement of net power output and energy density and a reduction of charge pressure at an expense of slightly decreasing round trip efficiency. The payment of 6.45 % for round trip efficiency can reduce 55.59 % of charge pressure by taking CO2/R32 as an instance. The system round trip efficiency, energy density and charge pressure decrease with the increase in organic fluid composition. An optimal compression ratio can be identified to reach a maximal round trip efficiency for all mixtures. The cooler outlet temperature is suggested being at the critical temperature of working fluid to reach better system performance.
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| 6. |
- Pi, Xuehui, et al.
(author)
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Mapping global lake dynamics reveals the emerging roles of small lakes
- 2022
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Lakes are important natural resources and carbon gas emitters and are undergoing rapid changes worldwide in response to climate change and human activities. A detailed global characterization of lakes and their long-term dynamics does not exist, which is however crucial for evaluating the associated impacts on water availability and carbon emissions. Here, we map 3.4 million lakes on a global scale, including their explicit maximum extents and probability-weighted area changes over the past four decades. From the beginning period (1984–1999) to the end (2010–2019), the lake area increased across all six continents analyzed, with a net change of +46,278 km2, and 56% of the expansion was attributed to reservoirs. Interestingly, although small lakes (<1 km2) accounted for just 15% of the global lake area, they dominated the variability in total lake size in half of the global inland lake regions. The identified lake area increase over time led to higher lacustrine carbon emissions, mostly attributed to small lakes. Our findings illustrate the emerging roles of small lakes in regulating not only local inland water variability, but also the global trends of surface water extent and carbon emissions.
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| 7. |
- Zhou, Jukai, et al.
(author)
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Graphene oxide-based polyethersulfone core-shell particles for dye uptake
- 2016
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In: RSC ADVANCES. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2046-2069. ; 6:104, s. 102389-102397
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Graphene oxide (GO), a graphene nanomaterial with great application potential, possesses promising adsorption abilities towards various water contaminants due to the ultra-large surface area and the nature of electric charge on the surface. However, ultrahigh centrifugation for a prolonged time is strongly needed to collect the highly dispersed GO in the recovery process. In this study, a GO-based polymeric composite particle with core-shell structure was fabricated by a facile method. Polyethersulfone (PES) was chosen as the shell to enwrap GO through a liquid-liquid phase inversion process, since the PES shell presented high porosity, good mechanical property and easily modified ability. Methylene blue (MB), a cationic dye, was chosen as the adsorbate to investigate the adsorption capabilities, kinetics and isotherms of the prepared particles. The PES@GO core-shell particles displayed an adsorption capacity as high as 352.11 mg g(-1) for MB dye, and the adsorption rates could be improved by modifying the PES shells with hydrophilic fillers. The MB adsorption behavior fitted the pseudo-second- order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm very well, and the adsorption process was controlled by the intra-particle diffusion. In addition, a particle column was used to further study the removal ability of environmental toxins, and the results revealed that the composite particles had great potential to remove cationic dyes for wastewater treatment on an industrial scale.
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