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- 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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- Eilers, S., et al.
(author)
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COMPANION-Towards Co-operative Platoon Management of Heavy-Duty Vehicles
- 2015
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In: IEEE Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Proceedings, ITSC. - : IEEE. - 9781467365956 ; , s. 1267-1273
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The objective of the EU project COMPANION is to develop co-operative mobility technologies for supervised vehicle platooning, in order to improve fuel efficiency and safety for goods transport. The potential social and environmental benefits inducted by heavy-duty vehicle platoons have been largely proven. However, until now, the creation, coordination, and operation of such platoons have been mostly neglected. In addition, the regulation and standardization of coordinated platooning, together with its acceptance by the end-users and the society need further attention and research. In this paper we give an overview over the project and present the architecture of the off-board and onboard platforms of the COMPANION cooperative platoon management system. Furthermore, the consortium reports on the first results of the human factors for platooning, legislative analysis of platooning aspects, clustering and optimization of platooning plans and prediction of congestion due to planned special events. Finally, we present the method of validation of the system via simulation and trials.
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- Kampfrath, T., et al.
(author)
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Terahertz spin current pulses controlled by magnetic heterostructures
- 2013
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In: Nature Nanotechnology. - 1748-3387 .- 1748-3395. ; 8:4, s. 256-260
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In spin-based electronics, information is encoded by the spin state of electron bunches(1-4). Processing this information requires the controlled transport of spin angular momentum through a solid(5,6), preferably at frequencies reaching the so far unexplored terahertz regime(7-9). Here, we demonstrate, by experiment and theory, that the temporal shape of femtosecond spin current bursts can be manipulated by using specifically designed magnetic heterostructures. A laser pulse is used to drive spins(10-12) from a ferromagnetic iron thin film into a non-magnetic cap layer that has either low (ruthenium) or high (gold) electron mobility. The resulting transient spin current is detected by means of an ultrafast, contactless amperemeter(13) based on the inverse spin Hall effect(14,15), which converts the spin flow into a terahertz electromagnetic pulse. We find that the ruthenium cap layer yields a considerably longer spin current pulse because electrons are injected into ruthenium d states, which have a much lower mobility than gold sp states(16). Thus, spin current pulses and the resulting terahertz transients can be shaped by tailoring magnetic heterostructures, which opens the door to engineering high-speed spintronic devices and, potentially, broadband terahertz emitters(7-9).
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- Zirn, B, et al.
(author)
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Expression profiling of Wilms tumors reveals new candidate genes for different clinical parameters
- 2006
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In: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136. ; 118:8, s. 1954-1962
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Wilms tumor is the most frequent renal neoplasm in children, but our understanding of its genetic basis is still limited. We performed cDNA microarray experiments using 63 primary Wilms tumors with the aim of detecting new candidate genes associated with malignancy grade and tumor progression. All tumors had received preoperative chemotherapy as mandated by the SIOP protocol, which sets this study apart from related approaches in the Unites States that are based on untreated samples. The stratification of expression data according to clinical criteria allowed a rather clear distinction between different subsets of Wilms tumors. Clear-cut differences in expression patterns were discovered between relapse-free as opposed to relapsed tumors and tumors with intermediate risk as opposed to high risk histology. Several differentially expressed genes, e.g. TRIM22, CENPF, MYCN, CTGF, RARRES3 and EZH2, were associated with Wilms tumor progression. For a subset of differentially expressed genes, microarray data were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR on the original set of tumors. Interestingly, we found the retinoic acid pathway to be deregulated at different levels in advanced tumors suggesting that treatment of these tumors with retinoic acid may represent a promising novel therapeutic approach. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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- Xu, Y. H., et al.
(author)
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Synthesis and characterization of dinuclear ruthenium complexes covalently linked to Ru-II tris-bipyridine : An approach to mimics of the donor side of photosystem II
- 2005
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In: Chemistry - A European Journal. - : Wiley. - 0947-6539 .- 1521-3765. ; 11:24, s. 7305-7314
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To mimic the electron-donor side of photosystem II (PSII), three trinuclear ruthenium complexes (2, 2a, 2b) were synthesized. In these compl plexes, a mixed-valent dinuclear Ru-2(II,III) moiety with one phenoxy and two acetato bridges is covalently linked to a Ru-II tris-bipyridine photosensitizer. The properties and photoinduced electron/energy transfer of these complexes were studied. The results show that the Ru-2(II,III) moieties in the complexes readily undergo reversible one-electron reduction and one-electron oxidation to give the Ru-2(II,II) and Ru-2(II,III) states, respectively. This could allow for photooxidation of the sensitizer part with an external acceptor and subsequent electron transfer from the dinuclear ruthenium moiety to regenerate the sensitizer. However, all trinuclear ruthenium complexes have a very short excited-state lifetime, in the range of a few nanoseconds to less than 100 ps. Studies by femtosecond time-resolved techniques suggest that a mixture of intramolecular energy and electron transfer between the dinuclear ruthenium moiety and the excited [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) photosensitizer is responsible for the short lifetimes. This problem is overcome by anchoring the complexes with ester- or carboxyl-substituted bipyridine ligands (2a, 2b) to nanocrystalline TiO2, and the desired electron transfer from the excited state of the [Ru(bPY)(3)](2+) moiety to the conduction band of TiO2, followed by intramolecular electron transfer from the dinuclear Ru-2(II,III) moiety to photogenerated Ru-III was observed. The resulting long-lived Ru-2(III,III) state decays on the millisecond timescale.
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- Ceballos, Eva, et al.
(author)
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c-Myc antagonizes the effect of p53 on apoptosis and p21WAF1 transactivation in K562 leukemia cells
- 2000
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In: Oncogene. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0950-9232 .- 1476-5594. ; 19, s. 2194-2204
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- c-myc protooncogene positively regulates cell proliferation and overexpression of c-myc is found in many solid tumors and leukemias. In the present study we used the K562 human myeloid leukemia cell line as a model to study the functional interaction between c-Myc and p53. Using two different methods, we generated K562 transfectant cell lines with conditional expression of either c-Myc or p53. The cells expressed the p53Vall35 mutant, which adopts a wild-type conformation at 32 degrees C, while c-Myc induction was achieved with a zinc-inducible expression vector. We found that p53 in wild-type conformation induces growth arrest and apoptosis of K562. Expression of c-Myc significantly attenuated apoptosis and impaired the transcriptional activity of p53 on p21WAF1, Bax and cytomegalovirus promoters. The impairment of p21WAF1 transactivation by c-Myc was confirmed by transfection of a c-Myc-estrogen receptor fusion protein and by induction of c-myc by zinc in transfected cells. Also, p53-mediated up-regulation of p21WAF1 mRNA protein were significantly reduced by c-Myc, while Bax levels were unaffected. Consistently, c-Myc increased cyclin-dependent kinase 2 activity in K562 cells expressing p53 in wild-type conformation. These results suggest that c-Myc overexpression may antagonize the pro-apoptotic function of p53, thus providing a molecular mechanism for the frequently observed deregulation of c-myc in human cancer.
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- Eilers, R., et al.
(author)
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Vaccine preferences and acceptance of older adults
- 2017
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In: Vaccine. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 35:21, s. 2823-2830
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Expanding vaccination programs for the older population might be important as older adults are becoming a larger proportion of the general population. The aim of this study is to determine the relative importance of vaccine and disease specific characteristics and acceptance for Dutch older adults, including pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster, pertussis vaccination, and influenza vaccination.Methods: A discrete choice experiment was conducted to generate choice data that was analyzed using a mixed multinomial logit statistical model.Results: Important factors that were associated with vaccination acceptance in older adults are high mortality risk of the infectious disease, high susceptibility of getting the infectious disease, and high vaccine effectiveness. Age, influenza vaccination in 2013 and self-perceived health score were identified as personal factors that affect vaccine preference. Potential vaccination rates of older adults were estimated at 68.1% for pneumococcal vaccination, 58.1% for herpes zoster vaccination, 53.9% for pertussis vaccination and 54.3% for influenza vaccination. For persons aged 50-65, potential vaccination rates were estimated at 58.1% for pneumococcal vaccination, 49.5% for herpes zoster vaccination, 43.9% for pertussis vaccination and 42.2% for influenza vaccination. For persons aged 65 and older, these were respectively 76.2%, 67.5%, 57.5% and 65.5%.Discussion: Our results suggest that older adults are most likely to accept pneumococcal vaccination of the four vaccines. Information provision accompanied with the implementation of a new vaccine has to be tailored for the individual and the vaccine it concerns. Special attention is needed to ensure high uptake among persons aged 50-65 years.
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- Zhu, Yongda, et al.
(author)
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Probing Ultralate Reionization: Direct Measurements of the Mean Free Path over 5 z
- 2023
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 955:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mean free path of ionizing photons, lambda(mfp), is a critical parameter for modeling the intergalactic medium (IGM) both during and after reionization. We present direct measurements of lambda(mfp) from QSO spectra over the redshift range 5 < z < 6, including the first measurements at z similar or equal to 5.3 and 5.6. Our sample includes data from the XQR-30 VLT large program, as well as new Keck/ESI observations of QSOs near z similar to 5.5, for which we also acquire new [C II] 158 mu m redshifts with ALMA. By measuring the Lyman continuum transmission profile in stacked QSO spectra, we find lambda(mfp) = 9.33(-1.80)(+2.06), 5.40(-1.40)(+1.47), 3.31(-1.34)(+2.74), and 0.81(-0.48)(+0.73) pMpc at z = 5.08, 5.31, 5.65, and 5.93, respectively. Our results demonstrate that lambda(mfp) increases steadily and rapidly with time over 5 < z < 6. Notably, we find that lambda(mfp) deviates significantly from predictions based on a fully ionized and relaxed IGM as late as z = 5.3. By comparing our results to model predictions and indirect lambda(mfp) constraints based on IGM Ly alpha opacity, we find that the evolution of lambda(mfp) is consistent with scenarios wherein the IGM is still undergoing reionization and/or retains large fluctuations in the ionizing UV background well below redshift 6.
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