(1) Background: Dipeptidyl Peptidases IV (DPPIVs), present in many organisms, are minor components in the venoms of Hymenoptera, where they have been identified as cross-reactive allergenic ...molecules. Considering that the structure of homologous DPPIVs is well characterized, we aimed to explain which regions have higher similarity among these proteins and present a comparison among them, including a new
DPPIV sequence. Moreover, two cases of sensitization to DPPIVs in wasp- and honeybee-sensitized patients are presented. (2) Methods: Proteomic analyses have been performed on the venom of the Asian hornet
to demonstrate the sequence of its DPPIV (allergen named Vesp v 3, with sequence accession number P0DRB8, and with the proteomic data available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD046030). A comparison performed through their alignments and analysis of the three-dimensional structure showed a region with higher similarity among Hymenoptera DPPIVs. Additionally, ImmunoCAP™ determinations (including specific inhibition experiments), as well as IgE immunoblotting, are performed to demonstrate the allergenicity of Api m 5 and Ves v 3. (3) Results and Conclusions: The data presented demonstrate that the similarities among Hymenoptera DPPIVs are most likely localized at the C-terminal region of these enzymes. In addition, a higher similarity of the
/
DPPIVs is shown. The clinical cases analyzed demonstrated the allergenicity of Api m 5 and Ves v 3 in the sera of the allergic patients, as well as the presence of this minor component in the preparations used in venom immunotherapy.
Purpose
To propose a new method of identifying clusters in multifocal electrophysiology (multifocal electroretinogram: mfERG; multifocal visual-evoked potential: mfVEP) that conserve the maximum ...capacity to discriminate between patients and control subjects.
Methods
The theoretical framework proposed creates arbitrary
N
-size clusters of sectors. The capacity to discriminate between patients and control subjects is assessed by analysing the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC). As proof of concept, the method is validated using mfERG recordings taken from both eyes of control subjects (
n
= 6) and from patients with multiple sclerosis (
n
= 15).
Results
Considering the amplitude of wave P1 as the analysis parameter, the maximum value of AUC = 0.7042 is obtained with
N
= 9 sectors. Taking into account the AUC of the amplitudes and latencies of waves N1 and P1, the maximum value of the AUC = 0.6917 with
N
= 8 clustered sectors. The greatest discriminant capacity is obtained by analysing the latency of wave P1: AUC = 0.8854 with a cluster of
N
= 12 sectors.
Conclusion
This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a method able to determine the arbitrary clustering of multifocal responses that possesses the greatest capacity to discriminate between control subjects and patients when applied to the visual field of mfERG or mfVEP recordings. The method may prove helpful in diagnosing any disease that is identifiable in patients’ mfERG or mfVEP recordings and is extensible to other clinical tests, such as optical coherence tomography.
Abstract
In this work, we show a Bi-Ronchi test (BRT) proposal using point cloud for sensing the whole surface and wavefront of spherical mirrors as a fast computational test with efficiency ...comparable with the Ronchi test. We also show an application of the Irradiance Transport equation based on the differential form of the circular Zernike polynomials, to obtain the Phase Transport equation, with capabilities to study the wavefront propagation. To this aim, we experimentally analyze the propagation of
W
with the BRT, to validate the experimental propagation performed with the Irradiance Transport Equation, giving place to a Phase Transport equation. For this purpose, we use square rulings to observe bi-Ronchigrams and their corresponding Transversal Aberrations as well as their
W
. We validated our results by comparing the BRT with the Ronchi Test for several measurements of a given wavefront
W
with Ronchi rulings in the same position. Three different bRR were placed in several locations before and beyond the mirror curvature Radius in order to characterize the experimental propagation of
W
and test the reflection relation of
W
before and beyond the mirror Curvature Radius. Finally, we use the Phase Transport equation to analyze the propagation of an efficient
W
in terms of the differential circular Zernike Polynomials in order to obtain a Riemann-integrable function to numerically find a solution for validating the experimental propagation, the symmetry of the wavefronts, the existence of a symmetry matrix, and the BRT.
Plasma cell hepatitis (PCH), also known as “de novo autoimmune” hepatitis, is an increasingly recognized, but suboptimally named and poorly understood, category of late allograft dysfunction strongly ...resembling autoimmune hepatitis (AIH): They share plasma‐cell‐rich necro‐inflammatory activity on biopsy, autoantibodies and steroid responsiveness, but overlap with rejection is problematic. A retrospective study of clinical, serological, histopathological and IgG4 immunohistological features of PCH (n = 20) in liver allograft recipients, native liver AIH (n = 19) and plasma‐cell‐rich renal allograft rejection (n = 20) showed: (1) high frequency (44%) of HLA‐DR15; (2) less female predominance (p = 0.03) and (3) n = 9/20 PCH recipients showed >25 IgG4+ plasma cells/high‐power field (IgG4+ PCH) versus AIH (n = 1/19, p = 0.008) or plasma‐cell‐rich kidney rejection (n = 2/20, p = 0.03). The IgG4+ PCH (n = 9) subgroup showed lower alanine transaminase (ALT) (p < 0.01) and aspartate transaminase (AST) (p < 0.05) at index biopsy but (a) higher plasma cell number/percentage, (b) more aggressive‐appearing portal/periportal and perivenular necro‐inflammatory activity and (c) more severe portal/periportal fibrosis than IgG4− PCH (n = 11). Significant demographic, histopathologic and plasma cell phenotype differences between PCH and AIH suggest distinct pathogenic mechanisms for at least the IgG4+ PCH subgroup likely representing an overlap between allo‐ and auto‐immunity. IgG4+ PCH was associated with fibrosis, but also highly responsive to increased immunosuppression.
An IgG4‐rich cohort of patients with plasma cell hepatitis after liver transplantation shows demographical, histopathological and plasma cell phenotype features distinct from autoimmune hepatitis in native livers, suggesting distinct pathophysiological disease mechanisms likely representing an overlap between allo‐ and autoimmunity. See editorial by Manns and Mix on page 2792.
Composites that incorporate an electrically conducting filler, the hydrochloric polyaniline (PANI-Cl), into hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (HO-PDMS) matrix were evaluated for DC electrical, ...mechanical, thermal, morphological and piezo-resistive properties. The main focus of the study was on the electrical–mechanical behavior of these composites in view of possible piezo-resistive sensor application. The percolation threshold of conductivity was determined to be around 11.5 wt% of PANI-Cl. Compression/expansion cyclic experiments showed that the filler content modified the stiffness, the magnitude of Mullins effect and the hysteresis behavior in elastomeric composites. The piezo-resistive response of composites differed depending on the sample composition and also, on the strain rate. Composites with concentration above the percolation threshold exhibited at least three-order change of its electrical resistance in a narrow interval of maximum 2% of deformation. The piezo-resistive sensitivity and the reproducibility of response suggested the possibility to use this material as a transducer in an electromechanical device.
Background
We present “
Ask Ernö
”, a self-learning system for the automatic analysis of NMR spectra, consisting of integrated chemical shift assignment and prediction tools. The output of the ...automatic assignment component initializes and improves a database of assigned protons that is used by the chemical shift predictor. In turn, the predictions provided by the latter facilitate improvement of the assignment process. Iteration on these steps allows
Ask Ernö
to improve its ability to assign and predict spectra without any prior knowledge or assistance from human experts.
Results
This concept was tested by training such a system with a dataset of 2341 molecules and their
1
H-NMR spectra, and evaluating the accuracy of chemical shift predictions on a test set of 298 partially assigned molecules (2007 assigned protons). After 10 iterations,
Ask Ernö
was able to decrease its prediction error by 17 %, reaching an average error of 0.265 ppm. Over 60 % of the test chemical shifts were predicted within 0.2 ppm, while only 5 % still presented a prediction error of more than 1 ppm.
Conclusions
Ask Ernö
introduces an innovative approach to automatic NMR analysis that constantly learns and improves when provided with new data. Furthermore, it completely avoids the need for manually assigned spectra. This system has the potential to be turned into a fully autonomous tool able to compete with the best alternatives currently available.
Graphical abstract
Self-learning loop. Any progress in the prediction (forward problem) will improve the assignment ability (reverse problem) and vice versa.
Complex structures on twisted Hilbert spaces Castillo, Jesús M. F.; Cuellar, Wilson; Ferenczi, Valentin ...
Israel journal of mathematics,
10/2017, Letnik:
222, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We investigate complex structures on twisted Hilbert spaces, with special attention paid to the Kalton–Peck
Z
2
space and to the hyperplane problem. For any non-trivial twisted Hilbert space, we show ...there are always complex structures on the natural copy of the Hilbert space that cannot be extended to the whole space. Regarding the hyperplane problem we show that no complex structure on ℓ
2
can be extended to a complex structure on a hyperplane of
Z
2
containing it.
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