A central mechanism of virulence of extracellular bacterial pathogens is the injection into host cells of effector proteins that modify host cellular functions. HopW1 is an effector injected by the ...type III secretion system that increases the growth of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae on the Columbia accession of Arabidopsis. When delivered by P. syringae into plant cells, HopW1 causes a reduction in the filamentous actin (F-actin) network and the inhibition of endocytosis, a known actin-dependent process. When directly produced in plants, HopW1 forms complexes with actin, disrupts the actin cytoskeleton and inhibits endocytosis as well as the trafficking of certain proteins to vacuoles. The C-terminal region of HopW1 can reduce the length of actin filaments and therefore solubilize F-actin in vitro. Thus, HopW1 acts by disrupting the actin cytoskeleton and the cell biological processes that depend on actin, which in turn are needed for restricting P. syringae growth in Arabidopsis.
Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are smart materials that are widely used to create intelligent devices because of their high energy density, actuation strain, and biocompatibility characteristics. Given ...their unique properties, SMAs are found to have significant potential for implementation in many emerging applications in mobile robots, robotic hands, wearable devices, aerospace/automotive components, and biomedical devices. Here, the state–of–the–art of thermal and magnetic SMA actuators in terms of their constituent materials, form, and scaling effects are summarized, including their surface treatments and functionalities. The motion performance of various SMA architectures (wires, springs, smart soft composites, and knitted/woven actuators) is also analyzed. Based on the assessment, current challenges of SMAs that need to be addressed for their practical application are emphasized. Finally, how to advance SMAs by synergistically considering the effects of material, form, and scale is suggested.
Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators exhibit complex behaviors through simple structures at various scales. This review analyzes different SMA actuators based on material, form, and scale. With state‐of‐the‐art actuators and limitations of current technologies, this review offers insights into how to synergize these three aspects. It will serve soft and micro‐robotics researchers as a guideline for future developments.
Many studies have reported the effect of hypertension on microcirculation of the retina. Advance of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) allows us more detailed observations of ...microcirculation of the retina. Therefore, we compared OCTA parameters between chronic hypertension (disease duration of at least 10 yrs; Group A, 45 eyes), relieved hypertensive retinopathy (grade IV HTNR < 1 yr prior; Group B, 40 eyes), and normal controls Group C (50 eyes) ≥ 50 yrs old and Group D (50 eyes) < 50 yrs old. A 3 × 3 mm macular scan was performed in each group by OCTA. In vessel density of 3 mm full, group A and B were significantly decreased compared to normal control group (Group A vs. C; 19.4 mm
vs. 20.1 mm
, Group B vs. D; 19.8 mm
vs. 21.8 mm
, all p < 0.05). In foveal avascular zone, group A and B were significantly increased compared to normal control group (Group A vs. C; 0.35 mm
vs. 0.30 mm
, Group B vs. D; 0.36 mm
vs. 0.29 mm
, all p < 0.05). OCTA is useful for examining retinal microcirculatory changes in hypertension and we confirmed that hypertension affects the OCTA parameters. Considering the effect of hypertension on the change of microvasculature, care is required in the interpretation of OCTA parameters in various ophthalmic condition.
Vaccines and therapeutics are urgently needed for the pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we screen human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) targeting the ...receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral spike protein via antibody library constructed from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a convalescent patient. The CT-P59 mAb potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 isolates including the D614G variant without antibody-dependent enhancement effect. Complex crystal structure of CT-P59 Fab/RBD shows that CT-P59 blocks interaction regions of RBD for angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor with an orientation that is notably different from previously reported RBD-targeting mAbs. Furthermore, therapeutic effects of CT-P59 are evaluated in three animal models (ferret, hamster, and rhesus monkey), demonstrating a substantial reduction in viral titer along with alleviation of clinical symptoms. Therefore, CT-P59 may be a promising therapeutic candidate for COVID-19.
To determine the comparability of choroidal thickness (ChT) measurements using swept source (SS) and spectral domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices in patients with pachychoroid ...diseases.
Patients with pachychoroid diseases were recruited. OCT scans were performed sequentially with a Cirrus HD OCT 5000 and Plex Elite 9000. Images were analyzed by two independent observers. Each image was independently measured twice by each observer to determine the intraobserver repeatability.
A total of 55 eyes were included. The average ChT of the subfoveal area using SS-OCT and SD-OCT was 430.5 ± 68.1 and 428.5 ± 57.9 μm, respectively, which did not show a significant result as the main effect in the repeated-measure analysis of variance (P = 0.067). Using SS-OCT, the intraobserver intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of both observers was > 0.950 at every measured point, and the interobserver coefficient of repeatability (CR) of the subfoveal area was 45.1 μm (95% confidence interval (CI), 40.8-49.4). Using SD-OCT, the intraobserver ICC of both observers was > 0.800, and the interobserver CR of the subfoveal area was 71.2 μm (95% CI, 64.4-78.0). Additionally, the intraobserver and interobserver CRs showed significantly better repeatability in SS-OCT than SD-OCT in F-test. In patients with ChT ≥ 400 μm, the interobserver CRs of SS-OCT and SD-OCT were 48.4 (95% CI, 42.6-54.2) and 95.2 μm (95% CI, 83.9-106.6), respectively. In patients with a subfoveal active lesion, the interobserver CRs were 44.5 (95% CI, 37.6-51.4) and 100.1 μm (95% CI, 84.6-115.5), respectively.
Although the ChT measurements were comparable between SS-OCT and SD-OCT devices in pachychoroid diseases, SD-OCT showed low reliability in patients with ChT ≥ 400 μm and subfoveal active lesions. SS-OCT would be therefore more suitable for observation and follow-up of choroidal structures in pachychoroid diseases.
Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is a useful method for predicting coronary artery disease in asymptomatic adults. In this study, we investigated the association between prolonged sedentary time ...and CACS. A cohort study was conducted in 14949 men with negative CACS (CACS = 0) at baseline who were followed up at least once. Sedentary time was categorized into < 7, 7-8, and ≥ 9 h/day. CACS was calculated by cardiac tomography. During 60,112.1 person-years of follow-up, 569 participants developed positive CACS. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for incident positive CACS comparing sedentary times of 7-8 h/day and ≥ 9 h/day to sedentary time of < 7 h/day were 1.25 (0.97-1.62) and 1.28 (1.03-1.59), respectively. This association was more strongly observed in the non-obese group (BMI < 25 kg/m
). In contrast, in the obese group (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m
), there was no significant association between sedentary time and incidence of positive CACS. Prolonged sedentary time was significantly associated with incidence of positive CACS in the study. CACS is also an effective screening tool for predicting future cardiovascular events in asymptomatic patients. Therefore, CACS can be an effective screening method for predicting coronary artery diseases in people with prolonged sedentary time, especially in metabolically healthy people.
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a pivotal role in maintaining body temperature and energy homeostasis. BAT dysfunction is associated with impaired metabolic health. Here, we show that Ssu72 ...phosphatase is essential for mRNA translation of genes required for thermogenesis in BAT. Ssu72 is found to be highly expressed in BAT among adipose tissue depots, and the expression level of Ssu72 is increased upon acute cold exposure. Mice lacking adipocyte Ssu72 exhibit cold intolerance during acute cold exposure. Mechanistically, Ssu72 deficiency alters cytosolic mRNA translation program through hyperphosphorylation of eIF2α and reduces translation of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) subunits, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and defective thermogenesis in BAT. In addition, metabolic dysfunction in Ssu72-deficient BAT returns to almost normal after restoring Ssu72 expression. In summary, our findings demonstrate that cold-responsive Ssu72 phosphatase is involved in cytosolic translation of key thermogenic effectors via dephosphorylation of eIF2α in brown adipocytes, providing insights into metabolic benefits of Ssu72.
In recent years, many researchers have aimed to construct robotic soft grippers that can handle fragile or unusually shaped objects without causing damage. This study proposes a smart ...textile-composite actuator and its application to a soft robotic gripper. An active fiber and an inactive fiber are combined together using knitting techniques to manufacture a textile actuator. The active fiber is a shape memory alloy (SMA) that is wire-wrapped with conventional fibers, and the inactive fiber is a knitting yarn. A knitted textile structure is flexible, with an excellent structure retention ability and high compliance, which is suitable for developing soft grippers. A driving source of the actuator is the SMA wire, which deforms under heating due to the shape memory effect. Through experiments, the course-to-wale ratio, the number of bundling SMA wires, and the driving current value needed to achieve the maximum deformation of the actuator were investigated. Three actuators were stitched together to make up each finger of the gripper, and layer placement research was completed to find the fingers' suitable bending angle for object grasping. Finally, the gripping performance was evaluated through a test of grasping various object shapes, which demonstrated that the gripper could successfully lift flat/spherical/uniquely shaped objects.
Solar irradiance forecasting is fundamental and essential for commercializing solar energy generation by overcoming output variability. Accurate forecasting depends on historical solar irradiance ...data, correlations between various meteorological variables (e.g., wind speed, humidity, and cloudiness), and influences between the weather contexts of spatially adjacent regions. However, existing studies have been limited to spatiotemporal analysis of a few variables, which have clear correlations with solar irradiance (e.g., sunshine duration), and do not attempt to establish atmospheric contextual information from a variety of meteorological variables. Therefore, this study proposes a novel solar irradiance forecasting model that represents atmospheric parameters observed from multiple stations as an attributed dynamic network and analyzes temporal changes in the network by extending existing spatio-temporal graph convolutional network (ST-GCN) models. By comparing the proposed model with existing models, we also investigated the contributions of (i) the spatial adjacency of the stations, (ii) temporal changes in the meteorological variables, and (iii) the variety of variables to the forecasting performance. We evaluated the performance of the proposed and existing models by predicting the hourly solar irradiance at observation stations in the Korean Peninsula. The experimental results showed that the three features are synergistic and have correlations that are difficult to establish using single-aspect analysis.
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