In this study, we introduced an efficient subcloning and expression system with two inducible prokaryotic expression promoters, arabinose and lac, in a single plasmid in
Escherichia coli
. The ...arabinose promoter unit allows for the expression of a FLAG-tagged protein, while the isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG)-inducible unit allows for the expression of a Myc-tagged protein. An efficient subcloning (DNA insertion) system (iUnit) follows each promoter. The iUnit, based on a toxin that targets DNA topoisomerase of
E
.
coli
, allows for effective selection with arabinose or IPTG induction. With the dual promoter plasmid (pdMAX) system, expressed
lacZ
(β-galactosidase) activity was significantly decreased compared with the original solo expression system. Despite this disadvantage, we believe that the pdMAX system remains useful. A recombinant plasmid (pdMAX/ara/DsRed/IPTG/EGFP; pdMAX/DsRed/EGFP) with DsRed in the arabinose expression unit and EGFP in the IPTG expression unit showed fluorescent protein expression following additional low-temperature incubation. Thus, the novel pdMAX system allowed efficient subcloning of two different genes and can be used to induce and analyze the expression of two distinct genes. The proposed system can be applied to various types of prokaryotic gene expression analysis.
Transport properties of silicate melts control magma ocean dynamics on the early terrestrial planets and rocky exoplanets. Here we calculate the viscosity (transport of momentum) of peridotite liquid ...at potential magma ocean conditions (0–159 GPa, 2,200–6,000 K) using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We find that, unlike MgSiO3 or basaltic melts, the viscosity of the highly depolymerized peridotite liquid (a) increases monotonically with pressure without an anomalous drop and (b) is lower than those of other melts over the entire mantle pressure range. Low viscosity would promote fractional crystallization in a less polymerized magma ocean and thus contribute to mantle heterogeneity from its earliest stage. Given the compositional dependence of magma ocean properties, emphasis on multicomponent bulk silicate Earth‐like composition, instead of simple end‐members, are rendered necessary, in order to better understand high‐energy planetary accretion processes and their aftermaths.
Plain Language Summary
In the aftermath of impacts, widely envisaged scenarios taking place on early terrestrial planets, the silicate mantle (i.e., rocks) experiences extreme temperatures that lead to extensive melting (i.e., magma ocean) on those planets. According to our supercomputer simulations, the viscosity of a magma depends on its composition, which can be as fluid as water for a silicate Earth‐like composition. Low viscosity entails vigorous convection, promoting fractional crystallization in the magma ocean. In light of this early differentiation process, mantle heterogeneity observed in the present‐day Earth may be remnants of the solidified magma ocean that survived over geologic time.
Key Points
The viscosity of peridotite liquid is calculated at probable magma ocean conditions up to 159 GPa and 6,000 K
Isothermal viscosities of peridotite liquid increase monotonically with pressure and are constantly lower than those of MgSiO3 liquid
Low viscosity points to turbulent mixing in a magma ocean and favors fractional crystallization during its solidification
Between-assay comparability of 99th percentiles for cardiac troponin concentrations has not been assessed systematically in a single population for a large number of assays.
We determined 99th ...percentiles for 19 cardiac troponin assays in heparin plasma samples from a population of 272 and 252 presumably healthy males and females, respectively. The assays evaluated included 1 cardiac troponin T (cTnT) assay from Roche and 18 cTnI assays from Abbott, Alere, Beckman, bioMerieux, Instrumentation Laboratory, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Singulex, Siemens, and Roche. Five of these assays were categorized as high-sensitivity, 9 as sensitive-contemporary, and 5 as point-of-care (POC) assays.
For high-sensitivity cTnI (hs-cTnI) assays 99th percentiles varied from 23 to 58 ng/L. At least 80% of individuals had measurable hs-cTnI, whereas only 25% had measurable high-sensitivity cTnT. All high-sensitivity cardic troponin assays had 99th percentiles that were 1.2-2.4-fold higher in males than females. For the 9 sensitive-contemporary cTnI assays, 99th percentiles varied from 12 to 392 ng/L, and only the Beckman assay gave measurable concentrations in a substantial portion of the population (35% vs ≤6% for the others). Seven of these 9 assays had 1.3-5.0-fold higher 99th percentiles for males than females. For 5 cTnI POC assays, 99th percentiles varied from <10 to 40 ng/L. The Instrumentation Laboratory assay gave measurable results in 27.8% of study participants vs ≤6% for the others. Correlations were generally poor among assays.
Among cardiac troponin assays 99th percentile concentrations appear to differ. High-sensitivity assays provide measurable cardiac troponin results in a substantially greater fraction of presumably healthy individuals.
•Single grain GdDyBCO superconductors are fabricated with Pt-CeO2 in TS-IG process.•With Pt-CeO2 addition 211 secondary phase inclusions of ~100 nm size is distributed homogenously.•The highest ...self-field Jc of 72 kA/cm2 was achieved at 77 K and 2.2 T, H//c-axis in GdDyBCO-Pt-CeO2 sample.
Single grain (Gd, Dy)BCO bulks were fabricated via cold-top-seeded infiltration growth process in air. Microstructural observations clarified that the size and dispersion of embedded (Gd, Dy)2BaCuO5 (211) secondary phase particles strongly varied in dependence of the grain refiners. The combined addition of Pt and CeO2 in each amount of 0.2 wt% increased the critical current density (Jcab, B‖c-axis) to 105 A/cm2 at 77 K and self-field. The microstructural and magnetic properties of Pt and CeO2 doped sample exhibited high homogeneity throughout the bulk sample. The optimum amount of Dy-211 is added to GdBCO along with Pt and CeO2 resulted in highest superconducting Jcab of 72 kA/cm2 at an applied magnetic field of 2.2 T with improved flux pinning which is confirmed by high values of the reduced fields (hmax = Ha/Hirr).
A major goal in cancer research is to develop carriers that can deliver drugs effectively and without side effects. Liposomal and particulate carriers with diameters of ∼100 nm have been widely used ...to improve the distribution and tumour accumulation of cancer drugs, but so far they have only been effective for treating highly permeable tumours. Here, we compare the accumulation and effectiveness of different sizes of long-circulating, drug-loaded polymeric micelles (with diameters of 30, 50, 70 and 100 nm) in both highly and poorly permeable tumours. All the polymer micelles penetrated highly permeable tumours in mice, but only the 30 nm micelles could penetrate poorly permeable pancreatic tumours to achieve an antitumour effect. We also showed that the penetration and efficacy of the larger micelles could be enhanced by using a transforming growth factor-β inhibitor to increase the permeability of the tumours.
Background Missed fractures are a common cause of diagnostic discrepancy between initial radiographic interpretation and the final read by board-certified radiologists. Purpose To assess the effect ...of assistance by artificial intelligence (AI) on diagnostic performances of physicians for fractures on radiographs. Materials and Methods This retrospective diagnostic study used the multi-reader, multi-case methodology based on an external multicenter data set of 480 examinations with at least 60 examinations per body region (foot and ankle, knee and leg, hip and pelvis, hand and wrist, elbow and arm, shoulder and clavicle, rib cage, and thoracolumbar spine) between July 2020 and January 2021. Fracture prevalence was set at 50%. The ground truth was determined by two musculoskeletal radiologists, with discrepancies solved by a third. Twenty-four readers (radiologists, orthopedists, emergency physicians, physician assistants, rheumatologists, family physicians) were presented the whole validation data set (
= 480), with and without AI assistance, with a 1-month minimum washout period. The primary analysis had to demonstrate superiority of sensitivity per patient and the noninferiority of specificity per patient at -3% margin with AI aid. Stand-alone AI performance was also assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves. Results A total of 480 patients were included (mean age, 59 years ± 16 standard deviation; 327 women). The sensitivity per patient was 10.4% higher (95% CI: 6.9, 13.9;
< .001 for superiority) with AI aid (4331 of 5760 readings, 75.2%) than without AI (3732 of 5760 readings, 64.8%). The specificity per patient with AI aid (5504 of 5760 readings, 95.6%) was noninferior to that without AI aid (5217 of 5760 readings, 90.6%), with a difference of +5.0% (95% CI: +2.0, +8.0;
= .001 for noninferiority). AI shortened the average reading time by 6.3 seconds per examination (95% CI: -12.5, -0.1;
= .046). The sensitivity by patient gain was significant in all regions (+8.0% to +16.2%;
< .05) but shoulder and clavicle and spine (+4.2% and +2.6%;
= .12 and .52). Conclusion AI assistance improved the sensitivity and may even improve the specificity of fracture detection by radiologists and nonradiologists, without lengthening reading time. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license.
See also the editorial by Link and Pedoia in this issue.
High-order harmonic generation (HHG) in solids has entered a new phase of intensive research, with envisioned band-structure mapping on an ultrashort time scale. This partly benefits from a flurry of ...new HHG materials discovered, but so far has missed an important group. HHG in magnetic materials should have profound impact on future magnetic storage technology advances. Here we introduce and demonstrate HHG in ferromagnetic monolayers. We find that HHG carries spin information and sensitively depends on the relativistic spin-orbit coupling; and if they are dispersed into the crystal momentum k space, harmonics originating from real transitions can be k-resolved and carry the band structure information. Geometrically, the HHG signal is sensitive to spatial orientations of monolayers. Different from the optical counterpart, the spin HHG, though probably weak, only appears at even orders, a consequence of SU(2) symmetry. Our findings open an unexplored frontier-magneto-high-order harmonic generation.
Under the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigation of psychological distress is required. At present, the demand for remote intervention for the numerous affected people is increasing, and telephonic support ...can be useful. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, we have been developing a large-scale telephonic support system and implementing brief interventions for the Fukushima people identified at risk of psychological problems such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In this article, we report the lessons from the Fukushima disaster that can be applied to the COVID-19 pandemic and describe how the telephonic intervention facilitates easier access to psychological help for people with a broad range of psychological distress who are not able to visit treatment or care resources. In our telephonic intervention, we first sent a mental health and lifestyle survey to the people affected by the Fukushima disaster. The counselor team then provided telephonic intervention to high-risk persons as identified on the basis of the survey results. The individuals had expected to receive from the telephonic system help mainly in the form of stress-coping methods, social resource information such as schools, public offices or medical facilities, and lifestyle advice. Since we also experienced that psychological care for telephone counselors was necessary to mitigate the substantial emotional burden, we used the following three approaches: (i) regular supervision of the telephone counseling methods, (ii) seminars for improvement of counseling skills and (iii) individual psychological support. The positive loops between counselors and consulters will help advance a society affected by a disaster.
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