Search results for "construct"

Establishing gene models from the Pinus pinaster genome using gene capture and BAC sequencing

2016

Background In the era of DNA throughput sequencing, assembling and understanding gymnosperm mega-genomes remains a challenge. Although drafts of three conifer genomes have recently been published, this number is too low to understand the full complexity of conifer genomes. Using techniques focused on specific genes, gene models can be established that can aid in the assembly of gene-rich regions, and this information can be used to compare genomes and understand functional evolution. Results In this study, gene capture technology combined with BAC isolation and sequencing was used as an experimental approach to establish de novo gene structures without a reference genome. Probes were design…

Quantitatively characterizing drug-induced arrhythmic contractile motions of human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

2018

Quantification of abnormal contractile motions of cardiac tissue has been a noteworthy challenge and significant limitation in assessing and classifying the drug-induced arrhythmias (i.e. Torsades de pointes). To overcome these challenges, researchers have taken advantage of computational image processing tools to measure contractile motion from cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs). However, the amplitude and frequency analysis of contractile motion waveforms doesn't produce sufficient information to objectively classify the degree of variations between two or more sets of cardiac contractile motions. In this paper, we generated contractile motion dat…

Biofiltration of airborne VOCs with green wall systems : microbial and chemical dynamics

2018

Botanical air filtration is a promising technology for reducing indoor air contaminants, but the underlying mechanisms need better understanding. Here, we made a set of chamber fumigation experiments of up to 16 weeks of duration, to study the filtration efficiencies for seven volatile organic compounds (VOCs; decane, toluene, 2-ethylhexanol, α-pinene, octane, benzene, and xylene) and to monitor microbial dynamics in simulated green wall systems. Biofiltration functioned on sub-ppm VOC levels without concentration-dependence. Airflow through the growth medium was needed for efficient removal of chemically diverse VOCs, and the use of optimized commercial growth medium further improved the e…

Macrophage type modulates osteogenic differentiation of adipose tissue MSCs

2017

Since the reconstruction of large bone defects remains a challenge, knowledge about the biology of bone healing is desirable to develop novel strategies for improving the treatment of bone defects. In osteoimmunology, macrophages are the central component in the early stage of physiological response after bone injury and bone remodeling in the late stage. During this process, a switch of macrophage phenotype from pro-inflammatory (M1) to anti-inflammatory (M2) is observed. An appealing option for bone regeneration would be to exploit this regulatory role for the benefit of osteogenic differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells (e.g., mesenchymal stem cells; MSCs) and to eventually utilize this…

Associations between parental food choice motives, health-promoting feeding practices, and infants' fruit and vegetable intakes: the Food4toddlers st…

2020

Background: Parents influence their infants' diets and are the providers of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables. Parental motives can influence infant's diets directly or through parental feeding practices. Objective: This study aimed to assess the associations between parental food choice motives and infants' fruit and vegetable intakes and to examine whether parental feeding practices mediated these associations. Design: A total of 298 parents participated in the Norwegian Food4toddlers study. Before the child's first birthday (mean age = 10.9 months), the parents completed an online baseline questionnaire. Five parental food choice motives were assessed: health, convenience, senso…

Tunable-frequency three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy with reduced data-acquisition

2018

The performance of a tunable three-dimensional (3D) structured illumination microscope (SIM) system and its ability to provide simultaneously super-resolution (SR) and optical-sectioning (OS) capabilities are investigated. Numerical results show that the performance of our 3D-SIM system is comparable with the one provided by a three-wave interference SIM, while requiring 40% fewer images for the reconstruction and providing frequency tunability in a cost-effective implementation. The performance of the system has been validated experimentally with images from test samples, which were also imaged with a commercial SIM based on incoherent-grid projection for comparison. Restored images from d…

Stem Cell-Derived, microRNA-Carrying Extracellular Vesicles: A Novel Approach to Interfering with Mesangial Cell Collagen Production in a Hyperglycae…

2016

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are derived from stem cells are proving to be promising therapeutic options. We herein investigate the therapeutic potential of EVs that have been derived from different stem cell sources, bone-marrow (MSC) and human liver (HLSC), on mesangial cells (MCs) exposed to hyperglycaemia. By expressing a dominant negative STAT5 construct (ΔNSTAT5) in HG-cultured MCs, we have demonstrated that miR-21 expression is under the control of STAT5, which translates into Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGFβ) expression and collagen production. A number of approaches have been used to show that both MSC- and HLSC-derived EVs protect MCs from HG-induced damage via the trans…

Salmon fibrinogen and chitosan scaffold for tissue engineering: in vitro and in vivo evaluation

2018

3D fibrous scaffolds have received much recent attention in regenerative medicine. Use of fibrous scaffolds has shown promising results in tissue engineering and wound healing. Here we report the development and properties of a novel fibrous scaffold that is useful for promoting wound healing. A scaffold made of salmon fibrinogen and chitosan is produced by electrospinning, resulting in a biocompatible material mimicking the structure of the native extracellular matrix (ECM) with suitable biochemical and mechanical properties. The scaffold is produced without the need for enzymes, in particular thrombin, but is fully compatible with their addition if needed. Human dermal fibroblasts culture…

Biomolecular computers with multiple restriction enzymes

2017

Abstract The development of conventional, silicon-based computers has several limitations, including some related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the von Neumann “bottleneck”. Biomolecular computers based on DNA and proteins are largely free of these disadvantages and, along with quantum computers, are reasonable alternatives to their conventional counterparts in some applications. The idea of a DNA computer proposed by Ehud Shapiro’s group at the Weizmann Institute of Science was developed using one restriction enzyme as hardware and DNA fragments (the transition molecules) as software and input/output signals. This computer represented a two-state two-symbol finite automaton t…

2020

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Individuals suffering from overweight or obesity frequently experience weight-based stigmatization. The widespread belief that weight is a matter of personal will and self-control results in various weight-based stereotypes (e.g., laziness, lack of self-discipline, or neglect). <b><i>Objective:</i></b> Based on the modified version of the Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS-M), a short form for the economic assessment of weight bias internalization in the general population was compiled and validated. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A three-item short form (WBIS-3) was derived based on data from a…