Inverse Profile Research Articles

Modifications on the Amino-3,5-dicyanopyridine Core To Obtain Multifaceted Adenosine Receptor Ligands with Antineuropathic Activity.

A new series of amino-3,5-dicyanopyridines (1-31) was synthesized and biologically evaluated in order to further investigate the potential of this scaffold to obtain adenosine receptor (AR) ligands. In general, the modifications performed have led to compounds having high to good human (h) A1AR affinity and an inverse agonist profile. While most of the compounds are hA1AR-selective, some derivatives behave as mixed hA1AR inverse agonists/A2A and A2B AR antagonists. The latter compounds (9-12) showed that they reduce oxaliplatin-induced neuropathic pain by a mechanism involving the alpha7 subtype of nAchRs, similar to the nonselective AR antagonist caffeine, taken as the reference compound. Along with the pharmacological evaluation, chemical stability of methyl 3-(((6-amino-3,5-dicyano-4-(furan-2-yl)pyridin-2-yl)sulfanyl)methyl)benzoate 10 was assessed in plasma matrices (rat and human), and molecular modeling studies were carried out to better rationalize the available structure-activity relationships.

Spectral diagnostic system for light impurity transport study in J-TEXT Tokamak

A light impurity diagnostic system is developed for the J-TEXT tokamak. This diagnostic system consists of carbon V (227.09 nm), carbon III (464.7 nm) and edge rotation diagnostics. The carbon V diagnostic consists of a 12-core fiber bundle for light collection, an aberration-corrected monochromator, and a 12-channel photomultiplier tube array. The carbon III diagnostic adopts three identical 18-channel Si photodiode arrays to cover the edge region of the high-field side (HFS), low-field side (LFS) and limiter regions at different toroidal positions, with a specified front filter. The carbon VI (529.26 nm) diagnostic consists of a 10-core fiber bundle, an aberration-corrected monochromator, and an electron-multiplying CCD camera. The system coverage range is 0.2 m to 0.07 m of the HFS. A high-resolution spectroscopic diagnostic can detect carbon III (229.69 nm) and carbon V (227.09 nm) radiation intensities in the LFS. An accurate absolute calibration is carried out by an integrating sphere light source, and a relative position calibration is developed for all diagnoses. Combining the impurity emission profile which derived from inversion and plasma parameter profile, the impurity density of each ion stage and impurity transport coefficients are obtained by a one-dimensional impurity transport code.

Thermal and electrical performance of the dense-array concentrating photovoltaic (DA-CPV) system under non-uniform illumination

Dense-array concentrating photovoltaic (DA-CPV) systems suffer from power generation limits due to extreme operation conditions. This study primarily aims to analyze the multi-physics effects of various optical, electrical, and thermal conditions on the performance of DA-CPV systems. Different module configurations are employed in the simulations to evaluate the coupling impacts of changing illumination distributions and temperature profiles on the system performance. The results demonstrate that module configurations have significant influence on the output power and temperature contour of DA-CPV modules. Compared with conventional total-cross-tied connections, decrements of average module temperature and central module temperature by at least 5 and 12 °C, respectively, and increment of output power by at least 48.29% are achieved based on the quartered rotational symmetry (QRS) connection. Under various non-uniform illuminations, the maximum power will be obtained at anti-Gaussian temperature profiles. Compared with the uniform and Gaussian temperature profiles, the inverse Gaussian profiles can further improve the module output power by at most 1%. Meanwhile, relying on the achieved correlation between the optimized temperature profiles and illumination shapes for the CPV module with the QRS connection, the output performance of the CPV module under various raidation intensities is evaluated. In the range of 100–1200 W/m2 of solar radiation, more than 99.7% of the maximum module power is maintained with the optimized anti-Gaussian temperature profile.

Use of beam-shaping optics for wafer-scaled nanopatterning in laser interference lithography

Laser interference lithography is a widely used technology for large-area patterning of surfaces on the micro- and nanoscale. It is mostly used for research purposes due to the limited area that can be uniformly patterned due to the Gaussian intensity profile of the laser. In the scope of this work, the lithography system was extended by a freeform refractive glass which provided a spatially uniform energy distribution for a homogenous structuring process. The energy variation of the introduced light was reduced to 2.6% for the exposed area (4 × 9 cm), which is one magnitude lower than the energy variation of a Gaussian beam. With the refractive beam shaper, it was possible to produce a uniform nanopattern with an absolute linewidth variation of 7 nm over an area of 4 × 9 cm2. The structurable area is limited by the mirror size of the Lloyd’s mirror device. The demonstrated LIL system was also able to generate variable light fields from Gaussian to flat-top as well as inverse Gaussian profiles. This paper demonstrates nanopatterning of negative resist with a square homogenous output profile of the beam shaper. The square shape of the beam profile gives the opportunity to efficiently structure substrates with a square shape. Apart from standard silicon-based photolithographic processes, this technique is also attractive for nanopatterning of organic light-emitting diodes on glass or graduated grid structures like polarizers. Consequently, the advantages of the LIL fabrication (high-throughput and low-cost fabrication) are extended by the opportunity to scale the single-exposure process to large areas with only small variations in the detail.

MicroRNA-496 and Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Expression are Associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity in Elderly People

Background: Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates lipid and glucose metabolism thus playing a key role in metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recently, we demonstrated a functional interaction of microRNA-496 (miR-496) with mTOR and its impact on the regulation of human ageing. Objectives: As T2DM is most prevalent in older adults, we hypothesized that miR-496 may also have an impact on mTOR regulation in T2DM. Methods: Based on real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, mTOR gene and protein expression as well as miR-496 expression were monitored in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from T2DM patients (median age: 71) and healthy age- and BMI matched controls (median age: 69). ­Results: We demonstrated significant upregulation of phospho-mTOR and P70S6 Kinase (P70S6K) levels and significant downregulation of miR-496 in PBMC from elderly T2DM patients in comparison to a BMI and age-matched control cohort. Moreover, significant upregulation of phospho-mTOR protein and significant downregulation of miR-496 were observed in advanced stages of obesity. Conclusions: BMI-dependent upregulation of mTOR and the inverse expression profile of miR-496 observed in elderly T2DM patients suggest a correlation with T2DM. Hence, our results indicate a potential association of miR-496 with mTOR expression in elderly T2DM patients and obesity. Since phosphorylation of P70S6K was also elevated in T2DM patients, we conclude that mTOR signaling through TORC1 may be affected in the regulation of T2DM.

Electromagnetic Inverse Profiling for Plasma Diagnostics via Sparse Recovery Approaches

The 1-D single-view multifrequency electromagnetic inverse scattering problem, or inverse profiling, is addressed to provide effective means for plasma diagnostics, taking into account the dispersive properties of such a medium. To this aim, first-order linearized approaches are considered in light of the renewed possibility to conveniently solve the underlying ill-posed problem through the sparse recovery optimization provided by the prominent compressive sensing theory. The intrinsic theoretical limitation of such a problem when tackled by means of the standard minimum energy solution is discussed, and effective approaches based on sparse recovery are proposed and tested against simulated data that deal with reliable benchmarks for microwave imaging in plasma diagnostics.

A DNA Repair and Cell-Cycle Gene Expression Signature in Primary and Recurrent Glioblastoma: Prognostic Value and Clinical Implications.

Inevitable tumor recurrence and a poor median survival are frustrating reminders of the inefficacy of our current standard of care for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM), which includes surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy with the DNA alkylating agent temozolomide. Because resistance to genotoxic damage is achieved mainly through execution of the DNA damage response (DDR) and DNA repair pathways, knowledge of the changes in DNA repair and cell-cycle gene expression that occur during tumor development might help identify new targets and improve treatment. Here, we performed a gene expression analysis targeting components of the DNA repair and cell-cycle machineries in cohorts of paired tumor samples (i.e., biopsies from the same patient obtained at the time of primary tumor operation and at recurrence) from patients treated with radiotherapy or radiotherapy plus temozolomide. We identified and validated a 27-gene signature that resulted in the classification of GBM specimens into three groups, two of which displayed inverse expression profiles. Each group contained primary and recurrent samples, and the tumor at relapse frequently displayed a gene expression profile different from that of the matched primary biopsy. Within the groups that exhibited opposing gene expression profiles, the expression pattern of the gene signature at relapse was linked to progression-free survival. We provide experimental evidence that our signature exposes group-specific vulnerabilities against genotoxicants and inhibitors of the cell cycle and DDR, with the prospect of personalized therapeutic strategies.Significance: These findings suggest that classification of GBM tumors based on a DNA repair and cell-cycle gene expression signature exposes vulnerabilities to standard-of-care therapies and offers the potential for personalized therapeutic strategies.

Characteristics of reservoir water temperatures in high and cold areas of the Upper Yellow River

Several reservoirs have been built in the high and cold areas of the Yellow River. This study analyzed the annual and seasonal distributions and variation characteristics of the water temperatures of reservoirs in different reaches based on water temperature observations. The results show that (1) the temperature of the water released from the reservoirs is less than 2 °C and is 2–4 °C lower than the natural temperature in the research area in the spring. Reservoirs in this area freeze in the winter, the water temperature structures of the reservoirs exhibit thermal stratification with inversion profiles, and the inversion profiles are greater than 50 m thick. The reservoir water is mixed to 4 °C and then becomes stratified in mid-April. Similarly, the stratified conditions turn to mixed conditions in November. (2) The operating conditions of the reservoirs influence the water temperature distributions in the reservoirs and the water temperatures of the downstream river channels. (3) The temperature of the water released from the reservoirs is significantly lower than the natural water temperature in the spring, which affects the spawning of downstream fish. (4) A three-dimensional water temperature simulation model was created, and the simulation results show that stratified intake can reduce the impacts of low water temperatures.

Sex-Dependent Sensory Phenotypes and Related Transcriptomic Expression Profiles Are Differentially Affected by Angelman Syndrome.

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder which entails autism, intellectual disability, lack of speech, motor deficits, and seizure susceptibility. It is caused by the lack of UBE3A protein expression, which is an E3-ubiquitin ligase. Despite AS equal prevalence in males and females, not much data on how sex affects the syndrome was reported. In the herein study, we thoroughly characterized many behavioral phenotypes of AS mice. The behavioral data acquired was analyzed with respect to sex. In addition, we generated a new mRNA sequencing dataset. We analyzed the coding transcriptome expression profiles with respect to the effects of genotype and sex observed in the behavioral phenotypes. We identified several neurobehavioral aspects, especially sensory perception, where AS mice either lack the male-to-female differences observed in wild-type littermates or even show opposed differences. However, motor phenotypes did not show male-to-female variation between wild-type (WT) and AS mice. In addition, by utilizing the mRNA sequencing, we identified genes and isoforms with expression profiles that mirror the sensory perception results. These genes are differentially regulated in the two sexes with inverse expression profiles in AS mice compared to WT littermates. Some of these are known pain-related and estrogen-dependent genes. The observed differences in sex-dependent neurobehavioral phenotypes and the differential transcriptome expression profiles in AS mice strengthen the evidence for molecular cross talk between Ube3a protein and sex hormone receptors or their elicited pathways. These interactions are essential for understanding Ube3a deletion effects, beyond its E3-ligase activity.

ProstaglandinD2 expression is prognostic in high‑grade serous ovarian cancer.

To identify biomarkers that could predict response or lack of response to conventional chemotherapy at the time of diagnosis of high‑grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC), the present study compared large‑scale gene expression from patients with short or long disease‑free survival times, according to the last cycle of chemotherapy, and validated these findings using reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR) and conventional immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Samples were selected for microarray evaluation, at the time of diagnosis, using the following criteria: Identical debulking primary surgery, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics staging, histological subtype and grade. These were divided into 2 groups, regarding the outcome after 2 years of follow-up. Prostaglandin D2 synthase 21 kDa (brain) (PTGDS) was found to be expressed at a significantly higher level in the tumours of patients with a short disease‑free survival time, and this was validated by RT‑qPCR in all samples. Furthermore, the study evaluated PGD2, the protein product of the PTGDS gene, in a large cohort of 114 HGSOC patients using the Ventana Benchmark automated platform, and IHC positivity was correlated with clinicopathological data and outcome. The global gene expression analysis identified 1,149 genes that were differentially expressed in microarray data, according to the patient outcome. Further analysis RT‑qPCR validated PTGDS gene expression in the same samples (r=0.945; P<0.001). IHC analysis showed an inverse profile, with positivity for PGD2 strongly associated with an increase in disease‑free survival (P=0.009), the absence of relapse (P=0.039) and sensitivity to platinum‑based therapy (P=0.016). Multiple Cox regression showed that IHC evaluation of PGD2 was also a prognostic marker associated with relapse (hazard ratio, 0.37; P=0.002). Overall, the results showed that IHC evaluation of PGD2 is an independent marker of good prognosis in HGSOC. This finding contributes to our understanding of the mechanism of tumour regulation and to investigations into biomarkers that predict response to chemotherapy.

Male homicides in two regions of Brazil: analysis of the effect of age, period, and cohort

The objective was to assess the effect of age, period, and birth cohort on the time trend in mortality from homicides in men in the states of the Northeast and Southeast regions of Brazil from 1980 to 2014. This was an ecological time trend study. PCA models were estimated using estimable functions in inference of the parameters. Mortality and population data were obtained from the Brazilian Health Informatics Department. State-by-state mortality rates from homicide were standardized by the direct method, with the world population as the standard, as proposed by the World Health Organization. The Northeast region recorded 317,711 deaths from homicides and the Southeast 544,640 deaths, corresponding, respectively, corresponding to mean standardized rates of 58.68 and 64.68 deaths per 100,000 men. The highest mean standardized mortality rates were observed in the states of Alagoas (157.74 deaths) and Pernambuco (109.58 deaths). All the states showed an increase in mortality up to the third decade of life, with a progressive reduction in the other age brackets. There was an upward trend in all the states of the Northeast and in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo in the Southeast, while in the other states there was a downward trend. All the states showed an increase in the risk of death in the younger age brackets, except for the state of São Paulo, which showed the inverse profile. The current study's findings may correlate with the process of discontinuity in the cohort, in which members of wide cohorts found less opportunity for access to employment, income, and education, thus increasing the risk of involvement in crime and death from homicide.

A method for range calculation of proton in liquid water: Validation study using Monte Carlo method and NIST data

Introduction: The main advantage of using ion beams over photons in radiotherapy is due to their inverse depth-dose profiles, allowing higher doses to tumors, while better sparing normal tissues. When calculating dose distributions with ion beams, one crucial point is the uncertainty of the Bragg-peak range. Recently great effort is devoted to enhance the accuracy of the computation for proton treatments without increasing the calculation time. The highest accuracy in these calculations is obtained by Monte Carlo simulation methods. GATE is a Monte Carlo simulation platform based on geant4 which was found to be a convenient simulation environment to perform this study. This study shows how a stochastic method such as Monte Carlo can be utilized to obtain certain quantities of practical importance related to charged particle transport Materials and Methods: In this study, GATE code was used to compute absorbed dose and fluence of protons in the energy range of 50-200 MeV and with energy step of 50 MeV. A water phantom (40*40*40 cm3) was modeled in a vacuum world volume (5*5*5 m3). Several physics lists have been defined in the GATE code that we used FTFP_BERT. The mono-energetic protons were emitted mono-directionally from a point source at one end of the water phantom. The simulations were carried out for 10^6 proton histories that yielded better than 0.3% statistical errors. Results: In this study, we validated the Gate code in proton therapy applications. This study examined different physics lists and showed that the results obtained using FTFP_BERT physics are in a good agreement with NIST database. Our Results were compared to the CSDA ranges from NIST database using the GATE simulation code. The FTFP_BERT results showed good agreement within 1% for energies higher than 30 MeV and within 0.1% for energies higher than 70 MeV .We also conclude that the value of 0.1 mm is optimal for the SetCut. Conclusion: The results were found to be ±0.1% compared to the data from the NIST compilation. It is safe to conclude that this approach can be extended to determine dosimetric quantities for other media, energies and charged particle types.

Optimization of the spatial modulation function of vessel‐encoded pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling and its application to dynamic angiography

In vessel-encoded pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (ve-pCASL), vessel-selective labeling is achieved by modulation of the inversion efficiency across space. However, the spatial transition between the labeling and control conditions is rather gradual, which can cause partial labeling of vessels, reducing SNR-efficiency and necessitating complex postprocessing to decode the vessel-selective signals. The purpose of this study is to optimize the pCASL labeling parameters to obtain a sharper spatial inversion profile of the labeling and thereby minimizing the risk of partial labeling of untargeted arteries. Bloch simulations were performed to investigate how the inversion profile was influenced by the pCASL labeling parameters: the maximum (Gmax ) and mean (Gmean ) labeling gradient were varied for ve-pCASL with unipolar and bipolar gradients. The findings in the simulation study were subsequently confirmed in an in vivo volunteer study. Moreover, conventional and optimized settings were compared for 4D-MRA using four-cycle Hadamard ve-pCASL; the visualization of arteries and the presence of the partial labeling were assessed by an expert observer. When using unipolar gradient, lower Gmean resulted in a steeper spatial transition, whereas the width of the control region was broader for higher Gmax . The in vivo study confirmed these findings. When using bipolar gradients, the control region was always very narrow. Qualitative comparison of the 4D-MRA demonstrated lower occurrence of partial labeling when using the optimized gradient parameters. The shape of the ve-pCASL inversion profile can be optimized by changing Gmean and Gmax to reduce partial labeling of untargeted arteries.

Chemogenomics Systems Pharmacology Mapping of Potential Drug Targets for Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with high mortality and morbidity. Though the death rate of initial trauma has dramatically decreased, no drug has been developed to effectively limit the progression of the secondary injury caused by TBI. TBI appears to be a predisposing risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas the molecular mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we have conducted a research investigation of computational chemogenomics systems pharmacology (CSP) to identify potential drug targets for TBI treatment. TBI-induced transcriptional profiles were compared with those induced by genetic or chemical perturbations, including drugs in clinical trials for TBI treatment. The protein-protein interaction network of these predicted targets were then generated for further analyses. Some protein targets when perturbed, exhibit inverse transcriptional profiles in comparison with the profiles induced by TBI, and they were recognized as potential therapeutic targets for TBI. Drugs acting on these targets are predicted to have the potential for TBI treatment if they can reverse the TBI-induced transcriptional profiles that lead to secondary injury. In particular, our results indicated that TRPV4, NEUROD1, and HPRT1 were among the top therapeutic target candidates for TBI, which are congruent with literature reports. Our analyses also suggested the strong associations between TBI and AD, as perturbations on AD-related genes, such as APOE, APP, PSEN1, and MAPT, can induce similar gene expression patterns as those of TBI. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first CSP-based gene expression profile analyses for predicting TBI-related drug targets, and the findings could be used to guide the design of new drugs targeting the secondary injury caused by TBI.

Combining the lumped capacitance method and the simplified distributed activation energy model to describe the pyrolysis of thermally small biomass particles

The pyrolysis process of thermally small biomass particles was modeled combining the Lumped Capacitance Method (LCM) to describe the transient heat transfer and the Distributed Activation Energy Model (DAEM) to account for the chemical kinetics. The inverse exponential temperature increase predicted by the LCM was considered in the mathematical derivation of the DAEM, resulting in an Arrhenius equation valid to describe the evolution of the pyrolysis process under inverse exponential temperature profiles. The Arrhenius equation on which the simple LCM-DAEM model proposed is based was derived for a wide range of pyrolysis reactor temperatures, considering the chemical kinetics data of four lignocellulosic biomass species: pine wood, olive kernel, thistle flower, and corncob. The LCM-DAEM model proposed was validated by comparison to the experimental results of the pyrolysis conversion evolution of biomass samples subjected to various inverse exponential temperature increases in a TGA. To extend the validation, additional biomass samples of Chlorella Vulgaris and sewage sludge were selected due to the different composition of microalgae and sludge compared to lignocellulosic biomass. The deviations obtained between the experimental measurements in TGA and the LCM-DAEM predictions for the evolution of the pyrolysis conversion, regarding the root mean square error of temperature, are below 5 °C in all cases. Therefore, the simple LCM-DAEM model proposed can describe accurately the pyrolysis process of a thermally small biomass particle, accounting for both the transient heat transfer and the chemical kinetics by solving a simple Arrhenius equation.

Ghrelin and Its Receptors in Gilthead Sea Bream: Nutritional Regulation.

Ghrelin is involved in the regulation of growth in vertebrates through controlling different functions, such as feed intake, metabolism, intestinal activity or growth hormone (Gh) secretion. The aim of this work was to identify the sequences of preproghrelin and Ghrelin receptors (ghsrs), and to study their responses to different nutritional conditions in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) juveniles. The structure and phylogeny of S. aurata preproghrelin was analyzed, and a tissue screening was performed. The effects of 21 days of fasting and 2, 5, 24 h, and 7 days of refeeding on plasma levels of Ghrelin, Gh and Igf-1, and the gene expression of preproghrelin, ghsrs and members of the Gh/Igf-1 system were determined in key tissues. preproghrelin and the receptors are well conserved, being expressed mainly in stomach, and in the pituitary and brain, respectively. Twenty-one days of fasting resulted in a decrease in growth while Ghrelin plasma levels were elevated to decrease at 5 h post-prandial when pituitary ghsrs expression was minimum. Gh in plasma increased during fasting and slowly felt upon refeeding, while plasma Igf-1 showed an inverse profile. Pituitary gh expression augmented during fasting reaching maximum levels at 1 day post-feeding while liver igf-1 expression and that of its splice variants decreased to lowest levels. Liver Gh receptors expression was down-regulated during fasting and recovered after refeeding. This study demonstrates the important role of Ghrelin during fasting, its acute down-regulation in the post-prandial stage and its interaction with pituitary Ghsrs and Gh/Igf-1 axis.

Accelerating infall and rotational spin-up in the hot molecular core G31.41+0.31

As part of our effort to search for circumstellar disks around high-mass stellar objects, we observed the well-known core G31.41 +0.31 with ALMA at 1.4 mm with an angular resolution of ~0.′′22 (~1700 au). The dust continuum emission has been resolved into two cores namely Main and NE. The Main core, which has the stronger emission and is the more chemically rich, has a diameter of ~5300 au, and is associated with two free-free continuum sources. The Main core looks featureless and homogeneous in dust continuum emission and does not present any hint of fragmentation. Each transition of CH3CN and CH3OCHO, both ground and vibrationally excited, as well as those of CH3CN isotopologues, shows a clear velocity gradient along the NE–SW direction, with velocity linearly increasing with distance from the center, consistent with solid-body rotation. However, when comparing the velocity field of transitions with different upper level energies, the rotation velocity increases with increasing energy of the transition, which suggests that the rotation speeds up toward the center. Spectral lines towardtoward the dust continuum peak show an inverse P-Cygni profile that supports the existence of infall in the core. The infall velocity increases with the energy of the transition suggesting that the infall is accelerating toward the center of the core, consistent with gravitational collapse. Despite the monolithic appearance of the Main core, the presence of red-shifted absorption, the existence of two embedded free-free sources at the center, and the rotational spin-up are consistent with an unstable core undergoing fragmentation with infall and differential rotation due to conservation of angular momentum. Therefore, the most likely explanation for the monolithic morphology is that the large opacity of the dust emission prevents the detection of any inhomogeneity in the core.

Negative-order integrable modified KdV equations of higher orders

A variety of negative-order integrable modified KdV (mKdV) equations of higher orders is constructed. The inverse profile of the recursion operator of the modified KdV equation is invested to develop these new integrable equations. The correlation between integrability and recursion operators is demonstrated. We employ the bilinear method for obtaining multiple-soliton solutions for the generalized developed equation.

Id protein function in adipose resident regulatory T cells

Abstract Immune cells in the visceral adipose tissue play critical roles in modulating chronic system inflammation associated with obesity and type II diabetes. Studies have shown that CD4+ FoxP3+ adipose resident regulatory T cells (aTregs) restrict inflammation through their anti-inflammatory properties, such as production of high levels of IL-10. This population of aTregs is severely decreased in mice fed a high-fat-diet (HFD), indicating a critical role for these cells in regulating obesity-associated inflammation. However, the transcriptional programs that sustain the differentiation and survival of these cells are poorly understood. Using reporter mice, we show that Id2, a negative regulator of the E protein transcription factors, is highly expressed in aTregs while lymphoid Tregs have an inverse expression profile with low Id2 and high Id3 expression. Our preliminary data using Id2 and Id3 Treg specific conditional deficient mice show that Id2 deficiency results in a severe reduction in aTregs. Moreover, Id2-deficient aTregs displayed low expression of key aTreg markers such as ST-2, KLRG1, and CCR2. Loss of Id3, in contrast, resulted in increased aTreg frequency, suggesting the reciprocal expression of these two transcriptional regulators is essential for maintaining the aTreg transcriptional program. We postulate that Id2 is required by aTregs to support aTreg survival and function. Understanding the transcriptional regulation of aTregs will allow for better understanding and treatment of chronic inflammation associated with obesity and type II diabetes.

Geological Structures Mapping of Bukit Bunuh using 2-D Resistivity Imaging Method

The geological area of Bukit Bunuh is very complex due to the meteorite impact that has occurred millions years ago at Lenggong, Perak. The lithology of the study area consists of alluvium, tephra dust, and granitic rock. The geological contact, fault and fracture zone were found at the study area may indicate the geological process that undergoes at a place locally or regionally. These important features have led to the further research on 2-D resistivity imaging method (2-D RIM) to study the geological features. This method can provide the subsurface image that will delineate the geological structures. The surveys include three separate lines of different length which depend on the accessibility. The surveys were done by using Pole-Dipole array and 10 m of electrodes spacing. The objectives of this research are to determine the subsurface geological contact and to determine the existence of fault/fracture zones at the contact zone. The results from 2-D inversion profiles have successfully signified the types of geological structural such as fault, contact, and fractures. Hence, the results from 2-D RIM were used to draw the geological lineaments of Bukit Bunuh. The discontinuity of the lineaments may indicate the structures present.