ALBERT

Description: The mosquito Anopheles gambiae is the major vector of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. It locates its human hosts primarily through olfaction, but little is known about the molecular basis of this process. Here we functionally characterize the Anopheles gambiae odorant receptor (AgOr) repertoire. We identify receptors that respond strongly to components of human odour and that may act in the process of human recognition. Some of these receptors are narrowly tuned, and some salient odorants elicit strong responses from only one or a few receptors, suggesting a central role for specific transmission channels in human host-seeking behaviour. This analysis of the Anopheles gambiae receptors permits a comparison with the corresponding Drosophila melanogaster odorant receptor repertoire. We find that odorants are differentially encoded by the two species in ways consistent with their ecological needs. Our analysis of the Anopheles gambiae repertoire identifies receptors that may be useful targets for controlling the transmission of malaria.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2833235/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2833235/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Carey, Allison F -- Wang, Guirong -- Su, Chih-Ying -- Zwiebel, Laurence J -- Carlson, John R -- 2T32GM07205/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI056402/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI056402-06A2/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI056402-07/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC002174/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC002174-24/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC004729/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC004729-10/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM063364/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM063364-08/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2010 Mar 4;464(7285):66-71. doi: 10.1038/nature08834. Epub 2010 Feb 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20130575" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Helium is a powerful tracer of primitive material in Earth's mantle. Extremely high (3)He/(4)He ratios in some ocean-island basalts suggest the presence of relatively undegassed and undifferentiated material preserved in Earth's mantle. However, terrestrial lavas with high (3)He/(4)He ratios have never been observed to host the primitive lead-isotopic compositions that are required for an early (roughly 4.5 Gyr ago) formation age. Here we show that Cenozoic-era Baffin Island and West Greenland lavas, previously found to host the highest terrestrial-mantle (3)He/(4)He ratios, exhibit primitive lead-isotope ratios that are consistent with an ancient mantle source age of 4.55-4.45 Gyr. The Baffin Island and West Greenland lavas also exhibit (143)Nd/(144)Nd ratios similar to values recently proposed for an early-formed (roughly 4.5 Gyr ago) terrestrial mantle reservoir. The combined helium-, lead- and Nd-isotopic compositions in Baffin Island and West Greenland lavas therefore suggest that their source is the most ancient accessible reservoir in the Earth's mantle, and it may be parental to all mantle reservoirs that give rise to modern volcanism.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Jackson, Matthew G -- Carlson, Richard W -- Kurz, Mark D -- Kempton, Pamela D -- Francis, Don -- Blusztajn, Jerzy -- England -- Nature. 2010 Aug 12;466(7308):853-6. doi: 10.1038/nature09287.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Earth Sciences, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. jacksonm@bu.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20703304" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Myocardial infarction (MI), a leading cause of death around the world, displays a complex pattern of inheritance. When MI occurs early in life, genetic inheritance is a major component to risk. Previously, rare mutations in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) genes have been shown to contribute to MI risk in individual families, whereas common variants at more than 45 loci have been associated with MI risk in the population. Here we evaluate how rare mutations contribute to early-onset MI risk in the population. We sequenced the protein-coding regions of 9,793 genomes from patients with MI at an early age (〈/=50 years in males and 〈/=60 years in females) along with MI-free controls. We identified two genes in which rare coding-sequence mutations were more frequent in MI cases versus controls at exome-wide significance. At low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), carriers of rare non-synonymous mutations were at 4.2-fold increased risk for MI; carriers of null alleles at LDLR were at even higher risk (13-fold difference). Approximately 2% of early MI cases harbour a rare, damaging mutation in LDLR; this estimate is similar to one made more than 40 years ago using an analysis of total cholesterol. Among controls, about 1 in 217 carried an LDLR coding-sequence mutation and had plasma LDL cholesterol 〉 190 mg dl(-1). At apolipoprotein A-V (APOA5), carriers of rare non-synonymous mutations were at 2.2-fold increased risk for MI. When compared with non-carriers, LDLR mutation carriers had higher plasma LDL cholesterol, whereas APOA5 mutation carriers had higher plasma triglycerides. Recent evidence has connected MI risk with coding-sequence mutations at two genes functionally related to APOA5, namely lipoprotein lipase and apolipoprotein C-III (refs 18, 19). Combined, these observations suggest that, as well as LDL cholesterol, disordered metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins contributes to MI risk.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4319990/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4319990/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Do, Ron -- Stitziel, Nathan O -- Won, Hong-Hee -- Jorgensen, Anders Berg -- Duga, Stefano -- Angelica Merlini, Pier -- Kiezun, Adam -- Farrall, Martin -- Goel, Anuj -- Zuk, Or -- Guella, Illaria -- Asselta, Rosanna -- Lange, Leslie A -- Peloso, Gina M -- Auer, Paul L -- NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project -- Girelli, Domenico -- Martinelli, Nicola -- Farlow, Deborah N -- DePristo, Mark A -- Roberts, Robert -- Stewart, Alexander F R -- Saleheen, Danish -- Danesh, John -- Epstein, Stephen E -- Sivapalaratnam, Suthesh -- Hovingh, G Kees -- Kastelein, John J -- Samani, Nilesh J -- Schunkert, Heribert -- Erdmann, Jeanette -- Shah, Svati H -- Kraus, William E -- Davies, Robert -- Nikpay, Majid -- Johansen, Christopher T -- Wang, Jian -- Hegele, Robert A -- Hechter, Eliana -- Marz, Winfried -- Kleber, Marcus E -- Huang, Jie -- Johnson, Andrew D -- Li, Mingyao -- Burke, Greg L -- Gross, Myron -- Liu, Yongmei -- Assimes, Themistocles L -- Heiss, Gerardo -- Lange, Ethan M -- Folsom, Aaron R -- Taylor, Herman A -- Olivieri, Oliviero -- Hamsten, Anders -- Clarke, Robert -- Reilly, Dermot F -- Yin, Wu -- Rivas, Manuel A -- Donnelly, Peter -- Rossouw, Jacques E -- Psaty, Bruce M -- Herrington, David M -- Wilson, James G -- Rich, Stephen S -- Bamshad, Michael J -- Tracy, Russell P -- Cupples, L Adrienne -- Rader, Daniel J -- Reilly, Muredach P -- Spertus, John A -- Cresci, Sharon -- Hartiala, Jaana -- Tang, W H Wilson -- Hazen, Stanley L -- Allayee, Hooman -- Reiner, Alex P -- Carlson, Christopher S -- Kooperberg, Charles -- Jackson, Rebecca D -- Boerwinkle, Eric -- Lander, Eric S -- Schwartz, Stephen M -- Siscovick, David S -- McPherson, Ruth -- Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne -- Abecasis, Goncalo R -- Watkins, Hugh -- Nickerson, Deborah A -- Ardissino, Diego -- Sunyaev, Shamil R -- O'Donnell, Christopher J -- Altshuler, David -- Gabriel, Stacey -- Kathiresan, Sekar -- 090532/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 095552/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- 5U54HG003067-11/HG/NHGRI NIH HHS/ -- G-0907/Parkinson's UK/United Kingdom -- K08 HL114642/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- K08HL114642/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P01 HL076491/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P01 HL098055/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL107816/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01HL107816/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC2 HL-102923/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC2 HL-102924/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC2 HL-102925/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC2 HL-102926/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC2 HL-103010/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- T32 HL007208/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- T32HL00720/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- T32HL007604/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- UL1 TR000439/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ -- Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canada -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 5;518(7537):102-6. doi: 10.1038/nature13917. Epub 2014 Dec 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. [2] Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. [3] Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. [4] Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. ; 1] Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. [2] Division of Statistical Genomics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. ; Department of Clinical Biochemistry KB3011, Section for Molecular Genetics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospitals and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1165, Denmark. ; Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Universita degli Studi di Milano, Milano 20122, Italy. ; Division of Cardiology, Ospedale Niguarda, Milano 20162, Italy. ; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. ; Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2J, UK. ; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. ; Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA. ; University of Verona School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Verona 37129, Italy. ; John &Jennifer Ruddy Canadian Cardiovascular Genetics Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4W7, Canada. ; Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK. ; MedStar Health Research Institute, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, USA. ; Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, The Netherlands. ; Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, and Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Disease, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK. ; DZHK (German Research Centre for Cardiovascular Research), Munich Heart Alliance, Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen, Technische Universitat Munchen, Berlin 13347, Germany. ; Medizinische Klinik II, University of Lubeck, Lubeck 23562, Germany. ; 1] Center for Human Genetics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. [2] Department of Cardiology and Center for Genomic Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. ; Department of Cardiology and Center for Genomic Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. ; Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4W7, Canada. ; Department of Biochemistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada. ; 1] Department of Biochemistry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada. [2] Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada. ; 1] Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Heidelberg University, Ludolf Krehl Strasse 7-11, Mannheim D-68167, Germany. [2] Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz 8036, Austria. [3] Synlab Academy, Mannheim 68259, Germany. ; Medical Faculty Mannheim, Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Heidelberg University, Ludolf Krehl Strasse 7-11, Mannheim D-68167, Germany. ; The National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA. ; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Center for Population Studies, The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA. ; Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. ; Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35233, USA. ; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. ; School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106, USA. ; Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA. ; Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. ; 1] Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. [2] Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. ; Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. ; University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216, USA. ; Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Department of Medicine, and Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden. ; Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK. ; Merck Sharp &Dohme Corporation, Rahway, New Jersey 08889, USA. ; The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK. ; 1] The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK. [2] Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK. ; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20824, USA. ; 1] Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. [2] Group Health Research Institute, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA. ; Section on Cardiology, and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27106, USA. ; Jackson Heart Study, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217, USA. ; Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA. ; 1] Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. [2] Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA. [3] Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Department of Biochemistry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA. ; Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. ; Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. ; Cardiovascular Institute, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. ; St Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri 64111, USA. ; 1] Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. [2] Department of Genetics, Washington University in St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA. ; Department of Preventive Medicine and Institute for Genetic Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA. ; Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. ; 1] Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA. [2] Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. ; Human Genetics Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ; 1] Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. [2] Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; 1] Department of Clinical Biochemistry KB3011, Section for Molecular Genetics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospitals and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1165, Denmark. [2] Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Kobenhavn N, Denmark. ; Center for Statistical Genetics, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Missouri 48109, USA. ; 1] Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2J, UK. [2] The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK. ; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. ; Department of Cardiology, Parma Hospital, Parma 43100, Italy. ; 1] Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA. [2] Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. ; 1] Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. [2] Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25487149" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Stem cells reside in a specialized regulatory microenvironment or niche, where they receive appropriate support for maintaining self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation capacity. The niche may also protect stem cells from environmental insults including cytotoxic chemotherapy and perhaps pathogenic immunity. The testis, hair follicle and placenta are all sites of residence for stem cells and are immune-suppressive environments, called immune-privileged sites, where multiple mechanisms cooperate to prevent immune attack, even enabling prolonged survival of foreign allografts without immunosuppression. We sought to determine if somatic stem-cell niches more broadly are immune-privileged sites by examining the haematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) niche in the bone marrow, a site where immune reactivity exists. We observed persistence of HSPCs from allogeneic donor mice (allo-HSPCs) in non-irradiated recipient mice for 30 days without immunosuppression with the same survival frequency compared to syngeneic HSPCs. These HSPCs were lost after the depletion of FoxP3 regulatory T (T(reg)) cells. High-resolution in vivo imaging over time demonstrated marked co-localization of HSPCs with T(reg) cells that accumulated on the endosteal surface in the calvarial and trabecular bone marrow. T(reg) cells seem to participate in creating a localized zone where HSPCs reside and where T(reg) cells are necessary for allo-HSPC persistence. In addition to processes supporting stem-cell function, the niche will provide a relative sanctuary from immune attack.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725645/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725645/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Fujisaki, Joji -- Wu, Juwell -- Carlson, Alicia L -- Silberstein, Lev -- Putheti, Prabhakar -- Larocca, Rafael -- Gao, Wenda -- Saito, Toshiki I -- Lo Celso, Cristina -- Tsuyuzaki, Hitoshi -- Sato, Tatsuyuki -- Cote, Daniel -- Sykes, Megan -- Strom, Terry B -- Scadden, David T -- Lin, Charles P -- AI041521/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- CA111519/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- HL097748/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- HL97794/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P01 AI041521/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- P01 AI073748/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- P01 CA111519/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P01 CA111519-05/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL097748/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL097748-02/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL097794/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL097794-02/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2011 Jun 8;474(7350):216-9. doi: 10.1038/nature10160.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Advanced Microscopy Program, Center for Systems Biology and Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. jfujisaki@partners.org〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21654805" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Steric effects in chemistry are a consequence of the space required to accommodate the atoms and groups within a molecule, and are often thought to be dominated by repulsive forces arising from overlapping electron densities (Pauli repulsion). An appreciation of attractive interactions such as van der Waals forces (which include London dispersion forces) is necessary to understand chemical bonding and reactivity fully. This is evident from, for example, the strongly debated origin of the higher stability of branched alkanes relative to linear alkanes and the possibility of constructing hydrocarbons with extraordinarily long C-C single bonds through steric crowding. Although empirical bond distance/bond strength relationships have been established for C-C bonds (longer C-C bonds have smaller bond dissociation energies), these have no present theoretical basis. Nevertheless, these empirical considerations are fundamental to structural and energetic evaluations in chemistry, as summarized by Pauling as early as 1960 and confirmed more recently. Here we report the preparation of hydrocarbons with extremely long C-C bonds (up to 1.704 A), the longest such bonds observed so far in alkanes. The prepared compounds are unexpectedly stable--noticeable decomposition occurs only above 200 degrees C. We prepared the alkanes by coupling nanometre-sized, diamond-like, highly rigid structures known as diamondoids. The extraordinary stability of the coupling products is due to overall attractive dispersion interactions between the intramolecular H***H contact surfaces, as is evident from density functional theory computations with and without inclusion of dispersion corrections.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Schreiner, Peter R -- Chernish, Lesya V -- Gunchenko, Pavel A -- Tikhonchuk, Evgeniya Yu -- Hausmann, Heike -- Serafin, Michael -- Schlecht, Sabine -- Dahl, Jeremy E P -- Carlson, Robert M K -- Fokin, Andrey A -- England -- Nature. 2011 Sep 14;477(7364):308-11. doi: 10.1038/nature10367.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institut fur Organische Chemie der Justus-Liebig-Universitat, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58, D-35392 Giessen, Germany. prs@org.chemie.uni-giessen.de〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21921913" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Chemical evolution of planetary bodies, ranging from asteroids to the large rocky planets, is thought to begin with differentiation through solidification of magma oceans many hundreds of kilometres in depth. The Earth's Moon is the archetypical example of this type of differentiation. Evidence for a lunar magma ocean is derived largely from the widespread distribution, compositional and mineralogical characteristics, and ancient ages inferred for the ferroan anorthosite (FAN) suite of lunar crustal rocks. The FANs are considered to be primary lunar flotation-cumulate crust that crystallized in the latter stages of magma ocean solidification. According to this theory, FANs represent the oldest lunar crustal rock type. Attempts to date this rock suite have yielded ambiguous results, however, because individual isochron measurements are typically incompatible with the geochemical make-up of the samples, and have not been confirmed by additional isotopic systems. By making improvements to the standard isotopic techniques, we report here the age of crystallization of FAN 60025 using the (207)Pb-(206)Pb, (147)Sm-(143)Nd and (146)Sm-(142)Nd isotopic systems to be 4,360 +/- 3 million years. This extraordinarily young age requires that either the Moon solidified significantly later than most previous estimates or the long-held assumption that FANs are flotation cumulates of a primordial magma ocean is incorrect. If the latter is correct, then much of the lunar crust may have been produced by non-magma-ocean processes, such as serial magmatism.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Borg, Lars E -- Connelly, James N -- Boyet, Maud -- Carlson, Richard W -- England -- Nature. 2011 Aug 17;477(7362):70-2. doi: 10.1038/nature10328.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue L-231, Livermore, California 94550, USA. borg5@llnl.gov〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849974" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: During progression of atherosclerosis, myeloid cells destabilize lipid-rich plaques in the arterial wall and cause their rupture, thus triggering myocardial infarction and stroke. Survivors of acute coronary syndromes have a high risk of recurrent events for unknown reasons. Here we show that the systemic response to ischaemic injury aggravates chronic atherosclerosis. After myocardial infarction or stroke, Apoe-/- mice developed larger atherosclerotic lesions with a more advanced morphology. This disease acceleration persisted over many weeks and was associated with markedly increased monocyte recruitment. Seeking the source of surplus monocytes in plaques, we found that myocardial infarction liberated haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells from bone marrow niches via sympathetic nervous system signalling. The progenitors then seeded the spleen, yielding a sustained boost in monocyte production. These observations provide new mechanistic insight into atherogenesis and provide a novel therapeutic opportunity to mitigate disease progression.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3401326/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3401326/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Dutta, Partha -- Courties, Gabriel -- Wei, Ying -- Leuschner, Florian -- Gorbatov, Rostic -- Robbins, Clinton S -- Iwamoto, Yoshiko -- Thompson, Brian -- Carlson, Alicia L -- Heidt, Timo -- Majmudar, Maulik D -- Lasitschka, Felix -- Etzrodt, Martin -- Waterman, Peter -- Waring, Michael T -- Chicoine, Adam T -- van der Laan, Anja M -- Niessen, Hans W M -- Piek, Jan J -- Rubin, Barry B -- Butany, Jagdish -- Stone, James R -- Katus, Hugo A -- Murphy, Sabina A -- Morrow, David A -- Sabatine, Marc S -- Vinegoni, Claudio -- Moskowitz, Michael A -- Pittet, Mikael J -- Libby, Peter -- Lin, Charles P -- Swirski, Filip K -- Weissleder, Ralph -- Nahrendorf, Matthias -- P50-CA086355/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI084880/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 EB006432/EB/NIBIB NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL095612/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL095629/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL096576/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01-EB006432/EB/NIBIB NIH HHS/ -- R01-HL095629/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01-HL096576/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- T32 CA079443/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- T32-CA79443/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 Jul 19;487(7407):325-9. doi: 10.1038/nature11260.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22763456" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: According to the Milankovitch theory, changes in summer insolation in the high-latitude Northern Hemisphere caused glacial cycles through their impact on ice-sheet mass balance. Statistical analyses of long climate records supported this theory, but they also posed a substantial challenge by showing that changes in Southern Hemisphere climate were in phase with or led those in the north. Although an orbitally forced Northern Hemisphere signal may have been transmitted to the Southern Hemisphere, insolation forcing can also directly influence local Southern Hemisphere climate, potentially intensified by sea-ice feedback, suggesting that the hemispheres may have responded independently to different aspects of orbital forcing. Signal processing of climate records cannot distinguish between these conditions, however, because the proposed insolation forcings share essentially identical variability. Here we use transient simulations with a coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model to identify the impacts of forcing from changes in orbits, atmospheric CO(2) concentration, ice sheets and the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on hemispheric temperatures during the first half of the last deglaciation (22-14.3 kyr BP). Although based on a single model, our transient simulation with only orbital changes supports the Milankovitch theory in showing that the last deglaciation was initiated by rising insolation during spring and summer in the mid-latitude to high-latitude Northern Hemisphere and by terrestrial snow-albedo feedback. The simulation with all forcings best reproduces the timing and magnitude of surface temperature evolution in the Southern Hemisphere in deglacial proxy records. AMOC changes associated with an orbitally induced retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets is the most plausible explanation for the early Southern Hemisphere deglacial warming and its lead over Northern Hemisphere temperature; the ensuing rise in atmospheric CO(2) concentration provided the critical feedback on global deglaciation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉He, Feng -- Shakun, Jeremy D -- Clark, Peter U -- Carlson, Anders E -- Liu, Zhengyu -- Otto-Bliesner, Bette L -- Kutzbach, John E -- England -- Nature. 2013 Feb 7;494(7435):81-5. doi: 10.1038/nature11822.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Climatic Research, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. fenghe@wisc.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23389542" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉