ALBERT

Description: We have developed a network optimization method for regional-scale microseismic monitoring networks and applied it to optimize the densification of the existing seismic network in northeastern Switzerland. The new network will build the backbone of a 10-yr study on the neotectonic activity of this area that will help to better constrain the seismic hazard imposed on nuclear power plants and waste repository sites. This task defined the requirements regarding location precision (0.5 km in epicentre and 2 km in source depth) and detection capability [magnitude of completeness M c  = 1.0 ( M L )]. The goal of the optimization was to find the geometry and size of the network that met these requirements. Existing stations in Switzerland, Germany and Austria were considered in the optimization procedure. We based the optimization on the simulated annealing approach proposed by Hardt & Scherbaum, which aims to minimize the volume of the error ellipsoid of the linearized earthquake location problem ( D -criterion). We have extended their algorithm to: calculate traveltimes of seismic body waves using a finite difference ray tracer and the 3-D velocity model of Switzerland, calculate seismic body-wave amplitudes at arbitrary stations assuming the Brune source model and using scaling and attenuation relations recently derived for Switzerland, and estimate the noise level at arbitrary locations within Switzerland using a first-order ambient seismic noise model based on 14 land-use classes defined by the EU-project CORINE and open GIS data. We calculated optimized geometries for networks with 10–35 added stations and tested the stability of the optimization result by repeated runs with changing initial conditions. Further, we estimated the attainable magnitude of completeness ( M c ) for the different sized optimal networks using the Bayesian Magnitude of Completeness (BMC) method introduced by Mignan et al. The algorithm developed in this study is also applicable to smaller optimization problems, for example, small local monitoring networks. Possible applications are volcano monitoring, the surveillance of induced seismicity associated with geotechnical operations and many more. Our algorithm is especially useful to optimize networks in populated areas with heterogeneous noise conditions and if complex velocity structures or existing stations have to be considered.

Description: Advocacy for better drugs and access to treatment has boosted the interest in drug discovery and development for Chagas disease, a chronic infection caused by the genetically heterogeneous parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. In this work new in vitro assays were used to gain a better understanding of the antitrypanosomal properties of the most advanced antichagasic lead and clinical compounds, the nitroheterocyclics benznidazole, nifurtimox and fexinidazole sulfone, the oxaborole AN4169, and four ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors – posaconazole, ravuconazole, EPL-BS967 and EPL-BS1246. Two types of assays were developed: one for evaluation of potency and efficacy in dose-response against a panel of T. cruzi stocks representing all current discrete typing units (DTUs), and a time-kill assay. Although less potent, the nitroheterocyclics and the oxaborole showed broad efficacy against all T. cruzi tested and were rapidly trypanocidal, whilst ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors showed variable activity that was both compound- and strain-specific, and were unable to eradicate intracellular infection even after 7 days of continuous compound exposure at most efficacious concentrations. These findings contest previous reports of variable responses to nitroderivatives among different T. cruzi strains and further challenge the introduction of ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors as new single chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of Chagas disease. Scientific Reports 4 doi: 10.1038/srep04703

Description: Congenital heart disease (CHD) patients have an increased prevalence of extracardiac congenital anomalies (CAs) and risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs). Exome sequencing of 1213 CHD parent-offspring trios identified an excess of protein-damaging de novo mutations, especially in genes highly expressed in the developing heart and brain. These mutations accounted for 20% of patients with CHD, NDD, and CA but only 2% of patients with isolated CHD. Mutations altered genes involved in morphogenesis, chromatin modification, and transcriptional regulation, including multiple mutations in RBFOX2, a regulator of mRNA splicing. Genes mutated in other cohorts examined for NDD were enriched in CHD cases, particularly those with coexisting NDD. These findings reveal shared genetic contributions to CHD, NDD, and CA and provide opportunities for improved prognostic assessment and early therapeutic intervention in CHD patients.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Homsy, Jason -- Zaidi, Samir -- Shen, Yufeng -- Ware, James S -- Samocha, Kaitlin E -- Karczewski, Konrad J -- DePalma, Steven R -- McKean, David -- Wakimoto, Hiroko -- Gorham, Josh -- Jin, Sheng Chih -- Deanfield, John -- Giardini, Alessandro -- Porter, George A Jr -- Kim, Richard -- Bilguvar, Kaya -- Lopez-Giraldez, Francesc -- Tikhonova, Irina -- Mane, Shrikant -- Romano-Adesman, Angela -- Qi, Hongjian -- Vardarajan, Badri -- Ma, Lijiang -- Daly, Mark -- Roberts, Amy E -- Russell, Mark W -- Mital, Seema -- Newburger, Jane W -- Gaynor, J William -- Breitbart, Roger E -- Iossifov, Ivan -- Ronemus, Michael -- Sanders, Stephan J -- Kaltman, Jonathan R -- Seidman, Jonathan G -- Brueckner, Martina -- Gelb, Bruce D -- Goldmuntz, Elizabeth -- Lifton, Richard P -- Seidman, Christine E -- Chung, Wendy K -- T32 HL007208/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- Arthritis Research UK/United Kingdom -- British Heart Foundation/United Kingdom -- Department of Health/United Kingdom -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Dec 4;350(6265):1262-6. doi: 10.1126/science.aac9396.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. ; Departments of Systems Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation and Trust and Imperial College London, London, UK. National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. ; Department of Cardiology, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK. ; Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center, The School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA. ; Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Yale Center for Genome Analysis, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. ; Yale Center for Genome Analysis, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. ; Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, New Hyde Park, NY, USA. ; Departments of Systems Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. ; Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA, USA. ; Division of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. ; Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ; Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. ; Department of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. ; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. ; Heart Development and Structural Diseases Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, NHLBI/NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. ; Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu. ; Mindich Child Health and Development Institute and Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu. ; Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Division of Cardiology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu. ; Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu. ; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. Cardiovascular Division, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu. ; Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. bruce.gelb@mssm.edu goldmuntz@email.chop.edu martina.brueckner@yale.edu richard.lifton@yale.edu cseidman@genetics.med.harvard.edu wkc15@cumc.columbia.edu.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26785492" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉