Hawkes process and Edgeworth expansion with application to maximum likelihood estimator

Statistical Inference for Stochastic Processes - We provide a rigorous mathematical foundation of the theory for the higher-order asymptotic behavior of the one-dimensional Hawkes process with an...     

Authentication and chemical study of isodonis herba and isodonis extracts

Isodonis Herba is used as a Japanese dietary supplement and folk medicine. The extract of the herb (Isodonis extract) is also used as a food additive whose major compound is enmein (1). Here we compared internal transcribed spacer sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA from Isodonis Herba available on the Japanese and Chinese crude drug markets, and found that the former derived from Isodon japonicus and Isodon trichocarpus, while the latter derived from distinct species such as Isodon eriocalyx. The liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry profiles of Isodonis Herba were classified into four chemotypes (A to D) according to the ratio of the major constituents. Types B and C contained 1 and oridonin (2) as major components, respectively. An intermediate (or mixed) form of types B and C in various ratios was designed type A. Type D contained eriocalyxin B (3) as its major component. Japanese herba were types A-C, while Chinese herba were types C and D. The commercial Isodonis extract products tested were classified as type D, suggesting that they originated from Chinese Herba. Understanding the relationship between extract constituents and DNA profiles is important for the official specification of dietary supplements and food additives of plant origin.     

GC-MS/MS Quantification of EGFR Inhibitors, β-Sitosterol,Betulinic Acid, (+) Eriodictyol, (+) Epipinoresinol,and Secoisolariciresinol,in Crude Extract and Ethyl Acetate Fraction of Thonningia sanguinea

Medicinal plants are widely used in folk medicine to treat various diseases. Thonningia sanguinea Vahl is widespread in African traditional medicine, and exhibits antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer activities. T. sanguinea is a source of phytomedicinal agents that have previously been isolated and structurally elucidated. Herein, gas chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was used to quantify epipinoresinol, β-sitosterol, eriodictyol, betulinic acid, and secoisolariciresinol contents in the methanolic crude extract and its ethyl acetate fraction for the first time. The ethyl acetate fraction was rich in epipinoresinol, eriodictyol, and secoisolariciresinol at concentrations of 2.3, 3.9, and 2.4 mg/g of dry extract, respectively. The binding interactions of these compounds with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were computed using a molecular docking study. The results revealed that the highest binding affinities for the EGFR signaling pathway were attributed to eriodictyol and secoisolariciresinol, with good binding energies of −19.93 and −16.63 Kcal/mol, respectively. These compounds formed good interactions with the key amino acid Met 769 as the co-crystallized ligand. So, the ethyl acetate fraction of T. sanguinea is a promising adjuvant therapy in cancer treatments.     

High-speed DNA sequencing by tube-based capillary electrophoresis

We assessed the feasibility of high-speed DNA sequencing by tube-based capillary electrophoresis (TCE) with electrokinetic sample injections. We developed a water-circulated TCE system to control the capillary temperature precisely. Using this system and a ready-made sieving matrix at 50 degrees C, single-stranded DNA size marker fragments were separated at various pairs of the electric field strength, E, of 128-480 V/cm and the capillary effective length, L, of 100-360 mm. Assuming the read length (RL) is the fragment size at which the peak width equals the peak interval per base in obtained electropherograms, we estimated the values of RL (E, L), the RL at the pair (E, L). The points in ELz-space, (E, L, RL(E, L)), form a curved surface expressed by z = RL(E, L). Analyzing the contour lines of this curved surface, we determined the pairs of E and L providing target RLs of 300-500 bases within a minimum time. At a pair optimized for a 500-base RL (330 V/cm, 200 mm), one-color sequencing fragments were successfully separated up to 529 bases within 9.6 min. These results demonstrate that high-speed DNA sequencing comparable with that obtained by microfabricated chip-based capillary electrophoresis (MCE) can be achieved with TCE, which is more suitable in automation than MCE.     

Novel one-pot vicinal double C-acylation of styrenes and methacrylates by electroreduction

[reaction: see text] Electroreduction of styrenes or alkyl methacrylates in the presence of aliphatic acid anhydrides or N-acylimidazoles with an undivided cell equipped with zinc electrodes as the anode and the cathode brought about novel one-pot vicinal double C-acylation to afford the corresponding 1,4-diketones in satisfactory yields.     

Photografting of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine from polydimethylsiloxane: tunable protein repellency and lubrication property

The phosphorylcholine group functional methacrylate monomer, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), was graft polymerized from the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate using ultraviolet irradiation and using benzophenone as a photoinitiator. The varying monomer concentrations and irradiation times were investigated in order to verify the relationships between graft density and protein resistance under specific biological conditions. The ellipsometry analysis revealed that the layer thickness of the grafted polymer depended on the monomer concentrations after the irradiation for 1 min, however, it stabilized thereafter in all the specified conditions. The curve fitting of the C1s spectrum obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the amount of grafted polymer increased with an increase in both monomer concentration and irradiation time. Atomic force microscopic images revealed that the terminations among the graft chains became dominant due to magnified chain mobility followed by growth of their length. In vitro albumin and fibrinogen adsorption results indicated that the resistance to protein adsorption was easily tuned by the specified conditions due to the controlled graft density. Lubrication was dramatically enhanced by the grafting and it was further promoted by an increase in the graft density in good solvents, indicating that the interactions between the graft chains and the solvents resulted in the lubrication system. These basic findings regarding the grafted PDMS surface are important for versatile applications, including its use as a biomaterial and microfluidic device.     

Superiority of a new gradient system utilizing a critical threshold for the adsorption capacity of polypeptides to column packing when compared with a standard gradient system for the simultaneous and quantitative analysis of polypeptides

Compared with a standard gradient system, the new gradient system which we developed has a major advantage because it permits a wide range of acetonitrile content, e.g. more than the critical threshold, in the polypeptide solution and allows the quantitative analysis of the polypeptide with satisfactory analytical precision. Additionally, this new gradient system allows the enhancement of the sensitivity of the polypeptide analysis proportionate to the increased volume of solution loaded with the same levels of precision. In contrast, when using a standard gradient system it is difficult to analyze a polypeptide quantitatively with good precision due to either adsorption to various materials or to irregular change in the ratio between a retained and a passed peak of the polypeptide. Additionally, the appearance of a passed peak results in a loss in the sensitivity of the polypeptide analysis, although no adsorption of a polypeptide to various materials occurs in a solution with acetonitrile content more than the critical threshold. Consequently, the new gradient system is effective for the simultaneous and quantitative analysis of different polypeptides with good precision and without any loss of sensitivity due to either adsorption to various materials or the appearance of a passed peak.