Communication-Censored Distributed Stochastic Gradient Descent.

This article develops a communication-efficient algorithm to solve the stochastic optimization problem defined over a distributed network, aiming at reducing the burdensome communication in applications, such as distributed machine learning. Different from the existing works based on quantization and sparsification, we introduce a communication-censoring technique to reduce the transmissions of variables, which leads to our communication-censored distributed stochastic gradient descent (CSGD) algorithm. Specifically, in CSGD, the latest minibatch stochastic gradient at a worker will be transmitted to the server if and only if it is sufficiently informative. When the latest gradient is not available, the stale one will be reused at the server. To implement this communication-censoring strategy, the batch size is increasing in order to alleviate the effect of stochastic gradient noise. Theoretically, CSGD enjoys the same order of convergence rate as that of SGD but effectively reduces communication. Numerical experiments demonstrate the sizable communication saving of CSGD.

Characteristics of macrophages from myelodysplastic syndrome microenvironment.

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a heterogeneous group of clonal hematopoietic neoplasms. The progression of malignancy is closely associated with immune regulation. Macrophages are indispensable tissue components and have been proposed to play a role in the pathophysiology of hematopoietic malignancies. However, the specific role of macrophages in the development of MDS remains unclear. Here, we investigated the characteristics and phenotypic evolution of macrophages from patients with MDS. Macrophages from patients with MDS expressed CD68, CD86 and CD163. Furthermore, MDS macrophages exhibited more M2-related characteristics. Moreover, a number of phenotype-associated genes in MDS macrophages exhibited diverse responses to iron overload or iron chelation upon stimulation by ferric chloride or deferoxamine (DFO, an iron chelator). Ferric chloride polarized MDS macrophages to exhibit more M1-related characteristics, a phenomenon that could be partially reversed by DFO. Therefore, this study reveals the characteristics and phenotypic evolution of MDS macrophages and broadens the knowledge of macrophage plasticity in hematopoietic malignancies.

The iron chelator deferoxamine decreases myeloma cell survival.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated serum ferritin (SF) levels and investigated their relationships with various clinical markers in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Furthermore, the effects and molecular mechanism of deferoxamine (DFO) in myeloma cells were studied. METHODS: Clinical data from 84 patients with MM were collected to evaluate SF content and its relationship with several important clinical parameters. MM1S and MM1R myeloma cells were chosen to investigate the effects of iron and DFO on cell survival and apoptosis. RESULTS: Increased SF levels were detected in newly diagnosed patients, especially those with stage III disease or the κ isotype. SF content was positively correlated with ß2-microglobulin, interleukin-6, and lactate dehydrogenase expression. Furthermore, patients with progressive or relapsed disease had higher SF levels. Importantly, iron chelation with DFO efficiently inhibited myeloma cell survival and accelerated apoptosis by regulating apoptosis-related genes. CONCLUSIONS: The importance of SF for MM was highlighted. Additionally, it is suggested that DFO may be a good therapeutic option for MM.

Identification and characterization of the chromium (VI) responding protein from a newly isolated Ochrobactrum anthropi CTS-325.

A Gram-negative, chromium(VI) tolerant and reductive strain CTS-325, isolated from a Chinese chromate plant, was identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi based on its biochemical properties and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. It was able to tolerate up to 10 mmol/L Cr(VI) and completely reduce 1 mmol/L Cr(VI) to Cr(III) within 48 h. When the strain CTS-325 was induced with Cr(VI), a protein increased significantly in the whole cell proteins. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis revealed that this protein was a superoxide dismutase (SOD) homology. The measured superoxide dismutase activity was 2694 U/mg after three steps of purification. The SOD catalyzes the dismutation of the superoxide anion (O2*-) into hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen. This protein is considered to be one of the most important anti-oxidative enzymes for O. anthropi as it allows the bacterium to survive high oxygen stress environments, such as the environment produced during the reduction process of Cr(VI).

Amide N-glycosylation by Asm25, an N-glycosyltransferase of ansamitocins.

Ansamitocins are potent antitumor maytansinoids produced by Actinosynnema pretiosum. Their biosynthesis involves the initial assembly of a macrolactam polyketide, followed by a series of postpolyketide synthase (PKS) modifications. Three ansamitocin glycosides were isolated from A. pretiosum and fully characterized structurally as novel ansamitocin derivatives, carrying a beta-D-glucosyl group attached to the macrolactam amide nitrogen in place of the N-methyl group. By gene inactivation and complementation, asm25 was identified as the N-glycosyltransferase gene responsible for the macrolactam amide N-glycosylation of ansamitocins. Soluble, enzymatically active Asm25 protein was obtained from asm25-expressing E. coli by solubilization from inclusion bodies. Its optimal reaction conditions, including temperature, pH, metal ion requirement, and Km/Kcat, were determined. Asm25 also showed broad substrate specificity toward other ansamycins and synthetic indolin-2-ones. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first in vitro characterization of a purified antibiotic N-glycosyltransferase.