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Carbon atom ball diagrams in metabolomics experiments

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Represent carbon atoms labeled in metabolic pathways If you've ever wondered how to create those metabolic maps that show the number of atoms labeled by a carbon isotope ( e.g., C-13 ), we'll show you how. But before you begin, you need to know a few important details. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52538-5?fromPaywallRec=false What is the Exchange Rate? The Exchange Rate is a parameter that indicates the number of atoms exchanged between the uniformly carbon-labeled molecule to which your cells were initially exposed and the remaining fully or partially labeled metabolites detected in the Isotopic Profiling experiment, also called Isotopic Trace Analysis . In articles, the Average Exchange Rate is often represented in diagrams with filled or empty balls, with the filled balls representing the average number of labeled carbon atoms in the metabolite in question and the empty balls representing the average number of unlabeled carbon atoms for the same metabolite....

The usefulness of scientific conferences in the 21st century

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History of Scientific Conferences The development of scientific conferences has been a constant in scientific history since the emergence of the first Philosophy universities. While initially based on long lectures in enormous halls where the most prominent figures in the field of study gathered, today they constitute an academic and social event that sometimes falls far short of fostering proactive and respectful debate among leaders in the field. Any opinion that deviates from what is politically and scientifically accepted is subject to censorship, cancellation, and ridicule. The True Objective of Participating in Scientific Conferences Today Furthermore, their goal is often to train young researchers struggling for stable employment. These researchers are subject to public scrutiny every time they give a talk, in order to obtain a certificate that, vaguely, will help them improve their scientific resumes in an increasingly competitive world. And those who innovate in their discours...

Add a DOI to your Thesis and get citations from it

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How to create a DOI code for your PhD thesis report📈 If you have completed a PhD, you know that having a higher number of citations is important for your research CV. In the world of citations, everything counts (everything that is citable in indexed scientific publications, of course😏). Let's start by creating your article library where you are the author📗 The first thing to do is to keep your  ORCID  profile up to date . This platform allows you to officially compile all of your publications in which you are the author (first author or author in any other position). In addition, if a publication has not been automatically included in your profile thanks to cross-references, you can add it yourself manually. Make your PhD thesis citable📢 Although your university has probably already provided you with a reference code in its repository (for example, URI), this is not typically the code used for international bibliographic references. How do I assign a DOI identifier to my ...

Transform RCF/g to RPM in your centrifuge

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Convert RPM to RCF easily💫 Can your centrifuge only be programmed in RPM? Here's a quick solution to find out its equivalent in RCF (also called g). 📝 If you're used to reading scientific papers, you'll have noticed that the typical way of expressing the speed at which you should set a centrifuge is "RCF" or "g". This is because it's a standardized way of referring to the speed at which a centrifuge's rotor spins. What is special about this way of expressing rotational speed? What makes RCF the most accurate way to express the speed at which the centrifuge is set is that this value does not depend on the distance of the tube from the rotor axis, whereas RPM does. That is why we say that RCF is a standardized or normalized parameter. And what is the impact of the RCF being a standardized unit?🧪  By using RCF instead of RPM, you ensure that the centrifugal force you apply to your sample tubes is the same across all centrifuges in the world.🌎🌍 ...

Design of expression plasmids using tools from custom vector suppliers

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🧬 Do you need an expression plasmid that is not commercially available (e.g. a mutated variant)? 😏 Whether you want the plasmid to contain a mutated gene or a wild-type coding sequence, here is a quick step-by-step guide.📋 The first thing is to find the coding sequence of the wild gene that expresses the protein you want. To do this, go to  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ and search the name of your interest gene using the Nucleotide search. Then click on the desired organism and select  mRNA . Choose the best entry for your query according to your requirement, and select the CDS  (and the protein sequence will appear on the right, a.k.a., translation ) .   Next,  copy-paste both FASTA text codes into a Word file . We will need them later. 👉If you only want to express the wild-type protein... Paste the CDS directly into the corresponding ORF item from the supplier (e.g.  VectorBuilder ).  https://en.vectorbuilder.com/design/pRP_Exp.html You wil...

Systematic reviews: How many articles to review?

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Systematic reviews The advice that nobody taught you 👂 If you are about to embark on the world of systematic reviews, you will probably have flooded your mind with information from courses that are not at all practical. This is because nothing can replace better learning how to conduct a systematic review than getting down to business. If you follow the traditional method of analysis, you will have to keep trying and failing with your search algorithm , until you get a number of articles that are feasible for you or your team to analyze . To do this, start by asking yourself an unexplored PICO ( P atient/Population; I ntervention; C omparison; O utcomes)  question , and perform a search in one or more databases, using linked terms following the guidelines of boolean logic (AND, OR...) and parentheses. But I've gotten thousands of results!😯 After your boolean search , and after filtering out duplicate publications and articles you missed that do not meet your requirements for...

Primer validation/efficiency by qRT-PCR in five simple steps

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You have now amplified and measured the Ct of your serial cDNA dilutions... Now what? 😅 To measure the efficiency of your primer couple, you have probably been recommended the serial dilution method💧 🌡️ This method involves making dilutions of your typical control sample (e.g., 1 in 4 , 1 in 16 , 1 in 64 , 1 in 256 , 1 in 1024 ) and mixing it with your typical Master mix and your favorite primer concentration. This way you can confirm in silico whether the amplification pattern of your primers in successively diluted samples fits a trend line. How to measure the efficiency of your primer couple using the serial dilution method💦 1) If you measured Ct values ​​from at least 3 replicates of each dilution, calculate the Ct average of the 3 replicates for each dilution . 2) Consider your 1 in 4  sample as a hypothetical cDNA concentration value of 100 (100%), since that will be the highest sample concentration point. The remainder will be: 1 in 16 (25%), 1 in 64 (6.25%), 1 in 256 ...