Age-dependent alterations of monocyte subsets and monocyte-related chemokine pathways in healthy adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent experimental approaches have unraveled essential migratory and functional differences of monocyte subpopulations in mice. In order to possibly translate these findings into human physiology and pathophysiology, human monocyte subsets need to be carefully revisited in health and disease. In analogy to murine studies, we hypothesized that human monocyte subsets dynamically change during ageing, potentially influencing their functionality and contributing to immunosenescence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Circulating monocyte subsets, surface marker and chemokine receptor expression were analyzed in 181 healthy volunteers (median age 42, range 18-88). Unlike the unaffected total leukocyte or total monocyte counts, non-classical CD14⁺CD16⁺monocytes significantly increased with age, but displayed reduced HLA-DR and CX₃CR1 surface expression in the elderly. Classical CD14⁺⁺CD16^-monocyte counts did not vary dependent on age. Serum MCP-1 (CCL2), but not MIP1α (CCL3), MIP1β (CCL4) or fractalkine (CX₃CL1) concentrations increased with age. Monocyte-derived macrophages from old or young individuals did not differ with respect to cytokine release <it>in vitro </it>at steady state or upon LPS stimulation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study demonstrates dynamic changes of circulating monocytes during ageing in humans. The expansion of the non-classical CD14⁺CD16⁺subtype, alterations of surface protein and chemokine receptor expression as well as circulating monocyte-related chemokines possibly contribute to the preserved functionality of the monocyte pool throughout adulthood.</p

A social archaeology of colonial war in Ethiopia

[EN] The archaeology of twentieth-century warfare, with its focus on Western armies and military issues, has often neglected indigenous experiences of war and social aspects, particularly the role of women in reproducing culture through material practices in situations of great distress. In this article, we propose a postcolonial examination of imperialistic war in Ethiopia. We study the cave of Zeret, the refuge of a large guerrilla group that was massacred by the Italian colonial army in 1939. Using the material evidence available, life underground is described, as well as the military events that led to the destruction of the place and the killing of most of its inhabitants. We argue that archaeology can be a way of revealing, with material facts, the brutality of fascism and colonialism. Finally, drawing upon Spivak and Derrida, we ask: What are the ethical problems of representing the voice of the subaltern? What is the role of materiality in evoking her presence?[ES] La arqueología de la guerra en el siglo XX, al centrarse en ejércitos occidentales y cuestiones militares, ha dejado de lado experiencias indígenas de la guerra y las cuestiones sociales, particularmente el papel de las mujeres en reproducir la cultura a través de prácticas materiales en situaciones de gran estrés. En este artículo, proponemos un estudio poscolonial de la guerra imperialista en Etiopía. Estudiamos la cueva de Zeret, el refugio de un gran grupo guerrillero que fue masacrado por el ejército colonial italiano en 1939. Usando las pruebas materiales, describimos la vida bajo tierra, así como los hechos militares que llevaron a la destrucción del lugar y al asesinato de la mayor parte de sus habitantes. Defendemos que la arqueología puede ser una forma de revelar, con hechos materiales, la brutalidad del fascismo y el colonialismo. Finalmente, basándonos en Spivak y Derrida, nos preguntamos: ¿Cuáles son los problemas éticas de representar la voz del subalterno? ¿Cuál es el papel de la materialidad en evocar su presencia?Peer reviewe

Relaxation processes of point defects in vitreous silica from femtosecond to nanoseconds

We studied ultrafast relaxation of localized excited states at Ge-related oxygen deficient centers in silica using femtosecond transient-absorption spectroscopy. The relaxation dynamics exhibits a biexponential decay, which we ascribe to the departure from the Frank-Condon region of the first excited singlet state in 240 fs, followed by cooling in ∼10 ps. At later times, a nonexponential relaxation spanning up to 40 ns occurs, which is fitted with an inhomogeneous distribution of nonradiative relaxation rates, following a chi-square distribution with one degree of freedom. This reveals several analogies with phenomena such as neutron reactions, quantum dot blinking, or intramolecular vibrational redistribution. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewe

Территории опережающего социально-экономического развития - инструмент реновации старопромышленных регионов

Одним из национальных приоритетов государственной социально-экономической стратегии России сегодня является экономическая реновация старопромышленных регионов. Новым этапом государственной политики по формированию точек роста российской экономики стало принятие в 2014 году Закона о создании территорий опережающего социально- экономического развития (ТОР). В отличие от существующих ОЭЗ и зон территориального развития (ЗТР), ТОРы создаются под конкретных крупных инвесторов, заключивших с уполномоченным федеральным органом предварительные соглашения, определяющие вид планируемой экономической деятельности, объем инвестиций и количество создаваемых рабочих мест

Капитальный ремонт магистрального газопровода «НГПЗ – Парабель» на участке 227-254 км

Объектом исследования является магистральный газопровод Ду 1000 протяженностью 26,267км. Цель работы – выбор эффективного способа выполнения работ по капитальному ремонту магистрального газопровода. Проведены расчеты толщины стенки трубы, трубопровод на прочность и устойчивость. Рассмотрена разработка траншеи, сварочно-монтажные работы, прокладка, ликвидации разрывов, проведение испытания, мероприятия по охране труда и безопасности строительства, охране окружающей среды, технико-экономическая часть. Было предложено выполнять укладку нового трубопровода параллельно существующему, силами КТП. На основании выполненных расчетов на прочность было рекомендовано увеличения толщины стенки.The object of study is (are) the main gas pipeline DN 1000 with a length of 26,267 km. Purpose – the choice of effective method of execution of works on capital repair of the trunk gas pipeline. The calculations of wall thickness, tubing for strength and stability. Describes the development of a trench, welding and installation works, laying, bridging the gaps, running the test, measures on labor protection and building safety, environmental, technical and economic part. It was proposed to carry out laying a new pipeline parallel to the existing, by the CTU. On the basis of the calculations for strength, it was recommended that increasing the thickness of the wall

SmartEx: a case study on user profiling and adaptation in exhibition booths

An investigation into user profiling and adaptation with exhibition booth as a case study is reported. First a review of the field of exhibitions and trade fairs and a summary introduction to adaptation and profiling are given. We then introduce three criteria for the evaluation of exhibition booth: effectiveness, efficiency and affect. Effectiveness is related the amount of information collected, efficiency is a measurement of the time taken to collect the information, and affect is the perception of the experience and the mood booth visitors have during and after their visit. We have selected these criteria to assess adaptive and profiled exhibition booths, we call smart exhibition (SmartEx). The assessment is performed with an experiment with three test conditions (non-profiled/non adaptive, profiled/non-adaptive and profiled adaptive presentations). Results of the experiment are presented along discussion. While there is significant improvements of effectiveness and efficiency between the two-first test conditions, the improvement is not significant for the last test condition, for reasons explained. As for the affect, the results show that it has an under-estimated importance in people minds and that it should be addressed more carefully