Electric field modification of magnetotransport in Ni thin films on (011) PMN-PT piezosubstrates

This study reports the magnetotransport and magnetic properties of 20 nm-thick polycrystalline Ni films deposited by magnetron sputtering on unpoled piezoelectric (011) [PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3](0.68)-[PbTiO3](0.32) (PMN-PT) substrates. The longitudinal magnetoresistance (MR) of the Ni films on (011) PMN-PT, measured at room temperature in the magnetic field range of -0.3T < mu H-0 < 0.3 T, is found to depend on the crystallographic direction and polarization state of piezosubstrate. Upon poling the PMN-PT substrate, which results in a transfer of strain to the Ni film, the MR value decreases by factor of 20 for the current along [100] of PMN-PT and slightly increases for the [01 (1) over bar] current direction. Simultaneously, a strong increase (decrease) in the field value, where the MR saturates, is observed for the [01 (1) over bar] ([100]) current direction. The anisotropic magnetoresistance is also strongly affected by the remanent strain induced by the electric field pulses applied to the PMN-PT in the non-linear regime revealing a large (132 mT) magnetic anisotropy field. Applying a critical electric field of 2.4 kV/cm, the anisotropy field value changes back to the original value, opening a path to voltage-tuned magnetic field sensor or storage devices. This strain mediated voltage control of the MR and its dependence on the crystallographic direction is correlated with the results of magnetization reversal measurements. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Ingestion of colostrum from specific cows induces Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia (BNP) in some calves

Background: Since 2006, cases of haemorrhagic diathesis in young calves have been observed with a much higher incidence than previously known. The syndrome, now uniformly called Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia (BNP), is characterized by multiple (external and internal) haemorrhages, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and bone marrow depletion. Although various infectious and toxicological causes of bleeding disorders in calves have been ruled out, the aetiology of BNP remains unknown. However, field observations have led to the hypothesis that the aetiological principle may be transmitted to calves via colostrum. The objective of the present study was to verify whether ingestion of colostrum from dams of known BNP calves can elicit signs of BNP and typical haematological findings in conveniently selected neonatal calves. Six such calves received one feeding of colostrum (or a mixture of colostrum batches) from dams of known BNP calves. As controls, another six conveniently selected calves from herds which had never had a BNP case received one feeding of colostrum from their own dams. Haematological and clinical parameters were monitored. Results: One of the six experimental calves never showed any haematological, clinical or pathological evidence of BNP. In the other five calves, thrombocyte and leukocyte counts dropped within a few hours following ingestion of colostrum. Of those, three calves developed clinical signs of BNP, their post-mortem examination revealed bone marrow depletion. Of the remaining two calves, a pair of mixed twins, marked thrombocytopenia and recurrent leukocytopenia was evident in one, in which only slight changes in the bone marrow were detected, while in the other thrombocyte counts dropped, but rebounded later, and no bone marrow changes were noted. Thrombocyte counts of the experimental calves were statistically significantly lower than those of the control calves at 2 hours post ingestion of colostrum and at every sampling point between 9 hours and 8 days postcolostral. Leucocyte counts of the experimental calves were statistically significantly lower than those of control calves at 2 hours post ingestion of colostrum and 3-7 days postcolostral. Conclusions: BNP can be induced in some calves by ingestion of colostrum from cows that have given birth to BNP calves

Magnetoelectric properties of epitaxial Fe3O4 thin films on (011) PMN-PT piezosubstrates

We determine the magnetic and magnetotransport properties of 33 nm thick Fe3O4 films epitaxially deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering on unpoled (011) [PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3](0.68) - [PbTiO3](0.32) (PMN-PT) substrates. The magnetoresistance (MR), as well as the magnetization reversal, strongly depend on the in-plane crystallographic direction of the epitaxial (011) Fe3O4 film and strain. When the magnetic field is applied along [100], the magnetization loops are slanted and the sign of the longitudinal MR changes from positive to negative around the Verwey transition at 125 K on cooling. Along the [01 (1) over bar] direction, the loops are square shaped and the MR is negative above the switching field across the whole temperature range, just increasing in absolute value when cooling from 300 K to 150 K. The value of the MR is found to be strongly affected by poling the PMN-PT substrate, decreasing in the [100] direction and slightly increasing in the [01 (1) over bar] direction upon poling, which results in a strained film

Phase 3 trials of ixekizumab in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis

BACKGROUND Two phase 3 trials (UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3) showed that at 12 weeks of treatment, ixekizumab, a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-17A, was superior to placebo and etanercept in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. We report the 60-week data from the UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 trials, as well as 12-week and 60-week data from a third phase 3 trial, UNCOVER-1. METHODS We randomly assigned 1296 patients in the UNCOVER-1 trial, 1224 patients in the UNCOVER-2 trial, and 1346 patients in the UNCOVER-3 trial to receive subcutaneous injections of placebo (placebo group), 80 mg of ixekizumab every 2 weeks after a starting dose of 160 mg (2-wk dosing group), or 80 mg of ixekizumab every 4 weeks after a starting dose of 160 mg (4-wk dosing group). Additional cohorts in the UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3 trials were randomly assigned to receive 50 mg of etanercept twice weekly. At week 12 in the UNCOVER-3 trial, the patients entered a long-term extension period during which they received 80 mg of ixekizumab every 4 weeks through week 60; at week 12 in the UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2 trials, the patients who had a response to ixekizumab (defined as a static Physicians Global Assessment [sPGA] score of 0 [clear] or 1 [minimal psoriasis]) were randomly reassigned to receive placebo, 80 mg of ixekizumab every 4 weeks, or 80 mg of ixekizumab every 12 weeks through week 60. Coprimary end points were the percentage of patients who had a score on the sPGA of 0 or 1 and a 75% or greater reduction from baseline in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75) at week 12. RESULTS In the UNCOVER-1 trial, at week 12, the patients had better responses to ixekizumab than to placebo; in the 2-wk dosing group, 81.8% had an sPGA score of 0 or 1 and 89.1% had a PASI 75 response; in the 4-wk dosing group, the respective rates were 76.4% and 82.6%; and in the placebo group, the rates were 3.2% and 3.9% (P<0.001 for all comparisons of ixekizumab with placebo). In the UNCOVER-1 and UNCOVER-2 trials, among the patients who were randomly reassigned at week 12 to receive 80 mg of ixekizumab every 4 weeks, 80 mg of ixekizumab every 12 weeks, or placebo, an sPGA score of 0 or 1 was maintained by 73.8%, 39.0%, and 7.0% of the patients, respectively. Patients in the UNCOVER-3 trial received continuous treatment of ixekizumab from weeks 0 through 60, and at week 60, at least 73% had an sPGA score of 0 or 1 and at least 80% had a PASI 75 response. Adverse events reported during ixekizumab use included neutropenia, candidal infections, and inflammatory bowel disease. CONCLUSIONS In three phase 3 trials involving patients with psoriasis, ixekizumab was effective through 60 weeks of treatment. As with any treatment, the benefits need to be weighed against the risks of adverse events. The efficacy and safety of ixekizumab beyond 60 weeks of treatment are not yet known

Modification of magnetic anisotropy in Ni thin films by poling of (011) PMN-PT piezosubstrates

This study reports the magnetic and magnetotransport properties of 20nm thick polycrystalline Ni films deposited by magnetron sputtering on unpoled piezoelectric (011) [PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3](0.68)-[PbTiO3](0.32) (PMN-PT) substrates. The magnetoresistance (MR), as well as the magnetization reversal, is found to depend on the polarization state of the piezosubstrate. Upon poling the PMN-PT substrate, which results in a transfer of strain to the Ni film, the MR value decreases by a factor of 12 at room temperature and a factor of 21 at 50K for the current direction along the PMN-PT [100] direction, and slightly increases for the current direction. Simultaneously, a strong increase in the room temperature coercive field value is observed, while the ratio between the remnant and saturation magnetization shows a pronounced minimum for the [100] direction, indicating it as a hard axis, induced by poling the piezosubstrate

Immunogenicity of intensively decellularized equine carotid arteries is conferred by the extracellular matrix protein collagen type VI.

The limited biocompatibility of decellularized scaffolds is an ongoing challenge in tissue engineering. Here, we demonstrate the residual immunogenicity of an extensively decellularized equine carotid artery (dEAC(intens)) and identify the involved immunogenic components. EAC were submitted to an elaborated intensified decellularization protocol with SDS/sodium desoxycholate for 72 h using increased processing volumes (dEAC(intens)), and compared to dEAC(ord) prepared by an ordinary protocol (40 h, normal volumes). Matrix integrity was checked via correlative volumetric visualization which revealed only minor structural changes in the arterial wall. In dEAC(intens), a substantial depletion of cellular components was obvious for smooth muscle actin (100%), MHC I complexes (97.8%), alphaGal epitops (98.4% and 91.3%) and for DNA (final concentration of 0.34 ± 0.16 ng/mg tissue). However, dEAC(intens) still evoked antibody formation in mice after immunization with dEAC(intens) extracts, although to a lower extent than dEAC(ord). Mouse plasma antibodies recognized a 140 kDa band which was revealed to contain collagen VI alpha1 and alpha2 chains via mass spectrometry of both 2D electrophoretically separated and immunoprecipitated proteins. Thus, even the complete removal of cellular proteins did not yield non-immunogenic dEAC as the extracellular matrix still conferred immunogenicity by collagen VI. However, as lower antibody levels were achieved by the intensified decellularization protocol, this seems to be a promising basis for further development

Recognizing interleaved and concurrent activities using qualitative and quantitative temporal relationships

The majority of approaches to activity recognition in sensor environments are either based on manually constructed rules for recognizing activities or lack the ability to incorporate complex temporal dependencies. Furthermore, in many cases, the rather unrealistic assumption is made that the subject carries out only one activity at a time. In this paper, we describe the use of Markov logic as a declarative framework for recognizing interleaved and concurrent activities incorporating both input from pervasive lightweight sensor technology and common-sense background knowledge. In particular, we assess its ability to learn statistical-temporal models from training data and to combine these models with background knowledge to improve the overall recognition accuracy. We also show the viability and the benefit of exploiting both qualitative and quantitative temporal relationships like the duration of the activities and their temporal order. To this end, we propose two Markov logic formulations for inferring the foreground activity as well as each activities’ start and end times. We evaluate the approach on an established dataset where it outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms for activity recognition

An oral multispecies biofilm model for high content screening applications.

Peri-implantitis caused by multispecies biofilms is a major complication in dental implant treatment. The bacterial infection surrounding dental implants can lead to bone loss and, in turn, to implant failure. A promising strategy to prevent these common complications is the development of implant surfaces that inhibit biofilm development. A reproducible and easy-to-use biofilm model as a test system for large scale screening of new implant surfaces with putative antibacterial potency is therefore of major importance. In the present study, we developed a highly reproducible in vitro four-species biofilm model consisting of the highly relevant oral bacterial species Streptococcus oralis, Actinomyces naeslundii, Veillonella dispar and Porphyromonas gingivalis. The application of live/dead staining, quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and urea-NaCl fluorescence in situ hybridization (urea-NaCl-FISH) revealed that the four-species biofilm community is robust in terms of biovolume, live/dead distribution and individual species distribution over time. The biofilm community is dominated by S. oralis, followed by V. dispar, A. naeslundii and P. gingivalis. The percentage distribution in this model closely reflects the situation in early native plaques and is therefore well suited as an in vitro model test system. Furthermore, despite its nearly native composition, the multispecies model does not depend on nutrient additives, such as native human saliva or serum, and is an inexpensive, easy to handle and highly reproducible alternative to the available model systems. The 96-well plate format enables high content screening for optimized implant surfaces impeding biofilm formation or the testing of multiple antimicrobial treatment strategies to fight multispecies biofilm infections, both exemplary proven in the manuscript

Correlative volumetric visualization of the carotid wall for native EAC, dEAC_ord and dEAC_intens by Scanning Laser Optical Tomography (SLOT).

<p>SLOT (A–C) was performed in transmission mode displaying autofluorescence at 532 nm on tissue pieces of 1.5 cm in length from the indicated tissues and by Multi Photon Microscopy (D–F) with maximum intensity projections of axial cross sections of the indicated tissues representing the autofluorescence at 800 nm excitation wavelength. TA: tunica adventitia; TM: tunica media; TI: tunica intima.</p

Immunoprecipitation of immunogenic proteins.

<p>1 mg of dEAC_ord and dEAC_intens extracts were incubated with plasma from mice immunized with dEAC_ord (plasma_ord) and dEAC_intens (plasma_intens) overnight, immune complexes were precipitated with protein A agarose, separated by SDS-PAGE and coomassie-stained. Bands form the gel were excised as indicated by the brackets and submitted as samples S2–S9 to mass spectrometry.</p