Anticardiolipin antibodies and coronary heart disease

Arterial or venous thrombotic events have been described as complications in patients with positive anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), affecting various organs including the heart. In order to see whether aCL could be, among others, a predisposing factor for coronary artery occlusions and whether it could serve as a prognostic marker for coronary heart disease, 232patients enrolled in the European Concerted Action on Thrombosis Angina Pectoris Study were studied. aCL and various other haemostatic parameters were determined at time of admittance in order to see whether a relationship existed between haemostasis at baseline and extent or prognosis of the cardiovascular disease. A follow-up at 12 and 24 months after angiography included information about relapsing coronary or other thrombotic events, treatment and outcome of the disease. aCL were not found to be a marker of either progressive cardiovascular disease or recurrent thrombotic events. No correlation was found, either in aCL positive or in aCL negative patients, between high levels of haemostasis activation markers, such as fi-thromboglobulin, platelet factor 4 or fibrinopeptide A and recurrent cardiovascular diseas

Gating mechanism of elongating β-ketoacyl-ACP synthases.

Carbon-carbon bond forming reactions are essential transformations in natural product biosynthesis. During de novo fatty acid and polyketide biosynthesis, β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthases (KS), catalyze this process via a decarboxylative Claisen-like condensation reaction. KSs must recognize multiple chemically distinct ACPs and choreograph a ping-pong mechanism, often in an iterative fashion. Here, we report crystal structures of substrate mimetic bearing ACPs in complex with the elongating KSs from Escherichia coli, FabF and FabB, in order to better understand the stereochemical features governing substrate discrimination by KSs. Complemented by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and mutagenesis studies, these structures reveal conformational states accessed during KS catalysis. These data taken together support a gating mechanism that regulates acyl-ACP binding and substrate delivery to the KS active site. Two active site loops undergo large conformational excursions during this dynamic gating mechanism and are likely evolutionarily conserved features in elongating KSs

Measurements of the effect of collisions on transverse beam halo diffusion in the Tevatron and in the LHC

Beam-beam forces and collision optics can strongly affect beam lifetime, dynamic aperture, and halo formation in particle colliders. Extensive analytical and numerical simulations are carried out in the design and operational stage of a machine to quantify these effects, but experimental data is scarce. The technique of small-step collimator scans was applied to the Fermilab Tevatron collider and to the CERN Large Hadron Collider to study the effect of collisions on transverse beam halo dynamics. We describe the technique and present a summary of the first results on the dependence of the halo diffusion coefficient on betatron amplitude in the Tevatron and in the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the Proceedings of the ICFA Mini-Workshop on Beam-beam Effects in Hadron Colliders (BB2013), Geneva, Switzerland, 18-22 March 201

MSSM predictions of the neutral Higgs boson masses and LEP II production cross sections

Within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) the Higgs masses and LEP II production cross sections are calculated for a wide range of the parameter space. In addition, the parameter space restricted by unification, electroweak symmetry breaking and other low energy constraints is considered in detail, in which case the masses of all SUSY partners can be estimated, so that their contributions to the radiative corrections can be calculated. Explicit analytical formulae for these contribution are derived. The radiative corrections from the Yukawa couplings of the third generation are found to dominate over the contributions from charginos and neutralinos. Large Higgs mass uncertainties are due to the top mass uncertainty and the unknown sign of the Higgs mixing parameter. For the low tanb scenario the mass of the lightest Higgs is found to be below 103 GeV for a top mass below 190 GeV. The cross section at a LEP energy of 192 GeV is sufficient to find or exclude this low tanb scenario for a top mass below 180 GeV. For the high tanb scenario only a small fraction of the parameter space can be covered, since the Higgs mass is predicted between 105 and 125 GeV in most cases. At the theoretically possible LEP II energy of 205 GeV part of the parameter space for the large tanb scenario would be accessible

Role of Composite Materials in Aircraft Construction

Danas su u zrakoplovnim konstrukcijama sve više zastupljeni kompozitni materijali. U ovom završnom radu opisana je primjena polimernih kompozita u zrakoplovnoj industriji. Spomenute su i ostale vrste kompozita koji imaju značajnu ulogu u zrakoplovstvu. Obrađena je teorija samih kompozitnih materijala, preko vrsta, njihovog načina proizvodnje te primjena u industriji, uz poseban naglasak na polimerne kompozite ojačane vlaknima. Primjena kompozitnih materijala u zrakoplovnim konstrukcijama ističe se u raznim vrstama i kombinacijama. Svaka vrsta zasebno ima svoje prednosti i svojstva koja konkuriraju dosadašnjim konvencionalnim materijalima. U izradi strukturalnih elemenata zrakoplova kompozitni materijali omogućuju proizvodnju kompleksnih struktura i oblika, a zatim i vrlo visoke performanse tih elemenata. Upravo tim naprednim svojstvima hibridnih kompozitnih materijala omogućuje se razvoj i proizvodnja zrakoplova vrlo visokih performansi, male teţine, te samim tim učinkovitijih i sigurnijih zrakoplova. Buduća tehnologija proizvodnje kompozitnih materijala uz popraćenu standardizaciju pruţa automatizirane procese proizvodnje koji svojom tehnologijom smanjuju cijene izgradnje zrakoplova kompozitnih konstrukcija. Primjer primjene kompozitnih materijala na zrakoplovima Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus 380 i Pipistrel Panthera obrađen je u ovom završnom radu.In recent years the big emphasize in making the aircraft construction is put on a composite materials. The use of newest polymer composite in airplane industry are discribed in this final paper. Furthermore, the composite materials are introduced and explained. Different types, method of manufacture and application is explained more closely with the particular emphasis on polymer composites reinforced with fibers. The composite materials in airplane industry can be used in many ways and in many different combinations. Each type has its own advantages and features that compete with the conventional materials. In making the structural elements of the aircraft composite materials enable the production of complex structures and forms which in a same time allows very high performance of the new materials. Because of these advanced properties of hybrid composite materials the development and production of the aircraft high performance is possible. The main features that are improved are decreased weight of the aircraft , therefore they has better safety of the aircraft. Future manufacturing technology of composite materials with standardization provides automated processes that reduces the cost of building an aircraft composite structures.In this final paper the application of composite materials on aircraft Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A380 and Pipistrel Panthera is closely explained

A First Look at Rotation in Inactive Late-Type M Dwarfs

We have examined the relationship between rotation and activity in 14 late-type (M6-M7) M dwarfs, using high resolution spectra taken at the W.M. Keck Observatory and flux-calibrated spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Most were selected to be inactive at a spectral type where strong H-alpha emission is quite common. We used the cross-correlation technique to quantify the rotational broadening; six of the stars in our sample have vsini > 3.5 km/s. Our most significant and perplexing result is that three of these stars do not exhibit H-alpha emission, despite rotating at velocities where previous work has observed strong levels of magnetic field and stellar activity. Our results suggest that rotation and activity in late-type M dwarfs may not always be linked, and open several additional possibilities including a rotationally-dependent activity threshold, or a possible dependence on stellar parameters of the Rossby number at which magnetic/activity "saturation" takes place in fully convective stars.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Amphibian peptides for skin protection and healing

BACKGROUND: Amphibians are currently suffering a dramatic decline worldwide, mainly due to chytridiomycosis, a skin infection caused by the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). An important natural defense of amphibian skin is the production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) by granular glands in the dermis. AMPs collected from several species of frogs successfully inhibit the growth of Bd in vitro. Besides their anti-microbial and anti-fungal activities, AMPs have been shown to exert other biological effects such as anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, immunomodulating and wound healing. AIM: We intended to test the efficacy of AMPs as cutaneous defenses in frog species either resistant or susceptible to Bd. METHODS: 3 frog species (Gastrotheca nebulanastes (GN), G. excubitor (GE) and Hypsiboas gladiator (HG), were collected in montane scrub, cloud forest and high elevation grassland habitats near Manu National Park in southeastern Peru. AMP secretion was stimulated by injection of norepinephrine into the dorsal lymph sacks. AMPs were then purified by chromatographic techniques. The human endothelial cell line HECV was treated with AMP concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 50 \ub5g/mL. Cell viability was verified by MTT test. Wound healing properties were analyzed by scratch wound assay. AMP inhibition strength against Bd growth was measured in vitro by incubating Bd zoospores with different concentrations of AMPs. RESULTS: Treatment with AMPs secreted from GN, GE and HG did not affect HECV cell viability at any concentration tested. No significant differences in cell migration rate were observed in HECV cells scratched and treated with GN and GE AMPs. Only HG peptides showed wound healing properties as well as strong Bd growth inhibiting ability. CONCLUSIONS: Stimulation of wound healing mechanisms and inhibition of Bd growth by skin AMPs might both contribute to HG resistance to chytridiomycosis. Understanding the role of skin defenses may lead to the development of novel Bd mitigation strategies. Possible applications of amphibian AMPs in skin medicine deserve attention and further studies. This work was funded by the European Commission (Tender ENV.B.3/SER/2016/0028, Mitigating a new infectious disease in salamanders to counteract the loss of European biodiversity) and by Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre

Modifications of the metabolic pathways of lipid and triacylglycerol production in microalgae

Microalgae have presented themselves as a strong candidate to replace diminishing oil reserves as a source of lipids for biofuels. Here we describe successful modifications of terrestrial plant lipid content which increase overall lipid production or shift the balance of lipid production towards lipid varieties more useful for biofuel production. Our discussion ranges from the biosynthetic pathways and rate limiting steps of triacylglycerol formation to enzymes required for the formation of triacylglycerol containing exotic lipids. Secondarily, we discuss techniques for genetic engineering and modification of various microalgae which can be combined with insights gained from research in higher plants to aid in the creation of production strains of microalgae