Tunability of the elastocaloric response in main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers

Materials exhibiting a large caloric effect could lead to the development of a new generation of heat-management technologies that will have better energy efficiency and be potentially more environmentally friendly. The focus of caloric materials investigations has shifted recently from solid-state materials towards soft materials, such as liquid crystals and liquid crystalline elastomers. It has been shown recently that a large electrocaloric effect exceeding 6 K can be observed in smectic liquid crystals. Here, we report on a significant elastocaloric response observed by direct elastocaloric measurements in main-chain liquid crystal elastomers. It is demonstrated that the character of the nematic to paranematic/isotropic transition can be tuned from the supercritical regime towards the first-order regime, by decreasing the density of crosslinkers. In the latter case, the latent heat additionally enhances the elastocaloric response. Our results indicate that a significant elastocaloric response is present in main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers, driven by stress fields much smaller than in solid elastocaloric materials. Therefore, elastocaloric soft materials can potentially play a significant role as active cooling/heating elements in the development of new heat-management devices

Disulfiram modulated ROS–MAPK and NFκB pathways and targeted breast cancer cells with cancer stem cell-like properties

BACKGROUND: Previous studies indicate that disulfiram (DS), an anti-alcoholism drug, is cytotoxic to cancer cell lines and reverses anticancer drug resistance. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the major cause of chemoresistance leading to the failure of cancer chemotherapy. This study intended to examine the effect of DS on breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). METHODS: The effect of DS on BC cell lines and BCSCs was determined by MTT, western blot, CSCs culture and CSCs marker analysis. RESULTS: Disulfiram was highly toxic to BC cell lines in vitro in a copper (Cu)-dependent manner. In Cu-containing medium (1 mu M), the IC50 concentrations of DS in BC cell lines were 200-500 nM. Disulfiram/copper significantly enhanced (3.7-15.5-fold) cytotoxicity of paclitaxel (PAC). Combination index isobologram analysis demonstrated a synergistic effect between DS/Cu and PAC. The increased Bax and Bcl2 protein expression ratio indicated that intrinsic apoptotic pathway may be involved in DS/Cu-induced apoptosis. Clonogenic assay showed DS/Cu-inhibited clonogenicity of BC cells. Mammosphere formation and the ALDH1(+VE) and CD24(Low)/CD44(High) CSCs population in mammospheres were significantly inhibited by exposure to DS/Cu for 24 h. Disulfiram/copper induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and activated its downstream apoptosis-related cJun N-terminal kinase and p38 MAPK pathways. Meanwhile, the constitutive NF kappa B activity in BC cell lines was inhibited by DS/Cu. CONCLUSION: Disulfiram/copper inhibited BCSCs and enhanced cytotoxicity of PAC in BC cell lines. This may be caused by simultaneous induction of ROS and inhibition of NF kappa B. British Journal of Cancer (2011) 104, 1564-1574. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2011.126 www.bjcancer.com Published online 12 April 2011 (C) 2011 Cancer Research U

Mujeres y cultura en la Argentina del siglo XIX

Este libro es el resultado de buscar y rebuscar, acuciadas en un primer momento por una natural curiosidad hacia el siglo XIX, en el baúl de nuestras abuelas o incluso bisabuelas. Y nos encontramos no sólo con el pasado sino con nuestro pasado, rico, complejo, sorprendente en su infinita variedad de hallazgos. Experimentamos un sentimiento de ternura por esas mujeres y de profunda solidaridad ante el esfuerzo que realizaron, muchas veces en condiciones inhóspitas, incomprendidas por sus contemporáneos, varones y mujeres. No sólo mujeres con nombre propio sino mujeres generalmente anónimas forman una parte esencial de la historia no contada, oculta(da) en el polvo acumulado durante el transcurso de los años. Nuestra tarea, nuestra pasión es desenvolverla, descubrirla, deconstruirla. Un acto compartido entre muchas mujeres y algunos varones. En mayor o menor grado, cada artículo en Mujeres y cultura en la Argentina del siglo XIXcontribuye a este fin y también al de la construcción –la re-construcción- de la historia de mujeres en la Argentina. Hay todavía mucho por revolver en esos arcones. Sabemos que hay nombres escondidos todavía en publicaciones que debemos encontrar. Nombres de mujeres, sus labores, que han sido muy poco investigadas o que sencillamente desconocemos. Se trata de hacer visible una producción ignorada y una tradición desdibujada

Croissance et type d'hémoglobine chez les enfants du Benin

Height, weight, thoracic circumference and types of hemoglobins have been examined on 1.265 children aged 5 to 15 years in the urban areas of north Benin and on 2.175 children of the same age in the Portonovo town (south Benin). Anthropometrie data show that in the north Benin there is a higher percentage of children exposed to the malnutrition than in the south. The puberal age seems to be the most critical. Comparaisons in the north and in the south of linear regressions for height/ age, log™ weight/age, toracic circ/age, logw weight/height, toracic circ./height for different types of hemoglobins, show that in the south the girls with Hb AC are advantaged for height, weight and toracic circ. as compared with the girls with Hb A and Hb AS. The same advantage is shown for the weight in girls of the north with Hb AC. No differences are shown for children with Hb AS as compared with Hb A. The hypothesis is made that the advantage in the Hb AC puberal girls shown from the anthropométrie point of views could be ascribed to an earlier sexual maturity. This could allow to a larger probability for HbAC women to have more children.Sont rapportés les résultats pour le poids, la taille, le périmètre thoracique et les types d'hémoglobine de 1.265 enfants de 5 à 15 ans du milieu urbain du nord du Bénin et de 2.175 enfants du même âge de la ville de Portonovo (sud du Bénin). Les données anthropométriques indiquent que dans le nord il y a un pourcentage plus élevé d'enfants exposés au risque de malnutrition que dans le sud. La puberté sembre être la période la plus critique. Les régressions linéaires suivantes ont été calculées dans les deux zones pour les hémoglobines A, AS et AC : taille/âge ; log™ poids/âge ; pér. thoracique/ âge ; logu» poids/taille ; pér. thoracique/ taille. Leur comparaison montre que. dans le sud. les filles avec Hb AC auraient des mensurations plus fortes que celles avec Hb A et Hb AS. Le même avantage pour le poids se présente pour les filles du nord avec Hb AC. Aucune différence n'est mise en évidence pour les enfants avec Hb AS par rapport à ceux avec Hb A. Les auteurs suggèrent l'hypothèse que les mensurations plus fortes des filles du sud, avec Hb AC à l'âge de la puberté, pourraient indiquer une maturation sexuelle plus précoce, d'où la plus grande susceptibilité de la part de ces femmes à avoir un plus grand nombre d'enfants.Cresta M., Tonelli V., Vecchi F. Croissance et type d'hémoglobine chez les enfants du Benin. In: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, XIII° Série. Tome 9 fascicule 4, 1982. pp. 247-255

First assessment of the Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) invasion in NAT2000 Habitat 5110 in Liguria

Valutazione preliminare dell'invasione della piralida del bosso con particolare riferimento all'impatto sull'habitat 5110 in Liguri

A real-life experience on 2nd life batteries services for Distribution System Operator

This paper proposes an innovative use of the 2nd life Li-ion batteries, enabling "Storage as a service" for enhancing distribution network operations. Two different use cases have been evaluated at the Distribution System Operator (DSO) of the city of Terni (Italy) during the H2020 ELSA project: in the first one, the DSO manages the battery storage system to provide ancillary services (e.g., balance of Reactive Power, primary reserve) in order to increase the power quality and improve of the Low Voltage management efficiency; in the second use case, the batteries are leveraged by the District Energy Manager in order to perform peak shaving and power smoothing, implementing a power profile requested by the DSO. Test results have shown that 2nd life Li-ion batteries are suitable for some services and their usage in the power distribution network is promising for widespread applications. The experimentation on District Energy Manager is being continued under the work of the H2020 eDREAM project

Innovative tools for demand response strategies: a real-life experience

The increasing amount of power plants connected to the distribution networks is pointing out issues about energy balances of local communities as well as observability and management of the energy flows by the Distribution System Operator. This paper presents a real life Demand Response campaign carried out by the local Distribution System Operator to reduce the Reverse Power Flow caused by the increasing amount of energy produced locally by distributed generators from not programmable energy sources. Innovative near-real time smart meters and advanced software developed under the Nobel GRID and the WiseGRID projects were used for the trial. Furthermore, these findings and actual data have been used for running simulations at the primary substation level for a complete year. The encouraging results obtained, especially when large energy consumers are involved, have shown the effectiveness of these tools and how they can enable the Distribution System Operator to use Demand Response strategies for increasing grid efficiency and control