Elastocapillary driven assembly of particles at free-standing smectic-A films

Colloidal particles at complex fluid interfaces and within films assemble to form ordered structures with high degrees of symmetry via interactions that include capillarity, elasticity, and other fields like electrostatic charge. Here we study microparticle interactions within free-standing smectic-A films, in which the elasticity arising from the director field distortion and capillary interactions arising from interface deformation compete to direct the assembly of motile particles. New colloidal assemblies and patterns, ranging from 1D chains to 2D aggregates, sensitive to the initial wetting conditions of particles at the smectic film, are reported. This work paves the way to exploiting LC interfaces as a means to direct spontaneously formed, reconfigurable, and optically active materials.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Supplementary Materials: 3 pages, 3 figure

Thermal Stability of Zirconia-coated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Sol-gel method has been used to coat multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with zirconia at room temperature and the coated tubes were sintered at high temperature. The samples were characterised by Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, environmental scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray analyses. The performance of the coated-MWCNTs was investigated as a function of temperature. The TGA studies indicated that sintering of coated-MWCNTs has improved its oxidation resistance and this improvement is related to the proper selection of sintering temperature.Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(3), pp.337-342, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.36

The Double Bind: Care Transition Experiences of Ageing Informal Carers and People with Disability in Minority Migrant Communities

An important milestone in social care and social policy since the late 1990s is the continued opportunity for persons with disability and their parents and/or family caregivers to have longer, enjoyable quality of life. However, as family carers, informal supporters and persons with disabilities age, their needs and expectations also change. Ageing family carers, usually parents, increasingly can no longer provide the quality and intensity of support and care required for their family members with disabilities. This puts additional pressure on informal long-term care and support relationships. It also threatens the future of care, especially for ageing carers from multicultural communities –who historically and continually find access to disability and other support services challenging in Australia. The intersection of migration and ageing in Australia presents a multifaceted challenge. The phenomenon of migration has led to a growing number of older Australians from multicultural backgrounds. The combination of the demographic shift, the trend of people living longer, as well as the evolving dynamics of informal caregiving for people with disabilities resulting from the ageing process means it is now imperative to gain insights into the experiences of ageing informal disability carers (hereinafter referred to as ‘AIDC’) from multicultural backgrounds, and their family member with disabilities. Understanding their perspectives on and preparations for this significant transition into the latter years of life is of the utmost importance. This project, therefore, aimed to work with multicultural communities in collaboration with the New South Wales (NSW) peak multicultural disabled people’s organisation, the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association (MDAA), which advocates for people with disability, their families and carers in order to understand the care transition planning experiences of AIDC and their adult family members with disability. The overall goal is to use the findings of this pilot study to inform the design of an innovative multicultural care transition toolkit to support the care transition planning processes of multicultural families who provide informal disability care. There are profound uncertainties for the future of care and support for ageing carers and their adult children with disabilities in multicultural communities. The long-held assumption that these communities rely on an informal family support system is no longer tenable in the face of weakening intergenerational solidarity and the effect of acculturation into the Australian way of life of second and third-generation migrants. It is, therefore, imperative that stakeholders in multicultural disability support and care and aged care acknowledge the role of AIDC and the evolving context in which they provide care by designing tailored household interventions that support the care transition planning process for all concerned – the care and support providers within the family, and the person with disabilities who relies upon them. More importantly, there is the need for a deliberate multicultural policy response that recognises the voices, concerns, aspirations, and expectations of disability and aged caregiving in multicultural communities when designing tailored care transition services. The research recommends that disability advocacy and carer support organisations work towards strengthening and empowering ADIC and persons with disabilities to negotiate the care transition process, considering their personal cultural values, beliefs, gender, ethnoreligious, and family norms

Ceramide remodeling and risk of cardiovascular events and mortality

BackgroundRecent studies suggest that circulating concentrations of specific ceramide species may be associated with coronary risk and mortality. We sought to determine the relations between the most abundant plasma ceramide species of differing acyl chain lengths and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality in community‐based samples. Methods and ResultsWe developed a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry assay to quantify plasma C24:0, C22:0, and C16:0 ceramides and ratios of these very–long‐chain/long‐chain ceramides in 2642 FHS (Framingham Heart Study) participants and in 3134 SHIP (Study of Health in Pomerania) participants. Over a mean follow‐up of 6 years in FHS, there were 88 CHD and 90 heart failure (HF) events and 239 deaths. Over a median follow‐up time in SHIP of 5.75 years for CHD and HF and 8.24 years for mortality, there were 209 CHD and 146 HF events and 377 deaths. In meta‐analysis of the 2 cohorts and adjusting for standard CHD risk factors, C24:0/C16:0 ceramide ratios were inversely associated with incident CHD (hazard ratio per average SD increment, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.71–0.89; P<0.0001) and inversely associated with incident HF (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.61–1.00; P=0.046). Moreover, the C24:0/C16:0 and C22:0/C16:0 ceramide ratios were inversely associated with all‐cause mortality (C24:0/C16:0: hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.56–0.65; P<0.0001; C22:0/C16:0: hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.60–0.70; P<0.0001). ConclusionsThe ratio of C24:0/C16:0 ceramides in blood may be a valuable new biomarker of CHD risk, HF risk, and all‐cause mortality in the community

Quantitative Effect of Suboptimal Codon Usage on Translational Efficiency of mRNA Encoding HIV-1 gag in Intact T Cells

The sequences of wild-isolate strains of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) are characterized by low GC content and suboptimal codon usage. Codon optimization of DNA vectors can enhance protein expression both by enhancing translational efficiency, and by altering RNA stability and export. Although gag codon optimization is widely used in DNA vectors and experimental vaccines, the actual effect of altered codon usage on gag translational efficiency has not been quantified.To quantify translational efficiency of gag mRNA in live T cells, we transfected Jurkat cells with increasing doses of capped, polyadenylated synthetic mRNA corresponding to wildtype or codon-optimized gag sequences, measured Gag production by quantitative ELISA and flow cytometry, and estimated the translational efficiency of each transcript as pg of Gag antigen produced per microg of input mRNA. We found that codon optimization yielded a small increase in gag translational efficiency (approximately 1.6 fold). In contrast when cells were transfected with DNA vectors requiring nuclear transcription and processing of gag mRNA, codon optimization resulted in a very large enhancement of Gag production.We conclude that suboptimal codon usage by HIV-1 results in only a slight loss of gag translational efficiency per se, with the vast majority of enhancement in protein expression from DNA vectors due to altered processing and export of nuclear RNA