Effects of Cl on the reduction of supported PdO in ethanol/water solvent mixtures

The reduction of γ-Al2O3-supported PdO in flowing aqueous ethanol was investigated. Quick EXAFS (QEXAFS) performed at the Pd K-edge reveals that the presence of Cl can have a profound effect on the reduction process. At low loadings of Pd (1 wt-%), the size dependency of the process is inverted, compared to Cl-free samples. The extent of reduction was found to be dependent on loading/particles size. It is shown, using in situ QEXAFS at the Cl K- and Pd L3-edges, that residual Cl is not removed by the flowing solvent mixture, even at an elevated temperature of 350 K. The origins of these behaviours are discussed in terms of the differing effects that Cl may have when bonded to oxidic or reduced metal centres and the results were compared to earlier observations made on the effects of Cl on commercial polyurea encapsulated Pd ENCAT™ NP 30 catalysts

Long range correlations generated by phase separation. Exact results from field theory

We consider near-critical planar systems with boundary conditions inducing phase separation. While order parameter correlations decay exponentially in pure phases, we show by direct field theoretical derivation how phase separation generates long range correlations in the direction parallel to the interface, and determine their exact analytic form. The latter leads to specific contributions to the structure factor of the interface

Adaptive Evolution of the Myo6 Gene in Old World Fruit Bats (Family: Pteropodidae)

PMCID: PMC3631194This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

The CCR4-NOT Complex Is Implicated in the Viability of Aneuploid Yeasts

To identify the genes required to sustain aneuploid viability, we screened a deletion library of non-essential genes in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, in which most types of aneuploidy are eventually lethal to the cell. Aneuploids remain viable for a period of time and can form colonies by reducing the extent of the aneuploidy. We hypothesized that a reduction in colony formation efficiency could be used to screen for gene deletions that compromise aneuploid viability. Deletion mutants were used to measure the effects on the viability of spores derived from triploid meiosis and from a chromosome instability mutant. We found that the CCR4-NOT complex, an evolutionarily conserved general regulator of mRNA turnover, and other related factors, including poly(A)-specific nuclease for mRNA decay, are involved in aneuploid viability. Defective mutations in CCR4-NOT complex components in the distantly related yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae also affected the viability of spores produced from triploid cells, suggesting that this complex has a conserved role in aneuploids. In addition, our findings suggest that the genes required for homologous recombination repair are important for aneuploid viability

Does bright light have an anxiolytic effect? - an open trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this open trial was to examine the influence of acute bright light exposure on anxiety in older and young adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was ancillary to a complex 5-day laboratory experiment testing phase-responses to light at all times of the day. On 3 consecutive days, participants were exposed to bright light (3,000 lux) for 3 hours. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y1) was administered 5 minutes before and 20 minutes after each treatment. Mean state anxiety before and after treatment were analyzed by age, sex, and time ANOVA. To avoid floor effects, only participants with baseline STAI levels of ≥ 25 were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant anxiolytic effect of bright light was found for the mean data, as well as for each of the three days. No significant main effect of age, sex, or interaction of these factors with STAI change were found.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show consistent and significant (albeit modest) anxiolytic effects following acute bright light exposure in low anxiety adults. Further randomized, controlled trials in clinically anxious individuals are needed.</p

Haemoglobin level at birth is associated with short term outcomes and mortality in preterm infants

Background Blood volume and haemoglobin (Hb) levels are increased by delayed umbilical cord clamping, which has been reported to improve clinical outcomes of preterm infants. The objective was to determine whether Hb level at birth was associated with short term outcomes in preterm infants born at ≤32 weeks gestation. Methods Data were collected retrospectively from electronic records: Standardised Electronic Neonatal Database, Electronic Patient Record, Pathology (WinPath), and Blood Bank Electronic Database. The study was conducted in a tertiary perinatal centre with around 5,500 deliveries and a neonatal unit admission of 750 infants per year. All inborn preterm infants of 23 to 32 weeks gestational age (GA) admitted to the neonatal unit from January 2006 to September 2012 were included. The primary outcomes were intra-ventricular haemorrhage, necrotising entero-colitis, broncho-pulmonary dysplasia, retinopathy of prematurity, and death before discharge. The secondary outcomes were receiving blood transfusion and length of intensive care and neonatal unit days. The association between Hb level (g/dL) at birth and outcomes was analysed by multiple logistic regression adjusting for GA and birth weight (BWt). Results Overall, 920 infants were eligible; 28 were excluded because of missing data and 2 for lethal congenital malformation. The mean (SD) GA was 28.3 (2.7) weeks, BWt was 1,140 (414) g, and Hb level at birth was 15.8 (2.6) g/dL. Hb level at birth was significantly associated with all primary outcomes studied (P <0.001) in univariate analyses. Once GA and BWt were adjusted for, only death before discharge remained statistically significant; the OR of death for infants with Hb level at birth <12 g/dL compared with those with Hb level at birth of ≥18 g/dL was 4.1 (95% CI, 1.4–11.6). Hb level at birth was also significantly associated with blood transfusion received (P <0.01) but not with duration of intensive care or neonatal unit days. Conclusions Low Hb level at birth was significantly associated with mortality and receiving blood transfusion in preterm infants born at ≤32 weeks gestation. Further studies are needed to determine the association between Hb level at birth and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes

A search for new MRI criteria for dissemination in space in subjects with a clinically isolated syndrome

The International Panel on the Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) incorporated the Barkhof/Tintoré (B/T) magnetic resonance criteria into their diagnostic scheme to provide evidence of dissemination in space of central nervous system lesions, a prerequisite for diagnosing MS in patients who present with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS). Although specific for MS, the B/T criteria were criticised for their low sensitivity and relative complexity in clinical use. We used lesion characteristics at onset from 349 CIS patients in logistic regression and recursive partitioning modelling in a search for simpler and more sensitive criteria, while maintaining current specificity. The resulting models, all based on the presence of periventricular and deep white matter lesions, performed roughly in agreement with the B/T criteria, but were unable to provide higher diagnostic accuracy based on information from a single scan. Apparently, findings from contrast-enhanced and follow-up magnetic resonance scans are needed to improve the diagnostic algorithm

Ace Lake: three decades of research on a meromictic, Antarctic lake

Ace Lake (Vestfold Hills, Antarctica) has been investigated since the 1970s. Its close proximity to Davis Station has allowed year-long, as well as summer only, investigations. Ace Lake is a saline meromictic (permanently stratified) lake with strong physical and chemical gradients. The lake is one of the most studied lakes in continental Antarctica. Here we review the current knowledge of the history, the physical and chemical environment, community structure and functional dynamics of the mixolimnion, littoral benthic algal mats, the lower anoxic monimolimnion and the sediment within the monimolimnion. In common with other continental meromictic Antarctic lakes, Ace Lake possesses a truncated food web dominated by prokaryote and eukaryote microorganisms in the upper aerobic mixolimnion, and an anaerobic prokaryote community in the monimolimnion, where methanogenic Archaea, sulphate-reducing and sulphur-oxidizing bacteria occur. These communities are functional in winter at subzero temperatures, when mixotrophy plays an important role in survival in dominant photosynthetic eukaryotic microorganisms in the mixolimnion. The productivity of Ace Lake is comparable to other saline lakes in the Vestfold Hills, but higher than that seen in the more southerly McMurdo Dry Valley lakes. Finally we identify gaps in the current knowledge and avenues that demand further investigation, including comparisons with analogous lakes in the North Polar region

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation