Are ARBs or ACE inhibitors preferred for nephropathy in diabetes?

Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have been shown to reduce the progression of nephropathy in several consistent studies. While ACE inhibitors have not been as well studied for the endpoint of nephropathy, patients with nephropathy exhibit reduced mortality when treated with an ACE inhibitor (strength of recommendation: A, based on randomized controlled trials)

Space shuttle: Aerodynamic characteristics of the NASA-MSC S-4 orbiter in cruise and landing

Low speed wind tunnel test to define space shuttle model cruise and landing aerodynamic characteristic

A 'javító' fenntarthatóság, a 'steady-state' fenntarthatóság és a strukturált ökoturizmus

Az ökuturizmusnak számos definíciója létezik, de számukra közös nevezőt jelent a környezeti fenntarthatóság fogalma, amit az ökoturizmust kutatók jellemzően két részre szegmentálnak: „javító" a „steady-state'Mel szemben. Az első esetében az ökoturizmus javítja a környezet állapotát, míg a második a környezeti tőkét változatlanul hagyja, mind mennyiségi, mind minőségi tekintetben. A fenntarthatóság egymással versengő meghatározásai az idegenforgalmi piac heterogenitását tükrözik. Az elmúlt évtizedben a kutatók empirikusan is megerősítették a „puha" és „kemény" ökoturizmus típusok létezését. Míg az első a steady-state elveivel egyezik, az utóbbi a javító típusú attitűdökkel azonosítható. Érdekes módon a legújabb kutatások szerint létezik egy „strukturált" ökoturizmus típus is, ami mind „puha", mind „kemény" jellemzőkkel is bír. Számos ok miatt, így részben azért is. mert javító attitűdöt és magatartásformákat is mutatnak a „strukturált" ökoturisták, a kevert meghatározás egy eddig alig vizsgált, mégis fontos piacszegmens létezésére utal. Tanulmányunk a „strukturált" ökoturistatípust vizsgálja az ökoturizmus spektrumában, és javaslatokat tesz a további kutatások irányára

Structure of self-organized Fe clusters grown on Au(111) analyzed by Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction

We report a detailed investigation of the first stages of the growth of self-organized Fe clusters on the reconstructed Au(111) surface by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Below one monolayer coverage, the Fe clusters are in "local epitaxy" whereas the subsequent layers adopt first a strained fcc lattice and then a partly relaxed bcc(110) phase in a Kurdjumov-Sachs epitaxial relationship. The structural evolution is discussed in relation with the magnetic properties of the Fe clusters.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review B September 200

Atomistic mechanisms for the ordered growth of Co nano-dots on Au(788): comparison of VT-STM experiments and multi-scaled calculations

Hetero-epitaxial growth on a strain-relief vicinal patterned substrate has revealed unprecedented 2D long range ordered growth of uniform cobalt nanostructures. The morphology of a Co sub-monolayer deposit on a Au(111) reconstructed vicinal surface is analyzed by Variable Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (VT-STM) experiments. A rectangular array of nano-dots (3.8 nm x 7.2 nm) is found for a particularly large deposit temperature range lying from 60 K to 300 K. Although the nanodot lattice is stable at room temperature, this paper focus on the early stage of ordered nucleation and growth at temperatures between 35 K and 480 K. The atomistic mechanisms leading to the nanodots array are elucidated by comparing statistical analysis of VT-STM images with multi-scaled numerical calculations combining both Molecular Dynamics for the quantitative determination of the activation energies for the atomic motion and the Kinetic Monte Carlo method for the simulations of the mesoscopic time and scale evolution of the Co submonolayer

Effects of anharmonic strain on phase stability of epitaxial films and superlattices: applications to noble metals

Epitaxial strain energies of epitaxial films and bulk superlattices are studied via first-principles total energy calculations using the local-density approximation. Anharmonic effects due to large lattice mismatch, beyond the reach of the harmonic elasticity theory, are found to be very important in Cu/Au (lattice mismatch 12%), Cu/Ag (12%) and Ni/Au (15%). We find that is the elastically soft direction for biaxial expansion of Cu and Ni, but it is for large biaxial compression of Cu, Ag, and Au. The stability of superlattices is discussed in terms of the coherency strain and interfacial energies. We find that in phase-separating systems such as Cu-Ag the superlattice formation energies decrease with superlattice period, and the interfacial energy is positive. Superlattices are formed easiest on (001) and hardest on (111) substrates. For ordering systems, such as Cu-Au and Ag-Au, the formation energy of superlattices increases with period, and interfacial energies are negative. These superlattices are formed easiest on (001) or (110) and hardest on (111) substrates. For Ni-Au we find a hybrid behavior: superlattices along and like in phase-separating systems, while for they behave like in ordering systems. Finally, recent experimental results on epitaxial stabilization of disordered Ni-Au and Cu-Ag alloys, immiscible in the bulk form, are explained in terms of destabilization of the phase separated state due to lattice mismatch between the substrate and constituents.Comment: RevTeX galley format, 16 pages, includes 9 EPS figures, to appear in Physical Review

Nongenomic oestrogen signalling in oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells: a role for the angiotensin II receptor AT1

INTRODUCTION: Oestrogens can mediate some of their cell survival properties through a nongenomic mechanism that involves the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The mechanism of this rapid signalling and its dependence on a membrane bound oestrogen receptor (ER), however, remains controversial. The role of G-protein-coupled receptor and epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor in an ER-independent signalling pathway modulated by oestrogen was investigated. METHODS: ER-positive and ER-negative breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and SKBR3) and primary breast cancer cell cultures were used in this study. Cell proliferation was assessed using standard MTT assays. Protein and cAMP levels were detected by Western blotting and ELISA, respectively. Antigen localization was performed by immunocytochemistry, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Protein knockdown was achieved using small interfering RNA technologies. RESULTS: EGF and oestrogen, alone and in combination, induced cell proliferation and phosphorylation of MAPK proteins Raf and ERK (extracellular signal regulated kinase)1/2 in both ER-negative SKBR3 and ER-positive MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines. Increased Raf phosphorylation was also observed in primary human breast cultures derived from ER-positive and ER-negative breast tumours. Oestrogen induced an increase in intracellular cAMP in ER-negative SKBR3 human breast cancer cells. Oestrogen-mediated cell growth and phosphorylation of MAPK was modified by the EGF receptor antagonist AG1478, the G-protein antagonist pertussis toxin, and the angiotensin II receptor antagonist saralasin. Knockdown of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1) protein expression with small interfering RNA attenuated oestrogen-induced Raf phosphorylation in ER-negative cells. AT1 receptor was found to be expressed in the cell membrane of breast tumour epithelial cells. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence that, in breast cancer cells, oestrogen can signal through AT1 to activate early cell survival mechanisms in an ER-independent manner

Do Social Bonds Matter for Emerging Adults?

The extent to which social bonds and turning points influence criminal activity has been the focus of much empirical research. However, there have been few empirical studies exploring social bonds and turning points and offending for those who have experienced emerging adulthood, a recently identified stage of the life course. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health we examined if indicators of social bonds and turning points were predictors of criminal offending. Several of the turning points and social bonds included in these analyses were found to influence decreases in criminal offending for a cohort of emerging adults. We extend previous research by examining the influence of social bonds and turning points on patterns of criminal offending during emerging adulthood