Study on the tribological characteristics of plant oil-based bio-lubricant with automotive liner-piston ring materials

The development of bio-lubricant is an immerging area of research considering the rapid depletion of petroleum reserve and environmental concern. This study aims to develop non-edible jatropha oil-based bio-lubricant and investigate the tribological properties considering commonly used piston ring-cylinder liner materials of stainless steel and cast iron due to their interaction under lubricated conditions in an internal combustion engine. The bio-lubricant was prepared by blending different percentages of vegetable oil with commercial lubricants. The tribological test was carried out using a Reo-Bicerihigh-frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR) for the duration of 6 ​h under standard operating conditions. Different properties of bio-lubricants were measured before and after the HFRR test using various analytical instruments. The morphology of the worn material surfaces was examined via Hitachi S-4700 FE-SEM cold field emission high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The result showed that addition of vegetable oil lubricant up to 7.5% concentration can be compared with commercial lubricant in case of wear rate and coefficient of wear as weight loss reduced significantly. Minimum change in viscosity was observed at the addition of 7.5% bio-lubricant. Surface morphology analysis confirmed less damage of metal surface when tribological analysis were performed at mixed lubricated condition

Targetable NOTCH1 rearrangements in reninoma

Reninomas are exceedingly rare renin-secreting kidney tumours that derive from juxtaglomerular cells, specialised smooth muscle cells that reside at the vascular inlet of glomeruli. They are the central component of the juxtaglomerular apparatus which controls systemic blood pressure through the secretion of renin. We assess somatic changes in reninoma and find structural variants that generate canonical activating rearrangements of, NOTCH1 whilst removing its negative regulator, NRARP. Accordingly, in single reninoma nuclei we observe excessive renin and NOTCH1 signalling mRNAs, with a concomitant non-excess of NRARP expression. Re-analysis of previously published reninoma bulk transcriptomes further corroborates our observation of dysregulated Notch pathway signalling in reninoma. Our findings reveal NOTCH1 rearrangements in reninoma, therapeutically targetable through existing NOTCH1 inhibitors, and indicate that unscheduled Notch signalling may be a disease-defining feature of reninoma

The Higgs vacuum uplifted: revisiting the electroweak phase transition with a second Higgs doublet

The existence of a second Higgs doublet in Nature could lead to a cosmological first order electroweak phase transition and explain the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. We explore the parameter space of such a two-Higgs-doublet-model and show that a first order electroweak phase transition strongly correlates with a significant uplifting of the Higgs vacuum w.r.t. its Standard Model value. We then obtain the spectrum and properties of the new scalars H0, A0 and H± that signal such a phase transition, showing that the decay A0 → H0Z at the LHC and a sizable deviation in the Higgs self-coupling λhhh from its SM value are sensitive indicators of a strongly first order electroweak phase transition in the 2HDM

Increased Mobility of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Due to Photo and Thermal Induced Disagglomeration

Significant advances have been made on our understanding of the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials. One unexplored aspect of nanoparticle aggregation is how environmental stimuli such as light exposure and temperature variations affect the mobility of engineered nanoparticles. In this study, TiO2, ZnO, and CeO2 were chosen as model materials for investigating the mobility of nanoparticles under three external stimuli: heat, light and sonication. Sunlight and high power sonication were able to partially disagglomerate metal oxide clusters, but primary particles bonded by solid state necks were left intact. A cycle of temperature increase from 25°C to 65°C and then decrease back was found to disagglomerate the compact clusters in the heating phase and reagglomerate them as more open fractal structures during the cooling phase. A fractal model summing the pair-wise DLVO interactions between primary particles within two fractal agglomerates predicts weak attractions on the order of a few kT. Our study shows that common environmental stimuli such as light exposure or temperature variation can disagglomerate nanoparticle clusters and enhance their mobility in open waters. This phenomenon warrants attention since it is likely that metal oxide nanoparticles will experience these natural stimuli during their transport in the environment

The stability of money demand in the long-run: Italy 1861–2011

Money demand stability is a crucial issue for monetary policy efficacy, and it is particularly endangered when substantial changes occur in the monetary system. By implementing the ARDL technique, this study intends to estimate the impact of money demand determinants in Italy over a long period (1861–2011) and to investigate the stability of the estimated relations. We show that instability cannot be excluded when a standard money demand function is estimated, irrespectively of the use of M1 or M2. Then, we argue that the reason for possible instability resides in the omission of relevant variables, as we show that a fully stable demand for narrow money (M1) can be obtained from an augmented money demand function involving real exchange rate and its volatility as additional explanatory variables. These results also allow us to argue that narrower monetary aggregates should be employed in order to obtain a stable estimated relation

Minichromosome Maintenance 2 Bound with Retroviral Gp70 Is Localized to Cytoplasm and Enhances DNA-Damage-Induced Apoptosis

The interaction of viral proteins with host-cellular proteins elicits the activation of cellular signal transduction pathways and possibly leads to viral pathogenesis as well as cellular biological events. Apoptotic signals induced by DNA-damage are remarkably up-regulated by Friend leukemia virus (FLV) exclusively in C3H hosts; however, the mechanisms underlying the apoptosis enhancement and host-specificity are unknown. Here, we show that C3H mouse-derived hematopoietic cells originally express higher levels of the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) 2 protein than BALB/c- or C57BL/6-deriverd cells, and undergo more frequent apoptosis following doxorubicin-induced DNA-damage in the presence of the FLV envelope protein gp70. Dual transfection with gp70/Mcm2 reproduced doxorubicin-induced apoptosis even in BALB/c-derived 3T3 cells. Immunoprecipitation assays using various deletion mutants of MCM2 revealed that gp70 bound to the nuclear localization signal (NLS) 1 (amino acids 18–24) of MCM2, interfered with the function of NLS2 (amino acids 132–152), and suppressed the normal nuclear-import of MCM2. Cytoplasmic MCM2 reduced the activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) leading to the subsequent hyperphosphorylation of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). Phosphorylated DNA-PK exhibited elevated kinase activity to phosphorylate P53, thereby up-regulating p53-dependent apoptosis. An apoptosis-enhancing domain was identified in the C-terminal portion (amino acids 703–904) of MCM2. Furthermore, simultaneous treatment with FLV and doxorubicin extended the survival of SCID mice bearing 8047 leukemia cells expressing high levels of MCM2. Thus, depending on its subcellular localization, MCM2 plays different roles. It participates in DNA replication in the nucleus as shown previously, and enhances apoptosis in the cytoplasm

Seroprevalence of 13 common pathogens in a rapidly growing U.S. minority population: Mexican Americans from San Antonio, TX

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infection risks vary among individuals and between populations. Here we present information on the seroprevalence of 13 common infectious agents in a San Antonio-based sample of Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans represent the largest and most rapidly growing minority population in the U.S., and they are also considered a health disparities population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed 1227 individuals for antibody titer to <it>Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Toxoplasma gondii</it>, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus-1, herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), varicella zoster virus (VZV), adenovirus-36, hepatitis A virus, and influenza A and B. Seroprevalence was examined as a function of sex, age, household income, and education.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seroprevalence estimates ranged from 9% for <it>T. gondii</it> to 92% for VZV, and were similar in both sexes except for HSV-2, which was more prevalent in women. Many pathogens exhibited a significant seroprevalence change over the examined age range (15-94 years), with 7 pathogens increasing and HHV-6 decreasing with age. Socioeconomic status significantly correlated with serostatus for some pathogens.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings demonstrate substantial seroprevalence rates of these common infections in this sample of Mexican Americans from San Antonio, Texas that suffers from high rates of chronic diseases including obesity and type-2 diabetes.</p

A comprehensive characterization of the caspase gene family in insects from the order Lepidoptera

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cell suicide pathway of apoptosis is a necessary event in the life of multicellular organisms. It is involved in many biological processes ranging from development to the immune response. Evolutionarily conserved proteases, called caspases, play a central role in regulating apoptosis. Reception of death stimuli triggers the activation of initiator caspases, which in turn activate the effector caspases. In Lepidoptera, apoptosis is crucial in processes such as metamorphosis or defending against baculovirus infection. The discovery of p35, a baculovirus protein inhibiting caspase activity, has led to the characterization of the first lepidopteran caspase, Sf-Caspase-1. Studies on Sf-Caspase-1 mode of activation suggested that apoptosis in Lepidoptera requires a cascade of caspase activation, as demonstrated in many other species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to get insights into this gene family in Lepidoptera, we performed an extensive survey of lepidopteran-derived EST datasets. We identified 66 sequences distributed among 27 species encoding putative caspases. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Lepidoptera possess at least 5 caspases, for which we propose a unified nomenclature. According to homology to their <it>Drosophila </it>counterparts and their primary structure, we determined that Lep-Caspase-1, -2 and -3 are putative effector caspases, whereas Lep-Caspase-5 and -6 are putative initiators. The likely function of Lep-Caspase-4 remains unclear. Lep-Caspase-2 is absent from the silkworm genome and appears to be noctuid-specific, and to have arisen from a tandem duplication of the Caspase-1 gene. In the tobacco hawkmoth, 3 distinct transcripts encoding putative Caspase-4 were identified, suggesting at least 2 duplication events in this species.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The basic repertoire of five major types of caspases shared among Lepidoptera seems to be smaller than for most other groups studied to date, but gene duplication still plays a role in lineage-specific increases in diversity, just as in Diptera and mammals.</p

Genetic Analysis of Genome-Scale Recombination Rate Evolution in House Mice

The rate of meiotic recombination varies markedly between species and among individuals. Classical genetic experiments demonstrated a heritable component to population variation in recombination rate, and specific sequence variants that contribute to recombination rate differences between individuals have recently been identified. Despite these advances, the genetic basis of species divergence in recombination rate remains unexplored. Using a cytological assay that allows direct in situ imaging of recombination events in spermatocytes, we report a large (∼30%) difference in global recombination rate between males of two closely related house mouse subspecies (Mus musculus musculus and M. m. castaneus). To characterize the genetic basis of this recombination rate divergence, we generated an F2 panel of inter-subspecific hybrid males (n = 276) from an intercross between wild-derived inbred strains CAST/EiJ (M. m. castaneus) and PWD/PhJ (M. m. musculus). We uncover considerable heritable variation for recombination rate among males from this mapping population. Much of the F2 variance for recombination rate and a substantial portion of the difference in recombination rate between the parental strains is explained by eight moderate- to large-effect quantitative trait loci, including two transgressive loci on the X chromosome. In contrast to the rapid evolution observed in males, female CAST/EiJ and PWD/PhJ animals show minimal divergence in recombination rate (∼5%). The existence of loci on the X chromosome suggests a genetic mechanism to explain this male-biased evolution. Our results provide an initial map of the genetic changes underlying subspecies differences in genome-scale recombination rate and underscore the power of the house mouse system for understanding the evolution of this trait

An Overview of Three Promising Mechanical, Optical, and Biochemical Engineering Approaches to Improve Selective Photothermolysis of Refractory Port Wine Stains

During the last three decades, several laser systems, ancillary technologies, and treatment modalities have been developed for the treatment of port wine stains (PWSs). However, approximately half of the PWS patient population responds suboptimally to laser treatment. Consequently, novel treatment modalities and therapeutic techniques/strategies are required to improve PWS treatment efficacy. This overview therefore focuses on three distinct experimental approaches for the optimization of PWS laser treatment. The approaches are addressed from the perspective of mechanical engineering (the use of local hypobaric pressure to induce vasodilation in the laser-irradiated dermal microcirculation), optical engineering (laser-speckle imaging of post-treatment flow in laser-treated PWS skin), and biochemical engineering (light- and heat-activatable liposomal drug delivery systems to enhance the extent of post-irradiation vascular occlusion)