Increased collagen production in fibroblasts cultured from irradiated skin and effect of TGF β1– clinical study

Fibrosis in normal tissues is a common and dose-limiting late complication of radiotherapy at many cancer sites, but its pathogenesis is poorly understood. We undertook a controlled study of the effect of irradiation on the collagen production of fibroblasts cultured from skin biopsies taken from patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment. Eight weeks after a single 8 Gy fraction using 300 kV X-rays, five patients treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital underwent biopsy of the irradiated site and of the contralateral, unirradiated body site. Fibroblasts from irradiated and control, unirradiated sites were cultured in vitro, and collagen production rates were measured during a 48-hour incubation under standardized conditions and in the presence and absence of transforming growth factor β1(TGF β1), 1 ng/ml, using HPLC. Collagen production was elevated in cells cultured from irradiated skin; median collagen production rates 61.16 pmoles hydroxyproline/105cells/hour in irradiated cells, 39.78 pmoles hydroxyproline/105cells/hour in unirradiated cells, P = 0.016 (Mann–Whitney U-test). In fibroblasts from unirradiated sites, collagen production rates were increased by the addition of TGF β1; however, in three of the cell lines cultured from irradiated sites this effect of TGF β1 on collagen production was not observed. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Modelling the small punch tensile behaviour of an aerospace alloy

The small punch (SP) test is a widely accepted methodology for obtaining mechanical property information from limited material quantities. Much research has presented the creep, tensile and fracture responses of numerous materials gathered from small-scale testing approaches. This is of particular interest for alloy down selection of next-generation materials and in situ mechanical assessments. However, to truly understand the evolution of deformation of the miniature disc specimen, an accurate and detailed understanding of the progressive damage is necessary. This paper will utilise the SP test to assess the tensile properties of several Ti–6Al–4V materials across different temperature regimes. Fractographic investigations will establish the contrasting damage mechanisms and finite element modelling through DEFORM software is employed to characterise specimen deformation

Optical and photocatalytic behaviours of nanoparticles in the Ti-Zn-O binary system

Continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis (CHFS) has been used as a rapid and clean, synthetic method to produce a range of crystalline nanoparticles in the Ti-Zn-O binary system. The nanopowders were prepared from aqueous solutions of titanium(iv) bis(ammonium lactato)dihydroxide (TIBALD) and hydrated zinc nitrate, respectively, using a CHFS reactor which uses superheated water (at 400°C and 24.1 MPa) as a reagent and crystallizing medium. The resulting nanopowders were heat-treated at 850°C for five hours in air to give photoactive semiconductor mixtures of rutile and zinc oxide and/or zinc titanates. The as-prepared powders and their corresponding heat-treated mixed phase photocatalysts were characterized using powder X-ray synchrotron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, BET surface area measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Because of the interest for these materials in UVA and UVB attenuating materials, the UV-Vis profiles of the nanocomposites and solid solutions were studied. Photocatalytic activity of the samples towards the decolourisation of methylene blue dye was also assessed. © 2014 the Partner Organisations

The rotation spectrum of methyl alcohol from 20 cm-1 to 80 cm-1

The rotational spectrum of methanol vapor has been measured from 20 cm-1 to 80 cm-1. The observations have been compared with the predictions of Burkhard and Dennison and for the most part good agreement is found. Some differences are found and since the new observations offer more reliable data with which to determine the energy levels a re-examination of the problem has been made.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32262/1/0000324.pd

Socio-Economic Status and Pregnancy Outcome: An Australian Study

A prospective cohort of 8556 pregnant women attending the Mater Misericordiae Mothers' Hospital in Brisbane was examined to consider the impact of socio-economic status on pregnancy outcome. The indicators of socio-economic status selected were family income, maternal education and paternal occupational status. Pregnancy outcomes considered were preterm delivery, low birthweight, low birthweight for gestational age, and perinatal death. Subsidiary analyses were also undertaken for Apgar scores, time to establish respiration, need for mechanical respiration and admission to intensive care. Before adjustment, the main consistent association was between the occupational status of the father and three measures of perinatal morbidity. Initial adjustment for the mother's socio-demographic background and weight/height ratio reduced the strength and statistical significance of the above associations, while further adjustment for lifestyle variations between the three status groups further reduced the above associations to marginal statistical significance. The findings suggest that observed class differences in pregnancy outcome are attributable to the mother's personal characteristics (height/weight, parity) and her lifestyle

Aborted propagation of the Ethiopian rift caused by linkage with the Kenyan rift

International audienceContinental rift systems form by propagation of isolated rift segments that interact, and eventually evolve into continuous zones of deformation. This process impacts many aspects of rifting including rift morphology at breakup, and eventual ocean-ridge segmentation. Yet, rift segment growth and interaction remain enigmatic. Here we present geological data from the poorly documented Ririba rift (South Ethiopia) that reveals how two major sectors of the East African rift, the Kenyan and Ethiopian rifts, interact. We show that the Ririba rift formed from the southward propagation of the Ethiopian rift during the Pliocene but this propagation was short-lived and aborted close to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. Seismicity data support the abandonment of laterally offset, overlapping tips of the Ethiopian and Kenyan rifts. Integration with new numerical models indicates that rift abandonment resulted from progressive focusing of the tectonic and magmatic activity into an oblique, throughgoing rift zone of near pure extension directly connecting the rift sectors

Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Heat Exchangers for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover

The addition of the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover requires an advanced thermal control system that is able to both recover and reject the waste heat from the MMRTG as needed in order to maintain the onboard electronics at benign temperatures despite the extreme and widely varying environmental conditions experienced both on the way to Mars and on the Martian surface. Based on the previously successful Mars landed mission thermal control schemes, a mechanically pumped fluid loop (MPFL) architecture was selected as the most robust and efficient means for meeting the MSL thermal requirements. The MSL heat recovery and rejection system (HRS) is comprised of two Freon (CFC-11) MPFLs that interact closely with one another to provide comprehensive thermal management throughout all mission phases. The first loop, called the Rover HRS (RHRS), consists of a set of pumps, thermal control valves, and heat exchangers (HXs) that enables the transport of heat from the MMRTG to the rover electronics during cold conditions or from the electronics straight to the environment for immediate heat rejection during warm conditions. The second loop, called the Cruise HRS (CHRS), is thermally coupled to the RHRS during the cruise to Mars, and provides a means for dissipating the waste heat more directly from the MMRTG as well as from both the cruise stage and rover avionics by promoting circulation to the cruise stage radiators. A multifunctional structure was developed that is capable of both collecting waste heat from the MMRTG and rejecting the waste heat to the surrounding environment. It consists of a pair of honeycomb core sandwich panels with HRS tubes bonded to both sides. Two similar HX assemblies were designed to surround the MMRTG on the aft end of the rover. Heat acquisition is accomplished on the interior (MMRTG facing) surface of each HX while heat rejection is accomplished on the exterior surface of each HX. Since these two surfaces need to be at very different temperatures in order for the fluid loops to perform efficiently, they need to be thermally isolated from one another. The HXs were therefore designed for high in-plane thermal conductivity and extremely low through-thickness thermal conductivity by using aluminum facesheets and aerogel as insulation inside a composite honeycomb core. Complex assemblies of hand-welded and uniquely bent aluminum tubes are bonded onto each side of the HX panels, and are specifically designed to be easily mated and demated to the rest of the RHRS in order to ease the integration effort

How good is probabilistic record linkage to reconstruct reproductive histories? Results from the Aberdeen children of the 1950s study

BACKGROUND: Probabilistic record linkage is widely used in epidemiology, but studies of its validity are rare. Our aim was to validate its use to identify births to a cohort of women, being drawn from a large cohort of people born in Scotland in the early 1950s. METHODS: The Children of the 1950s cohort includes 5868 females born in Aberdeen 1950–56 who were in primary schools in the city in 1962. In 2001 a postal questionnaire was sent to the cohort members resident in the UK requesting information on offspring. Probabilistic record linkage (based on surname, maiden name, initials, date of birth and postcode) was used to link the females in the cohort to birth records held by the Scottish Maternity Record System (SMR 2). RESULTS: We attempted to mail a total of 5540 women; 3752 (68%) returned a completed questionnaire. Of these 86% reported having had at least one birth. Linkage to SMR 2 was attempted for 5634 women, one or more maternity records were found for 3743. There were 2604 women who reported at least one birth in the questionnaire and who were linked to one or more SMR 2 records. When judged against the questionnaire information, the linkage correctly identified 4930 births and missed 601 others. These mostly occurred outside of Scotland (147) or prior to full coverage by SMR 2 (454). There were 134 births incorrectly linked to SMR 2. CONCLUSION: Probabilistic record linkage to routine maternity records applied to population-based cohort, using name, date of birth and place of residence, can have high specificity, and as such may be reliably used in epidemiological research

“Further education, future prosperity? The Implications of Marketisation on Further Education Working Practices”

© 2017 Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education (ARPCE). This paper examines how the marketised funding system of vocational further education is affecting lecturers’ working practices and professional integrity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a number of lecturing staff and managers within two vocational areas at an English FE college to examine the implications of working under the current funding regime. The conclusions drawn reflect the complexity of working within FE showing how lecturers are frequently placed in a professional dilemma between securing future funding (by ensuring high levels of retention and achievement) and compromising their professional integrity and working practices in order to do so. A key finding here was the inherent tension between professional integrity and funding requirements apparently directly opposing ‘good’ practice. This means FE professionals experience what Whitehead called ‘a living contradiction’ in their working lives, increasing stress levels and diminishing their sense of professionalism