Dissecting the Discourse of Social Licence to Operate

The term “social licence to operate”, or SLO, has increasingly featured in public discussion about commercial operations in the marine environment. As part of the Sustainable Seas National Challenge, we are studying how this term is being used in New Zealand and its implications for industry-community relations

Discourse, agency, and social license to operate in New Zealand's marine economy

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Functional renormalization group in the broken symmetry phase: momentum dependence and two-parameter scaling of the self-energy

We include spontaneous symmetry breaking into the functional renormalization group (RG) equations for the irreducible vertices of Ginzburg-Landau theories by augmenting these equations by a flow equation for the order parameter, which is determined from the requirement that at each RG step the vertex with one external leg vanishes identically. Using this strategy, we propose a simple truncation of the coupled RG flow equations for the vertices in the broken symmetry phase of the Ising universality class in D dimensions. Our truncation yields the full momentum dependence of the self-energy Sigma (k) and interpolates between lowest order perturbation theory at large momenta k and the critical scaling regime for small k. Close to the critical point, our method yields the self-energy in the scaling form Sigma (k) = k_c^2 sigma^{-} (k | xi, k / k_c), where xi is the order parameter correlation length, k_c is the Ginzburg scale, and sigma^{-} (x, y) is a dimensionless two-parameter scaling function for the broken symmetry phase which we explicitly calculate within our truncation.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, puplished versio

Optical Properties of Strained Graphene

The optical conductivity of graphene strained uniaxially is studied within the Kubo-Greenwood formalism. Focusing on inter-band absorption, we analyze and quantify the breakdown of universal transparency in the visible region of the spectrum, and analytically characterize the transparency as a function of strain and polarization. Measuring transmittance as a function of incident polarization directly reflects the magnitude and direction of strain. Moreover, direction-dependent selection rules permit identification of the lattice orientation by monitoring the van-Hove transitions. These photoelastic effects in graphene can be explored towards atomically thin, broadband optical elements

Therapies with CCL25 require controlled release via microparticles to avoid strong inflammatory reactions

Background: Chemokine therapy with C-C motif chemokine ligand 25 (CCL25) is currently under investigation as a promising approach to treat articular cartilage degeneration. We developed a delayed release mechanism based on Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticle encapsulation for intraarticular injections to ensure prolonged release of therapeutic dosages. However, CCL25 plays an important role in immune cell regulation and inflammatory processes like T-cell homing and chronic tissue inflammation. Therefore, the potential of CCL25 to activate immune cells must be assessed more thoroughly before further translation into clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reaction of different immune cell subsets upon stimulation with different dosages of CCL25 in comparison to CCL25 released from PLGA particles. Results: Immune cell subsets were treated for up to 5 days with CCL25 and subsequently analyzed regarding their cytokine secretion, surface marker expression, polarization, and migratory behavior. The CCL25 receptor C-C chemokine receptor type 9 (CCR9) was expressed to a different extent on all immune cell subsets. Direct stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with high dosages of CCL25 resulted in strong increases in the secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), tumor-necrosis-factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), upregulation of human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) on monocytes and CD4(+) T-cells, as well as immune cell migration along a CCL25 gradient. Immune cell stimulation with the supernatants from CCL25 loaded PLGA microparticles caused moderate increases in MCP-1, IL-8, and IL-1 beta levels, but no changes in surface marker expression or migration. Both CCL25-loaded and unloaded PLGA microparticles induced an increase in IL-8 and MCP-1 release in PBMCs and macrophages, and a slight shift of the surface marker profile towards the direction of M2-macrophage polarization. Conclusions: While supernatants of CCL25 loaded PLGA microparticles did not provoke strong inflammatory reactions, direct stimulation with CCL25 shows the critical potential to induce global inflammatory activation of human leukocytes at certain concentrations. These findings underline the importance of a safe and reliable release system in a therapeutic setup. Failure of the delivery system could result in strong local and systemic inflammatory reactions that could potentially negate the benefits of chemokine therapy

Non-perturbative renormalization-group approach to zero-temperature Bose systems

We use a non-perturbative renormalization-group technique to study interacting bosons at zero temperature. Our approach reveals the instability of the Bogoliubov fixed point when $d\leq 3$ and yields the exact infrared behavior in all dimensions $d>1$ within a rather simple theoretical framework. It also enables to compute the low-energy properties in terms of the parameters of a microscopic model. In one-dimension and for not too strong interactions, it yields a good picture of the Luttinger-liquid behavior of the superfluid phase.Comment: v1) 6 pages, 8 figures; v2) added references; v3) corrected typo

Pcdh18a regulates endocytosis of E-cadherin during axial mesoderm development in zebrafish

The notochord defines the axial structure of all vertebrates during development. Notogenesis is a result of major cell reorganization in the mesoderm, the convergence and the extension of the axial cells. However, it is currently not fully understood how these processes act together in a coordinated way during notochord formation. The prechordal plate is an actively migrating cell population in the central mesoderm anterior to the trailing notochordal plate cells. We show that prechordal plate cells express Protocadherin 18a (Pcdh18a), a member of the cadherin superfamily. We find that Pcdh18a-mediated recycling of E-cadherin adhesion complexes transforms prechordal plate cells into a cohesive and fast migrating cell group. In turn, the prechordal plate cells subsequently instruct the trailing mesoderm. We simulated cell migration during early mesoderm formation using a lattice-based mathematical framework and predicted that the requirement for an anterior, local motile cell cluster could guide the intercalation and extension of the posterior, axial cells. Indeed, a grafting experiment validated the prediction and local Pcdh18a expression induced an ectopic prechordal plate-like cell group migrating towards the animal pole. Our findings indicate that the Pcdh18a is important for prechordal plate formation, which influences the trailing mesodermal cell sheet by orchestrating the morphogenesis of the notochord

Diagnostic pitfalls in fine needle aspiration of solitary pulmonary nodules: two cases with radio-cyto-histological correlation

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration is an important tool for diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of solitary nodules of the lung. It provides a definitive diagnosis in most patients at low cost with minimal trauma. However, because of the nature of the study and the presentation of the cells in a more distorted and incomplete tissue structure than a histological slide, false positive results can occur. Prior detailed clinical knowledge about the patient, procedures and methods of radiology in obtaining the aspirate specimen is extremely useful in the accurate interpretation of fine needle cytological specimens. CASE PRESENTATION: We report two cases of solitary pulmonary nodules in two elderly females, which were initially diagnosed as malignant by fine needle aspiration biopsy. Both cases subsequently underwent pulmonary lobectomy in which, one turned out to be a pulmonary hamartoma and the other appeared to be a middle lobe syndrome of the right lung with liver tissue contamination at the time of fine needle aspiration of the lung. CONCLUSIONS: We are now strong believers that much care must be taken in the interpretation of fine needle aspiration of solitary nodules of the lung. Complete study of the entire specimen, including the cell block, is warranted, since what one interprets as malignant, could have different features in another part of the sample. Last but not the least, prior knowledge of the complete clinical history of the patient together with the salient radiological findings would greatly facilitate the cytopathologist to reach an accurate diagnosis

Infrared behavior of interacting bosons at zero temperature

We review the infrared behavior of interacting bosons at zero temperature. After a brief discussion of the Bogoliubov approximation and the breakdown of perturbation theory due to infrared divergences, we present two approaches that are free of infrared divergences -- Popov's hydrodynamic theory and the non-perturbative renormalization group -- and allow us to obtain the exact infrared behavior of the correlation functions. We also point out the connection between the infrared behavior in the superfluid phase and the critical behavior at the superfluid--Mott-insulator transition in the Bose-Hubbard model.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of the 19th International Laser Physics Workshop, LPHYS'10 (Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, July 5-9, 2010

Optical Hall conductivity of systems with gapped spectral nodes

We calculate the optical Hall conductivity within the Kubo formalism for systems with gapped spectral nodes, where the latter have a power-law dispersion with exponent n. The optical conductivity is proportional to n and there is a characteristic logarithmic singularity as the frequency approaches the gap energy. The optical Hall conductivity is almost unaffected by thermal fluctuations and disorder for n=1, whereas disorder has a stronger effect on transport properties if n=2