In situ chemichromic studies of interactions between a lutetium bis-octaalkyl-substituted phthalocyanine and selected biological cofactors

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ 2011 The Royal Society.Spin-coated films, approximately 100 nm thick, of a newly synthesized bis[octakis(octyl)phthalocyaninato] lutetium(III) complex on ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates exhibit pronounced chemichromic behaviour with potential application in healthcare. In situ kinetic optical absorption spectroscopic measurements show that the phthalocyanine Q-band is red shifted by 60 nm upon oxidation arising from exposure to bromine vapour. Recovery to the original state is achieved by the treatment of the oxidized films with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and l-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in an aqueous solution containing 1.5 M lithium perchlorate. The neutralization process is found to be governed by first-order kinetics. The linear increase of the reduction rate with increasing concentration of cofactors provides a basis for calibration of analyte concentrations ranging from 3.5 mM down to 0.03 mM.Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Material Command, USAF and the Leverhulme Trust

Partial Biodegradable Blend for Fused Filament Fabrication: In-Process Thermal and Post-Printing Moisture Resistance.

Despite the extensive research, the moisture-based degradation of the 3D-printed polypropylene and polylactic acid blend is not yet reported. This research is a part of study reported on partial biodegradable blends proposed for large-scale additive manufacturing applications. However, the previous work does not provide information about the stability of the proposed blend system against moisture-based degradation. Therefore, this research presents a combination of excessive physical interlocking and minimum chemical grafting in a partial biodegradable blend to achieve stability against in-process thermal and moisture-based degradation. In this regard, a blend of polylactic acid and polypropylene compatibilized with polyethylene graft maleic anhydride is presented for fused filament fabrication. The research implements, for the first time, an ANOVA for combined thermal and moisture-based degradation. The results are explained using thermochemical and microscopic techniques. Scanning electron microscopy is used for analyzing the printed blend. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has allowed studying the intermolecular interactions due to the partial blending and degradation mechanism. Differential scanning calorimetry analyzes the blending (physical interlocking or chemical grafting) and thermochemical effects of the degradation mechanism. The thermogravimetric analysis further validates the physical interlocking and chemical grafting. The novel concept of partial blending with excessive interlocking reports high mechanical stability against moisture-based degradation.Published onlin

Metabolic Syndrome features and risk of neural tube defects

Research articl

Kahler Independence of the G2-MSSM

The G2-MSSM is a model of particle physics coupled to moduli fields with interesting phenomenology both for colliders and astrophysical experiments. In this paper we consider a more general model - whose moduli Kahler potential is a completely arbitrary G2-holonomy Kahler potential and whose matter Kahler potential is also more general. We prove that the vacuum structure and spectrum of BSM particles is largely unchanged in this much more general class of theories. In particular, gaugino masses are still supressed relative to the gravitino mass and moduli masses. We also consider the effects of higher order corrections to the matter Kahler potential and find a connection between the nature of the LSP and flavor effects.Comment: Final version, matches the version published in JHE

Fucking failures: The future of fat sex

In the context of the obesity ‘epidemic’ fat people’s sex lives are cast as sterile, sexually dysfunctional or just plain non-existent. This article analyzes medical discourses of obesity and sex in order to argue that fat sex is constructed as a type of failure. Using insights from antisocial queer theory, fat sex is further shown to be queer in its failure to adhere to the specifically heteronormative dictates of what Edelman (2004) calls ‘reproductive futurism’. The analysis finally engages with Halberstam’s (2011) notion of queer failure to demonstrate how deconstructing notions of success and failure might offer fat political projects new ways to imagine the future of fat sex

Cortical thickness, surface area and volume measures in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy

OBJECTIVE Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) are neurodegenerative diseases that can be difficult to distinguish clinically. The objective of the current study was to use surface-based analysis techniques to assess cortical thickness, surface area and grey matter volume to identify unique morphological patterns of cortical atrophy in PD, MSA and PSP and to relate these patterns of change to disease duration and clinical features. METHODS High resolution 3D T1-weighted MRI volumes were acquired from 14 PD patients, 18 MSA, 14 PSP and 19 healthy control participants. Cortical thickness, surface area and volume analyses were carried out using the automated surface-based analysis package FreeSurfer (version 5.1.0). Measures of disease severity and duration were assessed for correlation with cortical morphometric changes in each clinical group. RESULTS Results show that in PSP, widespread cortical thinning and volume loss occurs within the frontal lobe, particularly the superior frontal gyrus. In addition, PSP patients also displayed increased surface area in the pericalcarine. In comparison, PD and MSA did not display significant changes in cortical morphology. CONCLUSION These results demonstrate that patients with clinically established PSP exhibit distinct patterns of cortical atrophy, particularly affecting the frontal lobe. These results could be used in the future to develop a useful clinical application of MRI to distinguish PSP patients from PD and MSA patients

A dietary pattern derived using B-vitamins and its relationship with vascular markers over the life course

Background: Diet may influence vascular function through elevated homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations. However the relationship between dietary patterns (DP), characterised by Hcy and its associated nutrients is unknown. Objective: To identify a DP characterised by plasma Hcy, dietary folate and dietary vitamin B12, and examine its associations with two markers of vascular function: carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Methods: 1562 participants of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), a British birth cohort, with dietary data measured at least once between 36 and 60–64 years, and cIMT or PWV measured at 60–64 years were included. DPs were derived using reduced rank regression with three intermediate variables: 1) plasma Hcy (μmol/L) 2) folate intake (μg/1000 kcal) 3) vitamin B12 intake (μg/1000 kcal). Multiple regression models assessed associations between the derived DP z-scores and vascular function adjusting for dietary misreporting, socioeconomic position, BMI, smoking, physical activity and diabetes. Results: A DP explaining the highest amount of shared variation (4.5%) in plasma Hcy, dietary folate and dietary vitamin B12 highly correlated with folate (r = 0.96), moderately correlated with vitamin B12 (r = 0.27), and weakly correlated with Hcy (r = 0.10). This “high B-vitamin” DP (including folate) was characterised by high intakes of vegetables, fruit and low fibre breakfast cereal, and low intakes of processed meat, white bread, sugar and preserves. No associations were observed between DP z-scores and vascular function at any time point following adjustment for covariates. Conclusion: This study explored a specific hypothesised pathway linking diet to vascular function. Although we found no consistent evidence for an association between a high B-vitamin DP and vascular function, we did observe an association with CRP and triglycerides in secondary analyses. Further analyses using strongly correlated and biologically relevant intermediate variables are required to refine investigations into diet and CVD in longitudinal cohort data

Recurrent hemorrhagic pericardial effusion in a child due to diffuse lymphangiohemangiomatosis: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Recurrent hemorrhagic pericardial effusion in children with no identifiable cause is a rare presentation.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 4-year-old Indian girl who presented with recurrent hemorrhagic pericardial effusion. Diffuse lymphangiomatosis was suspected when associated pulmonary involvement, soft tissue mediastinal mass, and lytic bone lesions were found. Pericardiectomy and lung biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of diffuse lymphangiohemangiomatosis. Partial clinical improvement occurred with thalidomide and low-dose radiotherapy, but our patient died from progressive respiratory failure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Diffuse lymphangiohemangiomatosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hemorrhagic pericardial effusion of unclear cause.</p

Aspects of Non-minimal Gauge Mediation

A large class of non-minimal gauge mediation models, such as (semi-)direct gauge mediation, predict a hierarchy between the masses of the supersymmetric standard model gauginos and those of scalar particles. We perform a comprehensive study of these non-minimal gauge mediation models, including mass calculations in semi-direct gauge mediation, to illustrate these features, and discuss the phenomenology of the models. We point out that the cosmological gravitino problem places stringent constraints on mass splittings, when the Bino is the NLSP. However, the GUT relation of the gaugino masses is broken unlike the case of minimal gauge mediation, and an NLSP other than the Bino (especially the gluino NLSP) becomes possible, relaxing the cosmological constraints. We also discuss the collider signals of the models.Comment: 56 pages, 8 figures; v2:minor corrections, references added; v3:minor correction

Diffusion tensor imaging of Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy: a tract-based spatial statistics study

Although often clinically indistinguishable in the early stages, Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) have distinct neuropathological changes. The aim of the current study was to identify white matter tract neurodegeneration characteristic of each of the three syndromes. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to perform a whole-brain automated analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data to compare differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between the three clinical groups and healthy control subjects. Further analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between these putative indices of white matter microstructure and clinical measures of disease severity and symptoms. In PSP, relative to controls, changes in DTI indices consistent with white matter tract degeneration were identified in the corpus callosum, corona radiata, corticospinal tract, superior longitudinal fasciculus, anterior thalamic radiation, superior cerebellar peduncle, medial lemniscus, retrolenticular and anterior limb of the internal capsule, cerebral peduncle and external capsule bilaterally, as well as the left posterior limb of the internal capsule and the right posterior thalamic radiation. MSA patients also displayed differences in the body of the corpus callosum corticospinal tract, cerebellar peduncle, medial lemniscus, anterior and superior corona radiata, posterior limb of the internal capsule external capsule and cerebral peduncle bilaterally, as well as the left anterior limb of the internal capsule and the left anterior thalamic radiation. No significant white matter abnormalities were observed in the PD group. Across groups, MD correlated positively with disease severity in all major white matter tracts. These results show widespread changes in white matter tracts in both PSP and MSA patients, even at a mid-point in the disease process, which are not found in patients with PD