512 research outputs found
Exploring Consumersâ Attitudes of Smart TV Related Privacy Risks
A number of privacy risks are inherent in the Smart TV ecosystem. It is likely that many consumers are unaware of these privacy risks. Alternatively, they might be aware but consider the privacy risks acceptable. In order to explore this, we carried out an online survey with 200 participants to determine whether consumers were aware of Smart TV related privacy risks. The responses revealed a meagre level of awareness. We also explored consumersâ attitudes towards specific Smart TV related privacy risks.
We isolated a number of factors that influenced rankings and used these to develop awareness-raising messages. We tested these messages in an online survey with 155 participants. The main finding was that participants were generally unwilling to disconnect their Smart TVs from the Internet because they valued the Smart TVâs Internet functionality more than their privacy. We subsequently evaluated the awareness-raising messages in a second survey with 169 participants, framing the question differently. We asked participants to choose between five different Smart TV Internet connection options, two of which retained functionality but entailed expending time and/or effort to preserve privacy
Lipodystrophy as a late effect after stem cell transplantation
Survivors of childhood cancer are at high risk of developing metabolic diseases in adulthood. Recently, several patients developing partial lipodystrophy following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have been described. In this review, we summarize the cases described so far and discuss potential underlying mechanisms of the disease. The findings suggest that HSCT-associated lipodystrophies may be seen as a novel form of acquired lipodystrophy
Formation of ultracold RbCs molecules by photoassociation
The formation of ultracold metastable RbCs molecules is observed in a double
species magneto-optical trap through photoassociation below the
^85Rb(5S_1/2)+^133Cs(6P_3/2) dissociation limit followed by spontaneous
emission. The molecules are detected by resonance enhanced two-photon
ionization. Using accurate quantum chemistry calculations of the potential
energy curves and transition dipole moment, we interpret the observed
photoassociation process as occurring at short internuclear distance, in
contrast with most previous cold atom photoassociation studies. The vibrational
levels excited by photoassociation belong to the 5th 0^+ or the 4th 0^-
electronic states correlated to the Rb(5P_1/2,3/2)+Cs(6S_1/2) dissociation
limit. The computed vibrational distribution of the produced molecules shows
that they are stabilized in deeply bound vibrational states of the lowest
triplet state. We also predict that a noticeable fraction of molecules is
produced in the lowest level of the electronic ground state
CD90 is dispensable for white and beige/brown adipocyte differentiation
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a thermogenic organ in rodents and humans. In mice, the transplantation of BAT has been successfully used to combat obesity and its comorbidities. While such beneficial properties of BAT are now evident, the developmental and cellular origins of brown, beige, and white adipocytes have remained only poorly understood, especially in humans. We recently discovered that CD90 is highly expressed in stromal cells isolated from human white adipose tissue (WAT) compared to BAT. Here, we studied whether CD90 interferes with brown or white adipogenesis or white adipocyte beiging. We applied flow cytometric sorting of human adipose tissue stromal cells (ASCs), a CRISPR/Cas9 knockout strategy in the human Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS) adipocyte model system, as well as a siRNA approach in human approaches supports the hypothesis that CD90 affects brown or white adipogenesis or white adipocyte beiging in humans. Taken together, our findings call the conclusions drawn from previous studies, which claimed a central role of CD90 in adipocyte differentiation, into question
Ideal Multipole Ion Traps from Planar Ring Electrodes
We present designs for multipole ion traps based on a set of planar, annular,
concentric electrodes which require only rf potentials to confine ions. We
illustrate the desirable properties of the traps by considering a few simple
cases of confined ions. We predict that mm-scale surface traps may have trap
depths as high as tens of electron volts, or micromotion amplitudes in a 2-D
ion crystal as low as tens of nanometers, when parameters of a magnitude common
in the field are chosen. Several example traps are studied, and the scaling of
those properties with voltage, frequency, and trap scale, for small numbers of
ions, is derived. In addition, ions with very high charge-to-mass ratios may be
confined in the trap, and species of very different charge-to-mass ratios may
be simultaneously confined. Applications of these traps include quantum
information science, frequency metrology, and cold ion-atom collisions.Comment: Section on trapping of a single ion added, two figures added, one
formula corrected, otherwise minor change
Intercomparación multilateral de potencia elétrica, entre los laboratorios nacionales de Alemania, Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay
Se presentan en este trabajo los resultados de la intercomparaciĂłn en Potencia ElĂ©ctrica, entre los Laboratorios Nacionales de Alemania: Physikalisch â Technischen Bundesanstalt (PTB), Argentina: Instituto Nacional de TecnologĂa Industrial (INTI), Brasil: Instituto Nacional de MetrologĂa, Normalizaçao e Qualidade Industrial (INMETRO) y Uruguay: Usinas y Trasmisiones ElĂ©ctricas (UTE), llevada a cabo durante 2004. El elemento utilizado como instrumento viajero fue un patrĂłn de potencia perteneciente al PTB. Los resultados muestran valores compatibles para todos los laboratorios participantes, teniendo en cuenta los valores de desvĂo como las incertidumbres declaradas.Fil: Izquierdo, D. Usinas y Trasmisiones ElĂ©ctricas (UTE); UruguayFil: Faverio, C. Usinas y Trasmisiones ElĂ©ctricas (UTE); UruguayFil: Slomovitz, D. Usinas y Trasmisiones ElĂ©ctricas (UTE); UruguayFil: Ihlenfeld, W. G. K. Physikalisch â Technischen Bundesanstalt (PTB); AlemaniaFil: Di Lillo, Lucas. Instituto Nacional de TecnologĂa Industrial (INTI); ArgentinaFil: Laiz, HĂ©ctor. Instituto Nacional de TecnologĂa Industrial (INTI); ArgentinaFil: GarcĂa, Ricardo. Instituto Nacional de TecnologĂa Industrial (INTI); ArgentinaFil: Franco, A. M. R. Instituto Nacional de MetrologĂa, Normalizaçao e Qualidade Industrial (INMetro); BrasilFil: Debatin, R. M. Instituto Nacional de MetrologĂa, Normalizaçao e Qualidade Industrial (INMetro); Brasi
Dexamethasone-induced cisplatin and gemcitabine resistance in lung carcinoma samples treated ex vivo
Chemotherapy for lung cancer not only has severe side effects but frequently also exhibits limited, if any clinical effectiveness. Dexamethasone (DEX) and similar glucocorticoids (GCs) such as prednisone are often used in the clinical setting, for example, as cotreatment to prevent nausea and other symptoms. Clinical trials evaluating the impact of GCs on tumour control and patient survival of lung carcinoma have never been performed. Therefore, we isolated cancer cells from resected lung tumour specimens and treated them with cisplatin in the presence or absence of DEX. Cell number of viable and dead cells was evaluated by trypan blue exclusion and viability was measured by the MTT-assay. We found that DEX induced resistance toward cisplatin in all of 10 examined tumour samples. Similar results were found using gemcitabine as cytotoxic drug. Survival of drug-treated lung carcinoma cells in the presence of DEX was longlasting as examined 2 and 3 weeks after cisplatin treatment of a lung carcinoma cell line. These data corroborate recent in vitro and in vivo xenograft findings and rise additional concerns about the widespread combined use of DEX with antineoplastic drugs in the clinical management of patients with lung cancer
Essential versus accessory aspects of cell death: recommendations of the NCCD 2015
Cells exposed to extreme physicochemical or mechanical stimuli die in an uncontrollable manner, as a result of their immediate structural breakdown. Such an unavoidable variant of cellular demise is generally referred to as âaccidental cell deathâ (ACD). In most settings, however, cell death is initiated by a genetically encoded apparatus, correlating with the fact that its course can be altered by pharmacologic or genetic interventions. âRegulated cell deathâ (RCD) can occur as part of physiologic programs or can be activated once adaptive responses to perturbations of the extracellular or intracellular microenvironment fail. The biochemical phenomena that accompany RCD may be harnessed to classify it into a few subtypes, which often (but not always) exhibit stereotyped morphologic features. Nonetheless, efficiently inhibiting the processes that are commonly thought to cause RCD, such as the activation of executioner caspases in the course of apoptosis, does not exert true cytoprotective effects in the mammalian system, but simply alters the kinetics of cellular demise as it shifts its morphologic and biochemical correlates. Conversely, bona fide cytoprotection can be achieved by inhibiting the transduction of lethal signals in the early phases of the process, when adaptive responses are still operational. Thus, the mechanisms that truly execute RCD may be less understood, less inhibitable and perhaps more homogeneous than previously thought. Here, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death formulates a set of recommendations to help scientists and researchers to discriminate between essential and accessory aspects of cell death
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