ESR studies of the slow tumbling of vanadyl spin probes in nematic liquid crystals

ESR line shapes that are appropriate for slowly tumbling vanadyl spin probes in viscous nematic liquid crystals were calculated by the stochastic Liouville method. Because of the symmetry possessed by vanadyl, the analysis and interpretation of these line shapes was simplified considerably. Spectral line shapes agreed well with experimental spectra of VOAcAc in the nematic liquid crystal Phase V and BEPC. Deviations from Brownian rotational diffusion were noted. A slowly fluctuating torque analysis yielded good agreement with the experimental spectra

Darwin -— an experimental astronomy mission to search for extrasolar planets

As a response to ESA call for mission concepts for its Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 plan, we propose a mission called Darwin. Its primary goal is the study of terrestrial extrasolar planets and the search for life on them. In this paper, we describe different characteristics of the instrument

Garlic extract induces intestinal P-glycoprotein, but exhibits no effect on intestinal and hepatic CYP3A4 in humans

Garlic extracts have been shown to decrease drug exposure for saquinavir, a P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A4 substrate. In order to explore the underlying mechanisms and to study the effects of garlic on pre-systemic drug elimination, healthy volunteers were administered garlic extract for 21 days. Prior to and at the end of this period, expression of duodenal P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A4 protein were assayed and normalized to villin, while hepatic cytochrome P450 3A4 function and simvastatin, pravastatin and saquinavir pharmacokinetics were also evaluated. Ingestion of garlic extract increased expression of duodenal P-glycoprotein to 131% (95% CI, 105-163%), without increasing the expression of cytochrome P450 3A4 which amounted to 87% (95% CI, 67-112%), relative to baseline in both cases. For the erythromycin breath test performed, the average result was 96% (95% CI, 83-112%). Ingestion of garlic extract had no effect on drug and metabolite AUCs following a single dose of simvastatin or pravastatin, although the average area under the plasma concentration curve (AUC) of saquinavir decreased to 85% (95% CI, 66-109%), and changes in intestinal P-glycoprotein expression negatively correlated with this change. In conclusion, garlic extract induces intestinal expression of P-glycoprotein independent of cytochrome P450 3A4 in human intestine and liver

Nonhumans in participatory design

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article examines the role that nonhumans play in participatory design. Research and practice concerned with participatory design mostly focuses on human participants, however nonhumans also participate in the design process and can play a significant role in shaping the process. This article focuses on how nonhumans participate in the design process. An empirical case study is used to illustrate how humans and nonhumans assemble to form networks in order to effect a design. Nonhumans increase the level of participation in a design process. The case study reveals how nonhumans help to maintain, destroy or strengthen networks by substituting, mediating and communicating with humans and often, in doing so, making human actors more or less visible in the process. Nonhumans play a part in configuring the social. Revealing the presence and roles of nonhumans is an important means through which to increase the democracy within the design process

A review of the relationship between proinflammatory cytokines and major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Determining etiological factors and reviewing advances in diagnostic modalities sensitive and specific to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is of importance in its evaluation and treatment. The inflammatory hypothesis is one of the most prevalent topics concerning MDD and may provide insight into the pathogenesis of depression, development of biomarkers, and ultimately production of more effective depression therapies. METHOD: We reviewed several studies to evaluate contemporary concepts concerning proinflammatory cytokines and their relationship to various depressive disorders, the use of anti-inflammatory therapies in MDD treatment, and the application of neuroimaging in conjunction with cytokine profiles from both plasma and CSF as possible diagnostic tools. RESULTS: Proinflammatory cytokines in both plasma and CSF have been found to influence the progression and severity of depressive disorders in different populations. Studies have shown elevated serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, CRP, and MCP-1 in depressed patients, but have presented mixed results with IL-8 serum levels, and with IL-6 and MCP-1 CSF levels. Anti-inflammatory treatment of MDD may have adjuvant properties with current depression medications. MRI and NIRS neuroimaging confirm neurological abnormalities in the presence of elevated proinflammatory cytokines in depressed or stressed patients. LIMITATIONS: Heterogeneity of MDD and limited CSF cytokine research complicate the study of MDD pathogenesis. CONCLUSION: There is significant evidence that inflammatory processes influence the development and progression of MDD. Future studies with larger arrays of cytokine profiles aided by neuroimaging may provide more sensitive and specific modes of diagnostics in determining MDD etiology and provide guidance in individual therapies

What macromolecular crystallogenesis tells us – what is needed in the future

Crystallogenesis is a longstanding topic that has transformed into a discipline that is mainly focused on the preparation of crystals for practising crystallographers. Although the idiosyncratic features of proteins have to be taken into account, the crystallization of proteins is governed by the same physics as the crystallization of inorganic materials. At present, a diversified panel of crystallization methods adapted to proteins has been validated, and although only a few methods are in current practice, the success rate of crystallization has increased constantly, leading to the determination of ∼105 X-ray structures. These structures reveal a huge repertoire of protein folds, but they only cover a restricted part of macromolecular diversity across the tree of life. In the future, crystals representative of missing structures or that will better document the structural dynamics and functional steps underlying biological processes need to be grown. For the pertinent choice of biologically relevant targets, computer-guided analysis of structural databases is needed. From another perspective, crystallization is a self-assembly process that can occur in the bulk of crowded fluids, with crystals being supramolecular assemblies. Life also uses self-assembly and supramolecular processes leading to transient, or less often stable, complexes. An integrated view of supramolecularity implies that proteins crystallizing either in vitro or in vivo or participating in cellular processes share common attributes, notably determinants and antideterminants that favour or disfavour their correct or incorrect associations. As a result, under in vivo conditions proteins show a balance between features that favour or disfavour association. If this balance is broken, disorders/diseases occur. Understanding crystallization under in vivo conditions is a challenge for the future. In this quest, the analysis of packing contacts and contacts within oligomers will be crucial in order to decipher the rules governing protein self-assembly and will guide the engineering of novel biomaterials. In a wider perspective, understanding such contacts will open the route towards supramolecular biology and generalized crystallogenesis

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO