Nature versus number : monocytes in cardiovascular disease

Monocytes play a key role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) as their influx into the vessel wall is necessary for the development of an atherosclerotic plaque. Monocytes are, however, heterogeneous differentiating from classical monocytes through the intermediate subset to the nonclassical subset. While it is recognized that the percentage of intermediate and nonclassical monocytes are higher in individuals with CVD, accompanying changes in inflammatory markers suggest a functional impact on disease development that goes beyond the increased proportion of these ‘inflammatory’ monocyte subsets. Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates that changes in monocyte proportion and function arise in dyslipidemia, with lipid lowering medication having some effect on reversing these changes. This review explores the nature and number of monocyte subsets in CVD addressing what they are, when they arise, the effect of lipid lowering treatment, and the possible implications for plaque development. Understanding these associations will deepen our understanding of the clinical significance of monocytes in CVD

Measuring poverty in Britain as a multi-dimensional concept, 1991 to 2003

While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multi-dimensionality and facilitate comparison of trends over time. Structural equation modelling appears to offer a solution to this conundrum and is used to exploit the British Household Panel Study to create a multi-dimensional measure of poverty. The analysis reveals that the decline in poverty in Britain between 1991 and 2003 was driven by falls in material deprivation, but more especially by reduced financial stress, particularly during the early 1990s. The limitations and potential of the new approach are critically discussed. © 2008 Cambridge University Press

The role of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) in Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion to host tissues and subsequent antibiotic tolerance

The aim of this study was to determine the role of polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) in Staphylococcus epidermidis adhesion to host tissues and subsequent antibiotic tolerance. The adherence of S. epidermidis 1457 and the mutant defective in PIA production (1457-M10) to urinary epithelium and endothelium was estimated by colony counting. Minimum bactericidal concentration and mean reduction of cellular activity (XTT) following antibiotic exposure was determined for planktonic and adhered bacteria. S. epidermidis 1457 adhered to a greater extent to both cells than the mutant strain. The adhered strains had a significantly higher antimicrobial tolerance than their planktonic counterparts. The mutant strain was, in general, the most susceptible to the antibiotics assayed. In conclusion, PIA may influence S. epidermidis adherence to host tissues and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Initial adhesion may be the main step for the acquisition of resistance in S. epidermidis

Power and Scale: The Shifting Geography of Industrial Relations Law in Australia

In an increasingly complex literature exploring the geographies of socially constructed scale, interest has focused on the relationship between scale, power and the contested political terrains through which these relations are played out. In this paper, I argue that these interactions must be understood in specific contexts, where shifts in scale are inextricably linked to shifts in the sources and instruments of power. By applying a scale perspective to the analysis of recent industrial relations legislation in Australia, I show that the nature and direction of rescaling is “fixed” by the powers of institutional actors and the scope of their jurisdictions. I then draw on the distinctively scaled relations of the Australian context to assess the extent to which Australia's national rescaling processes can be seen as representing a process of convergence toward universal “spaces of neoliberalism”

Microwave heating of polymers: Influence of carbon nanotubes dispersion on the microwave susceptor effectiveness

"This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Galindo, Begoña, Adolfo Benedito, Fernando Ramos, and Enrique Gimenez. 2016. Microwave Heating of Polymers: Influence of Carbon Nanotubes Dispersion on the Microwave Susceptor Effectiveness. Polymer Engineering & Science 56 (12). Wiley: 1321 29. doi:10.1002/pen.24365, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/pen.24365. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[EN] Carbon nanotubes dispersion within the polymer matrix is a very important factor to take into account when developing new nanocomposites with optimized properties. In this article, dispersion studies have been carried out with polypropylene filled with 1% of multiwall carbon nanotubes. The nanocomposites were obtained by melt compounding in a corotative twin screw extruder. Processing parameters as screw speed, screw configuration and feeding technology were modified to analyse their effect onto carbon nanotubes dispersion. Developed nanocomposites were exposed to microwave heating (5.8 GHz, 700 W, 60 min) and heating temperature was monitored. The relation between dispersion level of carbon nanotubes and heating effectiveness was studied. Microwave heating efficiency of carbon nanotubes was increased as dispersion was improved. Electrical conductivity of nanocomposites was measured and used as indirect variable of microwave heating susceptor of carbon nanotubes nanocomposites. Higher electrical conductivity indicates a better microwave susceptor propertiy of the nanocomposite. (C) 2016 Society of Plastics EngineersGalindo-Galiana, B.; Benedito-Borrás, A.; Ramos, F.; Giménez Torres, E. (2016). Microwave heating of polymers: Influence of carbon nanotubes dispersion on the microwave susceptor effectiveness. Polymer Engineering & Science. 56(12):1321-1329. https://doi.org/10.1002/pen.24365S132113295612Ku, H. S., Siu, F., Siores, E., & Ball, J. A. R. (2003). Variable frequency microwave (VFM) processing facilities and application in processing thermoplastic matrix composites. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 139(1-3), 291-295. doi:10.1016/s0924-0136(03)00238-3Ku, H. S., MacRobert, M., Siores, E., & Ball, J. A. R. (2000). Variable frequency microwave processing of thermoplastic composites. Plastics, Rubber and Composites, 29(6), 278-284. doi:10.1179/146580100101541076Williams, N. H. (1967). Curing Epoxy Resin Impregnates Pipe at 2450 Megahertz. Journal of Microwave Power, 2(4), 123-127. doi:10.1080/00222739.1967.11688661Antonio, C., & Deam, R. T. (2005). Comparison of linear and non-linear sweep rate regimes in variable frequency microwave technique for uniform heating in materials processing. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 169(2), 234-241. doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2005.03.024I. Gómez J. Aguilar Ciencia UANL 2005AGUILAR-GARIB, J. A., GARCÍA, F., & VALDEZ, Z. (2009). Estimating resistive and dielectric effects during microwave heating of Fe0.22Ni0.67Mn2.11O4. Journal of the Ceramic Society of Japan, 117(1367), 801-807. doi:10.2109/jcersj2.117.801Harper, J., Price, D., & Zhang, J. (2005). Use of Fillers to Enable the Microwave Processing of Polyethylene. Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy, 40(4), 219-227. doi:10.1080/08327823.2005.11688543Ling, Q., Sun, J., Zhao, Q., & Zhou, Q. (2009). Microwave absorbing properties of linear low density polyethylene/ethylene–octene copolymer composites filled with short carbon fiber. Materials Science and Engineering: B, 162(3), 162-166. doi:10.1016/j.mseb.2009.03.023Shim, H. C., Kwak, Y. K., Han, C.-S., & Kim, S. (2009). Enhancement of adhesion between carbon nanotubes and polymer substrates using microwave irradiation. Scripta Materialia, 61(1), 32-35. doi:10.1016/j.scriptamat.2009.02.060Xie, R., Wang, J., Yang, Y., Jiang, K., Li, Q., & Fan, S. (2011). Aligned carbon nanotube coating on polyethylene surface formed by microwave radiation. Composites Science and Technology, 72(1), 85-90. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2011.10.003Wadhawan, A., Garrett, D., & Perez, J. M. (2003). Nanoparticle-assisted microwave absorption by single-wall carbon nanotubes. Applied Physics Letters, 83(13), 2683-2685. doi:10.1063/1.1615679F. Naab M. Dhoubhadel O.W. Holland J.L. Duggan J. Roberts F.D. McDaniel Proceedings Of the International Conference on PIXE and its Analytical Applications Portoroz Slovenia 2004Mack, C., Sathyanarayana, S., Weiss, P., Mikonsaari, I., Hübner, C., Henning, F., & Elsner, P. (2012). Twin-screw extrusion of multi walled carbon nanotubes reinforced polycarbonate composites: Investigation of electrical and mechanical properties. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 40, 012020. doi:10.1088/1757-899x/40/1/012020Castillo, F. Y., Socher, R., Krause, B., Headrick, R., Grady, B. P., Prada-Silvy, R., & Pötschke, P. (2011). Electrical, mechanical, and glass transition behavior of polycarbonate-based nanocomposites with different multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Polymer, 52(17), 3835-3845. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2011.06.018Coleman, J. N., Cadek, M., Blake, R., Nicolosi, V., Ryan, K. P., Belton, C., … Blau, W. J. (2004). High Performance Nanotube-Reinforced Plastics: Understanding the Mechanism of Strength Increase. Advanced Functional Materials, 14(8), 791-798. doi:10.1002/adfm.200305200Krause, B., Pötschke, P., & Häußler, L. (2009). Influence of small scale melt mixing conditions on electrical resistivity of carbon nanotube-polyamide composites. Composites Science and Technology, 69(10), 1505-1515. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.07.007Prashantha, K., Soulestin, J., Lacrampe, M. F., Claes, M., Dupin, G., & Krawczak, P. (2008). Multi-walled carbon nanotube filled polypropylene nanocomposites based on masterbatch route: Improvement of dispersion and mechanical properties through PP-g-MA addition. Express Polymer Letters, 2(10), 735-745. doi:10.3144/expresspolymlett.2008.87Benedito, A., Buezas, I., Giménez, E., Galindo, B., & Ortega, A. (2011). Dispersion and characterization of thermoplastic polyurethane/multiwalled carbon nanotubes by melt mixing. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 122(6), 3744-3750. doi:10.1002/app.34788Villmow, T., Pötschke, P., Pegel, S., Häussler, L., & Kretzschmar, B. (2008). Influence of twin-screw extrusion conditions on the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in a poly(lactic acid) matrix. Polymer, 49(16), 3500-3509. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2008.06.010Kasaliwal, G. R., Göldel, A., Pötschke, P., & Heinrich, G. (2011). Influences of polymer matrix melt viscosity and molecular weight on MWCNT agglomerate dispersion. Polymer, 52(4), 1027-1036. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2011.01.007Krause, B., Boldt, R., & Pötschke, P. (2011). A method for determination of length distributions of multiwalled carbon nanotubes before and after melt processing. Carbon, 49(4), 1243-1247. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2010.11.04

The ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury IX. Constraining asymptotic giant branch evolution with old metal-poor galaxies

In an attempt to constrain evolutionary models of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase at the limit of low masses and low metallicities, we have examined the luminosity functions and number ratio between AGB and red giant branch (RGB) stars from a sample of resolved galaxies from the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (ANGST). This database provides HST optical photometry together with maps of completeness, photometric errors, and star formation histories for dozens of galaxies within 4 Mpc. We select 12 galaxies characterized by predominantly metal-poor populations as indicated by a very steep and blue RGB, and which do not present any indication of recent star formation in their color--magnitude diagrams. Thousands of AGB stars brighter than the tip of the RGB (TRGB) are present in the sample (between 60 and 400 per galaxy), hence the Poisson noise has little impact in our measurements of the AGB/RGB ratio. We model the photometric data with a few sets of thermally pulsing AGB (TP-AGB) evolutionary models with different prescriptions for the mass loss. This technique allows us to set stringent constraints to the TP-AGB models of low-mass metal-poor stars (with M<1.5 Msun, [Fe/H]<~-1.0). Indeed, those which satisfactorily reproduce the observed AGB/RGB ratios have TP-AGB lifetimes between 1.2 and 1.8 Myr, and finish their nuclear burning lives with masses between 0.51 and 0.55 Msun. This is also in good agreement with recent observations of white dwarf masses in the M4 old globular cluster. These constraints can be added to those already derived from Magellanic Cloud star clusters as important mileposts in the arduous process of calibrating AGB evolutionary models.Comment: To appear in ApJ, a version with better resolution is in http://stev.oapd.inaf.it/~lgirardi/rgbagb.pd

Bilateral Syphilitic Optic Neuropathy with Secondary Autoimmune Optic Neuropathy and Poor Visual Outcome

We describe the case of a 65-year-old man who suffered progressive visual loss despite appropriate treatment of ocular syphilis. Our patient initially presented with a unilateral 6th nerve palsy and associated double vision, which self-resolved over 6 months. His ophthalmic examination was otherwise normal. 12 months after the initial complaint, he represented with dyschromatopsia, reduced visual acuity, tonic pupils, and optic nerve atrophy. He tested positive for syphilis and was admitted for treatment of neurosyphilis with high-dose benzylpenicillin. Despite treatment, at a 4-month review his visual acuity remained poor and progression of optic nerve atrophy was noted alongside the development of bilateral central scotomas. Further testing was congruent with a diagnosis of autoimmune optic retinopathy. We propose this to be secondary to his syphilitic infection. Syphilis is known as the “great mimicker,” and despite being quite treatable, this case highlights ongoing complexity in the diagnosis and management of syphilis, unfortunately with a poor visual outcome

WFPC2 Observations of the Hubble Deep Field-South

The Hubble Deep Field-South observations targeted a high-galactic-latitude field near QSO J2233-606. We present WFPC2 observations of the field in four wide bandpasses centered at roughly 300, 450, 606, and 814 nm. Observations, data reduction procedures, and noise properties of the final images are discussed in detail. A catalog of sources is presented, and the number counts and color distributions of the galaxies are compared to a new catalog of the HDF-N that has been constructed in an identical manner. The two fields are qualitatively similar, with the galaxy number counts for the two fields agreeing to within 20%. The HDF-S has more candidate Lyman-break galaxies at z > 2 than the HDF-N. The star-formation rate per unit volume computed from the HDF-S, based on the UV luminosity of high-redshift candidates, is a factor of 1.9 higher than from the HDF-N at z ~ 2.7, and a factor of 1.3 higher at z ~ 4.Comment: 93 pages, 25 figures; contains very long table

Ethyl 2-(2,3,4,5,6-Penta­bromo­phen­yl)acetate

The title compound PBPEA, C10H7Br5O2, has its ethyl acetate portion nearly orthogonal to the benzene ring, with a C—C—C—C torsion angle of 88.3 (5)°. The packing involves an inter­molecular contact with a Br⋯Br distance of 3.491 (1) Å, having C—Br⋯Br angles of 173.4 (2) and 106.0 (2)°. The crystal studied was an inversion twin