Apparatus in the form of a disk for the separation of oxygen from other gases and/or for the pumping of oxygen and the method of removing the oxygen

An apparatus in the form of a disk for the separation of oxygen from gases, or for the pumping of oxygen, uses a substantially circular disk geometry for the solid electrolyte with radial flow of gas from the outside edge of the disk to the center of the disk. The reduction in available surface area as the gas flows toward the center of the disk reduces the oxygen removal area proportionally to provide for a more uniform removal of oxygen

Rocaglates as dual-targeting agents for experimental cerebral malaria

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe and rapidly progressing complication of infection by Plasmodium parasites that is associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. Treatment options are currently few, and intervention with artemisinin (Art) has limited efficacy, a problem that is compounded by the emergence of resistance to Art in Plasmodium parasites. Rocaglates are a class of natural products derived from plants of the Aglaia genus that have been shown to interfere with eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A), ultimately blocking initiation of protein synthesis. Here, we show that the rocaglate CR-1-31B perturbs association of Plasmodium falciparum eIF4A (PfeIF4A) with RNA. CR-1-31B shows potent prophylactic and therapeutic antiplasmodial activity in vivo in mouse models of infection with Plasmodium berghei (CM) and Plasmodium chabaudi (blood-stage malaria), and can also block replication of different clinical isolates of P. falciparum in human erythrocytes infected ex vivo, including drug-resistant P. falciparum isolates. In vivo, a single dosing of CR-1-31B in P. berghei-infected animals is sufficient to provide protection against lethality. CR-1-31B is shown to dampen expression of the early proinflammatory response in myeloid cells in vitro and dampens the inflammatory response in vivo in P. berghei-infected mice. The dual activity of CR-1-31B as an antiplasmodial and as an inhibitor of the inflammatory response in myeloid cells should prove extremely valuable for therapeutic intervention in human cases of CM.We thank Susan Gauthier, Genevieve Perreault, and Patrick Senechal for technical assistance. This work was supported by a research grant (to P.G.) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (Foundation Grant). J.P. and P.G. are supported by a James McGill Professorship salary award. D.L. is supported by fellowships from the Fonds de recherche sante Quebec, the CIHR Neuroinflammation training program. J.P. is supported by CIHR Research Grant FDN-148366. M.S. is supported by a CIHR Foundation grant. J.A.P. is supported by NIH Grant R35 GM118173. Work at the Boston University Center for Molecular Discovery is supported by Grant R24 GM111625. K.C.K. was supported by a CIHR Foundation Grant and the Canada Research Chair program. (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); James McGill Professorship salary award; Fonds de recherche sante Quebec; CIHR Neuroinflammation training program; FDN-148366 - CIHR Research Grant; CIHR Foundation grant; R35 GM118173 - NIH; Canada Research Chair program; R24 GM111625

Clinical and neurocognitive outcome in symptomatic isovaleric acidemia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite its first description over 40 years ago, knowledge of the clinical course of isovaleric acidemia (IVA), a disorder predisposing to severe acidotic episodes during catabolic stress, is still anecdotal. We aimed to investigate the phenotypic presentation and factors determining the neurological and neurocognitive outcomes of patients diagnosed with IVA following clinical manifestation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retrospective data on 21 children and adults with symptomatic IVA diagnosed from 1976 to 1999 were analyzed for outcome determinants including age at diagnosis and number of catabolic episodes. Sixteen of 21 patients were evaluated cross-sectionally focusing on the neurological and neurocognitive status. Additionally, 155 cases of patients with IVA published in the international literature were reviewed and analyzed for outcome parameters including mortality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>57% of study patients (12/21) were diagnosed within the first weeks of life and 43% (9/21) in childhood. An acute metabolic attack was the main cause of diagnostic work-up. 44% of investigated study patients (7/16) showed mild motor dysfunction and only 19% (3/16) had cognitive deficits. No other organ complications were found. The patients' intelligence quotient was not related to the number of catabolic episodes but was inversely related to age at diagnosis. In published cases, mortality was high (33%) if associated with neonatal diagnosis, following manifestation at an average age of 7 days.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Within the group of "classical" organic acidurias, IVA appears to be exceptional considering its milder neuropathologic implications. The potential to avoid neonatal mortality and to improve neurologic and cognitive outcome under early treatment reinforces IVA to be qualified for newborn screening.</p

Standing Variation and the Capacity for Change: Are Endocrine Phenotypes More Variable That Other Traits?

Circulating steroid hormone levels exhibit high variation both within and between individuals, leading some to hypothesize that these phenotypes are more variable than other morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits. This should have profound implications for the evolution of steroid signaling systems, but few studies have examined how endocrine variation compares to that of other traits or differs among populations. Here we provide such an analysis by first exploring how variation in three measures of corticosterone (CORT)—baseline, stress-induced, and post-dexamethasone injection—compares to variation in key traits characterizing morphology (wing length, mass), physiology (reactive oxygen metabolite concentration [d-ROMs] and antioxidant capacity), and behavior (provisioning rate) in two populations of tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). After controlling for measurement precision and within-individual variation, we found that only post-dex CORT was more variable than all other traits. Both baseline and stress-induced CORT exhibit higher variation than antioxidant capacity and provisioning rate, but not oxidative metabolite levels or wing length. Variation in post-dex CORT and d-ROMs was also elevated in the higher-latitude population in that inhabits a less predictable environment. We next studied how these patterns might play out on a macroevolutionary scale, assessing patterns of variation in baseline testosterone (T) and multiple non-endocrine traits (body length, mass, social display rate, and locomotion rate) across 17 species of Anolis lizards. At the macroevolutionary level, we found that circulating T levels and the rate of social display output are higher than other behavioral and morphological traits. Altogether, our results support the idea that within-population variability in steroid levels is substantial, but not exceptionally higher than many other traits that define animal phenotypes. As such, circulating steroid levels in free-living animals should be considered traits that exhibit similar levels of variability from individual to individual in a population

Elastic Differential Cross Sections for Small-Angle Scattering of 25-, 50-, and 100-keV Protons by Helium Atoms

The first measurements of elastic differential cross sections have been carried out for 25-, 50-, and 100-keV protons scattered through very small angles by helium atoms. The University of Missouri Rolla energy-loss spectrometer provided the required high angular resolution and also separated the elastically scattered ions from the inelastically scattered ions. The data are compared to our Born, Glauber, and classical calculations as well as a four-state calculation. All of the measured elastic differential cross sections are more sharply peaked than theory for the smallest scattering angles. At the larger scattering angles all of the measured elastic differential cross sections are below the theoretical calculations. However, if the classical calculation is interpreted as a total differential scattering cross section, it compares well with our estimate of the sum of the elastic, charge-transfer, and inelastic differential cross sections

Василь Васильович Тарновський: духовні витоки українського патріотизму та благодійності

Context: Climate change can directly affect habitats within ecological networks, but may also have indirect effects on network quality by inducing land use change. The relative impact of indirect effects of climate change on the quality of ecological networks currently remains largely unknown. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the relative impact of direct and indirect effects of climate change on a network of breeding habitat of four meadow bird species (Black-tailed godwit, Common redshank, Eurasian oystercatcher and Northern lapwing) in the Netherlands. Methods: Habitat models were developed that link meadow bird breeding densities to three habitat characteristics that are sensitive to environmental change (landscape openness, land use and groundwater level). These models were used to assess the impact of scenarios of landscape change with and without climate change on meadow bird breeding habitat quality for a case study area in the peat meadow district of the Netherlands. Results: All scenarios led to significantly reduced habitat quality for all species, mainly as a result of conversion of grassland to bioenergy crops, which reduces landscape openness. Direct effects of climate change on habitat quality were largely absent, indicating that especially human adaptation to climate change rather than direct effects of climate change was decisive for the degradation of ecological network quality for breeding meadow birds. Conclusions: We conclude that scenario studies exploring impacts of climate change on ecological networks should incorporate both land use change resulting from human responses to climate change and direct effects of climate change on landscapes

Angular Differential and Total Cross Sections for the Excitation of Atomic Hydrogen to Its n=2 Level by 25-150-kev Hydrogen Molecular Ions

Experimentally and theoretically determined differential and total cross sections are reported for excitation of atomic hydrogen to its n=2 level by 25-150-keV hydrogen molecular ions. The differential cross sections decrease 3-4 orders of magnitude over the measured center-of-mass scattering-angular range from 0 to 4.5 mrad. The results of a first Born approximation and two other theoretical calculations based upon the Glauber approximation are presented and compared with the experimental results. Both calculations based on the Glauber approximation agree fairly well with the experimental results. The Born approximation agrees moderately well with the experimental results at the very small scattering angles but is well below the experimental results at the larger scattering angles. None of the theoretical calculations presented agree well with the total cross section. However, the results for the total cross section of the two calculations based on the Glauber approximation agree with the experimental results in curve shape better than the Born-approximation results

Angular Differential and Total Cross Sections for the Excitation of Atomic Hydrogen to Its n=2 State by Helium Ions

Differential cross sections for 15-100 keV He+ excitation of atomic hydrogen to its n=2 level have been determined for c.m. angles from 0 to 8 mrad. The differential cross sections are obtained from an analysis of the angular distribution of the scattered ions which have lost an energy corresponding to the excitation of the target to its n=2 level. The shape of the differential cross section changes rapidly with increasing incident energy. At 15 keV, the differential cross section falls off by a factor of 5 in 6 mrad. At 100 keV, the differential cross section decreases by nearly six orders of magnitude in the same angular range. The higher-energy results are in fair agreement with a recent symmetrized first-order Glauber approximation calculation of the process. Total cross section results are given for the same process in the 15-200 keV range

Differential Cross Sections for Electron Capture from Helium by 25- to 100-keV Incident Protons

Experimentally and theoretically determined differential cross sections are reported for electron capture in collisions of protons with helium atoms for incident proton energies of 25, 30, 50, and 100 keV and for center-of-mass scattering angles of 0.0 to 2.0 mrad. The magnitudes of the experimentally determined differential cross sections decrease from 10-10 to 10-12 cm2/sr within the 0.0-0.8-mrad range of the center-of-mass scattering angle. At approximately 0.8 mrad a distinct change in the slope of the differential cross section is observed. The experimental results which are for capture into all bound states of hydrogen are compared with the theoretical results of a calculation for capture into the ground state using the two-state two-center atomic expansion method in the eikonal approximation. Good agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results is obtained with a static potential which accounts for screening of the helium nucleus by a single passive electron