Reduced leakage current in Josephson tunnel junctions with codeposited barriers

Josephson junctions were fabricated using two different methods of barrier formation. The trilayers employed were Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb on sapphire, where the first two layers were epitaxial. The oxide barrier was formed either by exposing the Al surface to O2 or by codepositing Al in an O2 background. The codeposition process yielded junctions that showed the theoretically predicted subgap current and no measurable shunt conductance. In contrast, devices with barriers formed by thermal oxidation showed a small shunt conductance in addition to the predicted subgap current.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Identification of (poly)phenol treatments that modulate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by human lymphocytes

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables (FV), which contain (poly)phenols, protect against age-related inflammation and chronic diseases. T-lymphocytes contribute to systemic cytokine production and are modulated by FV intake. Little is known about the relative potency of different (poly)phenols in modulating cytokine release by lymphocytes. We compared thirty-one (poly)phenols and six (poly)phenol mixtures for effects on pro-inflammatory cytokine release by Jurkat T-lymphocytes. Test compounds were incubated with Jurkat cells for 48 h at 1 and 30 µm, with or without phorbol ester treatment at 24 h to induce cytokine release. Three test compounds that reduced cytokine release were further incubated with primary lymphocytes at 0·2 and 1 µm for 24 h, with lipopolysaccharide added at 5 h. Cytokine release was measured, and generation of H2O2 by test compounds was determined to assess any potential correlations with cytokine release. A number of (poly)phenols significantly altered cytokine release from Jurkat cells (P<0·05), but H2O2 generation did not correlate with cytokine release. Resveratrol, isorhamnetin, curcumin, vanillic acid and specific (poly)phenol mixtures reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine release from T-lymphocytes, and there was evidence for interaction between (poly)phenols to further modulate cytokine release. The release of interferon-γ induced protein 10 by primary lymphocytes was significantly reduced following treatment with 1 µm isorhamnetin (P<0·05). These results suggest that (poly)phenols derived from onions, turmeric, red grapes, green tea and açai berries may help reduce the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in people at risk of chronic inflammation

ENVIROSAT-2000 report: Federal agency satellite requirements

The requirement of Federal agencies, other than NOAA, for the data and services of civil operational environmental satellites (both polar orbiting and geostationary) are summarized. Agency plans for taking advantage of proposed future Earth sensing space systems, domestic and foreign, are cited also. Current data uses and future requirements are addressed as identified by each agency

Numerical Assessment of Infragravity Swash Response to Offshore Wave Frequency Spread Variability

We use a numerical model, already validated for this purpose, to simulate the effect of wave frequency spread on wave transformation and swash amplitudes. Simulations are performed for planar beach slope cases and for offshore wave spectra whose frequency spread changes over realistic values. Results indicate that frequency spread, under normally approaching waves, affects swash amplitudes. For moderately dissipative conditions, the significant infragravity swash increases for increasing values of the offshore frequency spread. The opposite occurs under extremely dissipative conditions. The numerical analysis suggests that this inverted pattern is driven by the effect that different distributions of incoming long?wave energy have on low?frequency wave propagation and dissipation. In fact, with large frequency spreads, wave groups force relatively short subharmonic waves that are strongly enhanced in the shoaling zone. This process leads to an infragravity swash increase for increasing frequency spread under moderately dissipative conditions in which low?frequency energy dissipation in shallow water is negligible or small. However, under extremely dissipative conditions, the significant low?frequency energy dissipation associated with large frequency spreads overturns the strong energy growth in the shoaling zone eventually yielding an infragravity swash decrease for increasing frequency spread.This work has been funded under (1) the RETOS INVESTIGACION 2014 (Grant BIA2014-59718-R) program of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and (2) the NEPTUNE 2 project, L. R. 7/2007 by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna

No effect of an oleoylethanolamide-related phospholipid on satiety and energy intake: a randomised controlled trial of phosphatidylethanolamine

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is a phospholipid which is biosynthesized into long chain N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) including oleoylethanolamide (OEA), a known inhibitor of food intake. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PE-containing lipids can also inhibit intake. This was a 4 treatment intervention where 18 male participants were given a high-fat test breakfast (2.5MJ, 53 en% fat) containing (i) high-phospholipid, high-PE lipid (ii) high-phospholipid, medium-PE lipid (iii) no-phospholipid, no-PE control lipid or (iv) water control, in a randomised cross-over. Visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess post-ingestive hunger and satiety, and energy intake (EI) was measured at an ad libitum lunch meal after 3.5hours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When compared with the water control, the 3 lipid treatments resulted in lower levels of hunger and thoughts of food, greater fullness and satisfaction (all, treatment*time interaction, P<0.001), and a lower EI (P<0.05). However, there was no difference in any of the VAS measures when the 2 PE lipid treatments were compared with no-PE control lipid, nor when medium-PE was compared with high-PE. Unexpectedly participants ate significantly more energy at the lunch meal when the 2 PE lipid treatments (medium-PE:5406 kJ, 334 sem; high-PE:5288 kJ, 244 sem) were compared with the no-PE control lipid (5072 kJ, 262 sem, P<0.05), although there was no dose effect between the medium- and high-PE treatments.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite the close relationship of PE with OEA, there was no evidence from this acute study that dietary phospholipids containing PE can favourably modify eating behaviour.</p

Evaluation of a follow-up programme after curative resection for colorectal cancer

Frequent liver imaging can detect liver metastases from colorectal cancer at an asymptomatic stage. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Preoperative systemic inflammation predicts postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing curative resection for colorectal cancer

The presence of systemic inflammation before surgery, as evidenced by the glasgow prognostic score (mGPS), predicts poor long-term survival in colorectal cancer. The aim was to examine the relationship between the preoperative mGPS and the development of postoperative complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer. Patients (n=455) who underwent potentially curative resections between 2003 and 2007 were assessed consecutively, and details were recorded in a database. The majority of patients presented for elective surgery (85%) were over the age of 65 years (70%), were male (58%), were deprived (53%), and had TNM stage I/II disease (61%), had preoperative haemoglobin (56%), white cell count (87%) and mGPS 0 (58%) in the normal range. After surgery, 86 (19%) patients developed a postoperative complication; 70 (81%) of which were infectious complications. On multivariate analysis, peritoneal soiling (P&#60;0.01), elevated preoperative white cell count (P&#60;0.05) and mGPS (P&#60;0.01) were independently associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. In elective patients, only the mGPS (OR=1.75, 95% CI=1.17-2.63, P=0.007) was significantly associated with increased risk of developing a postoperative infection. Preoperative elevated mGPS predicts increased postoperative infectious complications in patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer