PROCESS FOR THE FORMATION OF WEAR- AND SCUFF-RESISTANT CARBON COATINGS

A process for forming an adherent diamond-like carbon coating on a workpiece of suitable material such as an aluminum alloy is disclosed. The workpiece is successively immersed in different plasma atmospheres and subjected to short duration, high voltage, negative electrical potential pulses or constant negative electrical potentials or the like so as to clean the surface of oxygen atoms, implant carbon atoms into the surface of the alloy to form carbide com pounds while codepositing a carbonaceous layer on the surface, bombard and remove the carbonaceous layer, and to thereafter deposit a generally amorphous hydrogen-containing carbon layer on the surface of the article

Q2Q^2 Independence of QF2/F1QF_2/F_1, Poincare Invariance and the Non-Conservation of Helicity

A relativistic constituent quark model is found to reproduce the recent data regarding the ratio of proton form factors, $F_2(Q^2)/F_1(Q^2)$. We show that imposing Poincare invariance leads to substantial violation of the helicity conservation rule, as well as an analytic result that the ratio $F_2(Q^2)/F_1(Q^2)\sim 1/Q$ for intermediate values of $Q^2$.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. C typos corrected, references added, 1 new figure to show very high Q^2 behavio

Boosting with Subtype C CN54rgp140 Protein Adjuvanted with Glucopyranosyl Lipid Adjuvant after Priming with HIV-DNA and HIV-MVA Is Safe and Enhances Immune Responses: A Phase I Trial

Background A vaccine against HIV is widely considered the most effective and sustainable way of reducing new infections. We evaluated the safety and impact of boosting with subtype C CN54rgp140 envelope protein adjuvanted in glucopyranosyl lipid adjuvant (GLA-AF) in Tanzanian volunteers previously given three immunizations with HIV-DNA followed by two immunizations with recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara (HIV-MVA). Methods Forty volunteers (35 vaccinees and five placebo recipients) were given two CN54rgp140/GLA-AF immunizations 30-71 weeks after the last HIV-MVA vaccination. These immunizations were delivered intramuscularly four weeks apart. Results The vaccine was safe and well tolerated except for one episode of asymptomatic hypoglycaemia that was classified as severe adverse event. Two weeks after the second HIV-MVA vaccination 34 (97%) of the 35 previously vaccinated developed Env-specific binding antibodies, and 79% and 84% displayed IFN-gamma ELISpot responses to Gag and Env, respectively. Binding antibodies to subtype C Env (included in HIV-DNA and protein boost), subtype B Env (included only in HIV-DNA) and CRF01_AE Env (included only in HIV-MVA) were significantly boosted by the CN54rgp140/GLA-AF immunizations. Functional antibodies detected using an infectious molecular clone virus/peripheral blood mononuclear cell neutralization assay, a pseudovirus/TZM-bl neutralization assay or by assays for antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) were not significantly boosted. In contrast, T-cell proliferative responses to subtype B MN antigen and IFN-gamma ELISpot responses to Env peptides were significantly enhanced. Four volunteers not primed with HIV-DNA and HIV-MVA before the CN54rgp140/ GLA-AF immunizations mounted an antibody response, while cell-mediated responses were rare. After the two Env subtype C protein immunizations, a trend towards higher median subtype C Env binding antibody titers was found in vaccinees who had received HIV-DNA and HIV-MVA prior to the two Env protein immunizations as compared to unprimed vaccinees (p = 0.07). Conclusion We report excellent tolerability, enhanced binding antibody responses and Env-specific cell-mediated immune responses but no ADCC antibody increase after two immunizations with a subtype C rgp140 protein adjuvanted in GLA-AF in healthy volunteers previously immunized with HIV-DNA and HIV-MVA

Biomarkers of environmental enteric dysfunction and adverse birth outcomes: an observational study among pregnant women living with HIV in Tanzania

BACKGROUND: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) may contribute to adverse birth outcomes in low-resource settings. We examined the associations of EED biomarkers with birth outcomes in pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: We performed a cohort study of 706 HIV-infected pregnant women. Maternal serum samples collected at 32 weeks gestation were analyzed for markers of EED (anti-flagellin and anti-LPS immunoglobulins, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein [I-FABP] and soluble CD14), systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein and α1-acid glycoprotein [AGP]), and growth hormone resistance (insulin-like growth factor 1 [IGF-1] and fibroblast growth factor 21 [FGF21]. Associations of biomarkers categorized into quartiles with birth outcomes (birthweight, gestational duration, birthweight-for-gestational age, and stillbirth) were assessed using linear and log-binomial regression models adjusted for multiple sociodemographic and clinical variables. FINDINGS: Maternal EED biomarkers were not significantly associated with birthweight, gestation duration, or birthweight-for-gestational age. However, higher quintiles of I-FABP concentrations were associated with greater risk of stillbirth (ptrend=0·02). Higher AGP was associated with lower birthweight and was associated with increased risk of small-for-gestational age births. Higher IGF-1 was associated with higher birthweight and birthweight-for-gestational age while higher FGF21 was associated with shorter gestation and higher risk of preterm birth. INTERPRETATION: Maternal biomarkers of EED, systemic inflammation, and growth hormones were differentially associated with birth outcomes. Biomarkers of EED may be useful to identify pregnant women at risk of adverse birth outcomes, but further research is needed to confirm these findings and elucidate biological mechanisms.Research Pilot & Feasibility Grant - Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH); R21DK123636 - National Institutes of HealthPublished versio

What Is a Group? : Young Children’s Perceptions of Different Types of Groups and Group Entitativity

To date, developmental research on groups has focused mainly on in-group biases and intergroup relations. However, little is known about children’s general understanding of social groups and their perceptions of different forms of group. In this study, 5- to 6-year-old children were asked to evaluate prototypes of four key types of groups: an intimacy group (friends), a task group (people who are collaborating), a social category (people who look alike), and a loose association (people who coincidently meet at a tram stop). In line with previous work with adults, the vast majority of children perceived the intimacy group, task group, and social category, but not the loose association, to possess entitativity, that is, to be a ‘real group.’ In addition, children evaluated group member properties, social relations, and social obligations differently in each type of group, demonstrating that young children are able to distinguish between different types of in-group relations. The origins of the general group typology used by adults thus appear early in development. These findings contribute to our knowledge about children's intuitive understanding of groups and group members' behavior

Maternal common mental disorders and infant development in Ethiopia : the P-MaMiE Birth Cohort

Background: Chronicity and severity of early exposure to maternal common mental disorders (CMD) has been associated with poorer infant development in high-income countries. In low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs), perinatal CMD is inconsistently associated with infant development, but the impact of severity and persistence has not been examined. Methods: A nested population-based cohort of 258 pregnant women was identified from the Perinatal Maternal Mental Disorder in Ethiopia (P-MaMiE) study, and 194 (75.2%) were successfully followed up until the infants were 12 months of age. Maternal CMD was measured in pregnancy and at two and 12 months postnatal using the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire, validated for use in this setting. Infant outcomes were evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Results: Antenatal maternal CMD symptoms were associated with poorer infant motor development ( β ^ -0.20; 95% CI: -0.37 to -0.03), but this became non-significant after adjusting for confounders. Postnatal CMD symptoms were not associated with any domain of infant development. There was evidence of a dose-response relationship between the number of time-points at which the mother had high levels of CMD symptoms (SRQ ≥ 6) and impaired infant motor development ( β ^ = -0.80; 95%CI -2.24, 0.65 for ante- or postnatal CMD only, β ^ = -4.19; 95%CI -8.60, 0.21 for ante- and postnatal CMD, compared to no CMD; test-for-trend χ213.08(1), p < 0.001). Although this association became non-significant in the fully adjusted model, the β ^ coefficients were unchanged indicating that the relationship was not confounded. In multivariable analyses, lower socio-economic status and lower infant weight-for-age were associated with significantly lower scores on both motor and cognitive developmental scales. Maternal experience of physical violence was significantly associated with impaired cognitive development. Conclusions: The study supports the hypothesis that it is the accumulation of risk exposures across time rather than early exposure to maternal CMD per se that is more likely to affect child development. Further investigation of the impact of chronicity of maternal CMD upon child development in LAMICs is indicated. In the Ethiopian setting, poverty, interpersonal violence and infant undernutrition should be targets for interventions to reduce the loss of child developmental potential.Peer Reviewe