Untying a nanoscale knotted polymer structure to linear chains for efficient gene delivery in vitro and to the brain

The purpose of this study was to develop a platform transfection technology, for applications in the brain, which could transfect astrocytes without requiring cell specific functionalization and without the common cause of toxicity through high charge density. Here we show that a simple and scalable preparation technique can be used to produce a “knot” structured cationic polymer, where single growing chains can crosslink together via disulphide intramolecular crosslinks (internal cyclizations). This well-defined knot structure can thus “untie” under reducing conditions, showing a more favorable transfection profile for astrocytes compared to 25 kDa-PEI (48-fold), SuperFect® (39-fold) and Lipofectamine®2000 (18-fold) whilst maintaining neural cell viability at over 80% after four days of culture. The high transfection/lack of toxicity of this knot structured polymer in vitro, combined with its ability to mediate luciferase transgene expression in the adult rat brain, demonstrates its use as a platform transfection technology which should be investigated further for neurodegenerative disease therapies

Uso del narlene para el control del nuche en el ganado vacuno

Muchas de las plaga de nuestros ganados se vienen combatiendo con bastante éxito a partir de la última década o se puede decir lo mismo con respecto al nuche, cuyos daños siguen diezmando la capacidad productiva de la población vacuna del clima medio colombiano. En efecto, las zonas cafetera que son las más densamente pobladas en Colombia, se ven privadas de los beneficios que aportan las razas mejorada y aun las criollas, por la barrera que establece este parásito para poder desarrollar una mayor y más eficiente producción en, las regiones infestada por la plaga. El consumo de leche y de carne en los climas medios de Colombia es alarmantemente bajo y trae como consecuencia una alta mortalidad infantil debida a Ha desnutrición. Muchas regiones de Colombia no producen ni más leche ni más carne porque el nuche está impidiendo la ac1imatación de ganados que podrían redimir, al menos en parte, ese vasto conglomerado de campesinos, que es la fuente principal de la riqueza colombiana. El nuche causa innumerables daños en las ganaderías de clima, medios; los alimentos no se transforman eficientemente en carne y leche, las pieles pierden mucho valor comercial, hay alta morta1idad de terneros por causas indirectas y hasta directas, las razas especializadas no prosperan y a veces llegan a ser inferiores en producción a las criollas; aún estas no pueden producir el máximo porque e1 hecho de que un animal sea resistente a una plaga no implica que su producción sea igual o mayor que cuando la p1aga no existe. La casa Dow Chemical Co. ha estado ensayando un nuevo producto, el Narlene, para controlar el nuche. Como ese nuchicida dio resultados halagadores en pruebas preliminares, se decidió hacer una serie de experimento; en fincas localizadas en climas medios con alto grado de infestación para determinar la eficacia del producto, el tiempo de protección que ofrece y la posible ganancia en peso de, los animales tratados en una de las pruebas. Se emplearon cuatro fórmulas diferentes del Narlene; algunas de ellas se usaron únicamente en uno o dos ensayos, otras se administraron en forma diferente y únicamente dos de ellas se emplearon en los 4 ensayos. Cada prueba se hizo en distintas épocas del año y en fincas diferentes por un período aproximado de un año

Optimising trait and source selection for explaining occurrence and abundance changes: a case study using British butterflies

1. Functional traits that define the ecological role of an organism are increasingly being used to determine and predict responses to environmental change. Functional trait analyses of butterflies remain underexplored compared with other taxa, such as plants. Previous works using butterfly functional traits have not comprehensively addressed issues about the quality of trait data sets used and the relative predictive power of different trait types. 2. We compare the consistency of trait descriptions between six widely used trait sources for the British butterfly fauna. We analysed consistency of trait sources using Fleissâ\u80\u99s kappa and ICC. PCA was used to produce species ordinations, comparing outputs to examine which trait sets were better at explaining recent species range and abundance changes within the UK. 3. There was a large range in congruence values for specific traits between sources. No single source can be relied upon to produce accurate trait information for British butterflies. Most trait sets are poor predictors of abundance and occurrence changes but are better at predicting current occurrence. An extensive trait set, supplementing biotope-related traits with explicit resource-based information recovers more informative ecological classifications and models than those primarily based on life-history traits or biotope descriptors. Smaller trait sets do, however, recover the specialist-generalist continuum. 4. We conclude that analyses of distribution and abundance changes that rely on traits are highly dependent on trait source and trait type. For butterflies, traits that are based on measures of biotope occupancy should be avoided in explaining changes of abundance and distribution. Including trait information that describes their resource requirements is essential for such analyses. Data for this article (CC-BY 3.0): Middleton-Welling, J., Wade, R.A., Dennis, R.L.H., Dapporto, L., Shreeve T.G. (2018). Data from: Optimising trait and source selection for explaining occurrence and abundance changes: a case study using British Butterflies. Dryad Digital Repository. http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.017vp2

Biogenic and anthropogenic sources of isoprene and monoterpenes and their secondary organic aerosol in Delhi, India

Isoprene and monoterpene emissions to the atmosphere are generally dominated by biogenic sources. The oxidation of these compounds can lead to the production of secondary organic aerosol; however the impact of this chemistry in polluted urban settings has been poorly studied. Isoprene and monoterpenes can form secondary organic aerosol (SOA) heterogeneously via anthropogenic–biogenic interactions, resulting in the formation of organosulfate (OS) and nitrooxy-organosulfate (NOS) species. Delhi, India, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, but little is known about the emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or the sources of SOA. As part of the DELHI-FLUX project, gas-phase mixing ratios of isoprene and speciated monoterpenes were measured during pre- and post-monsoon measurement campaigns in central Delhi. Nocturnal mixing ratios of the VOCs were substantially higher during the post-monsoon (isoprene: (0.65±0.43) ppbv; limonene: (0.59±0.11) ppbv; α-pinene: (0.13±0.12) ppbv) than the pre-monsoon (isoprene: (0.13±0.18) ppbv; limonene: 0.011±0.025 (ppbv); α-pinene: 0.033±0.009) period. At night, isoprene and monoterpene concentrations correlated strongly with CO during the post-monsoon period. Filter samples of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) were collected and the OS and NOS content analysed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS2). Inorganic sulfate was shown to facilitate the formation of isoprene OS species across both campaigns. Sulfate contained within OS and NOS species was shown to contribute significantly to the sulfate signal measured via AMS. Strong nocturnal enhancements of NOS species were observed across both campaigns. The total concentration of OS and NOS species contributed an average of (2.0±0.9) % and (1.8±1.4) % to the total oxidized organic aerosol and up to a maximum of 4.2 % and 6.6 % across the pre- and post-monsoon periods, respectively. Overall, this study provides the first molecular-level measurements of SOA derived from isoprene and monoterpene in Delhi and demonstrates that both biogenic and anthropogenic sources of these compounds can be important in urban areas.</p

Biogenic and anthropogenic sources of isoprene and monoterpenes and their secondary organic aerosol in Delhi, India

Isoprene and monoterpene emissions to the atmosphere are generally dominated by biogenic sources. The oxidation of these compounds can lead to the production of secondary organic aerosol; however the impact of this chemistry in polluted urban settings has been poorly studied. Isoprene and monoterpenes can form secondary organic aerosol (SOA) heterogeneously via anthropogenic–biogenic interactions, resulting in the formation of organosulfate (OS) and nitrooxy-organosulfate (NOS) species. Delhi, India, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, but little is known about the emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or the sources of SOA. As part of the DELHI-FLUX project, gas-phase mixing ratios of isoprene and speciated monoterpenes were measured during pre- and post-monsoon measurement campaigns in central Delhi. Nocturnal mixing ratios of the VOCs were substantially higher during the post-monsoon (isoprene: (0.65±0.43) ppbv; limonene: (0.59±0.11) ppbv; α-pinene: (0.13±0.12) ppbv) than the pre-monsoon (isoprene: (0.13±0.18) ppbv; limonene: 0.011±0.025 (ppbv); α-pinene: 0.033±0.009) period. At night, isoprene and monoterpene concentrations correlated strongly with CO during the post-monsoon period. Filter samples of particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) were collected and the OS and NOS content analysed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS2). Inorganic sulfate was shown to facilitate the formation of isoprene OS species across both campaigns. Sulfate contained within OS and NOS species was shown to contribute significantly to the sulfate signal measured via AMS. Strong nocturnal enhancements of NOS species were observed across both campaigns. The total concentration of OS and NOS species contributed an average of (2.0±0.9) % and (1.8±1.4) % to the total oxidized organic aerosol and up to a maximum of 4.2 % and 6.6 % across the pre- and post-monsoon periods, respectively. Overall, this study provides the first molecular-level measurements of SOA derived from isoprene and monoterpene in Delhi and demonstrates that both biogenic and anthropogenic sources of these compounds can be important in urban areas

Resistance through realism : Youth subculture films in 1970s (and 1980s) Britain

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Nathaniel Weiner, ‘Resistance through realism: Youth subculture films in 1970s (and 1980s) Britain’. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in European Journal of Cultural Studies, November 2015, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549415603376. Published by SAGE Publishing.Film scholars have argued that the British social realist films of the late 1950s and early 1960s reflect the concerns articulated by British cultural studies during the same period. This article looks at how the social realist films of the 1970s and early 1980s similarly reflect the concerns of British cultural studies scholarship produced by the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies during the 1970s. It argues that the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies’ approach to stylised working-class youth subcultures is echoed in the portrayal of youth subcultures in the social realist films Pressure (1976), Bloody Kids (1979), Babylon (1980) and Made in Britain (1982). This article explores the ways in which these films show us both the strengths and weaknesses of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies’ work on subcultures.Peer reviewe

Large Prospective Study of Ovarian Cancer Screening in High-Risk Women: CA125 Cut-Point Defined by Menopausal Status

Previous screening trials for early detection of ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women have used the standard CA125 cut-point of 35 U/mL, the 98th percentile in this population yielding a 2% false positive rate, while the same cut-point in trials of premenopausal women results in substantially higher false positive rates. We investigated demographic and clinical factors predicting CA125 distributions, including 98th percentiles, in a large population of high-risk women participating in two ovarian cancer screening studies with common eligibility criteria and screening protocols