Measurements of the 12C/13C ratio in Planetary Nebulae and implications for stellar evolution

We present the results of a study aimed at determining the 12C/13C ratio in two samples of planetary nebuale (PNe) by means of mm-wave observations of 12CO and 13CO. The first group includes six PNe which have been observed in the 3He+ hyperfine transition; the other group consists of 23 nebulae with rich molecular envelopes. We have determined the isotopic ratio in 14 objects and the results indicate a range of values between 9 and 23. In particular, three PNe have ratios well below the value predicted by standard evolutionary models (about 20), indicating that some extra-mixing process has occurred in these stars. We briefly discuss the implications of our results for standard and nonstandard stellar nucleosynthesis.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 1 Postscript figure. to appear in The Primordial Nuclei and Their Galactic Evolution, eds. N. Prantzos, M. Tosi, R. von Steiger (Kluwer: Dordrecht

ANGPTL4 variants E40K and T266M are associated with lower fasting triglyceride levels in Non-Hispanic White Americans from the Look AHEAD Clinical Trial

Background: Elevated triglyceride levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (Angptl4) is a metabolic factor that raises plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting lipoprotein lipase (LPL). In nondiabetic individuals, the ANGPTL4 coding variant E40K has been associated with lower plasma triglyceride levels while the T266M variant has been associated with more modest effects on triglyceride metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine whether ANGPTL4 E40K and T266M are associated with triglyceride levels in the setting of obesity and T2D, and whether modification of triglyceride levels by these genetic variants is altered by a lifestyle intervention designed to treat T2D. Methods: The association of ANGPTL4 E40K and T266M with fasting triglyceride levels was investigated in 2,601 participants from the Look AHEAD Clinical Trial, all of whom had T2D and were at least overweight. Further, we tested for an interaction between genotype and treatment effects on triglyceride levels. Results: Among non-Hispanic White Look AHEAD participants, ANGPTL4 K40 carriers had mean triglyceride levels of 1.61 +/- 0.62 mmol/L, 0.33 mmol/L lower than E40 homozygotes (p = 0.001). Individuals homozygous for the minor M266 allele (MAF 30%) had triglyceride levels of 1.75 +/- 0.58 mmol/L, 0.24 mmol/L lower than T266 homozygotes (p = 0.002). The association of the M266 with triglycerides remained significant even after removing K40 carriers from the analysis (p = 0.002). There was no interaction between the weight loss intervention and genotype on triglyceride levels. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate that the ANGPTL4 E40K and T266M variants are associated with lower triglyceride levels in the setting of T2D. In addition, our findings demonstrate that ANGPTL4 genotype status does not alter triglyceride response to a lifestyle intervention in the Look AHEAD study

Facile control of nanoporosity in Cellulose Acetate using Nickel(II) nitrate additive and water pressure treatment for highly efficient battery gel separators

We succeed in fabricating nearly straight nanopores in cellulose acetate (CA) polymers for use as battery gel separators by utilizing an inorganic hexahydrate (Ni(NO3)2??6H2O) complex and isostatic water pressure treatment. The continuous nanopores are generated when the polymer film is exposed to isostatic water pressure after complexing the nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate (Ni(NO3)2??6H2O) with the CA. These results can be attributed to the manner in which the polymer chains are weakened because of the plasticization effect of the Ni(NO3)2??6H2O that is incorporated into the CA. Furthermore, we performed extensive molecular dynamics simulation for confirming the interaction between electrolyte and CA separator. The well controlled CA membrane after water pressure treatment enables fabrication of highly reliable cell by utilizing 2032-type coin cell structure. The resulting cell performance exhibits not only the effect of the physical morphology of CA separator, but also the chemical interaction of electrolyte with CA polymer which facilitates the Li-ion in the cell.ope

ANGPTL4 variants E40K and T266M are associated with lower fasting triglyceride levels in Non-Hispanic White Americans from the Look AHEAD Clinical Trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Elevated triglyceride levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (Angptl4) is a metabolic factor that raises plasma triglyceride levels by inhibiting lipoprotein lipase (LPL). In non-diabetic individuals, the <it>ANGPTL4 </it>coding variant E40K has been associated with lower plasma triglyceride levels while the T266M variant has been associated with more modest effects on triglyceride metabolism. The objective of this study was to determine whether ANGPTL4 E40K and T266M are associated with triglyceride levels in the setting of obesity and T2D, and whether modification of triglyceride levels by these genetic variants is altered by a lifestyle intervention designed to treat T2D.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The association of <it>ANGPTL4 </it>E40K and T266M with fasting triglyceride levels was investigated in 2,601 participants from the Look AHEAD Clinical Trial, all of whom had T2D and were at least overweight. Further, we tested for an interaction between genotype and treatment effects on triglyceride levels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among non-Hispanic White Look AHEAD participants, <it>ANGPTL4 </it>K40 carriers had mean triglyceride levels of 1.61 ± 0.62 mmol/L, 0.33 mmol/L lower than E40 homozygotes (p = 0.001). Individuals homozygous for the minor M266 allele (MAF 30%) had triglyceride levels of 1.75 ± 0.58 mmol/L, 0.24 mmol/L lower than T266 homozygotes (p = 0.002). The association of the M266 with triglycerides remained significant even after removing K40 carriers from the analysis (p = 0.002). There was no interaction between the weight loss intervention and genotype on triglyceride levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first study to demonstrate that the <it>ANGPTL4 </it>E40K and T266M variants are associated with lower triglyceride levels in the setting of T2D. In addition, our findings demonstrate that <it>ANGPTL4 </it>genotype status does not alter triglyceride response to a lifestyle intervention in the Look AHEAD study.</p

Androgen regulation of the androgen receptor coregulators

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Born to be green: new insights into the economics and management of green entrepreneurship

While the number of green start-ups has steadily increased around the world in response to the environmental problems demanding immediate solutions, there are several unresolved questions on the behaviour and performance of such ventures. The papers in this special issue shed light on these issues by underscoring the role of several factors, such as industry life cycles, knowledge spillovers, institutions, and availability of external finance, in shaping decision-making and firm behaviour in green start-ups. This paper highlights the state-of-the art developments in the literature, discusses the key contributions of the papers put together in this special issue and presents a future research agenda for scholars interested in green entrepreneurship

The ineffectiveness of entrepreneurship policy:Is policy formulation to blame?

Entrepreneurship policy has been criticised for its lack of effectiveness. Some scholars, such as Scott Shane in this journal, have argued that it is ‘bad’ public policy. But this simply begs the question why the legislative process should generate bad policy? To answer this question this study examines the UK’s enterprise policy process in the 2009–2010 period. It suggests that a key factor for the ineffectiveness of policy is how it is formulated. This stage in the policy process is seldom visible to those outside of government departments and has been largely ignored by prior research. The application of institutional theory provides a detailed theoretical understanding of the actors and the process by which enterprise policy is formulated. We find that by opening up the ‘black box’ of enterprise policy formulation, the process is dominated by powerful actors who govern the process with their interests

Therapy Insight: Parenteral Estrogen treatment for Prostate Cancer—a new dawn for an old therapy

Oral estrogens were the treatment of choice for carcinoma of the prostate for over four decades, but were abandoned because of an excess of cardiovascular and thromboembolic toxicity. It is now recognized that most of this toxicity is related to the first pass portal circulation, which upregulates the hepatic metabolism of hormones, lipids and coagulation proteins. Most of this toxicity can be avoided by parenteral (intramuscular or transdermal) estrogen administration, which avoids hepatic enzyme induction. It also seems that a short-term but modest increase in cardiovascular morbidity (but not mortality) is compensated for by a long-term cardioprotective benefit, which accrues progressively as vascular remodeling develops over time. Parenteral estrogen therapy has the advantage of giving protection against the effects of andropause (similar to the female menopause), which are induced by conventional androgen suppression and include osteoporotic fracture, hot flashes, asthenia and cognitive dysfunction. In addition, parenteral estrogen therapy is significantly cheaper than contemporary endocrine therapy, with substantive economic implications for health providers

Estimation of population size when capture probability depends on individual state

We develop a multi-state model to estimate the size of a closed population from capture–recapture studies. We consider the case where capture–recapture data are not of a simple binary form, but where the state of an individual is also recorded upon every capture as a discrete variable. The proposed multi-state model can be regarded as a generalisation of the commonly applied set of closed population models to a multi-state form. The model allows for heterogeneity within the capture probabilities associated with each state while also permitting individuals to move between the different discrete states. A closed-form expression for the likelihood is presented in terms of a set of sufficient statistics. The link between existing models for capture heterogeneity is established, and simulation is used to show that the estimate of population size can be biased when movement between states is not accounted for. The proposed unconditional approach is also compared to a conditional approach to assess estimation bias. The model derived in this paper is motivated by a real ecological data set on great crested newts, Triturus cristatus. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online