Increasing the Size of a Piece of Popcorn

Popcorn is an extremely popular snack food in the world today. Thermodynamics can be used to analyze how popcorn is produced. By treating the popping mechanism of the corn as a thermodynamic expansion, a method of increasing the volume or size of a kernel of popcorn can be studied. By lowering the pressure surrounding the unpopped kernel, one can use a thermodynamic argument to show that the expanded volume of the kernel when it pops must increase. In this project, a variety of experiments are run to test the validity of this theory. The results show that there is a significant increase in the average kernel size when the pressure of the surroundings is reduced.Comment: Latex document, 14 pages, 4 figures, 1 page of table

Human epicardial adipose tissue expresses a pathogenic profile of adipocytokines in patients with cardiovascular disease

Introduction: Inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease and is exacerbated with increased adiposity, particularly omental adiposity; however, the role of epicardial fat is poorly understood. Methods: For these studies the expression of inflammatory markers was assessed in epicardial fat biopsies from coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients using quantitative RT-PCR. Further, the effects of chronic medications, including statins, as well as peri-operative glucose, insulin and potassium infusion, on gene expression were also assessed. Circulating resistin, CRP, adiponectin and leptin levels were determined to assess inflammation. Results: The expression of adiponectin, resistin and other adipocytokine mRNAs were comparable to that in omental fat. Epicardial CD45 expression was significantly higher than control depots (p < 0.01) indicating significant infiltration of macrophages. Statin treated patients showed significantly lower epicardial expression of IL-6 mRNA, in comparison with the control abdominal depots (p < 0.001). The serum profile of CABG patients showed significantly higher levels of both CRP (control: 1.28 ± 1.57 μg/mL vs CABG: 9.11 ± 15.7 μg/mL; p < 0.001) and resistin (control: 10.53 ± 0.81 ng/mL vs CABG: 16.8 ± 1.69 ng/mL; p < 0.01) and significantly lower levels of adiponectin (control: 29.1 ± 14.8 μg/mL vs CABG: 11.9 ± 6.0 μg/mL; p < 0.05) when compared to BMI matched controls. Conclusion: Epicardial and omental fat exhibit a broadly comparable pathogenic mRNA profile, this may arise in part from macrophage infiltration into the epicardial fat. This study highlights that chronic inflammation occurs locally as well as systemically potentially contributing further to the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease

Ybp1 and Gpx3 signaling in Candida albicans govern hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidation of the Cap1 transcription factor and macrophage escape

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Healthy Start? Experiences of Refugee and Asylum Seeking Women in Scotland

Glasgow has been home to an increasing number of asylum seekers since it became one of the main UK dispersal cities, in 1999 (Wren, 2007). Due to the fluid situation determined by the asylum seeker status, there are no definite figures on the number of asylum seeking women 1 who are at various stages of the asylum process. However, based on 2011 figures, the total number of asylum seeking women in Scotland is between 6,000 and 10,000 (Da Lomba & Murray, 2014)

The effect of distance on reaction time in aiming movements

Target distance affects movement duration in aiming tasks but its effect on reaction time (RT) is poorly documented. RT is a function of both preparation and initiation. Experiment 1 pre-cued movement (allowing advanced preparation) and found no influence of distance on RT. Thus, target distance does not affect initiation time. Experiment 2 removed pre-cue information and found that preparing a movement of increased distance lengthens RT. Experiment 3 explored movements to targets of cued size at non-cued distances and found size altered peak speed and movement duration but RT was influenced by distance alone. Thus, amplitude influences preparation time (for reasons other than altered duration) but not initiation time. We hypothesise that the RT distance effect might be due to the increased number of possible trajectories associated with further targets: a hypothesis that can be tested in future experiments

Mechanisms Underlying the Delayed Activation of the Cap1 Transcription Factor in Candida albicans following Combinatorial Oxidative and Cationic Stress Important for Phagocytic Potency

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Brian Morgan and Elizabeth Veal for insightful discussions, Mélanie Ikeh for experimental assistance, and Scott Moye-Rowley (University of Iowa) for the gift of the anti-Cap1 antibody. This work was funded by the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (I.K.), a BBSRC DTG studentship (M.J.P.), the Wellcome Trust (grants 089930 and 097377 to J.Q. and 080088 and 097377 to A.J.P.B.), the BBSRC (grants BB/K016393/1 to J.Q. and BB/F00513X/1 and BB/K017365/1 to A.J.P.B.), the European Research Council (STRIFE Advanced grant ERC-2009-AdG-249793 to A.J.P.B.), the ANR (grant CANDIHUB, ANR-14-CE14-0018-01, to C.D.), and the French Government’s Investissement d’Avenir program (grant IBEID, ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID, to C.D.). FUNDING INFORMATION This work, including the efforts of Alistair J.P. Brown, was funded by Wellcome Trust (097377 and 080088). This work, including the efforts of Janet Quinn, was funded by Wellcome Trust (097377 and 089930). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J.P. Brown, was funded by EC European Research Council (ERC) (ERC-2009-AdG-249793). This work, including the efforts of Alistair J.P. Brown, was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (BB/F00513X/1 and BB/K017365/1). This work, including the efforts of Janet Quinn, was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (BB/K016393/1). This work, including the efforts of Christophe d’Enfert, was funded by Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) (ANR-14-CE14-0018-01 and ANR-10-LABX-62-IBEID).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression

Immune system defects are at the center of aging and a range of diseases. Here, we show that prolonged fasting reduces circulating IGF-1 levels and PKA activity in various cell populations, leading to signal transduction changes in long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSCs) and niche cells that promote stress resistance, self-renewal, and lineage-balanced regeneration. Multiple cycles of fasting abated the immunosuppression and mortality caused by chemotherapy and reversed age-dependent myeloid-bias in mice, in agreement with preliminary data on the protection of lymphocytes from chemotoxicity in fasting patients. The proregenerative effects of fasting on stem cells were recapitulated by deficiencies in either IGF-1 or PKA and blunted by exogenous IGF-1. These findings link the reduced levels of IGF-1 caused by fasting to PKA signaling and establish their crucial role in regulating hematopoietic stem cell protection, self-renewal, and regeneration

Molecular and Microbial Microenvironments in Chronically Diseased Lungs Associated with Cystic Fibrosis.

To visualize the personalized distributions of pathogens and chemical environments, including microbial metabolites, pharmaceuticals, and their metabolic products, within and between human lungs afflicted with cystic fibrosis (CF), we generated three-dimensional (3D) microbiome and metabolome maps of six explanted lungs from three cystic fibrosis patients. These 3D spatial maps revealed that the chemical environments differ between patients and within the lungs of each patient. Although the microbial ecosystems of the patients were defined by the dominant pathogen, their chemical diversity was not. Additionally, the chemical diversity between locales in the lungs of the same individual sometimes exceeded interindividual variation. Thus, the chemistry and microbiome of the explanted lungs appear to be not only personalized but also regiospecific. Previously undescribed analogs of microbial quinolones and antibiotic metabolites were also detected. Furthermore, mapping the chemical and microbial distributions allowed visualization of microbial community interactions, such as increased production of quorum sensing quinolones in locations where Pseudomonas was in contact with Staphylococcus and Granulicatella, consistent with in vitro observations of bacteria isolated from these patients. Visualization of microbe-metabolite associations within a host organ in early-stage CF disease in animal models will help elucidate the complex interplay between the presence of a given microbial structure, antibiotics, metabolism of antibiotics, microbial virulence factors, and host responses.IMPORTANCE Microbial infections are now recognized to be polymicrobial and personalized in nature. Comprehensive analysis and understanding of the factors underlying the polymicrobial and personalized nature of infections remain limited, especially in the context of the host. By visualizing microbiomes and metabolomes of diseased human lungs, we reveal how different the chemical environments are between hosts that are dominated by the same pathogen and how community interactions shape the chemical environment or vice versa. We highlight that three-dimensional organ mapping methods represent hypothesis-building tools that allow us to design mechanistic studies aimed at addressing microbial responses to other microbes, the host, and pharmaceutical drugs

Feedback and the Formation of Dwarf Galaxy Stellar Halos

Stellar population studies show that low mass galaxies in all environments exhibit stellar halos that are older and more spherically distributed than the main body of the galaxy. In some cases, there is a significant intermediate age component that extends beyond the young disk. We examine a suite of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) simulations and find that elevated early star formation activity combined with supernova feedback can produce an extended stellar distribution that resembles these halos for model galaxies ranging from $v_{200}$ = 15 km s$^{-1}$ to 35 km s$^{-1}$, without the need for accretion of subhalos.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted MNRA

Cancer mortality differences among urban and rural residents in Lithuania

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to describe and to compare the cancer mortality rates in urban and rural residents in Lithuania.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cancer mortality has been studied using the materials of the Lithuanian cancer registry. For the period 1993–2004 age-standardized urban and rural population mortality rates (World standard) were calculated for all malignant neoplasm's and for stomach, colorectal, lung, prostate, breast and cervical cancers. The annual percentage change (APC) was calculated using log-linear regression model, two-sided Mantel-Haenzel test was used to evaluate differences in cancer mortality among rural and urban populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For males in rural population cancer mortality was higher than in urban (212.2 and 197.0 cases per 100000) and for females cancer mortality was higher in urban population (103.5 and 94.2 cases per 100000, p < 0.05). During the study period the age-standardized mortality rates decreased in both sexes in urban residents. The decreasing mortality trend in urban population was contributed by decline of the rates of lung and stomach cancer in male and breast, stomach and colorectal cancer in female. Mortality rates in both urban and rural population were increasing for prostate and cervical cancers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study shows that large rural and urban inequalities in cancer mortality exist in Lithuania. The contrast between the health of residents in urban and rural areas invites researchers for research projects to develop, implement, and enhance cancer prevention and early detection intervention strategies for rural populations.</p