Dependence of the SWR Linewidth on the Wavevector in Amorphous Thin Films

Work supported in part by the Central Research Project 01.08.B.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę

Innovations agro écologiques en Martinique : freins et leviers organisationnels techniques et économiques

Les résultats montrent tout d'abord que la filière de produits dits « biologiques » se structure en deux organisations de producteurs qui se différencient, tant par le mode de certification choisie que par leur niveaux d'insertion dans les dispositifs institutionnels conventionnels. Dans les deux cas néanmoins, un frein important est l'absence de maîtrise d'indicateurs sur les conditions d'évaluation économique et financière des produits biologiques. Par ailleurs, trois freins majeurs sont mis en évidence par l'analyse technico-économique et agronomique des exploitations (i) l'absence de référentiels et d'appui technique adaptés aux conditions locales, (ii) la faiblesse et la dispersion concernant l'approvisionnement et l'accès aux intrants adaptés et enfin (iii) la faible productivité du travail. Une action collective de coordination impliquant les collectivités locales, les organisations de producteurs, les organismes techniques et la recherche est nécessaire

Bacterial Infection Elicits Heat Shock Protein 72 Release from Pleural Mesothelial Cells

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has been implicated in infection-related processes and has been found in body fluids during infection. This study aimed to determine whether pleural mesothelial cells release HSP70 in response to bacterial infection in vitro and in mouse models of serosal infection. In addition, the in vitro cytokine effects of the HSP70 isoform, Hsp72, on mesothelial cells were examined. Further, Hsp72 was measured in human pleural effusions and levels compared between non-infectious and infectious patients to determine the diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid Hsp72 compared to traditional pleural fluid parameters. We showed that mesothelial release of Hsp72 was significantly raised when cells were treated with live and heat-killed Streptococcus pneumoniae. In mice, intraperitoneal injection of S. pneumoniae stimulated a 2-fold increase in Hsp72 levels in peritoneal lavage (p<0.01). Extracellular Hsp72 did not induce or inhibit mediator release from cultured mesothelial cells. Hsp72 levels were significantly higher in effusions of infectious origin compared to non-infectious effusions (p<0.05). The data establish that pleural mesothelial cells can release Hsp72 in response to bacterial infection and levels are raised in infectious pleural effusions. The biological role of HSP70 in pleural infection warrants exploration

International Public Health Research Involving Interpreters: a Case Study from Bangladesh

Background: Cross-cultural and international research are important components of public health research, but the challenges of language barriers and working with interpreters are often overlooked, particularly in the case of qualitative research. Methods: A case-study approach was used to explore experiences of working with an interpreter in Bangladesh as part of a research project investigating women's experiences of emergency obstetric care. The case study: Data from the researcher's field notes provided evidence of experiences in working with an interpreter and show how the model of interviewing was adapted over time to give a more active role to the interpreter. The advantages of a more active role were increased rapport and "flow" in interviews. The disadvantages included reduced control from the researcher's perspective. Some tensions between the researcher and interpreter remained hard to overcome, irrespective of the model used. Independent transcription and translation of the interviews also raised questions around accuracy in translation. Conclusion: The issues examined in this case study have broader implications for public health research. Further work is needed in three areas: 1) developing effective relationships with interpreters; 2) the impact of the interpreter on the research process; and 3) the accuracy of the translation and level of analysis needed in any specific public health research. Finally, this paper highlights the importance to authors of reflecting on the potential impact of translation and interpretation on the research process when disseminating their research

Hyperbolic Balance Laws with a Non Local Source

This paper is devoted to hyperbolic systems of balance laws with non local source terms. The existence, uniqueness and Lipschitz dependence proved here comprise previous results in the literature and can be applied to physical models, such as Euler system for a radiating gas and Rosenau regularization of the Chapman-Enskog expansion.Comment: 26 page

Genomic and proteomic profiling of responses to toxic metals in human lung cells.

Examining global effects of toxic metals on gene expression can be useful for elucidating patterns of biological response, discovering underlying mechanisms of toxicity, and identifying candidate metal-specific genetic markers of exposure and response. Using a 1,200 gene nylon array, we examined changes in gene expression following low-dose, acute exposures of cadmium, chromium, arsenic, nickel, or mitomycin C (MMC) in BEAS-2B human bronchial epithelial cells. Total RNA was isolated from cells exposed to 3 M Cd(II) (as cadmium chloride), 10 M Cr(VI) (as sodium dichromate), 3 g/cm2 Ni(II) (as nickel subsulfide), 5 M or 50 M As(III) (as sodium arsenite), or 1 M MMC for 4 hr. Expression changes were verified at the protein level for several genes. Only a small subset of genes was differentially expressed in response to each agent: Cd, Cr, Ni, As (5 M), As (50 M), and MMC each differentially altered the expression of 25, 44, 31, 110, 65, and 16 individual genes, respectively. Few genes were commonly expressed among the various treatments. Only one gene was altered in response to all four metals (hsp90), and no gene overlapped among all five treatments. We also compared low-dose (5 M, noncytotoxic) and high-dose (50 M, cytotoxic) arsenic treatments, which surprisingly, affected expression of almost completely nonoverlapping subsets of genes, suggesting a threshold switch from a survival-based biological response at low doses to a death response at high doses

The epidemic of obesity in South Africa: a study in a disadvantaged community.

Objective: The objective of this study was: 1) to determine the anthropometric profile of adults In Mamre, a small town In South Africa, which has a population of mixed ancestry ("colored" people of Afro-Euro-Malay-Khoisan ancestry); and 2) to determine the change In this profile between 1989 and 1996. Design: Cross-sectional surveys conducted In random samples of adults In 1989 and 1996. Participants: The subjects were 684 women and 529 men In 1989, and 546 women and 430 men In 1996, aged 15 and older. Main Outcome Measures; The following measurements were recorded: height, weight, and circumference of waist, hips, and mid-upper arm. Results: Based on data from the 1996 survey, 32% of women are obese (body mass index [BMI] ;;: 30) at ages 25-44 years, rising to 49% at ages 45-64 years. A much lower prevalence of obesity is seen in men: 14"10 at ages 35-64 years. Obesity levels significantly increased in women between the two surveys (P=.015): up from 44% in 1989 to 49% in 1996 at ages 45-64 years. There was an Increase In the prevalence of overweight (BMI 25-29.9) in men, though not in obesity. Mean 8MI increased by about 3% In women and 2% in men between 1989 and 1996. Conclusions; This study conducted among people of mixed ancestry living In a disadvantaged community In South Africa shows that half of middle-aged women are obese. A rising trend In 8MI was seen in adults of both sexes between 1989 and 1996. This trend may be explained by factors associated with rural-urban transition, Including electrification, reduced physical activity, and Increasing availability of energy-dense food

Modularity map of the network of human cell differentiation

Cell differentiation in multicellular organisms is a complex process whose mechanism can be understood by a reductionist approach, in which the individual processes that control the generation of different cell types are identified. Alternatively, a large scale approach in search of different organizational features of the growth stages promises to reveal its modular global structure with the goal of discovering previously unknown relations between cell types. Here we sort and analyze a large set of scattered data to construct the network of human cell differentiation (NHCD) based on cell types (nodes) and differentiation steps (links) from the fertilized egg to a crying baby. We discover a dynamical law of critical branching, which reveals a fractal regularity in the modular organization of the network, and allows us to observe the network at different scales. The emerging picture clearly identifies clusters of cell types following a hierarchical organization, ranging from sub-modules to super-modules of specialized tissues and organs on varying scales. This discovery will allow one to treat the development of a particular cell function in the context of the complex network of human development as a whole. Our results point to an integrated large-scale view of the network of cell types systematically revealing ties between previously unrelated domains in organ functions.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figure