Association Between Law Enforcement and Media Portrayals

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Hygrothermal performance of wood-hemp insulation in timber frame wall panels with and without a vapour barrier

An in situ experiment on a full-scale timber frame test building was carried out to study the hygrothermal performance of wood-hemp composite insulation in timber frame wall panels with and without a vapour barrier. The heat transfer properties and the likelihood of mould growth and condensation in the panels were compared. Step changes in the internal relative humidity were performed to explore the effects of high, normal and low internal moisture loads on the wall panels. No significant difference in the average equivalent thermal transmittance (U-values) between the panels with and without a vapour barrier was observed. The average equivalent U-values of the panels were close to the U-values calculated from the manufacturers’ declared thermal conductivity values of the insulation. The likelihood of condensation was higher at the interface of the wood-hemp insulation and the oriented strand board (OSB) in the panel without a vapour barrier. In terms of the parametric assessment of the mould germination potential, the relative humidity, the temperature and the exposure conditions in the insulation-OSB interfaces of the panel without a vapour barrier were found to be more favourable to the germination of mould spores. Nonetheless, when the insulations were dismantled, no mould was visually detected

Evidence that links loss of cyclooxygenase-2 with increased asymmetric dimethylarginine : novel explanation of cardiovascular side effects associated with anti-inflammatory drugs

© 2014 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular side effects associated with cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor drugs dominate clinical concern. Cyclooxygenase-2 is expressed in the renal medulla where inhibition causes fluid retention and increased blood pressure. However, the mechanisms linking cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition and cardiovascular events are unknown and no biomarkers have been identified.METHODS AND RESULTS: Transcriptome analysis of wild-type and cyclooxygenase-2(-/-) mouse tissues revealed 1 gene altered in the heart and aorta, but >1000 genes altered in the renal medulla, including those regulating the endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitors asymmetrical dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl-l-arginine. Cyclo-oxygenase-2(-/-) mice had increased plasma levels of ADMA and monomethyl-l-arginine and reduced endothelial nitric oxide responses. These genes and methylarginines were not similarly altered in mice lacking prostacyclin receptors. Wild-type mice or human volunteers taking cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors also showed increased plasma ADMA. Endothelial nitric oxide is cardio-protective, reducing thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Consequently, increased ADMA is associated with cardiovascular disease. Thus, our study identifies ADMA as a biomarker and mechanistic bridge between renal cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition and systemic vascular dysfunction with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug usage.CONCLUSIONS: We identify the endogenous endothelial nitric oxide synthase inhibitor ADMA as a biomarker and mechanistic bridge between renal cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition and systemic vascular dysfunction.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Larval rearing without aeration: a case study of the seven-band grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus using a wave maker

マハタ種苗生産の初期減耗を軽減する飼育技法開発の基礎知見を得るために，通気による従来の飼育方法（容量1 kL，φ130 ㎝，水深70 ㎝：通気量200 mL/分）と，直径5 ㎝の球を水面で上下させて（1 Hz）水面に波を発生させる造波装置を用いた飼育方法で仔魚の生残を比較した。21 日間の飼育実験での造波装置の生残率は55.5％（n=1）で，対照区のそれ（11.6±14.3％, n=3）よりも顕著に高い値を示した。造波装置による水槽垂直断面の流れを計測したところ，波が水深とともに減衰していくのが確かめられた

Multi-decadal and ontogenetic trophic shifts inferred from stable isotope ratios of pinniped teeth

This work was supported by National Capability funding from the Natural Environment Research Council to the Sea Mammal Research Unit (grant no. SMRU1001).Identifying and characterizing top predators’ use of trophic resources provides important information about animal ecology and their response to changing conditions. Information from sources such as stable isotopes can be used to infer changes in resource use as direct observations in the wildare difficult to obtain, particularly in the marine environment. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values were recovered from the canine teeth of grey seals collected from haul outs in the central North Sea in the 1970/80s (n = 44) and 2000s (n = 25), spanning a period of marked ecosystem changes in the region. Extracting material deposited during juvenile and adult life-stages, we reconstructed a multi-decadal record ofδ15N and δ13C variation. Using established correlations between stable isotope ratios and sea bottom temperature we created a proxy for baseline isotopic variability to account for this source of temporal change. We found(1) a significant long-term decline in juvenile grey seal δ15N values,suggesting trophic position has decreased over time; (2) a decline in adultδ15N values and contraction in stable isotopic niche space after the North Sea regime shift, signifying both a decline in trophic position and change in foraging habits over the 20th century; and (3) evidence for dietary segregation between juvenile and adult animals, showing juvenile individuals feeding at a lower trophic position and in more nearshore areas than adults. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of mining archived biological samples to address ecological questions and imply important ontogenetic and long-term shifts in the feeding ecology of a top predator.Long-term changes in grey seal trophic dynamics may be partly in response to well documented ecosystem changes in the North Sea. Such indirect monitoring of marine predators may have utility when set in the context of ecosystem assessments where paucity of long-term monitoring data is prevalent.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Groundwater in the Indo-Gangetic basin: evolution of groundwater typologies

The Indo-Gangetic Basin comprises one of the world’s most important aquifers. The basin is home to approximately 1 billion people and encompasses northern and eastern India, much of Bangladesh, parts of southern Nepal and the most populous areas of Pakistan. Despite the presence of large rivers, much of the basin’s population are dependent on groundwater for drinking water, and the groundwater resource is highly exploited through an estimated 20 million boreholes to support a globally important agricultural industry. The security of supply from this aquifer is threatened by environmental change and increased abstraction. In order to help understand the aquifer and characterise its resilience to change we have developed a groundwater typology map for the basin

Post-mortem brain analyses of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936:Extending lifetime cognitive and brain phenotyping to the level of the synapse

INTRODUCTION: Non-pathological, age-related cognitive decline varies markedly between individuals andplaces significant financial and emotional strain on people, their families and society as a whole.Understanding the differential age-related decline in brain function is critical not only for the development oftherapeutics to prolong cognitive health into old age, but also to gain insight into pathological ageing suchas Alzheimer’s disease. The Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936 (LBC1936) comprises a rare group of people forwhom there are childhood cognitive test scores and longitudinal cognitive data during older age, detailedstructural brain MRI, genome-wide genotyping, and a multitude of other biological, psycho-social, andepidemiological data. Synaptic integrity is a strong indicator of cognitive health in the human brain;however, until recently, it was prohibitively difficult to perform detailed analyses of synaptic and axonalstructure in human tissue sections. We have adapted a novel method of tissue preparation at autopsy toallow the study of human synapses from the LBC1936 cohort in unprecedented morphological andmolecular detail, using the high-resolution imaging techniques of array tomography and electronmicroscopy. This allows us to analyze the brain at sub-micron resolution to assess density, proteincomposition and health of synapses. Here we present data from the first donated LBC1936 brain andcompare our findings to Alzheimer’s diseased tissue to highlight the differences between healthy andpathological brain ageing. RESULTS: Our data indicates that compared to an Alzheimer’s disease patient, the cognitively normalLBC1936 participant had a remarkable degree of preservation of synaptic structures. However,morphological and molecular markers of degeneration in areas of the brain associated with cognition(prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and superior temporal gyrus) were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our novel post-mortem protocol facilitates high-resolution neuropathological analysis of the well-characterized LBC1936 cohort, extending phenotyping beyond cognition and in vivo imaging to nowinclude neuropathological changes, at the level of single synapses. This approach offers an unprecedentedopportunity to study synaptic and axonal integrity during ageing and how it contributes to differences in agerelatedcognitive change. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40478-015-0232-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Functional interactions between Dlx2 and lymphoid enhancer factor regulate Msx2

Dlx2, Lymphoid Enhancer Factor (Lef-1) and Msx2 transcription factors are required for several developmental processes. To understand the control of gene expression by these factors, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays identified Msx2 as a downstream target of Dlx2 and Lef-1. Dlx2 activates the Msx2 promoter in several cell lines and binds DNA as a monomer and dimer. A Lef-1 β-catenin-dependent isoform minimally activates the Msx2 promoter and a Lef-1 β-catenin-independent isoform is inactive, however co-expression of Dlx2 and both Lef-1 isoforms synergistically activate the Msx2 promoter. Co-immunoprecipitation and protein pull-down experiments demonstrate Lef-1 physically interacts with Dlx2. Deletion analyses of the Lef-1 protein reveal specific regions required for synergism with Dlx2. The Lef-1 β-catenin binding domain (βDB) is not required for its interaction with Dlx2. Msx2 can auto-regulate its promoter and repress Dlx2 activation. Msx2 repression of Dlx2 activation is dose-specific and both bind a common DNA-binding element. These transcriptional mechanisms correlate with the temporal and spatial expression of these factors and may provide a mechanism for the control of several developmental processes. We demonstrate new transcriptional activities for Dlx2, Msx2 and Lef-1 through protein interactions and identification of downstream targets

The role of plasma membrane STIM1 and Ca(2+)entry in platelet aggregation. STIM1 binds to novel proteins in human platelets.

Ca(2+) elevation is essential to platelet activation. STIM1 senses Ca(2+) in the endoplasmic reticulum and activates Orai channels allowing store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE). STIM1 has also been reported to be present in the plasma membrane (PM) with its N-terminal region exposed to the outside medium but its role is not fully understood. We have examined the effects of the antibody GOK/STIM1, which recognises the N-terminal region of STIM1, on SOCE, agonist-stimulated Ca(2+) entry, surface exposure, in vitro thrombus formation and aggregation in human platelets. We also determined novel binding partners of STIM1 using proteomics. The dialysed GOK/STIM1 antibody failed to reduced thapsigargin- and agonist-mediated Ca(2+) entry in Fura2-labelled cells. Using flow cytometry we detect a portion of STIM1 to be surface-exposed. The dialysed GOK/STIM1 antibody reduced thrombus formation by whole blood on collagen-coated capillaries under flow and platelet aggregation induced by collagen. In immunoprecipitation experiments followed by proteomic analysis, STIM1 was found to extract a number of proteins including myosin, DOCK10, thrombospondin-1 and actin. These studies suggest that PM STIM1 may facilitate platelet activation by collagen through novel interactions at the plasma membrane while the essential Ca(2+)-sensing role of STIM1 is served by the protein in the ER

Queering Development? The Unsettling Geographies of South–South Cooperation

This paper deploys queer theory as a way of approaching South–South Cooperation (SSC). It examines the ways in which Southern development partners are not simply up-ending the long-standing spatialities, imaginaries and identities (re)produced through the mainstream international development regime, but queering terminologies and definitions, while presenting themselves in fluid ways, enrolling different identities and attributes in different places and to different audiences. At the same time, a queer lens reveals the (re)inscription of gendered, sexualised and racialised identities and hierarchies through the relationships, intimacies and practices of SSC. The paper proposes that queer theory can offer productive insights into the complex and compelling phenomenon of SSC, and the transgressive challenges to the postcolonial hierarchies and binaries of “traditional” international development