The Role of the Reticuloendothelial System in LDL Metabolism

Prospective epidemiological studies show that raised plasma cholesterol is a major risk factor for the development of ischaemic heart disease. Recent evidence indicates that reducing plasma cholesterol concentration reduces risk from the disease. Cholesterol is transported in the plasma mainly by low density lipoproteins (LDL) and these particles also confer risk if present in high concentrations. It is important to determine the mechanisms by which LDL is removed from the plasma and catabolised by the tissues of the body. The arterial wall is especially important in this respect as it can accumulate excessive quantities of cholesterol. LDL catabolism is divided into two pathways: 1) LDL-receptor-dependent catabolism is now a well understood process by which a receptor recognises apolipoprotein B (the sole apolipoprotein moiety on LDL) and mediates the internalisation of the lipoprotein. It is then transported to the lysosome, degraded and the cholesterol released for cellular needs. The pathway is autoregulated by cellular requirements for the sterol. In most animals, including man, approximately one half of LDL catabolism occurs by this route. 2) LDL-receptor-independent catabolism is less well defined. Studies have indicated that the reticuloendothelial system plays a role in this scavenger pathway. The purpose of the present study is to increase understanding of the role played by the reticuloendothelial system (RE system) in LDL metabolism. However, because the RE system is a disseminated tissue it is not as easy to study as, for example, the liver which can even be removed from the animal intact. One approach to this problem is functionally to block the cells of the system by injection of material which will be phagocytoced by these macrophages. This was achieved using three agents; a) ethyl oleate emulsion, b) muramyl tripeptide incorporated into triolein emulsion and c) muramyl dipeptide conjugated to acetylated bovine serum albumin (for which the cells of the RE system have a receptor). The end result was the same regardless of the agent employed. The following summarises the essential conclusions of the thesis. 1) The RE system is important in lipoprotein catabolism. Blockage of the system causes an increase in plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels. The raised total cholesterol is almost entirely accounted for by an increase in LDL cholesterol. 2) RE cells are important in the clearance of LDL from the plasma. Administration of RE cell activity inhibiting agents causes a decrease in the rate of the clearance of the lipoprotein. Kinetic analysis shows that this was due to a decrease in LDL-receptor-independent catabolism. 3) Lipoprotein catabolism by cultured macrophages is down regulated by RE system suppressants. Incubation of macrophages with these agents reduces the amount of LDL and B-VLDL catabolised by the cells. This supports the in vivo findings. 4) LDL is altered in the plasma of RE blocked animals. It has an increased density, an increased electrophoretic mobility (negative charge, an increased cholesterol to protein ratio and is sleared from the plasma more rapidly than normal LDL. Control LDL injected into RE suppressed animals assumes the characteristics of this abnormal lipoprotein. 5) Blocking the RE system of cholesterol fed animals appears to promote the atheromatous infiltration of their aortae. Plasma cholesterol levels in the RE blocked animals were not significantly different from those in cholesterol fed animals with functional RE systems but the overall negative charge of their LDL was greater. 6) It follows that the RE system is working to clear an abnormal form of LDL which may be formed by "ageing" in the circulation. Potentially this LDL is catabolised by atherosclerotic plaques leading to lesion advancement

Symmetry limit properties of a priori mixing amplitudes for non-leptonic and weak radiative decays of hyperons

We show that the so-called parity-conserving amplitudes predicted in the a priori mixing scheme for non-leptonic and weak radiative decays of hyperons vanish in the strong-flavor symmetry limit

A Mixed Methods Approach to Identifying Administration Issues Pertinent in Interscholastic Sports

The purpose of this study was to investigate three propositions: a) What are the administration issues most pertinent to interscholastic sport today, as well as the next five years?, b) How important are those administration issues to athletic administrators?, and c) What are the potential implications of those pertinent administration issues to practicing athletic administrators? The literature provides a general overview of relevant issues surrounding interscholastic athletics. However, the importance and implications of relevant issues to practicing high school athletic administrators are difficult to discern. To answer the first proposition, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) provided 10 contemporary administration issues that were most pertinent to interscholastic sport today, as well as the next five years. To answer the second proposition, a Likert-Scale was created so that practicing athletic administrators could rate each issue on a scale of 5 = extremely important to 1 = very little importance. A national study was conducted with athletic directors from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (N = 170) annual conference. A one-tailed ANOVA was executed to determine significant differences among the 10 administration issues identified by the MSHSL. Four issues were found to be significant; Athletic Facilities, Athletic Training, Health Issues and Travel Teams. A Games-Howell post hoc was executed to determine significant differences across geographical regions of the United States. For the third proposition, semi-structured interviews were completed to provide insight on the implications for practicing athletic administrators. The results offer insight from which further investigations could be conducted to continue building on policies that influence interscholastic athletic administrators’ day-to-day accountability when overseeing their athletic programs

CHANDRA observations of the NGC 1550 galaxy group -- implication for the temperature and entropy profiles of 1 keV galaxy groups

We present a detailed \chandra study of the galaxy group NGC 1550. For its temperature (1.37$\pm$0.01 keV) and velocity dispersion ($\sim$ 300 km s$^{-1}$), the NGC 1550 group is one of the most luminous known galaxy groups (L$_{\rm bol}$ = 1.65$\times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ within 200 kpc, or 0.2 \rv). We find that within $\sim 60$ kpc, where the gas cooling time is less than a Hubble time, the gas temperature decreases continuously toward the center, implying the existence of a cooling core. The temperature also declines beyond $\sim$ 100 kpc (or 0.1 \rv). There is a remarkable similarity of the temperature profile of NGC 1550 with those of two other 1 keV groups with accurate temperature determination. The temperature begins to decline at 0.07 - 0.1 \rv, while in hot clusters the decline begins at or beyond 0.2 \rv. Thus, there are at least some 1 keV groups that have significantly different temperature profiles from those of hot clusters, which may reflect the role of non-gravitational processes in ICM/IGM evolution. NGC 1550 has no isentropic core in its entropy profile, in contrast to the predictions of `entropy-floor' simulations. We compare the scaled entropy profiles of three 1 keV groups (including NGC 1550) and three 2 - 3 keV groups. The scaled entropy profiles of 1 keV groups show much larger scatter than those of hotter systems, which implies varied pre-heating levels. We also discuss the mass content of the NGC 1550 group and the abundance profile of heavy elements.Comment: emulateapj5.sty, 18 pages, 11 figures (including 4 color), to appear in ApJ, v598, n1, 20 Nov 200

Structural and Electronic Properties of Amorphous and Polycrystalline In2Se3 Films

Structural and electronic properties of amorphous and single-phase polycrystalline films of gamma- and kappa-In2Se3 have been measured. The stable gamma phase nucleates homogeneously in the film bulk and has a high resistivity, while the metastable kappa phase nucleates at the film surface and has a moderate resistivity. The microstructures of hot-deposited and post-annealed cold-deposited gamma films are quite different but the electronic properties are similar. The increase in the resistivity of amorphous In2Se3 films upon annealing is interpreted in terms of the replacement of In-In bonds with In-Se bonds during crystallization. Great care must be taken in the preparation of In2Se3 films for electrical measurements as the presence of excess chalcogen or surface oxidation may greatly affect the film properties.Comment: 23 pages and 12 figure

Integrated lunar materials manufacturing process

A manufacturing plant and process for production of oxygen on the moon uses lunar minerals as feed and a minimum of earth-imported, process materials. Lunar feed stocks are hydrogen-reducible minerals, ilmenite and lunar agglutinates occurring in numerous, explored locations mixed with other minerals in the pulverized surface layer of lunar soil known as regolith. Ilmenite (FeTiO.sub.3) and agglutinates contain ferrous (Fe.sup.+2) iron reducible by hydrogen to yield H.sub.2 O and metallic Fe at about 700.degree.-1,200.degree. C. The H.sub.2 O is electrolyzed in gas phase to yield H.sub.2 for recycle and O.sub.2 for storage and use. Hydrogen losses to lunar vacuum are minimized, with no net hydrogen (or any other earth-derived reagent) consumption except for small leaks. Feed minerals are surface-mined by front shovels and transported in trucks to the processing area. The machines are manned or robotic. Ilmenite and agglutinates occur mixed with silicate minerals which are not hydrogen-reducible at 700.degree.-1,200.degree. C. and consequently are separated and concentrated before feeding to the oxygen generation process. Solids rejected from the separation step and reduced solids from the oxygen process are returned to the mine area. The plant is powered by nuclear or solar power generators. Vapor-phase water electrolysis, a staged, countercurrent, fluidized bed reduction reactor and a radio-frequency-driven ceramic gas heater are used to improve thermal efficiency

Applying evolutionary anthropology

Evolutionary anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework for understanding how both current environments and legacies of past selection shape human behavioral diversity. This integrative and pluralistic field, combining ethnographic, demographic, and sociological methods, has provided new insights into the ultimate forces and proximate pathways that guide human adaptation and variation. Here, we present the argument that evolutionary anthropological studies of human behavior also hold great, largely untapped, potential to guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of social and public health policy. Focusing on the key anthropological themes of reproduction, production, and distribution we highlight classic and recent research demonstrating the value of an evolutionary perspective to improving human well-being. The challenge now comes in transforming relevance into action and, for that, evolutionary behavioral anthropologists will need to forge deeper connections with other applied social scientists and policy-makers. We are hopeful that these developments are underway and that, with the current tide of enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to policy, evolutionary anthropology is well positioned to make a strong contribution

Broad Absorption Line Variability in Radio-Loud Quasars

We investigate C IV broad absorption line (BAL) variability within a sample of 46 radio-loud quasars (RLQs), selected from SDSS/FIRST data to include both core-dominated (39) and lobe-dominated (7) objects. The sample consists primarily of high-ionization BAL quasars, and a substantial fraction have large BAL velocities or equivalent widths; their radio luminosities and radio-loudness values span ~2.5 orders of magnitude. We have obtained 34 new Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) spectra of 28 BAL RLQs to compare to earlier SDSS data, and we also incorporate archival coverage (primarily dual-epoch SDSS) for a total set of 78 pairs of equivalent width measurements for 46 BAL RLQs, probing rest-frame timescales of ~80-6000 d (median 500 d). In general, only modest changes in the depths of segments of absorption troughs are observed, akin to those seen in prior studies of BAL RQQs. Also similar to previous findings for RQQs, the RLQs studied here are more likely to display BAL variability on longer rest-frame timescales. However, typical values of |Delta_EW| and |Delta_EW|/ are about 40+/-20% lower for BAL RLQs when compared with those of a timescale-matched sample of BAL RQQs. Optical continuum variability is of similar amplitude in BAL RLQs and BAL RQQs; for both RLQs and RQQs, continuum variability tends to be stronger on longer timescales. BAL variability in RLQs does not obviously depend upon their radio luminosities or radio-loudness values, but we do find tentative evidence for greater fractional BAL variability within lobe-dominated RLQs. Enhanced BAL variability within more edge-on (lobe-dominated) RLQs supports some geometrical dependence to the outflow structure.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures, 6 tables, accepted to MNRAS, full Appendix A at http://www.macalester.edu/~bmille13/balrlqs.htm