Employing pre-stress to generate finite cloaks for antiplane elastic waves

It is shown that nonlinear elastic pre-stress of neo-Hookean hyperelastic materials can be used as a mechanism to generate finite cloaks and thus render objects near-invisible to incoming antiplane elastic waves. This approach appears to negate the requirement for special cloaking metamaterials with inhomogeneous and anisotropic material properties in this case. These properties are induced naturally by virtue of the pre-stress. This appears to provide a mechanism for broadband cloaking since dispersive effects due to metamaterial microstructure will not arise.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Measuring Recovery: An Adapted Brief Assessment of Mood (BAM+) Compared to Biochemical and Power Output Alterations

ObjectivesBiochemical (e.g., creatine kinase (CK)) and neuromuscular (e.g., peak power output (PPO)) markers of recovery are expensive and require specialist equipment. Perceptual measures are an effective alternative, yet most validated scales are too long for daily use.DesignThis study utilises a longitudinal multi-level design to test an adapted Brief Assessment of Mood (BAM + ), with four extra items and a 100 mm visual analogue scale to measure recovery.MethodsElite under-21 academy soccer players (N = 11) were monitored across five games with data (BAM+, CK and PPO) collected for each game at 24 hours pre, 24 hours and 48 hours post-match. Match activity data for each participant was also collected using GPS monitors on players.ResultsBAM+, CK and PPO had significant (p < .05) linear and quadratic growth curves across time and games that matched the known time reports of fatigue and recovery. Multi-level linear modelling (MLM) with random intercepts for ‘participant’ and ‘game’ indicated only CK significantly contributed to the variance of BAM+ scores (p < .05). Significant correlations (p < .01) were found between changes in BAM+ scores from baseline at 24 and 48 hours post-match for total distance covered per minute, high intensity distance covered per minute, and total number of sprints per minute.ConclusionsVisual and inferential results indicate that the BAM+ appears effective for monitoring longitudinal recovery cycles in elite level athletes. Future research is needed to confirm both the scales reliability and validity

COVID-19 has profoundly changed the way we conduct and share research. Let’s not return to business as usual when the pandemic is over!

COVID-19 has led to rapid and open sharing of research outputs. But will this new, radically open research communications paradigm result in permanent change? Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) executive board members, Kathleen Shearer, Eloy Rodrigues, Bianca Amaro, Wolfram Horstmann, William Nixon, Daisy Selematsela, Martha Whitehead and Kazu Yamaji, argue that the new research climate proves that longstanding shortcomings regarding the time and cost of research can be overcome with enough political will, and that maintaining a culture of open science going forward is necessary to address the big social problems of our time

Production of Interferons and β-Chemokines by Placental Trophoblasts of HIV-1-Infected Women

Objective: The mechanism whereby the placental cells of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-infected mother protect the fetus from HIV-1 infection is unclear. Interferons (IFNs) inhibit the replication of viruses by acting at various stages of the life cycle and may play a role in protecting against vertical transmission of HIV-1. In addition the β-chemokines RANTES (regulated on activation T cell expressed and secreted), macrophage inflammatory protein-1-α (MIP-1α), and MIP-1β can block HIV-1 entry into cells by preventing the binding of the macrophage-trophic HIV-1 strains to the coreceptorCCR5. In this study the production of IFNs and β-chemokines by placental trophoblasts of HIV-1-infected women who were HIV-1 non-transmitters was examined. Methods: Placental trophoblastic cells were isolated from 29 HIV-1-infected and 10 control subjects. Supernatants of trophoblast cultures were tested for the production of IFNs and β-chemokines by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, HIV-1-gag and IFN-β transcripts were determined by a semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Results: All placental trophoblasts of HIV-1-infected women contained HIV-1-gag transcripts. There were no statistical differences in the median constitutive levels of IFN-α and IFN-γ produced by trophoblasts of HIV-1- infected and control subjects. In contrast, trophoblasts of HIV-1-infected women constitutively produced significantly higher levels of IFN-β protein than trophoblasts of control subjects. Furthermore, the median levels of β-chemokines produced by trophoblasts of HIV-infected and control women were similar. Conclusions: Since there was no correlation between the placental HIV load and the production of interferons or β-chemokines, the role of trophoblast-derived IFNs and β-chemokines in protecting the fetus from infection with HIV-1 is not clear

Genome-wide Association Study of Saturated, Mono- and Polyunsaturated Red Blood Cell Fatty Acids in the Framingham Heart Offspring Study

Most genome-wide association studies have explored relationships between genetic variants and plasma phospholipid fatty acid proportions, but few have examined apparent genetic influences on the membrane fatty acid profile of red blood cells (RBC). Using RBC fatty acid data from the Framingham Offspring Study, we analyzed over 2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for association with 14 RBC fatty acids identifying 191 different SNPs associated with at least 1 fatty acid. Significant associations (p\u3c1×10−8) were located within five distinct 1 MB regions. Of particular interest were novel associations between (1) arachidonic acid and PCOLCE2 (regulates apoA-I maturation and modulates apoA-I levels), and (2) oleic and linoleic acid and LPCAT3 (mediates the transfer of fatty acids between glycerolipids). We also replicated previously identified strong associations between SNPs in the FADS (chromosome 11) and ELOVL (chromosome 6) regions. Multiple SNPs explained 8–14% of the variation in 3 high abundance (\u3e11%) fatty acids, but only 1–3% in 4 low abundance (\u3c3%) fatty acids, with the notable exception of dihomo-gamma linolenic acid with 53% of variance explained by SNPs. Further studies are needed to determine the extent to which variations in these genes influence tissue fatty acid content and pathways modulated by fatty acids

Rights retention and repositories : accelerating global progress

In the last couple of years in the UK there's been a not so quiet revolution in the adoption of institutional Rights Retention Policies (IRRPs) which has been gathering momentum. There are now 26 institutions with IRRPs now in place, with more planned. While Rights Retention is not new, it was pioneered in 2008 at Harvard, in the UK however, 2023 felt like a tipping point with statements and policies released at institutional, regional and national levels. The Rights Retention revolution is here. Authors rights are at the heart of the scholarly dissemination process. With the support, and leadership of research libraries we can ensure academia’s control of original copyrights becomes the new norm, enabling and protecting free and open access to research for the public good. How can our institutional repositories be best placed to support this new norm? The panel will explore the role that Institutional repositories (and their supporting infrastructure and services) can play in supporting Rights Retention, and in turn empowering authors and accelerating global scholarship

A Bio-Based Pro-Antimicrobial Polymer Network Via Degradable Acetal Linkages

The synthesis of a fully degradable, bio-based, sustained release, pro-antimicrobial polymer network comprised of degradable acetals (PANDA) is reported. The active antimicrobial agent – p-anisaldehyde (pA) (an extract from star anise) – was converted into a UV curable acetal containing pro-antimicrobial monomer and subsequently photopolymerized into a homogenous thiol-ene network. Under neutral to acidic conditions (pH \u3c 8), the PANDAs undergo surface erosion and exhibit sustained release of pA over 38 days. The release of pA from PANDAs was shown to be effective against both bacterial and fungal pathogens. From a combination of confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, we observed that the released pA disrupts the cell membrane. Additionally, we demonstrated that PANDAs have minimal cytotoxicity towards both epithelial cells and macrophages. Although a model platform, these results point to promising pathways for the design of fully degradable sustained-release antimicrobial systems with potential applications in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, household/personal care, and food industries

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Red-Blood Cell Fatty Acids and Ratios Incorporating Dietary Covariates: Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort

Recent analyses have suggested a strong heritable component to circulating fatty acid (FA) levels; however, only a limited number of genes have been identified which associate with FA levels. In order to expand upon a previous genome wide association study done on participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort and FA levels, we used data from 2,400 of these individuals for whom red blood cell FA profiles, dietary information and genotypes are available, and then conducted a genome-wide evaluation of potential genetic variants associated with 22 FAs and 15 FA ratios, after adjusting for relevant dietary covariates. Our analysis found nine previously identified loci associated with FA levels (FADS, ELOVL2, PCOLCE2, LPCAT3, AGPAT4, NTAN1/PDXDC1, PKD2L1, HBS1L/MYB and RAB3GAP1/MCM6), while identifying four novel loci. The latter include an association between variants in CALN1 (Chromosome 7) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), DHRS4L2(Chromosome 14) and a FA ratio measuring delta-9-desaturase activity, as well as two loci associated with less well understood proteins. Thus, the inclusion of dietary covariates had a modest impact, helping to uncover four additional loci. While genome-wide association studies continue to uncover additional genes associated with circulating FA levels, much of the heritable risk is yet to be explained, suggesting the potential role of rare genetic variation, epistasis and gene-environment interactions on FA levels as well. Further studies are needed to continue to understand the complex genetic picture of FA metabolism and synthesis