Surface modification of a polyether-urethane with RGD-containing peptides for enhanced cell attachment and signalling

Abstract of article examining the chemical modification of polyurethane with RGD-containing peptides offers a means of encouraging the adhesion, spreading and proliferation of cells cultured on its surface. This study assesses the efficacy of a modification procedure using surface analysis techniques and preliminary cell culture studies

The Australian Charter of Employment Rights: The missing dimensions

Just prior to the 2007 General Election, a group of labour lawyers and economists, broadly sympathetic to the Labor Party, produced a Charter of Employment Rights. This article examines the Charter's proposals and its underlying framework, and suggests significant aspects of work and labour have been omitted. It contends that the Charter would have been improved if it had not retained an artificially stretched definition of workers as employees, in which the only relationship worthy of inclusion in a Charter is that between the direct employer and employee. The framework and language of the Charter convey a paternalistic approach and an outdated focus on industrial labour, while ignoring aspects of the emerging global system of work linked to the concept of occupation

The Initial Mass Function in the Nearest Strong Lenses from SNELLS: Assessing the Consistency of Lensing, Dynamical, and Spectroscopic Constraints

We present new observations of the three nearest early-type galaxy (ETG) strong lenses discovered in the SINFONI Nearby Elliptical Lens Locator Survey (SNELLS). Based on their lensing masses, these ETGs were inferred to have a stellar initial mass function (IMF) consistent with that of the Milky Way, not the bottom-heavy IMF that has been reported as typical for high-σ ETGs based on lensing, dynamical, and stellar population synthesis techniques. We use these unique systems to test the consistency of IMF estimates derived from different methods. We first estimate the stellar M */L using lensing and stellar dynamics. We then fit high-quality optical spectra of the lenses using an updated version of the stellar population synthesis models developed by Conroy & van Dokkum. When examined individually, we find good agreement among these methods for one galaxy. The other two galaxies show 2–3σ tension with lensing estimates, depending on the dark matter contribution, when considering IMFs that extend to 0.08 M ⊙. Allowing a variable low-mass cutoff or a nonparametric form of the IMF reduces the tension among the IMF estimates to <2σ. There is moderate evidence for a reduced number of low-mass stars in the SNELLS spectra, but no such evidence in a composite spectrum of matched-σ ETGs drawn from the SDSS. Such variation in the form of the IMF at low stellar masses (m lesssim 0.3 M ⊙), if present, could reconcile lensing/dynamical and spectroscopic IMF estimates for the SNELLS lenses and account for their lighter M */L relative to the mean matched-σ ETG. We provide the spectra used in this study to facilitate future comparisons

Role of patient-reported outcomes in postsurgical monitoring in oncology

Monitoring recovery from oncologic surgery becomes difficult following discharge. The vulnerable time between discharge and first follow up presents an opportunity for symptom management, complication avoidance, and readmission prevention. These goals may be achieved through careful postsurgical symptom monitoring using electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs). ePROs can identify patients at risk, provide closer monitoring when needed, and offer a mechanism to identify and treat complications before they progress. Herein, we describe the benefits of ePROs and summarize the literature of ePRO use in surgical oncology

Accurate age estimation in small-scale societies

Precise estimation of age is essential in evolutionary anthropology, especially to infer population age structures and understand the evolution of human life history diversity. However, in small-scale societies, such as hunter-gatherer populations, time is often not referred to in calendar years, and accurate age estimation remains a challenge. We address this issue by proposing a Bayesian approach that accounts for age uncertainty inherent to fieldwork data. We developed a Gibbs sampling Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that produces posterior distributions of ages for each individual, based on a ranking order of individuals from youngest to oldest and age ranges for each individual. We first validate our method on 65 Agta foragers from the Philippines with known ages, and show that our method generates age estimations that are superior to previously published regression-based approaches. We then use data on 587 Agta collected during recent fieldwork to demonstrate how multiple partial age ranks coming from multiple camps of hunter-gatherers can be integrated. Finally, we exemplify how the distributions generated by our method can be used to estimate important demographic parameters in small-scale societies: here, age-specific fertility patterns. Our flexible Bayesian approach will be especially useful to improve cross-cultural life history datasets for small-scale societies for which reliable age records are difficult to acquire

Stable two-dimensional dispersion-managed soliton

The existence of a dispersion-managed soliton in two-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with periodically varying dispersion has been explored. The averaged equations for the soliton width and chirp are obtained which successfully describe the long time evolution of the soliton. The slow dynamics of the soliton around the fixed points for the width and chirp are investigated and the corresponding frequencies are calculated. Analytical predictions are confirmed by direct PDE and ODE simulations. Application to a Bose-Einstein condensate in optical lattice is discussed. The existence of a dispersion-managed matter-wave soliton in such system is shown.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

PT Invariant Complex E (8) Root Spaces

We provide a construction procedure for complex root spaces invariant under antilinear transformations, which may be applied to any Coxeter group. The procedure is based on the factorisation of a chosen element of the Coxeter group into two factors. Each of the factors constitutes an involution and may therefore be deformed in an antilinear fashion. Having the importance of the E(8)-Coxeter group in mind, such as underlying a particular perturbation of the Ising model and the fact that for it no solution could be found previously, we exemplify the procedure for this particular case. As a concrete application of this construction we propose new generalisations of Calogero-Moser Sutherland models and affine Toda field theories based on the invariant complex root spaces and deformed complex simple roots, respectively

Calcium channels controlling acetylcholine release from preganglionic nerve terminals in rat autonomic ganglia

Little is known about the nature of the calcium channels controlling neurotransmitter release from preganglionic parasympathetic nerve fibres. In the present study, the effects of selective calcium channel antagonists and amiloride were investigated on ganglionic neurotransmission. Conventional intracellular recording and focal extracellular recording techniques were used in rat submandibular and pelvic ganglia, respectively. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials and excitatory postsynaptic currents preceded by nerve terminal impulses were recorded as a measure of acetylcholine release from parasympathetic and sympathetic preganglionic fibres following nerve stimulation. The calcium channel antagonists omega-conotoxin GVIA (N type), nifedipine and nimodipine (L type), omega-conotoxin MVIIC and omega-agatoxin IVA (P/Q type), and Ni2+ (R type) had no functional inhibitory effects on synaptic transmission in both submandibular and pelvic ganglia. The potassium-sparing diuretic, amiloride, and its analogue, dimethyl amiloride, produced a reversible and concentration-dependent inhibition of excitatory postsynaptic potential amplitude in the rat submandibular ganglion. The amplitude and frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic potentials and the sensitivity of the postsynaptic membrane to acetylcholine were unaffected by amiloride. In the rat pelvic ganglion, amiloride produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of excitatory postsynaptic currents without causing any detectable effects on the amplitude or configuration of the nerve terminal impulse. These results indicate that neurotransmitter release from preganglionic parasympathetic and sympathetic nerve terminals is resistant to inhibition by specific calcium channel antagonists of N-, L-, P/Q- and R-type calcium channels. Amiloride acts presynaptically to inhibit evoked transmitter release, but does not prevent action potential propagation in the nerve terminals, suggesting that amiloride may block the pharmacologically distinct calcium channel type(s) on rat preganglionic nerve terminals. (C) 1999 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Nutrient losses from manure and fertilizer applications as impacted by time to first runoff event

Nutrient losses to surface waters following fertilization contribute to eutrophication. This study was conducted to compare the impacts of fertilization with inorganic fertilizer, swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) manure or poultry (Gallus domesticus) litter on runoff water quality, and how the duration between application and the first runoff event affects resulting water quality. Fertilizers were applied at 35 kg P ha-1-, and the duration between application and the first runoff event varied between 1 and 29 days. Swine manure was the greatest risk to water quality 1 day after fertilization due to elevated phosphorus (8.4 mg P L -1) and ammonium (10.3 mg NH4-N L-1) concentrations; however, this risk decreased rapidly. Phosphorus concentrations were 2.6 mg L -1 29 days after fertilization with inorganic fertilizer. This research demonstrates that manures might be more environmentally sustainable than inorganic fertilizers, provided runoff events do not occur soon after application

The influence of manure phytic acid on phosphorus solubility in calcareous soils

Manure characteristics can influence the potential for P transfer in runoff following land application of manures. This research assessed the influence of manure characteristics on P solubility in calcareous soils using manures from poultry (Gallus Domisticus) fed a variety of grain-based diets with the manures containing a range of total P (5.6-16.4 g P kg-1), water-extractable P (WEP, 0.9-4.7 g P kg -1), phytic acid P (0.1-7.6), total N/P ratios (2.6-5.1), and total C/P ratios (19.5-75.7). In addition, mono-ammonium phosphate fertilizer and reagent grade inositol hexaphosphate (phytic acid [PA]), were included, as well as a control treatment with no P additions. Treatments were incorporated into two soils (Portneuf [Coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Durinodic Xeric Haplocalcids] and Millville [Coarse-silty, carbonatic, mesic Typic Haploxerolls]) at three rates (10, 20, and 40 mg P kg -1) and incubated for a total of 18 wk with subsamples taken at 2, 5, 9, and 18 wk. Soil samples were analyzed for inorganic and organic NaHCO3 (Olsen) extractable P and select soils were analyzed at 0 and 12 wk by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) for soil P characterization. The percentage of WEP and PA (of total P) in the manures were linearly related (r 2 = 0.94). Increases in Olsen P over time were positively related to the percentage of monoester P in the treatments. At 2 wk, there was a strong negative correlation between the amount of PA added in the treatments and increases in Olsen P. However, by 18 wk, Olsen P was more closely related to the amount of C or N added with the treatments. Changes in PA content of manures due to dietary modification may influence P sorption on calcareous soils in the short-term while other characteristics such as C/P ratio may exert a stronger influence over changes in soil test P over longer time periods