Graphene-Based Nanoplatelets: A New Risk to the Respiratory System as a Consequence of Their Unusual Aerodynamic Properties

Graphene is a new nanomaterial with unusual and useful physical and chemical properties. However, in the form of nanoplatelets this new, emerging material could pose unusual risks to the respiratory system after inhalation exposure. The graphene-based nanoplatelets used in this study are commercially available and consist of several sheets of graphene (few-layer graphene). We first derived the respirability of graphene nanoplatelets (GP) from the basic principles of the aerodynamic behavior of plate-shaped particles which allowed us to calculate their aerodynamic diameter. This showed that the nanoplatelets, which were up to 25 μm in diameter, were respirable and so would deposit beyond the ciliated airways following inhalation. We therefore utilized models of pharyngeal aspiration and direct intrapleural installation of GP, as well as an <i>in vitro</i> model, to assess their inflammatory potential. These large but respirable GP were inflammogenic in both the lung and the pleural space. MIP-1α, MCP-1, MIP-2, IL-8, and IL-1β expression in the BAL, the pleural lavage, and cell culture supernatant from THP-1 macrophages were increased with GP exposure compared to controls but not with nanoparticulate carbon black (CB). <i>In vitro</i>, macrophages exposed to GP showed expression of IL-1β. This study highlights the importance of nanoplatelet form as a driver for <i>in vivo</i> and <i>in vitro</i> inflammogenicity by virtue of their respirable aerodynamic diameter, despite a considerable 2-dimensional size which leads to frustrated phagocytosis when they deposit in the distal lungs and macrophages attempt to phagocytose them. Our data suggest that nanoplatelets pose a novel nanohazard and structure-toxicity relationship in nanoparticle toxicology

MOESM13 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 13: S13. The effect of different C/N ratios on G protein mutants. Growth condition and treatments are as described for Fig. 3. Data analysis was performed by software SAS8.0. Single factor analysis (n = 48). Different capital letters indicate the similarity groups among four genotypes (p < 0.05) and lowercase letters indicated the similarity groups among five nitrogen treatments (p < 0.05)

MOESM8 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 8: S8. The chlorophyll content estimated by RGB value for Additional file 5: S5

Između politike i kulture: integralno jugoslovenstvo i likovna umetnost

The ideology of Integral Yugoslavism was based on a set of principles related to the denial of the national individualities of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which were considered irrelevant to the common, Yugoslav identity. Integral Yugoslavism, however, was not an abstract political doctrine, but it was heavily dependent on culture and art in particular. Yugoslav art of the first decades of the twentieth century was marked by the idea that artwork had to represent both cultural and political, and historical and modern unity of the nation. Moreover, it was believed that art had to herald a new era in political and cultural life of South Slavs and to serve as the legitimation of the long-awaited political independence. Among a variety of artistic poetics of the time, that of the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962) was extremely prominent and politically engaged. Meštrović’s monumental sculptures of the Vidovdan and Kraljević Marko cycle argued most cogently for national independence and the unification of all South Slavs.Ideologija integralnog jugoslovenstva bila je zasnovana na nizu složenih principa koji su negirali nacionalne karakteristike i individualne osobenosti Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca. Osnovni sadržaj integralnog jugoslovenstva bila je ideja o primodijalnom jedinstvu Jugoslovena, shvaćenih kao jedinstvena nacija. Ova ideologija, međutim, nije predstavljala apstraktnu doktrinu o nacionalnom jedinstvu već je podrazumevala niz konstitutivnih elemenata koji su bili zasnovani na sistemima kulturne reprezentacije. Likovna umetnost je u tom sistemu imala zapaženo mesto, pre svega u toku prvih nekoliko decenija 20. veka kada je ideologija integralnog jugoslovenstva dostigla svoj zenit. U obilju umetničkih poetika toga vremena posebno se izdvajaju dva skulptoralna ciklusa hrvatskog umetnika Ivana Meštrovića (1883-1962) ¬ Vidovdanski ciklus i Ciklus Kraljevića Marka - kao ključna legitimacija političke doktrine o jedinstvenoj jugoslovenskoj naciji i nužnosti stvaranja zajedničke države Južnih Slovena

MOESM4 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 4: S4. RGB_Measure.class. This is the plug-in for imageJ used for the RGB reads

MOESM7 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 7: S7. Greyscaleimage.jpg. The output greyscale images created by imageJ indicated the chlorophyll content

MOESM12 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 12: S12. The effect of different C/N ratios on Arabidopsis seedlings growth and chlorophyll content. a Box plot shows plant sizes in response to C/N ratio. Solid line indicates the median and the dotted line indicates the mean value. b The plant leave area of 1 mM nitrogen under different glucose concentrations. c The chlorophyll content of G protein mutants under 0.2 mM nitrogen and 6% glucose

MOESM10 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 10: S10. Leastsquareequation.m Script written for Matlab to apply the least square equation

MOESM3 of A nondestructive method to estimate the chlorophyll content of Arabidopsis seedlings

Additional file 3: S3. RGB_Measure.java This is the .java compiler for creating the .class file plug-in for imageJ to be used for the the RGB reads

Monitoring and Modelling Geomagnetic Storms in Ireland

<p>Poster given at ESWW11 in Liege.</p> <p> </p> <p>November 2014</p