Advanced Strain-Isolation-Pad Material with Bonded Fibrous Construction

The feasibility of utilizing air lay and liquid lay felt deposition techniques to fabricate strain isolation pad (SIP) materials for the Space Shuttle Orbiter was demonstrated. These materials were developed as candidate replacements for the present needled felt SIP used between the ceramic tiles and the aluminum skin on the undersurface of the Orbiter. The SIP materials that were developed consisted of high temperature aramid fibers deposited by controlled fluid (air or liquid) carriers to form low density unbonded felts. The deposited felts were then bonded at the fiber intersections with a small amount of high temperature polyimide resin. This type of bonded felt construction can potentially eliminate two of the problems associated with the present SIP, viz., transmittal of localized stresses into the tiles and load history dependent mechanical response. However, further work is needed to achieve adequate through thickness tensile strength in the bonded felts

Cofactor specificity motifs and the induced fit mechanism in class I ketol-acid reductoisomerases

Although most sequenced members of the industrially important ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI) family are class I enzymes, structural studies to date have focused primarily on the class II KARIs, which arose through domain duplication. In the present study, we present five new crystal structures of class I KARIs. These include the first structure of a KARI with a six-residue β2αB (cofactor specificity determining) loop and an NADPH phosphate-binding geometry distinct from that of the seven- and 12-residue loops. We also present the first structures of naturally occurring KARIs that utilize NADH as cofactor. These results show insertions in the specificity loops that confounded previous attempts to classify them according to loop length. Lastly, we explore the conformational changes that occur in class I KARIs upon binding of cofactor and metal ions. The class I KARI structures indicate that the active sites close upon binding NAD(P)H, similar to what is observed in the class II KARIs of rice and spinach and different from the opening of the active site observed in the class II KARI of Escherichia coli. This conformational change involves a decrease in the bending of the helix that runs between the domains and a rearrangement of the nicotinamide-binding site

Robotic milking technologies and renegotiating situated ethical relationships on UK dairy farms

Robotic or automatic milking systems (AMS) are novel technologies that take over the labor of dairy farming and reduce the need for human-animal interactions. Because robotic milking involves the replacement of 'conventional' twice-a-day milking managed by people with a system that supposedly allows cows the freedom to be milked automatically whenever they choose, some claim robotic milking has health and welfare benefits for cows, increases productivity, and has lifestyle advantages for dairy farmers. This paper examines how established ethical relations on dairy farms are unsettled by the intervention of a radically different technology such as AMS. The renegotiation of ethical relationships is thus an important dimension of how the actors involved are re-assembled around a new technology. The paper draws on in-depth research on UK dairy farms comparing those using conventional milking technologies with those using AMS. We explore the situated ethical relations that are negotiated in practice, focusing on the contingent and complex nature of human-animal-technology interactions. We show that ethical relations are situated and emergent, and that as the identities, roles, and subjectivities of humans and animals are unsettled through the intervention of a new technology, the ethical relations also shift. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Nutritional regulation of oligodendrocyte differentiation regulates perineuronal net remodeling in the median eminence

The mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH; arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus [ARH] and median eminence [ME]) is a key nutrient sensing site for the production of the complex homeostatic feedback responses required for the maintenance of energy balance. Here, we show that refeeding after an overnight fast rapidly triggers proliferation and differentiation of oligodendrocyte progenitors, leading to the production of new oligodendrocytes in the ME specifically. During this nutritional paradigm, ME perineuronal nets (PNNs), emerging regulators of ARH metabolic functions, are rapidly remodeled, and this process requires myelin regulatory factor (Myrf) in oligodendrocyte progenitors. In genetically obese ob/ob mice, nutritional regulations of ME oligodendrocyte differentiation and PNN remodeling are blunted, and enzymatic digestion of local PNN increases food intake and weight gain. We conclude that MBH PNNs are required for the maintenance of energy balance in lean mice and are remodeled in the adult ME by the nutritional control of oligodendrocyte differentiation

Clinical-pathological study on β-APP, IL-1β, GFAP, NFL, Spectrin II, 8OHdG, TUNEL, miR-21, miR-16, miR-92 expressions to verify DAI-diagnosis, grade and prognosis

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most important death and disability cause, involving substantial costs, also in economic terms, when considering the young age of the involved subject. Aim of this paper is to report a series of patients treated at our institutions, to verify neurological results at six months or survival; in fatal cases we searched for βAPP, GFAP, IL-1β, NFL, Spectrin II, TUNEL and miR-21, miR-16, and miR-92 expressions in brain samples, to verify DAI diagnosis and grade as strong predictor of survival and inflammatory response. Concentrations of 8OHdG as measurement of oxidative stress was performed. Immunoreaction of β-APP, IL-1β, GFAP, NFL, Spectrin II and 8OHdG were significantly increased in the TBI group with respect to control group subjects. Cell apoptosis, measured by TUNEL assay, were significantly higher in the study group than control cases. Results indicated that miR-21, miR-92 and miR-16 have a high predictive power in discriminating trauma brain cases from controls and could represent promising biomarkers as strong predictor of survival, and for the diagnosis of postmortem traumatic brain injury

Twenty-first century laparoscopic hysterectomy: should we not leave the vaginal step out?

The objective of this study was to compare surgical outcomes for laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) with total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) in three teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. This study is a multicenter cohort retrospective analysis of consecutive cases (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). One hundred and four women underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy between March 1995 and March 2005 at one of three teaching hospitals. This included 37 women who underwent LAVH and 67 who underwent TLH. Blood loss, operating time, and intraoperative complications such as bladder or ureteric injury as well as conversion to an open procedure were recorded. In the TLH group, average age was statistically significant lower, as well as the mean parity, whereas estimated uterus size was statistically significant larger, compared to the LAVH group. Main indication in both groups was dysfunctional uterine bleeding. In the TLH group, mean blood loss (173 mL) was significant lower compared to the LAVH group (457 mL), whereas length of surgery, uterus weight, and complication rates were comparable between the two groups. The method of choice at the start of the study period was LAVH, and by the end of the study period, it had been superceded by TLH. LAVH should not be regarded as the novice’s laparoscopic hysterectomy. Moreover, with regard blood loss, TLH shows advantages above LAVH. This might be due to the influence of the altered anatomy in the vaginal stage of the LAVH procedure. Therefore, when a vaginal hysterectomy is contraindicated, TLH is the procedure of choice. LAVH remains indicated in case of vaginal hysterectomy with accompanying adnexal surgery

Oocyte expression with injection of purified T7 RNA polymerase.

International audienceThe Xenopus oocyte is a widely used system for protein expression. Investigators have had the choice between two different techniques: injection into the cytoplasm of in vitro transcribed complementary RNA (cRNA) or injection into the nucleus of complementary DNA (cDNA). We report on a third expression technique that is based on the combined injection of cDNA and purified T7 RNA polymerase directly into the cytoplasm of oocytes

Percutaneous coronary intervention in the occluded artery trial: procedural success, hazard, and outcomes over 5 years.

BACKGROUND: The Occluded Artery Trial (OAT) was a 2,201-patient randomized clinical trial comparing routine stent-based percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus optimal medical therapy alone in stable myocardial infarction (MI) survivors with persistent infarct-related artery occlusion identified day 3 to 28 post MI. Intent-to-treat analysis showed no difference between strategies with respect to the incidence of new class IV congestive heart failure, MI, or death. The influence of PCI failure, procedural hazard, and crossover on trial results has not been reported. METHODS: Study angiograms were analyzed and adjudicated centrally. Factors associated with PCI failure were examined. Time-to-event analysis using the OAT primary outcome was performed by PCI success status. Landmark analysis (up to and beyond 30 days) partitioned early hazard versus late outcome according to treatment received. RESULTS: Percutaneous coronary intervention was adjudicated successful in >87%. Percutaneous coronary intervention failure rates were similar in US and non-US sites, and did not significantly influence outcome at 60 months (hazard ratio for success vs fail 0.79, 99% CI 0.45-1.40, P = .29). Partitioning of early procedural hazard revealed no late benefit for PCI (hazard ratio for PCI success vs medical therapy alone 1.06, 99% CI 0.75-1.50, P = .66). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous coronary intervention failure and complication rates in the OAT were low. Neither PCI failure nor early procedural hazard substantively influenced the primary trial results

Myocardial perfusion grade after late infarct artery recanalization is associated with global and regional left ventricular function at one year: analysis from the Total Occlusion Study of Canada-2.

BACKGROUND: Whether myocardial perfusion grade (MPG) following late recanalization of infarct-related arteries (IRAs) predicts left ventricular (LV) function recovery beyond the acute phase of myocardial infarction (MI) is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Total Occlusion Study of Canada-2 enrolled stable patients with a persistently occluded IRA beyond 24 hours and up to 28 days post-MI. We studied the relationship between the initial MPG and changes in LV function and volume as well as the change in MPG from immediate post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to 1 year in 139 PCI patients with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 3 epicardial flow post-PCI and with paired values grouped into impaired or good MPG groups (MPG 0/1 or MPG 2/3). MPG 0/1 patients were more likely to have received thrombolytic therapy and to have a left anterior descending IRA. They had lower blood pressure and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and a higher heart rate and systolic sphericity index at baseline. Changes in the MPG 0/1 and MPG 2/3 groups from baseline to 1 year were LVEF, 3.3±9.0% and 4.8±8.9% (P=0.42); LV end-systolic volume index (LVESVI), -1.1±9.2 and -4.7±12.3 mL/m(2) (P=0.25); LV end-diastolic volume index (LVEDVI), 0.08±19.1 and -2.4±22.2 mL/m(2) (P=0.67); and SDs/chord for infarct zone wall motion index (WMI), 0.38±0.70 and 0.84±1.11 (P=0.01). By covariate-adjusted analysis, post-PCI MPG 0/1 predicted lower WMI (P<0.001), lower LVEF (P<0.001), and higher LVESVI (P<0.01) but not LVEDVI at 1 year. Of the MPG 0/1 patients, 60% were MPG 2 or 3 at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Preserved MPG is present in a high proportion of patients following late PCI of occluded IRAs post-MI. Poor MPG post-PCI frequently improves MPG over 1 year. MPG graded after IRA recanalization undertaken days to weeks post MI is associated with LV recovery, indicating that MPG determined in the subacute post-MI period remains a marker of viability

The intronic G13964C variant in p53 is not a high-risk mutation in familial breast cancer in Australia

BACKGROUND: Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for approximately 50% of breast cancer families with more than four affected cases, whereas exonic mutations in p53, PTEN, CHK2 and ATM may account for a very small proportion. It was recently reported that an intronic variant of p53 - G13964C - occurred in three out of 42 (7.1%) 'hereditary' breast cancer patients, but not in any of 171 'sporadic' breast cancer control individuals (P = 0.0003). If this relatively frequent occurrence of G13964C in familial breast cancer and absence in control individuals were confirmed, then this would suggest that the G13964C variant plays a role in breast cancer susceptibility. METHOD: We genotyped 71 familial breast cancer patients and 143 control individuals for the G13964C variant using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. RESULTS: Three (4.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0–8.9%) G13964C heterozygotes were identified. The variant was also identified in 5 out of 143 (3.5%; 95% CI 0.6–6.4%) control individuals without breast cancer or a family history of breast cancer, however, which is no different to the proportion found in familial cases (P = 0.9). CONCLUSION: The present study would have had 80% power to detect an odds ratio of 4.4, and we therefore conclude that the G13946C polymorphism is not a 'high-risk' mutation for familial breast cancer