The performance of surfactant mixtures at low temperatures

Optimising detergency at lower temperatures is of increasing interest due to environmental and economic factors, and requires a greater understanding of the effects of temperature on the adsorption of surfactant mixtures at interfaces. The adsorption properties of surfactant mixtures and biosurfactant/surfactant mixtures have been studied at room temperatures and at temperatures below ambient using surface tension and neutron reflectivity measurements. For the ternary surfactant mixture of octaethylene monododecyl ether, C12E8, sodium dodecyl 6-benzene sulfonate, LAS, and sodium dioxyethylene glycol monododecyl sulfate, SLES, the surface tension at the air-water interface increases with decreasing temperature. In contrast, there is a notable reduction in the increase in the surface tension with a decrease in temperature from 25 °C to 10 °C for the 5 component rhamnolipid/surfactant mixture of the mono-rhamnose, R1, and di-rhamnose, R2, with C12E8/LAS/SLES. The associated neutron reflectivity data for the ternary C12E8/LAS/SLES mixture and the significant observation is that the 3, 4, and 5-component mixtures containing rhamnolipids in conjunction with the other surfactants show changes in composition and adsorbed amounts of the individual components which are close to the experimental error. However the significant observation is that the neutron reflectivity data indicate that the improved surface tension tolerance at lower temperatures is associated with the dominance of the rhamnolipid adsorption in such mixtures. Hence the introduction of the rhamnolipids provides a tolerance to the adverse effects associated with reduced temperatures, and a potential for improved detergency at relatively low temperatures

Structure and Function of the Hair Cell Ribbon Synapse

Faithful information transfer at the hair cell afferent synapse requires synaptic transmission to be both reliable and temporally precise. The release of neurotransmitter must exhibit both rapid on and off kinetics to accurately follow acoustic stimuli with a periodicity of 1 ms or less. To ensure such remarkable temporal fidelity, the cochlear hair cell afferent synapse undoubtedly relies on unique cellular and molecular specializations. While the electron microscopy hallmark of the hair cell afferent synapse — the electron-dense synaptic ribbon or synaptic body — has been recognized for decades, dissection of the synapse’s molecular make-up has only just begun. Recent cell physiology studies have added important insights into the synaptic mechanisms underlying fidelity and reliability of sound coding. The presence of the synaptic ribbon links afferent synapses of cochlear and vestibular hair cells to photoreceptors and bipolar neurons of the retina. This review focuses on major advances in understanding the hair cell afferent synapse molecular anatomy and function that have been achieved during the past years

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Current status of hormones and sexual behavior in fish

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