Elastin is Localised to the Interfascicular Matrix of Energy Storing Tendons and Becomes Increasingly Disorganised With Ageing

Tendon is composed of fascicles bound together by the interfascicular matrix (IFM). Energy storing tendons are more elastic and extensible than positional tendons; behaviour provided by specialisation of the IFM to enable repeated interfascicular sliding and recoil. With ageing, the IFM becomes stiffer and less fatigue resistant, potentially explaining why older tendons become more injury-prone. Recent data indicates enrichment of elastin within the IFM, but this has yet to be quantified. We hypothesised that elastin is more prevalent in energy storing than positional tendons, and is mainly localised to the IFM. Further, we hypothesised that elastin becomes disorganised and fragmented, and decreases in amount with ageing, especially in energy storing tendons. Biochemical analyses and immunohistochemical techniques were used to determine elastin content and organisation, in young and old equine energy storing and positional tendons. Supporting the hypothesis, elastin localises to the IFM of energy storing tendons, reducing in quantity and becoming more disorganised with ageing. These changes may contribute to the increased injury risk in aged energy storing tendons. Full understanding of the processes leading to loss of elastin and its disorganisation with ageing may aid in the development of treatments to prevent age related tendinopathy

Area and individual differences in personal crime victimization incidence: The role of individual, lifestyle/routine activities and contextual predictors

This article examines how personal crime differences between areas and between individuals are predicted by area and population heterogeneity and their synergies. It draws on lifestyle/routine activities and social disorganization theories to model the number of personal victimization incidents over individuals including routine activities and area characteristics, respectively, as well as their (cross-cluster) interactions. The methodology employs multilevel or hierarchical negative binomial regression with extra binomial variation using data from the British Crime Survey and the UK Census. Personal crime rates differ substantially across areas, reflecting to a large degree the clustering of individuals with measured vulnerability factors in the same areas. Most factors suggested by theory and previous research are conducive to frequent personal victimization except the following new results. Pensioners living alone in densely populated areas face disproportionally high numbers of personal crimes. Frequent club and pub visits are associated with more personal crimes only for males and adults living with young children, respectively. Ethnic minority individuals experience fewer personal crimes than whites. The findings suggest integrating social disorganization and lifestyle theories and prioritizing resources to the most vulnerable, rather than all, residents of poor and densely populated areas to prevent personal crimes

Interstellar scintillation as the origin of rapid radio variability in the quasar J1819+3845

Quasars shine brightly due to the liberation of gravitational energy as matter falls onto a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy. Variations in the radiation received from active galactic nuclei (AGN) are studied at all wavelengths, revealing the tiny dimensions of the region and the processes of fuelling the black hole. Some AGN are variable at optical and shorter wavelengths, and display radio outbursts over years and decades. These AGN often also show faster variations at radio wavelengths (intraday variability, IDV) which have been the subject of much debate. The simplest explanation, supported by a correlation in some sources between the optical (intrinsic) and faster radio variations, is that the rapid radio variations are intrinsic. However, this explanation implies physically difficult brightness temperatures, suggesting that the variations may be due to scattering of the incident radiation in the interstellar medium of our Galaxy. Here we present results which show unambiguously that the variations in one extreme case are due to interstellar scintillation. We also measure the transverse velocity of the scattering material, revealing a surprising high velocity plasma close to the Solar System

Frequency Comb Assisted Diode Laser Spectroscopy for Measurement of Microcavity Dispersion

While being invented for precision measurement of single atomic transitions, frequency combs have also become a versatile tool for broadband spectroscopy in the last years. In this paper we present a novel and simple approach for broadband spectroscopy, combining the accuracy of an optical fiber-laser-based frequency comb with the ease-of-use of a tunable external cavity diode laser. This scheme enables broadband and fast spectroscopy of microresonator modes and allows for precise measurements of their dispersion, which is an important precondition for broadband optical frequency comb generation that has recently been demonstrated in these devices. Moreover, we find excellent agreement of measured microresonator dispersion with predicted values from finite element simulations and we show that tailoring microresonator dispersion can be achieved by adjusting their geometrical properties

Effects of Intra- and Interpatch Host Density on Egg Parasitism by Three Species of Trichogramma

Host-foraging responses to different intra- and interpatch densities were used to assess three Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Trichogramma deion Pinto and Oatman, T. ostriniae Pang and Chen, and T. pretiosum Riley — as potential biological control agents for the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella Hübner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Single naïve females were allowed 6 h to forage in Plexiglas arenas with four different spatial arrangements of host eggs, nine single-egg patches), nine four-egg patches, 36 single-egg patches, and 36 four-egg patches. No significant differences were found among species in the number of patches parasitized. As expected, all three species parasitized the most eggs in the 36 four-egg patch treatment and the least in the nine single-egg patch treatment. T. deion parasitized significantly more eggs than T. pretiosum on the nine four-egg patches. T. ostriniae parasitized significantly more patches when intrapatch density was greater, regardless of interpatch density. In contrast, T. deion only parasitized more patches at the greater intrapatch density when the interpatch density was low. Patch density had no effect on T. pretiosum. The spatial pattern of parasitism was more aggregated for T. deion and T. ostriniae in the 36 four-egg patches treatment compared to the 36 single-egg patches treatment. Therefore, intrapatch density was more important than interpatch density for T. ostriniae, and potentially for T. deion, but not for T. pretiosum. T. deion may be the best candidate for augmentative biological control because it parasitized either slightly or significantly more eggs than the other two species in all four treatments. Furthermore, the pattern of parasitism by T. deion in the 36 four-egg patches treatment was the most aggregated among the three species, suggesting a more thorough searching pattern. In contrast, T. pretiosum had the least aggregated pattern of parasitism and therefore may have used a more random foraging pattern

Anatomical heterogeneity of tendon: Fascicular and interfascicular tendon compartments have distinct proteomic composition

This study was funded by the BBSRC (BB/K008412/1)

Spectral Line-by-Line Pulse Shaping of an On-Chip Microresonator Frequency Comb

We report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, spectral phase characterization and line-by-line pulse shaping of an optical frequency comb generated by nonlinear wave mixing in a microring resonator. Through programmable pulse shaping the comb is compressed into a train of near-transform-limited pulses of \approx 300 fs duration (intensity full width half maximum) at 595 GHz repetition rate. An additional, simple example of optical arbitrary waveform generation is presented. The ability to characterize and then stably compress the frequency comb provides new data on the stability of the spectral phase and suggests that random relative frequency shifts due to uncorrelated variations of frequency dependent phase are at or below the 100 microHertz level.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Ultra-Rapid Categorization of Fourier-Spectrum Equalized Natural Images: Macaques and Humans Perform Similarly

BACKGROUND: Comparative studies of cognitive processes find similarities between humans and apes but also monkeys. Even high-level processes, like the ability to categorize classes of object from any natural scene under ultra-rapid time constraints, seem to be present in rhesus macaque monkeys (despite a smaller brain and the lack of language and a cultural background). An interesting and still open question concerns the degree to which the same images are treated with the same efficacy by humans and monkeys when a low level cue, the spatial frequency content, is controlled. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used a set of natural images equalized in Fourier spectrum and asked whether it is still possible to categorize them as containing an animal and at what speed. One rhesus macaque monkey performed a forced-choice saccadic task with a good accuracy (67.5% and 76% for new and familiar images respectively) although performance was lower than with non-equalized images. Importantly, the minimum reaction time was still very fast (100 ms). We compared the performances of human subjects with the same setup and the same set of (new) images. Overall mean performance of humans was also lower than with original images (64% correct) but the minimum reaction time was still short (140 ms). CONCLUSION: Performances on individual images (% correct but not reaction times) for both humans and the monkey were significantly correlated suggesting that both species use similar features to perform the task. A similar advantage for full-face images was seen for both species. The results also suggest that local low spatial frequency information could be important, a finding that fits the theory that fast categorization relies on a rapid feedforward magnocellular signal

Respirable antisense oligonucleotides: a new drug class for respiratory disease

Respirable antisense oligonucleotides (RASONs), which attenuate specific disease-associated mRNAs, represent a new class of respiratory therapeutics with considerable potential. RASONs overcome previous obstacles that have impeded the development of antisense therapeutics targeting diseases in other organ systems. RASONs are delivered directly to the target tissue via inhalation; their uptake seems to be enhanced by cationic properties inherent in pulmonary surfactant, and, because of the markedly different target properties of mRNA and proteins, they can have very long durations of effect compared with traditional drugs targeting the protein of the same gene. RASONs contain chemical modifications that decrease their degradation by cellular nucleases. However, total insensitivity to nucleases is probably not an optimal design criterion for RASONs, because moderate nuclease sensitivity can prevent their systemic delivery, decreasing the potential for systemic toxicity. EPI-2010 is a 21-mer phosphorothioate RASON that attenuates bronchoconstriction, inflammation and surfactant depletion in preclinical models of human asthma, has a duration of effect of seven days, and seems to undergo minimal systemic delivery

Tumor markers in breast cancer - European Group on Tumor Markers recommendations

Recommendations are presented for the routine clinical use of serum and tissue-based markers in the diagnosis and management of patients with breast cancer. Their low sensitivity and specificity preclude the use of serum markers such as the MUC-1 mucin glycoproteins ( CA 15.3, BR 27.29) and carcinoembryonic antigen in the diagnosis of early breast cancer. However, serial measurement of these markers can result in the early detection of recurrent disease as well as indicate the efficacy of therapy. Of the tissue-based markers, measurement of estrogen and progesterone receptors is mandatory in the selection of patients for treatment with hormone therapy, while HER-2 is essential in selecting patients with advanced breast cancer for treatment with Herceptin ( trastuzumab). Urokinase plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 are recently validated prognostic markers for lymph node-negative breast cancer patients and thus may be of value in selecting node-negative patients that do not require adjuvant chemotherapy. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel