Insulin and the insulin-like growth factor system : a novel theory for hyperinsulinemic laminitis pathogenesis

Research into hyperinsulinemic laminitis has progressed significantly in recent years with the use of the prolonged-euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp (p-EHC). Previous investigations of laminitis pathophysiology have focused on digital vascular dysfunction, inflammation, altered glucose metabolism within the lamellae, and lamellar basement membrane breakdown by metalloproteinases. The etiopathogenesis of laminitis occurring in association with hyperinsulinemia is yet to be fully characterized, but it may not involve these mechanisms. Insulin stimulates cellular proliferation and can also affect other body systems, such as the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is structurally homologous to insulin and, like insulin, binds with strong affinity to a specific tyrosine kinase receptor on the cell surface to produce its effects, which include promoting cell proliferation. Receptors for IGF-1 (IGF-1R) are present in the lamellar epidermis. An alternative theory for the pathogenesis of hyperinsulinemic laminitis is that uncontrolled cell proliferation, mediated through both the insulin receptor (InsR) and IGF-1R, leads to lengthening, weakening, and failure of the lamellae. An analysis of the proliferative activity of lamellar epidermal cells during the developmental and acute phases of hyperinsulinemic laminitis, and lamellar gene expression of the InsR and IGF-1R was undertaken.

Graphene-like nano-sheets/36° LiTaO3 surface acoustic wave hydrogen gas sensor

Presented is the material and gas sensing properties of graphene-like nano-sheets deposited on 36° YX lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducers. The graphene-like nano-sheets were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy(AFM)and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The graphenelike nano-sheet/SAW sensors were exposed to different concentrations of hydrogen (H2) gas in a synthetic air at room temperature. The developed sensors exhibit good sensitivity towards low concentrations of H2 in ambient conditions, as well as excellent dynamic performance towards H2 at room temperature.

Graphene-like nano-sheets based LiTaO3 surface acoustic wave NO2 gas sensor

Thin films consisting of graphene-like nano-sheets were deposited onto LiTaO3 surface acoustic wave transducers. A thickness of less than 10 nm and the existence of C-C bond were observed during the characterization of graphene-like nano-sheets. Frequency shift of 18.7 kHz and 14.9 kHz towards 8.5 ppm NO2 at two different operating temperature, 40°C and 25°C, respectively, was observed.

Antiproton induced DNA damage : proton like in flight, carbon-ion light near rest

Biological validation of new radiotherapy modalities is essential to understand their therapeutic potential. Antiprotons have been proposed for cancer therapy due to enhanced dose deposition provided by antiproton-nucleon annihilation. We assessed cellular DNA damage and relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of a clinically relevant antiproton beam. Despite a modest LET (~19 keV/μm), antiproton spread out Bragg peak (SOBP) irradiation caused significant residual γ-H2AX foci compared to X-ray, proton and antiproton plateau irradiation. RBE of ~1.48 in the SOBP and ~1 in the plateau were measured and used for a qualitative effective dose curve comparison with proton and carbon-ions. Foci in the antiproton SOBP were larger and more structured compared to X-rays, protons and carbon-ions. This is likely due to overlapping particle tracks near the annihilation vertex, creating spatially correlated DNA lesions. No biological effects were observed at 28–42 mm away from the primary beam suggesting minimal risk from long-range secondary particles.

A description of the Mei2-like protein family; structure, phylogenetic distribution and biological context

The Schizosaccharomyces pombe Mei2 gene encodes an RNA recognition motif (RRM) protein that stimulates meiosis upon binding a specific non-coding RNA and subsequent accumulation in a “mei2-dot” in the nucleus. We present here the first systematic characterization of the family of proteins with characteristic Mei2-like amino acid sequences. Mei2-like proteins are an ancient eukaryotic protein family with three identifiable RRMs. The C-terminal RRM (RRM3) is unique to Mei2-like proteins and is the most highly conserved of the three RRMs. RRM3 also contains conserved sequence elements at its C-terminus not found in other RRM domains. Single copy Mei2-like genes are present in some fungi, in alveolates such as Paramecium and in the early branching eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica, while plants contain small families of Mei2-like genes. While the C-terminal RRM is highly conserved between plants and fungi, indicating conservation of molecular mechanisms, plant Mei2-like genes have changed biological context to regulate various aspects of developmental pattern formation.

Like? Advertising practitioners views of social media as an advertising research tool

Given that both academics and marketers are dissatisfied with the current state of advertising research (Kerr and Schultz, 2010; Neff, 2011), the objective of this exploratory paper is to determine the position of world-leading advertising professionals on the use of social media to test, track and evaluate campaigns. Using Delphi methodology, an international panel of Cannes Gold Lion winners acknowledged that social media research has both strengths and weaknesses, the same as any research. Its strengths are its intimacy and spontaneity, bringing the brand and consumer closer. The real risk is the loss of control in this research environment.

A density functional theory study on CO2 capture and activation by graphene-like boron nitride with boron vacancy

First principle calculations for a hexagonal (graphene-like) boron nitride (g-BN) monolayer sheet in the presence of a boron-atom vacancy show promising properties for capture and activation of carbon dioxide. CO2 is found to decompose to produce an oxygen molecule via an intermediate chemisorption state on the defect g-BN sheet. The three stationary states and two transition states in the reaction pathway are confirmed by minimum energy pathway search and frequency analysis. The values computed for the two energy barriers involved in this catalytic reaction after enthalpy correction indicate that the catalytic reaction should proceed readily at room temperature.

Growth of C36-films on diamond surface through molecular dynamics simulation

In this paper, the initial stage of films assembled by energetic C36 fullerenes on diamond (001)–(2 × 1) surface at low-temperature was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation using the Brenner potential. The incident energy was first uniformly distributed within an energy interval 20–50 eV, which was known to be the optimum energy range for chemisorption of single C36 on diamond (001) surface. More than one hundred C36 cages were impacted one after the other onto the diamond surface by randomly selecting their orientation as well as the impact position relative to the surface. The growth of films was found to be in three-dimensional island mode, where the deposited C36 acted as building blocks. The study of film morphology shows that it retains the structure of a free C36 cage, which is consistent with Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition (LECBD) experiments. The adlayer is composed of many C36-monomers as well as the covalently bonded C36 dimers and trimers which is quite different from that of C20 fullerene-assembled film, where a big polymerlike chain was observed due to the stronger interaction between C20 cages. In addition, the chemisorption probability of C36 fullerenes is decreased with increasing coverage because the interaction between these clusters is weaker than that between the cluster and the surface. When the incident energy is increased to 40–65 eV, the chemisorption probability is found to increased and more dimers and trimers as well as polymerlike-C36 were observed on the deposited films. Furthermore, C36 film also showed high thermal stability even when the temperature was raised to 1500 K.

Memory effect in the deposition of C20 fullerenes on a diamond surface

In this paper, the deposition of C-20 fullerenes on a diamond (001)-(2x1) surface and the fabrication of C-20 thin film at 100 K were investigated by a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation using the many-body Brenner bond order potential. First, we found that the collision dynamic of a single C-20 fullerene on a diamond surface was strongly dependent on its impact energy. Within the energy range 10-45 eV, the C-20 fullerene chemisorbed on the surface retained its free cage structure. This is consistent with the experimental observation, where it was called the memory effect in "C-20-type" films [P. Melion , Int. J. Mod. B 9, 339 (1995); P. Milani , Cluster Beam Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials (Springer, Berlin, 1999)]. Next, more than one hundred C-20 (10-25 eV) were deposited one after the other onto the surface. The initial growth stage of C-20 thin film was observed to be in the three-dimensional island mode. The randomly deposited C-20 fullerenes stacked on diamond surface and acted as building blocks forming a polymerlike structure. The assembled film was also highly porous due to cluster-cluster interaction. The bond angle distribution and the neighbor-atom-number distribution of the film presented a well-defined local order, which is of sp(3) hybridization character, the same as that of a free C-20 cage. These simulation results are again in good agreement with the experimental observation. Finally, the deposited C-20 film showed high stability even when the temperature was raised up to 1500 K.

Impact induced chemisorption of C20 isomers on diamond (001)–(2×1) surface

The adsorption of low-energy C20 isomers on diamond (0 0 1)–(2×1) surface was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation using the Brenner potential. The energy dependence of chemisorption characteristic was studied. We found that there existed an energy threshold for chemisorption of C20 to occur. Between 10 and 20 eV, the C20 fullerene has high probability of chemisorption and the adsorbed cage retains its original structure, which supports the experimental observations of memory effects. However, the structures of the adsorbed bowl and ring C20 were different from their original ones. In this case, the local order in cluster-assembled films would be different from the free clusters.

Energy dependence of methyl-radical adsorption on diamond (001)-(2×1) surface

The deposition of hyperthermal CH3 on diamond (001)-(2×1) surface at room temperature has been studied by means of molecular dynamics simulation using the many-body hydrocarbon potential. The energy threshold effect has been observed. That is, with fixed collision geometry, chemisorption can occur only when the incident energy of CH3 is above a critical value (Eth). Increasing the incident energy, dissociation of hydrogen atoms from the incident molecule was observed. The chemisorption probability of CH3 as a function of its incident energy was calculated and compared with that of C2H2. We found that below 10 eV, the chemisorption probability of C2H2 is much lower than that of CH3 on the same surface. The interesting thing is that it is even lower than that of CH3 on a hydrogen covered surface at the same impact energy. It indicates that the reactive CH3 molecule is the more important species than C2H2 in diamond synthesis at low energy, which is in good agreement with the experimental observation.

Energy window effect in chemisorption of C36 on diamond (001)-(/2×1) surface

In this paper, the collision of a C36, with D6h symmetry, on diamond (001)-(/2×1) surface was investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation based on the semi-empirical Brenner potential. The incident kinetic energy of the C36 ranges from 20 to 150 eV per cluster. The collision dynamics was investigated as a function of impact energy Ein. The C36 cluster was first impacted towards the center of two dimers with a fixed orientation. It was found that when Ein was lower than 30 eV, C36 bounces off the surface without breaking up. Increasing Ein to 30-45 eV, bonds were formed between C36 and surface dimer atoms, and the adsorbed C36 retained its original free-cluster structure. Around 50-60 eV, the C36 rebounded from the surface with cage defects. Above 70 eV, fragmentation both in the cluster and on the surface was observed. Our simulation supported the experimental findings that during low-energy cluster beam deposition small fullerenes could keep their original structure after adsorption (i.e. the memory effect), if Ein is within a certain range. Furthermore, we found that the energy threshold for chemisorption is sensitive to the orientation of the incident C36 and its impact position on the asymmetric surface.

Do adolescents ‘like’ the use of social networking and associated technologies for physical activity promotion?

Physical activity has been identified as a key behaviour in determining an individual’s health and functioning. Adolescent physical inactivity has been shown to track strongly through to adulthood. Interventions in youth to promote and increase physical activity have had mixed results. The significant rise over the past decade in time spent by adolescents performing social networking may provide a unique opportunity for health promoters to interact with adolescents through a familiar medium. The purpose of was study is to investigate the potential utility of social networking and associated technologies for the promotion of physical activity amongst adolescents. Participants were recruited from two nondenominational same-sex private schools, from high socioeconomic backgrounds in Brisbane, Australia. A total of 112 (90.3%) participants had complete data sets and were included in the analysis. Account ownership and rates of access to some social networking sites were high. However, a combination of a lack of interest and additional risks associated with social networking utilities, means that caution should be undertaken prior to the commencement of any intervention seeking to increase engagement in physical activities through these mediums. Student smart phone access and interest in smart phone applications for physical activity promotion purposes were moderate, and may provide opportunities for samples of adolescents from high socioeconomic backgrounds who are more likely to have access to appropriate technologies. As technology advances, the rate of smart phone ownership as opposed to overall phone ownership is likely to steadily increase over time. Access and use of information technology by children likely to continue to become more convenient. This makes smart phone applications as a means for physical activity promotion progressively more practical, and a promising future option.

Synthetic reevesite-like material as a visible light photocatalyst for the decontamination of water

A synthetic reevesite-like material has been shown to decolorize selected dyes and degrade phenolic contaminants photocatalytically in water when irradiated with visible light. This material can photoactively decolorize dyes such as bromophenol blue, bromocresol green, bromothymol blue, thymol blue and methyl orange in less than 15 min under visible light radiation in the absence of additional oxidizing agents. Conversely, phenolic compounds suc has phenol, p-chlorophenol and p-nitrophenol are photocat- alytically degraded in approximately 3hwith additional H2O2 when irradiated with visible light. These reactions offer potentially energy effective pathways for the removal of recalcitrant organic waste contaminants.

Investigation of the [−/A]8 and C1236T genetic variations within the human toll-like receptor 3 gene for association with multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a serious cause of neurological disability among young adults. The clinical course remains difficult to predict, and the pathogenesis of the disease is still modestly understood. Autoimmunity is thought to be a key aspect of the disease, with autoreactive T cells thought to mediate central nervous system (CNS) inflammation to some extent. Toll-like receptors are known to mediate cellular recognition of pathogens by way of patterns of molecular presentation. Toll-like receptor 3 is coded by the gene TLR3 and is recognized as an important factor in virus recognition and is known to be involved in the expression of neuroprotective mediators. We set out to investigate two variations within the TLR3 gene, an 8 bp insertion-deletion \[-/A](8) and a single base-pair variation C1236T, in subjects with MS and matched healthy controls to determine whether significant differences exist in these markers in an Australian population. We used capillary gel electrophoresis and TaqMan genotyping assay techniques to resolve genotypes for each marker, respectively. Our work found no significant difference between frequencies for TLR3 \[-/A](8) by genotype (chi(2)=1.03, p=0.60) or allele (chi(2)=1.09, p=0.30). Similarly, we found no evidence for the association of TLR3 C1236T by genotype (chi(2)=0.35, p=0.84) or allele frequency (chi(2)=0.31, p=0.58). This work reveals no evidence to suggest that these markers are associated with MS in the tested population. Although the role of TLR3 and the wider toll-like receptor family remain significant in neurological and CNS inflammatory disorders, our current work does not support a role for the two tested variants in this gene with regard to MS susceptibility.