Controlling whole blood activation and resultant clot properties by carboxyl and alkyl functional groups on material surfaces : a possible therapeutic approach for enhancing bone healing

Most research virtually ignores the important role of a blood clot in supporting bone healing. In this study, we investigated the effects of surface functional groups carboxyl and alkyl on whole blood coagulation, complement activation and blood clot formation. We synthesised and tested a series of materials with different ratios of carboxyl (–COOH) and alkyl (–CH3, –CH2CH3 and –(CH2)3CH3) groups. We found that surfaces with –COOH/–(CH2)3CH3 induced a faster coagulation activation than those with –COOH/– CH3 and –CH2CH3, regardless of the –COOH ratios. An increase in –COOH ratios on –COOH/–CH3 and –CH2CH3 surfaces decreased the rate of coagulation activation. The pattern of complement activation was entirely similar to that of surface-induced coagulation. All material coated surfaces resulted in clots with thicker fibrin in a denser network at the clot/material interface and a significantly slower initial fibrinolysis when compared to uncoated glass surfaces. The amounts of platelet-derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB) and transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b1) released from an intact clot were higher than a lysed clot. The release of PDGF-AB was found to be correlated with the fibrin density. This study demonstrated that surface chemistry can significantly influence the activation of blood coagulation and complement system, resultant clot structure, susceptibility to fibrinolysis as well as release of growth factors, which are important factors determining the bone healing process.

Molecular camouflage : making use of protecting groups to control the self-assembly of inorganic janus particles onto metal–chalcogenide nanotubes by Pearson Hardness

Hard and soft: Binding of inorganic Pt@Fe3O4 Janus particles to WS2 nanotubes through their Pt or Fe3O4 domains is governed by the difference in Pearson hardness: the soft Pt block has a higher sulfur affinity than the harder magnetite face; thus the binding proceeds preferentially through the Pt face. This binding preference can be reversed by masking the Pt face with an organic protecting group.

Group portrait, testimonial dinner for Dr. Paul Klemperer's 10th anniversary at Mt. Sinai Hospital given by his students; Cavanagh's, New York City Portraits Groups

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Depression in / by / for women : agency, feminism and self-help in groups

Depression in / by / for Women: Agency, Feminism and Self-Help in Groups on ensimmäinen väitöstasoinen tutkimus feministisestä terapiasta Suomessa sijoittuen psykologian, sosiaalitieteellisen mielenterveystutkimuksen sekä feministisen tutkimuksen alueille. Perinteisen näkemyksen mukaan feministisen tutkimuksen tulee olla ”naisista, naisten tekemää ja naisille kohdistettua”. Naiset ja masennus -projektitutkimus keskittyy naisten kokemaan masennukseen sisältäen mahdollisen miesten sekä patriarkaalisen hyvinvointivaltion osuuden masennukseen. Masennusta kokevat naiset ovat tutkimuksessa sekä tutkimuksen kohteena että aktiivisia osanottajia, mikä tuo heidän äänensä kuuluville. Tutkimus perustuu vuosien 1994-2000 välisenä aikana kerättyyn 11 ryhmän osallistujia koskevaan kvalitatiivisiin ja kvantitatiivisiin aineistoon. Irmeli Laitinen on ollut suunnittelemassa, keräämässä ja analysoimassa sitä yhdessä projektin muiden jäsenten kanssa. Tutkimuksessa mitattiin kuinka ryhmiin osallistuvien seka masennuksen tunteet että toiminnat muuttuivat yhden vuoden aikana. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli sekä masennuksesta kärsivien naisten osallistuminen feministiseen toimintatutkimukseen että ammatillisesti ohjatun oma-apuryhmämenetelmän kehittäminen suomalaiseen mielenterveyspalveluun. Projektin tutkimustulosten mukaan siihen osallistuneet naiset voimaantuivat ymmärtämään itseään sekä saivat luottamusta sosiaaliisiin taitoihinsa. Pidemmällä aikavälillä naisten tunteet muuttuivat myönteisiksi, heidän suhteensa itseensä positiivisemmaksi ja he aktivoituivat fyysisesti. Lisäksi tutkimustulokset viittaavat siihen, että masennus voi johtua näkymättömästä, sukupuolisesti virittyneestä jännitteestä naisystävällisessä hyvinvointivaltiossa paljastaen ”hyvinvointimasennusoireilun”. Suomalaisen sosiologi Erik Allardtin hyvinvointitypologian - having, loving, being – mukaisesti nämä ryhmään osallistuvat naiset eivät koe puutteita niinkään materiaalisessa hyvinvoinnissa (having) vaan pikeminkin suhteiden, sosiaalisen ja emotionaalisen hyvinvoinnin ulottuvuuksilla (loving ja being). Se, että masentuneet naiset pystyvät tuomaan esille pitkään vaiennettuja kokemuksiaan, voi merkitä paljon heidän paranemisessaan ja voimaantumisessaan. Ammatillisesti ohjatut oma-apuryhmät ja naisystävälliset hoitokäytännöt mahdollistivat tämänkaltaisen paranemisprosessin alkamisen tutkimukseen osallistuneissa ryhmissä.

Colorimetric determination of 2,4-dinitrophenylamino groups by sodium borohydride reduction

When sodium borohydride is added to aqueous solutions of 2,4-dinitrophenylamino acids and related derivatives, an intense red color is formed. Measurement of the red color, with a 420 filter, permits the determination of such compounds in concentrations of 0.01 to 0.06 μmole per ml. with a precision to 2%. The reaction is highly specific-while 2,4-dinitroaniline will react to the test, o-, m-, and p-nitroanilines, 2,4-dinitrophenyl aryl or alkyl ethers, and 2,4-dinitrophenyl-imidazole and pyrrolidine derivatives will not. Heretofore aromatic nitro groups have been considered resistant to attack by sodium borohydride. The method, as developed, is applicable to the evaluation of the degree of substitution of protein amino groups by fluorodinitrobenzene.

Geometry changes induced by negative hyperconjugative interactions involving carbonyl and thiocarbonyl groups

MNDO geometry optimizations have been carried out on a series of acyclic and cyclic unsymmetrically disubstituted carbonyl and thiocarbonyl compounds. The C=X unit shows a consistent and often sizeable tilt towards one of the substituents, following the order O > Snot, vert, similarN > C > B. Reference ab initio calculations and available experimental results support the MNDO results. The effect, which is particularly dramatic in small rings, is attributed primarily to favorable negative hyperconjugative interaction between the lone pair on X and a low lying adjacent σ* orbital. Such an interaction can lead to highly distorted structures, including perhaps to a planar molecule with an inverted sp2 carbon center.

Variants of Miyachi�s Theorem for Nilpotent lie Groups

We formulate and prove two versions of Miyachi�s theorem for connected, simply connected nilpotent Lie groups. This allows us to prove the sharpness of the constant 1/4 in the theorems of Hardy and of Cowling and Price for any nilpotent Lie group. These theorems are proved using a variant of Miyachi�s theorem for the group Fourier transform.

Variants Of Miyachi’S Theorem For Nilpotent Lie Groups

We formulate and prove two versions of Miyachi’s theorem for connected, simply connected nilpotent Lie groups. This allows us to prove the sharpness of the constant 1/4 in the theorems of Hardy and of Cowling and Price for any nilpotent Lie group. These theorems are proved using a variant of Miyachi’s theorem for the group Fourier transform.

3-MANIFOLD GROUPS, KÄHLER GROUPS AND COMPLEX SURFACES

Let G be a Kahler group admitting a short exact sequence 1 -> N -> G -> Q -> 1 where N is finitely generated. (i) Then Q cannot be non-nilpotent solvable. (ii) Suppose in addition that Q satisfies one of the following: (a) Q admits a discrete faithful non-elementary action on H-n for some n >= 2. (b) Q admits a discrete faithful non-elementary minimal action on a simplicial tree with more than two ends. (c) Q admits a (strong-stable) cut R such that the intersection of all conjugates of R is trivial. Then G is virtually a surface group. It follows that if Q is infinite, not virtually cyclic, and is the fundamental group of some closed 3-manifold, then Q contains as a finite index subgroup either a finite index subgroup of the three-dimensional Heisenberg group or the fundamental group of the Cartesian product of a closed oriented surface of positive genus and the circle. As a corollary, we obtain a new proof of a theorem of Dimca and Suciu in Which 3-manifold groups are Kahler groups? J. Eur. Math. Soc. 11 (2009) 521-528] by taking N to be the trivial group. If instead, G is the fundamental group of a compact complex surface, and N is finitely presented, then we show that Q must contain the fundamental group of a Seifert-fibered 3-manifold as a finite index subgroup, and G contains as a finite index subgroup the fundamental group of an elliptic fibration. We also give an example showing that the relation of quasi-isometry does not preserve Kahler groups. This gives a negative answer to a question of Gromov which asks whether Kahler groups can be characterized by their asymptotic geometry.

Groups constrain the use of risky habitat by individuals: a new cost to sociality?

Predation risk can strongly constrain how individuals use time and space. Grouping is known to reduce an individual's time investment in costly antipredator behaviours. Whether grouping might similarly provide a spatial release from antipredator behaviour and allow individuals to use risky habitat more and, thus, improve their access to resources is poorly known. We used mosquito larvae, Aedes aegypti, to test the hypothesis that grouping facilitates the use of high-risk habitat. We provided two habitats, one darker, low-risk and one lighter, high-risk, and measured the relative time spent in the latter by solitary larvae versus larvae in small groups. We tested larvae reared under different resource levels, and thus presumed to vary in body condition, because condition is known to influence risk taking. We also varied the degree of contrast in habitat structure. We predicted that individuals in groups should use high-risk habitat more than solitary individuals allowing for influences of body condition and contrast in habitat structure. Grouping strongly influenced the time spent in the high-risk habitat, but, contrary to our expectation, individuals in groups spent less time in the high-risk habitat than solitary individuals. Furthermore, solitary individuals considerably increased the proportion of time spent in the high-risk habitat over time, whereas individuals in groups did not. Both solitary individuals and those in groups showed a small increase over time in their use of riskier locations within each habitat. The differences between solitary individuals and those in groups held across all resource and contrast conditions. Grouping may, thus, carry a poorly understood cost of constraining habitat use. This cost may arise because movement traits important for maintaining group cohesion (a result of strong selection on grouping) can act to exaggerate an individual preference for low-risk habitat. Further research is needed to examine the interplay between grouping, individual movement and habitat use traits in environments heterogeneous in risk and resources. (C) 2015 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Note on the size groups of prawns landed by shrimp trawls of four different cod end meshes

A study on the different size groups of prawns caught by four shrimp trawls having different cod-end meshes was made by the author. The results indicate that small sized prawns of mean length 77.15 mm were captured by the net having 23.38 mm cod-end at 5-6 fathoms depth, medium prawns of mean length 105.22 mm was caught in 25.21 mm and 19.88 mm cod-end at 8 fathoms depth and big sized prawns of mean length 117.98 mm were caught in 21.29 mm cod-end. Further the relation of length on breadth of prawn is worked out to be : Bp=0.15 Lp - 1.50 where Bp and Lp are breadth and length respectively.