Anti-adherent and antifungal activities of surfactant-coated poly (ethylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles

Application of non-drug-loaded poly(ethylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles (NP) to buccal epithelial cells (BEC) imparted both anti-adherent and antifungal effects. NP prepared using emulsion polymerisation and stabilised using cationic, anionic and non-ionic surfactants decreased Candida albicans blastospore adhesion, an effect attributable to the peripheral coating of surfactant. Cetrimide and Pluronic (R) P 123 were shown to be most effective, producing mean percentage reductions in blastospore adherence of 52.7 and 37.0, respectively. Resultant zeta potential matched the polarity of the surfactant, with those stabilised using cetrimide being especially positive (+31.3 mV). Preparation using anionic surfactants was shown to be problematic, with low yield and wide particle size distribution. Evaluation of the antifungal effect of the peripheral coat was evaluated using zones of inhibition and viable counts assays. The former test revealed poor surfactant diffusion through agar, but did show evidence of limited kill. However, the latter method showed that cationic surfactants associated with NP produced high levels of kill, in contrast to those coated with anionic surfactants, where kill was not evident. Non-ionic surfactant-coated NP produced intermediate kill rates. Results demonstrate that surfactant-coated NP, particularly the cationic types, form the possible basis of a prophylactic formulation that primes the candidal target (BEC) against fungal adhesion and infection. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide association study identifies variants at CLU and PICALM associated with Alzheimer's disease

We undertook a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) involving over 16,000 individuals, the most powerful AD GWAS to date. In stage 1 (3,941 cases and 7,848 controls), we replicated the established association with the apolipoprotein E (APOE) locus (most significant SNP, rs2075650, P = 1.8 x 10(-157)) and observed genome-wide significant association with SNPs at two loci not previously associated with the disease: at the CLU (also known as APOJ) gene (rs11136000, P = 1.4 x 10(-9)) and 5. to the PICALM gene (rs3851179, P = 1.9 x 10(-8)). These associations were replicated in stage 2 (2,023 cases and 2,340 controls), producing compelling evidence for association with Alzheimer's disease in the combined dataset (rs11136000, P = 8.5 x 10(-10), odds ratio = 0.86; rs3851179, P = 1.3 x 10(-9), odds ratio = 0.86).

How information guides movement: Intercepting curved free kicks in soccer

Previous studies have shown that balls subjected to spin induce large errors in perceptual judgements (Craig et al, 2006; Craig et al 2009) due to the additional accelerative force that causes the ball’s flight path to deviate from a standard parabolic trajectory. A recent review however, has suggested that the findings from such experiments may be imprecise due to the decoupling of perception and action and the reliance on the ventral system (Van der Kamp et al, 2008). The aim of this study was to present the same curved free kick trajectory simulations from the perception only studies (Craig et al, 2006; Craig et al, 2009) but this time allow participants to move to intercept the ball. By using immersive, interactive virtual reality technology participants were asked to control the movement of a virtual effector presented in a virtual soccer stadium so that it would make contact with a virtual soccer ball as it crossed the goal-line. As in the perception only studies the direction of spin had a significant effect on the participants’ responses (F(2,12)=222.340; p

Temperature dependence of the mid-infrared dielectric function of YBCO in the a-b plane: a re-evaluation

The a-b plane dielectric function (epsilon) of c-axis YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films with T-c > 85 K was measured at lambda = 3.392 mum in the temperature range 85-300 It, using an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) technique based on the excitation of surface plasmons, The results show that \epsilon (r)\ decreases quasi-linearly with increasing temperature, while Ei is invariant to temperature within experimental uncertainties. Typical values are epsilon (ab) = -23 + 16.5i at similar to 295 R and epsilon (ab) = -27 + 15.5i at similar to 90 K. A generalised Drude analysis yields effective scattering rates (1/tau*) that increase with temperature from similar to 1500 to similar to 1900 cm(-1). The temperature dependent rates best fit an equation of the form 1/tau* = a + bT(alpha) with alpha = 1.46 +/- 0.40. The effective plasma frequencies of w(p)* similar to 18,500 cm(-1) are almost independent of temperature. The uniquely detailed temperature dependence of the results confirm and consolidate data obtained by other groups using normal reflectance methods, but contradict our previously published ATR measurements. Technical shortcomings in the earlier work are identified as the source of the discrepancy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Covenanter Politics: Evangelicalism, Political Liberalism and Ulster Presbyterians, 1798-1914

Historians of Ireland have devoted considerable attention to the Presbyterian origins of modern Irish republicanism in the 1790s and their overwhelming support for the Union with Great Britain in the 1880s. On the one hand, it has been argued that conservative politics came to dominate nineteenth-century Presbyterianism in the form of Henry Cooke who combined conservative evangelical religion with support for the established order. On the other hand, historians have long acknowledged the continued importance of liberal and radical impulses amongst Presbyterians. Few historians of the nineteenth century have attempted to bring these two stories together and to describe the relationship between the religion and politics of Presbyterians along the lines suggested by scholars of Presbyterian radicalism in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. This article argues that a distinctive form of Presbyterian evangelicalism developed in the nineteenth century that sought to bring the denomination back to the theological and spiritual priorities of seventeenth-century Scottish and Irish Presbyterianism. By doing so, it encouraged many Presbyterians to get involved in movements for reform and liberal politics. Supporters of ‘Covenanter Politics’ utilised their denominational principles and traditions as the basis for political involvement and as a rhetoric of opposition to Anglican privilege and Catholic tyranny. These could be the prime cause of Presbyterian opposition to the infringement of their rights, such as the marriage controversy and the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in the early 1840s, and they could also be employed as a language of opposition in response to broader social and political developments, such as the demands for land reform stimulated by the agricultural depression that accompanied the Famine. Despite their opposition to ascendancy, however, the Covenanter Politics of Presbyterian Liberals predisposed them towards pan-protestant unionism against the threat of ‘Rome Rule’.

Panel unit root tests in the presence of cross-sectional dependence: finite sample performance and an application

This paper examines the finite sample properties of three testing regimes for the null hypothesis of a panel unit root against stationary alternatives in the presence of cross-sectional correlation. The regimes of Bai and Ng (2004), Moon and Perron (2004) and Pesaran (2007) are assessed in the presence of multiple factors and also other non-standard situations. The behaviour of some information criteria used to determine the number of factors in a panel is examined and new information criteria with improved properties in small-N panels proposed. An application to the efficient markets hypothesis is also provided. The null hypothesis of a panel random walk is not rejected by any of the tests, supporting the efficient markets hypothesis in the financial services sector of the Australian Stock Exchange.