Preliminary results on the non-thermal effects of 200-350 GHz radiation on the growth rate of S. cerevisiae cells in microcolonies

We report preliminary results from studies of biological effects induced by non-thermal levels of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. Exponentially growing Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells grown on dry media were exposed to electromagnetic fields in the 200–350 GHz frequency range at low power density to observe possible non-thermal effects on the microcolony growth. Exposure to the electromagnetic field was conducted over 2.5 h. The data from exposure and control experiments were grouped into either large-, medium- or small-sized microcolonies to assist in the accurate assessment of growth. The three groups showed significant differences in growth between exposed and control microcolonies. A statistically significant enhanced growth rate was observed at 341 GHz. Growth rate was assessed every 30 min via time-lapse photography. Possible interaction mechanisms are discussed, taking into account Frohlich's hypothesis.

On spectral invariance of single scattering albedo for water droplets and ice crystals at weakly absorbing wavelengths

The single scattering albedo w_0l in atmospheric radiative transfer is the ratio of the scattering coefficient to the extinction coefficient. For cloud water droplets both the scattering and absorption coefficients, thus the single scattering albedo, are functions of wavelength l and droplet size r. This note shows that for water droplets at weakly absorbing wavelengths, the ratio w_0l(r)/w_0l(r0) of two single scattering albedo spectra is a linear function of w_0l(r). The slope and intercept of the linear function are wavelength independent and sum to unity. This relationship allows for a representation of any single scattering albedo spectrum w_0l(r) via one known spectrum w_0l(r0). We provide a simple physical explanation of the discovered relationship. Similar linear relationships were found for the single scattering albedo spectra of non-spherical ice crystals.

Adhesion of Salmonella enterica var Enteritidis strains lacking fimbriae and flagella to rat ileal explants cultured at the air interface or submerged in tissue culture medium

Rat ileal air interface and submerged explant models were developed and used to compare the adhesion of Salmonella enterica var Enteritidis wild-type strains with that of their isogenic single and multiple deletion mutants. The modified strains studied were defective for fimbriae, flagella, motility or chemotaxis and binding was assessed on tissues with and without an intact mucus layer. A multiple afimbriate/aflagellate (fim(-)/fla(-)) strain, a fimbriate but aflagellate (fla(-)) strain and a fimbriate/flagellate but non-motile (mot(-)) strain bound significantly less extensively to the explants than the corresponding wild-type strains. With the submerged explant model this difference was evident in tissues with or without a mucus layer, whereas in the air interface model it was observed only in tissues,vith an intact mucus layer. A smooth swimming chemotaxis-defective (che(-)) strain and single or multiple afimbriate strains bound to explants as well as their corresponding wild-type strain. This suggests that under the present experimental conditions fimbriae were not essential for attachment of S. enterica var Enteritidis to rat ileal explants, However; the possession of active flagella did appear to be an important factor. in enabling salmonellae to penetrate the gastrointestinal mucus layer and attach specifically to epithelial cells.

Transcriptional dysregulation of coding and non-coding genes in cellular models of Huntington's disease

HD (Huntington's disease) is a late onset heritable neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by neuronal dysfunction and death, particularly in the cerebral cortex and medium spiny neurons of the striatum. This is followed by progressive chorea, dementia and emotional dysfunction, eventually resulting in death. HD is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the first exon of the HD gene that results in an abnormally elongated polyQ (polyglutamine) tract in its protein product, Htt (Huntingtin). Wild-type Htt is largely cytoplasmic; however, in HD, proteolytic N-terminal fragments of Htt form insoluble deposits in both the cytoplasm and nucleus, provoking the idea that mutHtt (mutant Htt) causes transcriptional dysfunction. While a number of specific transcription factors and co-factors have been proposed as mediators of mutHtt toxicity, the causal relationship between these Htt/transcription factor interactions and HD pathology remains unknown. Previous work has highlighted REST [RE1 (repressor element 1)-silencing transcription factor] as one such transcription factor. REST is a master regulator of neuronal genes, repressing their expression. Many of its direct target genes are known or suspected to have a role in HD pathogenesis, including BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Recent evidence has also shown that REST regulates transcription of regulatory miRNAs (microRNAs), many of which are known to regulate neuronal gene expression and are dysregulated in HD. Thus repression of miRNAs constitutes a second, indirect mechanism by which REST can alter the neuronal transcriptome in HD. We will describe the evidence that disruption to the REST regulon brought about by a loss of interaction between REST and mutHtt may be a key contributory factor in the widespread dysregulation of gene expression in HD.

Evaluation of ECMWF medium-range ensemble forecasts of precipitation for river basins

Providing probabilistic forecasts using Ensemble Prediction Systems has become increasingly popular in both the meteorological and hydrological communities. Compared to conventional deterministic forecasts, probabilistic forecasts may provide more reliable forecasts of a few hours to a number of days ahead, and hence are regarded as better tools for taking uncertainties into consideration and hedging against weather risks. It is essential to evaluate performance of raw ensemble forecasts and their potential values in forecasting extreme hydro-meteorological events. This study evaluates ECMWF’s medium-range ensemble forecasts of precipitation over the period 2008/01/01-2012/09/30 on a selected mid-latitude large scale river basin, the Huai river basin (ca. 270,000 km2) in central-east China. The evaluation unit is sub-basin in order to consider forecast performance in a hydrologically relevant way. The study finds that forecast performance varies with sub-basin properties, between flooding and non-flooding seasons, and with the forecast properties of aggregated time steps and lead times. Although the study does not evaluate any hydrological applications of the ensemble precipitation forecasts, its results have direct implications in hydrological forecasts should these ensemble precipitation forecasts be employed in hydrology.

The use and impacts of bank support on UK small and medium-sized enterprises

This article examines an under-investigated area in relationship banking, i.e. the use of bank advice and support and its impacts on the financial conditions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The findings indicate that the characteristics of businesses and entrepreneurs, among other factors, have determinant effects on the use of bank support by SMEs when they make financial decisions. SMEs can alleviate the severity of their financial problems significantly by using bank support more fully, through developing long-term relationships with banks as primary network partners. The article further recognises the value of advice from banks as a substitute for entrepreneurial human capital, especially when bankers use private information to determine the nature and level of financial and non-financial assistance that they are prepared to supply to their clients.

Non-cinema: the location of politics in film

Philosophy has repeatedly denied cinema in order to grant it artistic status. Adorno, for example, defined an ‘uncinematic’ element in the negation of movement in modern cinema, ‘which constitutes its artistic character’. Similarly, Lyotard defended an ‘acinema’, which rather than selecting and excluding movements through editing, accepts what is ‘fortuitous, dirty, confused, unclear, poorly framed, overexposed’. In his Handbook of Inaesthetics, Badiou embraces a similar idea, by describing cinema as an ‘impure circulation’ that incorporates the other arts. Resonating with Bazin and his defence of ‘impure cinema’, that is, of cinema’s interbreeding with other arts, Badiou seems to agree with him also in identifying the uncinematic as the location of the Real. This article will investigate the particular impurities of cinema that drive it beyond the specificities of the medium and into the realm of the other arts and the reality of life itself. Privileged examples will be drawn from various moments in film history and geography, starting with the analysis of two films by Jafar Panahi: This Is Not a Film (In film nist, 2011), whose anti-cinema stance in announced in its own title; and The Mirror (Aineh, 1997), another relentless exercise in self-negation. It goes on to examine Kenji Mizoguchi’s deconstruction of cinematic acting in his exploration of the geidomono genre (films about theatre actors) in The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangigku monogatari, 1939), and culminates in the conjuring of the physical experience of death through the systematic demolition of film genres in The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer et al., 2012).

Sub-tropical urban environment affecting content and composition of non-structural carbohydrates of Lolium multiflorum ssp italicum cv. Lema

This study analyzed the relationship between environmental factors, especially air pollution and climatic conditions, and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in plants of Lolium multiflorum exposed during 10 consecutive periods of 28 days at a polluted site (Congonhas) and at a reference site in Sao Paulo city (Brazil). After exposure, NSC composition and leaf concentrations of Al, Fe. Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd were measured. The seasonal pattern of NSC accumulation was quite similar in both sites, but plants at Congonhas showed higher concentrations of these compounds, especially fructans of low and medium degree of polymerization. Regression analysis showed that NSC in plants growing at the polluted site were explained by variations on temperature and leaf concentration of Fe (positive effect), as well as relative humidity and particulate material (negative effect). NSC in the standardized grass culture, in addition to heavy metal accumulation, may indicate stressing conditions in a sub-tropical polluted environment. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aging and stationary properties of non-equilibrium symmetrical three-state models

We consider a non-equilibrium three-state model whose dynamics is Markovian and displays the same symmetry as the three-state Potts model, i.e. the transition rates are invariant under the cyclic permutation of the states. Unlike the Potts model, detailed balance is, in general, not satisfied. The aging and the stationary properties of the model defined on a square lattice are obtained by means of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations. We show that the phase diagram presents a critical line, belonging to the three-state Potts universality class, that ends at a point whose universality class is that of the Voter model. Aging is considered on the critical line, at the Voter point and in the ferromagnetic phase.

Chromium ions phytoaccumulation by three floating aquatic macrophytes from a nutrient medium

In the present work, the trivalent and hexavalent chromium phytoaccumulation by three living free floating aquatic macrophytes Salvinia auriculata, Pistia stratiotes, and Eicchornia crassipes was investigated in greenhouse. These plants were grown in hydroponic solutions supplied with non-toxic Cr3+ and Cr6+ chromium concentrations, performing six collections of nutrient media and plants in time from a batch system. The total chromium concentrations into Cr-doped hydroponic media and dry roots and aerial parts were assayed, by using the Synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence technique. The aquatic plant-based chromium removal data were described by using a nonstructural kinetic model, obtaining different bioaccumulation rate, ranging from 0.015 to 0.837 1 mg(-1) d(-1). The Cr3+ removal efficiency was about 90%, 50%, and 90% for the E. crassipes, P. stratiotes, and S. auriculata, respectively; while it was rather different for Cr6+ one, with values about 50%, 70%, and 90% for the E. crassipes, P. stratiotes, and S. auriculata.

The unseen job creators : Growth potential among non-growing firms

Among 104,231 limited liability fi…rms in Sweden with at least two employees during 1997-2010, almost 10 % did not hire new employees in any given 3-year period despite having high profi…ts. Nearly half of these …firms continued to have high or medium pro…fits in the next three-year period, but still no growth. Regression analysis indicates that these fi…rms were not randomly distributed; rather they were small and young, did not belong to an enterprise group, and operated in local markets with high profi…t-opportunities. We conclude that it might be more benefi…cial to focus policy towards these …firms instead of towards a few high-growth fi…rms that, having just grown exponentially, may not be best positioned to grow further.

No mutations found in exons of TP53, H-RAS and K-RAS genes in liver of male Wistar rats submitted to a medium-term chemical carcinogenesis assay

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Hazards in non-pasteurized milk on retail sale in Brazil: prevalence of Salmonella spp, Listeria monocytogenes and chemical residues

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Right-to-left shunt determination in dog lungs under inhalation anesthesia with rebreathing and non-rebreathing system

OBJETIVO: Comparar a formação de shunt venoso-arterial em pulmões de cães submetidos a anestesia geral inalatória utilizando-se sistemas de anestesia com e sem reinalação, com fração inspirada de oxigênio de 0,4 e 0,9, respectivamente. MÉTODOS: Empregaram-se 20 cães induzidos com tiopental sódico (30mg/kg) e mantidos com sevoflurano (3%) e alocados em dois grupos (n=10); os animais de GI foram ventilados com modalidade controlada em sistema semifechado, sem reinalação, F I O2 = 0,9, e os de GII, com modalidade controlada, sistema semifechado, com reinalação e F I O2 = 0,4. Os atributos analisados durante o experimento foram: freqüência cardíaca, pressão arterial média, shunt pulmonar venoso-arterial, hematócrito, hemoglobina, pressão parcial de oxigênio arterial, pressão parcial de oxigênio no sangue venoso misto, saturação de oxigênio no sangue venoso misto, pressão parcial de dióxido de carbono arterial e pressão de vapor de água nos alvéolos (P VA). RESULTADOS: A P VA foi significativamente maior em GII. A análise estatística dos valores encontrados de shunt mostrou que GI e GII apresentaram diferenças significativas, sendo que os resultados de GI são maiores que os de GII em todos os momentos avaliados. Já a análise de momentos dentro de um mesmo grupo não demonstrou diferenças. CONCLUSÃO: O sistema de anestesia sem reinalação com F I O2 = 0,9 desenvolveu maior grau de shunt pulmonar venoso-arterial que o sistema de anestesia com reinalação e F I O2 = 0,4. A umidificação dos gases em GII contribuiu para diminuir o shunt.

Investigation of the systems silica and silica containing chromium in alcohol medium

The purpose of this work is to obtain micrometer sized spherical particles of silica and silica-chromium from sodium silicate. Spherical particles were prepared by sol-gel method from hydrolysis to polycondensation of aqueous sodium silicate in alcohol medium. Chromium was added to the system for some samples. Compositions and morphologies were achieved by changing the precipitation agent. X-ray diffractometry, electrophoretic mobility, infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopies were carried out on these particles to identify phases, determine particle mobility, morphology, particle sizes, shapes and order at short distance. Non-crystalline silica particles with spherical shapes and micrometric size were obtained. The surface potentials of the silica particles differed from that of the silica-chromium particles. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.