Non-replicating adenovirus vectors (AdV) represent effective tools for long-term gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS), but they also elicit inflammation. The cellular and molecular ...mechanisms of such a response are not understood. In the present study, we show that infection with AdV causes activation of microglial cells, the key cells involved in inflammatory and immune-regulatory functions in the brain. Exposure of cultured rat brain microglia to AdV resulted in an induced production of nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNFα. The roles of signal transduction pathways believed to be involved in microglial activation in particular, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor κB (NFκB) were explored by determining their activation in response to AdV infection and by testing the effects of specific pharmacological inhibitors. It was found that AdV strongly activates extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and to a lesser extent, p38 MAPK but not NFκB. Addition of the kinase inhibitor, i.e. PD98059 (specific for the ERK pathway), inhibits and, in combination with the p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, drastically suppresses AdV-induced expression of iNOS and TNFα. The results suggest that AdV uses cellular signal transduction machinery, in particular the MAPK pathways, to elicit microglial activation and that increased production by these cells of inflammatory mediators may primarily contribute to CNS inflammatory responses commonly seen in models of gene therapy using AdV vectors.
A study of growth, structure, and properties of Eu
2O
3 thin films were carried out. Films were grown at 500–600
°C temperature range on Si(1
0
0) and fused quartz from the complex of Eu(acac)
3·Phen ...by low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition technique which has been rarely used for Eu
2O
3 deposition. These films were polycrystalline. Depending on growth conditions and substrates employed, these films had also possessed a parasitic phase. This phase can be removed by post-deposition annealing in oxidizing ambient. Morphology of the films was characterized by well-packed spherical mounds. Optical measurements exhibited that the bandgap of pure Eu
2O
3 phase was 4.4
eV. High frequency 1
MHz capacitance–voltage (
C–
V) measurements showed that the dielectric constant of pure Eu
2O
3 film was about 12. Possible effects of cation and oxygen deficiency and parasitic phase on the optical and electrical properties of Eu
2O
3 films have been briefly discussed.
The phenomenon of sub-pulse drifting is an important single-pulse phenomenon that can potentially provide important insights into the elusive radio emission mechanism in pulsars. We analyze the ...frequency behaviour of the single pulses of B0818-41, observed from 300 to 500 MHz (Band 3 of the uGMRT), and compare it to the evolution of the average profile to place constraints on the geometry of the pulsar's emission beam. We show that a circular carousel of discrete beamlets, where each beamlet has radial symmetry, is not consistent with the observed behaviour, and describe an alternative, consistent range of possible elliptical carousel geometries. We also combine the uGMRT data with some archival MWA observations and several other published profiles to characterize the profile evolution across a frequency range spanning ~170 MHz to ~1.4 GHz.
Deverra triradiata is a perennial glycophytic shrub that grows on coastal sandy dunes in the Arabian Gulf region. Understanding the seed germination response to environmental conditions is essential ...for assessing the potential use of seeds of this species in the rehabilitation
of degraded and endangered terrestrial ecosystems. The germinability of D. triradiata seeds under different temperature, light and salinity conditions was evaluated. Our results showed that D. triradiata seeds could germinate equally well under light and complete darkness. However,
germination was reduced significantly at 30/20°C compared with 25/15°C, indicating that the lower temperature is more appropriate for obtaining better seed germination. The highest germination was obtained under non-saline conditions (0 mM NaCl) and increasing salinity (above 100 mM
NaCl) progressively inhibited seed germination. Only a few seeds were able to recover their germinability when transferred to distilled water, highlighting the seed sensitivity to salt during germination.
Prebiotic fructans are nondigestible carbohydrates with numerous health benefits. Soybean is a rich source of phytonutrients such as isoflavones. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ...chemopreventive effects of prebiotics (Synergy1) and soybean meal (SM) at 5% and 10% levels alone and in combination on azoxymethane- (AOM-) induced colon carcinogenesis. After one wk of acclimatization, Fisher 344 male rats (N=90) were randomly assigned to 9 groups (n=10). Control rats (C) were fed AIN-93G/M. Two s/c injections of AOM were administered to rats at 7 and 8 wk of age at 16 mg/kg body weight. Rats were killed by CO2 asphyxiation at 45 wk. Tumor incidence (%) in treatment groups ranged from 40 to 75 compared to 100 in C. Results indicate that feeding prebiotics and soybean in combination significantly reduced incidence of AOM-induced colon tumors with implications for food industry in the food-product development.
The effect of electrons and gamma irradiation on the induction of micronuclei in cytokinesis-blocked human peripheral blood lymphocytes was investigated to understand the relative biological ...effectiveness (RBE) of electrons compared with gamma rays. Blood samples were irradiated with an 8 MeV pulsed electron beam, at a mean instantaneous dose rate of 2.6 × 10
5
Gy s
−1
. Gamma irradiation was carried out at a dose rate of 1.98 Gy min
−1
using
60
Co gamma source. A dose-dependent increase in micronuclei yield was observed. The dose–response relationships for induction of micronuclei fitted well to a linear–quadratic relationship and the coefficients α and β of the dose–response curve were estimated by fitting the data using error-weighted minimum
χ
2
method. The RBE of 8 MeV electrons were found to be near unity as compared with gamma rays.
Our recent work suggests that infants begin to change their hand and joint kinematics in the presence of a toy months before the onset of purposeful reaching. Moreover, these ‘toy-oriented’ changes ...in hand kinematics cluster into Early, Mid and Late phases. The purpose of the present study was to test hypotheses regarding toy-oriented changes in joint kinematics in the same infants.
Thirteen infants were observed every other week from 8 weeks up to the first week of reaching around 20 weeks. At each session, a high-speed motion analysis system recorded infants’ arm movements with and without a toy present.
During the Early phase, infants scaled down their movements.
In contrast, during the Mid phase infants scaled up their movements and did not change the relationship between the shoulder and elbow for speed and smoothness-related variables. In addition, infants showed toy-oriented changes such as increase in shoulder flexion and adduction.
In the Late phase, infants continued to produce toy-oriented changes in shoulder orientation, and increased shoulder excursion and speed relative to the elbow. Thus, the toy-oriented changes in hand kinematics in the Mid and Late phases Bhat, A. N., & Galloway, J. C. (2006). Toy-oriented changes in early arm movements of young infants: Hand kinematics.
Infant Behavior and Development,
29(3), 358–372 more closely followed changes in shoulder kinematics. Lastly, results are discussed in terms of shoulder–elbow dissociations, speed–amplitude relationships, and the key role of spontaneous movements in the development of reaching.
We present the
pulsar_spectra
software repository, an open-source pulsar flux density catalogue and automated spectral fitting software that finds the best spectral model and produces ...publication-quality plots. The python-based software includes features that enable users in the astronomical community to add newly published spectral measurements to the catalogue as they become available. The spectral fitting software is an implementation of the method described in Jankowski et al. (2018, MNRAS, 473, 4436) which uses robust statistical methods to decide on the best-fitting model for individual pulsar spectra.
pulsar_spectra
is motivated by the need for a centralised repository for pulsar flux density measurements to make published measurements more accessible to the astronomical community and provide a suite of tools for measuring spectra.
The purpose of this study was to identify invariant features of shoulder and elbow kinematics during prereaching arm movements with and without a toy present. Invariant movement features may reflect ...the presence of constraints that reduce the complexity of learning to reach and provide a link between early arm movements and reaching. Joint excursion and smoothness were consistently greater at the shoulder than the elbow suggesting strong organismal constraints on prereaching movements. Speed became greater in the shoulder than the elbow only with a toy present during the 4 weeks leading up to reach onset suggesting the introduction of task related constraints. We propose that organismal constraints on joint coordination throughout the prereaching period provide a foundation for the overlay of task related constraints closer to reach onset. We also suggest that the coordinative structures of early arm movements and later reaching may be much more similar than currently thought. This similarity would significantly reduce the elements needing to be actively controlled, and simplify the learning process.
Since 2003, the authors have been pushing the boundaries on a special type of functional material, i.e., a material that gives off light when it is stressed, strained, and/or fractured. This unique ...class of materials has been proposed for the active element of impact sensors, earthquake detectors, and stress sensors. However, in order for this concept to go from the lab to real world applications, the light emission from these functional materials must be bright such that inexpensive light detectors can be used. One of the brightest materials found thus far is europium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium (EuD4TEA). This material has an emission so bright that it can be observed in daylight. In 2013, the authors discovered that the addition of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) increased the light emission two fold. As a result, a search for similar compounds was conducted to determine if the emission can be increased further. This paper explores the effects of dibutyl phosphate (DBP) on EuD4TEA. The effects of DBP on the triboluminescence, photoluminescence, and crystal structure of EuD4TEA will be determined. This paper will show that DBP has an even greater effect on the properties of EuD4TEA than DMMP.
•Synthesized europium tetrakis dibenzoylmethide triethylammonium.•Six fold increase in the light yield was detected.•Effects of dibutyl phosphate on the triboluminescence on EuD4TEA were determined.•Effects of dibutyl phosphate on the photoluminescence of EuD4TEA were determined.
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