Relative to non-Latino whites, Latinos in the United States have a lower socioeconomic status (SES) profile, but a lower all-cause mortality rate. Because lower SES is associated with poorer overall ...health, a great deal of controversy surrounds the Latino mortality paradox. We employed a secondary data analysis of the 1991 National Health Interview Survey to test the health behavior and acculturation hypotheses, which have been proposed to explain this paradox. These hypotheses posit that: (1) Latinos have more favorable health behaviors and risk factor profiles than non-Latino whites, and (2) Health behaviors and risk factors become more unfavorable with greater acculturation. Specific health behaviors and risk factors studied were: smoking, alcohol use, leisure-time exercise activity, and body mass index (BMI). Consistent with the health behaviors hypothesis, Latinos relative to non-Latino whites were less likely to smoke and drink alcohol, controlling for sociodemographic factors. Latinos, however, were less likely to engage in any exercise activity, and were more likely to have a high BMI compared with non-Latino whites, after controlling for age and SES. Results provided partial support for the acculturation hypothesis. After adjusting for age and SES, higher acculturation was associated with three unhealthy behaviors (a greater likelihood of high alcohol intake, current smoking, a high BMI), but improvement in a fourth (greater likelihood of recent exercise). Gender-specific analyses indicated that the observed differences between Latinos and non-Latino whites, as well as the effects of acculturation on health behaviors, varied across men and women. Results suggest that the health behaviors and acculturation hypotheses may help to at least partially explain the Latino mortality paradox. The mechanisms accounting for the relationship between acculturation and risky behaviors have yet to be identified.
Site-directed contrast enhancement of angiogenic vessels in vivo was demonstrated using antibody targeting of an MRI contrast agent to the alpha(v)beta(3) integrin, a molecular marker characteristic ...of angiogenic endothelium. The agent was tested in a rabbit corneal micropocket model, in which neovasculature is induced in the cornea using basic fibroblast growth factor. The targeted contrast agent consists of Gd-perfluorocarbon nanoparticles linked to alpha(v)beta(3) integrin antibody DM101. The animal group receiving the targeted contrast agent displayed a 25% increase in the average MR signal intensity after 90 min. Control groups in which the nanoparticles are either used alone, linked to an isotype-matched antibody, or linked to DM101 and administered following receptor blocking did not display MR contrast enhancement at similar dose levels. These findings indicate that the antibody-targeted agent enhances MR signal intensity in the capillary bed in a corneal micropocket model of angiogenesis, and is selectively retained within the angiogenic region via specific interaction with the alpha(v)beta(3) epitope.
Context.
Stellar activity is currently challenging the detection of young planets via the radial velocity (RV) technique.
Aims.
We attempt to definitively discriminate the nature of the RV variations ...for the young active K5 star BD+20 1790, for which visible (VIS) RV measurements show divergent results on the existence of a substellar companion.
Methods.
We compare VIS data with high precision RVs in the near-infrared (NIR) range by using the GIANO–B and IGRINS spectrographs. In addition, we present for the first time simultaneous VIS-NIR observations obtained with GIARPS (GIANO–B and HARPS–N) at Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). Orbital RVs are achromatic, so the RV amplitude does not change at different wavelengths, while stellar activity induces wavelength-dependent RV variations, which are significantly reduced in the NIR range with respect to the VIS.
Results.
The NIR radial velocity measurements from GIANO–B and IGRINS show an average amplitude of about one quarter with respect to previously published VIS data, as expected when the RV jitter is due to stellar activity. Coeval multi-band photometry surprisingly shows larger amplitudes in the NIR range, explainable with a mixture of cool and hot spots in the same active region.
Conclusions.
In this work, the claimed massive planet around BD+20 1790 is ruled out by our data. We exploited the crucial role of multi-wavelength spectroscopy when observing young active stars: thanks to facilities like GIARPS that provide simultaneous observations, this method can reach its maximum potential.
If you are a geoscientist doing work to achieve impact outside academia or engaging different audiences with the geosciences, are you planning to make this publishable? If so, then plan. Such ...investigations into how people (academics, practitioners, other publics) respond to geoscience can use pragmatic, simple research methodologies accessible to the non-specialist or be more complex. To employ a medical analogy, first aid is useful and the best option in some scenarios, but calling a medic (i.e. a collaborator with experience of geoscience communication or relevant research methods) provides the contextual knowledge to identify a condition and opens up a diverse, more powerful range of treatment options. Here, we expand upon the brief advice in the first editorial of Geoscience Communication (Illingworth et al., 2018), illustrating what constitutes robust and publishable work in this context, elucidating its key elements. Our aim is to help geoscience communicators plan a route to publication and to illustrate how good engagement work that is already being done might be developed into publishable research.
We demonstrate successful, simultaneous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of up to 300 000 discrete reactions in a novel platform, the PicoTiterPlate™. In addition to elevated throughput, ...the PicoTiterPlate™ based amplifications (PTPCR) can be performed in extremely small volumes: individual reactions volumes are as low as 39.5 pL, with a total 15.3 μL reaction volume for the entire PicoTiterPlate™. The bulk PTPCR product can be recovered and assayed with real‐time PCR, or discrete PTPCR products can be driven to solid supports, enabling downstream applications such as translation/transcription or sequencing.
Composites of biodegradable polymers and calcium phosphate are bioactive and flexible, and have been proposed for use in tissue engineering and bone regeneration. When associated with the ...broad-spectrum antibiotic doxycycline (DOX), they could favor antimicrobial action and enhance the action of osteogenic composites. Composites of polycaprolactone (PCL), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and a bioceramic of biphasic calcium phosphate Osteosynt® (BCP) were loaded with DOX encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin (βCD) and were evaluated for effects on osteoblastic cell cultures. The DOX/βCD composite was prepared with a double mixing method. Osteoblast viability was assessed with methyl tetrazolium (MTT) assays after 1day, 7day, and 14days of composite exposure; alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and collagen production were evaluated after 7days and 14days, and mineral nodule formation after 14days. Composite structures were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Osteoblasts exposed to the composite containing 25μg/mL DOX/βCD had increased cell proliferation (p<0.05) compared to control osteoblast cultures at all experimental time points, reaching a maximum in the second week. AP activity and collagen secretion levels were also elevated in osteoblasts exposed to the DOX/βCD composite (p<0.05 vs. controls) and reached a maximum after 14days. These results were corroborated by Von Kossa test results, which showed strong formation of mineralization nodules during the same time period. SEM of the composite material revealed a surface topography with pore sizes suitable for growing osteoblasts. Together, these results suggest that osteoblasts are viable, proliferative, and osteogenic in the presence of a DOX/βCD-containing BCP ceramic composite.
•Doxycycline encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin was incorpored into a polycaprolactone - poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) - calcium phosphate•Composite’s scaffold carrying doxycycline-β-cyclodextrin supramolecular complex favored osteogenesis in vitro•Doxycycline encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin in polymeric-bioceramic composite has osteogenic potential for engineering tissue application
Targeted acoustic contrast agents are designed to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonic diagnoses. We have previously developed a ligand targeted ultrasonic contrast system that is a ...lipid-encapsulated, liquid-perfluorocarbon emulsion. The emulsion particles are small (250 nm) and have inherently low echogenicity unless bound to a surface by a pretargeted ligand through avidin-biotin interactions. We have recently proposed a simple acoustic transmission line model that treats the emulsion particles as a thin layer over the targeted surface. In this model, the acoustic reflectivity of the sample increases for perfluorocarbons with smaller velocities of longitudinal sound or lower densities. In this study, we measure and report the velocity of longitudinal sound for 20 perfluorocarbons using a broadband phase spectroscopic approach for estimating phase velocities. Experimentally determined velocities ranged from 520/spl plusmn/2 m/sec (perfluorohexane) to 705/spl plusmn/5 m/s (perfluorodecalin). No measurable dispersion was observed over the useful bandwidth of 2 to 22 MHz. Increasing carbon backbone chain length and fluorine substitution with halogens of greater atomic weight increased the measured speed of sound. Our experimental data were consistent (R=0.87) with a published empirical model that predicts velocity as a function of molecular structure. These data provide a rational basis for optimizing targeted perfluorocarbon-based contrast agents and offer further insight into the physical mechanisms responsible for the observed enhancement of surface acoustic reflectivity.
PGC-1α is a transcriptional coactivator induced by exercise that gives muscle many of the best known adaptations to endurance-type exercise but has no effects on muscle strength or hypertrophy. We ...have identified a form of PGC-1α (PGC-1α4) that results from alternative promoter usage and splicing of the primary transcript. PGC-1α4 is highly expressed in exercised muscle but does not regulate most known PGC-1α targets such as the mitochondrial OXPHOS genes. Rather, it specifically induces IGF1 and represses myostatin, and expression of PGC-1α4 in vitro and in vivo induces robust skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Importantly, mice with skeletal muscle-specific transgenic expression of PGC-1α4 show increased muscle mass and strength and dramatic resistance to the muscle wasting of cancer cachexia. Expression of PGC-1α4 is preferentially induced in mouse and human muscle during resistance exercise. These studies identify a PGC-1α protein that regulates and coordinates factors involved in skeletal muscle hypertrophy.
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► Three PGC-1α variants are generated by alternative promoter use and splicing ► PGC-1α4 induces skeletal muscle hypertrophy ► PGC-1α4 muscle-specific transgenics have increased muscle mass and strength ► PGC-1α4 transgenic mice are resistant to cancer-induced cachexia
A splice variant of PGC-1α promotes increased muscle mass and strength, improves exercise performance, and provides resistance to cancer-induced cachexia.
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