Distinct Age-Specific miRegulome Profiling of Isolated Small and Large Intestinal Epithelial Cells in Mice

The intestinal epithelium serves as a dynamic barrier to protect the host tissue from exposure to a myriad of inflammatory stimuli in the luminal environment. Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) encompass differentiated and specialized cell types that are equipped with regulatory genes, which allow for sensing of the luminal environment. Potential inflammatory cues can instruct IECs to undergo a diverse set of phenotypic alterations. Aging is a primary risk factor for a variety of diseases; it is now well-documented that aging itself reduces the barrier function and turnover of the intestinal epithelium, resulting in pathogen translocation and immune priming with increased systemic inflammation. In this study, we aimed to provide an effective epigenetic and regulatory outlook that examines age-associated alterations in the intestines through the profiling of microRNAs (miRNAs) on isolated mouse IECs. Our microarray analysis revealed that with aging, there is dysregulation of distinct clusters of miRNAs that was present to a greater degree in small IECs (22 miRNAs) compared to large IECs (three miRNAs). Further, miRNA–mRNA interaction network and pathway analyses indicated that aging differentially regulates key pathways between small IECs (e.g., toll-like receptor-related cascades) and large IECs (e.g., cell cycle, Notch signaling and small ubiquitin-related modifier pathway). Taken together, current findings suggest novel gene regulation pathways by epithelial miRNAs in aging within the gastrointestinal tissues.     

Reduction Characteristics of Iodate Ion on Copper: Application to Copper Chemical Mechanical Polishing

Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic polarization, and the rotating disk electrode technique were used to study the reduction characteristics of iodate (IO₃ ^–) ion on copper (Cu). Depending on the relative concentrations of IO₃ ^– and H⁺ two pH regimes were observed. The cathodic current in the first regime (pH > ,3) was controlled by H⁺ diffusion from the solution to the metal surface. In the second regime (pH > 3 and up to 10^–2 m IO₃ ^– concentration) the cathodic current was found to be under mixed control, involving reaction control via the electrochemical reduction of IO₃ ^– and transport control via the diffusion of I₂(aq). It was concluded that IO₃ ^– was an effective oxidant for Cu chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) with strongly acidic (pH < 3) slurries but it was not convenient reagent as an oxidant for Cu CMP with weakly acidic (pH > 3) slurries.     

Catalysis,nanostructure and macroscopic property triangle in bioactive calcium-containing ceramic systems

Calcium silicate ceramics are intended for application as long-term implant materials. In the present work, attention was paid to understand the correlations between the nanostructure (aggregate size, crystallinity, porosity) and the macroscopic properties (solubility in water and simulated body fluids, SBF; hardness) varying the chemical composition. Varying the catalyst (from a base to various acids) during the chemical synthesis was shown to significantly impact on the pore size, crystallinity and mechanical properties. The basic catalyst yields the ceramics with the highest mechanical strength. Ammonia used in 1.0 or 10.0 molar ratio results in bulk ceramics with parameters required for a biomedical application, good hardness (180–200 HV) and low solubility (1–3%) in water and in SBF. The fine porosity (~ 50 nm) and homogeneous amorphous structure induce good mechanical character.     

Concerns with Passive Anaerobic Bioreactors for Selenium Removal from Coal Slurry Liquid Wastes

Mine Water and the Environment - Passive anaerobic bioreactors (PABs) are flow-through trenches filled with plant substrates that serve as energy and carbon sources for bacteria that carry out...     

Electrochemical hydrogen storage performance of Mg–Ti–Zr–Ni alloys

Mg_1.5Ti_0.5−xZr_xNi (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4), Mg_1.5Ti_0.3Zr_0.1Pd_0.1Ni and Mg_1.5Ti_0.3Zr_0.1Co_0.1Ni alloys were synthesized by mechanical alloying and their electrochemical hydrogen storage characteristics were investigated. X-ray diffraction studies showed that all the replacement elements (Ti, Zr, Pd and Co) perfectly dissolved in the amorphous phase and Zr facilitated the amorphization of the alloys. When the Zr/Ti ratio was kept at 1/4 (Mg_1.5Ti_0.4Zr_0.1Ni alloy), the initial discharge capacity of the alloy increased slightly at all the ball milling durations. The further increase in the Zr/Ti ratio resulted in reduction in the initial discharge capacity of the alloys. The presence of Zr in the Ti-including Mg-based alloys improved the cyclic stability of the alloys. This action of Zr was attributed to the less stable and more porous characteristics of the barrier hydroxide layer in the presence of Zr due to the selective dissolution of the disseminated Zr-oxides throughout the hydroxide layer on the alloy surface. Unlike Co, the addition of Pd into the Mg–Ti–Zr–Ni type alloy improved the alloy performance significantly. The positive contribution of Pd was assumed to arise from the facilitated hydrogen diffusion on the electrode surface in the presence of Pd. As the Zr/Ti atomic ratio increased, the charge transfer resistance of the alloy decreased at all the depths of discharges. Co and Pd were observed to increase the charge transfer resistance of the Mg–Ti–Zr–Ni alloys slightly.     

Impact of farm level corruption on the food security of households in Bangladesh

In this article, we have analyzed the impact of farm level corruption on households’ food security using survey data collected from 210 Bangladeshi rice farmers. Econometric results confirm that the cost of corruption adversely affects households’ calorie consumption. The marginal effect of corruption is higher for the low expenditure households relative to the high expenditure households. This happens because the high expenditure households exhibit more flexibility in terms of adjusting their budgets and hence, are able to cover the cost of corruption without affecting their food consumption, whereas for the low expenditure households such flexibility is limited and hence are forced to compromise on their food budget. Variables such as the better education of women and land holding also positively contribute to food security.     

Pourquoi adoptez-vous des comportements écologiques? Validation en langue fran?aise de l'échelle de motivation vis-à-vis les comportements écologiques.

This article presents the French-Canadian validation of the Motivation Towards the Environment Scale (MTES), along with information regarding its psychometric properties. Ss were 338 17–51 yr olds. The "Echelle de Motivation vis-a-vis les Comportements Ecologiques" (EMCE) is based on Self-determination Theory. It consists of 6 subscales measuring intrinsic motivation (IM), four forms of extrinsic motivation (EM by external, introjected, identified, and integrated regulation), and amotivation. In Study 1, results of a confirmatory factor analysis (using LISREL VII) supported the factorial structure of the scale. In addition, the construct validity of the EMCE was supported by a series of correlational analyses among the 6 subscales, as well as between these subscales and several variables relevant to the environment. Finally, results of Study 2 reveal that the EMCE subscales displayed satisfactory internal consistency, as well as high temporal stability. The results compared quite favourably to those of the English-Canadian version. Directions concerning the future use of the EMCE in environmental research are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of Antiviral Perfluoroalkyl Derivatives of Teicoplanin and Vancomycin

The limited scope of antiviral drugs and increasing problem of antiviral drug resistance represent a global health threat. Glycopeptide antibiotics and their lipophilic derivatives have emerged as relevant inhibitors of diverse viruses. Herein, we describe a new strategy for the synthesis of dual hydrophobic and lipophobic derivatives of glycopeptides to produce selective antiviral agents without membrane-disrupting activity. Perfluorobutyl and perfluorooctyl moieties were attached through linkers of different length to azido derivatives of vancomycin aglycone and teicoplanin pseudoaglycone, and the new derivatives were evaluated against a diverse panel of viruses. The teicoplanin derivatives displayed strong anti-influenza virus activity at nontoxic concentrations. Some of the perfluoroalkylated glycopeptides were also active against a few other viruses such as herpes simplex virus or coronavirus. These data encourage further exploration of glycopeptide analogues for broad antiviral application.     

Enhancement of the mechanical properties of EN52CrMoV4 spring steel by deep cryogenic treatment

The effect of the deep cryogenic treatment on the micro-structure and mechanical properties (tensile strength, toughness, residual stress and fatigue strength) of the medium carbon spring steel, which is subjected to different heat treatment steps, is investigated. Deep cryogenic treatment causes spring steel to keep compressive residual stress more efficiently due to an increase in the density of the crystalline defects, retardation in the stress relief after the phase transformations and nano-cluster carbide formations. If deep cryogenic treatment is applied before the tempering then the homogeneously distributed fine carbides form after the tempering and the grains remain relatively fine. The microstructure with homogeneously distributed fine carbides and fine grains cause spring steels to have simultaneously enhanced tensile strength, ductility and fatigue strength. If deep cryogenic treatment is applied after the conventional heat treatment (quenching+tempering), however, the coarse carbides form in the micro-structure and the improvement in the mechanical properties of the spring steel is limited.     

Designing better graphs by including distributional information and integrating words, numbers, and images.

Statistical graphs are commonly used in scientific publications. Unfortunately, graphs in psychology journals rarely portray distributional information beyond central tendency, and few graphs portray inferential statistics. Moreover, those that do portray inferential information generally do not portray it in a way that is useful for interpreting the data. The authors present several recommendations for improving graphs including the following: (a) bar charts of means with or without standard errors should be supplanted by graphs containing distributional information, (b) good design should be used to allow more information to be included in a graph without obscuring trends in the data, and (c) figures should include both graphic images and inferential statistics presented in words and numbers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)