B Cells with a Senescent-Associated Secretory Phenotype Accumulate in the Adipose Tissue of Individuals with Obesity

Senescent cells accumulate in the adipose tissue (AT) of individuals with obesity and secrete multiple factors that constitute the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). This paper aimed at the identification of B cells with a SASP phenotype in the AT, as compared to the peripheral blood, of individuals with obesity. Our results show increased expression of SASP markers in AT versus blood B cells, a phenotype associated with a hyper-metabolic profile necessary to support the increased immune activation of AT-derived B cells as compared to blood-derived B cells. This hyper-metabolic profile is needed for the secretion of the pro-inflammatory mediators (cytokines, chemokines, micro-RNAs) that fuel local and systemic inflammation.     

Prolonged tamoxifen exposure selects a breast cancer cell clone that is stable in vitro and in vivo

The effects of long-term tamoxifen exposure on cell growth and cell cycle kinetics were compared between oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive (MCF-7) and ER-negative (MDA-MB-231) cell lines. In the MCF-7 cell line, prolonged tamoxifen exposure (0.5 mumol/l for > 100 days) blocked cells in G0-G1 of the cell cycle, and slowed the doubling time of cells from 30 to 59 h. These effects corresponded to an increase in the cellular accumulation of tamoxifen over time [mean area under concentration curve (AUC) = 77.92 mumoles/10(6)/cells/day]. In contrast, in the MDA-MB-231 cell line, long-term tamoxifen exposure had no obvious effect on the doubling time, and reduced cellular tamoxifen accumulation (mean AUC = 50.50 mumoles/10(6)/cells/day) compared to the MCF-7 cells. Flow cytometric analysis of MDA-MB-231 cells demonstrated that a new tetraploid clone emerged following 56 days of tamoxifen exposure. Inoculation of the MDA-MB-231 tetraploid clone and MDA-MB-231 wildtype cells into the opposite flanks of athymic nude mice resulted in the rapid growth of tetraploid tumours. The tetraploid tumours maintained their ploidy following tamoxifen treatment for nine consecutive serial transplantations. Histological examination of the fifth transplant generation xenografts revealed that the tetraploid tumour had a 25-30 times greater mass, area of haemorrhage and necrosis, a slightly higher mitotic index and was more anaplastic than the control neoplasm. The control wildtype MDA-MB-231 tumours maintained a stable ploidy following tamoxifen treatment until the eighth and ninth transplantation, when a tetraploid population appeared, suggesting that tamoxifen treatment may select for this clone in vivo. These studies suggest that prolonged tamoxifen exposure may select for new, stable, fast growing cell clones in vitro as well as in vivo.     

A Nonvolatile Organic Memory Device Using ITO Surfaces Modified by Ag‐Nanodots

We report on a single‐layer organic memory device made of poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) embedded between an Al electrode and ITO modified with Ag nanodots (Ag‐NDs). Devices exhibit high ON/OFF switching ratios of 10⁴. This level of performance could be achieved by modifying the ITO electrodes with some Ag‐NDs that act as trapping sites, reducing the current in the OFF state. Temperature dependence of the electrical characteristics suggest that the current of the low‐resistance state can be attributed to Schottky charge tunnelling through low‐resistance pathways of Al particles in the polymer layer and that the high‐resistance state can be controlled by charge trapping by the Al particles and Ag‐NDs.     

Second-order accurate constraint formulation for subdivision finite element simulation of thin shells

We present a new method for enforcing boundary conditions within subdivision finite element simulations of thin shells. The proposed framework is demonstrated to be second-order accurate with respect to increasing refinement in the displacement and energy norm for simply supported, clamped, free and symmetric boundary conditions. Second-order accuracy on the boundary is consistent with the accuracy of subdivision-based approaches for the interior of a body. Our proposed framework is applicable to both triangular and quadrilateral refinement schemes, and does not impose any topological requirements upon the underlying subdivision control mesh. Several examples from an obstacle course of benchmark problems are used to demonstrate the convergence of the scheme. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychological interventions to prevent HIV infection are urgently needed: New priorities for behavioral research in the second decade of AIDS.

Behavior change remains the only means for primary prevention of HIV disease. Psychology should take a leading role in efforts to curtail the epidemic, but has not contributed to HIV prevention at a level proportionate to the urgency of the crisis. The authors propose an updated agenda for behavioral research on AIDS-HIV prevention implementing accelerated community trials of promising behavior change models, conducting trials of community-level interventions on a large scale and focused on populations most vulnerable to HIV infections, establishing partnerships between HIV research and community service organizations, integrating efforts from across psychology disciplines to advance and refine HIV prevention interventions, and mobilizing interdisciplinary HIV prevention resources and communication mechanisms to rapidly translate research findings to community and public policy arenas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A system for recognizing a large class of engineering drawings

We present a system for recognizing a large class of engineering drawings characterized by alternating instances of symbols and connection lines. The class includes domains such as flowcharts, logic and electrical circuits, and chemical plant diagrams. The output of the system, a netlist identifying the symbol types and interconnections, may be used for design simulation or as a compact portable representation of the drawing. The automatic recognition task is divided into two stages: 1) domain-independent rules are used to segment symbols from connection lines in the drawing image that has been thinned, vectorized, and preprocessed in routine ways; 2) a drawing understanding subsystem works in concert with a set of domain-specific matchers to classify symbols and correct errors automatically. A graphical user interface is provided to correct residual errors interactively and to log data for reporting errors objectively. The system has been tested on a database of 64 printed images drawn from text books and handbooks in different domains and scanned at 150 and 300 dpi resolution     

Scopolamine impairs human recognition memory: Data and modeling.

Eight subjects studied a set of complex visual images after administration of 0.4 mg scopolamine. Another 8 subjects performed the same task without drug administration. On a subsequent item recognition test, subjects rated, on a 5-point scale, their confidence that the studied pictures and an equal number of unstudied lures were actually presented. Results showed that scopolamine affected responses to studied items, but not unstudied lures, demonstrating an unambiguous effect of scopolamine on recognition memory. To describe the scopolamine-injected subjects' data, the authors constructed a new model of 2-process recognition that includes the A. P. Yonelinas (1994) model as a limiting case. The model analysis suggests that scopolamine affected both familiarity and recollection. In particular, scopolamine did not affect the frequency with which recollection took place, but rather, affected the amount of recollected information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamic laser control using feedback from a gain grating

We demonstrate that self-induced gain gratings can provide nonlinear optical feedback that results in single frequency selection and passive self Q-switching of a conventional linear laser cavity. An experimental Nd:YAG laser system is described that yields a temporally-smooth 20 ns pulse at 1.064 μm. In addition, we show that the feedback has phase-conjugate properties that permit “flower-like” mode formation even though the azimuthal symmetry of the cavity is broken     

Earvin "Magic" Johnson's HIV serostatus disclosure: Effects on men's perceptions of AIDS.

The effects of celebrity self-disclosure of HIV seropositivity on perceptions of HIV and AIDS were investigated. AIDS-related interest and knowledge measures were collected from 468 men before and after basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson's self-disclosure of HIV seropositivity. Increased interest in AIDS paralleled media coverage of the announcement, with the most substantial effects occurring within 2 wks. Perceived impact of the disclosure was greatest among African-American men and men who had not previously known someone with HIV/AIDS. Celebrity self-disclosure appears to affect perceptions through mechanisms similar to those involved in personally knowing someone infected with HIV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of quinidine on the interconversion kinetics between haloperidol and reduced haloperidol in humans: implications for the involvement of cytochrome P450IID6

Unequal metabolic responses to trauma by women and men have been suggested, but an explicit investigation demonstrating this conjecture has not been made. The responses of resting energy expenditure (REE) and nitrogen balance for 3 days before and 7 days after skeletal trauma were determined for female and male rats. Food intake and body weight were recorded daily, and 24-h urine samples were collected. Baseline REE and nitrogen balance were obtained for 3 consecutive days before induction of trauma. Then rats were divided into female trauma (n = 8), male trauma (n = 7), female control (n = 8), and male control (n = 7) groups. Trauma was produced by bilateral femoral fracture to anesthetized rats. Control rats were anesthetized without skeletal trauma. Traumatized rats were fed ad libitum for 7 days, and control rats were pair fed with the traumatized rats. The results showed that REE increased and nitrogen balance decreased in traumatized male rats relative to their controls. Traumatized female rats had increased REE and unchanged nitrogen balance compared with their controls. Traumatized female rats had a larger percentage increase in REE on days 5 through 7 than did traumatized male rats. These findings demonstrate a difference between female and male rats in response to trauma. Female rats use more energy and lose less nitrogen after trauma than do male rats. The results suggest that recommendations for increased energy and protein needs after trauma should consider the sex of the subject intended to be fed.