Stable and sensitive amino-functionalized graphene/polyaniline nanofiber composites for room-temperature carbon dioxide sensing.

This article describes the preparation and characterization of amino-functionalized graphene (AmG)/polyaniline (PANI)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofiber mats along with the efficiency of these nanofiber composites as a new material for sensing carbon dioxide (CO) gas. The surfaces of the PMMA nanofibers were treated at room temperature by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. AmG/PANI was then deposited on the surfaces of the PMMA nanofibers chemical oxidative polymerization.

The road towards polaritonic devices.

Polaritons are quasiparticles that form in semiconductors when an elementary excitation such as an exciton or a phonon interacts sufficiently strongly with light. In particular, exciton-polaritons have attracted tremendous attention for their unique properties, spanning from an ability to undergo ultra-efficient four-wave mixing to superfluidity in the condensed state. These quasiparticles possess strong intrinsic nonlinearities, while keeping most characteristics of the underlying photons.

Female Genital Cutting (FGC) and the ethics of care: community engagement and cultural sensitivity at the interface of migration experiences.

Background: Female Genital Cutting (FGC) anchored in a complex socio-cultural context becomes significant at the interface of access of health and social services in host countries. The practice of FGC at times, understood as a form of gender-based violence, may result in unjustifiable consequences among girls and women; yet, these practices are culturally engrained traditions with complex meanings calling for ethically and culturally sensitive health and social service provision. Intents and meanings of FGC practice need to be well understood before before any policies that criminalize and condemn are derived and implemented.

Dividing in epithelia: cells let loose during cytokinesis.

Epithelia must maintain barrier function-protecting interior tissues from a variable external environment-even while their cells divide. In the previous issue of Developmental Cell, Guillot and Lecuit (2013), Founounou et al. (2013), and Herszterg et al.

Wound healing: GTPases flux their muscles.

Actomyosin rings are transient organelles that execute cytokinesis, morphogenesis, and wound healing. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Burkel et al. (2012) call into question the assumption that such rings close via sliding filament contractility and elegantly reveal flux of Rho family GTPases within these dynamic structures.

Cytokinesis: cells go back and forth about division.

An elegant quantitative model to explain cellular oscillations during cytokinesis reveals a novel function for polar blebbing and raises the question as to why cells live right on the edge.

Streaming potential-based arthroscopic device is sensitive to cartilage changes immediately post-impact in an equine cartilage injury model.

Models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis where early degenerative changes can be monitored are valuable for assessing potential therapeutic strategies. Current methods for evaluating cartilage mechanical properties may not capture the low-grade cartilage changes expected at these earlier time points following injury. In this study, an explant model of cartilage injury was used to determine whether streaming potential measurements by manual indentation could detect cartilage changes immediately following mechanical impact and to compare their sensitivity to biomechanical tests.

A small GTPase molecular switch regulates epigenetic centromere maintenance by stabilizing newly incorporated CENP-A.

Epigenetic mechanisms regulate genome activation in diverse events, including normal development and cancerous transformation. Centromeres are epigenetically designated chromosomal regions that maintain genomic stability by directing chromosome segregation during cell division. The histone H3 variant CENP-A resides specifically at centromeres, is fundamental to centromere function and is thought to act as the epigenetic mark defining centromere loci.

Optimized use of multi-functional positioning frame features for scoliosis surgeries.

A multi-functional positioning frame (MFPF) has been developed which includes a number of positioning features allowing for hip flexion and extension, thorax vertical displacement, lateral leg displacement, pelvic torsion and thorax lateral displacement. The objective of this study was to develop a method allowing for optimized combined use of the MFPF features. Finite element models (FEMs) representing the osseo-ligamentous structures of the spine, ribcage, pelvis and lower limbs, including muscles, were created for three different curve types (main thoracic, double major, and triple major) using a radiographic bi-planar reconstruction technique.

A multiscale region-based motion detection and background subtraction algorithm.

This paper presents a region-based method for background subtraction. It relies on color histograms, texture information, and successive division of candidate rectangular image regions to model the background and detect motion. Our proposed algorithm uses this principle and combines it with Gaussian mixture background modeling to produce a new method which outperforms the classic Gaussian mixture background subtraction method.

The limit profile of a rapid movement velocity.

In motor control, various theories and computational models have been developed to explain and model the stereotypical velocity profiles of skilled rapid movements. According to the fact that these theories aim at describing the same physical pattern (a velocity profile) with different mathematical expressions, some relationships between these various representation schemes should exist. This paper presents a comparative study of two motor control theories that have put forward analytical expressions to describe the stereotypical velocity profiles of rapid movements: the Kinematic Theory and the Minimization Theory.

Mechanical properties of the porcine growth plate and its three zones from unconfined compression tests.

The aim of the study was to determine intrinsic mechanical properties of the complete growth plate and its reserve, proliferative and hypertrophic zones. Growth plate disk samples from newborn swine's ulnae were tested using stress relaxation tests under unconfined compression. The Transversely Isotropic Biphasic Model (TIBPE) derived by [Cohen, B.

High-sensitivity nanoLC-MS/MS analysis of urinary desmosine and isodesmosine.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by the degradation of elastin, the major insoluble protein of lung tissues. The degradation of elastin gives rise to desmosine (DES) and isodesmosine (IDES), two major urinary products typified by a hydrophilic pyridinium-based cross-linker structure. A high sensitivity method based on nanoflow liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring was developed for the analysis of urinary DES and IDES.

Activism among older women in Quebec, Canada: changing the world after age 65.

The aim of this article is to examine senior women's involvement experience in Quebec, Canada. Study results are based on a qualitative methodology, and shed light on family history and continuity in the involvement trajectory, diversity in terms of group type and involvement practices, and gender differences in involvement. The meaning that older women attribute to their involvement is also addressed, including attitudes toward feminism.

The relationship between hip flexion/extension and the sagittal curves of the spine.

The objective of this study was to develop a finite element model (FEM) in order to study the relationship between hip flexion/extension and the sagittal curves of the spine. A previously developed FEM of the spine, rib cage and pelvis personalized to the 3D reconstructed geometry of a patient using biplanar radiographs was adapted to include the lower limbs including muscles. Simulations were performed to determine: the relationship between hip flexion / extension and lumbar lordosis / thoracic kyphosis, the mechanism of transfer between hip flexion / extension and pelvic rotation, and the influence that knee bending, muscle stiffness, and muscle mass have on the degree to which sagittal spinal curves are modified due to lower limb positioning.

Iterative synthesis of deoxypropionate units: the inductor effect in acyclic conformation design.

Conjugate addition of lithium dimethylcuprate to acyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated esters of varying lengths bearing terminal alkyl or phenyl groups leads to a preponderance of syn 1,3-adducts when one methyl is already present. Conversion to enoates, and iteration of cuprate additions also favors syn adducts to give contiguous deoxypropionate units in a growing chain. The effect of end-group variation (Me, i-Pr, phenyl, tert-butyl) in conjunction with the nature of the ester group (Me, tert-butyl, etc.

Endothelin is a dose-dependent trophic factor and a mitogen in small arteries in vivo.

Objective: Endothelin (ET) modulates cellular processes relevant to vascular remodeling, but there is still some debate as to the potential of ET to be a trophic factor or a mitogen. Moreover, the signaling of ET in vivo to produce these effects is largely unknown.

Methods: 3H-leucine and 3H-thymidine incorporation in rat small mesenteric arteries was studied with several doses of ET-1 (0.

A proactive approach can make site remediation less expensive.

Without any incentive to clean up a contaminated site, remediation is often delayed until the site owner is compelled to act by regulatory agencies. In such a context, the selected technology is typically the one that will reach the remediation goals as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this criterion is often met by overly expensive technologies, resulting in high and sometimes unaffordable total remediation costs, leading to a remediation with a negative net benefit.

Application of conformation design in acyclic stereoselection: total synthesis of borrelidin as the crystalline benzene solvate.

The total synthesis of (-)-borrelidin (treponemycin), a structurally distinct 18-membered macrolide antibiotic, has been achieved. It was isolated as the crystalline benzene solvate, and its structure was confirmed by a single-crystal X-ray analysis. The deoxypropionate subunit consisting of four alternating C-methyl groups with a C(4)-C(10) syn/syn/anti orientation was elaborated by a new method of iterative cuprate additions to acyclic alpha,beta-unsaturated esters relying on two consecutive 1,3-inductions and starting with d-glyceraldehyde as the chiral progenitor.

Aerobic degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol by a microbial consortium - selection and characterization of microbial consortium.

A microbial consortium that efficiently degrades 2,4,6-TCP (2,4,6-trichlorophenol), as the sole source of carbon and energy under aerobic conditions was selected from municipal activated sludge. Six bacterial strains, designated S(1), S(2), S(3), S(4), S(5) and S(6), were isolated from the selected consortium and five were identified as Sphingomonas paucimobilis (S(2), S(3)), Burkholderia cepacia(S(4)), Chryseomonas luteola (S(5)) and Vibrio metschnikovii (S(6)). After prolonged cultivation followed by successive transfers, the consortium's degradation ability was improved and reached a specific degradation rate of 34 mg 2,4,6-TCP g(-1) dry weight h(-1) (about 51 mg 2,4,6-TCP g(-1) cell protein h(-1)).

Subunit interaction in mammalian aldolases.

Enzyme inactivation was utilized to study subunit interaction in the homotetrameric glycolytic enzyme, aldolase. Isoenzymes from rabbit liver and skeletal muscle were inactivated in the presence of Pi and d-glyceraldehyde-P to a maximum stoichiometry of one modification per aldolase subunit. Subunit modification increased net negative charge on each subunit surface and was used to resolve modified aldolase isoenzymes into various chromatographic species.