Dysregulation of chemo-cytokine production in schizophrenic patients versus healthy controls

Background  

The exact cause of schizophrenia is not known, although several aetiological theories have been proposed for the disease, including developmental or neurodegenerative processes, neurotransmitter abnormalities, viral infection and immune dysfunction or autoimmune mechanisms. Growing evidence suggests that specific cytokines and chemokines play a role in signalling the brain to produce neurochemical, neuroendocrine, neuroimmune and behavioural changes. A relationship between inflammation and schizophrenia was supported by abnormal cytokines production, abnormal concentrations of cytokines and cytokine receptors in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid in schizophrenia. Since the neuropathology of schizophrenia has recently been reported to be closely associated with microglial activation we aimed to determined whether spontaneous or LPS-induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell chemokines and cytokines production is dysregulated in schizophrenic patients compared to healthy subjects. We enrolled 51 untreated first-episode schizophrenics (SC) and 40 healthy subjects (HC) and the levels of MCP-1, MIP-1α, IL-8, IL-18, IFN-γ and RANTES were determined by Elisa method in cell-free supernatants of PBMC cultures.     

Synthesis of carbon black/polystyrene conductive nanocomposite. Pickering emulsion effect characterized by TEM

In this study, carbon black/polystyrene electrically conductive composites were obtained by suspension polymerization technique. The composite was characterized using transmission electron microscopy, which indicated two outstanding features concerning to the carbon black; first, that the carbon particles were adsorbed onto the surface of the polystyrene particles, similarly as in the Pickering emulsion phenomenon and second, that the primary aggregate structure of the carbon black was significantly affected by the dispersion process. On the other hand, the composite resistivity was in the order of 200 Ωcm, which was attributed to the direct contact of primary carbon black particles (percolation) and not to the tunneling effect. The obtained composite was evaluated as the electrically conductive element in SBR matrix.     

Coherence, polarization, and entanglement for classical light fields

We examine a classical version of entanglement between spatial and polarization degrees of freedom for classical light. We examine the relation between classical entanglement, polarization, and several recently introduced measures of coherence for vectorial waves. We show that there is no definite relation between quantum and classical entanglement.     

Coordinating ability of the heterocycles 1,3-dithia-2-arsa- and stiba-cyclopentanes. Part III. Dithioacid and dithiocarbamate complexes containing a free functional group. Crystal structure of 2-pyrrolidonedithiocarbamate of 1,3-dithia-arsa-cyclopentane

Three 1,1-dithioacids containing an additional functional group, 2-pyrrolidone-1-carbodithioic acid, 2-hydroxycyclopentene-1-carbodithioic acid, and 2-pyrrolidone-1,3-bis(carbodithioic) acid, were reacted with the Group 15 heterocycles 2-chloro-1,3-dithia-2-arsa- and stiba-cyclopentanes (CIMS₂C₂H₄; M = As, Sb). The dithiocomplexes obtained were characterized by spectroscopic methods and elemental analyses. The X-ray structure determination of the 2-pyrrolidonedithiocarbamate of 1,3-dithia-arsacyclopentane shows a monodentate behavior of the dithiocarbamate entity and the absence of participation of the carbonyl oxygen in the coordination.     

Convergence analysis for a multiplicatively relaxed EM algorithm

The expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is an iterative procedure used to determine maximum likelihood estimators in situations of incomplete data. In the case of independent Poisson variables it converges to a solution of a problem of the form min ∑[〈aⁱ,x〉 ? b_i log 〈aⁱ, x〉] such that x ?0. Thus, it can be used to solve systems of the form Ax = b, x?0 (with A stochastic and b positive.) It converges to a feasible solution if it exists and to an approximate one otherwise (the one that minimizes d (b, Ax), where d is the Kullback–Leibler information divergence). We study the convergence of the multiplicatively relaxed version proposed by Tanaka for use in positron emission tomography. We prove global convergence in the underrelaxed and unrelaxed cases. In the overrelaxed case we present a local convergence theorem together with two partial global results: the sequence generated by the algorithm is bounded and, if it converges, its limit point is a solution of the aforementioned problem.     

Hierarchical Functionalized Polymeric‐Ceramic Coatings on Mg‐Ca Alloys for Biodegradable Implant Applications

Magnesium‐based implants present several advantages for clinical applications, in particular due to their biocompatibility and degradability. However, degradation products can affect negatively the cell activity. In this work, a combined coating strategy to control the implant degradation and cell regulation processes is evaluated, including plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) that produces a 13 µm‐thick Ca, P, and Si containing ceramic coating with surface porosity, and breath figures (BF) approach that produces a porous polymeric poly(ε‐caprolactone) surface. The degradation of PCL‐PEO‐coated Mg hierarchical scaffold can be tailored to promote cell adhesion and proliferation into the porous structure. As a result, cell culture can colonize the inner PEO‐ceramic coating structure where higher amount of bioelements are present. The Mg/PEO/PCL/BF scaffolds exhibit equally good or better premyoblast cell adhesion and proliferation compared with Ti CP control. The biological behavior of this new hierarchical functionalized scaffold can improve the implantation success in bone and cardiovascular clinical applications.     

The thioketone–enethiol tautomerism of aliphatic thiocarbonyls: An ab initio study

Approximate minimum energy reaction paths have been calculated for two thioketone–enethiol tautomeric systems using an ab initio SCF–MO method. The calculations indicate nearly equal stabil ties of the isolated tautomers in both systems and an energy barrier of ca. 85 kcal/mol for their interconversion. This barrier is expected to be significantly lower in solution as a result of solvent–solute interactions.