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Findings Make (finding + make)
Selected AbstractsMucin Coatings Suppress Neutrophil Adhesion to a Polymeric Model BiomaterialMICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 10 2007Tomas Sandberg Abstract Following our recent study on the fractionation, characterization, and model adsorption of mucins derived from bovine salivary glands (BSM), porcine stomach scrapings (PGM), and human whole saliva (MG1), we here present a microscopic evaluation of the interactions between mucin-coated substrates and human neutrophils. Our results show that surface-coating with BSM, PGM, and MG1 can be effectively used to suppress the adhesion of neutrophils to a polymeric model biomaterial (Thermanox). Neutrophil morphologies found on Thermanox substrates coated with mucins resemble those observed for nonactivated neutrophils found in circulation. Notably, low neutrophil adhesion can be obtained at a significantly lower coating concentration (0.125 mg/mL) for the compositionally complex MG1 mucin than for the relatively pure BSM and PGM mucins (1 mg/mL). Furthermore, since coating at a low BSM and PGM concentration (0.25 mg/mL) results in higher cell counts and more spread cells than in the high-concentration case, we suggest that dense mucin surface packing is critical for good coating performance. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates how mucins from three different sources, of different compositional and structural status, efficiently can be used to suppress neutrophil adhesion and activation. This finding makes them potent candidates for use as biomaterial coatings. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Patterns and Determinants of Historical Woodland Clearing in Central-Western New South Wales, AustraliaGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007MICHAEL BEDWARD Abstract We consider the history of woodland clearing in central western New South Wales, Australia, which has led to the present highly cleared and fragmented landscape. A combined approach is used examining available historical land-use data and using regression analysis to relate the pattern of cleared and wooded areas in the recent landscape to environmental variables, taking into account the contagious nature of clearing. We also ask whether it would be possible to apply a simple simulation modelling approach to reconstruct a credible historical sequence of clearing in the study area. The historical data indicate that annual clearing rates have varied substantially in the study area and selective tree removal (ringbarking and thinning) has been common. These findings make it unlikely that a simple simulation approach would replicate the spatial and temporal sequence of woodland loss. Our regression results show that clearing patterns can be related to environmental variables, particularly annual rainfall and estimated pre-European vegetation type, but that patterns are dominated by contagion. [source] Reconsidering Styles of Regulatory Enforcement: Patterns in Danish Agro-Environmental InspectionLAW & POLICY, Issue 2 2000Peter May This study addresses enforcement styles of regulatory inspectors, based on an examination of the municipal enforcement of agro-environmental policies in Denmark. Our findings make three contributions to the regulatory literature. One contribution is to add empirical support for theorizing about inspectors' enforcement styles as consisting of multiple components, rather than a single continuum. We show that inspectors' enforcement styles comprise the degree of formalism and the degree of coercion that they exercise when carrying out inspections. A second contribution is in showing the relationship of different types of enforcement styles to the two underlying dimensions of the concept. A third contribution is an examination of the ways in which inspectors' enforcement styles relate to their enforcement actions. The consistency of our findings with those of other studies suggests that the dimensions and types of inspectors' enforcement styles that we observed in Denmark can be generalized to other settings. [source] Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political BeliefsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2010Peter K. Hatemi Variance components estimates of political and social attitudes suggest a substantial level of genetic influence, but the results have been challenged because they rely on data from twins only. In this analysis, we include responses from parents and nontwin full siblings of twins, account for measurement error by using a panel design, and estimate genetic and environmental variance by maximum-likelihood structural equation modeling. By doing so, we address the central concerns of critics, including that the twin-only design offers no verification of either the equal environments or random mating assumptions. Moving beyond the twin-only design leads to the conclusion that for most political and social attitudes, genetic influences account for an even greater proportion of individual differences than reported by studies using more limited data and more elementary estimation techniques. These findings make it increasingly difficult to deny that,however indirectly,genetics plays a role in the formation of political and social attitudes. [source] | ||||||||||