In: Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 2009, vol. 210, no. 20, p. 1671-1677
Photo-crosslinkable side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers (LCPs) containing photoreactive benzophenone cores are synthesized in order to obtain their corresponding side-chain liquid-crystalline elastomers (LCEs). This strategic synthesis allows thin elastomeric films and their integration into microsystems for actuators and micromachines to be obtained. As an example of this principle, a gripper...
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In: Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals, 2009, p. 357-366
A novel crosslinked smectic-C Main-Chain Liquid-Crystalline Elastomer (MCLCE) has been synthesized by polycondensation of vinyloxy-terminated mesogens, tetramethyldisiloxane and pentamethylpentaoxapentasilecane. The introduction of the functional vinyloxy group allows the synthesis of well-defined networks having low soluble content and good mechanical properties. Networks having a macroscopic...
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In: The European Physical Journal B, 2009, vol. 71, no. 4, p. 573-577
Perfect synchronicity in N-player games is a useful theoretical dream, but communication delays are inevitable and may result in asynchronous interactions. Some systems such as financial markets are asynchronous by design, and yet most theoretical models assume perfectly synchronized actions. We propose a general method to transform standard models of adaptive agents into asynchronous systems...
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In: Journal of Cellular Physiology, 2009, vol. 220, no. 2, p. 476-484
Cellular responses are determined by a number of signaling cues in the local microenvironment, such as growth factors and extracellular matrix (ECM). In cultures of mammary epithelial cells (MECs), functional differentiation requires at least two types of signal, lactogenic hormones (i.e., prolactin, insulin, and hydrocortisone) and the specialized ECM, basement membrane (BM). Our previous work...
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In: Pediatric Nephrology, 2009, vol. 24, no. 5, p. 973-981
Acute normocapnic hypoxemia can cause functional renal insufficiency by increasing renal vascular resistance (RVR), leading to renal hypoperfusion and decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) activity is low in fetuses and newborns and further decreases during hypoxia. IGF-1 administration to humans and adult animals induces pre- and postglomerular...
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In: American Journal of Pathology, 2009, vol. 174, p. 2324-2336
The calcium-binding protein calretinin has emerged as a useful marker for the identification of mesotheliomas of the epithelioid and mixed types, but its putative role in tumor development has not been addressed previously. Although exposure to asbestos fibers is considered the main cause of mesothelioma, undoubtedly, not all mesothelioma patients have a history of asbestos exposure. The question...
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In: ACS Nano, 2009, vol. 3, no. 8, p. 2274–2280
At present, nanofilaments are not exclusively based on carbon atoms but can be produced from many inorganic materials in the form of nanotubes and nanowires. It is essential to systematically assess the acute toxicity of these newly synthesized materials since it cannot be predicted from the known toxicity of the same material in another form. Here, the cellular toxicity of TiO₂-based...
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In: Cerebral Cortex, 2009, vol. 19, no. 9, p. 2025-2037
Multisensory and sensorimotor integrations are usually considered to occur in superior colliculus and cerebral cortex, but few studies proposed the thalamus as being involved in these integrative processes. We investigated whether the organization of the thalamocortical (TC) systems for different modalities partly overlap, representing an anatomical support for multisensory and sensorimotor...
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In: Journal of Vision, 2009, vol. 9, no. 5, p. 14
Trichromatic color vision is a fundamental aspect of the visual system shared by humans and non-human primates. In human observers, color has been shown to facilitate object identification. However, little is known about the role that color plays in higher level vision of non-human primates. Here, we addressed this question and studied the interaction between luminance- and color-based structural...
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In: Diabetes, 2009, vol. 58, no. 10, p. 2228-2237
OBJECTIVE: Catch-up growth, a risk factor for later type 2 diabetes, is characterized by hyperinsulinemia, accelerated body-fat recovery (catch-up fat), and enhanced glucose utilization in adipose tissue. Our objective was to characterize the determinants of enhanced glucose utilization in adipose tissue during catch-up fat. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: White adipose tissue morphometry, lipogenic...
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