Zaha Hadid: Between the Visionary and the Pragmatic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgi Stanishev

2017-09-01

Since the establishment of partnership between Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, the studio had focused on computer and parametric planning strategies. The Parametricist Manifesto (2008 became the culmination of that direction. The parametric design guides Zaha toward searching for new relations between architecture and modeling of forms of field conditions, force lines and fluid processes in nature. Computer mathematics models evolutionary processes of the occurrence of natural forms in the living and non-living environment… Within the last decades, influenced by Schumacher’s parametric ideology, Hadid’s projects have more and more imitated the natural processes of creation of spatial and formal models resembling the organic world. The text given below, however, reveals the roots of Zaha’s architectural ideology, that developed at the edge of the 1980s and 90s on the basis of Russian avant-garde art and architecture, and partially hidden resonances with the inner world of the East.

Adhesion of osteoblasts to a nanorough titanium implant surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gongadze E

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Ekaterina Gongadze1, Doron Kabaso2, Sebastian Bauer3, Tomaž Slivnik2, Patrik Schmuki3, Ursula van Rienen1, Aleš Iglič21Institute of General Electrical Engineering, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany; 2Laboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3Department of Materials Science, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nurenberg, Erlangen, GermanyAbstract: This work considers the adhesion of cells to a nanorough titanium implant surface with sharp edges. The basic assumption was that the attraction between the negatively charged titanium surface and a negatively charged osteoblast is mediated by charged proteins with a distinctive quadrupolar internal charge distribution. Similarly, cation-mediated attraction between fibronectin molecules and the titanium surface is expected to be more efficient for a high surface charge density, resulting in facilitated integrin mediated osteoblast adhesion. We suggest that osteoblasts are most strongly bound along the sharp convex edges or spikes of nanorough titanium surfaces where the magnitude of the negative surface charge density is the highest. It is therefore plausible that nanorough regions of titanium surfaces with sharp edges and spikes promote the adhesion of osteoblasts.Keywords: osteoblasts, nanostructures, adhesion, titanium implants, osteointegration

In vitro pharmacological characterization of a novel TRPA1 antagonist and proof of mechanism in a human dental pulp model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nyman E

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Eva Nyman,1,* Bo Franzén,1,* Andreas Nolting,1 Göran Klement,1 Gang Liu,1 Maria Nilsson,1 Annika Rosén,2 Charlotta Björk,3 Dirk Weigelt,4 Patrik Wollberg,1 Paul Karila,1 Patrick Raboisson11Neuroscience, Innovative Medicines CNS/Pain, AstraZeneca R&D, Södertälje, Sweden; 2Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Karolinska Institute/Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden; 3Clinical TA NS Early Development, 4Medicinal Chemistry, Innovative Medicines CNS/Pain, AstraZeneca R&D, Södertälje, Sweden*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: AZ465 is a novel selective transient receptor potential cation channel, member A1 (TRPA1 antagonist identified during a focused drug discovery effort. In vitro, AZ465 fully inhibits activation by zinc, O-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS, or cinnamaldehyde of the human TRPA1 channel heterologously expressed in human embryonic kidney cells. Our data using patch-clamp recordings and mouse/human TRPA1 chimeras suggest that AZ465 binds reversibly in the pore region of the human TRPA1 channel. Finally, in an ex vivo model measuring TRPA1 agonist-stimulated release of neuropeptides from human dental pulp biopsies, AZD465 was able to block 50%–60% of CS-induced calcitonin gene-related peptide release, confirming that AZ465 inhibits the native human TRPA1 channel in neuronal tissue.Keywords: pain, pharmacology, antagonist, chimeric proteins, dental pulp, inflammation, neuropeptide, calcitonin gene-related peptide, CGRP

Specific proteins of the trapezius muscle correlate with pain intensity and sensitivity – an explorative multivariate proteomic study of the trapezius muscle in women with chronic widespread pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olausson P

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Patrik Olausson, Bijar Ghafouri, Nazdar Ghafouri, Björn Gerdle Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Abstract: Chronic widespread pain (CWP including fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS has a high prevalence and is associated with prominent negative consequences. CWP/FMS exhibits morphological and functional alterations in the central nervous system. The importance of peripheral factors for maintaining the central alterations are under debate. In this study, the proteins from biopsies of the trapezius muscle from 18 female CWP/FMS patients and 19 healthy female controls were analyzed. Pain intensity and pressure pain thresholds (PPT over the trapezius muscles were registered. Twelve proteins representing five different groups of proteins were important regressors of pain intensity in CWP/FMS (R2=0.99; P<0.001. In the regression of PPT in CWP/FMS, it was found that 16 proteins representing six groups of proteins were significant regressors (R2=0.95, P<0.05. Many of the important proteins were stress and inflammation proteins, enzymes involved in metabolic pathways, and proteins associated with muscle damage, myopathies, and muscle recovery. The altered expression of these proteins may reflect both direct and indirect nociceptive/inflammatory processes as well as secondary changes. The relative importance of the identified proteins and central alterations in CWP need to be investigated in future research. Data from this and the previous study concerning the same cohorts give support to the suggestion that peripheral factors are of importance for maintaining pain aspects in CWP/FMS. Keywords: chronic widespread pain, proteomics, biomarkers, multivariate data analysis, pain threshold, numeric rating scale

The Comparison of Relationship between Family Communication Patterns and Self Concept with Coping Styles in Male and Female Students

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R Taheri

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Background & Aim: Since people have different coping styles, the purpose of the present research was to compare the relationship between family communication patterns and self-concept with coping styles among male and female students of Eram Higher Education Institution in Shiraz. Methods: In the present correlation study conducted in 2011 at Eram Higher Education Institution in Shiraz, 229 participants (91 males &119 females were selected by simple random sampling method. Data was collected by using the revised version of family communication patterns questionnaire (RFCP, Koerner & Fitz patrik (2002, Beck's Self-concept Test (CST (1990 and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS Endler & Parker (1990. Data was analyzed using correlation matrix & independent t-test analysis. Results: According to the result, there was significant correlation between family communication patterns and self-concept with coping styles among male and female students. In the female group, task oriented coping and avoidance oriented coping with conversation orientation and emotion oriented coping with conforming orientation showed positive significant correlation. In male group avoidance orientation coping with conversation orientation and emotion oriented coping with conforming orientation showed positive significant correlation. Also, related to self concept variable, results showed female students task oriented coping and avoidance oriented coping had significant correlation with the self concept variable, but the male students avoidance oriented coping had significant correlation with the self concept variable(P<0/05. Also, the result showed significant difference between two male and female students, in emotion oriented coping, so the female group, emotion oriented coping with (51/48 was more than the orientation within the male group with (48/18, (p<0.05. Conclusion: Family communication patterns and the concept are effective on coping styles. Therefore

Multivariate proteomic analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain and healthy controls – a hypothesis-generating pilot study

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Bäckryd E

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Emmanuel Bäckryd,1,2 Bijar Ghafouri,1,2 Anders K Carlsson,1,2 Patrik Olausson,1,2 Björn Gerdle1,2 1Division of Community Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; 2Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, Anaesthetics, Operations and Specialty Surgery Centre, Region Östergötland, Linköping, SwedenAbstract: Pain medicine lacks objective biomarkers to guide diagnosis and treatment. Combining two-dimensional gel proteomics with multivariate data analysis by projection, we exploratively analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid of eleven patients with severe peripheral neuropathic pain due to trauma and/or surgery refractory to conventional treatment and eleven healthy controls. Using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, we identified a panel of 36 proteins highly discriminating between the two groups. Due to a possible confounding effect of age, a new model with age as outcome variable was computed for patients (n=11, and four out of 36 protein spots were excluded due to a probable influence of age. Of the 32 remaining proteins, the following seven had the highest discriminatory power between the two groups: an isoform of angiotensinogen (upregulated in patients, two isoforms of alpha-1-antitrypsin (downregulated in patients, three isoforms of haptoglobin (upregulated in patients, and one isoform of pigment epithelium-derived factor (downregulated in patients. It has recently been hypothesized that the renin–angiotensin system may play a role in the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain, and a clinical trial of an angiotensin II receptor antagonist was recently published. It is noteworthy that when searching for neuropathic pain biomarkers with a purely explorative methodology, it was indeed a renin–angiotensin system protein that had the highest discriminatory power between patients and controls in the present study. The results from this hypothesis

Clear differences in cerebrospinal fluid proteome between women with chronic widespread pain and healthy women – a multivariate explorative cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olausson P

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Patrik Olausson, Bijar Ghafouri, Emmanuel Bäckryd, Björn Gerdle Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden Introduction: Frequent chronic local pain can develop into chronic widespread pain (CWP. The spread of pain is correlated with pain intensity, anxiety, and depression, conditions that ultimately lead to a poor quality of life. Knowledge is incomplete about CWP’s etiology, although it has been suggested that both central hyperexcitability and/or a combination with peripheral factors may be involved. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF could act as a mirror for the central nervous system as proteins are signal substances that activate the formation of algesics and control nociceptive processes. To this end, this study investigates the CSF protein expression in women with CWP and in female healthy controls. Materials and methods: This study included 12 female patients with CWP diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria with 13 healthy age- and sex-matched pain-free subjects. All subjects went through a clinical examination and answered a health questionnaire that registered sociodemographic and anthropometric data, pain characteristics, psychological status, and quality of life rating. CSF was collected by lumbar puncture from each subject. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry was used to analyze the CSF proteome. This study identifies proteins that significantly discriminate between the two groups using multivariate data analysis (MVDA (i.e., orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis [OPLS-DA]. Results: There were no clinically significant levels of psychological distress and catastrophization presented in subjects with CWP. MVDA revealed a highly significant OPLS-DA model where 48 proteins from CSF explained 91% (R2 of the variation and with a prediction of 90% (Q2. The highest discriminating

Birth weight, sex, and celiac disease: a nationwide twin study

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Kuja-Halkola R

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ralf Kuja-Halkola,1 Benjamin Lebwohl,1,2 Jonas Halfvarson,3 Louise Emilsson,4–6 Patrik K Magnusson,1 Jonas F Ludvigsson1,2,7,8 1Department Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; 2Department of Medicine, Celiac Disease Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; 3Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden; 4Department of Health Management and Health Economy, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; 5Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; 6Centre for Clinical Research, Vårdcentralen Värmlands Nysäter, County Council of Värmland, Värmland, 7Department of Pediatrics, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden; 8Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine, City Hospital, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Objective: Earlier research suggests that birth weight may be associated with celiac disease (CD, but the direction of association has been unclear potentially due to confounding effect from genetic and intrafamilial factors. Through within-twin analyses, we aimed to minimize confounding effects such as twins that share genetic and early environmental exposures.Materials and methods: Using the Swedish Twin Registry, we examined the birth weight of 146,830 twins according to the CD status. CD was defined as having villous atrophy according to a small intestinal biopsy reports.Results: The prevalence of diagnosed CD was 0.5% (n=669, and we included 407 discordant pairs of CD–non-CD twins. Comparing the 669 CD patients with non-CD twins, the association between birth weight and future CD was not statistically significant (odds ratio [OR] per 1000 g increase in birth weight: 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.97–1.38. In males, the association was positive and statistically significant (OR=1.50; 95% CI

Binding of plasma proteins to titanium dioxide nanotubes with different diameters

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Kulkarni M

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Mukta Kulkarni,1,* Ajda Flašker,1,* Maruša Lokar,1 Katjuša Mrak-Poljšak,2 Anca Mazare,3 Andrej Artenjak,4 Saša Čučnik,2 Slavko Kralj,5 Aljaž Velikonja,1 Patrik Schmuki,3 Veronika Kralj-Iglič,6 Snezna Sodin-Semrl,2,7 Aleš Iglič11Laboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2Department of Rheumatology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany; 4Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals Mengeš, Lek Pharmaceuticals dd, Menges, Slovenia; 5Department for Materials Synthesis, Institute Jožef Stefan (IJS, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 6Faculty of Health Studies, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 7Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Science and Information Technology, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia *These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Titanium and titanium alloys are considered to be one of the most applicable materials in medical devices because of their suitable properties, most importantly high corrosion resistance and the specific combination of strength with biocompatibility. In order to improve the biocompatibility of titanium surfaces, the current report initially focuses on specifying the topography of titanium dioxide (TiO2 nanotubes (NTs by electrochemical anodization. The zeta potential (ζ-potential of NTs showed a negative value and confirmed the agreement between the measured and theoretically predicted dependence of ζ-potential on salt concentration, whereby the absolute value of ζ-potential diminished with increasing salt concentrations. We investigated binding of various plasma proteins with different sizes and charges using the bicinchoninic acid assay and immunofluorescence microscopy. Results showed effective and comparatively higher protein binding to NTs with 100 nm diameters (compared to 50 or 15 nm. We also showed a dose

Low-pH concrete plug for sealing the KBS-3V deposition tunnels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malm, Richard

2012-01-01

on being watertight, which also affects the design of the concrete plug. In the spent fuel repository, low-pH concrete should be used instead of conventional concrete. The reason for this is to the largest extent to reduce the negative effect that basic materials could have on the function of the bentonite clay. For this purpose, a new low-pH concrete recipe has been developed and this changes the conditions for using reinforcement, cooling and grouting compared to the use of conventional concrete. The report shows the possibilities to use an unreinforced plug made of low-pH concrete as a resistance in the deposition tunnels. Today, some parameters are unknown and some data may be classified as uncertain, primarily regarding the long-term properties of the low-pH concrete material and the bentonite clay. It will take several years until all questions can be answered and a full-scale test is vital to validate the assumptions and the performed numerical simulations. The report should therefore be considered based on that data and conclusions will be studied further and be experimentally verified under realistic and controlled conditions. The project group consists of: Patrik Gatter (VPC), Richard Malm (VPC), Lennart Boergesson (Clay Technology AB), Lars-Olof Dahlstroem (NCC-Teknik), Jonas Magnusson (NCC-Teknik), Christina Claeson-Jonsson (NCC-Teknik), Morgan Johansson (Reinertsen), Rikard Karlzen (SKB), Paer Grahm (SKB), Sten Palmer (Sten Palmer Engineering AB) and Hans Wimelius (NCC AB)

Low-pH concrete plug for sealing the KBS-3V deposition tunnels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malm, Richard (Vattenfall Power Consultant AB (Sweden))

2012-01-15

requirement on being watertight, which also affects the design of the concrete plug. In the spent fuel repository, low-pH concrete should be used instead of conventional concrete. The reason for this is to the largest extent to reduce the negative effect that basic materials could have on the function of the bentonite clay. For this purpose, a new low-pH concrete recipe has been developed and this changes the conditions for using reinforcement, cooling and grouting compared to the use of conventional concrete. The report shows the possibilities to use an unreinforced plug made of low-pH concrete as a resistance in the deposition tunnels. Today, some parameters are unknown and some data may be classified as uncertain, primarily regarding the long-term properties of the low-pH concrete material and the bentonite clay. It will take several years until all questions can be answered and a full-scale test is vital to validate the assumptions and the performed numerical simulations. The report should therefore be considered based on that data and conclusions will be studied further and be experimentally verified under realistic and controlled conditions. The project group consists of: Patrik Gatter (VPC), Richard Malm (VPC), Lennart Boergesson (Clay Technology AB), Lars-Olof Dahlstroem (NCC-Teknik), Jonas Magnusson (NCC-Teknik), Christina Claeson-Jonsson (NCC-Teknik), Morgan Johansson (Reinertsen), Rikard Karlzen (SKB), Paer Grahm (SKB), Sten Palmer (Sten Palmer Engineering AB) and Hans Wimelius (NCC AB)

FOREWORD: The 70th birthday of Professor Stig Stenholm The 70th birthday of Professor Stig Stenholm

Science.gov (United States)

Suominen, Kalle-Antti

2010-09-01

researchers such as Marc-Andre Dupertuis and Steve Barnett worked with Stig at TFT, and in the 1990s it was the turn of Barry Garraway, Ilkka Tittonen and Nikolay Vitanov among others. For his work in 1992-1997 Stig Stenholm received the prestigious Academy of Finland Professorship which provided him with valuable research funds. My graduation in 1992 was followed by Mackillo Kira in 1995 and Päivi Törmä in 1996. Following developments in the field, in the mid-1990s Stig started to work on Bose-Einstein condensation and quantum information. Later he had a Humboldt fellowship, with stays in Germany shared by the Universities at Konstanz (Jürgen Mlynek) and Ulm (Wolfgang Schleich). Unfortunately, the University of Helsinki decided to replace TFT and a corresponding experimental particle physics institute with a new institute, which was mostly seen as the Finnish front-end for CERN collaboration; in 1997 the Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP) was started. Although the activities of TFT still existed in the theory section of HIP, many things and especially the atmosphere were changed and in 1997 this partly led Stig to accept a position at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, where two of his Finnish students, Patrik Öhberg and Erika Andersson graduated shortly after the move. I moved to HIP at the time, but left for a position in Turku in 2000, and the quantum optics project was finally switched off at HIP in 2003—only later it was found that quantum optics had provided the Institute with its most cited papers, propelling it into the top 5 percent most cited institutes in its field (especially thanks to Norbert Lütkenhaus and his work on quantum cryptography). The time in Stockholm was fruitful for Stig scientifically, but he also became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and although Nobel committee papers remain secret for 50 years, it is likely that he had a hand in its activities. In 2005 we jointly published a textbook on quantum

EDITORIAL: King of the elements? King of the elements?

Science.gov (United States)

Demming, Anna

2010-07-01

sensitivity can be enhanced by two orders of magnitude when the graphene is doped with an impurity such as boron [11]. Work on graphene has also prompted the possibility of a new field of application in electron-spin-based quantum computing. In this issue, Patrik Recher and Björn Trauzettel in Germany present an overview on the latest research on quantum dots of graphene, graphene nanoribbons and discs in single- and bilayer graphene with a view to their possible application as qubits in computing [12]. Nanodiamonds with nitrogen vacancies have been shown to behave as quantum-dot-like fluorescent nanostructures that are not susceptible to bleaching. Once certain nanotoxicological concerns have been settled, such nanodiamonds may one day be useful for imaging, and means of industrial scale fabrication have already been reported [13]. Other possible medical applications of carbon nanostructures include the use of carbon nanofibres for improved neural and orthopaedic implants [14]. Electronics, sensing, medicine, quantum computing; the utility of carbon in nanotechnology is apparently unlimited. Of course there is as much work in inorganic research advancing as rapidly and in fields just as diverse. Actual commercialisation of devices based on these carbon wonder materials is still pending, but the extraordinary properties of carbon-based materials holds an unavoidable fascination that is likely to endure and inspire further research and discoveries for some time to come. References [1] Kroto H W, Heath J R, O'Brien S C, Curl R F and Smalley R E 1985 Nature 318 162-3 [2] The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1996 Nobelprize.org http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1996 [3] Ijima S 1991 Nature 354 56-38 [4] Treacy M M J, Ebbesen T W and Gibson J M 1996 Nature 381 370-80 [5] Cranford S W and Buehler M J 2010 Nanotechnology 21 265706 [6] Wilder J W G, Venema L C, Rinzler A G, Smalley R E and Dekker C 1997 Nature 391 59-62 [7] Che J, Çagin T and Goddard III W A 2000