The authors report generation of stiff gels coming from terpolymers containing 1,2,4-oxadiazolic pendant groups, obtained by chemical modification of commercial polyacrylonitrile. The gels formed in basic aqueous solutions were compared and the effect of substituents linked to the heterocycles on thermal stability and viscoelastic properties was also analyzed. The structural modifications AZD2014 were followed by FTIR. The potential use of these terpolymers as workover fluids is discussed. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 119: 3170-3179, 2011″
“A mutation of AtSOS1 (Salt Overly Sensitive 1), a plasma membrane Na(+)/H(+)-antiporter

in Arabidopsis thaliana, leads to a salt-sensitive phenotype accompanied by the death of root cells under salt stress. Intracellular events and changes in gene expression were compared during a non-lethal salt stress between the wild type and a representative SOS1 mutant, atsos1-1, by confocal microscopy using ion-specific fluorophores and by quantitative RT-PCR. In addition to the higher accumulation of sodium ions,

Evofosfamide atsos1-1 showed inhibition of endocytosis, abnormalities in vacuolar shape and function, and changes in intracellular pH compared to the wild type in root tip cells under stress. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed a dramatically faster and higher induction of root-specific Ca(2+) transporters, including several CAXs and CNGCs, and the drastic down-regulation of genes involved in pH-homeostasis and membrane potential maintenance. Differential regulation of genes for functions in intracellular protein trafficking in atsos1-1 was also observed. The results suggested roles of the SOS1 protein, in addition to its function as a Na(+)/H(+) antiporter, whose disruption affected membrane traffic and vacuolar functions possibly by controlling

pH homeostasis in root cells.”
“Efficient human-to-human transmission is a necessary property for the generation of a pandemic influenza virus. To date, only influenza A viruses within the H1-H3 subtypes have achieved this capacity. However, sporadic cases of severe disease in individuals following infection see more with avian influenza A viruses over the past decade, and the emergence of a pandemic H1N1 swine-origin virus in 2009, underscore the need to better understand how influenza viruses acquire the ability to transmit efficiently. In this review, we discuss the biological constraints and molecular features known to affect virus transmissibility to and among humans. Factors influencing the behaviour of aerosols in the environment are described, and the mammalian models used to study virus transmission are presented.