A counterpart continuous thin film grown on a continuous Si substrate was also prepared. The magnetoresistance (MR) was measured both as a function of the external applied magnetic field and of the angular orientation, and thus compared with the magnetization curves. The introduction of antidots is found to reduce the anisotropic MR and the angular dependence of the MR, simultaneously increasing the coercive field of the samples. The influence of the sample geometry on the perpendicular MR behavior is reported and discussed. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3383039]“
“Objectives To better understand the burden of air

pollution on deaths, we examined the effects of air pollutants on years of life lost (YLL) in Beijing, China. Design Retrospective regression analysis using daily Prexasertib price time series. Setting 8 urban districts selleck chemical in Beijing, China. Participants 80 515 deaths (48 802 male, 31 713 female) recorded by the Beijing death classification system during 2004-08.

Main outcome measures Associations between daily YLL and ambient air pollutants (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 mu m (PM2.5), PM10, SO2, and NO2), after adjusting for long term trends, seasonality, day of the week, and weather conditions. We also examined mortality risk related to air pollutants. Results Mean concentrations of daily PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 were 105.1 mu g/m(3), 144.6 mu g/m(3), 48.6 mu g/m(3), and 64.2 mu g/m(3), respectively. All air pollutants had significant effects on years of life lost when we used single pollutant models. An interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 was related to YLL increases of 15.8, 15.8, 16.2, and 15.1 years, respectively. The effects of air pollutants on YLL appeared acutely and lasted for two days (lag 0-1); these effects associated

with an IQR increase in PM2.5 were greater in women than men (11.1 (95% confidence interval 4.7 to 17.5) v 4.7 (-2.9 to 12.3) YLL) and in people aged up to 65 years than those MEK162 mw older than 65 years (12.0 (2.9 to 21) v 3.8 (-0.9 to 8.6) YLL). The mortality risk associated with an IQR increase in PM2.5 was greater for people older than 65 years (2.5% (95% confidence interval 0.6% to 4.5%) increase of mortality) than those aged up to 65 years (0.7% (-0.8% to 2.2%)). Conclusions YLL provides a complementary measure for examining the effect of air pollutants on mortality. Increased YLL are associated with increased air pollution. This study highlights the need to reduce air pollution in Beijing, China, to protect the health of the population.”
“Background Cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37 has the capacity to kill a wide range of microbes and to modify host immunity. Recently, our group observed that the activation of keratinocytes by LL-37 and DNA greatly increases interferon (IFN)-beta through Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9.