Ninety-six patients with thoracic neuroblastoma were studied in a prospective fashion. Median age at presentation was 0.9 years. Forty-eight percent of the patients presented with stage A disease, ...20% stage B, 13% stage C, 17% stage D, and 2% stage DS. Seventy-five patients have been followed for greater than 4 years. A posterior mediastinal mass was diagnosed on incidental chest roentgenograms performed for nontumor-related symptoms in 49% of the cases. Sixteen percent of the cases presented with neurological symptoms and 14% of the patients presented with acute respiratory distress. Urinary catecholamines were elevated in 76% of the cases. Complete surgical resection was carried out in 47% of the cases, while incomplete resection or biopsy was performed in 45%. No operation was performed in 3 patients. Minor surgical complications occurred in 20% of the patients, and 3% of the patients had significant perioperative complications. One patient died as a complication of therapy. Overall actuarial survival was 88% at 4 years. This study confirms the favorable outcome in children with mediastinal neuroblastoma. The basic biology of thoracic neuroblastomas seems to differ from that of other sites in that the majority of patients present at a younger age with localized disease or regional lymph node metastases, and have an improved survival even after correcting for age and stage. While complete excision is recommended, if possible, radical surgical procedures are not indicated since an excellent prognosis is associated with combined modality therapy.
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 1 (EUSO-SPB1) instrument was launched out of Wanaka, New Zealand, by NASA in April, 2017 as a mission of opportunity. The detector ...was developed as part of the Joint Experimental Missions for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (JEM-EUSO) program toward a space-based ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) telescope with the main objective to make the first observation of UHECRs via the fluorescence technique from suborbital space. The EUSO-SPB1 instrument is a refractive telescope consisting of two 1m\(^2\) Fresnel lenses with a high-speed UV camera at the focal plane. The camera has 2304 individual pixels capable of single photoelectron counting with a time resolution of 2.5\(\mu\)s. A detailed performance study including calibration was done on ground. We separately evaluated the properties of the Photo Detector Module (PDM) and the optical system in the laboratory. An end-to-end test of the instrument was performed during a field campaign in the West Desert in Utah, USA at the Telescope Array (TA) site in September 2016. The campaign lasted for 8 nights. In this article we present the results of the preflight laboratory and field tests. Based on the tests performed in the field, it was determined that EUSO-SPB1 has a field of view of 11.1\(^\circ\) and an absolute photo-detection efficiency of 10%. We also measured the light flux necessary to obtain a 50% trigger efficiency using laser beams. These measurements were crucial for us to perform an accurate post flight event rate calculation to validate our cosmic ray search. Laser beams were also used to estimated the reconstruction angular resolution. Finally, we performed a flat field measurement in flight configuration at the launch site prior to the launch providing a uniformity of the focal surface better than 6%.
The role of folic acid in the primary prevention of neural tube defects (NTDs) is well established. However, questions related to the protective mechanism remain unanswered. To help answer these ...questions, we designed a case-control study to assess the role of folate- and cobalamin-related metabolites in the pathogenesis of NTDs. Concentrations of folate, cobalamin, and 14 other related metabolites were measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in midtrimester serum specimens from 32 women with an NTD-affected pregnancy and from 132 control women, and in serum specimens from 46 nonpregnant women who had a history of NTD-affected pregnancy and from 43 nonpregnant control women. Log-transformed means of metabolites were compared between case and control women for both the midtrimester and nonpregnant groups. In the pregnant group, serum methylmalonic acid (MMA) concentrations were higher among case women than among control women (130 vs 105 nM). There was a strong dose-response relationship between midtrimester serum MMA level and the risk for an NTD-affected pregnancy, with the relative risk increasing 13-fold for women with MMA levels > 90th percentile. In the nonpregnant group, there was no difference in serum MMA levels between case and control women (140 vs 140 nM). Thus, the serum MMA levels of women in the midtrimester of pregnancies unaffected by NTDs were significantly lower than the levels of nonpregnant women, whereas the levels of women whose pregnancies were affected by NTDs were similar to those of nonpregnant women. The finding of elevated MMA serum concentrations among women in the midtrimester of NTD-affected pregnancies suggests that cobalamin may be involved in the etiology of NTDs. The possible role of cobalamin in relation to the protective effect of folic acid needs further evaluation.
Background: Bioactive molecules that are covalently immobilized in patterns on surfaces have previously been used to control or study cell behavior such as adhesion, spreading, movement or ...differentiation. Photoimmobilization techniques can be used, however, to control not only the spatial pattern of molecular immobilization, termed the micropattern, but also the surface density of the molecules — a characteristic that has not been previously exploited.
Results: Oligopeptides containing the bioactive Arg-Gly-Asp cell-adhesion sequence were immobilized upon self-assembled monolayers of an oligo(ethylene glycol) alkanethiolate in patterns that were visualized and quantified by autoradiography. The amount and pattern of immobilized peptide were controlled by manipulating the exposure of the sample to a LIV lamp or a laser beam. Patterns of peptides, including a density gradient, were used to control the location and number of adherent cells and also the cell shape.
Conclusions: A photo immobilization technique for decorating surfaces with micropatterns that consist of variable densities of bioactive molecules is described. The efficacy of the patterns for controlling cell adhesion and shape has been demonstrated. This technique is useful for the study of cell behavior on micropatterns.
Targeted Youth Suicide Prevention Programs Hendin, Herbert; Brent, David A.; Cornelius, Jack R. ...
Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders,
08/2005
Book Chapter
In this chapter we review examples of selective suicide prevention programs that have been developed for youth identified or presumed to be at increased risk for suicidal behavior. Although the youth ...targeted by such programs are considered to be particularly vulnerable to suicide, in most cases they have not yet exhibited specific signs of suicidality. Discussed here are programs for three specific groups, each of which has shown elevated rates of suicidal behavior: Native American youth, youth with recent exposure to a suicide in the school or community, and youth who have access to firearms in the home. While there has been considerable research suggesting that adolescents and young adults in these groups are at greater risk for suicide, relatively few intervention programs for these populations have been developed to date.
Research Agenda for Youth Suicide Prevention Hendin, Herbert; Brent, David A.; Cornelius, Jack R. ...
Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders,
08/2005
Book Chapter
This chapter consists of a summary of what is currently known, what is currently not known and what further research is needed on the subject of youth suicide, how it can be prevented, and how the ...problems associated with suicidal behavior can be treated.
This third and last category of youth suicide prevention efforts includes indicated interventions and treatments that target those who have already shown signs of suicidality. Such efforts seek ...essentially to reduce and prevent subsequent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and prevent suicide completion. The interventions and treatments described in this chapter differ widely in the groups they target, the methods they use, and the settings in which they have been implemented.
Defining Youth Suicide Hendin, Herbert; Brent, David A.; Cornelius, Jack R. ...
Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders,
08/2005
Book Chapter
Our primary goal in this section of the book is to examine youth suicide prevention strategies and interventions with an eye toward identifying what works, what does not appear to work, and what ...research needs to be undertaken to move the field forward. We begin with a review of the multiple factors that have been suggested to put youth at risk for suicide.
In this chapter, we focus on suicide prevention programs that have taken a universal approach, targeting youth in specific settings regardless of individual risk factors. One particularly widespread ...approach targets youth where they are most accessible–in the schools. Although the ultimate goal of all suicide prevention programs is to reduce death by suicide, schoolbased programs typically focus on more proximal outcomes.
Two broad types of universal prevention programs have been especially common. The first includes educational programs that aim to increase students' knowledge and awareness about suicidal behavior, encourage troubled students to seek help, and improve recognition of atrisk students by teachers, counselors, and other “gatekeepers” within the school or community settings. In the second category are screening programs that seek to identify and refer to treatment youth who are at risk for suicidal behavior.
In each category, suicide prevention efforts have been separately designed for high school and college students. In the following pages, we summarize these universal programs, identifying for each broad type the underlying assumptions and specific program examples, and providing a summary critique of the approach.
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