Context.
Thanks to the
Gaia
mission, it will be possible to determine the masses of approximately hundreds of large main belt asteroids with very good precision. We currently have diameter estimates ...for all of them that can be used to compute their volume and hence their density. However, some of those diameters are still based on simple thermal models, which can occasionally lead to volume uncertainties as high as 20–30%.
Aims.
The aim of this paper is to determine the 3D shape models and compute the volumes for 13 main belt asteroids that were selected from those targets for which
Gaia
will provide the mass with an accuracy of better than 10%.
Methods.
We used the genetic Shaping Asteroids with Genetic Evolution (SAGE) algorithm to fit disk-integrated, dense photometric lightcurves and obtain detailed asteroid shape models. These models were scaled by fitting them to available stellar occultation and/or thermal infrared observations.
Results.
We determine the spin and shape models for 13 main belt asteroids using the SAGE algorithm. Occultation fitting enables us to confirm main shape features and the spin state, while thermophysical modeling leads to more precise diameters as well as estimates of thermal inertia values.
Conclusions.
We calculated the volume of our sample of main-belt asteroids for which the
Gaia
satellite will provide precise mass determinations. From our volumes, it will then be possible to more accurately compute the bulk density, which is a fundamental physical property needed to understand the formation and evolution processes of small Solar System bodies.
Objectives To uncover novel biomarkers that will help predict which patients are at risk and may guide future treatment decisions. A significant proportion of prostate cancer patients treated with ...radical prostatectomy will experience a recurrence of the disease. Given the substantial role of hypoxia in prostate cancer development and treatment, this investigation focuses on the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF-1α) pathway. Methods A tissue microarray was constructed of prostate cancer tissue collected from 71 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. The expression of proteins involved in the HIF-1α pathway was investigated by an immunohistochemical approach and correlated to clinical features including the time to biochemical recurrence. Results Expression of GLUT1 correlated significantly ( P <.05) with a shorter time to biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy and was independent from the Gleason grade and stage of cancer. Furthermore, our studies revealed for the first time that accumulation of prolyl-4-hydroxylases 1 especially in the nucleus, is a significant indicator for a worse prognosis ( P <.001). Conclusions This study confirms the upregulation of proteins involved in the HIF-1α hypoxia pathway in prostate cancer cells, indicative of a hypoxic tumor state. Importantly, we report the identification of 2 novel markers, GLUT1 and prolyl-4-hydroxylases 1, with prognostic significance for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.
The high-chromium ferritic/martensitic steel T91 and the austenitic stainless steel 316L are to be used in contact with liquid lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE), under high irradiation doses. Both tungsten ...inert gas (TIG) and electron beam (EB) T91/316L welds have been examined by means of metallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX), Vickers hardness measurements and tensile testing both in inert gas and in LBE. Although the T91/316L TIG weld has very good mechanical properties when tested in air, its properties decline sharply when tested in LBE. This degradation in mechanical properties is attributed to the liquid metal embrittlement of the 309 buttering used in TIG welding of T91/316L welds. In contrast to mixed T91/316L TIG welding, the mixed T91/316L EB weld was performed without buttering. The mechanical behaviour of the T91/316L EB weld was very good in air after post weld heat treatment but deteriorated when tested in LBE.
Abstract Objectives To unravel the extent to which gender plays a role in the epidemiology, aetiology, risk of rupture and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and to give an overview of ...these factors. Design, Materials and Methods A literature review was performed in the Medline database and Cochrane Library for gender-specific articles on epidemiology, aetiology, risk of rupture and treatment of AAAs. Results Our literature review suggests that the prevalence of AAA in women is underestimated. Regarding aetiology, an oestrogen-mediated reduction in macrophage MMP-9 production seems to be an important mechanism causing gender-related differences in AAA development. We found consensus in the literature that women run a greater risk of rupture compared to men under the current management rules for AAAs. Their treatment mortality also seems to be higher for both elective and ruptured repair. Conclusions Gender-specific guidelines should be put into place for the management of AAAs and awareness for this disease should be increased, both in women themselves and in their doctors.
Objectives. To determine the prevalence rates of erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction, associated bother, and their relation to sexual activity in a population-based sample of elderly men.
Methods. ...Data were collected from 1688 men by way of self-administered questionnaires (including the International Continence Society male sex questionnaire) and measurements at a health center and urology outpatient department.
Results. The prevalence of significant erectile dysfunction (ie, erections of severely reduced rigidity or no erections) increased from 3% in men 50 to 54 years old to 26% in men 70 to 78 years old. In the same age strata, the prevalence of significant ejaculatory dysfunction (ie, ejaculations with significantly reduced volume or no ejaculations) increased from 3% to 35%. Pain or discomfort during ejaculation was rare (1%) and independent of age. In general, men were more concerned about erectile dysfunction than about ejaculatory dysfunction. However, most men had no or only little concern about their dysfunction. The percentage of men who reported being sexually active declined with increasing age and was lower in men with erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction and in men without a partner. In sexually active men, 17% to 28% had no normal erections, indicating that with advancing age normal erections are not an absolute prerequisite for a sexually active life.
Conclusions. Erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction are common in elderly men. The results of this study indicate that these conditions are much less of a problem for older men than previously suggested.
Alarmins S100A8 and S100A9 are major products of activated macrophages regulating cartilage damage and synovial activation during murine and human osteoarthritis (OA). In the current study, we ...investigated whether S100A8 and S100A9 are involved in osteophyte formation during experimental OA and whether S100A8/A9 predicts osteophyte progression in early human OA.
OA was elicited in S100A9-/- mice in two experimental models that differ in degree of synovial activation. Osteophyte size, S100A8, S100A9 and VDIPEN neoepitope was measured histologically. Chondrogenesis was induced in murine mesenchymal stem cells in the presence of S100A8. Levels of S100A8/A9 were determined in plasma of early symptomatic OA participants of the Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) cohort study and osteophytes measured after 2 and 5 years.
Osteophyte size was drastically reduced in S100A9-/- mice in ligaments and at medial femur and tibia on days 21 and 42 of collagenase-induced OA, in which synovial activation is high. In contrast, osteophyte size was not reduced in S100A9-/- mice during destabilised medial meniscus OA, in which synovial activation is scant. S100A8 increased expression and activation of matrix metalloproteinases during micromass chondrogenesis, thereby possibly increasing cartilage matrix remodelling allowing for larger osteophytes. Interestingly, early symptomatic OA participants of the CHECK study with osteophyte progression after 2 and 5 years had elevated S100A8/A9 plasma levels at baseline, while C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein were not elevated at baseline.
S100A8/A9 aggravate osteophyte formation in experimental OA with high synovial activation and may be used to predict osteophyte progression in early symptomatic human OA.
The ability of automated, FDA-cleared plasma HIV-1 RNA assays to detect low-level viremia, compared to manual, highly sensitive research-only methods, is not well-defined. We therefore tested paired ...plasma samples from people with HIV-1 (PWH) on long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) with both the Abbott M2000 RealTime HIV-1 Viral Load assay (Abbott) and a quantitative reverse transcriptase (RT)-initiated PCR assay that has a reported 95% detection limit of 1 HIV-1 RNA copy/ml (single copy assay, SCA).
Plasma samples from 309 participants in the AIDS Clinical Trials Group study A5321 were tested by both Abbott and SCA. Participants were mostly men (82%). All were on stable ART for a median of 7 years with HIV-1 RNA <40 copies/mL by Abbott. Pooled plasma from each donor was divided and tested. Abbott results were reported as target detected <40 copies/mL but not quantifiable (target detected <40) or target not detected (TND), and SCA results were classified as HIV-1 RNA detected or not detected.
By Abbott, 17% (51/309) of sample results were target detected <40, whereas 83% (258/309) were TND. Of the samples that were target detected <40 by Abbott, 73% (37/51) had HIV-1 RNA detected by SCA. By contrast, 43% of samples that were TND by Abbott (110/258) had HIV-1 RNA detected by SCA (p < 0.001).
Plasma samples from PWH with HIV-1 RNA detected but <40 copies/ml by the automated Abbott M2000 assay are likely (73% of 51 samples) to have HIV-1 RNA detected by an optimized manual assay with single copy sensitivity. An Abbott HIV-1 RNA result of target not detected did not exclude low-level viremia: 43% of 258 samples had HIV-1 RNA detected by the single copy assay. These findings indicate that the Abbott M2000 assay cannot exclude the persistence of viremia on ART and thus may have less utility, compared to a manual single copy assay, for assessing the impact of experimental interventions designed to eliminate low-level viremia as a step towards achieving ART-free HIV-1 remission.
For the management of non-palpable breast cancer, accurate pre-operative localisation is essential to achieve complete resection with optimal cosmetic results. Radioguided occult lesions localisation ...(ROLL) uses the radiotracer, injected intra-tumourally for sentinel lymph node identification to guide surgical excision of the primary tumour. In a multicentre randomised controlled trial, we determined if ROLL is superior to the standard of care (i.e. wire-guided localisation, WGL) for preoperative tumour localisation. Women (>18 years.) with histologically proven non-palpable breast cancer and eligible for breast conserving treatment with sentinel node procedure were randomised to ROLL or WGL. Patients allocated to ROLL received an intra-tumoural dose of 120 Mbq technetium-99 m nanocolloid. The tumour was surgically removed, guided by gamma probe detection. In the WGL group, ultrasound- or mammography-guided insertion of a hooked wire provided surgical guidance for excision of the primary tumour. Primary outcome measures were the proportion of complete tumour excisions (i.e. with negative margins), the proportion of patients requiring re-excision and the volume of tissue removed. Data were analysed according to intention-to-treat principle. This study is registered at ClinincalTrials.gov, number NCT00539474. In total, 314 patients with 316 invasive breast cancers were enrolled. Complete tumour removal with negative margins was achieved in 140/162 (86 %) patients in the ROLL group versus 134/152 (88 %) patients in the WGL group (
P
= 0.644). Re-excision was required in 19/162 (12 %) patients in the ROLL group versus 15/152 (10 %) (
P
= 0.587) in the WGL group. Specimen volumes in the ROLL arm were significantly larger than those in the WGL arm (71 vs. 64 cm
3
,
P
= 0.017). No significant differences were seen in the duration and difficulty of the radiological and surgical procedures, the success rate of the sentinel node procedure, and cosmetic outcomes. In this first multicentre randomised controlled comparison of ROLL versus WGL in patients with histologically proven breast cancer, ROLL is comparable to WGL in terms of complete tumour excision and re-excision rates. ROLL, however, leads to excision of larger tissue volumes. Therefore, ROLL cannot replace WGL as the standard of care.
Advice-seeking is one of the most basic practices in making real-life decisions and has been shown to be a predominant mode of knowledge acquisition at the upper echelons level. Chief Executive ...Officers (CEOs) in particular seek advice to obtain formulated judgments, opinions, and suggestions about current strategic directions and recommended alternatives for future courses of action. In this study we distinguish between intra-organizational and extra-organizational sources of advice and examine how factors at the environmental, firm, and top management team (TMT) level relate to patterns of CEO advice-seeking. We develop and test hypotheses linking perceived environmental dynamism, relative competitive firm performance, and TMT heterogeneity to CEO advice-seeking from internal and external sources and uncover asymmetric patterns. We discuss implications for upper echelons theory and strategic decision-making research.
Extracellular vesicles are a heterogeneous group of cell-derived membranous structures, which facilitate intercellular communication. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of extracellular ...vesicles in bone homeostasis, as mediators of crosstalk between different bone-resident cells. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are capable of releasing various types of extracellular vesicles that promote both osteogenesis, as well as, osteoclastogenesis, maintaining bone homeostasis. However, the contribution of immune cell-derived extracellular vesicles in bone homeostasis remains largely unknown. Recent proteomic studies showed that alarmins are abundantly present in/on macrophage-derived EVs. In this review we will describe these alarmins in the context of bone matrix regulation and discuss the potential contribution macrophage-derived EVs may have in this process.
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