The capability of microbes to use certain compounds can be examined by measuring ectoenzyme activities. These enzymes are found on or near the surface of a cell and hydrolyze large molecules to a ...smaller size, serving as a key first step in organic matter use. A new instrument is under development for high‐resolution measurements of in situ ectoenzyme activity intended for use at coastal ocean observatories. This system, the Multiple Enzyme Analyzer (MEA), measures up to four different enzyme activities in flow‐through channels by quantifying the fluorescence increase associated with substrate hydrolysis over time. A description of the MEA design, a comparison of MEA performance with laboratory fluorometers, an exploration of instrument and reagent stability, and results from a preliminary experiment in a seawater tank are addressed. These results demonstrate that the MEA is capable of detecting variable ectoenzyme activity in seawater. As microbes are major players in organic matter transformations in the aquatic environment, such a tool may assist in characterizing the rapid metabolic activities of microbial communities on both short‐term (e.g., diurnal, tidal) and more extended time scales.
Investors do not have a single investment horizon; they have multiple investment horizons at the same time. Every long-term investor is, therefore, also a medium-term investor and a short-term ...investor. This fact has important implications for asset allocation and portfolio optimization. The total portfolio should be viewed as an aggregation of multiple sub-portfolios, each of which has a different investment horizon. The different sub-portfolios have different investment objectives, different expected returns, different liquidity requirements, and may even be based on different capital market assumptions. The size of each sub-portfolio is determined by the spending requirements of the investor. In this framework, risk is not standard deviation but "expected loss," that is, the probability of loss (either in nominal terms, after inflation, or after inflation and spending) multiplied by the amount of the loss. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
We describe an arthroscopic technique for the treatment of chronic patellar tendinopathy (jumper’s knee). Preoperatively, tendon necrosis or rupture is excluded by sonography. Diagnostic arthroscopy ...is performed and hypertrophic synovitis around the inferior patellar pole is removed with a bipolar cautery system. Two outside-in cannulas mark the clinically symptomatic region, mainly found between the tendon insertion site and the lateral aspects of the patellar tendon. The bipolar cautery is used for a release of the paratenon and a bone denervation at the inferior patellar pole including the tendon insertion site within the marked area. No tendon or bone material is removed or excised throughout the procedure. We treated 15 athletes with stage 3 and 4 chronic patellar tendinopathies on a modified version of the Blazina score (0-5). Patients’ mean age was 29 years and the mean follow-up period was 41 months. In 13 cases, clinical symptoms subsided completely within 3 months after surgery. The mean preoperative Blazina score was 3.7 (SD, 0.5) and the mean postoperative Blazina score was 0.4 (SD, 1.0; paired 2-tailed
t test,
P < .01). Ultrasound showed a reduction of tendon edema within 3 weeks and no signs of edema within a mean period of 5 weeks after surgery. The minimal surgical impact to the tendon allows early and functional rehabilitation. The technique is effective, easy to perform, and safe to apply.
Organic electro-optic (OEO) materials have demonstrated promising performance in developing electro-optic phase shifters (EOPS) and modulators compared to their inorganic counterparts. Integration ...with other devices in a silicon photonic (SiP) process, simple nanofabrication, and temperature/aging robustness remain to be developed for this class of hybrid material platforms. In particular, electro-optic (EO) polymers need an electro-thermal poling method, which has limited their potential and utilization in large-scale SiP. Devices made of paraelectric nematic liquid crystals (PN-LC), another primary type of OEO material, feature a very efficient but slow phase shift mechanism. We present a general-purpose EOPS that applies to various modulator embodiments to address these concerns. Based on that, we report a GHz-fast phase shift in a newly discovered family of OEO, namely ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals (FN-LC), which finally enables liquid crystals to have significant second-order nonlinear optical coefficients and associated Pockels effect. The new material avoids poling issues associated with EO polymers and can pave the way for hybrid silicon-OEO systems with CMOS-foundry compatibility. Furthermore, we propose a finger-loaded, non-slotted waveguide that enhances light-matter interaction, allowing us to achieve DC and AC modulation efficiencies of \(\approx\) 0.25 V.mm and 25.7 V.mm, respectively, an on-chip insertion loss of \(\approx\) 4 dB, and an EO bandwidth of f\(_{-6dB}\) >4.18 GHz. The remaining figures of merit for our poling-free EOPS are equivalent to EO polymer-enabled devices with fewer manufacturing difficulties. We demonstrate an electrically and photonically packaged chip that contains >100 silicon-FN-LC modulators to evaluate the large-scale integration of our poling-free phase shifters and modulators.
This study assessed the safety of inactivated
Mycobacterium vaccae as a candidate vaccine to prevent disseminated mycobacterial disease in children with HIV infection. 35 children ages 1–8 with CD4 ...counts ≥300/mm
3 in New Hampshire, Boston and Chicago were randomised in a 2:1 schedule to receive a 3-dose series of intradermal
M. vaccae vaccine (MV) or hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) at 2-month intervals. Immunisation was safe and well tolerated; 2-day median vaccine site induration was 5 mm in MV recipients and 0 mm in HBV recipients (
p<0.001). There were no significantly different changes in viral load or CD4 count between the two vaccine groups. No PPD skin test conversions occurred after immunisation. MV is safe and well tolerated and deserves further evaluation as a vaccine to prevent mycobacterial disease in HIV-infected children.
Organized boundaries between different cell fates are critical in patterning and organogenesis. In some tissues, long-range signals position a boundary, and local Notch signaling maintains it. How ...Notch activity is restricted to boundary regions is not well understood. During
Drosophila oogenesis, the long-range signals EGF and Dpp regulate expression of
bunched (
bun), which encodes a homolog of mammalian transcription factors TSC-22 and GILZ. Here, we show that
bun establishes a boundary for Notch signaling in the follicle cell epithelium. Notch signaling is active in anterior follicle cells and is required for concurrent follicle cell reorganizations including centripetal migration and operculum formation.
bun is required in posterior columnar follicle cells to repress the centripetal migration fate, including gene expression, cell shape changes and accumulation of cytoskeletal components.
bun mutant clones adjacent to the centripetally migrating follicle cells showed ectopic Notch responses.
bun is necessary, but not sufficient, to down-regulate Serrate protein levels throughout the follicular epithelium. These data indicate that Notch signaling is necessary, but not sufficient, for centripetal migration and that
bun regulates the level of Notch stimulation to position the boundary between centripetally migrating and stationary columnar follicle cells.
Focusing on the idea that multivalent cations affect SOM matrix and surface, we treated peat and soil samples by solutions of NaCl, CaCl2 or AlCl3. Water binding was characterized with low field ...1H-NMR-relaxometry (20 MHz) and 1H wideline NMR spectroscopy (400 MHz) and compared to contact angles. From 1H wideline, we distinguished mobile water and water involved in water molecule bridges (WaMB). Large part of cation bridges (CaB) between SOM functional groups are associated with WaMB. Unexpectedly, 1H NMRrelaxometry relaxation rates suggest that cross-linking in the Al-containing peat is not stronger than that by Ca. The relation between percentage of mobile water and WaMB water in the context of wettability and 1H NMR relaxation times confirms that wettability controls the water film surrounding soil particles. Wettability is controlled by WaMB-CaB associations fixing hydrophilic functional groups in the SOM interior. This can lead to severe water repellency. Wettability decreases with increasing involvement of functional groups in CaB-WaMB associations. The results demonstrate the relevance of CaB and WaMB for the dynamics of biogeochemical and hydrological processes under field conditions, as only a few percent of organic matter can affect the physical, chemical, and biological functioning of the entire 3-phase ecosystem.
3-Aryl-2-sulfanylpropenoic acids reacted with acetohydrazonyl chlorides in refluxing absolute ethanol in the presence of equimolar amounts of triethylamine, forming (
Z
...)-6-arylmethylidene-1,3,4-thiadiazin-5-one derivatives. X-ray study on the crystal of one of the obtained products was carried out.
Diabetes mellitus is a common endocrinopathy in patients with thalassemia major, but the occurrence of hemoglobinopathies is rare in Germany and Western Europe. The longitudinal German-Austrian DPV ...(Diabetes Patienten Verlaufsdokumentation) registry allows a comprehensive characterization of this group of patients.
Patients from the DPV-registry aged<30 years with thalassemia major or other hemoglobinopathies were compared to patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) using the statistical software SAS 9.4.
94 patients (0.13% of patients) with hemoglobinopathies are registered in DPV. 82.4% of 17 patients with thalassemia major, 100% of 12 patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and >90% of 65 patients with other hemoglobinopathies receive insulin treatment. In the majority of patients with thalassemia major, hemosiderosis is documented. Patients with thalassemia major developed diabetes at a median age of 14.6 IQR 8.4-18.0 years (9.0 years 5.3-12.5 in T1D; 18.7 years 14.2-25.6 in TD2; both p<0.01). They show high HbA1c/fructosamine levels and frequent hypoglycemia, reflecting poor metabolic control.
Diabetes in thalassemia major is probably caused by hemosiderosis due to polytransfusion, while patients with SCD/thalassemia minor are most likely affected by T1D. The high rate of hypoglycemia in patients with ß-thalassemia major may be caused by liver fibrosis and a lack of hepatic glycogen stores.
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