A new plasma heating mechanism for Microwave Discharge Ion Sources (MDIS) was discovered. Unprecedented beam stability was observed during the commissioning of the Proton Source for the European ...Spallation Source (PS-ESS) where several thousand source configurations were tested using a custom software tool. Data analysis and plasma simulation revealed that the new behaviour is generated by a completely new plasma heating schema activated by a precise magnetic configuration peculiarity. The stability showed in this configuration, denominated High Stability Microwave Discharge Ion Source (HSMDIS), is excellent and the emittance of the produced beam is lower than produced by standard MDIS configuration. High linearity between power and beam current was observed making easier the use of the source. This new mode of operation can be easily implemented in all existing sources.
A common social impairment in individuals with ASD is difficulty interpreting and or predicting emotions of others. To date, several interventions targeting teaching emotion recognition and ...understanding have been utilized both by researchers and practitioners. The results suggest that teaching emotion recognition is possible, but that the results do not generalize to non-instructional contexts. This study sought to replicate earlier findings of a positive impact of teaching emotion recognition using a computer-based intervention and to extend it by testing for generalization on live models in the classroom setting.
Two boys and one girl, four to eight years in age, educated in self-contained classrooms for students with communication and social skills deficits, participated in this study. A multiple probe across participants design was utilized. Measures of emotion recognition and understanding were assessed at baseline, intervention, and one month post-intervention to determine maintenance effects. Social validity was assessed through parent and teacher questionnaires.
All participants showed improvements in measures assessing their recognition of emotions in faces, generalized knowledge to live models, and maintained gains one month post intervention.
These preliminary results are encouraging and should be utilized to inform a group design, in order to test efficacy with a larger population.
Display omitted
•Phycocyanin thermal instability limits its application as natural blue colourant.•Colour loss kinetics are affected by system composition (solute type, concentration).•At similar ...concentration, sucrose enhanced thermal stability more than trehalose.•The equivalent thermal effect did not discriminate the effect of disaccharide type.•Water activity play a key role on protein thermostability.
The effect of heat and equivalent thermal effect (CTrefz) on discolouration of Spirulina algae extracts in water, sucrose and trehalose solutions at different concentration was investigated and kinetics of phycocyanin degradation evaluated by spectrophotometric and circular dichroism. At constant temperature, colour loss increased at increasing time and decreased at increasing solute concentration. Circular dichroism confirmed relation between colour loss and protein structure destabilization, and the thermostabilising effect of saccharides with sucrose performing better than trehalose.
Apparent constant rate values determined by the Weibullian probabilistic model describe the corresponding phycocyanin degradation kinetics; a linear correlation between the activation energy and aw of the solutions has been found. Origin of phycocyanin and system saccharide concentration resulted significant discriminant factors on the discolouration when CTrefz was taken into account.
Results may find application in product formulation and processing optimisation, thereby the use of Spirulina extracts as colouring foodstuff could be enhanced.
B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-pre ALL) is a malignant disorder characterized by the abnormal proliferation of B-cell progenitors. The prognosis of B-pre ALL has improved in pediatric ...patients, but the outcome is much less successful in adults. Constitutive activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) (PI3K/Akt/mTOR) network is a feature of B-pre ALL, where it strongly influences cell growth and survival. RAD001, a selective mTORC1 inhibitor, has been shown to be cytotoxic against many types of cancer including hematological malignancies. To investigate whether mTORC1 could represent a target in the therapy of B-pre ALL, we treated cell lines and adult patient primary cells with RAD001. We documented that RAD001 decreased cell viability, induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and caused apoptosis in B-pre ALL cell lines. Autophagy was also induced, which was important for the RAD001 cytotoxic effect, as downregulation of Beclin-1 reduced drug cytotoxicity. RAD001 strongly synergized with the novel allosteric Akt inhibitor MK-2206 in both cell lines and patient samples. Similar results were obtained with the combination CCI-779 plus GSK 690693. These findings point out that mTORC1 inhibitors, either as a single agent or in combination with Akt inhibitors, could represent a potential therapeutic innovative strategy in B-pre ALL.
Introduction
Daylight photodynamic therapy (DL‐PDT) with methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) is a simplified PDT procedure that was recently shown in a few trials to be effective for grade I actinic ...keratosis (AK), with improved tolerability and reduced time of clinical attendance as compared to conventional PDT (c‐PDT).
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of DL‐PDT vs. c‐PDT with MAL in the treatment of grade I AK on the face and scalp in Italy.
Methods
Thirty‐five patients with AKs on the face (n = 17) or scalp (n = 18) were prospectively enrolled in an intra‐patient, left‐right, prospective, comparison study between DL‐PDT and c‐PDT at a single centre between September and October 2013. Weather conditions and outdoor temperature during daylight exposure were recorded for each DL‐PDT session. Pain was assessed after the PDT session and local adverse events 2 days after treatment. Lesion response rate was evaluated on both sides at 3 months. AKs with complete regression were followed until 6 months. Patient's preference for either treatment was recorded.
Results
There was no difference in complete response (CR) rate of AK I at 3 months between DL‐PDT and c‐PDT (87% vs. 91%; RR = 0.96; P = 0.16). A lower CR rate was observed with DL‐PDT than with c‐PDT for AK II (36% vs. 61%; RR = 0.58, P = 0.06) and III (25% vs. 46%; RR = 0.50, P = 0.20). Recurrence rate at 6 months was slightly higher for cleared AK I after DL‐PDT than after c‐PDT (17% vs. 12%, RR = 1.50, P < 0.05). DL‐PDT was associated with lower pain (ΔVAS = −2.2, P < 0.01) and reduced severity of local adverse events (ΔLSR = −1.4, P < 0.01) than c‐PDT. Increasing outdoor temperature was associated with the efficacy of DL‐PDT and the severity of adverse events. DL‐PDT was preferred by 88% of the patients.
Conclusion
MAL DL‐PDT showed similar efficacy to c‐PDT in the treatment of AK I of the face/scalp but was less effective than c‐PDT for AKs II and III. DL‐PDT was better tolerated being associated with lower pain and occurrence of fewer adverse events. Clinical response to DL‐PDT was significantly moderated by outdoor temperature, increasing at higher temperatures.
Imaging has greatly contributed to the understanding of lung disease in the critically ill and currently serves as a tool to diagnose lung pathology, monitor its course, and guide clinical ...management. Lung ultrasound is a real-time imaging modality that is simple, non-invasive, potentially ubiquitous, and free of ionizing radiation. Its increasing popularity and supporting research data substantiate its role as an emerging technique for bedside chest imaging in critical care. Furthermore, the International Consensus Conference on Lung ultrasound (ICC-LUS) promoted by the World Interactive Network Focused on Critical UltraSound (WINFOCUS) recently standardized the nomenclature and technique for lung ultrasound, and provided recommendations supporting its use in clinical practice. While the utility of lung ultrasound in the emergency setting is unquestioned, its potential role in the more complex and resource-rich intensive care environment is still under investigation. The purpose of this paper was to describe current and potential uses of lung ultrasound in the specific setting of adult intensive care, with an emphasis on respiratory monitoring, and to provide a framework for the practical application of this tool at the bedside.
Objective
To describe the technique and findings of the ‘veterinary focused assessment with sonography for trauma‐airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure’ protocol in dogs suffering ...from trauma.
Materials and Methods
Prospective observational study on a new point‐of‐care ultrasound protocol on 64 dogs suffering from trauma and comparison of findings with radiology.
Results
Comparison of the results of this new ultrasound protocol for trauma patients with radiography findings for pneumothorax, pleural effusion, alveolar‐interstitial syndrome and abdominal effusion revealed positive agreement of 89, 83, 100 and 87% and negative agreement of 76, 83, 76 and 92%, respectively. Novel findings of the ‘veterinary focused assessment with sonography for trauma‐airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure’ exam, which were not previously reported for dogs undergoing focused assessment with sonography for trauma, included alveolar‐interstitial syndrome (suggestive of pulmonary contusions), diaphragmatic hernia, retroperitoneal effusion and tracheal injury. Our new technique may also help identify increased intracranial pressure via changes in optic nerve sheath diameter and haemodynamic instability through the evaluation of the caudal vena cava and cardiac function.
Clinical Significance
The described ultrasound examination protocol can be rapidly performed on dogs suffering from trauma during resuscitation and it may detect injuries previously undetectable using other veterinary point‐of‐care ultrasound protocols.
Digestive diseases are a major burden for society and healthcare systems, and with an aging population, the importance of their effective management will become critical. Healthcare systems worldwide ...already struggle to insure quality and affordability of healthcare delivery and this will be a significant challenge in the midterm future. Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE), introduced in 2000 by Given Imaging Ltd., is an example of disruptive technology and represents an attractive alternative to traditional diagnostic techniques. WCE overcomes conventional endoscopy enabling inspection of the digestive system without discomfort or the need for sedation. Thus, it has the advantage of encouraging patients to undergo gastrointestinal (GI) tract examinations and of facilitating mass screening programmes. With the integration of further capabilities based on microrobotics, e.g. active locomotion and embedded therapeutic modules, WCE could become the key-technology for GI diagnosis and treatment. This review presents a research update on WCE and describes the state-of-the-art of current endoscopic devices with a focus on research-oriented robotic capsule endoscopes enabled by microsystem technologies. The article also presents a visionary perspective on WCE potential for screening, diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures.
Abstract SARS-CoV-2 infection is considered as a multi-organ disease, and several studies highlighted the relevance of the virus infection in the induction of vascular injury and tissue morphological ...alterations, including placenta. In this study, immunohistochemical analyses were carried out on placenta samples derived from women with COVID-19 infection at delivery (SARS-CoV-2 PCR+) or women healed from a COVID-19 infection (SARS-CoV-2 negative at delivery, SARS-CoV-2 PCR-) or women who gave birth before 2019 (Control). Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, Cluster of differentiation 147 (CD147), endothelial CD34 marker, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and total Microtubule-associated protein 1 Light Chain 3B marker (LC3B) were investigated in parallel with SPIKE protein by standard IHC. Multiplexed Immunohistochemical Consecutive Staining on Single Slide (MICSSS) was used to examine antigen co-expression in the same specimen. SPIKE protein was detected in villi and decidua from women with ongoing infection, with no significant differences in SPIKE staining between both biopsy sites. VEGF was significantly increased in SARS-CoV-2 PCR + biopsies compared to control and SARS-CoV-2 PCR- samples, and MICSSS method showed the co-localization of SPIKE with VEGF and CD34. The induction of autophagy, as suggested by the LC3B increase in SARS-CoV-2 PCR + biopsies and the co-expression of LC3B with SPIKE protein, may explain one of the different mechanisms by which placenta may react to infection. These data could provide important information on the impact that SARS-CoV-2 may have on the placenta and mother-to-fetus transmission.
PDF
