Optical scintillating bers lose their transparencies when exposed to radiation. Nearly all studies of radiation damage to optical bers so far only characterize this darkening with a single period of ...irradiation. Following the irradiation, bers undergo room temperature annealing, and regain some of their transparencies. We tested the irradiation-recovery characteristics of scintillating fibers in four consecutive cycles. In addition, three optical scintillating bers were irradiated at 22 Gy per minute for over 15 hours, and their transmittance were measured each minute by pulsing a light source through the bers. Here, we report on the in-situ characterization of the transmittance vs radiation exposure, allowing future applications to better predict the lifetime of the scintillating bers.
PEN and PET (polyethylene naphthalate and teraphthalate) are common plastics used for drink bottles and plastic food containers. They are also good scintillators. Their ubiquity has made them of ...interest for high energy physics applications, as generally plastic scintillators can be very expensive. However, detailed studies on the performance of the scintillators has not yet been performed.
At various tests, we measured the light yield and timing properties of PEN and PET with Fermilab and CERN test beams. We also irradiated several samples to varying gamma doses and investigated their recovery mechanisms. Here we report on the measurements performed over the past few years in order to characterize the scintillation properties of PEN and PET and discuss possible future implementations.
The International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium is a collaboration of research groups leading large epidemiology studies to improve the understanding of the causes and ...mechanisms of head and neck cancer. The consortium includes investigators of 35 studies who have pooled their data on 25 500 patients with head and neck cancer (i.e., cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx) and 37 100 controls. The INHANCE analyses have confirmed that tobacco use and alcohol intake are key risk factors of these diseases and have provided precise estimates of risk and dose response, the benefit of quitting, and the hazard of smoking even a few cigarettes per day. Other risk factors include short height, lean body mass, low education and income, and a family history of head and neck cancer. Risk factors are generally similar for oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx, although the magnitude of risk may vary. Some major strengths of pooling data across studies include more precise estimates of risk and the ability to control for potentially confounding factors and to examine factors that may interact with each other. The INHANCE consortium provides evidence of the scientific productivity and discoveries that can be obtained from data pooling projects.
Preeclampsia (PE), which affects 4–8% of human pregnancies, causes significant maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Within the basal plate, placental cytotrophoblasts (CTBs) of fetal origin ...invade the uterus and extensively remodel the maternal vasculature. In PE, CTB invasion is often shallow, and vascular remodeling is rudimentary. To better understand possible causes, we conducted a global analysis of gene expression at the maternal-fetal interface in placental samples from women with PE (n = 12; 24–36 wk) vs. samples from women who delivered due to preterm labor with no evidence of infection (n = 11; 24–36 wk), a condition that our previous work showed is associated with normal CTB invasion. Using the HG-U133A&B Affymetrix GeneChip platform, and statistical significance set at log odds-ratio of B >0, 55 genes were differentially expressed in PE. They encoded proteins previously associated with PE e.g. Flt-1 (vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1), leptin, CRH, and inhibin and novel molecules e.g. sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin 6 (Siglec-6), a potential leptin receptor, and pappalysin-2 (PAPP-A2), a protease that cleaves IGF-binding proteins. We used quantitative PCR to validate the expression patterns of a subset of the genes. At the protein level, we confirmed PE-related changes in the expression of Siglec-6 and PAPP-A2, which localized to invasive CTBs and syncytiotrophoblasts. Notably, Siglec-6 placental expression is uniquely human, as is spontaneous PE. The functional significance of these novel observations may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of PE, and assaying the circulating levels of these proteins could have clinical utility for predicting and/or diagnosing PE.
Gene expression analysis of placental basal plates from severe preeclamptic pregnancies and controls revealed differential expression of 55 genes, including Siglec-6 and pappalysin-2.
Placenta vascular formation is important for fetal growth and development. Proper development of the placenta ensures the exchange of oxygen/nutrients and blood flow necessary for fetal growth. In ...this chapter, we will discuss the processes of vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, and pseudovasculogenesis during placental development and in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction. Some of the factors controlling these processes include oxygen, the VEGF family of growth factors, and their receptors. Disruption in the balance of these controlling factors may explain the vascular malformations seen in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction.
We examined vaccination rates during pregnancy against both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 influenza and reasons for nonadherence to recommended guidelines during the 2009 through 2010 influenza season. ...Demographic and vaccination data were collected using a cross-sectional approach. Among 813 postpartum women, 520 (64%) reported receiving the seasonal influenza vaccination and 439 (54%) reported receiving the H1N1 influenza vaccination during pregnancy. Most received vaccinations at their obstetrician's office. Major reasons for not receiving vaccination were: not knowledgeable about the vaccine importance (25%), concerns for effects on fetal and maternal health (18% and 9%, respectively), and not knowledgeable about where to obtain vaccination (9%). Reported H1N1 influenza vaccination rates were significantly lower in blacks (37%) compared with non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and Asian/other (57%, 59%, and 58%, respectively; P < .0001). Subsequent campaigns for improving vaccination rates in pregnancy should focus on educating patients about vaccine importance and safety.
Although most causes of death and morbidity in premature infants are related to immune maladaptation, the premature immune system remains poorly understood. We provide a comprehensive single-cell ...depiction of the neonatal immune system at birth across the spectrum of viable gestational age (GA), ranging from 25 weeks to term. A mass cytometry immunoassay interrogated all major immune cell subsets, including signaling activity and responsiveness to stimulation. An elastic net model described the relationship between GA and immunome (R=0.85, p=8.75e-14), and unsupervised clustering highlighted previously unrecognized GA-dependent immune dynamics, including decreasing basal MAP-kinase/NFκB signaling in antigen presenting cells; increasing responsiveness of cytotoxic lymphocytes to interferon-α; and decreasing frequency of regulatory and invariant T cells, including NKT-like cells and CD8
CD161
T cells. Knowledge gained from the analysis of the neonatal immune landscape across GA provides a mechanistic framework to understand the unique susceptibility of preterm infants to both hyper-inflammatory diseases and infections.
Complex ventral hernias following laparotomy present a unique challenge in that repair is hindered by the lateral tension of the abdominal wall. A novel approach to overcome this is the "chemical ...component separation" technique. Here, botulinum toxin A (BTA) is instilled into the muscles of the abdominal wall. This induces flaccid paralysis and effectively reduces tension in the wall, allowing the muscles to be successfully joined in the midline during surgery. We describe a method where a large incisional hernia was repaired using this technique and review the variations in methodology.
A woman in her mid-40s developed a ventral hernia in the setting of a previous laparotomy for a small bowel perforation. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen demonstrated an 85 (Width) × 95 mm (Length) ventral hernia containing loops of the bowel. Pre-operative botulinum toxin A administration was arranged at the local interventional radiology department. A total of 100 units of BTA were instilled at four sites into the muscular layers of the abdominal wall under CT-fluoroscopic guidance. She underwent an open incisional hernia repair 4 weeks later, where the contents were reduced and the abdominal wall layers were successfully joined in the midline. There was no clinical evidence of hernia recurrence at 3-months follow-up.
Low-dose BTA effectively facilitates the surgical management of large ventral incisional hernias. There is, however, significant variation in the dosage, concentration and anatomical landmarks in which BTA is administered as described in the literature. Further studies are needed to assess and optimise these variables.
Abstract
Motivation
Multiple biological clocks govern a healthy pregnancy. These biological mechanisms produce immunologic, metabolomic, proteomic, genomic and microbiomic adaptations during the ...course of pregnancy. Modeling the chronology of these adaptations during full-term pregnancy provides the frameworks for future studies examining deviations implicated in pregnancy-related pathologies including preterm birth and preeclampsia.
Results
We performed a multiomics analysis of 51 samples from 17 pregnant women, delivering at term. The datasets included measurements from the immunome, transcriptome, microbiome, proteome and metabolome of samples obtained simultaneously from the same patients. Multivariate predictive modeling using the Elastic Net (EN) algorithm was used to measure the ability of each dataset to predict gestational age. Using stacked generalization, these datasets were combined into a single model. This model not only significantly increased predictive power by combining all datasets, but also revealed novel interactions between different biological modalities. Future work includes expansion of the cohort to preterm-enriched populations and in vivo analysis of immune-modulating interventions based on the mechanisms identified.
Availability and implementation
Datasets and scripts for reproduction of results are available through: https://nalab.stanford.edu/multiomics-pregnancy/.
Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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