Experimentation and Stages of Acquisition for Tobacco Consumption in Spanish Adolescents

Original article can be found at: http://www.bentham.org/open/toaddj/openaccess2.htm DOI: 10.2174/1874941000801010001Peer reviewe

Parametric instabilities in the LCGT arm cavity

We evaluated the parametric instabilities of LCGT (Japanese interferometric gravitational wave detector project) arm cavity. The number of unstable modes of LCGT is 10-times smaller than that of Advanced LIGO (U.S.A.). Since the strength of the instabilities of LCGT depends on the mirror curvature more weakly than that of Advanced LIGO, the requirement of the mirror curvature accuracy is easier to be achieved. The difference in the parametric instabilities between LCGT and Advanced LIGO is because of the thermal noise reduction methods (LCGT, cooling sapphire mirrors; Advanced LIGO, fused silica mirrors with larger laser beams), which are the main strategies of the projects. Elastic Q reduction by the barrel surface (0.2 mm thickness Ta$_2$O$_5$) coating is effective to suppress instabilities in the LCGT arm cavity. Therefore, the cryogenic interferometer is a smart solution for the parametric instabilities in addition to thermal noise and thermal lensing.Comment: 6 pages,3 figures. Amaldi7 proceedings, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. (accepted

Genome-scale approach proves that the lungfish-coelacanth sister group is the closest living relative of tetrapods with the BEST program

The origin of tetrapods has not been resolved for decades. Three principal hypotheses (lungfish-tetrapod, coelacanth-tetrapod, or lungfish-coelacanth sister group) have been proposed. We used the Bayesian method under the coalescence model with the latest program (BEST) to perform a phylogenetic analysis for seven relevant taxa and 43 nuclear genes encoding amino acid residues with the jackknife method for taxon sub-sampling. The results, combined with those of other three genome-scale approaches, successfully prove the hypothesis that lungfishes and coelacanths form a monophyletic sister group and are equally related to tetrapods supported by high Bayesian posterior probabilities of the branch (a lungfish-coelacanth clade) and high taxon jackknife supports

Beam Scraping for LHC Injection

Operation of the LHC will require injection of very high intensity beams from the SPS to the LHC. Fast scrapers have been installed and will be used in the SPS to detect and remove any existing halo before beams are extracted, to minimize the probability for quenching of superconducting magnets at injection in the LHC. We briefly review the functionality of the scraper system and report about measurements that have recently been performed in the SPS on halo scraping and re-population of tails

Treatment of ongoing autoimmune encephalomyelitis with activated B-cell progenitors maturing into regulatory B cells.

The influence of signals perceived by immature B cells during their development in bone marrow on their subsequent functions as mature cells are poorly defined. Here, we show that bone marrow cells transiently stimulated in vivo or in vitro through the Toll-like receptor 9 generate proB cells (CpG-proBs) that interrupt experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) when transferred at the onset of clinical symptoms. Protection requires differentiation of CpG-proBs into mature B cells that home to reactive lymph nodes, where they trap T cells by releasing the CCR7 ligand, CCL19, and to inflamed central nervous system, where they locally limit immunopathogenesis through interleukin-10 production, thereby cooperatively inhibiting ongoing EAE. These data demonstrate that a transient inflammation at the environment, where proB cells develop, is sufficient to confer regulatory functions onto their mature B-cell progeny. In addition, these properties of CpG-proBs open interesting perspectives for cell therapy of autoimmune diseases

Tangential View and Intraoperative Three-Dimensional Fluoroscopy for the Detection of Screw-Misplacements in Volar Plating of Distal Radius Fractures

Background: Volar locking plate fixation has become the gold standard in the treatment of unstable distal radius fractures. Juxta-articular screws should be placed as close as possible to the subchondral zone, in an optimized length to buttress the articular surface and address the contralateral cortical bone. On the other hand, intra-articular screw misplacements will promote osteoarthritis, while the penetration of the contralateral bone surface may result in tendon irritations and ruptures. The intraoperative control of fracture reduction and implant positioning is limited in the common postero-anterior and true lateral two-dimensional (2D)-fluoroscopic views. Therefore, additional 2D-fluoroscopic views in different projections and intraoperative three-dimensional (3D) fluoroscopy were recently reported. Nevertheless, their utility has issued controversies. Objectives: The following questions should be answered in this study; 1) Are the additional tangential view and the intraoperative 3D fluoroscopy useful in the clinical routine to detect persistent fracture dislocations and screw misplacements, to prevent revision surgery? 2) Which is the most dangerous plate hole for screw misplacement? Patients and Methods: A total of 48 patients (36 females and 13 males) with 49 unstable distal radius fractures (22 x 23 A; 2 x 23 B, and 25 x 23 C) were treated with a 2.4 mm variable angle LCP Two-Column volar distal radius plate (Synthes GmbH, Oberdorf, Switzerland) during a 10-month period. After final fixation, according to the manufactures' technique guide and control of implant placement in the two common perpendicular 2D-fluoroscopic images (postero-anterior and true lateral), an additional tangential view and intraoperative 3D fluoroscopic scan were performed to control the anatomic fracture reduction and screw placements. Intraoperative revision rates due to screw misplacements (intra-articular or overlength) were evaluated. Additionally, the number of surgeons, time and radiation-exposure, for each step of the operating procedure, were recorded. Results: In the standard 2D-fluoroscopic views (postero-anterior and true lateral projection), 22 screw misplacements of 232 inserted screws were not detected. Based on the additional tangential view, 12 screws were exchanged, followed by further 10 screws after performing the 3D fluoroscopic scan. The most lateral screw position had the highest risk for screw misplacement (accounting for 45.5% of all exchanged screws). The mean number of images for the tangential view was 3 ± 2.5 images. The mean surgical time was extended by 10.02 ± 3.82 minutes for the 3D fluoroscopic scan. An additional radiation exposure of 4.4 ± 4.5seconds, with a dose area product of 39.2 ± 14.5 cGy/cm2 were necessary for the tangential view and 54.4 ± 20.9 seconds with a dose area product of 2.1 ± 2.2 cGy/cm2, for the 3D fluoroscopic scan. Conclusions: We recommend the additional 2D-fluoroscopic tangential view for detection of screw misplacements caused by overlength, with penetration on the dorsal cortical surface of the distal radius, predominantly observed for the most lateral screw position. The use of intraoperative 3D fluoroscopy did not become accepted in our clinical routine, due to the technical demanding and time consuming procedure, with a limited image quality so far