Call the student midwife: experiencing home birth.

Midwives should be competent in caring for women experiencing home birth. Home birth is influenced by exposure during midwifery education. In the UK not all student midwives experience home birth, and this paper discusses the barriers that currently exist to women achieving a home birth, the consequent paucity of opportunities for students to experience home birth and it goes on to make recommendations as to how we can help midwives to feel confident and competent in supporting women to make this choice

The Arches Cluster - Evidence for a Truncated Mass Function?

We have analyzed high-resolution, adaptive optics (AO) HK observations of the Arches cluster obtained with NAOS/CONICA. With a spatial resolution of 84 mas, the cluster center is uniquely resolved. From these data the present-day mass function (MF) of Arches is derived down to about 4 Msun. The integrated MF as well as the core and 2nd annulus MFs are consistent with a turn-over at 6-7 Msun. This turn-over indicates severe depletion of intermediate and low-mass stars in the Arches cluster, possibly caused by its evolution in the Galactic Center environment. The Arches MF represents the first resolved observation of a starburst cluster exhibiting a low-mass truncated MF. This finding has severe implications for stellar population synthesis modelling of extragalactic starbursts, the derivation of integrated properties such as the total mass of star clusters in dense environments, the survival of low-mass remnants from starburst populations, and chemical enrichment during starburst phases.Comment: aastex preprint, 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter

Molecular Microfluidic Bioanalysis: Recent Progress in Preconcentration, Separation, and Detection

This chapter reviews the state-of-art of microfluidic devices for molecular bioanalysis with a focus on the key functionalities that have to be successfully integrated, such as preconcentration, separation, signal amplification, and detection. The first part focuses on both passive and electrophoretic separation/sorting methods, whereas the second part is devoted to miniaturized biosensors that are integrated in the last stage of the fluidic device

Overview of Materials for Microfluidic Applications

For each material dedicated to microfluidic applications, inherent microfabrication and specific physico‐chemical properties are key concerns and play a dominating role in further microfluidic operability. From the first generation of inorganic glass, silicon and ceramics microfluidic devices materials, to diversely competitive polymers alternatives such as soft and rigid thermoset and thermoplastics materials, to finally various paper, biodegradable and hydrogel materials; this chapter will review their advantages and drawbacks regarding their microfabrication perspectives at both research and industrial scale. The chapter will also address, the evolution of the materials used for fabricating microfluidic chips, and will discuss the application‐oriented pros and cons regarding especially their critical strategies and properties for devices assembly and biocompatibility, as well their potential for downstream biochemical surface modification are presented

Contained/Contenu

An exhibition of ceramic and glass works by 7 international artists, in the ceramic museum Musée Ariana in Geneva, curated by Ana Quintero Perez, of the museum, and Monique Deul independent curator and founder of Taste Contemporary in Geneva. Alison Britton contributed 5 ceramic works to the exhibition

Evaluación de la homogeneidad de dosis total y dosis absorbida en pulmón, para la técnica de irradiación total de cuerpo en radioterapia con campos frontales y laterales

Tesis (Tecnólogo Médico, mención en imagenología y física médica)La irradiación total de cuerpo (TBI) es una técnica de radioterapia, que se utiliza principalmente en la preparación previa al trasplante de médula ósea, para la erradicación de ejemplares celulares tumorales y de poblaciones celulares con alteraciones genéticas. La técnica TBI se puede realizar de diversas formas según las condiciones de los distintos centros de radioterapia y las características físicas de cada paciente. El propósito de esta investigación es evaluar la dosis absorbida y la homogeneidad de dosis en las dos formas más frecuentes de realizar la técnica TBI: radiación de campos frontales (AP/PA) y campos laterales. Por lo que se irradió con un haz de fotones al fantoma antropomórfico NORMA, posicionado en decúbito supino y decúbito lateral, sobre el que se ubicaron los instrumentos de medición (dosímetros termoluminiscentes (TLD-100) y películas radiográficas). Una vez obtenidos los datos de las mediciones se grafican los valores de dosis absorbida, en conjunto con sus respectivos errores, para los distintos puntos anatómicos de estudio en ambas técnicas realizadas. Así también se construyeron gráficos para evaluar la homogeneidad de la dosis total entregada en cada técnica. El análisis de los resultados permite observar diferencias entre ambas técnicas de TBI en términos de homogeneidad (desviación estándar para técnica TBI con campo AP es de 1,81%; TBI con campo lateral es de 2,90%). También se puede concluir, según los datos obtenidos en la investigación, que la utilización de bloques pulmonares consiguen disminuir la dosis absorbida (en un 20% considerando el promedio de técnicas TBI con campo frontal) en el órgano radiosensible que se desea proteger

Strains of the Lactobacillus casei group show diverse abilities for the production of flavor compounds in 2 model systems

peer-reviewedCheese flavor development is directly connected to the metabolic activity of microorganisms used during its manufacture, and the selection of metabolically diverse strains represents a potential tool for the production of cheese with novel and distinct flavor characteristics. Strains of Lactobacillus have been proven to promote the development of important cheese flavor compounds. As cheese production and ripening are long-lasting and expensive, model systems have been developed with the purpose of rapidly screening lactic acid bacteria for their flavor potential. The biodiversity of 10 strains of the Lactobacillus casei group was evaluated in 2 model systems and their volatile profiles were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In model system 1, which represented a mixture of free AA, inoculated cells did not grow. In total, 66 compounds considered as flavor contributors were successfully identified, most of which were aldehydes, acids, and alcohols produced via AA metabolism by selected strains. Three strains (DPC2071, DPC3990, and DPC4206) had the most diverse metabolic capacities in model system 1. In model system 2, which was based on processed cheese curd, inoculated cells increased in numbers over incubation time. A total of 47 compounds were identified, and they originated not only from proteolysis, but also from glycolytic and lipolytic processes. Tested strains produced ketones, acids, and esters. Although strains produced different abundances of volatiles, diversity was less evident in model system 2, and only one strain (DPC4206) was distinguished from the others. Strains identified as the most dissimilar in both of the model systems could be more useful for cheese flavor diversification