CYTOSTATIC EFFECT OF CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE ON BONE MARROW IN SHEEP

Abstract Hofirek B., J. Drabek: Cytostatic Effect of Cyclophosphamide on Bone Marrow in Sheep. Acta vet. Brno 49, 1980: 217-222. Cyclophosphamide (25 mg. kg -1) at a concentration of 2 % was administered intravenously to Merino sheep. A cytologic picture of bone marrow prior to and 22 days post administration was followed. Following the administration of the cytostatics a short-term and temporary depression in hemopoiesis was observed, the red component of bone marrow being more affected. In the white component only more mature cells (neutrophil metamyelocytes and stab granulocytes) were decreased in number. In both bone marrow components the short-term depression lasting 2-4 days was followed by an increase both in erythro-and myelopoiesis, persisting throughout anemia or leukopenia in peripheral blood. It was found that the administration of cyclophosphamide at this dose does not induce permanent effects in bone marrow which preserves its full regeneration ability. This conclusion is also confi med by the modification of peripheral blood picture and by the course of experiment when no disturbance in clinical condition of sheep appeared. Sheep, cytostatics, cyclophosphamide, blood, bone marrow. Considering the development of sheep breeding and the increase of their stock, the intensive technology of their rearing, facilitating high productivity, is important for Czechoslovakia. One of the problems to be solved is the replacement of tiresome labour connected with mechanical wool shearing. Moreover, the problem is aggravated by a persisting lack of skilled clippers. Possibilities are, therefore, sought in the rationalization of this labourious task, particularly by using the chemicals with cytostatic effects affecting also the hair follicles. Cytostatics are known to influence all cells of a living organism and it is, therefore, necessary to examine possible negative effects upon the sheep health condition. One of the chemicals considered is cyclophosphamide. Dolnick et aI. (1969) was one of the first who studied the possibility of chemical release of fleece; he proved that the dose of 30 mg. kg -1 was not toxic for sheep. When studying the side effects of cyclophosphamide the changes of some hematologic or biochemical values of blood were followed. Ziegler et aI. (1972) demonstrated that after intraruminal administration of 30 mg kg :" significant leukopenia occurred at 8th day, reaching half the normal value, and lasting till the 27th day. Almost no effect was observed on erythrocytes and hemoglobin. Skalka et aI. (1972) applying a dose of 20 mg.kg-! removed the fleece during 14th -21st day following the cyclophosphamide administration. They also examined its effect upon the blood picture of experimental sheep. The decrease of leukocyte count was found to be most striking whereas the hemoglobin and hematocrit values decreased only on the 3rd-5th day, other hematologic and biochemical values (transaminases GOT, GPT, total protein, bilirubin, glucose, P, Mg, Cu and Fe) not showing significant change

Spectroscopy of Stellar-Like Objects Contained in the Second Byurakan Survey. I

The results of spectroscopic observations of 363 star-like objects from the Second Byurakan Survey (SBS) are reported. This SBS's subsample has proven to be a rich source of newly identified quasars, Seyfert type galaxies, degenerate stars and hot subdwarfs. In the subsample here studied, we identified 35 new QSOs, 142 White Dwarfs (WDs) the majority of which, 114 are of DA type, 55 subdwarfs (29 of which are sdB-type stars), 10 HBB, 16 NHB, 54 G-type and 25 F-type stars, two objects with composite spectra, four Cataclismic Variables (CV), two peculiar emission line stars, 17 objects with continuous spectra, as well as one planetary nebula. Among the 35 QSOs we have found two Broad Absorption Line (BAL) QSOs, namely SBS 1423+500 and SBS 1435+500A. Magnitudes, redshifts, and slit spectra for all QSOs, also some typical spectra of the peculiar stars are presented. We estimate the minimum surface density of bright QSOs in redshift range 0.3<z<2.2 to be 0.05 per sq. deg. for B<17.0 and 0.10 per sq. deg. for B<17.5.Comment: 22 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures, PASP in pres

Building better Sex Robots: Lessons from Feminist Pornography

How should we react to the development of sexbot technology? Taking their cue from anti-porn feminism, several academic critics lament the development of sexbot technology, arguing that it objectifies and subordinates women, is likely to promote misogynistic attitudes toward sex, and may need to be banned or restricted. In this chapter I argue for an alternative response. Taking my cue from the sex positive ‘feminist porn’ movement, I argue that the best response to the development of ‘bad’ sexbots is to make better ones. This will require changes to the content, process and context of sexbot development. Doing so will acknowledge the valuable role that technology can play in human sexuality, and allow us to challenge gendered norms and assumptions about male and female sexual desire. This will not be a panacea to the social problems that could arise from sexbot development, but it offers a more realistic and hopeful vision for the future of this technology in a pluralistic and progressive society

Investigation of a bidirectional DC/DC converter with zero-voltage switching operation for battery interfaces

This paper proposes a bidirectional DC-DC converter with soft-switching capabilities. The main characteristic of this converter is that it can be operated in both boost and buck modes. The major advantages of this converter are high efficiency and reduced switching loss in high-power and high-voltage applications. The soft-switching capability is obtained by additional dual auxiliary resonant circuits connected to the conventional non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter. Except for the auxiliary switches, all main switches turn on with zero-voltage switching in this proposed bidirectional DC-DC converter. The auxiliary switches turn off with zero current transition. The principle of operation, theoretical analysis and experimental results of a 175 V/385 V bidirectional DC-DC converter at 2 KW output power with switching frequency of 50 kHz are provided. The experimental results verified the zero-voltage switching operation for boost and buck modes with efficiencies 96.5% and 96%, respectively, at full load.This research has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under the project OP VVV Electrical Engineering Technologies with High-Level of Embedded Intelligence CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/18_069/0009855 and project No. SGS-2018-009.Scopu

The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: Evidence for radiative heating in Serpens MWC 297 and its influence on local star formation

We present SCUBA-2 450micron and 850micron observations of the Serpens MWC 297 region, part of the JCMT Gould Belt Survey of nearby star-forming regions. Simulations suggest that radiative feedback influences the star-formation process and we investigate observational evidence for this by constructing temperature maps. Maps are derived from the ratio of SCUBA-2 fluxes and a two component model of the JCMT beam for a fixed dust opacity spectral index of beta = 1.8. Within 40 of the B1.5Ve Herbig star MWC 297, the submillimetre fluxes are contaminated by free-free emission with a spectral index of 1.03+-0.02, consistent with an ultra-compact HII region and polar winds/jets. Contamination accounts for 73+-5 per cent and 82+-4 per cent of peak flux at 450micron and 850micron respectively. The residual thermal disk of the star is almost undetectable at these wavelengths. Young Stellar Objects are confirmed where SCUBA-2 850micron clumps identified by the fellwalker algorithm coincide with Spitzer Gould Belt Survey detections. We identify 23 objects and use Tbol to classify nine YSOs with masses 0.09 to 5.1 Msun. We find two Class 0, one Class 0/I, three Class I and three Class II sources. The mean temperature is 15+-2K for the nine YSOs and 32+-4K for the 14 starless clumps. We observe a starless clump with an abnormally high mean temperature of 46+-2K and conclude that it is radiatively heated by the star MWC 297. Jeans stability provides evidence that radiative heating by the star MWC 297 may be suppressing clump collapse.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, 7 table

The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: A First Look at the Auriga–California Molecular Cloud with SCUBA-2

We present 850 and 450 μm observations of the dense regions within the Auriga–California molecular cloud using SCUBA-2 as part of the JCMT Gould Belt Legacy Survey to identify candidate protostellar objects, measure the masses of their circumstellar material (disk and envelope), and compare the star formation to that in the Orion A molecular cloud. We identify 59 candidate protostars based on the presence of compact submillimeter emission, complementing these observations with existing Herschel/SPIRE maps. Of our candidate protostars, 24 are associated with young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Spitzer and Herschel/PACS catalogs of 166 and 60 YSOs, respectively (177 unique), confirming their protostellar nature. The remaining 35 candidate protostars are in regions, particularly around LkHα 101, where the background cloud emission is too bright to verify or rule out the presence of the compact 70 μm emission that is expected for a protostellar source. We keep these candidate protostars in our sample but note that they may indeed be prestellar in nature. Our observations are sensitive to the high end of the mass distribution in Auriga–Cal. We find that the disparity between the richness of infrared star-forming objects in Orion A and the sparsity in Auriga–Cal extends to the submillimeter, suggesting that the relative star formation rates have not varied over the Class II lifetime and that Auriga–Cal will maintain a lower star formation efficiency

Phosphine gas in the cloud decks of Venus

Measurements of trace gases in planetary atmospheres help us explore chemical conditions different to those on Earth. Our nearest neighbour, Venus, has cloud decks that are temperate but hyperacidic. Here we report the apparent presence of phosphine (PH3) gas in Venus’s atmosphere, where any phosphorus should be in oxidized forms. Single-line millimetre-waveband spectral detections (quality up to ~15σ) from the JCMT and ALMA telescopes have no other plausible identification. Atmospheric PH3 at ~20 ppb abundance is inferred. The presence of PH3 is unexplained after exhaustive study of steady-state chemistry and photochemical pathways, with no currently known abiotic production routes in Venus’s atmosphere, clouds, surface and subsurface, or from lightning, volcanic or meteoritic delivery. PH3 could originate from unknown photochemistry or geochemistry, or, by analogy with biological production of PH3 on Earth, from the presence of life. Other PH3 spectral features should be sought, while in situ cloud and surface sampling could examine sources of this gas

Terrorism in Australia: factors associated with perceived threat and incident-critical behaviours

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To help improve incident preparedness this study assessed socio-demographic and socio-economic predictors of perceived risk of terrorism within Australia and willingness to comply with public safety directives during such incidents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The terrorism perception question module was incorporated into the New South Wales Population Health Survey and was completed by a representative sample of 2,081 respondents in early 2007. Responses were weighted against the New South Wales population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Multivariate analyses indicated that those with no formal educational qualifications were significantly more likely (OR = 2.10, 95%CI:1.32–3.35, p < 0.001) to think that a terrorist attack is very or extremely likely to occur in Australia and also more likely (OR = 3.62, 95%CI:2.25–5.83, p < 0.001) to be very or extremely concerned that they or a family member would be directly affected, compared to those with a university-level qualification. Speaking a language other than English at home predicted high concern (very/extremely) that self or family would be directly affected (OR = 3.02, 95%CI:2.02–4.53, p < 0.001) and was the strongest predictor of having made associated changes in living (OR = 3.27, 95%CI:2.17–4.93, p < 0.001). Being female predicted willingness to evacuate from public facilities. Speaking a language other than English at home predicted low willingness to evacuate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low education level is a risk factor for high terrorism risk perception and concerns regarding potential impacts. The pattern of concern and response among those of migrant background may reflect secondary social impacts associated with heightened community threat, rather than the direct threat of terrorism itself. These findings highlight the need for terrorism risk communication and related strategies to address the specific concerns of these sub-groups as a critical underpinning of population-level preparedness.</p