Preliminary design characteristics of a subsonic business jet concept employing laminar flow control

Aircraft configurations were developed with laminar flow control (LFC) and without LFC. The LFC configuration had approximately eleven percent less parasite drag and a seven percent increase in the maximum lift-to drag ratio. Although these aerodynamic advantages were partially offset by the additional weight of the LFC system, the LFC aircraft burned from six to eight percent less fuel for comparable missions. For the trans-atlantic design mission with the gross weight fixed, the LFC configuration would carry a greater payload for ten percent fuel per passenger mile

Design of a large span-distributed load flying-wing cargo airplane with laminar flow control

A design study was conducted to add laminar flow control to a previously design span-distributed load airplane while maintaining constant range and payload. With laminar flow control applied to 100 percent of the wing and vertical tail chords, the empty weight increased by 4.2 percent, the drag decreased by 27.4 percent, the required engine thrust decreased by 14.8 percent, and the fuel consumption decreased by 21.8 percent. When laminar flow control was applied to a lesser extent of the chord (approximately 80 percent), the empty weight increased by 3.4 percent, the drag decreased by 20.0 percent, the required engine thrust decreased by 13.0 percent, and the fuel consumption decreased by 16.2 percent. In both cases the required take-off gross weight of the aircraft was less than the original turbulent aircraft

Characteristics of the case mix, organisation and delivery in cancer palliative care: a challenge for good-quality research

Objectives: Palliative care (PC) services and patients differ across countries. Data on PC delivery paired with medical and self-reported data are seldom reported. Aims were to describe (1) PC organisation and services in participating centres and (2) characteristics of patients in PC programmes. Methods: This was an international prospective multicentre study with a single web-based survey on PC organisation, services and academics and patients' self-reported symptoms collected at baseline and monthly thereafter, with concurrent registrations of medical data by healthcare providers. Participants were patients ≥18 enrolled in a PC programme. Results: 30 centres in 12 countries participated; 24 hospitals, 4 hospices, 1 nursing home, 1 home-care service. 22 centres (73%) had PC in-house teams and inpatient and outpatient services. 20 centres (67%) had integral chemotherapy/radiotherapy services, and most (28/30) had access to general medical or oncology inpatient units. Physicians or nurses were present 24 hours/7 days in 50% and 60% of centres, respectively. 50 centres (50%) had professorships, and 12 centres (40%) had full-time/part-time research staff. Data were available on 1698 patients: 50% females; median age 66 (range 21–97); median Karnofsky score 70 (10–100); 1409 patients (83%) had metastatic/disseminated disease; tiredness and pain in the past 24 hours were most prominent. During follow-up, 1060 patients (62%) died; 450 (44%) <3 months from inclusion and 701 (68%) within 6 months. ANOVA and χ2 tests showed that hospice/nursing home patients were significantly older, had poorer performance status and had shorter survival compared with hospital-patients (p<.0.001). Conclusions: There is a wide variation in PC services and patients across Europe. Detailed characterisation is the first step in improving PC services and research. Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01362816

Long-term Memory of Sensory Experiences from the First Pregnancy, its Peri-partum and Post-partum in Women with Autism Spectrum Disorders without Intellectual Disabilities: A Retrospective Study

Purpose: To explore the recalled experience of pregnancy and motherhood in women diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) without intellectual disabilities, focusing on sensory perceptions and mood. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated, through an ad-hoc structured interview, the sensory sensitivity during the pre-partum, the peri-partum, and the post-partum of thirty-three mothers with ASD and thirty-two neurotypical mothers. Participants also underwent a psychometric assessment about autistic traits, general sensory sensitivity, and post-partum depressive symptomatology. Results: Mothers with ASD recalled a higher sensitivity than the comparison group across the three time-points; however, during the peri-partum their recalled hypersensitivity decreases, and in the post-partum it returned as high as before childbirth. The difference in the length of recall between groups did not statistically influence our results. Higher levels of autistic traits correlated with higher depressive post-partum symptomatology. Conclusions: Mothers with ASD seem to recall their experience of pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum period differently from neurotypical mothers, particularly in terms of hypersensitivity. The correlation with depressive symptoms and the potential role of oxytocin and of long-term memory (encoding and recollection) are discussed. Further exploring these aspects might give fundamental hints to provide tailored support to mothers with ASD during pregnancy and motherhood

Natural humoral immune response to ribosomal P0 protein in colorectal cancer patients

Tumor associated antigens are useful in colorectal cancer (CRC) management. The ribosomal P proteins (P0, P1, P2) play an important role in protein synthesis and tumor formation. The immunogenicity of the ribosomal P0 protein in head and neck, in breast and prostate cancer patients and the overexpression of the carboxyl-terminal P0 epitope (C-22 P0) in some tumors were reported

The Large Observatory For X-ray Timing: LOFT

LOFT, the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing, is a new space mission concept devoted to observations of Galactic and extra-Galactic sources in the X-ray domain with the main goals of probing gravity theory in the very strong field environment of black holes and other compact objects, and investigating the state of matter at supra-nuclear densities in neutron stars. The instruments on-board LOFT, the Large area detector and the Wide Field Monitor combine for the first time an unprecedented large effective area (~10 m2 at 8 keV) sensitive to X-ray photons mainly in the 2-30 keV energy range and a spectral resolution approaching that of CCD-based telescopes (down to 200 eV at 6 keV). LOFT is currently competing for a launch of opportunity in 2022 together with the other M3 mission candidates of the ESA Cosmic Vision Progra

Molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in seminal fluid

Purpose Due to relevant repercussions on reproductive medicine, we aimed to evaluate feasibility of RT-PCR as a detection method of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in seminal fluid. Methods A qualitative determination of the RT-PCR assays in semen was performed through different approaches: (1) efficiency of RNA extraction from sperm and seminal plasma was determined using PRM1 and PRM2 mRNA and a heterologous system as control; (2) samples obtained by diluting viral preparation from a SARS-CoV-2 panel (virus cultured in Vero E6 cell lines) were tested; (3) viral presence in different fractions of seminal fluid (whole sample, seminal plasma and post-centrifugation pellet) was evaluated. Semen samples from mild and recovered COVID-19 subjects were collected by patients referring to the Infectious Disease Department of the Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - "Sapienza" University of Rome. Control subjects were recruited at the Laboratory of Seminology-Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini'' of the same hospital. Results The control panel using viral preparations diluted in saline and seminal fluid showed the capability to detect viral RNA presence with C-t values depending on the initial viral concentration. All tested semen samples were negative for SARS-CoV-2, regardless of the nasopharyngeal swab result or seminal fluid fraction. Conclusion These preliminary data show that RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing appears to be a feasible method for the molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in seminal fluid, supported by results of the control panel. The ability to detect SARS-CoV-2 in semen is extremely important for reproductive medicine, especially in assisted reproductive technology and sperm cryopreservation

HIV-1 recombinants with multiple parental strains in low-prevalence, remote regions of Cameroon: Evolutionary relics?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The HIV pandemic disseminated globally from Central West Africa, beginning in the second half of the twentieth century. To elucidate the virologic origins of the pandemic, a cross-sectional study was conducted of the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains in villagers in 14 remote locations in Cameroon and in hospitalized and STI patients. DNA extracted from PBMC was PCR amplified from HIV(+) subjects. Partial <it>pol </it>amplicons (N = 164) and nearly full virus genomes (N = 78) were sequenced. Among the 3956 rural villagers studied, the prevalence of HIV infection was 4.9%; among the hospitalized and clinic patients, it was 8.6%.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Virus genotypes fell into two distinctive groups. A majority of the genotyped strains (109/164) were the circulating recombinant form (CRF) known to be endemic in West Africa and Central West Africa, CRF02_AG. The second most common genetic form (9/164) was the recently described CRF22_01A1, and the rest were a collection of 4 different subtypes (A2, D, F2, G) and 6 different CRFs (-01, -11, -13, -18, -25, -37). Remarkably, 10.4% of HIV-1 genomes detected (17/164) were heretofore undescribed unique recombinant forms (URF) present in only a single person. Nearly full genome sequencing was completed for 78 of the viruses of interest. HIV genetic diversity was commonplace in rural villages: 12 villages each had at least one newly detected URF, and 9 villages had two or more.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results show that while CRF02_AG dominated the HIV strains in the rural villages, the remainder of the viruses had tremendous genetic diversity. Between the trans-species transmission of SIV_cpzand the dispersal of pandemic HIV-1, there was a time when we hypothesize that nascent HIV-1 was spreading, but only to a limited extent, recombining with other local HIV-1, creating a large variety of recombinants. When one of those recombinants began to spread widely (i.e. became epidemic), it was recognized as a subtype. We hypothesize that the viruses in these remote Cameroon villages may represent that pre-epidemic stage of viral evolution.</p

Exploring the Relationship between Semantics and Space

The asymmetric distribution of human spatial attention has been repeatedly documented in both patients and healthy controls. Biases in the distribution of attention and/or in the mental representation of space may also affect some aspects of language processing. We investigated whether biases in attention and/or mental representation of space affect semantic representations. In particular, we investigated whether semantic judgments could be modulated by the location in space where the semantic information was presented and the role of the left and right parietal cortices in this task. Healthy subjects were presented with three pictures arranged horizontally (one middle and two outer pictures) of items belonging to the same semantic category. Subjects were asked to indicate the spatial position in which the semantic distance between the outer and middle pictures was smaller. Subjects systematically overestimated the semantic distance of items presented in the right side of space. We explored the neural correlates underpinning this bias using rTMS over the left and right parietal cortex. rTMS of the left parietal cortex selectively reduced this rightward bias. Our findings suggest the existence of an attentional and/or mental representational bias in semantic judgments, similar to that observed for the processing of space and numbers. Spatial manipulation of semantic material results in the activation of specialised attentional resources located in the left hemisphere

Prolyl Hydroxylase Substrate Adenylosuccinate Lyase Is An Oncogenic Driver In Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Protein hydroxylation affects protein stability, activity, and interactome, therefore contributing to various diseases including cancers. However, the transiency of the hydroxylation reaction hinders the identification of hydroxylase substrates. By developing an enzyme-substrate trapping strategy coupled with TAP-TAG or orthogonal GST- purification followed by mass spectrometry, we identify adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) as an EglN2 hydroxylase substrate in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). ADSL expression is higher in TNBC than other breast cancer subtypes or normal breast tissues. ADSL knockout impairs TNBC cell proliferation and invasiveness in vitro and in vivo. An integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis reveals that ADSL activates the oncogenic cMYC pathway by regulating cMYC protein level via a mechanism requiring ADSL proline 24 hydroxylation. Hydroxylation-proficient ADSL, by affecting adenosine levels, represses the expression of the long non-coding RNA MIR22HG, thus upregulating cMYC protein level. Our findings highlight the role of ADSL hydroxylation in controlling cMYC and TNBC tumorigenesis