Reduction of critical temperatures in pure and thoriated UBe13 by columnar defects

We investigate the influence of columnar defects on the superconducting transition temperatures of pure and thoriated UBe13. The defects cause all the transitions to widen and to drop slightly in temperature. Quantitatively, the single UBe13 transition resembles the lower transition in a sample with 3% thorium more closely than the upper thoriated transition.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. To be presented at M2S-HTSC-V

Das Land der Echinoderen : Reisebericht und Artenliste einer Exkursion des CURCULIO-Instituts nach Tunesien 2003 (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)

In der Zeit vom 19.10. bis 2.11.2003 fand die 3. Exkursion des CURCULIO-Institutes statt. Nord- und Mittel-Tunesien waren das Exkursionsziel. Der Reisebericht stellt u.a. die Biotope und Fundumstände vieler Curculionoidea dar und beschreibt die Habitate zahlreicher neuer Echinodera- und Kyklioacalles-Arten. Abschließend wird eine vollständige Exkursionsliste der in Tunesien gesammelten Curculionoidea vorgestellt (93 Arten). Habitus und Aedoeagus der von uns nicht zu bestimmenden bzw. neuen Arten werden abgebildet. Mit 49 Abbildungen.From October 19th to November 2nd, 2003, the third excursion of the CURCULIO-Institute was carried out. The northern and central parts of Tunesia were the area of interest. Biotopes and finding circumstances of many Curculionoidea are presented, and habitats of several new Echinodera and Kyklioacalles species are described. Finally a complete species list of all collected weevils is given (93 species). Habitus and aedeagus of new species and of species, that could not be identified, are depicted. With 49 figures

Giant pyogenic granuloma of the thigh: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Presence and levels of galactosyllactoses and other oligosaccharides in human milk and their variation during lactation and according to maternal phenotype

Among the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOS), the galactosyllactoses (GLs) are only limitedly studied. This study aims to describe the presence and relative levels of HMOS, including GLs, in human milk (HM) according to maternal Secretor and Lewis (SeLe) phenotype and lactation stage. Relative levels of 19 HMOS were measured in 715 HM samples collected in the first 4 months postpartum from 371 donors participating in the PreventCD study. From a subset of 24 Dutch women (171 HM samples), samples were collected monthly up to 12 months postpartum and were additionally analyzed for relative and absolute levels of beta 6 '-GL, beta 3 '-GL and alpha 3 '-GL. Maternal SeLe phenotype or HM group was assigned based on the presence of specific fucosylated HMOS. Most HMOS, including beta 6 '- and beta 3 '-GL, were present in the vast majority (>= 75%) of HM samples, whereas others (e.g., LNDFH II, 2 '-F-LNH and alpha 3 '-GL) only occurred in a low number (<25%) of samples. Clear differences were observed between the presence and relative levels of the HMOS according to the maternal phenotype and lactation stage. Absolute concentrations of beta 6 '-GL and beta 3 '-GL were higher in HM group IV samples compared to samples of the other three HM groups. beta 3 '-GL was also higher in HM group II samples compared to HM group I samples. beta 3 '-GL and beta 6 '-GL were stable over lactation stages. In conclusion, presence and levels of HMOS vary according to HM group and lactation stage. Not all HMOS behave similarly: some HMOS depend strongly on maternal phenotype and/or lactation stage, whereas others do not. beta 3 '-GL and beta 6 '-GL were present in low concentrations in over 75% of the analyzed HM samples and showed differences between HM groups, but not between the lactation stages.Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study in NMOSD

OBJECTIVE: To develop a resource of systematically collected, longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens for assisting in the investigation into neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) epidemiology, pathogenesis, and treatment. METHODS: To illustrate its research-enabling purpose, epidemiologic patterns and disease phenotypes were assessed among enrolled subjects, including age at disease onset, annualized relapse rate (ARR), and time between the first and second attacks. RESULTS: As of December 2017, the Collaborative International Research in Clinical and Longitudinal Experience Study (CIRCLES) had enrolled more than 1,000 participants, of whom 77.5% of the NMOSD cases and 71.7% of the controls continue in active follow-up. Consanguineous relatives of patients with NMOSD represented 43.6% of the control cohort. Of the 599 active cases with complete data, 84% were female, and 76% were anti-AQP4 seropositive. The majority were white/Caucasian (52.6%), whereas blacks/African Americans accounted for 23.5%, Hispanics/Latinos 12.4%, and Asians accounted for 9.0%. The median age at disease onset was 38.4 years, with a median ARR of 0.5. Seropositive cases were older at disease onset, more likely to be black/African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more likely to be female. CONCLUSION: Collectively, the CIRCLES experience to date demonstrates this study to be a useful and readily accessible resource to facilitate accelerating solutions for patients with NMOSD

Protein profiling in hepatocellular carcinoma by label-free quantitative proteomics in two west african populations.

Background Hepatocellular Carcinoma is the third most common cause of cancer related death worldwide, often diagnosed by measuring serum AFP; a poor performance stand-alone biomarker. With the aim of improving on this, our study focuses on plasma proteins identified by Mass Spectrometry in order to investigate and validate differences seen in the respective proteomes of controls and subjects with LC and HCC. Methods Mass Spectrometry analysis using liquid chromatography electro spray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight was conducted on 339 subjects using a pooled expression profiling approach. ELISA assays were performed on four significantly differentially expressed proteins to validate their expression profiles in subjects from the Gambia and a pilot group from Nigeria. Results from this were collated for statistical multiplexing using logistic regression analysis. Results Twenty-six proteins were identified as differentially expressed between the three subject groups. Direct measurements of four; hemopexin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, apolipoprotein A1 and complement component 3 confirmed their change in abundance in LC and HCC versus control patients. These trends were independently replicated in the pilot validation subjects from Nigeria. The statistical multiplexing of these proteins demonstrated performance comparable to or greater than ALT in identifying liver cirrhosis or carcinogenesis. This exercise also proposed preliminary cut offs with achievable sensitivity, specificity and AUC statistics greater than reported AFP averages. Conclusions The validated changes of expression in these proteins have the potential for development into high-performance tests usable in the diagnosis and or monitoring of HCC and LC patients. The identification of sustained expression trends strengthens the suggestion of these four proteins as worthy candidates for further investigation in the context of liver disease. The statistical combinations also provide a novel inroad of analyses able to propose definitive cut-offs and combinations for evaluation of performance