Prevalence of pelvic floor disorders in women with suspected gynecological malignancy: a survey-based study

Understanding of pelvic floor disorders among women with gynecological cancer is limited. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of pelvic floor disorders in women with suspected gynecological malignancy before surgery

Establishing spin-network topologies by repeated projective measurements

It has been recently shown that in quantum systems, the complex time evolution typical of many-bodied coupled networks can be transformed into a simple, relaxation-like dynamics, by relying on periodic dephasings of the off-diagonal density matrix elements. This represents a case of "quantum Zeno effects", where unitary evolutions are inhibited by projective measurements. We present here a novel exploitation of these effects, by showing that a relaxation-like behaviour is endowed to the polarization transfers occurring within a N-spin coupled network. Experimental implementations and coupling constant determinations for complex spin-coupling topologies, are thus demonstrated within the field of liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure

Tracheal agenesis: approach towards this severe diagnosis. Case report and review of the literature

Tracheal agenesis (TA) is a severe congenital disorder with often an unexpected emergency presentation. There is complete or partial absence of the trachea below the larynx, with presence or absence of a tracheoesophageal fistula (TOF). A neonate with TA is described, and another 48 cases found in literature are reviewed. Due to absence of a TOF, five cases were diagnosed prenatally because of congenital high airway obstruction syndrome (CHAOS). When a TOF is present, polyhydramnion and several other congenital malformations seen on the ultrasound examination should alert clinicians of potential tracheal problems. Prenatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide a definitive diagnosis. Postnatal diagnosis is based on recognition of specific clinical signs in the newborn with TA: respiratory distress with breathing movement without appropriate air entry, no audible cry, and failed endotracheal intubation. Despite progress in surgical interventions, mortality remains high. Prenatal diagnosis of TA is possible, but only if a TOF is absent resulting in CHAOS. Prenatal diagnosis of polyhydramnion and other congenital malformation should alert clinicians of potential tracheal problems. Prenatal MRI may provide a definitive diagnosis

Rhythmic Diurnal Gene Expression in Human Adipose Tissue From Individuals Who Are Lean, Overweight, and Type 2 Diabetic

OBJECTIVE Previous animal studies suggest a functional relationship between metabolism, type 2 diabetes, and the amplitude of daily rhythms in white adipose tissue (WAT). However, data interpretation is confounded by differences in genetic background and diet or limited sampling points. We have taken the novel approach of analyzing serial human WAT biopsies across a 24-h cycle in controlled laboratory conditions.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Lean (n = 8), overweight/obese (n = 11), or overweight/obese type 2 diabetic (n = 8) volunteers followed a strict sleep-wake and dietary regimen for 1 week prior to the laboratory study. They were then maintained in controlled light-dark conditions in a semirecumbent posture and fed hourly during wake periods. Subcutaneous WAT biopsies were collected every 6 h over 24 h, and gene expression was measured by quantitative PCR.RESULTS Lean individuals exhibited significant (P 0.05) of increased body weight or type 2 diabetes on rhythmic gene expression.CONCLUSIONS The robust nature of these rhythms and their relative phasing indicate that WAT now can be considered as a peripheral tissue suitable for the study of in vivo human rhythms. Comparison of data between subject groups clearly indicates that obesity and type 2 diabetes are not related to the amplitude of rhythmic WAT gene expression in humans maintained under controlled conditions. Diabetes 60:1577-1581, 201

Conserved cis-regulatory modules control robustness in Msx1 expression at single cell resolution

The process of transcription is highly stochastic leading to cell-to-cell variations and noise in gene expression levels. However, key essential genes have to be precisely expressed at the correct amount and time to ensure proper cellular development and function. Studies in yeast and bacterial systems have shown that gene expression noise decreases as mean expression levels increase, a relationship that is controlled by promoter DNA sequence. However, the function of distal cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), an evolutionary novelty of metazoans, in controlling transcriptional robustness and variability is poorly understood. In this study, we used live cell imaging of transfected reporters combined with a mathematical modelling and statistical inference scheme to quantify the function of conserved Msx1 CRMs and promoters in modulating single-cell real-time transcription rates in C2C12 mouse myoblasts. The results show that the mean expression–noise relationship is solely promoter controlled for this key pluripotency regulator. In addition, we demonstrate that CRMs modulate single-cell basal promoter rate distributions in a graded manner across a population of cells. This extends the rheostatic model of CRM action to provide a more detailed understanding of CRM function at single-cell resolution. We also identify a novel CRM transcriptional filter function that acts to reduce intracellular variability in transcription rates and show that this can be phylogenetically separable from rate modulating CRM activities. These results are important for understanding how the expression of key vertebrate developmental transcription factors is precisely controlled both within and between individual cells

3D time series analysis of cell shape using Laplacian approaches

Background: Fundamental cellular processes such as cell movement, division or food uptake critically depend on cells being able to change shape. Fast acquisition of three-dimensional image time series has now become possible, but we lack efficient tools for analysing shape deformations in order to understand the real three-dimensional nature of shape changes. Results: We present a framework for 3D+time cell shape analysis. The main contribution is three-fold: First, we develop a fast, automatic random walker method for cell segmentation. Second, a novel topology fixing method is proposed to fix segmented binary volumes without spherical topology. Third, we show that algorithms used for each individual step of the analysis pipeline (cell segmentation, topology fixing, spherical parameterization, and shape representation) are closely related to the Laplacian operator. The framework is applied to the shape analysis of neutrophil cells. Conclusions: The method we propose for cell segmentation is faster than the traditional random walker method or the level set method, and performs better on 3D time-series of neutrophil cells, which are comparatively noisy as stacks have to be acquired fast enough to account for cell motion. Our method for topology fixing outperforms the tools provided by SPHARM-MAT and SPHARM-PDM in terms of their successful fixing rates. The different tasks in the presented pipeline for 3D+time shape analysis of cells can be solved using Laplacian approaches, opening the possibility of eventually combining individual steps in order to speed up computations

ISAAC, a framework for integrated safety analysis of functional, geometrical and human aspects

International audienceThis paper aims at presenting methods and tools that are developed in the ISAAC project (Improvement of Safety Activities on Aeronautical Complex Systems, www.isaac-fp6.org), a European Community funded project, to support the safety assessment of complex embedded systems. The ISAAC methodology proposes to base as much of the safety analyses as is feasibly possible on simulable and formally verifiable system models that include fault models and can be shared both by safety and design engineers. On one hand, tools were developed to support safety assessment of Simulink, SCADE, Statemate, NuSMV and AltaRica models. On the other hand, formal models are coupled with additional models to address the problems of common cause analysis and human error analysis

A comparison of welfare outcomes for weaner and mature Bos indicus bulls surgically or tension ban castrated with or without analgesia: 2. responses related to stress, health and productivity

Tension banding castration of cattle is gaining favour because it is relatively simple to perform and is promoted by retailers of the banders as a humane castration method. Two experiments were conducted, under tropical conditions using Bos indicus bulls comparing tension banding (Band) and surgical (Surgical) castration of weaner (7-10 months old) and mature (22-25 months old) bulls with and without pain management (NSAID (ketoprofen) or saline injected intramuscularly immediately prior to castration). Welfare outcomes were assessed using a range of measures; this paper reports on some physiological, morbidity and productivity-related responses to augment the behavioural responses reported in an accompanying paper. Blood samples were taken on the day of castration (day 0) at the time of restraint (0. min) and 30. min (weaners) or 40. min (mature bulls), 2. h, and 7. h; and days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-castration. Plasmas from day 0 were assayed for cortisol, creatine kinase, total protein and packed cell volume. Plasmas from the other samples were assayed for cortisol and haptoglobin (plus the 0. min sample). Liveweights were recorded approximately weekly to 6 weeks and at 2 and 3 months post-castration. Castration sites were checked at these same times to 2 months post-castration to score the extent of healing and presence of sepsis. Cortisol concentrations (mean. ±. s.e. nmol/L) were significantly (

Formation and closure of macropinocytic cups in Dictyostelium

Macropinocytosis is a conserved endocytic process by which cells engulf droplets of medium into micron-sized vesicles. We use light-sheet microscopy to define an underlying set of principles by which macropinocytic cups are shaped and closed in Dictyostelium amoebae. Cups form around domains of PIP3 stretching almost to their lip and are supported by a specialized F-actin scaffold from lip to base. They are shaped by a ring of actin polymerization created by recruiting Scar/WAVE and Arp2/3 around PIP3 domains, but how cups evolve over time to close and form a vesicle is unknown. Custom 3D analysis shows that PIP3 domains expand from small origins, capturing new membrane into the cup, and crucially, that cups close when domain expansion stalls. We show that cups can close in two ways: either at the lip, by inwardly directed actin polymerization, or the base, by stretching and delamination of the membrane. This provides the basis for a conceptual mechanism whereby closure is brought about by a combination of stalled cup expansion, continued actin polymerization at the lip, and membrane tension. We test this through the use of a biophysical model, which can recapitulate both forms of cup closure and explain how 3D cup structures evolve over time to mediate engulfment

Keep them alive! Design and Evaluation of the “Community Fostering Reference Model”

Firms host online communities for commercial purposes, for example in order to integrate customers into ideation for new product development. The success of these firm-hosted online communities depends entirely on the cooperation of a high number of customers that constantly produce valuable knowledge for firms. However, in practice, the majority of successfully implemented communities suffers from stagnation and even a decrease of member activities over time. Literature provides numerous guidelines on how to build and launch these online communities. While these models describe the initial steps of acquiring and activating a community base from scratch very well and explicitly, they neglect continuous member activation and acquistion after a successful launch. Against this background, the authors propose the Community Fostering Reference Model (CoFoRM), which represents a set of general procedures and instruments to continuously foster member activity. In this paper, the authors present the theory-driven design as well as the evaluation of the CoFoRM in a practical use setting. The evaluation results reveal that the CoFoRM represents a valuable instrument in the daily working routine of community managers, since it efficiently helps activating community members especially in the late phases of a community’s LifeCycle