Forget the flâneur

This paper discusses the connections between the ‘flâneur’, Baudelaire's symbol of modernity, the anonymous man on the streets of nineteenth century Paris, and his contemporary digital incarnation, the ‘cyberflâneur’. It is argued that, although the fl neur could be successfully re-imagined as the cyberfl neur in the early days of the web, this nineteenth century model of male privilege no longer fits the purpose. It is suggested that it is time to forget the flâneur and search for a new model to consider the peripatetic nature of location-aware networked devices in the digitally augmented city

A comparative study of synthetic winged peptides for absolute protein quantification

A proper internal standard choice is critical for accurate, precise, and reproducible mass spectrometry-based proteomics assays. Synthetic isotopically labeled (SIL) proteins are currently considered the gold standard. However, they are costly and challenging to obtain. An alternative approach uses SIL peptides or SIL "winged" peptides extended at C- or/and N-terminus with an amino acid sequence or a tag cleaved during enzymatic proteolysis. However, a consensus on the design of a winged peptide for absolute quantification is missing. In this study, we used human serum albumin as a model system to compare the quantitative performance of reference SIL protein with four different designs of SIL winged peptides: (i) commercially available SIL peptides with a proprietary trypsin cleavable tag at C-terminus, (ii) SIL peptides extended with five amino acid residues at C-terminus, (iii) SIL peptides extended with three and (iv) with five amino acid residues at both C- and N-termini. Our results demonstrate properties of various SIL extended peptides designs, e.g., water solubility and efficiency of trypsin enzymatic cleavage with primary influence on quantitative performance. SIL winged peptides extended with three amino acids at both C- and N-termini demonstrated optimal quantitative performance, equivalent to the SIL protein

High Sustained Antibody Titers in Patients with Classic Infantile Pompe Disease Following Immunomodulation at Start of Enzyme Replacement Therapy

Objective: To evaluate whether immunomodulation at start of enzyme replacement therapy induces immune tolerance to recombinant human acid alpha-glucosidase (rhGAA) in patients with classic infantile Pompe disease. Study design: Three patients (1 cross reactive immunologic material negative, 2 cross reactive immunologic material positive) were treated with 4 weekly doses of rituximab, weekly methotrexate, and monthly intravenous immunoglobulin and enzyme replacement therapy at 40 mg/kg/week. Antibody titers were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Neutralizing effects on rhGAA activity and cellular uptake were determined and combined with pharmacokinetic analysis. Clinical efficacy was evaluated by (ventilator-free) survival, reduction in left ventricular mass index, and improvement of motor function. Results: Immunomodulation induced B cell depletion that was accompanied by absence of antibody formation in all 3 patients. Upon cessation of rituximab treatment, all 3 patients showed B cell recovery, which was accompanied by formation of very high sustained antibody titers in 2 patients. Neutralizing effects on infused rhGAA were low to mild/moderate. All patients were alive at study end, learned to walk, and showed (near) normalization of left ventricular mass index. Conclusions: Immunomodulation as recommended in the literature prevented formation of rhGAA antibodies only during B cell depletion but failed to induce immune tolerance in 2 out of 3 patients

Effective mechanical properties of multilayer nano-heterostructures

Two-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional materials are important nanostructures because of their exciting electronic, optical, thermal, chemical and mechanical properties. However, a single-layer nanomaterial may not possess a particular property adequately, or multiple desired properties simultaneously. Recently a new trend has emerged to develop nano-heterostructures by assembling multiple monolayers of different nanostructures to achieve various tunable desired properties simultaneously. For example, transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS2 show promising electronic and piezoelectric properties, but their low mechanical strength is a constraint for practical applications. This barrier can be mitigated by considering graphene-MoS2 heterostructure, as graphene possesses strong mechanical properties. We have developed efficient closed-form expressions for the equivalent elastic properties of such multi-layer hexagonal nano-hetrostructures. Based on these physics-based analytical formulae, mechanical properties are investigated for different heterostructures such as graphene-MoS2, graphene-hBN, graphene-stanene and stanene-MoS2. The proposed formulae will enable efficient characterization of mechanical properties in developing a wide range of application-specific nano-heterostructures

Information Technology Across the Teacher Education Curriculum: More claims than evidence

PURPOSE: Patients suffering from post traumatic osteoarthritis of the acetabulum often require a total hip arthroplasty at a relatively young age. Long-term data outcome studies for this population are lacking. We report on the long-term outcome of 20 acetabular fractures in 20 patients treated with impaction bone grafting and a cemented cup after a mean follow-up of 18 years (range, 12-26 years). METHODS: The group consisted of 14 males (70 %) and six females (30 %) with an average age of 53.3 years (range, 35-75 years) at time of surgery. No patients were lost to follow-up. Four patients died and three patients underwent a revision; at review 13 patients were still living with their implant in situ. Survivorship analysis was performed at 20 years follow-up for three endpoints. RESULTS: Survival rate with endpoint revision for any reason at 20 years postoperative was 74.7 % (95 % confidence interval (CI), 40-91 %), 80.0 % (95 % CI, 41-95 %) for endpoint aseptic loosening, and 63.9 % (95 % CI 32-84 %) for endpoint radiographic failure. Three acetabular components were revised at 14.5, 15.3, and 16.7 years postoperative. Two cups failed for aseptic loosening and one cup failed due to septic loosening. The average postoperative Harris hip score was 82 (range, 56-100). CONCLUSION: Acetabular reconstruction with impaction bone grafting and the use of a cemented cup after acetabular fracture is an attractive technique with acceptable long-term results and a low complication and re-operation rate

Results of the cemented Exeter femoral component in patients under the age of 40 : an update at ten to 20 years' follow-up

Item does not contain fulltextAIMS: We carried out a further study of the long-term results of the cemented Exeter femoral component in patients under the age of 40 with a mean follow-up of 13.6 years (10 to 20). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed our original cohort of 104 cemented Exeter stems in 78 consecutive patients with a mean age of 31 years (16 to 39). Only one patient was lost to radiological follow-up. RESULTS: A total of six patients (eight hips) had died for reasons unrelated to their surgery. There had been one further periprosthetic fracture from a fall and one fractured femoral stem. No revisions for aseptic loosening were undertaken during the whole study period. Overall, 11 hips had progressive radiolucent lines in one or more zones. The Kaplan Meier survival percentages at ten and 17 years were 97.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 91.3 to 99.1) and 92.1% (95% CI 74.1 to 97.8) with revision for any reason as the endpoint, and 100% at both ten and 17 years with aseptic loosening (95% CI 83.8 to 100) as the endpoint. No additional hips were classified as radiologically loose. CONCLUSION: The Exeter femoral component continues to function satisfactorily in young patients for up to 17 years after surgery. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:192-8