Influence of atmospheric vapour pressure deficit on ozone responses of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes

Environmental conditions influence plant responses to ozone (O3), but few studies have evaluated individual factors directly. In this study, the effect of O3 at high and low atmospheric vapour pressure deficit (VPD) was evaluated in two genotypes of snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (R123 and S156) used as O3 bioindicator plants. Plants were grown in outdoor controlled-environment chambers in charcoal-filtered air containing 0 or 60 nl l−1 O3 (12 h average) at two VPDs (1.26 and 1.96 kPa) and sampled for biomass, leaf area, daily water loss, and seed yield. VPD clearly influenced O3 effects. At low VPD, O3 reduced biomass, leaf area, and seed yield substantially in both genotypes, while at high VPD, O3 had no significant effect on these components. In clean air, high VPD reduced biomass and yield by similar fractions in both genotypes compared with low VPD. Data suggest that a stomatal response to VPD per se may be lacking in both genotypes and it is hypothesized that the high VPD resulted in unsustainable transpiration and water deficits that resulted in reduced growth and yield. High VPD- and water-stress-induced stomatal responses may have reduced the O3 flux into the leaves, which contributed to a higher yield compared to the low VPD treatment in both genotypes. At low VPD, transpiration increased in the O3 treatment relative to the clean air treatment, suggesting that whole-plant conductance was increased by O3 exposure. Ozone-related biomass reductions at low VPD were proportionally higher in S156 than in R123, indicating that differential O3 sensitivity of these bioindicator plants remained evident when environmental conditions were conducive for O3 effects. Assessments of potential O3 impacts on vegetation should incorporate interacting factors such as VPD

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor inhibitor, AMG-479, in cetuximab-refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Background Recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains a difficult cancer to treat. Here, we describe a patient with HNSCC who had complete response to methotrexate (MTX) after progressing on multiple cytotoxic agents, cetuximab, and AMG-479 (monoclonal antibody against insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor [IGF-1R]). Methods The clinical information was collected by a retrospective medical record review under an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol. From 4 tumors and 2 normal mucosal epithelia, global gene expression, and IGF-1R and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) protein levels were determined. Results Effective target inhibition in the tumor was confirmed by the decreased protein levels of total and phospho-IGF-1R after treatment with AMG-479. Decreased level of DHFR and conversion of a gene expression profile associated with cetuximab-resistance to cetuximab-sensitivity were also observed. Conclusion This suggests that the combination of AMG-479 and MTX or cetuximab may be a promising therapeutic approach in refractory HNSCC

Therapy optimization in multiple sclerosis: a prospective observational study of therapy compliance and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Data sources for MS research are numerous but rarely provide an objective measure of drug therapy compliance coupled with patient-reported health outcomes. The objective of this paper is to describe the methods and baseline characteristics of the Therapy Optimization in MS (TOP MS) study designed to investigate the relationship between disease-modifying therapy compliance and health outcomes. METHODS: TOP MS was designed as a prospective, observational, nationwide patient-focused study using an internet portal for data entry. The protocol was reviewed and approved by Sterling IRB. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. It captured structured survey data monthly from MS patients recruited by specialty pharmacies. Data collection included the clinical characteristics of MS such as MS relapses. Disability, quality of life and work productivity and activity impairment were assessed quarterly with well-validated scales. When events like severe fatigue or new or worsening depression were reported, feedback was provided to treating physicians. The therapy compliance measure was derived from pharmacy drug shipment records uploaded to the study database. The data presented in this paper use descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The TOP MS Study enrolled 2966 participants receiving their disease-modifying therapy (DMT) from specialty pharmacies. The mean age of the sample was 49 years, 80.4% were female, 89.9% were Caucasian and 55.7% were employed full or part time. Mean time since first symptoms was 11.5 years; mean duration since diagnosis was 9.5 years. Patient-reported EDSS was 3.5; 72.2% had a relapsing-remitting disease course. The most commonly reported symptoms at the time of enrollment were fatigue (74.7%), impaired coordination or balance (61.8%) and numbness and tingling (61.2%). Half of the sample was using glatiramer acetate and half was using beta-interferons. CONCLUSION: Demographic and clinical characteristics of the TOP MS sample at enrollment are consistent with other community-based MS samples, and the sample appears to be representative of DMT users in the US. TOP MS data can be used to explore the associations between disease-modifying therapy compliance and health outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00819000)

Beta-delayed-neutron studies of 135,136^{135,136}Sb and 140^{140}I performed with trapped ions

Beta-delayed-neutron ($\beta$n) spectroscopy was performed using the Beta-decay Paul Trap and an array of radiation detectors. The $\beta$n branching ratios and energy spectra for $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I were obtained by measuring the time of flight of recoil ions emerging from the trapped ion cloud. These nuclei are located at the edge of an isotopic region identified as having $\beta$n branching ratios that impact the r-process abundance pattern around the A~130 peak. For $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I, $\beta$n branching ratios of 14.6(11)%, 17.6(28)%, and 7.6(28)% were determined, respectively. The $\beta$n energy spectra obtained for $^{135}$Sb and $^{140}$I are compared with results from direct neutron measurements, and the $\beta$n energy spectrum for $^{136}$Sb has been measured for the first time

β -decay half-lives of Sb 134,134m and their isomeric yield ratio produced by the spontaneous fission of Cf 252

A number of fission products possess isomeric states which have a nuclear spin significantly different from that of the ground state. The yield ratio of these states following fission is influenced by the angular momentum present in the fissioning system. The Sb134m,134 yield ratio had not been previously measured in the spontaneous fission of Cf252; however, it had previously been observed to favor the (7-) isomer over the (0-) ground state in U235(nth,f) and Th232(25 MeV p,f). Using a mass-separated beam of low-energy Sb134,134m ions produced by Cf252 spontaneous fission at the CARIBU facility, β particles and γ rays were detected using the SATURN/X-Array decay station to determine the fission-yield ratio and β-decay half-lives. The Sb134m to Sb134 fission yield was determined to be 2.03±0.05 and the half-lives of Sb134m and Sb134 were found to be 9.87±0.08 s and 0.674±0.004 s, respectively. These results represent the first isomeric yield ratio measurement for this nucleus, and improved measurements of the Sb134 ground state and the Sb134m isomer half-lives

The use of cosmic-ray muons in the energy calibration of the Beta-decay Paul Trap silicon-detector array

This article presents an approach to calibrate the energy response of double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs) for low-energy nuclear-science experiments by utilizing cosmic-ray muons. For the 1-mm-thick detectors used with the Beta-decay Paul Trap, the minimum-ionizing peak from these muons provides a stable and time-independent in situ calibration point at around 300 keV, which supplements the calibration data obtained above 3 MeV from α sources. The muon-data calibration is achieved by comparing experimental spectra with detailed Monte Carlo simulations performed using GEANT4 and CRY codes. This additional information constrains the calibration at lower energies, resulting in improvements in quality and accuracy

Astrophysical structures from primordial quantum black holes

The characteristic sizes of astrophysical structures, up to the whole observed Universe, can be recovered, in principle, assuming that gravity is the overall interaction assembling systems starting from microscopic scales, whose order of magnitude is ruled by the Planck length and the related Compton wavelength. This result agrees with the absence of screening mechanisms for the gravitational interaction and could be connected to the presence of Yukawa corrections in the Newtonian potential which introduce typical interaction lengths. This result directly comes out from quantization of primordial black holes and then characteristic interaction lengths directly emerge from quantum field theory.Comment: 11 page

Recoil ions from the β decay of Sb 134 confined in a Paul trap

The low-energy recoiling ions from the β decay of Sb134 were studied by using the Beta-decay Paul Trap. Using this apparatus, singly charged ions were suspended in vacuum at the center of a detector array used to detect emitted β particles, γ rays, and recoil ions in coincidence. The recoil ions emerge from the trap with negligible scattering, allowing β-decay properties and the charge-state distribution of the daughter ions to be determined from the β-ion coincidences. First-forbidden β-decay theory predicts a β-ν correlation coefficient of nearly unity for the 0- to 0+ transition from the ground state of Sb134 to the ground state of Te134. Although this transition was expected to have a nearly 100% branching ratio, an additional 17.2(52)% of the β-decay strength must populate high-lying excited states to obtain an angular correlation consistent with unity. The extracted charge-state distribution of the recoiling ions was compared with existing β-decay results and the average charge state was found to be consistent with the results from lighter nuclei

β-delayed neutron emission studies of i 137,138 and Cs 144,145 performed with trapped ions

A detailed study of the β-delayed neutron emission properties of I137,138 and Cs144,145 has been performed by confining ions in the Beta-decay Paul Trap. The daughter ions following β decay emerge from the trapped-ion cloud with negligible scattering allowing reconstruction of the recoil-ion energy from the time of flight. From this information, the neutron-emission branching ratios and neutron-energy spectra were deduced. The results for the I137 and Cs144,145 decays are in agreement with previous results performed using direct neutron-detection techniques. In the case of I138, a branching ratio of 6.18(50)% is obtained, yielding a value consistent with the more recent results, which are a factor of two larger than measurements made prior to 1978