Elderberries

Publication gives identification characteristics of elderberries and how to make syrup, jelly, and pie using elderberries

Brachial Artery Constriction during Brachial Artery Reactivity Testing Predicts Major Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Women with Suspected Myocardial Ischemia: Results from the NHLBI-Sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study

Background:Limited brachial artery (BA) flow-mediated dilation during brachial artery reactivity testing (BART) has been linked to increased cardiovascular risk. We report on the phenomenon of BA constriction (BAC) following hyperemia.Objectives:To determine whether BAC predicts adverse CV outcomes and/or mortality in the women's ischemic Syndrome Evaluation Study (WISE). Further, as a secondary objective we sought to determine the risk factors associated with BAC.Methods:We performed BART on 377 women with chest pain referred for coronary angiography and followed for a median of 9.5 years. Forearm ischemia was induced with 4 minutes occlusion by a cuff placed distal to the BA and inflated to 40mm Hg > systolic pressure. BAC was defined as >4.8% artery constriction following release of the cuff. The main outcome was major adverse events (MACE) including all-cause mortality, non-fatal MI, non-fatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure.Results:BA diameter change ranged from -20.6% to +44.9%, and 41 (11%) women experienced BAC. Obstructive CAD and traditional CAD risk factors were not predictive of BAC. Overall, 39% of women with BAC experienced MACE vs. 22% without BAC (p=0.004). In multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, BAC was a significant independent predictor of MACE (p=0.018) when adjusting for obstructive CAD and traditional risk factors.Conclusions:BAC predicts almost double the risk for major adverse events compared to patients without BAC. This risk was not accounted for by CAD or traditional risk factors. The novel risk marker of BAC requires further investigation in women. © 2013 Sedlak et al

Revealing oft-cited but unpublished papers of Colin Pittendrigh and coworkers

Among the scientific resources that Colin Pittendrigh passed on to his colleagues after his death in 1996 were two unpublished papers. These manuscripts, developed first in the mid-1960s and continually updated and refined through the late 1970s, centered on the development and experimental exploration of a model of circadian entrainment combining aspects of the well-known parametric (continuous) and nonparametric (discrete) models of entrainment. These texts reveal the experimental work surrounding Pittendrigh's determination of the limits of entrainment and the explanation of the bistability phenomenon. These manuscripts are being made publicly available in their final format (February 1978) as supplementary material to this introduction

Application of the technology neutral framework to sodium cooled fast reactors

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-116).Sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs) are considered as a novel example to exercise the Technology Neutral Framework (TNF) proposed in NUREG- 1860. One reason for considering SFRs is that they have historically had a licensing problem due to postulated core disruptive accidents. Two SFR designs are considered, and both meet the goals of the TNF that LWRs typically would not. Considering these goals have been met, a method for improving economics is proposed where systems of low risk-importance are identified as candidates for removal, simplification, or removal from safety grade. Seismic risk dominates these designs and is found to be a limiting factor when applying the TNF. The contributions of this thesis are the following: 1. Functional event trees are developed as a tool to allow different designs to be compared on an equal basis. Functional event trees are useful within the TNF as a method for the selection of Licensing Basis Events (LBEs) which take the place of traditional Design Basis Accidents. 2. A new importance measure, Limit Exceedance Factor (LEF), is introduced that measures the margin in system failure probability. It can be used directly with the TNF where standard importance measures cannot. It also reveals that some systems that appear to be of high risk-importance with standard importance measures may have significant margin. 3. The seismic risk dominates these designs. It is shown that even under optimistic assumptions, the goals of the TNF cannot be met by a typical reactor. The effect of seismic isolation to reduce the frequency of seismically initiated large releases is also analyzed and found to be insufficient to reach the goals of the TNF. A limit on initiating event frequency that is consistent with current practices is proposed.by Brian C. Johnson.Ph.D

Equivariant Stiefel-Whitney classes

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Tangential families of study vectors

This paper is devoted to the study of families of tangent lines to curves in Euclidean three dimensional space by the medium of a particular representation for lines. First, a ring of elements called dual numbers is described, and a vector space over this ring, whose elements are called dual vectors, is defined. Next, a subset of the dual vectors is singled out. The members of this subset are called Study vectors. The set of Study vectors is shown to be in one-to-one correspondence with the set of all directed lines in Euclidean three dimensional space. Study vectors are used to represent the lines to which they correspond. A necessary and several sufficient conditions on a family of Study vectors are given in order that they form a family of tangents to a curve in Euclidean three dimensional space

Targeting fibroblast activation protein in tumor stroma with chimeric antigen receptor T cells can inhibit tumor growth and augment host immunity without severe toxicity.

The majority of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell research has focused on attacking cancer cells. Here, we show that targeting the tumor-promoting, nontransformed stromal cells using CAR T cells may offer several advantages. We developed a retroviral CAR construct specific for the mouse fibroblast activation protein (FAP), comprising a single-chain Fv FAP [monoclonal antibody (mAb) 73.3] with the CD8α hinge and transmembrane regions, and the human CD3ζ and 4-1BB activation domains. The transduced muFAP-CAR mouse T cells secreted IFN-γ and killed FAP-expressing 3T3 target cells specifically. Adoptively transferred 73.3-FAP-CAR mouse T cells selectively reduced FAP(hi) stromal cells and inhibited the growth of multiple types of subcutaneously transplanted tumors in wild-type, but not FAP-null immune-competent syngeneic mice. The antitumor effects could be augmented by multiple injections of the CAR T cells, by using CAR T cells with a deficiency in diacylglycerol kinase, or by combination with a vaccine. A major mechanism of action of the muFAP-CAR T cells was the augmentation of the endogenous CD8(+) T-cell antitumor responses. Off-tumor toxicity in our models was minimal following muFAP-CAR T-cell therapy. In summary, inhibiting tumor growth by targeting tumor stroma with adoptively transferred CAR T cells directed to FAP can be safe and effective, suggesting that further clinical development of anti-human FAP-CAR is warranted

Outcomes of a research project to identify the enablers and barriers to effective preceptorship for newly qualified nurses

Poster presentationFunded by Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Trus