The late bronze age in Scotland

This work was of necessity been based to a great extent on the typology of bronze and gold objects; the continuing lack of knowledge of burials, settlements and common pottery in the first millenium B.C. remains an unsolved problem. However, the distinction of a type of pottery, termed Covesea Ware, has provided the first information that may enable us to discuss a truly Late Bronze Age culture, rather than mere industries, and the appearance of gold armlets in varying circumstances, fully documented in Appendix ii, provides a hint of a solution to the funerary problem. The list of settlement sites, Traprain and Jarlshof, remains small, although several hut- circles have yielded evidence of Late Bronze Age use, and this also opens up a new line of pursuit.The Late Bronze Age in Scotland has been studied on previous occasions, notably by Childe in 1935 and 1946, but he placed the emphasis on the more unusual aspects of the period, such as the settlement at Jarlshof. Collections of material were carried out by Callander in 1923 and by Henderson in 1938. In 1931 Miss Benton provided the first hint that the Scottish Late Bronze Age was not merely a crude reflection of English and Irish technology and typology, but unfortunately the effect of her thesis was the further confusion of the issue, because of the lack of discrimination in pottery definitions. Nevertheless, the suggestions advanced in 1931 have been substantiated, in a somewhat different form, in the present work.The method of study employed here included a careful re- examination of most of the bronze and gold objects, and this has not been without its rewards of new information. In practically all cases, and wherever possible, former published work and reports were followed up and checked, and the results, especially with regard to shields, sometimes necessitated an entirely new approach.The typological studies are based upon the English and Irish material, and published work and personal inspection of objects from these areas form the main field of comparative typology; however, as will be seen, the chronological systems employed in England and Ireland have not been used or adapted, because of the unique position of Scotland in the Late Bronze Age, the recipient of influences from all quarters.The writer has tried to steer clear of most temptations to interpret typology into sociology, with the exception of a short digression into the field of ethnology. The recent attempts to postulate social organizations from the composition of bronze hoards have not, in my opinion, been convincing, and these are not considered here

NKX2-5 regulates the expression of beta-catenin and GATA4 in ventricular myocytes.

BackgroundThe molecular pathway that controls cardiogenesis is temporally and spatially regulated by master transcriptional regulators such as NKX2-5, Isl1, MEF2C, GATA4, and beta-catenin. The interplay between these factors and their downstream targets are not completely understood. Here, we studied regulation of beta-catenin and GATA4 by NKX2-5 in human fetal cardiac myocytes.Methodology/principal findingsUsing antisense inhibition we disrupted the expression of NKX2-5 and studied changes in expression of cardiac-associated genes. Down-regulation of NKX2-5 resulted in increased beta-catenin while GATA4 was decreased. We demonstrated that this regulation was conferred by binding of NKX2-5 to specific elements (NKEs) in the promoter region of the beta-catenin and GATA4 genes. Using promoter-luciferase reporter assay combined with mutational analysis of the NKEs we demonstrated that the identified NKX2-5 binding sites were essential for the suppression of beta-catenin, and upregulation of GATA4 by NKX2-5.ConclusionsThis study suggests that NKX2-5 modulates the beta-catenin and GATA4 transcriptional activities in developing human cardiac myocytes

Subaortic stenosis in the spectrum of atrioventricular septal defects Solutions may be complex and palliative

AbstractFrom July 1982 through September 1994, 19 children had operative treatment of subaortic stenosis associated with an atrioventricular septal defect. Specific diagnosis were septum primum defects in 7, Rastelli type A defects in 6, transitional defects in 4, inlet ventricular septal defect with malattached chordae in 1, and tetralogy of Fallot with Rastelli type C defect in 1. Twenty-seven operations for subaortic stenosis were performed. Surgical treatment of the outlet lesion was performed at initial atrioventricular septal defect repair in 3 children and in the remaining 16 from 1.2 to 13.1 years (mean 4.9 years, median 3.9 years) after repair. Eighteen of the 19 children had fibrous resection and myectomy for relief of obstruction. Seven children had an associated left atrioventricular valve procedure. One child received an apicoaortic conduit. Seven children (36.8%) required 8 reoperations for previously treated subaortic stenosis. Time to the second procedure was 2.8 to 7.4 years (mean 4.9 years). Follow-up is 0.4 to 14.0 years (median 5.6 years). Six-year actuarial freedom from reoperation is 66% ±15%. The angle between the plane of the outlet septum and the plane of the septal crest was measured in 10 normal hearts (86.4 ±13.7) and 10 hearts with atrioventricular septal defects (22.2 ±26.0; p <0.01). The outflow tract can be effectively shortened, widened, and the angle increased toward normal by augmenting the left side of the superior bridging leaflet and performing a fibromyectomy. Conclusion: Standard fibromyectomy for subaortic stenosis in children with atrioventricular septal defects leads to a high rate of reoperation. Leaflet augmentation and fibromyectomy may decrease the likelihood of reoperation. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;110:1534-42

Anthropometric indices of Gambian children after one or three annual rounds of mass drug administration with azithromycin for trachoma control.

BACKGROUND: Mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin, carried out for the control of blinding trachoma, has been linked to reduced mortality in children. While the mechanism behind this reduction is unclear, it may be due, in part, to improved nutritional status via a potential reduction in the community burden of infectious disease. To determine whether MDA with azithromycin improves anthropometric indices at the community level, we measured the heights and weights of children aged 1 to 4 years in communities where one (single MDA arm) or three annual rounds (annual MDA arm) of azithromycin had been distributed. METHODS: Data collection took place three years after treatment in the single MDA arm and one year after the final round of treatment in the annual MDA arm. Mean height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height z scores were compared between treatment arms. RESULTS: No significant differences in mean height-for-age, weight-for-age or weight-for-height z scores were found between the annual MDA and single MDA arms, nor was there a significant reduction in prevalence of stunting, wasting or underweight between arms. CONCLUSIONS: Our data do not provide evidence that community MDA with azithromycin improved anthropometric outcomes of children in The Gambia. This may suggest reductions in mortality associated with azithromycin MDA are due to a mechanism other than improved nutritional status

Synthesis of kinase inhibitors containing a pentafluorosulfanyl moiety

A series of 3-methylidene-1H-indol-2(3H)-ones substituted with a 5- or 6- pentafluorosulfanyl group has been synthesized by a Knoevenagel condensation reaction of SF5-substituted oxindoles with a range of aldehydes. The resulting products were characterized by x-ray crystallography studies and were tested for biological activity versus a panel of cell lines and protein kinases. Some exhibited single digit nM activity

A multicentre study of the evidence for customized margins in photon breast boost radiotherapy

Objective:To determine if subsets of patients may benefit from smaller or larger margins when using laser setup and bony anatomy verification of breast tumour bed (TB) boost radiotherapy (RT).Methods: Verification imaging data acquired using cone-beam CT, megavoltage CT or two-dimensional kilovoltage imaging on 218 patients were used (1574 images). TB setup errors for laser-only setup (dlaser) and for bony anatomy verification (dbone) were determined using clips implanted into the TB as a gold standard for the TB position. Cases were grouped by centre-, patient- and treatment-related factors, including breast volume, TB position, seroma visibility and surgical technique. Systematic (?) and random (?) TB setup errors were compared between groups, and TB planning target volume margins (MTB) were calculated.Results: For the study population, ?laser was between 2.8 and 3.4?mm, and ?bone was between 2.2 and 2.6?mm, respectively. Females with larger breasts (p?=?0.03), easily visible seroma (p???0.02) and open surgical technique (p???0.04) had larger ?laser. ?bone was larger for females with larger breasts (p?=?0.02) and lateral tumours (p?=?0.04). Females with medial tumours (p?&lt;?0.01) had smaller ?bone.Conclusion:If clips are not used, margins should be 8 and 10?mm for bony anatomy verification and laser setup, respectively. Individualization of TB margins may be considered based on breast volume, TB and seroma visibility.Advances in knowledge:Setup accuracy using lasers and bony anatomy is influenced by patient and treatment factors. Some patients may benefit from clip-based image guidance more than others

Synthesis of bioorganometallic nanomolar-potent CB2agonists containing a ferrocene unit

A small library of ferrocene-containing amides has been synthesized using standard amide coupling chemistry with ferrocenylamine. Ferrocene analogues of known bioactive adamantylamides were shown to be effective cannabinoid receptor (CB1 and CB2) agonists, displaying, in many cases, single-digit nanomolar potency. Three final ferrocene-containing derivatives have been characterized in the solid state by X-ray crystallography and display intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the type NH---C═O. N-Methylation of the amide, confirmed by X-ray crystallography, leads to both loss of hydrogen bonding and biological activity

Acute skin toxicity associated with a 1-week schedule of whole breast radiotherapy compared with a standard 3-week regimen delivered in the UK FAST-Forward Trial

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: FAST-Forward is a phase 3 clinical trial testing a 1-week course of whole breast radiotherapy against the UK standard 3-week regimen after primary surgery for early breast cancer. Two acute skin toxicity substudies were undertaken to test the safety of the test schedules with respect to early skin reactions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients were randomly allocated to 40Gy/15 fractions (F)/3-weeks, 27Gy/5F/1-week or 26Gy/5F/1-week. Acute breast skin reactions were graded using RTOG (first substudy) and CTCAE criteria v4.03 (second substudy) weekly during treatment and for 4weeks after treatment ended. Primary endpoint was the proportion of patients within each treatment group with grade ⩾3 toxicity (RTOG and CTCAE, respectively) at any time from the start of radiotherapy to 4weeks after completion. RESULTS: 190 and 162 patients were recruited. In the first substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 RTOG toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 6/44 (13.6%); 27Gy/5F 5/51 (9.8%); 26Gy/5F 3/52 (5.8%). In the second substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 CTCAE toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 0/43; 27Gy/5F 1/41 (2.4%); 26Gy/5F 0/53. CONCLUSIONS: Acute breast skin reactions with two 1-week schedules of whole breast radiotherapy under test in FAST-Forward were mild

Spin-photon interface and spin-controlled photon switching in a nanobeam waveguide

Access to the electron spin is at the heart of many protocols for integrated and distributed quantum-information processing [1-4]. For instance, interfacing the spin-state of an electron and a photon can be utilized to perform quantum gates between photons [2,5] or to entangle remote spin states [6-9]. Ultimately, a quantum network of entangled spins constitutes a new paradigm in quantum optics [1]. Towards this goal, an integrated spin-photon interface would be a major leap forward. Here we demonstrate an efficient and optically programmable interface between the spin of an electron in a quantum dot and photons in a nanophotonic waveguide. The spin can be deterministically prepared with a fidelity of 96\%. Subsequently the system is used to implement a "single-spin photonic switch", where the spin state of the electron directs the flow of photons through the waveguide. The spin-photon interface may enable on-chip photon-photon gates [2], single-photon transistors [10], and efficient photonic cluster state generation [11]