Global endometrial ablation: A modern day solution to an age‐old problem

Menorrhagia remains a significant health issue for women worldwide. Traditionally hysterectomy has been the treatment of choice when excessive menstrual bleeding remains unresolved by hormonal manipulation. In an attempt to provide a less invasive alternative to hysterectomy, traditional techniques such as rollerball endometrial ablation were developed 20 years ago. Although extremely effective, they possessed the potential of significant intra‐operative risks and their success depended on high technical proficiency of the surgeon. As surgery and technology evolved, second generation endometrial ablation devices were developed which demonstrated improved safety and efficacy rates that paralleled traditional treatments. Since 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved five such devices for use in the United States. Each possesses a unique technology profile with supporting level I evidence that allows for the treatment of a wide variety of uterine anatomy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135279/1/ijgo156.pd

Monte Carlo study of the superfluid weight in doped antiferromagnets

The phase fluctuations of the condensate in doped antiferromagnets, described by a t-t'-J model and a suitable 1/N expansion, provide a mechanism for a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) type of transition to a superconducting state below T_{c}. In this paper, we present a Monte Carlo study of the corresponding superfluid weight D_{s}(T) in the classical (large-N) limit, as a function of temperature and doping. Consistent with generic experimental trends, D_{s}(T) exhibits a T-linear decrease at low temperatures, with the magnitude of the slope D_{s}'(0) increasing upon doping. Finite-size scaling in the underdoped regime predicts values for the dimensionless ratio A=k_{B}T_{c}/D_{s}(0) of order unity, with A=0.4435(5) in the half-filled-band limit, thus confirming D_{s}(0) as the fundamental energy scale determining T_{c}. Our Monte Carlo results for D_{s}(T)/D_{s}(0) vs k_{B}T/D_{s}(0), at 10% hole doping, are found to be in reasonable agreement with recent measurements on La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}, with x=0.10, throughout the temperature range below the theoretical KT transition temperature T_{c}.Comment: 9 pages, REVTEX file (4 Postscript figures). To appear in Phys. Rev.

Prenatal allergen and diesel exhaust exposure and their effects on allergy in adult offspring mice

Multiple studies have suggested that prenatal exposure to either allergens or air pollution may increase the risk for the development of allergic immune responses in young offspring. However, the effects of prenatal environmental exposures on adult offspring have not been well-studied. We hypothesized that combined prenatal exposure to Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) allergen and diesel exhaust particles will be associated with altered IgE production, airway inflammation, airway hyperreactivity (AHR), and airway remodeling of adult offspring. Following sensitization via the airway route to A. fumigatus and mating, pregnant BALB/c mice were exposed to additional A. fumigatus and/or diesel exhaust particles. At age 9-10 weeks, their offspring were sensitized and challenged with A. fumigatus. We found that adult offspring from mice that were exposed to A. fumigatus or diesel exhaust particles during pregnancy experienced decreases in IgE production. Adult offspring of mice that were exposed to both A. fumigatus and diesel exhaust particles during pregnancy experienced decreases in airway eosinophilia. These results suggest that, in this model, allergen and/or diesel administration during pregnancy may be associated with protection from developing systemic and airway allergic immune responses in the adult offspring

Pinned Balseiro-Falicov Model of Tunneling and Photoemission in the Cuprates

The smooth evolution of the tunneling gap of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8 with doping from a pseudogap state in the underdoped cuprates to a superconducting state at optimal and overdoping, has been interpreted as evidence that the pseudogap must be due to precursor pairing. We suggest an alternative explanation, that the smoothness reflects a hidden SO(N) symmetry near the (pi,0) points of the Brillouin zone (with N = 3, 4, 5, or 6). Because of this symmetry, the pseudogap could actually be due to any of a number of nesting instabilities, including charge or spin density waves or more exotic phases. We present a detailed analysis of this competition for one particular model: the pinned Balseiro-Falicov model of competing charge density wave and (s-wave) superconductivity. We show that most of the anomalous features of both tunneling and photoemission follow naturally from the model, including the smooth crossover, the general shape of the pseudogap phase diagram, the shrinking Fermi surface of the pseudogap phase, and the asymmetry of the tunneling gap away from optimal doping. Below T_c, the sharp peak at Delta_1 and the dip seen in the tunneling and photoemission near 2Delta_1 cannot be described in detail by this model, but we suggest a simple generalization to account for inhomogeneity, which does provide an adequate description. We show that it should be possible, with a combination of photoemission and tunneling, to demonstrate the extent of pinning of the Fermi level to the Van Hove singularity. A preliminary analysis of the data suggests pinning in the underdoped, but not in the overdoped regime.Comment: 18 pages LaTeX, 26 ps. figure

FGFR1 cleavage and nuclear translocation regulates breast cancer cell behavior

This work was supported by funding from Breast Cancer Campaign and the Wellcome Trust

The inclusion of Slovak Roma pupils in secondary school: contexts of language policy and planning

The arrival of large numbers of Slovak Roma to Sheffield over a relatively short period has inserted two new languages (Slovak and Romani) into an already diverse, multilingual school environment. Schools face challenges in welcoming the new migrant children, inducting and integrating them and facilitating access to the English school curriculum. This paper draws on longitudinal ethnolinguistic research in one secondary school in Sheffield that has experienced this migration and language situation and responded in a variety of ways. Utilizing an analytical framework based upon “language-in-education planning” (LEP, [Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997, Language planning. From practice to theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters]) and “micro language planning” (MLP, [Liddicoat & Taylor-Leech, 2014, Micro language planning for multilingual education: Agency in local contexts. Current Issues in Language Planning, 15(3), 237–244]), the various emergent practices are examined. Findings show that the school is engaging in various “unplanned” practices to surmount the language and pedagogical issues, thus highlighting the role of MLP as a necessary part of more macro LEP processes

Why ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’ is a myth?

The often-used phrase ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’ implies a flat-surfaced Tibet rose as a coherent entity, and that uplift was driven entirely by the collision and northward movement of India. Here, we argue that these are misconceptions derived in large part from simplistic geodynamic and climate modeling, as well as proxy misinterpretation. The growth of Tibet was a complex process involving mostly Mesozoic collisions of several Gondwanan terranes with Asia, thickening the crust and generating complex relief before the arrival of India. In this review, Earth system modeling, paleoaltimetry proxies and fossil finds contribute to a new synthetic view of the topographic evolution of Tibet. A notable feature overlooked in previous models of plateau formation was the persistence through much of the Cenozoic of a wide east–west orientated deep central valley, and the formation of a plateau occurred only in the late Neogene through compression and internal sedimentation

Nuclear Entry of Activated MAPK Is Restricted in Primary Ovarian and Mammary Epithelial Cells

The MAPK/ERK1/2 serine kinases are primary mediators of the Ras mitogenic signaling pathway. Phosphorylation by MEK activates MAPK/ERK in the cytoplasm, and phospho-ERK is thought to enter the nucleus readily to modulate transcription.Here, however, we observe that in primary cultures of breast and ovarian epithelial cells, phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 are disassociated from nuclear translocalization and transcription of downstream targets, such as c-Fos, suggesting that nuclear translocation is limited in primary cells. Accordingly, in import assays in vitro, primary cells showed a lower import activity for ERK1/2 than cancer cells, in which activated MAPK readily translocated into the nucleus and activated c-Fos expression. Primary cells express lower levels of nuclear pore complex proteins and the nuclear transport factors, importin B1 and importin 7, which may explain the limiting ERK1/2 import found in primary cells. Additionally, reduction in expression of nucleoporin 153 by siRNA targeting reduced ERK1/2 nuclear activity in cancer cells.ERK1/2 activation is dissociated from nuclear entry, which is a rate limiting step in primary cells and in vivo, and the restriction of nuclear entry is disrupted in transformed cells by the increased expression of nuclear pores and/or nuclear transport factors

Klf5 maintains the balance of primitive endoderm versus epiblast specification during mouse embryonic development by suppression of Fgf4

We developed a versatile method for three-dimensional shape measurement where a specific particle can be selected on the substrate and its cross-sectional shape and size can be measured. A non-contact fast measurement is possible for the particle in the resonance domain. We applied rigorous coupled-wave analysis to the particle and calculated the diffraction patterns, comparing the patterns with the experimental results to obtain the size and shape. The shape and position of the focusing spot on the scattering particle was controlled precisely. With this method, the category of the analyzable object is extended to more shapes, such as rectangles and triangles, in addition to a conventional ellipsoid