Simulated drilling noise affects the space use of a large terrestrial mammal

Wildlife is exposed to increasing anthropogenic disturbances related to shale oil and gas extraction in response to rising worldwide demands. As these disturbances increase in intensity and occurrence across the landscape, understanding their impacts is essential for management. On Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada), we equipped six white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus with GPS collars taking hourly locations. We then designed a playback experiment by simulating constant drilling noise emitted by generators to which half of the collared deer were exposed for a three-week period. Deer tolerated noise levels up to 70 dB(C). However, the number of locations recorded in areas where the noise was above 70 dB(C) was on average 73% (SE¿18%) lower than before the disturbance, which suggests that deer experienced fine scale functional habitat loss. This loss of habitat occurred up to 200 m from the noise source. The size of home ranges and movement rates did not appear to be affected by the noise disturbance. In addition, during the experiment, deer were able to relocate in areas of their home range where food availability was similar to that of sites used before the disturbance. These results show that drilling noise can affect the habitat use of white-tailed deer. However, future research is needed to better understand the cumulative impacts of shale mining on large mammals, as this study isolated only one of the many disturbances present near mining sites and for a limited perio

Wage losses in the year after breast cancer: Extent and determinants among Canadian women

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. © The Author 2008.Background - Wage losses after breast cancer may result in considerable financial burden. Their assessment is made more urgent because more women now participate in the workforce and because breast cancer is managed using multiple treatment modalities that could lead to long work absences. We evaluated wage losses, their determinants, and the associations between wage losses and changes for the worse in the family's financial situation among Canadian women over the first 12 months after diagnosis of early breast cancer. Methods - We conducted a prospective cohort study among women with breast cancer from eight hospitals throughout the province of Quebec. Information that permitted the calculation of wage losses and information on potential determinants of wage losses were collected by three pretested telephone interviews conducted over the year following the start of treatment. Information on medical characteristics was obtained from medical records. The main outcome was the proportion of annual wages lost because of breast cancer. Multivariable analysis of variance using the general linear model was used to identify personal, medical, and employment characteristics associated with the proportion of wages lost. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results - Among 962 eligible breast cancer patients, 800 completed all three interviews. Of these, 459 had a paying job during the month before diagnosis. On average, these working women lost 27% of their projected usual annual wages (median = 19%) after compensation received had been taken into account. Multivariable analysis showed that a higher percentage of lost wages was statistically significantly associated with a lower level of education (Ptrend = .0018), living 50 km or more from the hospital where surgery was performed (P = .070), lower social support (P = .012), having invasive disease (P = .086), receipt of chemotherapy (P < .001), self-employment (P < .001), shorter tenure in the job (Ptrend < .001), and part-time work (P < .001). Conclusion - Wage losses and their effects on financial situation constitute an important adverse consequence of breast cancer in Canada.The Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Fondation de l’Université Laval

PITUITARY ONTOGENY OF THE SNELL DWARF MOUSE REVEALS PIT-1-INDEPENDENT AND PIT-1-DEPENDENT ORIGINS OF THE THYROTROPE

The anterior pituitary provides a model to study the molecular mechanisms responsible for emergence of distinct cell types within an organ. Dwarf mice (Snell) that express a mutant form of the tissue-specific POU-domain transcription factor Pit-1 fail to generate three cell types, including the thyrotrope (S. Li, E. B. Crenshaw, E. J. Rawson, D. S. Simmons, L. Swanson and M. G. Rosenfeld (1990), Nature 347, 528-533). Analyses of wild-type and Pit-1-defective mice, presented here, have revealed that thyrotropes unexpectedly arise from two independent cell populations. The first population is Pit-1-independent and appears on e12 in the rostral tip of the developing gland, but phenotypically disappears by the day of birth. The second is Pit-1-dependent and arises subsequently in the caudomedial portion of the developing gland (e15.5), following the initial expression of Pit-1 in this region. The failure of caudomedial thyrotrope cells to appear in the Snell dwarf, and the observation that Pit-1 can bind to and transactivate the TSH beta promoter, apparently enhanced by its phosphorylation, suggests that Pit-1 is directly required for the appearance of this distinct population that serves as the precursors of the mature thyrotrope cell type. These data suggest that different molecular mechanisms, based on the actions of distinct transcription factors, can serve to independently generate a specific cell phenotype during mammalian organogenesis

Grain boundary pinning and glassy dynamics in stripe phases

We study numerically and analytically the coarsening of stripe phases in two spatial dimensions, and show that transient configurations do not achieve long ranged orientational order but rather evolve into glassy configurations with very slow dynamics. In the absence of thermal fluctuations, defects such as grain boundaries become pinned in an effective periodic potential that is induced by the underlying periodicity of the stripe pattern itself. Pinning arises without quenched disorder from the non-adiabatic coupling between the slowly varying envelope of the order parameter around a defect, and its fast variation over the stripe wavelength. The characteristic size of ordered domains asymptotes to a finite value $R_g \sim \lambda_0\ \epsilon^{-1/2}\exp(|a|/\sqrt{\epsilon})$, where$\epsilon\ll 1$is the dimensionless distance away from threshold,$\lambda_0$the stripe wavelength, and$a$ a constant of order unity. Random fluctuations allow defect motion to resume until a new characteristic scale is reached, function of the intensity of the fluctuations. We finally discuss the relationship between defect pinning and the coarsening laws obtained in the intermediate time regime.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Corrected version with one new figur

FW propagation and absorption in reactor plasmas in the ICR frequency range at the quasiperpendicular propagation

On the base of the numerical model, taking into account the strong transverse and longitudinal dispersion of plasma, the absorption and dispersion of the Fast Mode of fast magnetosonic wave (FW) near ICR harmonics ω=nωci at the quasiperpendicular propagation regime were investigated. It was shown that in the region of small longitudinal refractive index values NII there appears the additional absorption that provides the value of optical thickness τ being constant in the entire region of additional absorption. At first and second harmonics the additional absorption can be interesting for FW plasma heating in the reactor-size devices. For higher harmonics it can be important for HF diagnostic purposes and for investigation of astrophysical plasmas.Дисперсия и поглощение быстрой моды быстрой магнитозвуковой волны (БВ) в области ионных циклотронных гармоник ω=nωci исследованы на основе численной модели, учитывающей сильную продольную и поперечную дисперсии плазмы. Показано, что в области малых продольных замедлений появляется дополнительное поглощение, которое обеспечивает постоянное значение оптической толщи во всей области проявления дополнительного поглощения. На первой и второй гармониках такое поглощение может быть интересно для нагрева реакторной плазмы. Для более высоких гармоник оно может быть важным для ВЧ-диагностики, а также для исследования астрофизической плазмы.Дисперсія і поглинання швидкої моди швидкої магнітозвукової хвилі (ШХ) в області іонних циклотронних гармонік ω=nωci досліджені на основі чисельної моделі, що враховує сильну поздовжню і поперечну дисперсії плазми. Показано, що в області малих поздовжніх уповільнень з'являється додаткове поглинання, яке забезпечує постійне значення оптичної товщі у всій області прояви додаткового поглинання. На першій і другій гармоніках таке поглинання може бути цікавим для нагріву реакторної плазми. Для більш високих гармонік воно може бути важливим для ВЧ-діагностики, а також для дослідження астрофізичної плазми

Compact, integrated dynamic holographic memory with refreshed holograms

An innovative architecture for compact, integrated volume holographic memories is described. It is based on phase-conjugate readout and on a modulator-detector-memory array implemented in a silicon integrated circuit. The lensless memory module sustains dynamic read-write holograms by periodic refreshing. The integrated circuit is described and experimentally characterized. Holograms were stored in a prototype storage module that uses a 30 degrees-cut BaTiO3 crystal and the 90 degrees recording geometry. As many as three angularly multiplexed holograms were periodically refreshed and subjected to >40% decay from exposure to the reference beam over 50 to 100 cycles. Experimental data are presented. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America

Holographic random access memory (HRAM)

WE examine the present state of holographic random access memory (HRAM) systems and address the primary challenges that face this technology, specifically size, speed, and cost. We show that a fast HRAM system can be implemented with a compact architecture by incorporating conjugate readout, a smart-pixel array, and a linear array of laser diodes. Preliminary experimental results support the feasibility of this architecture. Our analysis shows that in order for the HRAM to become competitive, the principal tasks will be to reduce spatial light modulator (SLM) and detector pixel sizes to I mu m, increase the output power of compact visible-wavelength lasers to several hundred milliwatts, and develop ways to raise the sensitivity of holographic media to the order of 1 cm/J

Multicentre phase II pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of OSI-7904L in previously untreated patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

A two-stage Simon design was used to evaluate the response rate of OSI-7904L, a liposome encapsulated thymidylate synthase inhibitor, in advanced gastric and/or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (A-G/GEJA), administered intravenously at 12 mg m−2 over 30 min every 21 days. Fifty patients were treated. Median age was 64 years (range 35–82), 62% were male and 89% had ECOG PS of 0/1. A total of 252 cycles were administered; median of 4 per patient (range 1–21). Twelve patients required dose reductions, mainly for skin toxicity. Investigator assessed response rate was 17.4% (95% CI 7.8–31.4) with one complete and seven partial responses in 46 evaluable patients. Twenty-one patients (42%) had stable disease. Median time to progression and survival were 12.4 and 36.9 weeks, respectively. NCI CTCAE Grade 3/4 neutropenia (14%) and thrombocytopenia (4%) were uncommon. The main G3/4 nonhaematological toxicities were skin-related 22%, stomatitis 14%, fatigue/lethargy 10%, and diarrhea 8%. Pharmacokinetic data showed high interpatient variability. Patients with higher AUC were more likely to experience G3/4 toxicity during cycle 1 while baseline homocysteine did not predict toxicity. Response did not correlate with AUC. Elevations in 2′-dU were observed indicating target inhibition. Analysis of TS genotype, TS protein and expression did not reveal any correlation with outcome. OSI-7904L has activity in A-G/GEJA similar to other active agents and an acceptable safety profile

Rift Valley fever virus structural and nonstructural proteins: recombinant protein expression and immunoreactivity against antisera from sheep

The Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) encodes the structural proteins nucleoprotein (N), aminoterminal glycoprotein (Gn), carboxyterminal glycoprotein (Gc), and L protein, 78-kD, and the nonstructural proteins NSm and NSs. Using the baculovirus system, we expressed the full-length coding sequence of N, NSs, NSm, Gc, and the ectodomain of the coding sequence of the Gn glycoprotein derived from the virulent strain of RVFV ZH548. Western blot analysis using anti-His antibodies and monoclonal antibodies against Gn and N confirmed expression of the recombinant proteins, and in vitro biochemical analysis showed that the two glycoproteins, Gn and Gc, were expressed in glycosylated form. Immunoreactivity profiles of the recombinant proteins in western blot and in indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against a panel of antisera obtained from vaccinated or wild type (RVFV)-challenged sheep confirmed the results obtained with anti-His antibodies and demonstrated the suitability of the baculo-expressed antigens for diagnostic assays. In addition, these recombinant proteins could be valuable for the development of diagnostic methods that differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA)