Highly effective liquid and solid phase extraction methods to concentrate radioiodine isotopes for radioiodination chemistry

Radioactive iodine isotopes play a pivotal role in radiopharmaceuticals. Large-scale production of multi-patient dose of radioiodinated nuclear medicines requires high concentration of radioiodine. We demonstrate that tetrabutylammonium chloride and methyltrioctylamonium chloride are effective phase transfer reagents to concentrate iodide-124, iodide-125 and iodide-131 from the corresponding commercial water solutions. The resulting concentrated radioiodide, in the presence of either phase transfer reagent, does not hamper the chemical reactivity of aqueous radioiodide in the copper (II)-mediated one-pot three-component click chemistry to produce radioiodinated iodotriazoles

Matched sizes of activating and inhibitory receptor/ligand pairs are required for optimal signal integration by human Natural Killer cells

It has been suggested that receptor-ligand complexes segregate or co-localise within immune synapses according to their size, and this is important for receptor signaling. Here, we set out to test the importance of receptor-ligand complex dimensions for immune surveillance of target cells by human Natural Killer (NK) cells. NK cell activation is regulated by integrating signals from activating receptors, such as NKG2D, and inhibitory receptors, such as KIR2DL1. Elongating the NKG2D ligand MICA reduced its ability to trigger NK cell activation. Conversely, elongation of KIR2DL1 ligand HLA-C reduced its ability to inhibit NK cells. Whereas normal-sized HLA-C was most effective at inhibiting activation by normal-length MICA, only elongated HLA-C could inhibit activation by elongated MICA. Moreover, HLA-C and MICA that were matched in size co-localised, whereas HLA-C and MICA that were different in size were segregated. These results demonstrate that receptor-ligand dimensions are important in NK cell recognition, and suggest that optimal integration of activating and inhibitory receptor signals requires the receptor-ligand complexes to have similar dimensions

In search of stool donors: a multicentre study of prior knowledge, perceptions, motivators and deterrents among potential donors for fecal microbiota transplantation

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a highly effective therapy for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. Stool donors are essential, but difficult to recruit and retain. We aimed to identify factors influencing willingness to donate stool. This multi-center study with a 32-item questionnaire targeted young adults and health care workers via social media and university email lists in Edmonton and Kingston, Canada; London and Nottingham, England; and Indianapolis and Boston, USA. Items included baseline demographics and FMT knowledge and perception. Investigated motivators and deterrents included economic compensation, screening process, time commitment, and stool donation logistics. Logistic regression and linear regression models estimated associations of study variables with self-assessed willingness to donate stool. 802 respondents completed our questionnaire: 387 (48.3%) age 21-30 years, 573 (71.4%) female, 323 (40%) health care workers. Country of residence, age and occupation were not associated with willingness to donate stool. Factors increasing willingness to donate were: already a blood donor (OR 1.64), male, altruism, economic benefit, knowledge of how FMT can help patients (OR 1.32), and positive attitudes towards FMT (OR 1.39). Factors decreasing willingness to donate were: stool collection unpleasant (OR 0.92), screening process invasive (OR 0.92), higher stool donation frequency, negative social perception of stool, and logistics of collection/transporting feces. We conclude that 1) blood donors and males are more willing to consider stool donation; 2) altruism, economic compensation, and positive feedback are motivators; and 3) screening process, high donation frequency, logistics of collection/transporting feces, lack of public awareness, and negative social perception are deterrents. Considering these variables could maximize donor recruitment and retention

Loving work: drawing attention to pleasure and pain in the body of the cultural worker

In this article, we present our current research into the body and mind at work, with a particular focus on experiences and implications of enjoyment and love of work within the culture sector. This research is developed through the project Manual Labours that explores the historical conditioning between the body and mind in the so-called immaterial labour conditions. The project aims to identify positive and negative affective labour and the role that physical relationships to work can have in helping conceptualise current working conditions. The enjoyment of work leads to complex differentiations between work and life. This article explores the implications of exploitative labour conditions as self-employed or salaried passionate workers are internalising and developing a sense of ‘un-alienated’ ownership over their wage labour

Taxon ordering in phylogenetic trees by means of evolutionary algorithms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In in a typical "left-to-right" phylogenetic tree, the vertical order of taxa is meaningless, as only the branch path between them reflects their degree of similarity. To make unresolved trees more informative, here we propose an innovative Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) method to search the best graphical representation of unresolved trees, in order to give a biological meaning to the vertical order of taxa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Starting from a West Nile virus phylogenetic tree, in a (1 + 1)-EA we evolved it by randomly rotating the internal nodes and selecting the tree with better fitness every generation. The fitness is a sum of genetic distances between the considered taxon and the <it>r </it>(radius) next taxa. After having set the radius to the best performance, we evolved the trees with (<it>λ </it>+ <it>μ</it>)-EAs to study the influence of population on the algorithm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The (1 + 1)-EA consistently outperformed a random search, and better results were obtained setting the radius to 8. The (<it>λ </it>+ <it>μ</it>)-EAs performed as well as the (1 + 1), except the larger population (1000 + 1000).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The trees after the evolution showed an improvement both of the fitness (based on a genetic distance matrix, then close taxa are actually genetically close), and of the biological interpretation. Samples collected in the same state or year moved close each other, making the tree easier to interpret. Biological relationships between samples are also easier to observe.</p

Does a self-referral counselling program reach doctors in need of help? A comparison with the general Norwegian doctor workforce

BACKGROUND: Doctors have a relatively high degree of emotional distress, but seek help to a lesser degree and at a later stage than other academic groups. This can be deleterious for themselves and for their patients. Prevention programs have therefore been developed but it is unclear to what extent they reach doctors in need of help. This study describes doctors who participated in a self-referrral, easily accessible, stress relieving, counselling program in Norway, and compares them with a nationwide sample of Norwegian doctors. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty seven (94%) of the doctors, 117 women and 110 men, who came to the resort centre Villa Sana, Modum, Norway, between August 2003 and July 2005, agreed to participate in the study. Socio-demographic data, reasons for and ways of help-seeking, sick-leave, symptoms of depression and anxiety, job stress and burnout were assessed by self-reporting questionnaires. RESULTS: Forty-nine percent of the Sana doctors were emotionally exhausted (Maslach) compared with 25% of all Norwegian doctors. However, they did not differ on empathy and working capacity, the other two dimensions in Maslach's burnout inventory. Seventy-three percent of the Sana doctors could be in need of treatment for depression or anxiety based on their symptom distress scores, compared with 14% of men and 18% of women doctors in Norway. Twenty-one percent of the Sana doctors had a history of suicidal thoughts, including how to commit the act, as compared to 10% of Norwegian doctors in general. CONCLUSION: Sana doctors displayed a higher degree of emotional exhaustion, symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as job related stress, compared with all Norwegian doctors. This may indicate that the program at Villa Sana to a large extent reaches doctors in need of help. The counselling intervention can help doctors to evaluate their professional and private situation, and, when necessary, enhance motivation for seeking adequate treatment

The role of receptivity in the courtship behavior of Podocnemis erythrocephala in captivity

The courtship behavior of Podocnemis erythrocephala (Red-headed Amazon River Turtle) in captivity was studied to examine female receptivity and male response to female rejection. We observed 20 females and 39 males in 150 sessions (3–6 h/day for a total of 450 h). In 36% of the trials, there was no interaction between males and females, and 20% of the trials resulted in copulations. All males introduced into tanks approached females, and eventually there was aggression among the males. In 48% of the experiments, females also searched for or approached males. When males initially approached females, they either accepted the male’s advances (14%), rejected the male passively (38%), or rejected the male aggressively (48%). In 86% of the cases where males were rejected, 4% attempted to approach females again, and in 51% they were ultimately successful

A search for the decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l

We present a search for the lepton flavor violating decay modes B+/- to h+/- tau l (h= K,pi; l= e,mu) using the BaBar data sample, which corresponds to 472 million BBbar pairs. The search uses events where one B meson is fully reconstructed in one of several hadronic final states. Using the momenta of the reconstructed B, h, and l candidates, we are able to fully determine the tau four-momentum. The resulting tau candidate mass is our main discriminant against combinatorial background. We see no evidence for B+/- to h+/- tau l decays and set a 90% confidence level upper limit on each branching fraction at the level of a few times 10^-5.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.