Eating Christmas Cookies, Whole-wheat Bread and Frozen Chicken in the Kindergarten: Doing Pedagogy by Other Means

The study presented here explores eating as a pedagogical practice by paying attention to arrangements of things such as Christmas cookies, whole-wheat and white bread, frozen chicken, plates, chairs, tables, and freezers. Through a series of ethnographic research examples from German and Brazilian preschools, it investigates how eating in the kindergarten can be a sensual pleasure, a health risk, an ethnic custom, or a civil right within different local histories. Through specific arrangements of foods and other things, young children are educated to eat with moderation, to change their ethnic dietary habits, or to be "modern citizens". Pedagogy can thus consist of doing public health, doing ethnic identity, or doing citizenship. Eating is an important way of doing pedagogy in early childhood education and care settings. © 2013 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Correction to: Pattern recognition and pharmacokinetic methods on DCE-MRI data for tumor hypoxia mapping in sarcoma

The article Pattern recognition and pharmacokinetic methods on DCE-MRI data for tumor hypoxia mapping in sarcoma, written by M. Venianaki, O. Salvetti, E. de Bree, T. Maris, A. Karantanas, E. Kontopodis, K. Nikiforaki, K. Marias, was originally published electronically without open access

Pattern recognition and pharmacokinetic methods on DCE-MRI data for tumor hypoxia mapping in sarcoma

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the intrinsic tumor physiologic characteristics in patients with sarcoma through model-free analysis of dynamic contrast enhanced MR imaging data (DCE-MRI). Clinical data were collected from three patients with two different types of histologically proven sarcomas who underwent conventional and advanced MRI examination prior to excision. An advanced matrix factorization algorithm has been applied to the data, resulting in the identification of the principal time-signal uptake curves of DCE-MRI data, which were used to characterize the physiology of the tumor area, described by three different perfusion patterns i.e. hypoxic, well-perfused and necrotic one. The performance of the algorithm was tested by applying different initialization approaches with subsequent comparison of their results. The algorithm was proven to be robust and led to the consistent segmentation of the tumor area in three regions of different perfusion, i.e. well- perfused, hypoxic and necrotic. Results from the model-free approach were compared with a widely used pharmacokinetic (PK) model revealing significant correlations

Repair of an inguinoscrotal hernia containing the urinary bladder: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Cases of patients with inguinoscrotal hernia containing the urinary bladder are very rare. These patients usually present with frequent episodes of urinary tract infection, difficulty in walking, pollakisuria and difficulty in initiating micturition because of incarceration of the urinary bladder into the scrotum.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe the case of an 80-year-old Caucasian man with an incarcerated urinary bladder into the scrotum who underwent surgical repair with mesh.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Diagnosis of such cases often requires not only clinical examination but also specialized radiological examinations to show the ectopic position of the urinary bladder. Surgical repair in these patients is a real challenge for surgeons.</p

A randomized phase III study of the docetaxel/carboplatin combination versus docetaxel single-agent as second line treatment for patients with advanced/metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To compare the activity and toxicity of docetaxel/carboplatin (DC) doublet vs single agent docetaxel (D) as second-line treatment in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients pre-treated with front-line platinum-free regimens, were randomized to receive either docetaxel/carboplatin (DC), (docetaxel 50 mg/m²; carboplatin AUC4; both drugs administered on days 1 and 15) or docetaxel single-agent (D), (docetaxel 50 mg/m²on days 1 and 15).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Response rate was similar between the two arms (DC vs D: 10.4% vs 7.7%; p = 0.764). After a median follow-up time of 28.0 months for DC arm and 34.5 months for D arm, progression free survival (PFS) was significantly higher in the DC arm (DC vs D:3.33 months vs 2.60 months; p-value = 0.012), while no significant difference was observed in terms of overall survival (OS) (DC vs D: 10.3 months vs 7.70 months; p-value = 0.550). Chemotherapy was well-tolerated and grade III/IV toxicities were relatively infrequent. No toxic deaths were observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study has not achieved its primary objective of significant OS prolongation with docetaxel/carboplatin combination over single-agent docetaxel in patients who had not received front-line docetaxel; however, the docetaxel/carboplatin combination was associated with a significant clinical benefit in terms of PFS.</p

Discovery of X-ray polarization angle rotation in active galaxy Mrk 421

The magnetic field conditions in astrophysical relativistic jets can be probed by multiwavelength polarimetry, which has been recently extended to X-rays. For example, one can track how the magnetic field changes in the flow of the radiating particles by observing rotations of the electric vector position angle $\Psi$. Here we report the discovery of a $\Psi_{\mathrm x}$ rotation in the X-ray band in the blazar Mrk 421 at an average flux state. Across the 5 days of Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observations of 4-6 and 7-9 June 2022, $\Psi_{\mathrm x}$ rotated in total by $\geq360^\circ$. Over the two respective date ranges, we find constant, within uncertainties, rotation rates ($80 \pm 9$ and $91 \pm 8 ^\circ/\rm day$) and polarization degrees ($\Pi_{\mathrm x}=10\%\pm1\%$). Simulations of a random walk of the polarization vector indicate that it is unlikely that such rotation(s) are produced by a stochastic process. The X-ray emitting site does not completely overlap the radio/infrared/optical emission sites, as no similar rotation of $\Psi$ was observed in quasi-simultaneous data at longer wavelengths. We propose that the observed rotation was caused by a helical magnetic structure in the jet, illuminated in the X-rays by a localized shock propagating along this helix. The optically emitting region likely lies in a sheath surrounding an inner spine where the X-ray radiation is released

Magnetic Field Properties inside the Jet of Mrk 421: Multiwavelength Polarimetry Including the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

We conducted a polarimetry campaign from radio to X-ray wavelengths of the high-synchrotron-peak (HSP) blazar Mrk 421, including Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) measurements on 2022 December 6-8. We detected X-ray polarization of Mrk 421 with a degree of $\Pi_{\rm X}$=14$\pm$1$\%$ and an electric-vector position angle $\psi_{\rm X}$=107$\pm$3$^{\circ}$ in the 2-8 keV band. From the time variability analysis, we find a significant episodic variation in $\psi_{\rm X}$. During 7 months from the first IXPE pointing of Mrk 421 in 2022 May, $\psi_{\rm X}$ varied across the range of 0$^{\circ}$ to 180$^{\circ}$, while $\Pi_{\rm X}$ maintained similar values within $\sim$10-15$\%$. Furthermore, a swing in $\psi_{\rm X}$ in 2022 June was accompanied by simultaneous spectral variations. The results of the multiwavelength polarimetry show that the X-ray polarization degree was generally $\sim$2-3 times greater than that at longer wavelengths, while the polarization angle fluctuated. Additionally, based on radio, infrared, and optical polarimetry, we find that rotation of $\psi$ occurred in the opposite direction with respect to the rotation of $\psi_{\rm X}$ over longer timescales at similar epochs. The polarization behavior observed across multiple wavelengths is consistent with previous IXPE findings for HSP blazars. This result favors the energy-stratified shock model developed to explain variable emission in relativistic jets. The accompanying spectral variation during the $\psi_{\rm X}$ rotation can be explained by a fluctuation in the physical conditions, e.g., in the energy distribution of relativistic electrons. The opposite rotation direction of $\psi$ between the X-ray and longer-wavelength polarization accentuates the conclusion that the X-ray emitting region is spatially separated from that at longer wavelengths.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables; Accepted for publication in A&

X-ray Polarization Observations of BL Lacertae

Blazars are a class of jet-dominated active galactic nuclei with a typical double-humped spectral energy distribution. It is of common consensus the Synchrotron emission to be responsible for the low frequency peak, while the origin of the high frequency hump is still debated. The analysis of X-rays and their polarization can provide a valuable tool to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the origin of high-energy emission of blazars. We report the first observations of BL Lacertae performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer ({IXPE}), from which an upper limit to the polarization degree $\Pi_X<$12.6\% was found in the 2-8 keV band. We contemporaneously measured the polarization in radio, infrared, and optical wavelengths. Our multiwavelength polarization analysis disfavors a significant contribution of proton synchrotron radiation to the X-ray emission at these epochs. Instead, it supports a leptonic origin for the X-ray emission in BL Lac.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ