Book Reviews

Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis. By David T.Moore. At The Center Of The Storm: The CIA During America\u27s Time of Crisis. By George Tenet with Bill Harlow. Female Suicide Bombers. By Rosemarie Skaine. Information Operations: Doctrine and Practice. By Christopher Paul. The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency. By Matthew M. Aid. The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist\u27s Memoir of Death and Redemption. By Kamal Saleem with Lynn Vincent. Attaché Extraordinaire: Vernon A. Walters in Brazil. By Frank Márcio De Oliveira

Book Reviews

Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis. By David T.Moore. At The Center Of The Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis. By George Tenet with Bill Harlow. Female Suicide Bombers. By Rosemarie Skaine. Information Operations: Doctrine and Practice. By Christopher Paul. The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency. By Matthew M. Aid. The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption. By Kamal Saleem with Lynn Vincent. Attaché Extraordinaire: Vernon A. Walters in Brazil. By Frank Márcio De Oliveira

How does moving public engagement with research online change audience diversity? Comparing inclusion indicators for 2019 & 2020 European Researchers' night events

Taking place annually in more than 400 cities, European Researchers’ Night is a pan- European synchronized event that aims to bring researchers closer to the public. In this paper audience profiles are compared from events in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, face-to-face events reached an estimated 1.6 million attendees, while in 2020, events shifted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reached an estimated 2.3 million attendees. Focusing on social inclusion metrics, survey data is analyzed across two national contexts (Ireland and Malta) in 2019 (n = 656) and 2020 (n = 506). The results from this exploratory, descriptive study shed light on how moving public engagement with research online shifted audience profiles. Based on prior research about the digital divide in access and use of online media, hypotheses were proposed that online European Researchers’ Night events would attract audiences with higher educational attainment levels and greater self-reported, subjective economic well-being. While changes were observed from 2019 to 2020, results for each hypothesis show a mixed picture. The first hypothesis was upheld for the highest education levels but failed for the lowest levels suggesting that the pivot to online events simultaneously attracted participants with no formal education and those with postgraduate qualifications, while attracting less of those with undergraduate or lower levels of education. The second hypothesis was not upheld, with online European Researchers’ Night events attracting audiences with slightly higher levels of economic well-being compared to face-to-face events. The findings of this study indicate that European Researchers’ Night events present a clear opportunity to measure the effects of the digital divide in relation to public engagement with research across Europe.peer-reviewe

CRLX101, a Nanoparticle–Drug Conjugate Containing Camptothecin, Improves Rectal Cancer Chemoradiotherapy by Inhibiting DNA Repair and HIF1α

Novel agents are needed to improve chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer. In this study, we assessed the ability of CRLX101, an investigational nanoparticle-drug conjugate containing the payload camptothecin (CPT), to improve therapeutic responses as compared to standard chemotherapy. CRLX101 was evaluated as a radiosensitizer in colorectal cancer cell lines and murine xenograft models. CRLX101 was as potent as CPT in vitro in its ability to radiosensitize cancer cells. Evaluations in vivo demonstrated that the addition of CRLX101 to standard chemoradiotherapy significantly increased therapeutic efficacy by inhibiting DNA repair and HIF-1α pathway activation in tumor cells. Notably, CRLX101 was more effective than oxaliplatin at enhancing the efficacy of chemoradiotherapy, with CRLX101 and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) producing the highest therapeutic efficacy. Gastrointestinal toxicity was also significantly lower for CRLX101 compared to CPT when combined with radiotherapy. Our results offer a preclinical proof of concept for CRLX101 as a modality to improve the outcome of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer treatment, in support of ongoing clinical evaluation of this agent (LCC1315 {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT02010567","term_id":"NCT02010567"}}NCT02010567)

A decade of timing an accretion-powered millisecond pulsar: The continuing spin down and orbital evolution of SAX J1808.4-3658

The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer has observed five outbursts from the transient 2.5 ms accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during 1998-2008. We present a pulse timing study of the most recent outburst and compare it with the previous timing solutions. The spin frequency of the source continues to decrease at a rate of (-5.5+/-1.2)x10^-18 Hz/s, which is consistent with the previously determined spin derivative. The spin-down occurs mostly during quiescence, and it is most likely due to the magnetic dipole torque from a B = 1.5x10^8 G dipolar field at the neutron star surface. We also find that the 2 hr binary orbital period is increasing at a rate of (3.80+/-0.06)x10^-12 s/s, also consistent with previous measurements. It remains uncertain whether this orbital change reflects secular evolution or short-term variability.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted by Ap

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force consensus proposal: Medical treatment of canine epilepsy in Europe

In Europe, the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) licensed for dogs has grown considerably over the last years. Nevertheless, the same questions remain, which include, 1) when to start treatment, 2) which drug is best used initially, 3) which adjunctive AED can be advised if treatment with the initial drug is unsatisfactory, and 4) when treatment changes should be considered. In this consensus proposal, an overview is given on the aim of AED treatment, when to start long-term treatment in canine epilepsy and which veterinary AEDs are currently in use for dogs. The consensus proposal for drug treatment protocols, 1) is based on current published evidence-based literature, 2) considers the current legal framework of the cascade regulation for the prescription of veterinary drugs in Europe, and 3) reflects the authors’ experience. With this paper it is aimed to provide a consensus for the management of canine idiopathic epilepsy. Furthermore, for the management of structural epilepsy AEDs are inevitable in addition to treating the underlying cause, if possible

Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): the wavelength dependence of galaxy structure versus redshift and luminosity

We study how the sizes and radial profiles of galaxies vary with wavelength, by fitting Se´rsic functions simultaneously to imaging in nine optical and near-infrared bands. To quantify the wavelength dependence of effective radius we use the ratio, R, of measurements in two rest- frame bands. The dependence of Se´rsic index on wavelength, N , is computed correspondingly. Vulcani et al. have demonstrated that different galaxy populations present sharply contrasting behaviour in terms of R and N . Here we study the luminosity dependence of this result. We find that at higher luminosities, early-type galaxies display a more substantial decrease in effective radius with wavelength, whereas late types present a more pronounced increase in Se´rsic index. The structural contrast between types thus increases with luminosity. By considering samples at different redshifts, we demonstrate that lower data quality reduces the apparent difference between the main galaxy populations. However, our conclusions remain robust to this effect. We show that accounting for different redshift and luminosity selections partly reconciles the size variation measured by Vulcani et al. with the weaker trends found by other recent studies. Dividing galaxies by visual morphology confirms the behaviour inferred using morphological proxies, although the sample size is greatly reduced. Finally, we demonstrate that varying dust opacity and disc inclination can account for features of the joint distribution of R and N for late-type galaxies. However, dust does not appear to explain the highest values of R and N . The bulge–disc nature of galaxies must also contribute to the wavelength dependence of their structure. Key words: galaxies: formation – galaxies: fundamental parameters – galaxies: general – galaxies: structure

A treatment evaluator tool to monitor the real-world effectiveness of inhaled aztreonam lysine in cystic fibrosis

Background: Studies are required that evaluate real-world outcomes of inhaled aztreonam lysine in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods: Our treatment-evaluator tool assessed the effectiveness of inhaled aztreonam in routine practice in 117 CF patients across four time periods (6–12 (P2) and 0–6 months (P1) pre-initiation, and 0–6 (T1) and 6–12 months (T2) post-initiation). Outcomes were: changes in %-predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), body-mass index (BMI), hospitalisation days and intravenous antibiotic usage. Results: Median FEV1% predicted for each 6-month period was 38.9%, 34.6%, 37.1% and 36.5%; median change was − 2.0% between P2 and P1, increasing to + 0.6% (p < 0.001) between P1 and T1. Annualised hospital bed-days was reduced (p = 0.05) post-initiation, as was intravenous antibiotics days (p = 0.001). BMI increased over 6 months post-initiation (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: In patients with CF in routine practice, inhaled aztreonam lysine is associated with improved lung function and weight, and reduced hospitalisation and intravenous antibiotic use