2,252 research outputs found
Intractable epilepsy in patients treated for childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia
AbstractPurposeIn the 1970s and 80s, standard treatment for childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) included both intrathecal methotrexate and whole-brain irradiation. During acute treatment, seizures were not uncommon. The development of intractable epilepsy years after treatment, however, has not been well described in the literature. We describe five patients who were treated for acute lymphocytic leukemia as children, who later developed intractable epilepsy.ResultsAll of the patients were diagnosed with leukemia before age seven. Treatment included both whole-brain irradiation and intrathecal chemotherapy. All five received intrathecal methotrexate; in addition, two also received intrathecal cytosine arabinoside. The first seizure occurred at a mean of 7.5 years after diagnosis. Four patients have multiple seizure types, and all patients have been on multiple antiepileptic drugs. All five patients are cognitively impaired.ConclusionsSuccessful treatment for childhood leukemia may be followed by signs of late cerebral injury including intractable epilepsy. We propose that neurotoxicity resulting from exposure to intrathecal methotrexate and cranial irradiation may have contributed to the intractable epilepsy seen in our five patients
Polaronic signature in the metallic phase of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy
In this work we map tunnel conductance curves with nanometric spatial
resolution, tracking polaronic quasiparticle excitations when cooling across
the insulator-to-metal transition in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films. In the insulating
phase the spectral signature of polarons, a depletion of conductance at low
bias flanked by peaks, is detected all over the scanned surface. These features
are still observed at the transition and persist on cooling into the metallic
phase. Polaron-binding energy maps reveal that polarons are not confined to
regions embedded in a highly-conducting matrix but are present over the whole
field of view both above and below the transition temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Strong-coupling analysis of scanning tunneling spectra in BiSrCaCuO
We study a series of spectra measured in the superconducting state of
optimally-doped Bi-2223 by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Each spectrum, as
well as the average of spectra presenting the same gap, is fitted using a
strong-coupling model taking into account the band structure, the BCS gap, and
the interaction of electrons with the spin resonance. After describing our
measurements and the main characteristics of the strong-coupling model, we
report the whole set of parameters determined from the fits, and we discuss
trends as a function of the gap magnitude. We also simulate angle-resolved
photoemission spectra, and compare with recent experimental results.Comment: Published versio
Looking at COVID-19 from a Systems Biology Perspective
The sudden outbreak and worldwide spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic pushed the scientific community to find fast solutions to cope with the health emergency. COVID-19 complexity, in terms of clinical outcomes, severity, and response to therapy suggested the use of multifactorial strategies, characteristic of the network medicine, to approach the study of the pathobiology. Proteomics and interactomics especially allow to generate datasets that, reduced and represented in the forms of networks, can be analyzed with the tools of systems biology to unveil specific pathways central to virus\u2013human host interaction. Moreover, artificial intelligence tools can be implemented for the identification of druggable targets and drug repurposing. In this review article, we provide an overview of the results obtained so far, from a systems biology perspective, in the understanding of COVID-19 pathobiology and virus\u2013host interactions, and in the development of disease classifiers and tools for drug repurposing
Design Mixers to Minimize Effects of Erosion and Corrosion Erosion
A thorough review of the major parameters that affect solid-liquid slurry wear on impellers and techniques for minimizing wear is presented. These major parameters include (i) chemical environment, (ii) hardness of solids, (iii) density of solids, (iv) percent solids, (v) shape of solids, (vi) fluid regime (turbulent, transitional, or laminar), (vii) hardness of the mixer's wetted parts, (viii) hydraulic efficiency of the impeller (kinetic energy dissipation rates near the impeller blades), (ix) impact velocity, and (x) impact frequency. Techniques for minimizing the wear on impellers cover the choice of impeller, size and speed of the impeller, alloy selection, and surface coating or coverings. An example is provided as well as an assessment of the approximate life improvement
Ligand-Based Regulation of Dynamics and Reactivity of Hemoproteins
Hemoproteins include several heme-binding proteins with distinct structure and function. The presence of the heme group confers specific reactivity and spectroscopic properties to hemoproteins. In this review, we provide an overview of five families of hemoproteins in terms of dynamics and reactivity. First, we describe how ligands modulate cooperativity and reactivity in globins, such as myoglobin and hemoglobin. Second, we move on to another family of hemoproteins devoted to electron transport, such as cytochromes. Later, we consider heme-based reactivity in hemopexin, the main heme-scavenging protein. Then, we focus on heme-albumin, a chronosteric hemoprotein with peculiar spectroscopic and enzymatic properties. Eventually, we analyze the reactivity and dynamics of the most recently discovered family of hemoproteins, i.e., nitrobindins
Fingerprint of dynamical charge/spin correlations in the tunneling spectra of colossal magnetoresistive manganites
We present temperature-dependent scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements
on () films with different degrees of biaxial
strain. A depletion in normalized conductance around the Fermi level is
observed both above and below the insulator-to-metal transition temperature
, for weakly as well as highly-strained films. This pseudogap-like
depletion globally narrows on cooling. The zero-bias conductance decreases on
cooling in the insulating phase, reaches a minimum close to and
increases on cooling in the metallic phase, following the trend of macroscopic
conductivity. These results support a recently proposed scenario in which
dynamical short-range antiferromagnetic/charge order correlations play a
preeminent role in the transport properties of colossal magnetoresistive
manganites [R. Yu \textit{et al}., Phys. Rev. B \textbf{77}, 214434 (2008)].Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
The WINGS Survey: a progress report
A two-band (B and V) wide-field imaging survey of a complete, all-sky X-ray
selected sample of 78 clusters in the redshift range z=0.04-0.07 is presented.
The aim of this survey is to provide the astronomical community with a complete
set of homogeneous, CCD-based surface photometry and morphological data of
nearby cluster galaxies located within 1.5 Mpc from the cluster center. The
data collection has been completed in seven observing runs at the INT and
ESO-2.2m telescopes. For each cluster, photometric data of about 2500 galaxies
(down to V~23) and detailed morphological information of about 600 galaxies
(down to V~21) are obtained by using specially designed automatic tools.
As a natural follow up of the photometric survey, we also illustrate a long
term spectroscopic program we are carrying out with the WHT-WYFFOS and AAT-2dF
multifiber spectrographs. Star formation rates and histories, as well as
metallicity estimates will be derived for about 350 galaxies per cluster from
the line indices and equivalent widths measurements, allowing us to explore the
link between the spectral properties and the morphological evolution in high-
to low-density environments, and across a wide range in cluster X-ray
luminosities and optical properties.Comment: 12 pages, 10 eps figures, Proceedings of the SAIt Conference 200
Children's exposure to Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and dibutylphthalate plasticizers from school meals.
Packed school meals for children 310 years old were studied to evaluate the levels of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate
(DEHP) and di-n-butylphthalate (DBP) and the influence of the packaging process on meal contamination, and their contribution
to daily intake was estimated. The packaging consisted of polyethylene-coated aluminum (PE/Al) dishes thermally welded by a
polyethyleneterephthalate-coated aluminum (PET/Al) foil. Foodstuffs before processing were analyzed, too. Total meals before
packaging and after packaging were collected. It was found that 92% of foodstuffs employed in meal preparation contained DEHP,
and 76% of them DBP, at detectable levels. In cooked foods before packaging the DEHP median concentration levels varied from
111.4 to 154.8 ng/g ww and those of DBP between 32.5 and 59.5 ng/g ww. In packed meals the DEHP median values ranged from
127.0 to 253.3 ng/g ww, and DBP median values varied from 44.1 to 80.5 ng/g ww. The mean increases of median concentrations of
DEHP in cooked foods before and after packaging were 113 and 125% for DBP
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