Ovulaster protodecimae n. sp. (Echinoidea, Spatangoida) and associated epifauna (Cirripedia, Verrucidae) from the Danian of northeastern Italy

A new species of irregular echinoid, Ovulaster protodecimae, is described from the Danian Scaglia Rossa Formation out-cropping in the Venetian Prealps (Southern Alps, northeastern Italy). The new species, belonging to the order Spatangoida, is very distinctive because of its inflated, almost triangular test, the high-positioned peri-proct and the plate arrangement on the oral face. This is the first report of the genus Ovulaster in the Danian of Italy and the first description of an echinoid from the Early Palaeocene of Italy. One test has an epifauna of the sessile verrucid barnacle Verruca sp. cf. V. prisca Bosquet, 1854, attached on all except the oral surface

Irbesartan improves arterial compliance more than lisinopril

BACKGROUND Antihypertensive agents can reduce arterial stiffness. We hypothesized that an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) irbesartan and an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) lisinopril improved arterial compliance. METHODS A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled crossover trial. Fifteen hypertensive patients, mean age 65.5 +/- 8.9 years (mean +/- SD) were given irbesartan (150 to 300 mg/day) or lisinopril (10 to 20 mg/day) for 12 weeks and then crossed over for 12 weeks. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) in the carotid-femoral (CF), carotid-radial (CR), and femoral dorsalis-pedis (FD) were measured using a Complior((R)) PWV system. RESULTS After 12 weeks, systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased from 162.4 +/- 12.9 to 134.5 +/- 14.8 with irbesartan and to 145.2 +/- 25 mmHg with lisinopril. Irbesartan and lisinopril reduced PWV (CF) in the elastic arterial system from 15.1 +/- 5 to 13.3 +/- 2.6 (p < 0.005) and to 14 +/- 4.7 (p < 0.05) m/s respectively (p = 0.345). Irbesartan reduced PWV (CR) and PWV (FD), whereas lisinopril did not. The difference between treatments was significant after SBP adjustment (p = 0.037 for PWV (CR) and p < 0.001 for PWV (FD)). CONCLUSIONS Irbesartan improved arterial compliance in elastic and muscular arteries, whereas lisinopril improved it only in elastic arteries

Differences in daptomycin and vancomycin ex vivo behaviour can lead to false interpretation of negative blood cultures

AbstractIn clinical studies on bacteraemia, the negativity of blood cultures is an important endpoint for comparing the efficacy of different therapeutic regimens. In FAN° anaerobic blood culture medium (BacT/ALERT system), daptomycin displayed increased MIC against Staphylococcus aureus and improved abolishment of its carryover effect in charcoal when compared with vancomycin. Differences between these two drugs can lead to a false interpretation of negative blood cultures. To compare different antibiotic regimens for the treatment of bacteraemia, preliminary studies are mandatory to ensure that ex vivo antibiotic behaviour is similar in the blood-culture system used

Relation between composition and vacant oxygen sites in the mixed ionicelectronic conductors La5.4W1 yMyO12 delta M Mo, Re; 0 lt; y lt; 0.2 and their mother compound La6 xWO12 delta 0.4 lt; x lt; 0.8

A detailed analysis of specimen composition, water uptake and their interrelationship in the systems La6 xWO12 amp; 948; 0.4 amp; 8804; x amp; 8804;0.8 and La6 xW1 yMyO12 amp; 948; 0 amp; 8804;y amp; 8804;0.2; M Mo, Re is presented. The three specimen series were investigated in dry and wet D2O conditions. A systematic trend in mass loss and onset temperature variation was observed in La6 xWO12 amp; 948; 0.4 amp; 8804;x amp; 8804;0.8 . Even very small amounts lt; 1 wt of secondary phases were found to notably modify the specimen s water uptake and onset temperature of mass loss. The theoretical model for vacancy concentration available was used to calculate the vacant oxygen sites starting from mass loss values determined by thermogravimetry. A discrepancy between the calculated and observed concentration of vacant oxygen sites is observed for all three systems. The effect of substitution of W by Re or Mo on the vacancy amount is explained taking into account diffraction measurements and information on the oxidation state of the substituting elements Mo and R

Geotecnologias e aprendizagem espacial em ambiente educacional: o mapeamento de nascentes utilizando técnicas de geoprocessamento por meio de softwares livres.

The headwaters of streams are extremely important to maintain the water sources and contribute to the permanent preservation areas (PPA) and hence with the ecosystems of any region. Thus this aspect were investigated by mapping using GIS techniques by free software. The data were validated by field research conducted by students of the 1st year of high school ? Escola Estadual de Ensino Médio Pedro Migliorini, located in the municipality of Monte Belo do Sul, Brazil. The objective of the study was to allow students to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the headwaters of the city, analyzing water usage, as well as the situation of the same as the environmental laws. Students were divided into work areas, conducted interviews with landowners in order to research on the consumption and use of water and what methods are used for the preservation of the spring on the property. To assess if the sources informed the owners comply with current legislation, GIS tools were employed and was generated a buffer of 50 meters (area corresponding to PPA) around the source. At the end of the study were located 427 points with the following observations: 1) 95 are used for human consumption, 2) 107 for animal consumption, 3) 145 have some protection; 4) 23 are in accordance with current legislation . 37 springs were not informed about the use

Targeting the CXCR4 pathway using a novel anti-CXCR4 IgG1 antibody (PF-06747143) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

BackgroundThe CXCR4-CXCL12 axis plays an important role in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-microenvironment interaction. Overexpression of CXCR4 has been reported in different hematological malignancies including CLL. Binding of the pro-survival chemokine CXCL12 with its cognate receptor CXCR4 induces cell migration. CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling axis promotes cell survival and proliferation and may contribute to the tropism of leukemia cells towards lymphoid tissues and bone marrow. Therefore, we hypothesized that targeting CXCR4 with an IgG1 antibody, PF-06747143, may constitute an effective therapeutic approach for CLL.MethodsPatient-derived primary CLL-B cells were assessed for cytotoxicity in an in vitro model of CLL microenvironment. PF-06747143 was analyzed for cell death induction and for its potential to interfere with the chemokine CXCL12-induced mechanisms, including migration and F-actin polymerization. PF-06747143 in vivo efficacy was determined in a CLL murine xenograft tumor model.ResultsPF-06747143, a novel-humanized IgG1 CXCR4 antagonist antibody, induced cell death of patient-derived primary CLL-B cells, in presence or absence of stromal cells. Moreover, cell death induction by the antibody was independent of CLL high-risk prognostic markers. The cell death mechanism was dependent on CXCR4 expression, required antibody bivalency, involved reactive oxygen species production, and did not require caspase activation, all characteristics reminiscent of programmed cell death (PCD). PF-06747143 also induced potent B-CLL cytotoxicity via Fc-driven antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and complement-dependent cytotoxicity activity (CDC). PF-06747143 had significant combinatorial effect with standard of care (SOC) agents in B-CLL treatment, including rituximab, fludarabine (F-ara-A), ibrutinib, and bendamustine. In a CLL xenograft model, PF-06747143 decreased tumor burden and improved survival as a monotherapy, and in combination with bendamustine.ConclusionsWe show evidence that PF-06747143 has biological activity in CLL primary cells, supporting a rationale for evaluation of PF-06747143 for the treatment of CLL patients

Selfie acustiche con il progetto selfear: un&apos;applicazione mobile per l&apos;acquisizione a basso costo di pinna-related transfer function

Le esperienze di realta virtuale e aumentata stanno riscontrando una grande diffusione e le tecnologie per la spazializzazione del suono in cuffia saranno fondamentali per la diffusione di scenari applicativi immersivi in supporti mobile. Questo articolo affronta le problematiche legate alla acquisizione di head-related tranfer function (HRTF) con dispositivi a basso costo, accessibili a chiunque, in qualsiasi luogo e che forniscano delle misurazioni fruibili in tempi brevi. In particolare la soluzione proposta denominata "the SelfEar project" si focalizza sull'acquisizione delle trasformazioni spettrali ad opera dell'orecchio esterno contenute nella pinna-related transfer function (PRTF); l'utente viene guidato nella misurazione di HRTF in ambiente non anecoico attraverso una procedura auto-regolabile. Le informazioni acustiche sono infatti acquisite tramite un headset per la realt`a acustica aumentata che include un set di microfoni posizionati in prossimit\ue0 dei canali uditivi dell'ascoltatore. Proponiamo una sessione di misurazione con l'obiettivo di acquisire le caratteristiche spettrali della PRTF di un manichino KEMAR, confrontandoli con i risultati che si otterrebbero con una procedura in ambiente anecoico. In entrambi i casi i risultati dipendono fortemente dalla posizione dei microfoni, senza considerare in questo scenario il problema legato ai movimenti di un eventuale soggetto umano. Considerando la qualit\ue0 generale e la variabilit\ue0 dei risultati, cos\uec come le risorse totali necessarie, il progetto SelfEar propone una promettente soluzione per una procedura a basso costo di acquisizione di PRTF, e pi\uf9 in generale di HRTF

Dark Matter Direct Detection with Non-Maxwellian Velocity Structure

The velocity distribution function of dark matter particles is expected to show significant departures from a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. This can have profound effects on the predicted dark matter - nucleon scattering rates in direct detection experiments, especially for dark matter models in which the scattering is sensitive to the high velocity tail of the distribution, such as inelastic dark matter (iDM) or light (few GeV) dark matter (LDM), and for experiments that require high energy recoil events, such as many directionally sensitive experiments. Here we determine the velocity distribution functions from two of the highest resolution numerical simulations of Galactic dark matter structure (Via Lactea II and GHALO), and study the effects for these scenarios. For directional detection, we find that the observed departures from Maxwell-Boltzmann increase the contrast of the signal and change the typical direction of incoming DM particles. For iDM, the expected signals at direct detection experiments are changed dramatically: the annual modulation can be enhanced by more than a factor two, and the relative rates of DAMA compared to CDMS can change by an order of magnitude, while those compared to CRESST can change by a factor of two. The spectrum of the signal can also change dramatically, with many features arising due to substructure. For LDM the spectral effects are smaller, but changes do arise that improve the compatibility with existing experiments. We find that the phase of the modulation can depend upon energy, which would help discriminate against background should it be found.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures, submitted to JCAP. Tables of g(v_min), the integral of f(v)/v from v_min to infinity, derived from our simulations, are available for download at http://astro.berkeley.edu/~mqk/dmdd