Cavity Optomechanical Magnetometer

A cavity optomechanical magnetometer is demonstrated where the magnetic field induced expansion of a magnetostrictive material is transduced onto the physical structure of a highly compliant optical microresonator. The resulting motion is read out optically with ultra-high sensitivity. Detecting the magnetostrictive deformation of Terfenol-D with a toroidal whispering gallery mode (TWGM) resonator a peak sensitivity of 400 nT/Hz^.5 was achieved with theoretical modelling predicting that sensitivities of up to 500 fT/Hz^.5 may be possible. This chip-based magnetometer combines high-sensitivity and large dynamic range with small size and room temperature operation

Encontro casual na região central do Texas fornece informações sobre a ecologia da estivação de Siren nettingi (Caudata: Sirenidae)

Siren spp. costumam ser vertebrados dominantes nas áreas úmidas que ocupam e são conhecidas por estivar quando essas áreas úmidas secam. Considerações práticas limitam as observações in situ de indivíduos em estivação. Em 12 de outubro de 2021, descobrimos por acaso um agregado em estivação de Siren nettingi no condado de Bastrop, Texas, Estados Unidos. Essas salamandras foram escavadas em solo compacto e rochoso adjacente a uma estrada de caliche, em profundidades que variavam entre ~0,2 e 1,5 m. A vegetação dominante nesse local incluía Ulmus crassifolia, Persicaria sp. e várias espécies de gramíneas. Recuperamos 140 indivíduos, dos quais sete foram resgatados e 133 foram capturados vivos. Medimos 115 deles quanto ao comprimento rostro-cloacal (SVL) e observamos que o agregado era dominado por jovens. Estimamos uma densidade de estivação de 2,33 indivíduos/m2 que é comparável às densidades estimadas para populações sem estivação. No entanto, como não houve monitoramento para esse estudo, provavelmente tenha ocorrido um evento de mortalidade em massa. Portanto, sugerimos que a construção de estradas no habitat preferido seja considerada uma ameaça às populações dessas salamandras.Siren spp. are often dominant vertebrates in the wetlands they occupy and are known to estivate when such wetlands dry up. Practical considerationslimit in-situ observations of estivating individuals. On 12 October 2021, we incidentally discovered an estivating aggregate of Siren nettingi in Bastrop County, Texas, USA. These salamanders were excavated from compact, rocky soil adjacent to a caliche road, at depths that ranged between ~0.2 to 1.5 m. The dominant vegetation at this site included Ulmus crassifolia, Persicaria sp., and various grass species. We recovered 140 individuals of which seven were salvaged and 133 were captured live. We measured 115 of these for snout–vent length (SVL) and observed the aggregate was predominated by juveniles. We estimated an estivation density of 2.33 sirens/m2 that is comparable to densities estimated for non-estivating populations. However, in-lieu of monitoring that was in place for this study, we expect a mass mortality event would have likely occurred. We therefore suggest that roadway construction in preferred habitat be considered as a threat to siren populations

Staging of endometrial cancer with MRI: Guidelines of the European Society of Urogenital Imaging

The purpose of this study was to define guidelines for endometrial cancer staging with MRI. The technique included critical review and expert consensus of MRI protocols by the female imaging subcommittee of the European Society of Urogenital Radiology, from ten European institutions, and published literature between 1999 and 2008. The results indicated that high field MRI should include at least two T2-weighted sequences in sagittal, axial oblique or coronal oblique orientation (short and long axis of the uterine body) of the pelvic content. High-resolution post-contrast images acquired at 2min ± 30 s after intravenous contrast injection are suggested to be optimal for the diagnosis of myometrial invasion. If cervical invasion is suspected, additional slice orientation perpendicular to the axis of the endocervical channel is recommended. Due to the limited sensitivity of MRI to detect lymph node metastasis without lymph node-specific contrast agents, retroperitoneal lymph node screening with pre-contrast sequences up to the level of the kidneys is optional. The likelihood of lymph node invasion and the need for staging lymphadenectomy are also indicated by high-grade histology at endometrial tissue sampling and by deep myometrial or cervical invasion detected by MRI. In conclusion, expert consensus and literature review lead to an optimized MRI protocol to stage endometrial cance

Genome-wide association study of borderline personality disorder reveals genetic overlap with bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia

Borderline personality disorder (BOR) is determined by environmental and genetic factors, and characterized by affective instability and impulsivity, diagnostic symptoms also observed in manic phases of bipolar disorder (BIP). Up to 20% of BIP patients show comorbidity with BOR. This report describes the first case–control genome-wide association study (GWAS) of BOR, performed in one of the largest BOR patient samples worldwide. The focus of our analysis was (i) to detect genes and gene sets involved in BOR and (ii) to investigate the genetic overlap with BIP. As there is considerable genetic overlap between BIP, major depression (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) and a high comorbidity of BOR and MDD, we also analyzed the genetic overlap of BOR with SCZ and MDD. GWAS, gene-based tests and gene-set analyses were performed in 998 BOR patients and 1545 controls. Linkage disequilibrium score regression was used to detect the genetic overlap between BOR and these disorders. Single marker analysis revealed no significant association after correction for multiple testing. Gene-based analysis yielded two significant genes: DPYD (P=4.42 × 10−7) and PKP4 (P=8.67 × 10−7); and gene-set analysis yielded a significant finding for exocytosis (GO:0006887, PFDR=0.019; FDR, false discovery rate). Prior studies have implicated DPYD, PKP4 and exocytosis in BIP and SCZ. The most notable finding of the present study was the genetic overlap of BOR with BIP (rg=0.28 [P=2.99 × 10−3]), SCZ (rg=0.34 [P=4.37 × 10−5]) and MDD (rg=0.57 [P=1.04 × 10−3]). We believe our study is the first to demonstrate that BOR overlaps with BIP, MDD and SCZ on the genetic level. Whether this is confined to transdiagnostic clinical symptoms should be examined in future studies

Staging of endometrial cancer with MRI: guidelines of the european society of urogenital imaging

The purpose of this study was to define guidelines for endometrial cancer staging with MRI. The technique included critical review and expert consensus of MRI protocols by the female imaging subcommittee of the European Society of Urogenital Radiology, from ten European institutions, and published literature between 1999 and 2008. The results indicated that high field MRI should include at least two T2-weighted sequences in sagittal, axial oblique or coronal oblique orientation (short and long axis of the uterine body) of the pelvic content. High-resolution postcontrast images acquired at 2 min ± 30 s after intravenous contrast injection are suggested to be optimal for the diagnosis of myometrial invasion. If cervical invasion is suspected, additional slice orientation perpendicular to the axis of the endocervical channel is recommended. Due to the limited sensitivity of MRI to detect lymph node metastasis without lymph nodespecific contrast agents, retroperitoneal lymph node screening with pre-contrast sequences up to the level of the kidneys is optional. The likelihood of lymph node invasion and the need for staging lymphadenectomy are also indicated by high-grade histology at endometrial tissue sampling and by deep myometrial or cervical invasion detected by MRI. In conclusion, expert consensus and literature review lead to an optimized MRI protocol to stage endometrial cancer

MR and CT techniques

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) are routinely used in female pelvis imaging. MRI is primarily useful for locoregional characterization of benign and malignant diseases. CT is less accurate in locoregional evaluation, but remains useful in the follow-up of treated gynecological malignancies, as well as in the setting of emergency and in the guidance of biopsies. Although transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasonography (US) is not under the scope of this chapter, it remains the first-line imaging method for most gynecological conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Genome-wide association study identifies 30 Loci Associated with Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a highly heritable psychiatric disorder. We performed a genome-wide association study including 20,352 cases and 31,358 controls of European descent, with follow-up analysis of 822 variants with P\u3c1×10−4 in an additional 9,412 cases and 137,760 controls. Eight of the 19 variants that were genome-wide significant (GWS, p \u3c 5×10−8) in the discovery GWAS were not GWS in the combined analysis, consistent with small effect sizes and limited power but also with genetic heterogeneity. In the combined analysis 30 loci were GWS including 20 novel loci. The significant loci contain genes encoding ion channels, neurotransmitter transporters and synaptic components. Pathway analysis revealed nine significantly enriched gene-sets including regulation of insulin secretion and endocannabinoid signaling. BDI is strongly genetically correlated with schizophrenia, driven by psychosis, whereas BDII is more strongly correlated with major depressive disorder. These findings address key clinical questions and provide potential new biological mechanisms for BD

Curvature-coupling dependence of membrane protein diffusion coefficients

We consider the lateral diffusion of a protein interacting with the curvature of the membrane. The interaction energy is minimized if the particle is at a membrane position with a certain curvature that agrees with the spontaneous curvature of the particle. We employ stochastic simulations that take into account both the thermal fluctuations of the membrane and the diffusive behavior of the particle. In this study we neglect the influence of the particle on the membrane dynamics, thus the membrane dynamics agrees with that of a freely fluctuating membrane. Overall, we find that this curvature-coupling substantially enhances the diffusion coefficient. We compare the ratio of the projected or measured diffusion coefficient and the free intramembrane diffusion coefficient, which is a parameter of the simulations, with analytical results that rely on several approximations. We find that the simulations always lead to a somewhat smaller diffusion coefficient than our analytical approach. A detailed study of the correlations of the forces acting on the particle indicates that the diffusing inclusion tries to follow favorable positions on the membrane, such that forces along the trajectory are on average smaller than they would be for random particle positions.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

"Safe" Coulomb Excitation of 30Mg

We report on the first radioactive beam experiment performed at the recently commissioned REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN in conjunction with the highly efficient gamma spectrometer MINIBALL. Using 30Mg ions accelerated to an energy of 2.25 MeV/u together with a thin nat-Ni target, Coulomb excitation of the first excited 2+ states of the projectile and target nuclei well below the Coulomb barrier was observed. From the measured relative de-excitation gamma ray yields the B(E2; 0+ -> 2+) value of 30Mg was determined to be 241(31) e2fm4. Our result is lower than values obtained at projectile fragmentation facilities using the intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation method, and confirms the theoretical conjecture that the neutron-rich magnesium isotope 30Mg lies still outside the ``island of inversion''