The ground state spin of 180Ta is not 8+

Experimental (p, d) cross-sections are compared with calculations using Nilsson wave functions and the DWBA in order to locate the members of the low lying (1+, 1) and (8+, 8) rotational bands in 180Ta

Evidence for Gallagher-Moszkowski doublets in 180Ta

Some residual neutron-proton interaction matrix elements have been deduced for band-head doublets in the odd-odd nucleus 180Ta from a spectroscopic study using the (p, d) reaction

Mechanistic within-host models of the asexual; Plasmodium falciparum; infection: a review and analytical assessment

BACKGROUND: Malaria blood-stage infection length and intensity are important drivers of disease and transmission; however, the underlying mechanisms of parasite growth and the host's immune response during infection remain largely unknown. Over the last 30 years, several mechanistic mathematical models of malaria parasite within-host dynamics have been published and used in malaria transmission models. METHODS: Mechanistic within-host models of parasite dynamics were identified through a review of published literature. For a subset of these, model code was reproduced and descriptive statistics compared between the models using fitted data. Through simulation and model analysis, key features of the models were compared, including assumptions on growth, immune response components, variant switching mechanisms, and inter-individual variability. RESULTS: The assessed within-host malaria models generally replicate infection dynamics in malaria-naive individuals. However, there are substantial differences between the model dynamics after disease onset, and models do not always reproduce late infection parasitaemia data used for calibration of the within host infections. Models have attempted to capture the considerable variability in parasite dynamics between individuals by including stochastic parasite multiplication rates; variant switching dynamics leading to immune escape; variable effects of the host immune responses; or via probabilistic events. For models that capture realistic length of infections, model representations of innate immunity explain early peaks in infection density that cause clinical symptoms, and model representations of antibody immune responses control the length of infection. Models differed in their assumptions concerning variant switching dynamics, reflecting uncertainty in the underlying mechanisms of variant switching revealed by recent clinical data during early infection. Overall, given the scarce availability of the biological evidence there is limited support for complex models. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that much of the inter-individual variability observed in clinical malaria infections has traditionally been attributed in models to random variability, rather than mechanistic disease dynamics. Thus, it is proposed that newly developed models should assume simple immune dynamics that minimally capture mechanistic understandings and avoid over-parameterization and large stochasticity which inaccurately represent unknown disease mechanisms

Bend it like Beckham: embodying the motor skills of famous athletes.

Observing an action activates the same representations as does the actual performance of the action. Here we show for the first time that the action system can also be activated in the complete absence of action perception. When the participants had to identify the faces of famous athletes, the responses were influenced by their similarity to the motor skills of the athletes. Thus, the motor skills of the viewed athletes were retrieved automatically during person identification and had a direct influence on the action system of the observer. However, our results also indicated that motor behaviours that are implicit characteristics of other people are represented differently from when actions are directly observed. That is, unlike the facilitatory effects reported when actions were seen, the embodiment of the motor behaviour that is not concurrently perceived gave rise to contrast effects where responses similar to the behaviour of the athletes were inhibited

Possible effects on avionics induced by terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are impulsive (intrinsically sub-millisecond) events associated with lightning in powerful thunderstorms. TGFs turn out to be very powerful natural accelerators known to accelerate particles and generate radiation up to hundreds of MeV energies. The number ratio of TGFs over normal lightning has been measured in tropical regions to be near 10−4. We address in this Article the issue of the possible susceptibility of typical aircraft electronics exposed to TGF particle, gamma ray and neutron irradiation. We consider possible scenarios regarding the intensity, the duration, and geometry of TGFs influencing nearby aircraft, and study their effects on electronic equipment. We calculate, for different assumptions, the total dose and the dose-rate, and estimate single-event-effects. We find that in addition to the electromagnetic component (electrons/positrons, gamma rays) also secondary neutrons produced by gamma-ray photo production in the aircraft structure substantially contribute to single-event effects in critical semiconductors components. Depending on the physical characteristics and geometry, TGFs may deliver a large flux of neutrons within a few milliseconds in an aircraft. This flux is calculated to be orders of magnitude larger than the natural cosmic-ray background, and may constitute a serious hazard to aircraft electronic equipment. We present a series of numerical simulations supporting our conclusions. Our results suggest the necessity of dedicated measurement campaigns addressing the radiative and particle environment of aircraft near or within thunderstorms

Impact of plasma-wall interaction and exhaust on the EU-DEMO design

In the present work, the role of plasma facing components protection in driving the EU-DEMO design will be reviewed, focusing on steady-state and, especially, on transients. This work encompasses both the first wall (FW) as well as the divertor. In fact, while the ITER divertor heat removal technology has been adopted, the ITER FW concept has been shown in the past years to be inadequate for EU-DEMO. This is due to the higher foreseen irradiation damage level, which requires structural materials (like Eurofer) able to withstand more than 5 dpa of neutron damage. This solution, however, limits the tolerable steady-state heat flux to ~1 MW/m2, i.e. a factor 3–4 below the ITER specifications. For this reason, poloidally and toroidally discontinuous protection limiters are implemented in EU-DEMO. Their role consists in reducing the heat load on the FW due to charged particles, during steady state and, more importantly, during planned and off-normal plasma transients. Concerning the divertor configuration, EU-DEMO currently assumes an ITER-like, lower single null (LSN) divertor, with seeded impurities for the dissipation of the power. However, this concept has been shown by numerous simulations in the past years to be marginal during steady-state (where a detached divertor is necessary to maintain the heat flux below the technological limit and to avoid excessive erosion) and unable to withstand some relevant transients, such as large ELMs and accidental loss of detachment. Various concepts, deviating from the ITER design, are currently under investigation to mitigate such risks, for example in-vessel coils for strike point sweeping in case of reattachment, as well as alternative divertor configurations. Finally, a broader discussion on the impact of divertor protection on the overall machine design is presented

The Utility of the Liverpool Adverse Drug Reaction Assessment Tools in the Evaluation of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Children

Introduction: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are common adverse drug reactions (ADR) experienced by children undergoing treatment for cancer. New paediatric ADR Assessment Causality and Avoidability tools (LCAT and LAAT) of Liverpool are suitable for categorizing factors related to ADR prevention and improving patient care. Still, no studies to date have compared the utility and results of its application for CINV in countries with different levels of development. Objective: To investigate the utility of the Liverpool Adverse Drug Reaction Causality and Avoidability Assessment Tools (LCAT and LAAT) in assessing CINV in children. Method: Prospective observational study of CINV assessment in children aged 4 to 16 years from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital (Liverpool, UK) and “Instituto de Puericultura e Pediatria Martagão Gesteira” (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Children (helped by the parents) completed a symptom diary during chemotherapy and for 24 hours after treatment. Information regarding underlying diagnosis, past medical history, and medications administered was collected from the patient record. Case reports were prepared, and the temporal relationship between nausea and vomiting and exposure to chemotherapy, including any strategy to prevent CINV, was recorded. The causality and avoidability were assessed with LCAT and LAAT, respectively. Results: There were 26 reports of CINV in 36 chemotherapy cycles. The causality assessment was ‘definite’ for 24 cases. Twenty ADRs were deemed ‘definitely avoidable’ and four ‘not avoidable’. Selection of inappropriate therapeutic options and non-administration of antiemetic were the most common factors observed in the hospitals studied. Conclusion: The LCAT and LAAT were helpful for assessing CINV in children in two different hospitals

Flow cytometry immunophenotyping for diagnostic orientation and classification of pediatric cancer based on the euroflow solid tumor orientation tube (Stot)

© 2021 by the authors.Early diagnosis of pediatric cancer is key for adequate patient management and improved outcome. Although multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) has proven of great utility in the diagnosis and classification of hematologic malignancies, its application to non-hematopoietic pediatric tumors remains limited. Here we designed and prospectively validated a new single eight-color antibody combination—solid tumor orientation tube, STOT—for diagnostic screening of pediatric cancer by MFC. A total of 476 samples (139 tumor mass, 138 bone marrow, 86 lymph node, 58 peripheral blood, and 55 other body fluid samples) from 296 patients with diagnostic suspicion of pediatric cancer were analyzed by MFC vs. conventional diagnostic procedures. STOT was designed after several design–test–evaluate–redesign cycles based on a large panel of monoclonal antibody combinations tested on 301 samples. In its final version, STOT consists of a single 8-color/12-marker antibody combination (CD99-CD8/numyogenin/CD4-EpCAM/CD56/GD2/smCD3-CD19/cyCD3-CD271/CD45). Prospective validation of STOT in 149 samples showed concordant results with the patient WHO/ICCC-3 diagnosis in 138/149 cases (92.6%). These included: 63/63 (100%) reactive/disease-free samples, 43/44 (98%) malignant and 4/4 (100%) benign non-hematopoietic tumors together with 28/38 (74%) leukemia/lymphoma cases; the only exception was Hodgkin lymphoma that required additional markers to be stained. In addition, STOT allowed accurate discrimination among the four most common subtypes of malignant CD45− CD56++ non-hematopoietic solid tumors: 13/13 (GD2++ numyogenin− CD271−/+ nuMyoD1− CD99− EpCAM−) neuroblastoma samples, 5/5 (GD2− numyogenin++ CD271++ nuMyoD1++ CD99−/+ EpCAM−) rhabdomyosarcomas, 2/2 (GD2−/+ numyogenin− CD271+ nuMyoD1− CD99+ EpCAM−) Ewing sarcoma family of tumors, and 7/7 (GD2− numyogenin− CD271+ nuMyoD1− CD99− EpCAM+) Wilms tumors. In summary, here we designed and validated a new standardized antibody combination and MFC assay for diagnostic screening of pediatric solid tumors that might contribute to fast and accurate diagnostic orientation and classification of pediatric cancer in routine clinical practice.This research was funded by the EuroFlow Consortium; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (FAPERJ), numbers: E26/110.105/2014, E-26/010.101259/2018, and E26/102.191/2013; grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brasília, Brazil (CNPQ), Brasília, Brazil, numbers: 303765/2018-6, 409440/2016-7, and 400194/2014-7; and Instituto Desiderata/Chevron, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, grant “Actions to improve pediatric cancer assistance in RJ”; the EuroFlow Consortium (grant LSHB-CT-2006-018708); Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBER-ONC; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Madrid, Spain and FONDOS FEDER), numbers: CB16/12/00400, CB16/12/00233, CB16/12/00369, CB16/12/00489 and CB16/12/00480; grant from Bilateral Cooperation Program between Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-CAPES (Brasília/Brazil) and Dirección General de Políticas Universitárias (DGPU)-Ministério de Educación, Cultura y Deportes (Madrid/Spain) number DGPU 311/15