Anthony\u27s Silence: The Intersection of Sex, Gender and Race in \u3cem\u3eDesigning Women\u3c/em\u3e

Editor\u27s Note: Lynn H. Turner and Helen Sterk examine one small part of the Designing Women script, a short speech by Anthony (one of the series\u27 regulars). They argue that, as the only African American male in the series, Anthony was in a unique position to examine the gender and race issues posed by the Thomas/Hill hearings, and by the Thomas nomination itself. Calling on writings by African .American scholars commenting on the Senate hearings and on race and gender issues generally, the authors conclude that the structure of Anthony\u27s speech represents a missed opportunity

In vivo imaging of the airway wall in asthma: fibered confocal fluorescence microscopy in relation to histology and lung function

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Airway remodelling is a feature of asthma including fragmentation of elastic fibres observed in the superficial elastin network of the airway wall. Fibered confocal fluorescence microscopy (FCFM) is a new and non-invasive imaging technique performed during bronchoscopy that may visualize elastic fibres, as shown by <it>in vitro </it>spectral analysis of elastin powder. We hypothesized that FCFM images capture <it>in vivo </it>elastic fibre patterns within the airway wall and that such patterns correspond with airway histology. We aimed to establish the concordance between the bronchial elastic fibre pattern in histology and FCFM. Second, we examined whether elastic fibre patterns in histology and FCFM were different between asthmatic subjects and healthy controls. Finally, the association between these patterns and lung function parameters was investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a cross-sectional study comprising 16 subjects (8 atopic asthmatic patients with controlled disease and 8 healthy controls) spirometry and bronchoscopy were performed, with recording of FCFM images followed by endobronchial biopsy at the airway main carina. Elastic fibre patterns in histological sections and FCFM images were scored semi-quantitatively. Agreement between histology and FCFM was analysed using linearly weighted kappa κ_w.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The patterns observed in histological sections and FCFM images could be divided into 3 distinct groups. There was good agreement between elastic fibre patterns in histology and FCFM patterns (κ_w0.744). The semi-quantitative pattern scores were not different between asthmatic patients and controls. Notably, there was a significant difference in post-bronchodilator FEV₁%predicted between the different patterns by histology (p = 0.001) and FCFM (p = 0.048), regardless of asthma or atopy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>FCFM captures the elastic fibre pattern within the airway wall in humans <it>in vivo</it>. The association between post-bronchodilator FEV₁%predicted and both histological and FCFM elastic fibre patterns points towards a structure-function relationship between extracellular matrix in the airway wall and lung function.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Netherlands Trial Register <a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=NTR1306">NTR1306</a></p

Technical performance and diagnostic utility of the new Elecsys (R) neuron-specific enolase enzyme immunoassay

This international multicenter study was designed to evaluate the technical performance of the new double-monoclonal, single-step Elecsys neuron-specific enolase (NSE) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and to assess its utility as a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Intra and interassay coefficients of variation, determined in five control or serum specimens in six laboratories, ranged from 0.7 to 5.3 (interlaboratory median: 1.3%) and from 1.3 to 8.5 (interlaboratory median: 3.4%), respectively. Laboratory-to-laboratory comparability was excellent with respect to recovery and interassay coefficients of variation. The test was linear between 0.0 and 320 ng/ml (highest measured concentration). There was a significant correlation between NSE concentrations measured using the Elecsys NSE and the established Cobas Core NSE EIA II in all subjects (n=723) and in patients with lung cancer (n=333). However, NSE concentrations were systematically lower (approximately 9%) with the Elecsys NSE than with the comparison test. Based on a specificity of 95% in comparison with the group suffering from benign lung diseases (n=183), the cutoff value for the discrimination between malignant and benign conditions was set at 21.6 ng/ml. NSE was raised in 73.4% of SCLC patients (n=188) and was significantly higher (p&lt;0.01) in extensive (87.8%) as opposed to limited disease (56.7%). NSE was also elevated in 16.0% of the cases with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n=374). It is concluded that the Elecsys NSE EIA is a reliable and accurate diagnostic procedure for the measurement of NSE in serum samples. The special merits of this new assay are the wide measuring range (according to manufacturers declaration up to 370 ng/ml) and a short incubation time of 18 min

Meeting Report: Hackathon-Workshop on Darwin Core and MIxS Standards Alignment

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Genomic Standards Consortium convened a joint workshop at the University of Oxford, 27–29 February 2012, with a small group of experts from Europe, USA, China and Japan, to continue the alignment of the Darwin Core with the MIxS and related genomics standards. Several reference mappings were produced as well as test expressions of MIxS in RDF. The use and management of controlled vocabulary terms was considered in relation to both GBIF and the GSC, and tools for working with terms were reviewed. Extensions for publishing genomic biodiversity data to the GBIF network via a Darwin Core Archive were prototyped and work begun on preparing translations of the Darwin Core to Japanese and Chinese. Five genomic repositories were identified for engagement to begin the process of testing the publishing of genomic data to the GBIF network commencing with the SILVA rRNA database

The Geometry and Moduli of K3 Surfaces

These notes will give an introduction to the theory of K3 surfaces. We begin with some general results on K3 surfaces, including the construction of their moduli space and some of its properties. We then move on to focus on the theory of polarized K3 surfaces, studying their moduli, degenerations and the compactification problem. This theory is then further enhanced to a discussion of lattice polarized K3 surfaces, which provide a rich source of explicit examples, including a large class of lattice polarizations coming from elliptic fibrations. Finally, we conclude by discussing the ample and Kahler cones of K3 surfaces, and give some of their applications.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures. (R. Laza, M. Schutt and N. Yui, eds.

Pure dephasing of magnonic quantum states

For a wide range of nonclassical magnonic states that have been proposed and demonstrated recently, a new time scale besides the magnon lifetime - the magnon dephasing time - becomes important, but this time scale is rarely studied. Considering exchange interaction and spin-phonon coupling, we evaluate the pure magnon dephasing time and find it to be smaller than the magnon lifetime at temperatures of a few kelvins. By examining a magnonic cat state as an example, we show how pure dephasing of magnons destroys and limits the survival of quantum superpositions. Thus it will be critical to perform quantum operations within the pure dephasing time. We further derive the master equation for the density matrix describing such magnonic quantum states taking into account the role of pure dephasing. This methodology can be generalized to include additional dephasing channels that experiments are likely to encounter in the future. Our findings enable one to design and manipulate robust quantum states of magnons for information processing

Efficient Photoionization-Loading of Trapped Cadmium Ions with Ultrafast Pulses

Atomic cadmium ions are loaded into radiofrequency ion traps by photoionization of atoms in a cadmium vapor with ultrafast laser pulses. The photoionization is driven through an intermediate atomic resonance with a frequency-quadrupled mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser that produces pulses of either 100 fsec or 1 psec duration at a central wavelength of 229 nm. The large bandwidth of the pulses photoionizes all velocity classes of the Cd vapor, resulting in high loading efficiencies compared to previous ion trap loading techniques. Measured loading rates are compared with a simple theoretical model, and we conclude that this technique can potentially ionize every atom traversing the laser beam within the trapping volume. This may allow the operation of ion traps with lower levels of background pressures and less trap electrode surface contamination. The technique and laser system reported here should be applicable to loading most laser-cooled ion species.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure