Sexual well-being and diurnal cortisol after prostate cancer treatment.

Sexual dysfunction and psychological distress are common after prostate cancer. Research has not examined the role of neuroendocrine markers of stress (e.g. cortisol). This study examines whether sexual functioning or sexual bother is associated with diurnal cortisol. Men treated for prostate cancer completed the University of California-Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index and provided saliva samples four times daily for cortisol assessment. Higher sexual bother, but not sexual functioning, was associated with steeper cortisol slope. Better sexual functioning, and not sexual bother, was significantly associated with the cortisol awakening response. Assessment of stress and stress-reducing interventions might be warranted in sexual rehabilitation after prostate cancer

Microvascular System of the Human Fetal Inner Ear: A Scanning Electron Microscopic Study of Corrosion Casts

The vascular system of the inner ear was investigated in 18-21 weeks old human fetuses, using the corrosion cast technique in scanning electron microscopy. At that developmental stage, vascularization of the cochlea and semicircular canals shows a pattern very similar to that described for adults. The most important differences which can be regarded as fetal features include: (1) denser limbus vessels, (2) the marginal vessels of the spiral lamina appearing as irregular network which shows a less clear arcade-like arrangement, (3) some radiating arterioles of the spiral lamina and marginal vessels possessing connections with the vascular system of the external wall, and (4) a dense, sinusoidal network of draining venules at scala tympani. These features apparently disappear during the final remodelling of the inner ear microvasculature in the last trimester

Microwave Electronics

Contains reports on three research projects.Lincoln Laboratory (Purchase Order DDL-B222)United States Department of the ArmyUnited States Department of the NavyUnited States Department of the Air Force (Contract AF19(604)-5200

On the edge of a new frontier: Is gerontological social work in the UK ready to meet twenty-first-century challenges?

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2013 The Authors.This article explores the readiness of gerontological social work in the UK for meeting the challenges of an ageing society by investigating the focus on work with older people in social work education and the scope of gerontological social work research. The discussion draws on findings from two exploratory studies: a survey of qualifying master's programmes in England and a survey of the content relating to older people over a six-year period in four leading UK social work journals. The evidence from master's programmes suggests widespread neglect of ageing in teaching content and practice learning. Social work journals present a more nuanced picture. Older people emerge within coverage of generic policy issues for adults, such as personalisation and safeguarding, and there is good evidence of the complexity of need in late life. However, there is little attention to effective social work interventions, with an increasingly diverse older population, or to the quality of gerontological social work education. The case is made for infusing content on older people throughout the social work curriculum, for extending practice learning opportunities in social work with older people and for increasing the volume and reporting of gerontological social work research.Brunel Institute for Ageing Studie

Force-Free Models of Magnetically Linked Star-Disk Systems

Disk accretion onto a magnetized star occurs in a variety of astrophysical contexts, from young stars to X-ray pulsars. The magnetohydrodynamic interaction between the stellar field and the accreting matter can have a strong effect on the disk structure, the transfer of mass and angular momentum between the disk and the star, and the production of bipolar outflows, e.g., plasma jets. We study a key element of this interaction - the time evolution of the magnetic field configuration brought about by the relative rotation between the disk and the star - using simplified, largely semianalytic, models. We first discuss the rapid inflation and opening up of the magnetic field lines in the corona above the accretion disk, which is caused by the differential rotation twisting. Then we consider additional physical effects that tend to limit this expansion, such as the effect of plasma inertia and the possibility of reconnection in the disk's corona, the latter possibly leading to repeated cycles in the evolution. We also derive the condition for the existence of a steady state for a resistive disk and conclude that a steady state configuration is not realistically possible. Finally, we generalize our analysis of the opening of magnetic field lines by using a non-self-similar numerical model that applies to an arbitrarily rotating (e.g. keplerian) disk.Comment: 75 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Astrophysical Journa

An integrative pharmacological approach to radio telemetry and blood sampling in pharmaceutical drug discovery and safety assessment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A successful integration of the automated blood sampling (ABS) and telemetry (ABST) system is described. The new ABST system facilitates concomitant collection of physiological variables with blood and urine samples for determination of drug concentrations and other biochemical measures in the same rat without handling artifact.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Integration was achieved by designing a 13 inch circular receiving antenna that operates as a plug-in replacement for the existing pair of DSI's orthogonal antennas which is compatible with the rotating cage and open floor design of the BASi Culex^®ABS system. The circular receiving antenna's electrical configuration consists of a pair of electrically orthogonal half-toroids that reinforce reception of a dipole transmitter operating within the coil's interior while reducing both external noise pickup and interference from other adjacent dipole transmitters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>For validation, measured baclofen concentration (ABST vs. satellite (μM): 69.6 ± 23.8 vs. 76.6 ± 19.5, p = NS) and mean arterial pressure (ABST vs. traditional DSI telemetry (mm Hg): 150 ± 5 vs.147 ± 4, p = NS) variables were quantitatively and qualitatively similar between rats housed in the ABST system and traditional home cage approaches.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ABST system offers unique advantages over traditional between-group study paradigms that include improved data quality and significantly reduced animal use. The superior within-group model facilitates assessment of multiple physiological and biochemical responses to test compounds in the same animal. The ABST also provides opportunities to evaluate temporal relations between parameters and to investigate anomalous outlier events because drug concentrations, physiological and biochemical measures for each animal are available for comparisons.</p

Macrophage-specific RAM11 monoclonal antibody cross-reacts with basal cells of stratified squamous epithelia.

RAM11 is a mouse monoclonal anti-rabbit macrophage antibody recognizing connective tissue and vascular (atheromatous tissue) macrophages. This study demonstrates a cross-reaction of RAM11 with an unknown antigen in rabbit normal epithelial cells. Formalin-fixed, paraffin sections of the New Zealand White rabbit normal skin, oral mucosa, esophagus, small intestine and lung were immunostained with RAM11 antibody followed by goat anti-mouse Cy-3-conjugated antiglobulin. RAM11-positive immunofluorescence was observed in basal layer cells of stratified squamous epithelia (skin, oral mucosa, esophagus). No RAM11 immunostaining was found in any cells of simple (intestinal, bronchial) epithelia. These findings show that basal cells of stratified squamous keratinized and non-keratinized epithelia of the rabbit express an antigenic epitope which is common with that of macrophage antigen recognized by RAM11 monoclonal antibody

Expression of basal cell marker revealed by RAM11 antibody during epithelial regeneration in rabbits.

RAM11 is a mouse monoclonal anti-rabbit macrophage antibody recognizing connective tissue and vascular macrophages. Our previous report showed that RAM11 reacted with basal cells of stratified squamous epithelia of rabbit skin, oral mucosa and esophagus. The aim of the present study was to follow the appearance of RAM11 immunoreactivity in basal cells of regenerating oral epithelium in rabbits. No RAM11 immunostaining was observed in the regenerating epithelium examined on days 1 and 3 of wound healing. A weak immunofluorescence first appeared on day 7 in single basal cells and 32% of RAM11- positive basal cells were observed on day 14. These findings indicate that expression of the antigen recognized by RAM11 antibody is a transient event in the differentiation of oral keratinocytes which not always occurs during epithelial repair, although it is a constant feature of epithelial turnover in mature epithelium. Therefore this antigen can be regarded as basal cell marker only in mature stratified squamous epithelia