Πνεῦμα, Genealogical Descent, and Things That Do Not Exist according to Paul

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Ames collaborative study of cosmic-ray neutrons. 2: Low- and mid-latitude flights

Progress of the study of cosmic ray neutrons is described. Data obtained aboard flights from Hawaii at altitudes of 41,000 and 45,000 feet, and in the range of geomagnetic latitude 17 N less than or equal to lambda less than or equal to 21 N are reported. Preliminary estimates of neutron spectra are made

Ames collaborative study of cosmic ray neutrons

The results of a collaborative study to define both the neutron flux and the spectrum more precisely and to develop a dosimetry package that can be flown quickly to altitude for solar flare events are described. Instrumentation and analysis techniques were used which were developed to measure accelerator-produced radiation. The instruments were flown in the Ames Research Center high altitude aircraft. Neutron instrumentation consisted of Bonner spheres with both active and passive detector elements, threshold detectors of both prompt-counter and activation-element types, a liquid scintillation spectrometer based on pulse-shape discrimination, and a moderated BF3 counter neutron monitor. In addition, charged particles were measured with a Reuter-Stokes ionization chamber system and dose equivalent with another instrument. Preliminary results from the first series of flights at 12.5 km (41,000 ft) are presented, including estimates of total neutron flux intensity and spectral shape and of the variation of intensity with altitude and geomagnetic latitude

Actors that Unify Threads and Events

There is an impedance mismatch between message-passing concurrency and virtual machines, such as the JVM. VMs usually map their threads to heavyweight OS processes. Without a lightweight process abstraction, users are often forced to write parts of concurrent applications in an event-driven style which obscures control flow, and increases the burden on the programmer. In this paper we show how thread-based and event-based programming can be unified under a single actor abstraction. Using advanced abstraction mechanisms of the Scala programming language, we implemented our approach on unmodified JVMs. Our programming model integrates well with the threading model of the underlying VM

Development of a process control strategy for the serum-free microcarrier expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells towards cost-effective and commercially viable manufacturing

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) are advancing through clinical development with the first allogeneic adult hMSC therapy receiving approval in Europe. To enable successful large-scale manufacture of hMSC therapies, increased product consistency and yield, and a reduced batch-to-batch variation must be achieved. This paper addresses ways to reduce variation by controlling the processing conditions, in particular the dissolved oxygen concentration (dO2), and the culture medium. Bone marrow derived hMSCs were cultured in DASGIP DASbox bioreactors on Plastic P-102 L microcarriers in FBS-containing and serum free (SFM) media at various dO2 values from 100% to 10%, experiencing the same dO2 value throughout the culture process. The superior control of pH and dO2 in the bioreactor led to improved performances compared to poorly controlled spinner flasks, particularly at reduced dO2 concentrations. At 25% dO2, there was a 300 % increase in the BM-hMSC yield in the bioreactor across the two donor BM-hMSCs in SFM compared to FBS-containing medium. Overall, the process yield increased by an average of around 500% for both donors under controlled conditions in SFM at 25% dO2 in the bioreactor compared to the poorly controlled expansion at atmospheric conditions in FBS-containing medium in spinner flasks. Process control significantly reduced the BM-hMSC variation in yield from 79.1% in FBS-containing medium in spinner flasks to < 15% in controlled SFM bioreactor culture

Agitation and aeration of stirred-bioreactors for the microcarrier culture of human mesenchymal stem cells and potential implications for large-scale bioprocess development

The impact of agitation rate and sparged aeration on BM-hMSC expansion in conventional stirred tank bioreactors was assessed. It was found that a decrease in impeller speed to below NJS caused sampling difficulties, clumping and an increase to ~2 NJS decreased the growth rate though an intermediate value of ~1.3 NJS did not. Additionally, over this range of agitation intensities, cell quality remained unchanged post-harvest suggesting that poor growth performance at the highest speed was due to a failure of the cells to attach efficiently to microcarriers rather than damage to the cells due to fluid dynamic stress. Further it was shown that direct aeration of the culture medium both with and without Pluronic F68 via a sparger at NJS was detrimental to BM-hMSC growth. Again, this reduction in growth seems to be associated with poor attachment rather than cell damage, which due to the mechanism of PluronicTM F68 reducing the cell hydrophobicity and thus the affinity of the BM-hMSCs to attach to the microcarrier, leads to a poorer performance in the presence of the surfactant. Certain post-harvest quality characteristics are also detrimentally impacted compared to headspace aeration. This problem is discussed in terms of the need to facilitate future large-scale process development where headspace aeration at NJS may not be sufficient to meet culture needs at higher cell densities

Dementia in Stroke Survivors in the Stroke Data Bank Cohort: Prevalence, Incidence, Risk Factors, and Computed Tomographic Findings

We Determined the Prevalence of Dementia in 927 Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke Aged ≥60 Years in the Stroke Data Bank Cohort based on the Examining Neurologist\u27s Best Judgment Diagnostic Agreement among Examiners Was 68% (K=0.34). of 726 Testable Patients, 116 (16%) Were Demented. Prevalence of Dementia Was Related to Age But Not to Sex, Race, Handedness, Educational Level, or Employment Status Before the Stroke. Previous Stroke and Previous Myocardial Infarction Were Related to Prevalence of Dementia Although Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Atrial Fibrillation, and Previous Use of Antithrombotic Drugs Were Not Prevalence of Dementia Was Most Frequent in Patients with Infarcts Due to Large-Artery Atherosclerosis and in Those with Infarcts of Unknown Cause. Computed Tomographic Findings Related to Prevalence of Dementia Included Infarct Number, Infarct Site, and Cortical Atrophy. among 610 Patients Who Were Not Demented at Stroke Onset, We Used Methods of Survival Analysis to Determine the Incidence of Dementia Occurring during the 2-Year Follow-Up. Incidence of Dementia Was Related to Age But Not Sex. based on Logistic Regression Analysis, the Probability of New-Onset Dementia at 1 Year Was 5.4% for a Patient Aged 60 Years and 10.4% for a Patient Aged 90 Years. with a Multivariate Proportional Hazards Model, the Most Important Predictors of Incidence of Dementia Were a Previous Stroke and the Presence of Cortical Atrophy at Stroke Onset. © 1990 American Heart Association, Inc

In-Trail Procedure Air Traffic Control Procedures Validation Simulation Study

In August 2007, Airservices Australia (Airservices) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted a validation experiment of the air traffic control (ATC) procedures associated with the Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) In-Trail Procedure (ITP). ITP is an Airborne Traffic Situation Awareness (ATSA) application designed for near-term use in procedural airspace in which ADS-B data are used to facilitate climb and descent maneuvers. NASA and Airservices conducted the experiment in Airservices simulator in Melbourne, Australia. Twelve current operational air traffic controllers participated in the experiment, which identified aspects of the ITP that could be improved (mainly in the communication and controller approval process). Results showed that controllers viewed the ITP as valid and acceptable. This paper describes the experiment design and results

Effectiveness of interventions to support the early detection of skin cancer through skin self-examination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: As skin cancer incidence rises, there is a need to evaluate early detection interventions by the public using skin self-examination (SSE); however, the literature focuses on primary prevention. No systematic reviews have evaluated the effectiveness of such SSE interventions. OBJECTIVES: To systematically examine, map, appraise and synthesize, qualitatively and quantitatively, studies evaluating the early detection of skin cancer, using SSE interventions. METHODS: This is a systematic review (narrative synthesis and meta-analysis) examining randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasiexperimental, observational and qualitative studies, published in English, using PRISMA and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. The MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched through to April 2015 (updated in April 2018 using MEDLINE). Risk-of-bias assessment was conducted. RESULTS: Included studies (n = 18), totalling 6836 participants, were derived from 22 papers; these included 12 RCTs and five quasiexperiments and one complex-intervention development. More studies (n = 10) focused on targeting high-risk groups (surveillance) than those at no higher risk (screening) (n = 8). Ten (45%) study interventions were theoretically underpinned. All of the study outcomes were self-reported, behaviour related and nonclinical in nature. Meta-analysis demonstrated the impact of the intervention on the degree of SSE activity from five studies, especially in the short term (up to 4 months) (odds ratio 2·31, 95% confidence interval 1·90-2·82), but with small effect sizes. Risk-of-bias assessment indicated that 61% of the studies (n = 11) were of weak quality. CONCLUSIONS: Four RCTs and a quasiexperimental study indicate that some interventions can enhance SSE activity and so are more likely to aid early detection of skin cancer. However, the actual clinical impact remains unclear, and this is based on overall weak study (evidence) quality

Agitation conditions for the culture and detachment of hMSCs from microcarriers in multiple bioreactor platforms

In our recent work in different bioreactors up to 2.5L in scale, we have successfully cultured hMSCs using the minimum agitator speed required for complete microcarrier suspension, N JS. In addition, we also reported a scaleable protocol for the detachment from microcarriers in spinner flasks of hMSCs from two donors. The essence of the protocol is the use of a short period of intense agitation in the presence of enzymes such that the cells are detached; but once detachment is achieved, the cells are smaller than the Kolmogorov scale of turbulence and hence not damaged. Here, the same approach has been effective for culture at N JS and detachment in-situ in 15mL ambr™ bioreactors, 100mL spinner flasks and 250mL Dasgip bioreactors. In these experiments, cells from four different donors were used along with two types of microcarrier with and without surface coatings (two types), four different enzymes and three different growth media (with and without serum), a total of 22 different combinations. In all cases after detachment, the cells were shown to retain their desired quality attributes and were able to proliferate. This agitation strategy with respect to culture and harvest therefore offers a sound basis for a wide range of scales of operation