The Reverse Galeal Hinge Flap: Another Valuable Technique in the Repair of Scalp Defects Extending to the Calvarium

Over the last 30 years, the estimated incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) has increased from 300,000 to greater than 2 million cases. Approximately 15% of these cancers occur on the scalp.1 Given the increasing incidence of NMSC and their predilection for the scalp, the demand for scalp repairs will continue to rise. It is important that the dermatologic surgeon is equipped to manage these cases, in particular defects that extend to the bone.The repair of large scalp defects extending to the calvarium is especially challenging for several reasons. The primary closure of any large scalp wound is complicated by the relative inelasticity of scalp tissue and the convexity of the scalp. Rotation flaps are the mainstay technique of re-approximating large scalp wounds but are often unable to completely close very large defects.2 Skin grafts can also be used to cover wounds primarily or in conjunction with other closure techniques.2 However, when scalp defects extend to the bone, the poor vascularity of the osseous tissue severely limits both skin grafting and xenografting. Various approaches to making exposed bone more suitable for grafting have been described in the recent literature, and these techniques and their limitations will be briefly discussed.3–5 The authors will also present two cases that outline a simple method of re-establishing a vascular bed on exposed bone using a reverse galeal hinge flap

Attributing decadal climate variability in coastal sea-level trends

Decadal sea-level variability masks longer-term changes due to natural and anthropogenic drivers in short-duration records and increases uncertainty in trend and acceleration estimates. When making regional coastal management and adaptation decisions, it is important to understand the drivers of these changes to account for periods of reduced or enhanced sea-level change. The variance in decadal sea-level trends about the global mean is quantified and mapped around the global coastlines of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans from historical CMIP6 runs and a high-resolution ocean model forced by reanalysis data. We reconstruct coastal, sea-level trends via linear relationships with climate mode and oceanographic indices. Using this approach, more than one-third of the variability in decadal sea-level trends can be explained by climate indices at 24.6 % to 73.1 % of grid cells located within 25 km of a coast in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. At 10.9 % of the world's coastline, climate variability explains over two-thirds of the decadal sea-level trend. By investigating the steric, manometric, and gravitational components of sea-level trend independently, it is apparent that much of the coastal ocean variability is dominated by the manometric signal, the consequence of the open-ocean steric signal propagating onto the continental shelf. Additionally, decadal variability in the gravitational, rotational, and solid-Earth deformation (GRD) signal should not be ignored in the total. There are locations such as the Persian Gulf and African west coast where decadal sea-level variability is historically small that are susceptible to future changes in hydrology and/or ice mass changes that drive intensified regional GRD sea-level change above the global mean. The magnitude of variance explainable by climate modes quantified in this study indicates an enhanced uncertainty in projections of short- to mid-term regional sea-level trend

Genome-wide Profiling of RNA splicing in prostate tumor from RNA-seq data using virtual microarrays

BACKGROUND: Second generation RNA sequencing technology (RNA-seq) offers the potential to interrogate genome-wide differential RNA splicing in cancer. However, since short RNA reads spanning spliced junctions cannot be mapped contiguously onto to the chromosomes, there is a need for methods to profile splicing from RNA-seq data. Before the invent of RNA-seq technologies, microarrays containing probe sequences representing exon-exon junctions of known genes have been used to hybridize cellular RNAs for measuring context-specific differential splicing. Here, we extend this approach to detect tumor-specific splicing in prostate cancer from a RNA-seq dataset. METHOD: A database, SPEventH, representing probe sequences of under a million non-redundant splice events in human is created with exon-exon junctions of optimized length for use as virtual microarray. SPEventH is used to map tens of millions of reads from matched tumor-normal samples from ten individuals with prostate cancer. Differential counts of reads mapped to each event from tumor and matched normal is used to identify statistically significant tumor-specific splice events in prostate. RESULTS: We find sixty-one (61) splice events that are differentially expressed with a p-value of less than 0.0001 and a fold change of greater than 1.5 in prostate tumor compared to the respective matched normal samples. Interestingly, the only evidence, EST (BF372485), in the public database for one of the tumor-specific splice event joining one of the intron in KLK3 gene to an intron in KLK2, is also derived from prostate tumor-tissue. Also, the 765 events with a p-value of less than 0.001 is shown to cluster all twenty samples in a context-specific fashion with few exceptions stemming from low coverage of samples. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that virtual microarray experiments using a non-redundant database of splice events in human is both efficient and sensitive way to profile genome-wide splicing in biological samples and to detect tumor-specific splicing signatures in datasets from RNA-seq technologies. The signature from the large number of splice events that could cluster tumor and matched-normal samples into two tight separate clusters, suggests that differential splicing is yet another RNA phenotype, alongside gene expression and SNPs, that can be exploited for tumor stratification

Aerodynamic roughness of glacial ice surfaces derived from high-resolution topographic data

This paper presents new methods of estimating the aerodynamic roughness (z0) of glacier ice directly from three-dimensional point clouds and digital elevation models (DEMs), examines temporal variability of z0, and presents the first fully distributed map of z0 estimates across the ablation zone of an Arctic glacier. The aerodynamic roughness of glacier ice surfaces is an important component of energy balance models and meltwater runoff estimates through its influence on turbulent fluxes of latent and sensible heat. In a warming climate these fluxes are predicted to become more significant in contributing to overall melt volumes. Ice z0 is commonly estimated from measurements of ice surface microtopography, typically from topographic profiles taken perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction. Recent advances in surveying permit rapid acquisition of high-resolution topographic data allowing revision of assumptions underlying conventional z0 measurement. Using Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry with Multi-View Stereo (MVS) to survey ice surfaces with millimeter-scale accuracy, z0 variation over 3 orders of magnitude was observed. Different surface types demonstrated different temporal trajectories in z0 through 3 days of intense melt. A glacier-scale 2 m resolution DEM was obtained through terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), and subgrid roughness was significantly related to plot-scale z0. Thus, we show for the first time that glacier-scale TLS or SfM-MVS surveys can characterize z0 variability over a glacier surface potentially leading to distributed representations of z0 in surface energy balance models

Photoluminescence and Electron Spin Resonance of ilicon Dioxide Crystal with Rutile Structure (Stishovite)

This work was supported by ERANET MYND. Also, financial support provided by Scientific Research Project for Students and Young Researchers Nr. SJZ/2017/2 realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia is greatly acknowledged. The authors express our gratitude to R.I. Mashkovtsev for help in ESR signal interpretation. The authors are appreciative to T.I. Dyuzheva, L.M. Lityagina, N.A. Bendeliani for stishovite single crystals and to K. Hubner and H.-J. Fitting for stishovite powder of Barringer Meteor Crater.An electron spin resonance (ESR) and photoluminescence signal is observed in the as grown single crystal of stishovite indicating the presence of defects in the non‐irradiated sample. The photoluminescence of the as received stishovite single crystals exhibits two main bands – a blue at 3 eV and an UV at 4.75 eV. Luminescence is excited in the range of optical transparency of stishovite (below 8.75 eV) and, therefore, is ascribed to defects. A wide range of decay kinetics under a pulsed excitation is observed. For the blue band besides the exponential decay with a time constant of about 18 μs an additional ms component is revealed. For the UV band besides the fast component with a time constant of 1–3 ns a component with a decay in tens μs is obtained. The main components (18 μs and 1–3 ns) possess a typical intra‐center transition intensity thermal quenching. The effect of the additional slow component is related to the presence of OH groups and/or carbon molecular defects modifying the luminescence center. The additional slow components exhibit wave‐like thermal dependences. Photo‐thermally stimulated creation–destruction of the complex comprising host defect and interstitial modifiers explains the slow luminescence wave‐like thermal dependences.ERANET MYND; ISSP UL Nr. SJZ/2017/2 ; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Emergent dynamic chirality in a thermally driven artificial spin ratchet

Modern nanofabrication techniques have opened the possibility to create novel functional materials, whose properties transcend those of their constituent elements. In particular, tuning the magnetostatic interactions in geometrically frustrated arrangements of nanoelements called artificial spin ice1, 2 can lead to specific collective behaviour3, including emergent magnetic monopoles4, 5, charge screening6, 7 and transport8, 9, as well as magnonic response10, 11, 12. Here, we demonstrate a spin-ice-based active material in which energy is converted into unidirectional dynamics. Using X-ray photoemission electron microscopy we show that the collective rotation of the average magnetization proceeds in a unique sense during thermal relaxation. Our simulations demonstrate that this emergent chiral behaviour is driven by the topology of the magnetostatic field at the edges of the nanomagnet array, resulting in an asymmetric energy landscape. In addition, a bias field can be used to modify the sense of rotation of the average magnetization. This opens the possibility of implementing a magnetic Brownian ratchet13, 14, which may find applications in novel nanoscale devices, such as magnetic nanomotors, actuators, sensors or memory cells

The Bristol CMIP6 Data Hackathon

The Bristol CMIP6 Data Hackathon formed part of the Met Office Climate Data Challenge Hackathon series during 2021, bringing together around 100 UK early career researchers from a wide range of environmental disciplines. The purpose was to interrogate the under-utilised but currently most advanced climate model inter-comparison project datasets to develop new research ideas, create new networks and outreach opportunities in the lead up to COP26. Experts in different science fields, supported by a core team of scientists and data specialists at Bristol, had the unique opportunity to explore together interdisciplinary environmental topics summarised in this article

The ISB Cancer Genomics Cloud: A Flexible Cloud-Based Platform for Cancer Genomics Research.

The ISB Cancer Genomics Cloud (ISB-CGC) is one of three pilot projects funded by the National Cancer Institute to explore new approaches to computing on large cancer datasets in a cloud environment. With a focus on Data as a Service, the ISB-CGC offers multiple avenues for accessing and analyzing The Cancer Genome Atlas, TARGET, and other important references such as GENCODE and COSMIC using the Google Cloud Platform. The open approach allows researchers to choose approaches best suited to the task at hand: from analyzing terabytes of data using complex workflows to developing new analysis methods in common languages such as Python, R, and SQL; to using an interactive web application to create synthetic patient cohorts and to explore the wealth of available genomic data. Links to resources and documentation can be found at www.isb-cgc.or

Results from the CERN pilot CLOUD experiment

During a 4-week run in October–November 2006, a pilot experiment was performed at the CERN Proton Synchrotron in preparation for the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) experiment, whose aim is to study the possible influence of cosmic rays on clouds. The purpose of the pilot experiment was firstly to carry out exploratory measurements of the effect of ionising particle radiation on aerosol formation from trace H2SO4 vapour and secondly to provide technical input for the CLOUD design. A total of 44 nucleation bursts were produced and recorded, with formation rates of particles above the 3 nm detection threshold of between 0.1 and 100 cm -3 s -1, and growth rates between 2 and 37 nm h -1. The corresponding H2O concentrations were typically around 106 cm -3 or less. The experimentally-measured formation rates and htwosofour concentrations are comparable to those found in the atmosphere, supporting the idea that sulphuric acid is involved in the nucleation of atmospheric aerosols. However, sulphuric acid alone is not able to explain the observed rapid growth rates, which suggests the presence of additional trace vapours in the aerosol chamber, whose identity is unknown. By analysing the charged fraction, a few of the aerosol bursts appear to have a contribution from ion-induced nucleation and ion-ion recombination to form neutral clusters. Some indications were also found for the accelerator beam timing and intensity to influence the aerosol particle formation rate at the highest experimental SO2 concentrations of 6 ppb, although none was found at lower concentrations. Overall, the exploratory measurements provide suggestive evidence for ion-induced nucleation or ion-ion recombination as sources of aerosol particles. However in order to quantify the conditions under which ion processes become significant, improvements are needed in controlling the experimental variables and in the reproducibility of the experiments. Finally, concerning technical aspects, the most important lessons for the CLOUD design include the stringent requirement of internal cleanliness of the aerosol chamber, as well as maintenance of extremely stable temperatures (variations below 0.1 °C