Double π0\pi^0 Photoproduction off the Proton at Threshold

The reaction $\gamma p \to \pi^0 \pi^0 p$ has been measured using the TAPS BaF$_2$ calorimeter at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron accelerator. Chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) predicts that close to threshold this channel is significantly enhanced compared to double pion final states with charged pions. In contrast to other reaction channels, the lower order tree terms are strongly suppressed in 2$\pi^0$ photoproduction. The consequence is the dominance of pion loops in the 2$\pi^0$ channel close to threshold - a result that opens new prospects for the test of ChPT and in particular its inherent loop terms. The present measurement is the first which is sensitive enough for a conclusive comparison with the ChPT calculation and is in agreement with its prediction. The data also show good agreement with a calculation in the unitary chiral approach.Comment: Submitted to PL

New first trimester crown-rump length's equations optimized by structured data collection from a French general population

--- Objectives --- Prior to foetal karyotyping, the likelihood of Down's syndrome is often determined combining maternal age, serum free beta-HCG, PAPP-A levels and embryonic measurements of crown-rump length and nuchal translucency for gestational ages between 11 and 13 weeks. It appeared important to get a precise knowledge of these scan parameters' normal values during the first trimester. This paper focused on crown-rump length. --- METHODS --- 402 pregnancies from in-vitro fertilization allowing a precise estimation of foetal ages (FA) were used to determine the best model that describes crown-rump length (CRL) as a function of FA. Scan measures by a single operator from 3846 spontaneous pregnancies representative of the general population from Northern France were used to build a mathematical model linking FA and CRL in a context as close as possible to normal scan screening used in Down's syndrome likelihood determination. We modeled both CRL as a function of FA and FA as a function of CRL. For this, we used a clear methodology and performed regressions with heteroskedastic corrections and robust regressions. The results were compared by cross-validation to retain the equations with the best predictive power. We also studied the errors between observed and predicted values. --- Results --- Data from 513 spontaneous pregnancies allowed to model CRL as a function of age of foetal age. The best model was a polynomial of degree 2. Datation with our equation that models spontaneous pregnancies from a general population was in quite agreement with objective datations obtained from 402 IVF pregnancies and thus support the validity of our model. The most precise measure of CRL was when the SD was minimal (1.83mm), for a CRL of 23.6 mm where our model predicted a 49.4 days of foetal age. Our study allowed to model the SD from 30 to 90 days of foetal age and offers the opportunity of using Zscores in the future to detect growth abnormalities. --- Conclusion --- With powerful statistical tools we report a good modeling of the first trimester embryonic growth in the general population allowing a better knowledge of the date of fertilization useful in the ultrasound screening of Down's syndrome. The optimal period to measure CRL and predict foetal age was 49.4 days (9 weeks of gestational age). Our results open the way to the detection of foetal growth abnormalities using CRL Zscores throughout the first trimester

Glutamate-induced depression of EPSP–spike coupling in rat hippocampal CA1 neurons and modulation by adenosine receptors

The presence of high concentrations of glutamate in the extracellular fluid following brain trauma or ischaemia may contribute substantially to subsequent impairments of neuronal function. In this study, glutamate was applied to hippocampal slices for several minutes, producing over-depolarization, which was reflected in an initial loss of evoked population potential size in the CA1 region. Orthodromic population spikes recovered only partially over the following 60 min, whereas antidromic spikes and excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) showed greater recovery, implying a change in EPSP–spike coupling (E–S coupling), which was confirmed by intracellular recording from CA1 pyramidal cells. The recovery of EPSPs was enhanced further by dizocilpine, suggesting that the long-lasting glutamate-induced change in E–S coupling involves NMDA receptors. This was supported by experiments showing that when isolated NMDA-receptor-mediated EPSPs were studied in isolation, there was only partial recovery following glutamate, unlike the composite EPSPs. The recovery of orthodromic population spikes and NMDA-receptor-mediated EPSPs following glutamate was enhanced by the adenosine A1 receptor blocker DPCPX, the A2A receptor antagonist SCH58261 or adenosine deaminase, associated with a loss of restoration to normal of the glutamate-induced E–S depression. The results indicate that the long-lasting depression of neuronal excitability following recovery from glutamate is associated with a depression of E–S coupling. This effect is partly dependent on activation of NMDA receptors, which modify adenosine release or the sensitivity of adenosine receptors. The results may have implications for the use of A1 and A2A receptor ligands as cognitive enhancers or neuroprotectants

OPERAS SIG on Tools for Open Scholarly Communication : White Paper 2021

This white paper is the output of the OPERAS Special Interest Group (SIG) Tools and R&D for scholarly communication; it is an updated version of a previous 2018 white paper1. With a focus on scholarly publishing tools, the objectives of the SIG Tools are to: provide a landscape analysis, identify emerging trends, and list the areas of potential improvements, developments, and collaborations. Since 2018, various studies and initiatives confirmed the necessity to both coordinate the developments of tools and provide guidance to the users. Similarly, OPERAS emphasizes the importance of building the open science scholarly communication infrastructure in Social Sciences and Humanities on community driven tools. The white paper brings information on the existing tools for scholarly publishing, as well as recommendations that will support the building of such an open scholarly communication infrastructure. The paper first examines tools types, definitions, and criteria that are able to facilitate their description and selection. The tools are then analyzed according to publishing main functions. For authoring, the development of online and collaborative tools represents an interesting perspective, especially when relying on structured formats, but also increases the risk of lock-in within multi-functional proprietary services. In peer reviewing, alongside widely used commercial tools, open peer review represents an innovative area, both in terms of usage and tools. Open source tools for publishing already offer a high level of service, but face interoperability challenges with the integration of an increasing variety of third-party services. A specific section is dedicated to communicating tools allowing for comments and annotations, as such function is transversal to the others. To complement this description, the SIG tools also identified major trends that should impact the future of scholarly communication, namely: preprint servers, artificial intelligence, data papers, and user-centric developments. In conclusion, the white paper provides a list of recommendations able to address the challenges identified and to provide building blocks for the envisioned open scholarly infrastructure. The recommendations suggest: to establish user-centric criteria for tools, a tools’ observatory, a set of training materials, guidelines about publishing workflows, and collaborations with other community initiatives

Reviews

The following publications have been reviewed by the mentioned authors;Welsh Crafts by Mary Eirwen Jones, reviewed by Roy NashA Source Book of Picture Making by Henry Pluckrose, reviewed by R. HartApproaches to Drawing by Leo Walmsley, reviewed by John EgglestonMoulded and Slip Cast Pottery and Ceramics by David Cowley, reviewed by Michael PaffardPainting by John Lancaster, reviewed by R. N. MacGregorDesign Resource Sheets by R. N. Billington and J. R. Jeffrey, reviewed by Dick SuttonEnamelling on Metal, Oppi. Intracht, reviewed by J. N. AtkinsProcesses by Jack Bainbridge, reviewed by Michael SayerArtists and People by Su Braden, reviewed by Roy ShawMake Your Own Musical Instrument by Stuart Dalby, reviewed by Eric DecorteDesign in General Education by John Harahan, reviewed by Bernard AylwardPainting Without a Brush by Roy Sparkes, reviewed by John LancasterBuilding Craft Equipment by A. Jay and Carol W. Abrams, reviewed by S. R. BlundellPyrography by Berhand Havez and Jean-Claude Varlet, reviewed by Paul Kin

Retinoid Induces the Degradation of Corneodesmosomes and Downregulation of Corneodesmosomal Cadherins: Implications on the Mechanism of Retinoid-induced Desquamation

Background: Topical retinoids induce skin fragility. As corneodesmosomes are important adhesion structures in the epidermal cohesion, an effect of retinoids on corneodesmosomes has been suspected. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of retinoid on the expression of corneodesmosomal components including desmoglein (DSG) 1, desmocollin (DSC) 1, corneodesmosin (CDSN) and kallikrein (KLK)s. Methods: 2 % all-trans-retinol or ethanol was applied to the back of hairless mice for five days, and the structure of the stratum corneum was examined by transmission electron microscopy. The cultured human keratinocytes were treated with all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) in low or high calcium media for 24 hours. Results: Topical retinol increased corneocyte detachment and degradation of corneodesmosomes. RA significantly decreased DSG1 and DSC1 expression at the mRNA and protein levels in keratinocytes that were cultured in both low- and high-calcium media. On the other hand, CDSN mRNA levels did not decrease in low-calcium media or increase in high-calcium media after RA treatment. KLK5 and KLK7 expression did not increase after RA treatment. Conclusion: Our results indicat

Nucleon-Nucleon Interaction: A Typical/Concise Review

Nearly a recent century of work is divided to Nucleon-Nucleon (NN) interaction issue. We review some overall perspectives of NN interaction with a brief discussion about deuteron, general structure and symmetries of NN Lagrangian as well as equations of motion and solutions. Meanwhile, the main NN interaction models, as frameworks to build NN potentials, are reviewed concisely. We try to include and study almost all well-known potentials in a similar way, discuss more on various commonly used plain forms for two-nucleon interaction with an emphasis on the phenomenological and meson-exchange potentials as well as the constituent-quark potentials and new ones based on chiral effective field theory and working in coordinate-space mostly. The potentials are constructed in a way that fit NN scattering data, phase shifts, and are also compared in this way usually. An extra goal of this study is to start comparing various potentials forms in a unified manner. So, we also comment on the advantages and disadvantages of the models and potentials partly with reference to some relevant works and probable future studies.Comment: 85 pages, 5 figures, than the previous v3 edition, minor changes, and typos fixe

Mild hypothermia delays the development of stone heart from untreated sustained ventricular fibrillation - a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>'Stone heart' resulting from ischemic contracture of the myocardium, precludes successful resuscitation from ventricular fibrillation (VF). We hypothesized that mild hypothermia might slow the progression to stone heart.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fourteen swine (27 ± 1 kg) were randomized to normothermia (group I; n = 6) or hypothermia groups (group II; n = 8). Mild hypothermia (34 ± 2°C) was induced with ice packs prior to VF induction. The LV and right ventricular (RV) cross-sectional areas were followed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance until the development of stone heart. A commercial 1.5T GE Signa NV-CV/i scanner was used. Complete anatomic coverage of the heart was acquired using a steady-state free precession (SSFP) pulse sequence gated at baseline prior to VF onset. Un-gated SSFP images were obtained serially after VF induction. The ventricular endocardium was manually traced and LV and RV volumes were calculated at each time point.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In group I, the LV was dilated compared to baseline at 5 minutes after VF and this remained for 20 minutes. Stone heart, arbitrarily defined as LV volume <1/3 of baseline at the onset of VF, occurred at 29 ± 3 minutes. In group II, there was less early dilation of the LV (p < 0.05) and the development of stone heart was delayed to 52 ± 4 minutes after onset of VF (P < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this closed-chest swine model of prolonged untreated VF, hypothermia reduced the early LV dilatation and importantly, delayed the onset of stone heart thereby extending a known, morphologic limit of resuscitability.</p

Complex Calculations: How Drug Use During Pregnancy Becomes a Barrier to Prenatal Care

Pregnant women who use drugs are more likely to receive little or no prenatal care. This study sought to understand how drug use and factors associated with drug use influence women’s prenatal care use. A total of 20 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups were conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample of low-income women using alcohol and drugs in a California county. Women using drugs attend and avoid prenatal care for reasons not connected to their drug use: concern for the health of their baby, social support, and extrinsic barriers such as health insurance and transportation. Drug use itself is a barrier for a few women. In addition to drug use, women experience multiple simultaneous risk factors. Both the drug use and the multiple simultaneous risk factors make resolving extrinsic barriers more difficult. Women also fear the effects of drug use on their baby’s health and fear being reported to Child Protective Services, each of which influence women’s prenatal care use. Increasing the number of pregnant women who use drugs who receive prenatal care requires systems-level rather than only individual-level changes. These changes require a paradigm shift to viewing drug use in context of the person and society and acceptance of responsibility for unintended consequences of public health bureaucratic procedures and messages about effects of drug use during pregnancy

Exploring the disparity between inflammation and disability in the 10-year outcomes of people with rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives: To identify groups of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with different disability trajectories over ten years, despite comparable levels of inflammation.Methods: Data for this analysis came from three European prospective cohort studies of people with RA (Norfolk Arthritis Register [NOAR], Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Network [ERAN], Étude et Suivi des Polyarthrites Indifférenciées Récentes [ESPOIR]). Participants were assessed regularly over 8 (ERAN) to 10 (NOAR/ESPOIR) years. Inclusion criteria were: recruited after 1/1/2000, <24 months baseline symptom duration, and disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire [HAQ]) and inflammation (two-component disease activity score [DAS28-2C]) recorded at baseline and one other follow-up. People in each cohort also completed patient reported outcome measures at each assessment (pain, fatigue, depression). Group-based trajectory models (GBTM) were used to identify distinct groups of people with similar HAQ and DAS28-2C trajectories over follow-up.Results: This analysis included 2500 people with RA (NOAR: 1000, ESPOIR: 766, ERAN: 734). People in ESPOIR were younger and included more women (mean [standard deviation] age: NOAR: 57.1 [14.6], ESPOIR: 47.6 [12.5], ERAN: 56.8 [13.8]; women: NOAR: 63.9%, ESPOIR: 76.9%, ERAN: 69.1%). Within each cohort, two pairs of trajectories that followed the hypothesised pattern (comparable DAS28-2C but different HAQ) were identified. Higher pain, fatigue and depression were associated with increased odds of being in the high HAQ trajectories. Conclusion: Excess disability is persistent in RA. Controlling inflammation may not be sufficient to alleviate disability in all people with RA, and effective pain, fatigue and mood management may be needed in some groups to improve long-term function