An atomic scale comparison of the reaction of Bioglass® in two types of simulated body fluid

A class of melt quenched silicate glasses, containing calcium, phosphorus and alkali metals, and having the ability to promote bone regeneration and to fuse to living bone, is produced commercially as Bioglass. The changes in structure associated with reacting the bioglass with a body fluid simulant (a buffered Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane growth medium solution or a blood plasma-like salt simulated body fluid) at 37°C have been studied using both high energy and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. This has corroborated the generic conclusions of earlier studies based on the use of calcia–silica sol-gel glasses whilst highlighting the important differences associated with glass composition; the results also reveal the more subtle effects on reaction rates of the choice of body fluid simulant. The results also indicate the presence of tricalcium phosphate crystallites deposited onto the surface of the glass as a precursor to the growth of hydroxyapatite, and indicates that there is some preferred orientation to their growth

An intravaginal ring for real-time evaluation of adherence to therapy

© 2017 Moss et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Two recent Phase III clinical trials to investigate an intravaginal ring for preventing HIV infection demonstrated that adherence to prescribed device use was a primary driver of efficacy. Surrogate methods for determining adherence in the studies were limited in their inability to monitor temporal patterns of use and allow deconvolution of the effects of adherence and device efficacy on HIV infection rates. To address this issue, we have developed functionality in an intravaginal ring to continuously monitor when the device is being used and maintain a log of adherence that can be accessed by clinicians after it is removed. An electronic module fabricated with common, inexpensive electronic components was encapsulated in a silicone intravaginal ring. The device uses temperature as a surrogate measure of periods of device insertion and removal, and stores a record of the data for subsequent retrieval. The adherence-monitoring intravaginal ring accurately recorded the device status over 33 simulated IN-OUT cycles and more than 1000 measurement cycles in vitro. Following initial in vitro testing in a temperature-controlled chamber, the device was evaluated in vivo in sheep using a predetermined insertion/removal pattern to simulate intravaginal ring use. After insertion into the vaginal cavity of a sheep, the logged data correctly indicated the device status over 29 hours of continuous measurement including three cycles of insertion and removal. The device described here is a promising, low-cost method for real-time adherence assessment in clinical trials involving medicated intravaginal rings or other intravaginal devices

Symptomatic Sinus Node Disease: Natural History After Permanent Ventricular Pacing *

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75403/1/j.1540-8159.1979.tb03650.x.pd

Quantum Field Theories on Manifolds with Curved Boundaries: Scalar Fields

A framework allowing for perturbative calculations to be carried out for quantum field theories with arbitrary smoothly curved boundaries is described. It is based on an expansion of the heat kernel derived earlier for arbitrary mixed Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions. The method is applied to a general renormalisable scalar field theory in four dimensions using dimensional regularisation to two loops and expanding about arbitrary background fields. Detailed results are also specialised to an $O(n)$ symmetric model with a single coupling constant. Extra boundary terms are introduced into the action which give rise to either Dirichlet or generalised Neumann boundary conditions for the quantum fields. For plane boundaries the resulting renormalisation group functions are in accord with earlier results but here the additional terms depending on the extrinsic curvature of the boundary are found. Various consistency relations are also checked and the implications of conformal invariance at the critical point where the $\beta$ function vanishes are also derived. The local Scr\"odinger equation for the wave functional defined by the functional integral under deformations of the boundary is also verified to two loops. Its consistency with the renormalisation group to all orders in perturbation theory is discussed.Comment: 50 pages, DAMTP/92-3

Physical restraint in residential child care : the experiences of young people and residential workers

There have long been concerns about the use of physical restraint in residential care. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study which explores the experiences of children, young people and residential workers about physical restraint. The research identifies the dilemmas and ambiguities for both staff and young people, and participants discuss the situations where they feel physical restraint is appropriate as well as their concerns about unjustified or painful restraints. They describe the negative emotions involved in restraint but also those situations where, through positive relationships and trust, restraint can help young people through unsafe situations

Energy Loss versus Shadowing in the Drell-Yan Reaction on Nuclei

We present a new analysis of the E772 and E866 experiments on the nuclear dependence of Drell-Yan (DY) lepton pair production resulting from the bombardment of $^2H$, Be, C, Ca, Fe, and W targets by 800 GeV/c protons at Fermilab. We employ a light-cone formulation of the DY reaction in the rest frame of the nucleus, where the dimuons detected at small values of Bjorken x_2 << 1 may be considered to originate from the decay of a heavy photon radiated from an incident quark in a bremsstrahlung process. We infer the energy loss of the quark by examining the suppression of the nuclear-dependent DY ratios seen as a function of projectile momentum fraction x_1 and dimuon mass M. Shadowing, which also leads to nuclear suppression of dimuons, is calculated within the same approach employing the results of phenomenological fits to deep inelastic scattering data from HERA. The analysis yields -dE/dz =2.73 +/- 0.37 +/- 0.5 GeV/fm for the rate of quark energy loss per unit path length, a value consistent with theoretical expectations including the effects of the inelastic interaction of the incident proton at the surface of the nucleus. This is the first observation of a nonzero energy loss effect in such experiments.Comment: 43 pages including 17 figure

"Older Adults with ASD: The Consequences of Aging." Insights from a series of special interest group meetings held at the International Society for Autism Research 2016-2017

A special interest group (SIG) entitled "Older Adults with ASD: The Consequences of Aging" was held at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) annual meetings in 2016 and 2017. The SIG and subsequent meetings brought together, for the first time, international delegates who were members of the autistic community, researchers, practitioners and service providers. Based on aging autism research that is already underway in UK, Europe, Australia and North America, discussions focussed on conceptualising the parameters of aging when referring to autism, and the measures that are appropriate to use with older adults when considering diagnostic assessment, cognitive factors and quality of life in older age. Thus, the aim of this SIG was to progress the research agenda on current and future directions for autism research in the context of aging. A global issue on how to define 'aging' when referring to ASD was at the forefront of discussions. The ‘aging’ concept can in principle refer to all developmental transitions. However, in this paper we focus on the cognitive and physical changes that take place from mid-life onwards. Accordingly, it was agreed that aging and ASD research should focus on adults over the age of 50 years, given the high rates of co-occurring physical and mental health concerns and increased risk of premature death in some individuals. Moreover, very little is known about the cognitive change, care needs and outcomes of autistic adults beyond this age. Discussions on the topics of diagnostic and cognitive assessments, and of quality of life and well-being were explored through shared knowledge about which measures are currently being used and which background questions should be asked to obtain comprehensive and informative developmental and medical histories. Accordingly, a survey was completed by SIG delegates who were representatives of international research groups across four continents, and who are currently conducting studies with older autistic adults. Considerable overlap was identified across different research groups in measures of both autism and quality of life, which pointed to combining data and shared learnings as the logical next step. Regarding the background questions that were asked, the different research groups covered similar topics but the groups differed in the way these questions were formulated when working with autistic adults across a range of cognitive abilities. It became clear that continued input from individuals on the autism spectrum is important to ensure that questionnaires used in ongoing and future are accessible and understandable for people across the whole autistic spectrum, including those with limited verbal abilities

Metal enrichment processes

There are many processes that can transport gas from the galaxies to their environment and enrich the environment in this way with metals. These metal enrichment processes have a large influence on the evolution of both the galaxies and their environment. Various processes can contribute to the gas transfer: ram-pressure stripping, galactic winds, AGN outflows, galaxy-galaxy interactions and others. We review their observational evidence, corresponding simulations, their efficiencies, and their time scales as far as they are known to date. It seems that all processes can contribute to the enrichment. There is not a single process that always dominates the enrichment, because the efficiencies of the processes vary strongly with galaxy and environmental properties.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 17; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

Four-gene-combination DNA vaccine protects mice against a lethal vaccinia virus challenge and elicits appropriate antibody responses in nonhuman primates

AbstractTwo major infectious forms of vaccinia virus (VACV) have been described: the intracellular mature virion (IMV), and the extracellular enveloped virion (EEV). Due to their stability in the environment, IMVs play a predominant role in host-to-host transmission, whereas EEVs play an important role in dissemination within the host. In a previous report, we demonstrated that mice vaccinated with VACV L1R (IMV immunogen) and A33R (EEV immunogen) were protected from a lethal poxvirus challenge. Vaccination with a combination of both genes conferred greater protection than either gene alone, suggesting that an immune response against both IMV and EEV is advantageous. Here, we report that in mice individually administered DNA vaccines with two different VACV immunogens, A27L (IMV immunogen) or B5R (EEV immunogen), failed to significantly protect; however, vaccination with a combination of both genes conferred a high level of protection. Mice were completely protected when vaccinated with a combination of four VACV genes (A27L + A33R + L1R + B5R). Rhesus macaques vaccinated with this four-gene-combination developed appropriate antibody responses to each protein. Antibody responses elicited by this vaccine cross-reacted with monkeypox virus orthologous proteins. These data indicate that a gene-based vaccine comprised of the VACV A27L + A33R + L1R + B5R genes may be a useful candidate to protect against other orthopoxviruses, including those that cause monkeypox and smallpox

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students