Advances in the management of uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are extremely common, with major surgery the current main management option; uterine artery embolisation is an alternative, but risks to fertility are unclear. Minimally invasive procedures are becoming more commonly performed via both the hysteroscope and laparoscope, minimising recovery time for patients. Recently, small doses of progesterone receptor modulators (mifepristone and asoprisnil) have been shown to be effective in reducing menstrual blood loss and fibroid size. Progress from here should include the development of a well-tolerated oral preparation that will maintain fertility

Hydrolysis of raw tuber starches by amylase of Aspergillus niger AM07 isolated from the soil

Eight Aspergillus niger strains which produced strong starch degrading amylase were isolated from the soil using a medium containing Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) starch as substrate. Amylase production was detected by the disappearance of the blue colour around the colony. Among the isolates, A. niger AM07 produced the largest clear zone (7.0mm) on Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) agar plate and also gave the highest amylase yield (806 U/ml) in solid-state fermentation process, hence it was selected for further studies. The crude amylase preparation of A. niger AM07 had temperature and pH optima activities at 60oC and 4.0 respectively. The optimum substrate concentration was 3 %. The action of the crude amylase of A. niger on raw tuber starches of yam, cassava, sweet potato and cocoyam were studied in comparison with the well known maize starch which is a cereal starch. The crude amylase was able to hydrolyze all the raw starches tested. Hydrolysis was significantly (

Pre-frontal parvalbumin interneurons in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of post-mortem studies.

Parvalbumin interneurons are fast-spiking GABAergic neurons that provide inhibitory control of cortical and subcortical circuits and are thought to be a key locus of the pathophysiology underlying schizophrenia. In view of the contradictory results regarding the nature of parvalbumin post-mortem findings in schizophrenia, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis of the data on parvalbumin cell density and parvalbumin mRNA levels in pre-frontal regions in the brains of patients with schizophrenia (n = 274) compared with healthy controls (n = 275). The results suggest that parvalbumin interneurons are reduced in density in the frontal cortex of patients with schizophrenia (Hedges' g = - 0.27; p = 0.03) and there is a non-significant reduction in parvalbumin mRNA levels (g = - 0.44; p = 0.12). However, certain methodological issues need to be considered in interpreting such results and are discussed in more detail. A meta-regression was conducted for post-mortem interval and year of publication as covariates which were both non-significant, except in the mRNA meta-analysis where post-mortem interval was found to be significant. Overall our findings provide tentative support for the hypothesis that the GABAergic system is deficient in schizophrenia and that parvalbumin-containing interneurons offer a potential target for treatment. However, further well-controlled studies that examine multiple regions and layers are warranted to determine whether parvalbumin alterations are region or layer specific and to test the robustness of the findings further

Fully probabilistic deep models for forward and inverse problems in parametric PDEs

We introduce a physics-driven deep latent variable model (PDDLVM) to learn simultaneously parameter-to-solution (forward) and solution-to-parameter (inverse) maps of parametric partial differential equations (PDEs). Our formulation leverages conventional PDE discretization techniques, deep neural networks, probabilistic modelling, and variational inference to assemble a fully probabilistic coherent framework. In the posited probabilistic model, both the forward and inverse maps are approximated as Gaussian distributions with a mean and covariance parameterized by deep neural networks. The PDE residual is assumed to be an observed random vector of value zero, hence we model it as a random vector with a zero mean and a user-prescribed covariance. The model is trained by maximizing the probability, that is the evidence or marginal likelihood, of observing a residual of zero by maximizing the evidence lower bound (ELBO). Consequently, the proposed methodology does not require any independent PDE solves and is physics-informed at training time, allowing the real-time solution of PDE forward and inverse problems after training. The proposed framework can be easily extended to seamlessly integrate observed data to solve inverse problems and to build generative models. We demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of our method on finite element discretized parametric PDE problems such as linear and nonlinear Poisson problems, elastic shells with complex 3D geometries, and time-dependent nonlinear and inhomogeneous PDEs using a physics-informed neural network (PINN) discretization. We achieve up to three orders of magnitude speed-up after training compared to traditional finite element method (FEM), while outputting coherent uncertainty estimates

Diversitas Plankton dan Kualitas Perairan Waduk Darma Kabupaten Kuningan Jawa Barat

Penelitian tentang “Diversitas Plankton dan Kualitas Perairan Waduk Darma” telah dilaksanakan pada Bulan Agustus 2017. tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengetahui diversitas plankton dan kualitas air waduk Darma. Sampel diambil dari 3 stasiun pengamatan. Titik pengambilan sampel ditentukan dengan metode purposive sampling. Hasil penelitian didapatkan, Genera fitoplankton yang ditemukan di Waduk Darma sebanyak 19-32 genera yang mewakili 5 kelas, yaitu Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Dinophyceae dan Euglenaphyceae. Serta Genera Zooplankton yang ditemukan di Waduk Darma sebanyak 12-15 genera yang mewakili 3 kelas, yaitu Rotifera, Ciliata dan Malacostraca. Indeks diversitas fitoplankton berkisar antara 0,367 – 1,376 dan diversitas zooplankton berkisar antara 1,379 – 2,023. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa waduk Darma memiliki tingkat keanekaragaman rendah

Structural effects in UO2_2 thin films irradiated with U ions

This work presents the results of a detailed structural characterisation of irradiated and unirradiated single crystal thin films of UO$_2$. Thin films of UO$_2$ were produced by reactive magnetron sputtering onto (0 0 1), (1 1 0) and (1 1 1) single crystal yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) substrates. Half of the samples were irradiated with 110 MeV $^{238}$U$^{31+}$ ions to fluences of 5 $\times$ 10$^{10}$, 5 $\times$ 10$^{11}$ and 5 $\times$ 10$^{12}$ ions/cm$^2$ to induce radiation damage, with the remainder kept for reference measurements. It was observed that as-produced UO$_2$ films adopted the crystallographic orientation of their YSZ substrates. The irradiation fluences used in this study however, were not sufficient to cause any permanent change in the crystalline nature of UO$_2$. It has been demonstrated that the effect of epitaxial re-crystallisation of the induced radiation damage can be quantified in terms of kernel average misorientation (KAM) and different crystallographic orientations of UO$_2$ respond differently to ion irradiation.The irradiation experiment was performed at the Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL) Caen, France, and supported by the French Network EMIR. A.J. Popel acknowledges funding from the UK EPSRC (grant EP/ I036400/1) and Radioactive Waste Management Ltd (formerly the Radioactive Waste Management Directorate of the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, contract NPO004411A-EPS02)

The Clinical and Pathological Profile of BRCA1 Gene Methylated Breast Cancer Women. A Meta-Analysis

Background: DNA aberrant hypermethylation is the major cause of transcriptional silencing of the breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) gene in sporadic breast cancer patients. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to analyze all available studies reporting clinical characteristics of BRCA1 gene hypermethylated breast cancer in women, and to pool the results to provide a unique clinical profile of this cancer population. Methods: On September 2020, a systematic literature search was performed. Data were retrieved from PubMed, MEDLINE, and Scopus by searching the terms: “BRCA*” AND “methyl*” AND “breast”. All studies evaluating the association between BRCA1 methylation status and breast cancer patients’ clinicopathological features were considered for inclusion. Results: 465 studies were retrieved. Thirty (6.4%) studies including 3985 patients met all selection criteria. The pooled analysis data revealed a significant correlation between BRCA1 gene hypermethylation and advanced breast cancer disease stage (OR = 0.75: 95% CI: 0.58–0.97; p = 0.03, fixed effects model), lymph nodes involvement (OR = 1.22: 95% CI: 1.01–1.48; p = 0.04, fixed effects model), and pre-menopausal status (OR = 1.34: 95% CI: 1.08–1.66; p = 0.008, fixed effects model). No association could be found between BRCA1 hypermethylation and tumor histology (OR = 0.78: 95% CI: 0.59–1.03; p = 0.08, fixed effects model), tumor grading (OR = 0.78: 95% CI: 0.46–1.32; p = 0.36, fixed effects model), and breast cancer molecular classification (OR = 1.59: 95% CI: 0.68–3.72; p = 0.29, random effects model). Conclusions: hypermethylation of the BRCA1 gene significantly correlates with advanced breast cancer disease, lymph nodes involvement, and pre-menopausal cancer onset

Maximal Spontaneous Photon Emission and Energy Loss from Free Electrons

Free electron radiation such as Cerenkov, Smith--Purcell, and transition radiation can be greatly affected by structured optical environments, as has been demonstrated in a variety of polaritonic, photonic-crystal, and metamaterial systems. However, the amount of radiation that can ultimately be extracted from free electrons near an arbitrary material structure has remained elusive. Here we derive a fundamental upper limit to the spontaneous photon emission and energy loss of free electrons, regardless of geometry, which illuminates the effects of material properties and electron velocities. We obtain experimental evidence for our theory with quantitative measurements of Smith--Purcell radiation. Our framework allows us to make two predictions. One is a new regime of radiation operation---at subwavelength separations, slower (nonrelativistic) electrons can achieve stronger radiation than fast (relativistic) electrons. The second is a divergence of the emission probability in the limit of lossless materials. We further reveal that such divergences can be approached by coupling free electrons to photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs). Our findings suggest that compact and efficient free-electron radiation sources from microwaves to the soft X-ray regime may be achievable without requiring ultrahigh accelerating voltages.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

A derivation of Maxwell’s equations using the Heaviside notation

Maxwell's four differential equations describing electromagnetism are among the most famous equations in science. Feynman said that they provide four of the seven fundamental laws of classical physics. In this paper, we derive Maxwell's equations using a well-established approach for deriving time-dependent differential equations from static laws. The derivation uses the standard Heaviside notation. It assumes conservation of charge and that Coulomb's law of electrostatics and Ampere's law of magnetostatics are both correct as a function of time when they are limited to describing a local system. It is analogous to deriving the differential equation of motion for sound, assuming conservation of mass, Newton's second law of motion and that Hooke's static law of elasticity holds for a system in local equilibrium. This work demonstrates that it is the conservation of charge that couples time-varying E-fields and B-fields and that Faraday's Law can be derived without any relativistic assumptions about Lorentz invariance. It also widens the choice of axioms, or starting points, for understanding electromagnetism