Intersatellite link for Earth Observation Satellites constellation

This paper is devoted to investigate the possibility to implement a data Intersatellite Link between satellites of an Earth Observation constellation and a dedicated TLC GEO satellite. An EO system is mainly composed of two segments (space and ground) connected by a complex network of communications that permits to manage the operations of the constellation. Due to the high performances in terms of imaging capabilities of the radar/optical payloads a corresponding high capacity to download data to ground is needed. To guarantee that the system is able to download to the ground station, in a proper time, all the images taken from the radar during the mission, external ground stations, located in a polar zone, have to be foreseen. Polar stations offer a service needed to provide the requested images to the users in a near real-time manner. In this paper an alternative approach, using an Intersatellite link system (ISLs) instead of polar stations, is presented. The most relevant trade-offs from technical point of view have been addressed. The purposes of this activities is to demonstrate the capability of a high speed two way optical link, between LEO and GEO terminals, with a bit rate in the order to 2.5 Gbps in the frame of satellites constellation. This implementation should permit to avoid the use of polar stations ensuring in the same time the achievement of high system time performances, in an operational cost-saving approach

Proximal aortic dissection with coronary malperfusion: Presentation, management, and outcome

Background: Acute myocardial ischemia and infarction due to retrograde dissection of the aortic root reaching the coronary ostia is a potentially fatal condition. Surgical treatment of these patients relies on the re-establishment of an adequate coronary blood flow and on the rescue of jeopardized myocardium. This article reports the results of a selected group of 24 patients with type A acute aortic dissection and coronary artery dissection. We review our experience and illustrate our approach to this condition, which evolved over a 15-year period. Methods: Between July 1985 and March 2000, 24 patients from a total of 211 (11.3%) treated for acute type A aortic dissection had dissection of at least one of the coronary ostia. There were 14 men and 10 women. The mean age was 65.5 years (median 61.7; range 41-78 years). The right coronary artery was involved in 11 patients, the left in 4 patients, and both coronary arteries in 9 patients. At admission, 16 patients had Q waves (66%), inferior in 6 (25%) and anterior, lateral, septal, or posterior in 10 (41%). All procedures were done on an emergency basis within 10 hours (median 4 hours) after initial chest pain and within 2 hours after the patient's arrival. Results: Hospital mortality was 20% (5 patients); 3 patients could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass and died intraoperatively, and 2 patients died postoperatively of low cardiac output. Conclusions: As illustrated in this study, direct coronary repair is a safe alternative to bypass grafting. Aggressive myocardial resuscitation together with early operation is a key factor in the management of these patients

Proximal aortic dissection with coronary malperfusion: Presentation, management, and outcome

Background: Acute myocardial ischemia and infarction due to retrograde dissection of the aortic root reaching the coronary ostia is a potentially fatal condition. Surgical treatment of these patients relies on the re-establishment of an adequate coronary blood flow and on the rescue of jeopardized myocardium. This article reports the results of a selected group of 24 patients with type A acute aortic dissection and coronary artery dissection. We review our experience and illustrate our approach to this condition, which evolved over a 15-year period. Methods: Between July 1985 and March 2000, 24 patients from a total of 211 (11.3%) treated for acute type A aortic dissection had dissection of at least one of the coronary ostia. There were 14 men and 10 women. The mean age was 65.5 years (median 61.7; range 41-78 years). The right coronary artery was involved in 11 patients, the left in 4 patients, and both coronary arteries in 9 patients. At admission, 16 patients had Q waves (66%), inferior in 6 (25%) and anterior, lateral, septal, or posterior in 10 (41%). All procedures were done on an emergency basis within 10 hours (median 4 hours) after initial chest pain and within 2 hours after the patient's arrival. Results: Hospital mortality was 20% (5 patients); 3 patients could not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass and died intraoperatively, and 2 patients died postoperatively of low cardiac output. Conclusions: As illustrated in this study, direct coronary repair is a safe alternative to bypass grafting. Aggressive myocardial resuscitation together with early operation is a key factor in the management of these patients

Pan-SRC kinase inhibition blocks B-cell receptor oncogenic signaling in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), activation of the B-cell receptor (BCR) promotes multiple oncogenic signals, which are essential for tumor proliferation. Inhibition of the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK), a BCR downstream target, is therapeutically effective only in a subgroup of patients with DLBCL. Here, we used lymphoma cells isolated from patients with DLBCL to measure the effects of targeted therapies on BCR signaling and to anticipate response. In lymphomas resistant to BTK inhibition, we show that blocking BTK activity enhanced tumor dependencies from alternative oncogenic signals downstream of the BCR, converging on MYC upregulation. To completely ablate the activity of the BCR, we genetically and pharmacologically repressed the activity of the SRC kinases LYN, FYN, and BLK, which are responsible for the propagation of the BCR signal. Inhibition of these kinases strongly reduced tumor growth in xenografts and cell lines derived from patients with DLBCL independent of their molecular subtype, advancing the possibility to be relevant therapeutic targets in broad and diverse groups of DLBCL patients