Amyand's Hernia – Case Report and Review of the Literature

Amyand's hernia is an extremely rare condition in which the appendix is positioned in the inguinal hernia sac. Acute appendicitis is much less common in this situation and few reports are found in the literature. We report a case of acute appendicitis with the tip of the appendix incarcerated outside the external ring of the right groin. A mobilized cecum and ascending colon were noticed during surgery. We conducted a review of the literature, emphasizing possible causes and suggesting a predisposing factor for the condition

Experimental measurement-based quantum computing beyond the cluster-state model

The paradigm of measurement-based quantum computation opens new experimental avenues to realize a quantum computer and deepens our understanding of quantum physics. Measurement-based quantum computation starts from a highly entangled universal resource state. For years, clusters states have been the only known universal resources. Surprisingly, a novel framework namely quantum computation in correlation space has opened new routes to implement measurement-based quantum computation based on quantum states possessing entanglement properties different from cluster states. Here we report an experimental demonstration of every building block of such a model. With a four-qubit and a six-qubit state as distinct from cluster states, we have realized a universal set of single-qubit rotations, two-qubit entangling gates and further Deutsch's algorithm. Besides being of fundamental interest, our experiment proves in-principle the feasibility of universal measurement-based quantum computation without using cluster states, which represents a new approach towards the realization of a quantum computer.Comment: 26 pages, final version, comments welcom

Transition between Two Regimes Describing Internal Fluctuation of DNA in a Nanochannel

We measure the thermal fluctuation of the internal segments of a piece of DNA confined in a nanochannel about 50100 nm wide. This local thermodynamic property is key to accurate measurement of distances in genomic analysis. For DNA in 100 nm channels, we observe a critical length scale 10 m for the mean extension of internal segments, below which the de Gennes' theory describes the fluctuations with no fitting parameters, and above which the fluctuation data falls into Odijk's deflection theory regime. By analyzing the probability distributions of the extensions of the internal segments, we infer that folded structures of length 150250 nm, separated by 10 m exist in the confined DNA during the transition between the two regimes. For 50 nm channels we find that the fluctuation is significantly reduced since the Odijk regime appears earlier. This is critical for genomic analysis. We further propose a more detailed theory based on small fluctuations and incorporating the effects of confinement to explicitly calculate the statistical properties of the internal fluctuations. Our theory is applicable to polymers with heterogeneous mechanical properties confined in non-uniform channels. We show that existing theories for the end-to-end extension/fluctuation of polymers can be used to study the internal fluctuations only when the contour length of the polymer is many times larger than its persistence length. Finally, our results suggest that introducing nicks in the DNA will not change its fluctuation behavior when the nick density is below 1 nick per kbp DNA

Characterization of a Human Antibody Fragment Fab and Its Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles that Inhibit Rabies Virus Infection with Vaccine

Recombinant antibody phage display technology has been used to mimic many aspects of the processes that govern the generation and selection of high-affinity natural human antibodies in the human immune system, especially for infectious disease prophylaxis. An anti-rabies virus immunized phage-display Fab library was constructed from peripheral blood lymphocytes from vaccinated volunteers. The immunized antibody library, with a diversity of 6.7×108, was used to select and produce antibodies that bound to rabies virus glycoprotein. After five rounds of immobilized fixed rabies virion panning, four unique DNA sequences were found in the higher binding clones, and only one, Fab094, showed neutralization activity. Fab094 components were analyzed by ELISA, immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescent staining. ELISA and immunofluorescence showed that Fab094 bound specifically to rabies virions. Immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry showed that Fab094 reacted with rabies virus glycoprotein. To improve the penetration power of Fab094 antibodies, we developed Fab094 calcium phosphate nanoparticles (Fab094-CPNPs) and tested their efficacy. The rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test indicated that the neutralizing antibody titers of Fab094 and Fab094-CPNPs were reached at 200.17 IU/Kg and 246.12 IU/Kg, respectively. These findings were confirmed in vivo in a Kunming mouse challenge model. Our results demonstrate that human Fab094 and Fab094-CPNPs are efficacious candidate drugs to replace rabies immunoglobulin in post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Epidemiology and cost analysis for patients with oral cancer in a university hospital in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although several studies have reported the direct cost of oral cancer (OC), little research has invested the factors that could influence the costs of OC patient. This study analyzes the epidemiological characteristics and the direct cost of OC. More specifically, the study examines the relationship between patients' medical costs and influencing factors of epidemiology.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All patients encountered from January 2007 to December 2007 at the School of Stomatology of the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) in China with diagnosis of oral cancer have been selected. Medical hospitalization days (MHD) and cost per patient (CPP) of the samples have been calculated for different patient groups, and the results have been compared using statistical methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 456 oral cancer patients have been selected in this study. The epidemical characteristics are as follows: female/male 176/280; squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)/adenocarcinoma/sarcoma/lymphoma/other types 246/127/40/27/16; stage I/II/III/IV 90/148/103/115; smoker/non-smoker 136/320; rural/urban patients 82/374. Of all the patients, 82.24% were over 40 years of age. Rural patients were significantly younger than urban patients. SCC was the majority histology in older patients, while sarcoma was more common in younger patients. 372 of the patients received treatment and 84 gave up any treatment after diagnosis. Treatment cost accounted for majority of the payment. The CPP and MHD of patients in late clinical stage were higher than that of patient in early stage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Gender, smoking habit and age older than 40 years are the epidemiological risk factors for oral cancer. Lack of medicare, smoking habit, late clinical stage and SCC are the high economic factors for patient medical cost.</p

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Gold nanocrystals with variable index facets as highly effective cathode catalysts for lithium-oxygen batteries

© 2015 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved. Cathode catalysts are the key factor in improving the electrochemical performance of lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries via their promotion of the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions (ORR and OER). Generally, the catalytic performance of nanocrystals (NCs) toward ORR and OER depends on both composition and shape. Herein, we report the synthesis of polyhedral Au NCs enclosed by a variety of index facets: cubic gold (Au) NCs enclosed by {100} facets; truncated octahedral Au NCs enclosed by {100} and {110} facets; and trisoctahedral (TOH) Au NCs enclosed by 24 high-index {441} facets, as effective cathode catalysts for Li-O2 batteries. All Au NCs can significantly reduce the charge potential and have high reversible capacities. In particular, TOH Au NC catalysts demonstrated the lowest charge-discharge overpotential and the highest capacity of ∼ 20 298 mA h g-1. The correlation between the different Au NC crystal planes and their electrochemical catalytic performances was revealed: high-index facets exhibit much higher catalytic activity than the low-index planes, as the high-index planes have a high surface energy because of their large density of atomic steps, ledges and kinks, which can provide a high density of reactive sites for catalytic reactions

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV