Understanding Strikes in Revolutionary Russia

Also CSST Working Paper #37.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51175/1/408.pd

Bolshevism and the “imperatives” of revolution

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43658/1/11186_2004_Article_BF00158684.pd

Treatment of Medically Refractory Cancer Pain with a Combination of Intrathecal Neuromodulation and Neurosurgical Ablation: Case Series and Literature Review

Objective Up to 90% of patients with advanced cancer experience intractable pain. For these patients, oral analgesics are the mainstay of therapy, often augmented with intrathecal drug delivery. Neurosurgical ablative procedures have become less commonly used, though their efficacy has been well‐established. Unfortunately, little is known about the safety of ablation in the context of previous neuromodulation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present the results from a case series in which patients were treated successfully with a combination of intrathecal neuromodulation and neurosurgical ablation. Design Retrospective case series and literature review. Setting Three institutions with active cancer pain management programs in the U nited S tates. Methods All patients who underwent both neuroablative and neuromodulatory procedures for cancer pain were surveyed using the visual analog scale prior to the first procedure, before and after a second procedure, and at long‐term follow‐up. Based on initial and subsequent presentation, patients underwent intrathecal morphine pump placement, cordotomy, or midline myelotomy. Results Five patients (2 male, 3 female) with medically intractable pain (initial VAS  = 10) were included in the series. Four subjects were initially treated with intrathecal analgesic neuromodulation, and 1 with midline myelotomy. Each patient experienced recurrence of pain ( VAS  ≥ 9) following the initial procedure, and was therefore treated with another modality (intrathecal, N = 1; midline myelotomy, N = 1; percutaneous radiofrequency cordotomy, N = 3), with significant long‐term benefit ( VAS 1–7). Conclusion In cancer patients with medically intractable pain, intrathecal neuromodulation and neurosurgical ablation together may allow for more effective control of cancer pain.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108610/1/pme12481.pd

A low-temperature external cavity diode laser for broad wavelength tuning

We report on the design and characterization of a low-temperature external cavity diode laser (ECDL) system for broad wavelength tuning. The performance achieved with multiple diode models addresses the scarcity of commercial red laser diodes below 633 nm, which is a wavelength range relevant to the spectroscopy of many molecules and ions. Using a combination of multiple-stage thermoelectric cooling and water cooling, the operating temperature of a laser diode is lowered to −64 °C, more than 85 °C below the ambient temperature. The laser system integrates temperature and diffraction grating feedback tunability for coarse and fine wavelength adjustments, respectively. For two different diode models, single-mode operation is achieved with 38 mW output power at 616.8 nm and 69 mW at 622.6 nm, more than 15 nm below their ambient temperature free-running wavelengths. The ECDL design can be used for diodes of any available wavelength, allowing individual diodes to be tuned continuously over tens of nanometers and extending the wavelength coverage of commercial laser diodes

Rapid iterative design of tandem-core virus-like particles using Escherichia coli- based cell-free protein synthesis

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Rapid iterative design of tandem-core virus-like particles using Escherichia Coli-based cell-free protein synthesis

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CD8+ T lymphocyte responses target functionally important regions of Protease and Integrase in HIV-1 infected subjects

BACKGROUND: CD8+ T cell responses are known to be important to the control of HIV-1 infection. While responses to reverse transcriptase and most structural and accessory proteins have been extensively studied, CD8 T cell responses specifically directed to the HIV-1 enzymes Protease and Integrase have not been well characterized, and few epitopes have been described in detail. METHODS: We assessed comprehensively the CD8 T cell responses to synthetic peptides spanning Protease and Integrase in 56 HIV-1 infected subjects with acute, chronic, or controlled infection using IFN-γ-Elispot assays and intracellular cytokine staining. Fine-characterization of novel CTL epitopes was performed on peptide-specific CTL lines in Elispot and (51)Chromium-release assays. RESULTS: Thirteen (23%) and 38 (68%) of the 56 subjects had detectable responses to Protease and Integrase, respectively, and together these targeted most regions within both proteins. Sequence variability analysis confirmed that responses cluster largely around conserved regions of Integrase, but responses against a large, highly conserved region of the N-terminal DNA-binding domain of Integrase were not readily detected. CD8 T cell responses targeted regions of Protease that contain known Protease inhibitor mutation residues, but strong Protease-specific CD8 T cell responses were rare. Fine-mapping of targeted epitopes allowed the identification of three novel, HLA class I-restricted, frequently-targeted optimal epitopes. There were no significant correlations between CD8 T cell responses to Protease and Integrase and clinical disease category in the study subjects, nor was there a correlation with viral load. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that CD8 T cell responses directed against HIV-1 include potentially important functional regions of Protease and Integrase, and that pharmacologic targeting of these enzymes will place them under both drug and immune selection pressure

Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Beliefs about Medical Male Circumcision (MMC) among a Sample of Health Care Providers in Haiti

Background Haiti has the highest number of people living with HIV infection in the Caribbean/Latin America region. Medical male circumcision (MMC) has been recommended to help prevent the spread of HIV. We sought to assess knowledge, attitudes, practices and beliefs about MMC among a sample of health care providers in Haiti. Methods A convenience sample of 153 health care providers at the GHESKIO Centers in Haiti responded to an exploratory survey that collected information on several topics relevant to health providers about MMC. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the responses and multivariable logistic regression was conducted to determine opinions of health care providers about the best age to perform MMC on males. Bayesian network analysis and sensitivity analysis were done to identify the minimum level of change required to increase the acceptability of performing MMC at age less than 1 year. Results The sample consisted of medical doctors (31.0%), nurses (49.0%), and other health care professionals (20.0%). Approximately 76% showed willingness to offer MMC services if they received training. Seventy-six percent believed that their male patients would accept circumcision, and 59% believed infancy was the best age for MMC. More than 90% of participants said that MMC would reduce STIs. Physicians and nurses who were willing to offer MMC if provided with adequate training were 2.5 (1.15–5.71) times as likely to choose the best age to perform MMC as less than one year. Finally, if the joint probability of choosing “the best age to perform MMC” as one year or older and having the mistaken belief that MMC prevents HIV entirely is reduced by 63% then the probability of finding that performing MMC at less than one year acceptable to health care providers is increased by 35%. Conclusion Participants demonstrated high levels of knowledge and positive attitudes towards MMC. Although this study suggests that circumcision is acceptable among certain health providers in Haiti, studies with larger and more representative samples are needed to confirm this finding

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on six research projects.U. S. Air Force under Contract AF19(604)-4112