Hysteresis Loop Effect on Coronal Index and Solar Flare Index During Solar Cycles 22 and 23

The hysteresis loop effect on the solar activity as coronal index (CI) and solar flare index (SFI) over cosmic ray intensity (CRI) at the low cut-off rigidities neutron monitoring station Oulu on the monthly basis data for the period January 1, 1986 to December 31, 2008 has been studied. It is observed that the shape of the hysteresis loops is varying from solar cycle 22 to 23. The hysteresis loops for solar cycle 23 are broad ovals whereas for solar cycle 22 are nearly flat. A complementary feature of the cosmic ray intensity decreases more rapidly as the increase in solar activity (coronal index and solar flare index). The positive solar polar magnetic parameter (A>0) and negative solar polar magnetic parameter (A<0) is representing the hysteresis loops

Effect of epidural volume extension with colloid on dose requirement for intrathecal spinal block: a double blind prospective study

Background: Epidural volume extension (EVE) is a modification of combined- spinal epidural anaesthesia (CSEA) in which fluid is injected in epidural space after the intrathecal block. Fluid in epidural space compress subarachnoid space and causes cephalic spread of intrathecal drug to increase block height. Purpose of study is to determine efficacy of EVE on dose requirement of intrathecal bupivacaine when colloid was used for EVE.Methods: Sixty patients of ASA physical status I or II, scheduled for elective caesarean sections were recruited and randomized into two groups (30 each group). Group 1: CSEA in which spinal block is followed by 10 ml Colloid (HES 6%) in epidural space; Group 2: CSEA but no fluid in epidural space. Onset of sensory block and hemodynamic variables were measured at 5 min. intervals up to 40 minutes then at 10 min. intervals till end of surgery. Ineffective block was top- up by epidural 0.5% bupivacaine in incremental doses.Results: Median effective dose of intrathecal bupivacaine was significantly lower, 4.0 mg (95% CI 4.40-5.60) in group 1 versus 7.0 mg (95% CI 6.93-7.61) in group 2. Only 11 patients required ephedrine in group 1 versus 20 in group 2. Requirement of ephedrine was significantly lower 2.20 (±2.94) mg in group 1 versus 4.0 (±2.88) mg groups 2. Changes in haemodynamic variables from baseline were significantly lower in group 1 than those in group 2.Conclusions: EVE with colloid was effective in lowering dose requirement of spinal bupivacaine while patients hemodynamically were more stable.

Entangled Dilaton Dyons

Einstein-Maxwell theory coupled to a dilaton is known to give rise to extremal solutions with hyperscaling violation. We study the behaviour of these solutions in the presence of a small magnetic field. We find that in a region of parameter space the magnetic field is relevant in the infra-red and completely changes the behaviour of the solution which now flows to an $AdS_2\times R^2$ attractor. As a result there is an extensive ground state entropy and the entanglement entropy of a sufficiently big region on the boundary grows like the volume. In particular, this happens for values of parameters at which the purely electric theory has an entanglement entropy growing with the area, $A$, like $A \log(A)$ which is believed to be a characteristic feature of a Fermi surface. Some other thermodynamic properties are also analysed and a more detailed characterisation of the entanglement entropy is also carried out in the presence of a magnetic field. Other regions of parameter space not described by the $AdS_2\times R^2$ end point are also discussed.Comment: Some comments regarding comparison with weakly coupled Fermi liquid changed, typos corrected and caption of a figure modifie

Quadruplex-single nucleotide polymorphisms (Quad-SNP) influence gene expression difference among individuals

Non-canonical guanine quadruplex structures are not only predominant but also conserved among bacterial and mammalian promoters. Moreover recent findings directly implicate quadruplex structures in transcription. These argue for an intrinsic role of the structural motif and thereby posit that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) that compromise the quadruplex architecture could influence function. To test this, we analysed SNPs within quadruplex motifs (Quad-SNP) and gene expression in 270 individuals across four populations (HapMap) representing more than 14 500 genotypes. Findings reveal significant association between quadruplex-SNPs and expression of the corresponding gene in individuals (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, analysis of Quad-SNPs obtained from population-scale sequencing of 1000 human genomes showed relative selection bias against alteration of the structural motif. To directly test the quadruplex-SNP-transcription connection, we constructed a reporter system using the RPS3 promoter—remarkable difference in promoter activity in the ‘quadruplex-destabilized’ versus ‘quadruplex-intact’ promoter was noticed. As a further test, we incorporated a quadruplex motif or its disrupted counterpart within a synthetic promoter reporter construct. The quadruplex motif, and not the disrupted-motif, enhanced transcription in human cell lines of different origin. Together, these findings build direct support for quadruplex-mediated transcription and suggest quadruplex-SNPs may play significant role in mechanistically understanding variations in gene expression among individuals

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

The global retinoblastoma outcome study : a prospective, cluster-based analysis of 4064 patients from 149 countries

DATA SHARING : The study data will become available online once all analyses are complete.BACKGROUND : Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular cancer worldwide. There is some evidence to suggest that major differences exist in treatment outcomes for children with retinoblastoma from different regions, but these differences have not been assessed on a global scale. We aimed to report 3-year outcomes for children with retinoblastoma globally and to investigate factors associated with survival. METHODS : We did a prospective cluster-based analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 2017, then treated and followed up for 3 years. Patients were recruited from 260 specialised treatment centres worldwide. Data were obtained from participating centres on primary and additional treatments, duration of follow-up, metastasis, eye globe salvage, and survival outcome. We analysed time to death and time to enucleation with Cox regression models. FINDINGS : The cohort included 4064 children from 149 countries. The median age at diagnosis was 23·2 months (IQR 11·0–36·5). Extraocular tumour spread (cT4 of the cTNMH classification) at diagnosis was reported in five (0·8%) of 636 children from high-income countries, 55 (5·4%) of 1027 children from upper-middle-income countries, 342 (19·7%) of 1738 children from lower-middle-income countries, and 196 (42·9%) of 457 children from low-income countries. Enucleation surgery was available for all children and intravenous chemotherapy was available for 4014 (98·8%) of 4064 children. The 3-year survival rate was 99·5% (95% CI 98·8–100·0) for children from high-income countries, 91·2% (89·5–93·0) for children from upper-middle-income countries, 80·3% (78·3–82·3) for children from lower-middle-income countries, and 57·3% (52·1-63·0) for children from low-income countries. On analysis, independent factors for worse survival were residence in low-income countries compared to high-income countries (hazard ratio 16·67; 95% CI 4·76–50·00), cT4 advanced tumour compared to cT1 (8·98; 4·44–18·18), and older age at diagnosis in children up to 3 years (1·38 per year; 1·23–1·56). For children aged 3–7 years, the mortality risk decreased slightly (p=0·0104 for the change in slope). INTERPRETATION : This study, estimated to include approximately half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017, shows profound inequity in survival of children depending on the national income level of their country of residence. In high-income countries, death from retinoblastoma is rare, whereas in low-income countries estimated 3-year survival is just over 50%. Although essential treatments are available in nearly all countries, early diagnosis and treatment in low-income countries are key to improving survival outcomes.The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and the Wellcome Trust.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/homeam2023Paediatrics and Child Healt

Twisted distorted wave Born approximation as a new tool to investigate collisional processes

International audienceIn this work, we report on triply differential ionization cross sections (e,2e) for atomic and molecular targets, namely, Ar(3p), Kr(4p), Xe(5p) and H$_{2}$ impacted by twisted electron beams. The calculations were performed within the distorted wave Born approximation by using twisted and distorted waves for describing the incident and outgoing electrons, respectively. We found that the triply differential cross sections were strongly influenced by both the opening angle θ$_{p}$ and the orbital angular momentum OAM number m. Comparisons with experiments as well as existing results were reported

Hysteresis Loop Effect on Coronal Index and Solar Flare Index During Solar Cycles 22 and 23

83-85The hysteresis loop effect on the solar activity as coronal index (CI) and solar flare index (SFI) over cosmic ray intensity (CRI) at the low cut-off rigidities neutron monitoring station Oulu on the monthly basis data for the period January 1, 1986 to December 31, 2008 has been studied. It is observed that the shape of the hysteresis loops is varying from solar cycle 22 to 23. The hysteresis loops for solar cycle 23 are broad ovals whereas for solar cycle 22 are nearly flat. A complementary feature of the cosmic ray intensity decreases more rapidly as the increase in solar activity (coronal index and solar flare index). The positive solar polar magnetic parameter (A>0) and negative solar polar magnetic parameter (A<0) is representing the hysteresis loops

Effect of epidural volume extension with colloid on dose requirement for intrathecal spinal block: a double blind prospective study

Background: Epidural volume extension (EVE) is a modification of combined- spinal epidural anaesthesia (CSEA) in which fluid is injected in epidural space after the intrathecal block. Fluid in epidural space compress subarachnoid space and causes cephalic spread of intrathecal drug to increase block height. Purpose of study is to determine efficacy of EVE on dose requirement of intrathecal bupivacaine when colloid was used for EVE.Methods: Sixty patients of ASA physical status I or II, scheduled for elective caesarean sections were recruited and randomized into two groups (30 each group). Group 1: CSEA in which spinal block is followed by 10 ml Colloid (HES 6%) in epidural space; Group 2: CSEA but no fluid in epidural space. Onset of sensory block and hemodynamic variables were measured at 5 min. intervals up to 40 minutes then at 10 min. intervals till end of surgery. Ineffective block was top- up by epidural 0.5% bupivacaine in incremental doses.Results: Median effective dose of intrathecal bupivacaine was significantly lower, 4.0 mg (95% CI 4.40-5.60) in group 1 versus 7.0 mg (95% CI 6.93-7.61) in group 2. Only 11 patients required ephedrine in group 1 versus 20 in group 2. Requirement of ephedrine was significantly lower 2.20 (±2.94) mg in group 1 versus 4.0 (±2.88) mg groups 2. Changes in haemodynamic variables from baseline were significantly lower in group 1 than those in group 2.Conclusions: EVE with colloid was effective in lowering dose requirement of spinal bupivacaine while patients hemodynamically were more stable.