Generators of simple Lie algebras in arbitrary characteristics

In this paper we study the minimal number of generators for simple Lie algebras in characteristic 0 or p > 3. We show that any such algebra can be generated by 2 elements. We also examine the 'one and a half generation' property, i.e. when every non-zero element can be completed to a generating pair. We show that classical simple algebras have this property, and that the only simple Cartan type algebras of type W which have this property are the Zassenhaus algebras.Comment: 26 pages, final version, to appear in Math. Z. Main improvements and corrections in Section 4.

Highlighting the History of French Radio Astronomy. 4. Early Solar Research at the École Normale Supérieure, Marcoussis and Nancay

The first tentative steps in solar radio astronomy took place during the 1940s and early 1950s as physicists and engineers in a number of countries used recycled World War II equipment to investigate the flux levels and polarisation of solar bursts and emission from the quiet Sun, and sought to understand the connection between this emission and optical features in the solar photosphere and chromosphere. There was also an abiding interest in the terrestrial effects of this solar radio emission. Among these solar pioneers were French radio astronomers from the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. In this paper we review the early solar observations made by them from Paris, Marcoussis and Nançay prior to the construction of a number of innovative multi-element solar interferometers at the Nançay field station in the mid-1950s

Implementing Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care

A detailed review of the teaching assistance (TA) and shared learning (SL) in the area of behavioral health integration UMass Medical School provided to participants of the Primary Care Payment Reform program, an alternative payment pilot developed by the Massachusetts Medicaid program, MassHealth. PCPR was designed to improve access, patient experience, quality and efficiency. As a result of TA and SL, practices reported higher rates on behavioral health quality measures and milestones

Recovery of mutants impaired in pathogenicity after transposition of Impala in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis

The ability of transposon impala to inactivate genes involved in pathogenicity was tested in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis. Somatic excision of an impala copy inserted in the nitrate reductase-encoding niaD gene was positively selected through a phenotypic assay based on the restoration of nitrate reductase activity. Independent excision events were analyzed molecularly and shown to carry reinsertedimpala in more than 70% of the cases. Mapping of reinserted impala elements on large NotI-restriction fragments showed that impala transposes randomly. By screening 746 revertants on plants, a high proportion (3.5%) of mutants impaired in their pathogenic potential was recovered. According to the kinetics of wilt symptom development, the strains that were impaired in pathogenicity were clustered in three classes: class 1 grouped two strains that never induced Fusarium wilt symptoms on the host plant; class 2 and class 3 grouped 15 and 9 revertants which caused symptoms more than 50 and 30 days after inoculation, respectively. The first results demonstrate the efficiency of transposition in generating mutants affected in pathogenicity, which are usually difficult to obtain by classical mutagenesis, and open the possibility to clone the altered genes with impala as a tag

Statistics of counter-streaming solar wind suprathermal electrons at solar minimum : STEREO observations

Previous work has shown that solar wind suprathermal electrons can display a number of features in terms of their anisotropy. Of importance is the occurrence of counter-streaming electron patterns, i.e., with "beams" both parallel and anti-parallel to the local magnetic field, which is believed to shed light on the heliospheric magnetic field topology. In the present study, we use STEREO data to obtain the statistical properties of counter-streaming suprathermal electrons (CSEs) in the vicinity of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) during the period March–December 2007. Because this period corresponds to a minimum of solar activity, the results are unrelated to the sampling of large-scale coronal mass ejections, which can lead to CSE owing to their closed magnetic field topology. The present study statistically confirms that CSEs are primarily the result of suprathermal electron leakage from the compressed CIR into the upstream regions with the combined occurrence of halo depletion at 90° pitch angle. The occurrence rate of CSE is found to be about 15–20% on average during the period analyzed (depending on the criteria used), but superposed epoch analysis demonstrates that CSEs are preferentially observed both before and after the passage of the stream interface (with peak occurrence rate >35% in the trailing high speed stream), as well as both inside and outside CIRs. The results quantitatively show that CSEs are common in the solar wind during solar minimum, but yet they suggest that such distributions would be much more common if pitch angle scattering were absent. We further argue that (1) the formation of shocks contributes to the occurrence of enhanced counter-streaming sunward-directed fluxes, but does not appear to be a necessary condition, and (2) that the presence of small-scale transients with closed-field topologies likely also contributes to the occurrence of counter-streaming patterns, but only in the slow solar wind prior to CIRs

Effectiveness of pure argon for renal transplant preservation in a preclinical pig model of heterotopic autotransplantation

International audienceBackground: In kidney transplantation, the conditions of organ preservation following removal influence function recovery. Current static preservation procedures are generally based on immersion in a cold‑storage solution used under atmospheric air (approximately 78 kPa N2, 21 kPa O2, 1 kPa Ar). Research on static cold‑preservation solutions has stalled, and modifying the gas composition of the storage medium for improving preservation was considered. Organoprotective strategies successfully used noble gases and we addressed here the effects of argon and xenon on graft preservation in an established preclinical pig model of autotransplantation. Methods: The preservation solution Celsior saturated with pure argon (Argon‑Celsior) or xenon (Xenon‑Celsior) at atmospheric pressure was tested versus Celsior saturated with atmospheric air (Air‑Celsior). The left kidney was removed, and Air‑Celsior (n = 8 pigs), Argon‑Celsior (n = 8) or Xenon‑Celsior (n = 6) was used at 4 °C to flush and store the transplant for 30 h, a duration that induced ischemic injury in our model when Air‑Celsior was used. Hetero‑ topic autotransplantation and contralateral nephrectomy were performed. Animals were followed for 21 days. Results: The use of Argon‑Celsior vs. Air‑Celsior: (1) improved function recovery as monitored via creatinine clear‑ ance, the fraction of excreted sodium and tubulopathy duration; (2) enabled diuresis recovery 2–3 days earlier; (3) improved survival (7/8 vs. 3/8 pigs survived at postoperative day‑21); (4) decreased tubular necrosis, interstitial fibrosis, apoptosis and inflammation, and preserved tissue structures as observed after the natural death/euthanasia; (5) stimulated plasma antioxidant defences during the days following transplantation as shown by monitoring the " reduced ascorbic acid/thiobarbituric acid reactive substances " ratio and Hsp27 expression; (6) limited the inflamma‑ tory response as shown by expression of TNF‑alpha, IL1‑beta and IL6 as observed after the natural death/euthanasia. Conversely, Xenon‑Celsior was detrimental, no animal surviving by day‑8 in a context where functional recovery, renal tissue properties and the antioxidant and inflammation responses were significantly altered. Thus, the positive effects of argon were not attributable to the noble gases as a group. Conclusions: The saturation of Celsior with argon improved early functional recovery, graft quality and survival. Manipulating the gas composition of a preservation medium constitutes therefore a promising approach to improve preservation

Pathophysiological and diagnostic implications of cardiac biomarkers and antidiuretic hormone release in distinguishing immersion pulmonary edema from decompression sickness

Immersion pulmonary edema (IPE) is a misdiagnosed environmental illness caused by water immersion, cold, and exertion. IPE occurs typically during SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and swimming. IPE is sometimes associated with myocardial injury and/or loss of consciousness in water, which may be fatal. IPE is thought to involve hemodynamic and cardiovascular disturbances, but its pathophysiology remains largely unclear, which makes IPE prevention difficult. This observational study aimed to document IPE pathogenesis and improve diagnostic reliability, including distinguishing in some conditions IPE from decompression sickness (DCS), another diving-related disorder. Thirty-one patients (19 IPE, 12 DCS) treated at the Hyperbaric Medicine Department (Ste-Anne hospital, Toulon, France; July 2013–June 2014) were recruited into the study. Ten healthy divers were recruited as controls. We tested: (i) copeptin, a surrogate marker for antidiuretic hormone and a stress marker; (ii) ischemia-modified albumin, an ischemia/hypoxia marker; (iii) brain-natriuretic peptide (BNP), a marker of heart failure, and (iv) ultrasensitive-cardiac troponin-I (cTnI), a marker of myocardial ischemia. We found that copeptin and cardiac biomarkers were higher in IPE versus DCS and controls: (i) copeptin: 68% of IPE patients had a high level versus 25% of DCS patients (P < 0.05) (mean ± standard-deviation: IPE: 53 ± 61 pmol/L; DCS: 15 ± 17; controls: 6 ± 3; IPE versus DCS or controls: P < 0.05); (ii) ischemia-modified albumin: 68% of IPE patients had a high level versus 16% of DCS patients (P < 0.05) (IPE: 123 ± 25 arbitrary-units; DCS: 84 ± 25; controls: 94 ± 7; IPE versus DCS or controls: P < 0.05); (iii) BNP: 53% of IPE patients had a high level, DCS patients having normal values (P < 0.05) (IPE: 383 ± 394 ng/L; DCS: 37 ± 28; controls: 19 ± 15; IPE versus DCS or controls: P < 0.01); (iv) cTnI: 63% of IPE patients had a high level, DCS patients having normal values (P < 0.05) (IPE: 0.66 ± 1.50 μg/L; DCS: 0.0061 ± 0.0040; controls: 0.0090 ± 0.01; IPE versus DCS or controls: P < 0.01). The combined “BNP-cTnI” levels provided most discrimination: all IPE patients, but none of the DCS patients, had elevated levels of either/both of these markers. We propose that antidiuretic hormone acts together with a myocardial ischemic process to promote IPE. Thus, monitoring of antidiuretic hormone and cardiac biomarkers can help to make a quick and reliable diagnosis of IPE

Effect of Inhibition of the Lysophosphatidic Acid Receptor 1 on Metastasis and Metastatic Dormancy in Breast Cancer

Background Previous studies identified the human nonmetastatic gene 23 (NME1, hereafter Nm23-H1) as the first metastasis suppressor gene. An inverse relationship between Nm23-H1 and expression of lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 gene (LPAR1, also known as EDG2 or hereafter LPA1) has also been reported. However, the effects of LPA1 inhibition on primary tumor size, metastasis, and metastatic dormancy have not been investigated. Methods The LPA1 inhibitor Debio-0719 or LPA1 short hairpinned RNA (shRNA) was used. Primary tumor size and metastasis were investigated using the 4T1 spontaneous metastasis mouse model and the MDA-MB-231T experimental metastasis mouse model (n = 13 mice per group). Proliferation and p38 intracellular signaling in tumors and cell lines were determined by immunohistochemistry and western blot to investigate the effects of LPA1 inhibition on metastatic dormancy. An analysis of variance-based two-tailed t test was used to determine a statistically significant difference between treatment groups. Results In the 4T1 spontaneous metastasis mouse model, Debio-0719 inhibited the metastasis of 4T1 cells to the liver (mean = 25.2 liver metastases per histologic section for vehicle-treated mice vs 6.8 for Debio-0719-treated mice, 73.0% reduction, P < .001) and lungs (mean = 6.37 lesions per histologic section for vehicle-treated mice vs 0.73 for Debio-0719-treated mice, 88.5% reduction, P < .001), with no effect on primary tumor size. Similar results were observed using the MDA-MB-231T experimental pulmonary metastasis mouse model. LPA1 shRNA also inhibited metastasis but did not affect primary tumor size. In 4T1 metastases, but not primary tumors, expression of the proliferative markers Ki67 and pErk was reduced by Debio-0719, and phosphorylation of the p38 stress kinase was increased, indicative of metastatic dormancy. Conclusion The data identify Debio-0719 as a drug candidate with metastasis suppressor activity, inducing dormancy at secondary tumor site

The groupoid approach to Leavitt path algebras

When the theory of Leavitt path algebras was already quite advanced, it was discovered that some of the more difficult questions were susceptible to a new approach using topological groupoids. The main result that makes this possible is that the Leavitt path algebra of a graph is graded isomorphic to the Steinberg algebra of the graph’s boundary path groupoid. This expository paper has three parts: Part 1 is on the Steinberg algebra of a groupoid, Part 2 is on the path space and boundary path groupoid of a graph, and Part 3 is on the Leavitt path algebra of a graph. It is a self-contained reference on these topics, intended to be useful to beginners and experts alike. While revisiting the fundamentals, we prove some results in greater generality than can be found elsewhere, including the uniqueness theorems for Leavitt path algebras