Agriculture and farm life in the New York City region, 1820-1870

Today, northern New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island lie within the most densely populated corridor of land in the United States. In the early nineteenth century small towns, forests, farms and gardens populated this bucolic landscape. In the 1820s New York City\u27s ascendance as the most important port and largest city in the United States changed this situation forever. This dissertation charts that transformation, and focuses on a single aspect: the story of how rapid urban expansion influenced agriculture and farm life in sixteen counties surrounding and including Manhattan Island. Commercial expansion encouraged population growth, first only in Manhattan, but later in neighboring Brooklyn and Newark. Together these three cities exerted a profound, but limited influence on agriculture and farm life;Chapter One focuses on the historiography of peri-urban agriculture and the nature of urban expansion in the New York City region. It provides a framework for interpreting the various responses of agrarian men and women to the sudden growth of the metropolis, in terms of farming systems. Chapter Two seeks to evaluate the direct economic effects of urbanization by examining agricultural production, property values, probate records and land tenure patterns. Of interest are the ways farm families took advantage of new opportunities by selling and developing their land, and leasing it to tenants. Chapters Three and Four are concerned with urban influences on markets. Chapter Three focuses on retailing, including farm gate sales, peddling and transactions made at the public markets. Chapter Four deals with agrarian wholesaling, characterized by trade with country stores and city merchants. Chapters Five through Eight take the reader through each of the four seasons of the agricultural year. Of importance in this section are agrarian attitudes toward technology. In this era of improvement agriculturists selected new labor-saving technologies with care, which earned them the scorn of the progressive farming movement. Chapter 9 looks backward from the vantage point of 1870 and concludes that although the new metropolis definitely shaped agriculture and farm life, the seasonality of agrarian life remained strong

Time to focus on circulating nucleic acids for diagnosis and monitoring of gliomas: a systematic review of their role as biomarkers

Gliomas are diffusely growing tumours arising from progenitors within the central nervous system. They encompass a range of different molecular types and subtypes, many of which have a well‐defined profile of driver mutations, copy number changes, and DNA methylation patterns. A majority of gliomas will require surgical intervention to relieve raised intracranial pressure and reduce tumour burden. A proportion of tumours, however, are located in neurologically sensitive areas and a biopsy poses a significant risk of a deficit. A majority of gliomas recur after surgery, and monitoring tumour burden of the recurrence is currently achieved by imaging. However, most imaging modalities have limitations in assessing tumour burden and infiltration into adjacent brain, and sometimes imaging is unable to discriminate between tumour recurrence and pseudo‐progression. Liquid biopsies, obtained from body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid or blood, contain circulating nucleic acids or extracellular vesicles containing tumour‐derived components. The studies for this systematic review were selected according to PRISMA criteria, and suggest that the detection of circulating tumour‐derived nucleic acids holds great promises as biomarker to aid diagnosis and prognostication by monitoring tumour progression, and thus can be considered a pathway towards personalized medicin

DOLOR LUMBAR INESPECÍFICO: ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO DEL TRATAMIENTO DE ACUPUNTURA VS EJERCICIOS DE CONTROL MOTOR.

Introducción: La lumbalgia tiene una prevalencia del 18% con una probabilidad del 50-70% a padecerla. La inestabilidad clínica es una causa importante de dolor lumbar. La controversia ante el tratamiento nos lleva a replantearnos cuál es el método más eficaz. Los ejercicios de control motor se centran en la activación de la musculatura profunda del tronco y se dirigen a restaurar el control y la coordinación de estos, en cambio la acupuntura consiste en la inserción de agujas finas en sitios específicos del cuerpo para tratar dolores musculoesqueléticos. Objetivo: Analizar qué terapia es más efectiva en el mismo periodo de tiempo para tratar el dolor lumbar crónico. Material y métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo comparativo durante los meses de febrero a mayo de 2019. Un total de 15 pacientes con dolor lumbar crónico del Hospital General Universitario de Elche fueron asignados aleatoriamente a dos grupos de intervención. El grupo uno fue sometido a sesiones de acupuntura y el grupo dos a ejercicios de control motor. Ambas intervenciones duraron ocho sesiones durante cuatro semanas. El dolor y la discapacidad se evaluaron en la primera, cuarta y última sesión. Resultados: No hay diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos. Con el tamaño muestral analizado, parece que puede existir un beneficio mayor en el tratamiento con acupuntura respecto al de control motor. Conclusión: Este estudio sugiere que la acupuntura podría tener un mayor beneficio en cuanto al dolor y la disfunción lumbar en este tipo de pacientes

High expression of HLA-E in colorectal carcinoma is associated with a favorable prognosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-E is a non-classical class I HLA molecule that can be stabilized by ligands donated by other classical (HLA-A, -B, -C) and non-classical (HLA-G) family members. HLA-E engages a variety of immune receptors expressed by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), Natural killer (NK) cells and NK-CTLs. In view of the opposing outcomes (activation or inhibition) of the different HLA-E receptors, the preferred role (if any) of HLA-E expressed <it>in vivo </it>on tumor cells remains to be established.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Taking advantage of MEM-E/02, a recently characterized antibody to denatured HLA-E molecules, HLA-E expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on an archival collection (formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded) of 149 colorectal primary carcinoma lesions paired with their morphologically normal mucosae. Lymphoid infiltrates were assessed for the expression of the HLA-E-specific, inhibitory, non-rearranging receptor NKG2A.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>High HLA-E expression did not significantly correlate with the expression of classical HLA-B and HLA-C molecules, but it did correlate with high expression of its preferential ligand donor HLA-A. In addition, it correlated with lymphoid cell infiltrates expressing the inhibitory NKG2A receptor, and was an independent predictor of good prognosis, particularly in a subset of patients whose tumors express HLA-A levels resembling those of their paired normal counterparts (HLA-A). Thus, combination phenotypes (HLA-E^lo-int/HLA-AE and HLA-E^hi/HLA-AE) of classical and non-classical class I HLA molecules mark two graded levels of good prognosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that HLA-E favors activating immune responses to colorectal carcinoma. They also provide evidence in humans that tumor cells entertain extensive negotiation with the immune system until a compromise between recognition and escape is reached. It is implied that this process occurs stepwise, as predicted by the widely accepted 'immunoediting' model.</p

Basophil activation test for Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins in severe asthmatic patients

Background: Several studies have shown an association between severe asthma and serum immunoglobulins E (IgE) against Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins (SEs). SEs—the prototypes being types A (SEA), B (SEB) and toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1)—can induce both polyclonal and specific IgE responses. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the ability of SEs to induce basophil activation in severe asthmatic patients using the basophil activation test (BAT). Methods: 57 severe asthmatic patients were enrolled. BAT in response to SEA, SEB and TSST-1 was performed in all patients, while serum IgE to SEA, SEB and SEC was available in 49 patients. BAT was considered positive when CD203c+ basophils to SEs were ≥5%, and the stimulation index (SI, ratio between % of CD203c+ basophils to SEs and to negative control) was &gt;2. Two threshold values (&gt;0.1&nbsp;kU/L and &gt;0.35&nbsp;kU/L, respectively) were used to assess serum SEsIgE. Results: 36.8% of severe asthmatic patients had a BAT positive for at least one SE (BAT SEs+). Serum SEsIgE &gt;0.35&nbsp;kU/L (SEs IgE+) was associated with BAT SEs positivity. Among patients with negative skin prick test, 35% were BAT SEs+, 30% SEs IgE+, 55% BAT or IgE− SEs+. A negative correlation between SI of BAT to SEs and both clinical (ACT score) and functional parameters was observed, together with a positive correlation of BAT with asthma exacerbations. Conclusions: The positivity of BAT for SEs in a subgroup of severe asthmatic patients further supports the pathogenic role of Staphylococcus aureus in severe asthma

Mitigation of Aerodynamic Uplift Loads Using Roof Integrated Wind Turbine Systems

Coastal areas of the US are affected by extreme wind events, including hurricanes. Roofs are the most vulnerable building components as they are often damaged by high wind uplift forces acting on the edges and corners. This study investigates the application of a mitigation strategy, in the form of an Aerodynamics Mitigation and Power System (AMPS) (US Patent, Gan Chowdhury et al., Patent Number: US 9,951,752 B2, April 2018), designed to simultaneously reduce wind damage and provide power to buildings. The system consists of horizontal axis wind turbines, integrated to roof edges with or without gutters. Four sets of testing on a flat roof low rise building model (without gutters)—including a bare deck configuration (i.e. without AMPS) and three cases where the roof corner was fitted with AMPS—were conducted at the Wall of Wind Experimental Facility at Florida International University. In one of the configurations, the wind turbines were placed slightly above the roof edge, while in the other two configurations, the turbines were placed closer to the roof edge. Wind directions tested ranged from 0° to 90° (considering roof geometric symmetry). Estimation of area-averaged mean and peak pressure coefficients were made for various locations on the roof for the three different configurations, and compared with the case of no mitigation. Results show that for wind directions tested, significant reduction in mean and peak pressure coefficients (reduced suction) were obtained in those cases where the wind turbines were placed closer to the roof edge as compared to the bare roof deck case. Flow visualization studies showed that the turbines helped to disrupt the conical vortices caused by cornering winds, thereby reducing the wind uplift forces on the roof. This study shows that the AMPS can be utilized to prevent wind-induced damage to the roof. Future research will include estimation of the: (1) potential wind energy production using the mitigation system under various wind conditions, (ii) effectiveness of AMPS in mitigating wind loading on other kinds of buildings (e.g., gable and hip roof buildings), and (iii) load transferred from the system to the roof

Comment on "Influence of HLA-C Expression Level on HIV Control"

Apps et al. found that high human HLA-C expression favors HIV-1 control. HLA-C was assessed with a monoclonal antibody that cross-reacts with HLA-E

Liberi di errare

Chi non è innamorato del suo inconscio erra. La pratica clinica con i bambini e gli adolescenti ci confronta oggi con forme di disagio sempre più opache, “disordinate”. I disturbi, disorders in inglese, classificati nei manuali diagnostici si moltiplicano, portando la traccia di comportamenti per lo più insensati e di problemi inspiegabili. L’epoca della vita in cui il travestimento è uno dei giochi preferiti – poiché, insieme alle storie raccontate e inventate, consente di speriment..