Preventive action of organosilicon treatments against disfigurement of wood under laboratory and outdoor conditions

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Methodology to assess both the efficacy and ecotoxicology of preservative-treated and modified wood

Wood used in outdoor conditions out of ground contact is susceptible to weathering, inducing both fungal decay and leaching of components to the environment. This paper presents a methodology to determine these two parameters for untreated, preservative-treated and modified wood. Therefore, the wood was first leached and subsequently exposed to fungal decay of the most prominent wood-rotting fungi. The crustacean Daphnia magna was exposed to the leachates to provide information on their impact on the environment. Combining both parameters reveals that preservative-treated wood and modified wood are capable of protecting the wood adequately for application under use class 3 conditions without posing a threat to the environment. This proves the suitability of the concept of combining efficacy and ecotoxicology for the evaluation of new types of wood treatments

Anatomical Study of the Extreme Lateral Transpsoas Lumbar Interbody Fusion with Application to Minimizing Injury to the Kidney.

Objective Since the extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusion procedure was first reported by Ozgur in 2006, a large number of clinical studies have been published. Anatomical studies which explore methods to avoid visceral structures, such as the kidney, with this approach have not been examined in detail. We dissected the retroperitoneal space to analyze how the extreme lateral transpsoas approach to the lumbar spine could damage the kidney and related structures. Methods Eight sides from four fresh Caucasian cadavers were used for this study. The latissimus dorsi muscle and the thoracolumbar fascia were dissected to open the retroperitoneum. The fat tissue was removed. Steel wires were then put into the intervertebral disc spaces. Finally, the closest distance between kidney and wires on each interdiscal space was measured. Results The closest distance from the wire in the interdiscal space on L1/2, L2/3 and L3/4 to the kidney ranged from 13.2 mm to 32.9 mm, 20.0 mm to 27.7 mm, and 20.5 mm to 46.6 mm, respectively. The distance from the kidney to the interdiscal space at L4/5 was too great to be considered applicable to this study. Conclusions The results of this study might help surgeons better recognize the proximity of the kidney and avoid injury to it during the extreme lateral transpsoas approach to the lumbar spine

Crystal field analysis of Pm3+^{3+} (4f4)andSm^{f4}) and Sm^{3+}(4 (4^{f5}) and lattice location studies of 147^{147}Nd and 147^{147}Pm in w-AlN

We report a detailed crystal field analysis of Pm3+ and Sm3+ as well as lattice location studies of 147Pm and 147Nd in 2H-aluminum nitride (w-AlN). The isotopes of mass 147 were produced by nuclear fission and implanted at an energy of 60 keV. The decay chain of interest in this work is 147Nd→147Pm→147Sm (stable). Lattice location studies applying the emission channeling technique were carried out using the β− particles and conversion electrons emitted in the radioactive decay of 147Nd→147Pm. The samples were investigated as implanted, and also they were investigated after annealing to temperatures of 873 K as well as 1373 K. The main fraction of about 60% of both 147Pm as well as 147Nd atoms was located on substitutional Al sites in the AlN lattice; the remainder of the ions were located randomly within the AlN lattice. Following radioactive decay of 147Nd, the cathodoluminescence spectra of Pm3+ and Sm3+ were obtained between 500 nm and 1050 nm at sample temperatures between 12 K and 300 K. High-resolution emission spectra, representing intra-4f electron transitions, were analyzed to establish the crystal-field splitting of the energy levels of Sm3+ (4f5) and Pm3+ (4f4) in cationic sites having C3v symmetry in the AlN lattice. Using crystal-field splitting models, we obtained a rms deviation of 6 cm−1 between 31 calculated-to-experimental energy (Stark) levels for Sm3+ in AlN. The results are similar to those reported for Sm3+ implanted into GaN. Using a set of crystal-field splitting parameters Bnm, for Pm3+ derived from the present Sm3+ analysis, we calculated the splitting for the 5F1, 5I4, and 5I5 multiplet manifolds in Pm3+ and obtained good agreement between the calculated and the experimental Stark levels. Temperature-dependent lifetime measurements are also reported for the emitting levels 4F5∕2 (Sm3+) and 5F1 (Pm3+)

Identification of Drosophila centromere associated proteins by quantitative affinity purification-mass spectrometry

AbstractCentromeres of higher eukaryotes are epigenetically defined by the centromere specific histone H3 variant CENP-ACID. CENP-ACID builds the foundation for the assembly of a large network of proteins. In contrast to mammalian systems, the protein composition of Drosophila centromeres has not been comprehensively investigated. Here we describe the proteome of Drosophila melanogaster centromeres as analyzed by quantitative affinity purification-mass spectrometry (AP-MS). The AP-MS input chromatin material was prepared from D. melanogaster cell lines expressing CENP-ACID or H3.3 fused to EGFP as baits. Centromere chromatin enriched proteins were identified based on their relative abundance in CENP-ACID–GFP compared to H3.3-GFP or mock affinity-purifications. The analysis yielded 86 proteins specifically enriched in centromere chromatin preparations.The data accompanying the manuscript on this approach (Barth et al., 2015, Proteomics 14:2167-78, DOI: 10.1002/pmic.201400052) has been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium (http://www.proteomexchange.org) via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD000758

SAKK 24/09: safety and tolerability of bevacizumab plus paclitaxel vs. bevacizumab plus metronomic cyclophosphamide and capecitabine as first-line therapy in patients with HER2-negative advanced stage breast cancer - a multicenter, randomized phase III trial.

BACKGROUND: Adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy improves response rates and progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic breast cancer (mBC). We aimed to demonstrate decreased toxicity with metronomic chemotherapy/bevacizumab compared with paclitaxel/bevacizumab. METHODS: This multicenter, randomized phase III trial compared bevacizumab with either paclitaxel (arm A) or daily oral capecitabine-cyclophosphamide (arm B) as first-line treatment in patients with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. The primary endpoint was the incidence of selected grade 3-5 adverse events (AE) including: febrile neutropenia, infection, sensory/motor neuropathy, and mucositis. Secondary endpoints included objective response rate, disease control rate, PFS, overall survival (OS), quality of life (QoL), and pharmacoeconomics. The study was registered prospectively with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01131195 on May 25, 2010. RESULTS: Between September 2010 and December 2012, 147 patients were included at 22 centers. The incidence of primary endpoint-defining AEs was similar in arm A (25 % [18/71]; 95 % CI 15-35 %) and arm B (24 % [16/68]; 95 % CI 13-34 %; P = 0.96). Objective response rates were 58 % (42/73; 95 % CI 0.46-0.69) and 50 % (37/74; 95 % CI 0.39-0.61) in arms A and B, respectively (P = 0.45). Median PFS was 10.3 months (95 % CI 8.7-11.3) in arm A and 8.5 months (95 % CI 6.5-11.9) in arm B (P = 0.90). Other secondary efficacy endpoints were not significantly different between study arms. The only statistically significant differences in QoL were less hair loss and less numbness in arm B. Treatment costs between the two arms were equivalent. CONCLUSION: This trial failed to meet its primary endpoint of a reduced rate of prespecified grade 3-5 AEs with metronomic bevacizumab, cyclophosphamide and capecitabine