Applications of the ACGT Master Ontology on Cancer

In this paper we present applications of the ACGT Master Ontology (MO) which is a new terminology resource for a transnational network providing data exchange in oncology, emphasizing the integration of both clinical and molecular data. The development of a new ontology was necessary due to problems with existing biomedical ontologies in oncology. The ACGT MO is a test case for the application of best practices in ontology development. This paper provides an overview of the application of the ontology within the ACGT project thus far

Amplification of a radially-polarised beam in an Yb:YAG thin slab

Amplification of an axially-symmetric, doughnut-shaped radially-polarised beam at 1030nm in a diode-bar-pumped double-pass thin Yb:YAG slab amplifier architecture without degradation in polarisation purity is demonstrated. Preliminary experiments yielded a small-signal gain of 9dB for 50W of incident pump power while maintaining the polarisation purity of the seed beam

Reviews

Review of After the Freeze: New Zealand Unions in the Economy, Keeping Employees Informed, The Future of Work, Wage Indexation - a Study of Australian Wage Issues 1975 - 1980, How Labour Markets Work, Case Studies in Adjustment, Open Cut: The Working Class in an Australian Mining Town, Industrial Accidents and Nightwork in the Manufacturing Sector, The Behavioural Sciences and Industrial Relations: Some Problems of Integratio

High-power single-frequency operation, at 1064nm and 1061.4nm of a Nd:YAG ring laser end-pumped by a beam-shaped diode bar

A Nd:YAG laser having a ring configuration, with Faraday rotator to provide unidirectional operation has been end-pumped by a single 20 W diode bar equipped with a beam-shaper. A single-frequency TEMoo output of 5.4 W is achieved at 1064 nm. Using a thin intracavity etalon for wavelength selection, a single-frequency output of 4.2 W is obtained on the 1061.4 nm transition

Polychromatic flow cytometry is more sensitive than microscopy in detecting small monoclonal plasma cell populations

Background There is an emerging role for flow cytometry (FC) in the assessment of small populations of plasma cells (PC). However, FC's utility has been questioned due to consistent underestimation of the percentage of PC compared to microscopy. Methods A retrospective study was performed on bone marrow samples analysed by 8-colour FC. Plasma cell populations were classified as polyclonal or monoclonal based on FC analysis. FC findings were compared with microscopy of aspirates, histology and immunohistochemistry of trephine biopsies, and immunofixation (IFX) of serum and/or urine. Results FC underestimated PC compared to aspirate and trephine microscopy. The 10% diagnostic cutoff for MM on aspirate microscopy corresponded to a 3.5% cutoff on FC. Abnormal plasma cell morphology by aspirate microscopy and clonality by FC correlated in 229 of 294 cases (78%). However, in 50 cases, FC demonstrated a monoclonal population but microscopy reported no abnormality. In 15 cases, abnormalities were reported by microscopy but not by FC. Clonality assessment by trephine microscopy and FC agreed in 251/280 cases (90%), but all 29 discordant cases were monoclonal by FC and not monoclonal by microscopy. These cases had fewer PC and proportionally more polyclonal PC, and when IFX detected a paraprotein, it had the same light chain as in the PC determined by FC. Conclusions FC was more sensitive in detecting monoclonal populations that were small or accompanied by polyclonal PC. This study supports the inclusion of FC in the evaluation of PC, especially in the assessment of small population

Cygnus X-1 from RXTE: Monitoring the short term variability

We present temporal and spectral results from monitoring Cygnus X-1 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in 1998 and 1999. We concentrate on the long term evolution of the hard state timing properties, comparing it to the 1996 soft state evolution. This leads to the following results: 1. the hard and soft state time lag spectra are very similar, 2. during state transitions, the lags in the 1-10 Hz range increase by more than an order of magnitude, 3. in the hard state itself, flaring events can be seen --- the temporal and spectral evolution during the flare of 1998 July identifies it as a ``failed state transition''. During (failed) state transitions, the time lag spectra and the power spectra change predominantly in the 1-10 Hz range. We suggest that this additional variability is produced in ejected coronal material disrupting the synchrotron radiation emitting outflows present in the hard state.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proc. 33rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly (Symposium E1.2, B. Czerny, ed.). Accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research (minor changes, including altered title