The Application of the Geiger-Müller Ion Counter to the Study of the Space Distribution of X-ray Photoelectrons

The photographic plate in the apparatus for the magnetic analysis of x-ray photoelectrons has been replaced by a Geiger-Müller ion counter and the magnetic spectrum of the photoelectrons ejected from a thin film of gold by primary x-ray from molybdenum has been studied. Very great resolving power is obtained and considerable precision in determining the exact position of the lines (i.e. the energies of the photoelectrons). The numbers of LIII electrons of gold ejected by the Kα1 x-ray of molybdenum have been plotted as a function of the angle of ejection and compared with the theoretical longitudinal distribution predicted by Schur

The Direction of Ejection of X-Ray Electrons

No conclusive evidence that the direction in which photo-electrons are ejected by X-rays depends in any way upon the nature of the atom from which the ejection takes place has as yet been brought forward. Auger, using the C. T. R. Wilson cloud expansion-chamber method, showed that the most probable direction of ejection in a gas is a function of the frequency of the incident X-rays, but the variations which he found in this most probable direction with the nature of the gas used (oxygen or nitrogen, argon, krypton, xenon) were probably less than the experimental error, particularly as heterogeneous X-rays were used and the frequency of the X-rays which were most effective in ejecting electrons may have varied from gas to gas. Loughridge concluded that the most probable direction of ejection was the same for water-vapor, air and argon, but the absorption energies of even the K-shells of all these atoms is so small that at best only a small effect would be expected in these cases. Bothe using the point-discharge ion-counter made observations on air and on gases the molecules of which contained I, Br and Cl atoms. His results show small variations with the nature of the gas, but again as heterogeneous X-rays were used and his maxima were not sharp the variations were probably less than the experimental accuracy

Current state of research on the clinical benefits of herbal medicines for non-life-threatening ailments

Herbal medicines are becoming increasingly popular among patients because they are well tolerated and do not exert severe side effects. Nevertheless, they receive little consideration in therapeutic settings. The present article reviews the current state of research on the clinical benefits of herbal medicines on five indication groups, psychosomatic disorders, gynecological complaints, gastrointestinal disorders, urinary and upper respiratory tract infections. The study search was based on the database PubMed and concentrated on herbal medicines legally approved in Europe. After applying defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 141 articles were selected: 59 for psychosomatic disorders (100% randomized controlled trials; RCTs), 20 for gynecological complaints (56% RCTs), 19 for gastrointestinal disorders (68% RCTs), 16 for urinary tract infections (UTI, 63% RCTs) and 24 for upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) (79% RCTs). For the majority of the studies, therapeutic benefits were evaluated by patient reported outcome measures (PROs). For psychosomatic disorders, gynecological complaints and URTI more than 80% of the study outcomes were positive, whereas the clinical benefit of herbal medicines for the treatment of UTI and gastrointestinal disorders was lower with 55%. The critical appraisal of the articles shows that there is a lack of high-quality studies and, with regard to gastrointestinal disorders, the clinical benefits of herbal medicines as a stand-alone form of therapy are unclear. According to the current state of knowledge, scientific evidence has still to be improved to allow integration of herbal medicines into guidelines and standard treatment regimens for the indications reviewed here. In addition to clinical data, real world data and outcome measures can add significant value to pave the way for herbal medicines into future therapeutic applications

Cytogenetic findings in mouse multiple myeloma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

Multiple myeloma (MM) and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia-like lymphoma (MW) appear spontaneously in C57BL/KaLwRij mice at a frequency of 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively. They can readily be propagated by intravenous transfer of mainly bone marrow or spleen cells into syngeneic recipients. Previous studies demonstrated that these mouse malignant monoclonal gammopathies (MMG) show clinical and biologic features that closely resemble those of the corresponding human diseases and thus could be used as experimental models. We report on cytogenetic analysis of two mouse MW and five MM in vivo cell lines of the 5TMM series propagated in syngeneic mice. These studies demonstrated clonal abnormalities in all cell lines, hyperdiploid karyotype in both MW and one MM lines, and hypotriploidy, hypertriploidy, or hypotetraploidy in the other lines. Structural abnormalities of chromosome 15 were observed in all MM lines. In the five MM lines, frequent rearrangements were also found for chromosome numbers 1, 2, 5, and 12. A single chromosomal abnormality, as found in induced mouse plasmacytomas and resembling Burkitt lymphoma, was not found in mouse MM and MW. It was concluded that spontaneously originating C57BL MM of the 5T series is a better model for human MM than pristane-induced BALB/c or NZB plasmacytoma

Food cue reactivity, obesity, and impulsivity:are they associated?

Heightened reactivity to food-associated cues and impulsive responding to these cues may be important contributors to the obesity epidemic. This article reviews the evidence for a role of food cue reactivity and impulsivity in food intake, body mass index, and weight-loss success. Inconsistencies in defining and measuring these constructs create difficulties in interpreting findings; however, evidence does support their role in obesity. The relationship between food cue reactivity and impulsivity may depend on the measurement used, but some studies have demonstrated that interactions between these constructs rather than direct effects are important in accounting for food intake pattern. Thus, multimodal assessment of both constructs is recommended. Future research would benefit from standardized definitions, measures, procedures, and reporting to enhance comparisons across studies. Implications for therapy are discussed and suggestions for further research are provided

Ex vivo expansion and differentiation of erythroblasts: From culture dishes to stirred tank reactors for the production of red blood cells

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CD4 testing at clinics to assess eligibility for Antiretroviral therapy

BackgroundIn 2011, the Ministry of Health raised the CD4 threshold for antiretroviral therapy (ART) eligibility from <250 cells/μl and <350 cells/μl, but at the same time only 8.8% of facilities in Malawi with HIV services provided CD4 testing. We conducted a record review at 10 rural clinics in Thyolo District to assess the impact of introducing CD4 testing on identifying patients eligible for ART.Methods:We abstracted CD4 counts of all ART-naïve, HIV-infected patients with WHO clinical stages 1 and 2 and an initial CD4 test between May 2008 and June 2009. At four clinics, we also abstracted CD4 counts of patients not initially eligible for ART who were retested before April 2010.ResultsOf 1,113 patients tested, the initial CD4 was “≤250 cells/μl” and “≤350 cells/μl” in 534 (48.0%). Of 203 patients with follow-up results, the most recent CD4 was ≤250 cells/μl in 34 (24.5%), and ≤350 cells/μl in 64 (46.0%).ConclusionsCD4 testing in rural clinics is feasible and identifies many patients eligible for ART who would not be identified without CD4 testing. CD4 testing needs to be scaled-up to identify patients eligible for ART. ART services need to be scaled-up concurrently to meet the resulting increased demand

The influence of intensive care treatment in infancy on cortisol levels in childhood and adolescence

Background: Infants admitted to the intensive care unit experience numerous early-life stressors, which may have long-term effects on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning. Aims: To determine the effects of intensive care treatment and related exposure to stress, pain, and opioids in infancy on cortisol levels in childhood and adolescence. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: Children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years with a history of intensive care treatment in infancy and healthy controls. The intensive care treatment cohort consisted of four subgroups with varying levels of exposure to stress, pain, and opioids in infancy. They received either mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, major surgery, or excochleation of a giant congenital melanocytic nevus. Outcome measures: Between-group differences in stress reactivity to a study visit consisting of pain threshold testing and an MRI examination and diurnal cortisol levels, as measured in saliva. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, and gestational age, the diurnal cortisol output (AUCg) in the overall intensive care group (N = 76) was 18 % (approximately 1000 nmol/L) (95 % CI [−31 %, −3 %], P = 0.022) lower than that in the control group (N = 67). Cortisol awakening response, diurnal decline, and stress reactivity neither differed significantly between the overall intensive care group and control group, nor between the intensive care subgroups and control group. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with a history of intensive care treatment in infancy have similar cortisol profiles to those of healthy controls, except for an 18 % lower diurnal cortisol output. The clinical relevance of this reduction is yet to be determined.</p

Single-machine scheduling with stepwise tardiness costs and release times

We study a scheduling problem that belongs to the yard operations component of the railroad planning problems, namely the hump sequencing problem. The scheduling problem is characterized as a single-machine problem with stepwise tardiness cost objectives. This is a new scheduling criterion which is also relevant in the context of traditional machine scheduling problems. We produce complexity results that characterize some cases of the problem as pseudo-polynomially solvable. For the difficult-to-solve cases of the problem, we develop mathematical programming formulations, and propose heuristic algorithms. We test the formulations and heuristic algorithms on randomly generated single-machine scheduling problems and real-life datasets for the hump sequencing problem. Our experiments show promising results for both sets of problems