Blocking semiovals of Type (1,M+1,N+1)

We consider the existence of blocking semiovals in finite projective planes which have intersection sizes 1, m+1 or n+1 with the lines of the plane for 1 \leq m < n. For those prime powers $q \leq 1024$, in almost all cases, we are able to show that, apart from a trivial example, no such blocking semioval exists in a projective plane of order q. We are also able to prove, for general q, that if q2+q+1 is a prime or three times a prime, then only the same trivial example can exist in a projective plane of order q. <br /

A Switch in Hepatic Cortisol Metabolism across the Spectrum of Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Context: Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. NAFLD represents a spectrum of liver disease ranging from reversible hepatic steatosis, to non alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. The potential role of glucocorticoids (GC) in the pathogenesis of NAFLD is highlighted in patients with GC excess, Cushing's syndrome, who develop central adiposity, insulin resistance and in 20% of cases, NAFLD. Although in most cases of NAFLD, circulating cortisol levels are normal, hepatic cortisol availability is controlled by enzymes that regenerate cortisol (F) from inactive cortisone (E) (11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, 11β-HSD1), or inactivate cortisol through A-ring metabolism (5α- and 5β-reductase, 5αR and 5βR). Objective and Methods: In vitro studies defined 11β-HSD1 expression in normal and NASH liver samples. We then characterised hepatic cortisol metabolism in 16 patients with histologically proven NAFLD compared to 32 obese controls using gas chromatographic analysis of 24 hour urine collection and plasma cortisol generation profile following oral cortisone. Results: In patients with steatosis 5αR activity was increased, with a decrease in hepatic 11β-HSD1 activity. Total cortisol metabolites were increased in this group consistent with increased GC production rate. In contrast, in patients with NASH, 11β-HSD1 activity was increased both in comparison to patients with steatosis, and controls. Endorsing these findings, 11β-HSD1 mRNA and immunostaining was markedly increased in NASH patients in peri septal hepatocytes and within CD68 positive macrophages within inflamed cirrhotic septa. Conclusion: Patients with hepatic steatosis have increased clearance and decreased hepatic regeneration of cortisol and we propose that this may represent a protective mechanism to decrease local GC availability to preserve hepatic metabolic phenotype. With progression to NASH, increased 11β-HSD1 activity and consequent cortisol regeneration may serve to limit hepatic inflammation

Continuous glucose monitoring in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes (CONCEPTT): a multicentre international randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes are a high-risk population who are recommended to strive for optimal glucose control, but neonatal outcomes attributed to maternal hyperglycaemia remain suboptimal. Our aim was to examine the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) on maternal glucose control and obstetric and neonatal health outcomes. METHODS: In this multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial, we recruited women aged 18-40 years with type 1 diabetes for a minimum of 12 months who were receiving intensive insulin therapy. Participants were pregnant (≤13 weeks and 6 days' gestation) or planning pregnancy from 31 hospitals in Canada, England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the USA. We ran two trials in parallel for pregnant participants and for participants planning pregnancy. In both trials, participants were randomly assigned to either CGM in addition to capillary glucose monitoring or capillary glucose monitoring alone. Randomisation was stratified by insulin delivery (pump or injections) and baseline glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). The primary outcome was change in HbA1c from randomisation to 34 weeks' gestation in pregnant women and to 24 weeks or conception in women planning pregnancy, and was assessed in all randomised participants with baseline assessments. Secondary outcomes included obstetric and neonatal health outcomes, assessed with all available data without imputation. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01788527. FINDINGS: Between March 25, 2013, and March 22, 2016, we randomly assigned 325 women (215 pregnant, 110 planning pregnancy) to capillary glucose monitoring with CGM (108 pregnant and 53 planning pregnancy) or without (107 pregnant and 57 planning pregnancy). We found a small difference in HbA1c in pregnant women using CGM (mean difference -0·19%; 95% CI -0·34 to -0·03; p=0·0207). Pregnant CGM users spent more time in target (68% vs 61%; p=0·0034) and less time hyperglycaemic (27% vs 32%; p=0·0279) than did pregnant control participants, with comparable severe hypoglycaemia episodes (18 CGM and 21 control) and time spent hypoglycaemic (3% vs 4%; p=0·10). Neonatal health outcomes were significantly improved, with lower incidence of large for gestational age (odds ratio 0·51, 95% CI 0·28 to 0·90; p=0·0210), fewer neonatal intensive care admissions lasting more than 24 h (0·48; 0·26 to 0·86; p=0·0157), fewer incidences of neonatal hypoglycaemia (0·45; 0·22 to 0·89; p=0·0250), and 1-day shorter length of hospital stay (p=0·0091). We found no apparent benefit of CGM in women planning pregnancy. Adverse events occurred in 51 (48%) of CGM participants and 43 (40%) of control participants in the pregnancy trial, and in 12 (27%) of CGM participants and 21 (37%) of control participants in the planning pregnancy trial. Serious adverse events occurred in 13 (6%) participants in the pregnancy trial (eight [7%] CGM, five [5%] control) and in three (3%) participants in the planning pregnancy trial (two [4%] CGM and one [2%] control). The most common adverse events were skin reactions occurring in 49 (48%) of 103 CGM participants and eight (8%) of 104 control participants during pregnancy and in 23 (44%) of 52 CGM participants and five (9%) of 57 control participants in the planning pregnancy trial. The most common serious adverse events were gastrointestinal (nausea and vomiting in four participants during pregnancy and three participants planning pregnancy). INTERPRETATION: Use of CGM during pregnancy in patients with type 1 diabetes is associated with improved neonatal outcomes, which are likely to be attributed to reduced exposure to maternal hyperglycaemia. CGM should be offered to all pregnant women with type 1 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy. This study is the first to indicate potential for improvements in non-glycaemic health outcomes from CGM use. FUNDING: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Canadian Clinical Trials Network, and National Institute for Health Research

Subregular Spreads of PG(2n + 1,q)

In this paper, we develop some of the theory of spreads of projective spaces with an eye towards generalizing the results of Bruck [2]. In particular, we wish to generalize the notion of a subregular spread to the higher dimensional case. Most of the theory here was anticipated by Bruck in [3], [4], and [5]; however, he never provided a detailed formulation. We fill this gap here by developing the connections between a regular spread of (2n + 1)-dimensional projective space and an n-dimensional circle geometry, which is the appropriate generalization of the Miquelian inversive plane. After developing this theory, we provide a fairly general method for constructing subregular spreads of PG(5; q). Finally, we explore a special case of this construction, which yields several examples of threedimensional subregular translation planes which are not Andr&apos;e planes. This research formed part of the author&apos;s doctoral dissertation under the advisement of Dr. Gary Ebert. Running Head : Subreg..

Spreads and Resolutions of Ree Unitals

this paper, we wish to generalize some of the results obtained by Brouwer concerning spreads and resolutions of the Ree unitals. In particular, we show that these designs are resolvable in at least

On the minimum blocking semioval in PG(2,11)

A blocking semioval is a set of points in a projective plane that is both a blocking set (i.e., every line meets the set, but the set contains no line) and a semioval (i.e., there is a unique tangent line at each point). The smallest size of a blocking semioval is known for all finite projective planes of order less than 11; we investigate the situation in PG(2,11).Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Semiovals With Large Collinear Subsets

A semioval in a projective plane \Pi is a set S of points such that for every point P 2 S, there exists a unique line ` of \Pi such that ` &quot; S = fPg. In other words, at every point of S, there exists a unique tangent line. In this paper, we consider semiovals such that some line has a &quot;large&quot; intersection with S. In a finite plane \Pi it is shown that no semioval can contain a full line, and that apart from two small cases, no semioval can contain all but one point of some line. We then consider semiovals which contain all but two points of some line, providing some examples and characterizations. 1 INTRODUCTION Let \Pi be a projective plane of order q. A semioval in \Pi is a nonempty subset S of points of \Pi with the property that for every point P 2 S, there exists a unique line ` of \Pi such that ` &quot; S = fPg. This line ` is called the tangent to S at P . We note that the term tangent is used only to denote one point contact; these lines may not be tangents in the algebraic geom..

Some Design-Theoretic Properties of Buekenhout Unitals

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some questions about parabolic Buekenhout unitals, considered as designs. In this paper, we define a parabolic Buekenhout unital to be a unital in any two-dimensional translation plane obtained from the cone over any ovoid. In particular, we discuss resolutions of these designs, inversive plane residuals obtainable from these designs, and also some issues about disjoint Steiner systems. 1 Introduction Assume q is a prime power. In [8], Buekenhout proved that every translation plane of order q 2 with GF(q) in its kernel admits a unital. His idea was to look at a Hermitian unital of PG(2; q 2 ) in its Bose/Andr&apos;e representation. A detailed explanation of this model can be found in [7], but we give the basic construction here. Let \Sigma be a projective 4-space, PG(4; q). Let \Sigma be a hyperplane of \Sigma, called the hyperplane at infinity. A spread of \Sigma is a partition of \Sigma into q 2 +1 pairwise disjoint lines. Assume \Sig..