TIME-RESOLVED POPULATIONS OF N2(A3Σu+,v) IN NANOSECOND PULSE DISCHARGE PLASMAS

Absolute time-resolved populations of N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$) excited electronic state generated in a repetitive ns pulse discharge in nitrogen have been measured by Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) and Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy (TDLAS). CRDS measurements of N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v=0-2) populations are made in the discharge afterglow at a pressures of 10-40 Torr. The data reduction procedure takes into account the linewidth of the pulsed laser source, comparable with the absorption linewidth and resulting in a non-single exponential ring down decay. Peak N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v=0,1) populations after a 10-pulse ns discharge burst are 1.5x10$^{11}$ cm$^{-3}$. In the afterglow, these populations exhibit a relatively slow decay with the characteristic time of approximately 500 $\mu$s, most likely due to the quenching by the N2 molecules in the ground electronic state. TDLAS data have been taken at a higher pressure of 130 Torr. Absolute time-resolved N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v=0,1) number densities are measured during ns pulse discharge bursts up to 25 pulses long and in the afterglow, peaking at 5x10$^{12}$ cm$^{-3}$ and 3x10$^{13}$ cm$^{-3}$. The results indicate that N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$) is generated after every discharge pulse on a 20-50 $\mu$s time scale, much longer compared to the discharge pulse duration, and decays between the pulses. The decay rate increases during the discharge burst. In the afterglow, N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v=0,1) populations decay significantly more rapidly compared to the low-pressure CRDS conditions, with the characteristic time of approximately 100 $\mu$s. The results demonstrate that both CRDS and TDLAS diagnostics can be used for time-resolved, absolute N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$) measurements in transient nonequilibrium plasmas and the afterglow, with the detection limit of $\approx$ 10$^{10}$ cm$^{-3}$. The data obtained using these two diagnostics are complementary, since TDLAS measurements can be used at the conditions when the N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$) populations may be too high, or vary too rapidly for accurate CRDS measurements

Diagnositic value of pelvic enthesitis on MRI of the sacroiliac joints in enthesitis related arthritis

Background: To determine the prevalence and diagnostic value of pelvic enthesitis on MRI of the sacroiliac (SI) joints in enthesitis related arthritis (ERA). Methods: We retrospectively studied 143 patients aged 6-18 years old who underwent MRI of the SI joints for clinically suspected sacroiliitis between 2006-2014. Patients were diagnosed with ERA according to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) criteria. All MRI studies were reassessed for the presence of pelvic enthesitis, which was correlated to the presence of sacroiliitis on MRI and to the final clinical diagnosis. The added value for detection of pelvic enthesitis and fulfilment of criteria for the diagnosis of ERA was studied. Results: Pelvic enthesitis was seen in 23 of 143 (16 %) patients. The most commonly affected sites were the entheses around the hip (35 % of affected entheses) and the retroarticular interosseous ligaments (32 % of affected entheses). MRI showed pelvic enthesitis in 21 % of patients with ERA and in 13 % of patients without ERA. Pelvic enthesitis was seen on MRI in 7/51 (14 %) patients with clinically evident enthesitis, and 16/92 (17 %) patients without clinically evident enthesitis. In 7 of 11 ERA-negative patients without clinical enthesitis but with pelvic enthesitis on MRI, the ILAR criteria could have been fulfilled, if pelvic enthesitis on MRI was included in the criteria. There is a high correlation between pelvic enthesitis and sacroiliitis, with sacroiliitis present in 17/23 (74 %) patients with pelvic enthesitis. Conclusions: Pelvic enthesitis may be present in children with or without clinically evident peripheral enthesitis. There is a high correlation between pelvic enthesitis and sacroiliitis on MRI of the sacroiliac joints in children. As pelvic enthesitis indicates active inflammation, it may play a role in assessment of the inflammatory status. Therefore, it should be carefully sought and noted by radiologists examining MRI of the sacroiliac joints in children

p34cdc2-mediated phosphorylation at T124 inhibits nuclear import of SV-40 T antigen proteins

The nuclear import of transcription regulatory proteins appears to be used by the cell to trigger transitions in cell cycle, morphogenesis, and transformation. We have previously observed that the rate at which SV-40 T antigen fusion proteins containing a functional nuclear localization sequence (NLS; residues 126-132) are imported into the nucleus is enhanced in the presence of the casein kinase II (CK-II) site S111/112. In this study purified p34cdc2 kinase was used to phosphorylate T antigen proteins specifically at T124 and kinetic measurements at the single-cell level performed to assess its effect on nuclear protein import. T124 phosphorylation, which could be functionally simulated by a T-to-D124 substitution, was found to reduce the maximal extent of nuclear accumulation whilst negligibly affecting the import rate. The inhibition of nuclear import depended on the stoichiometry of phosphorylation. T124 and S111/112 could be phosphorylated independently of one another. Two alterative mechanisms were considered to explain the inhibition of nuclear import by T124 phosphorylation: inactivation of the NLS and cytoplasmic retention, respectively. Furthermore, we speculate that in vivo T124 phosphorylation may regulate the small but functionally significant amount of cytoplasmic SV-40 T antigen. A sequence comparison showed that many transcription regulatory proteins contain domains comprising potential CK-II-sites, cdc2-sites, and NLS. This raises the possibility that the three elements represent a functional unit regulating nuclear protein import

Advances towards reliable identification and concentration determination of rare cells in peripheral blood

Through further development, integration and validation of micro-nano-bio and biophotonics systems FP7 CanDo is developing an instrument that will permit highly reproducible and reliable identification and concentration determination of rare cells in peripheral blood for two key societal challenges, early and low cost anti-cancer drug efficacy determination and cancer diagnosis/monitoring. A cellular link between the primary malignant tumour and the peripheral metastases, responsible for 90% of cancerrelated deaths, has been established in the form of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood. Furthermore, the relatively short survival time of CTCs in peripheral blood means that their detection is indicative of tumour progression thereby providing in addition to a prognostic value an evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and early recognition of tumour progression in theranostics. In cancer patients however blood concentrations are very low (=1 CTC/1E9 cells) and current detection strategies are too insensitive, limiting use to prognosis of only those with advanced metastatic cancer. Similarly, problems occur in therapeutics with anti-cancer drug development leading to lengthy and costly trials often preventing access to market. The novel cell separation/Raman analysis technologies plus nucleic acid based molecular characterization of the CanDo platform will provide an accurate CTC count with high throughput and high yield meeting both key societal challenges. Being beyond the state of art it will lead to substantial share gains not just in the high end markets of drug discovery and cancer diagnostics but due to modular technologies also in others. Here we present preliminary DNA hybridization sensing results

MEASUREMENTS OF N2(A3Σu+,v) POPULATIONS IN A NANOSECOND PULSE DISCHARGE BY CAVITY RINGDOWN SPECTROSCOPY

Time-resolved number densities of excited electronic state of nitrogen, N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v=0,1,2), have been measured in a nanosecond pulse discharge using Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS). The CRDS spectrometer is operated using a 10 Hz Nd:YAG laser which pumps a narrowband tunable dye laser using a LDS765 dye, to produce output between 745 to 770 nm with a linewidth of 0.12 \wn. The ring-down cavity is a 10 mm x 22 mm rectangular cross section quartz channel 55 cm long, fused to two 1.5 inch diameter quartz tubes at both ends, with the total cavity length of 90 cm. The mirrors (reflectivity of 0.99995) are attached to the ends of the ring-down cavity using stainless steel adjustable mounts, for precision alignment. Two rectangular plate copper electrodes, 12 mm x 60 mm, are attached to the top and bottom walls of the quartz channel in the middle of the cavity, using silicone rubber adhesive. The electrodes are powered by a custom-built high-voltage pulse generator producing alternating polarity pulses with peak voltage up to 15 kV and pulse duration of approximately 100 ns FWHM. The pulser is operated in burst mode, with burst repetition rate of 10 Hz, pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz, and 10 pulses per burst, with coupled discharge energy of approximately 0.3 mJ/pulse. Spectra of N$_{2}$(B$^{3}$$\Pi$$_{g}$$\leftarrow$A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$,v) absorption bands are taken 25 $\mu$s after the last discharge pulse in the burst, with all absorption transitions identified. Time resolved CRDS data are taken from isolated rotational lines for each vibrational state to infer temporal evolution of absolute populations of vibrational levels of N$_{2}$(A$^{3}$$\Sigma$$_{u}$$^{+}$) at t=25-1500 $\mu$s after the last discharge pulse. This diagnostics is being developed for measurements of excited metastable state populations of N$_{2}$ and O$_{2}$ in nonequilibrium plasmas and nonequilibrium high-speed flows

Surgical Site Infections at Donor and Recipient Sites in Patients with Iliac Crest Harvesting For Autologous Bone Grafting - A Pilot Evaluation

Surgeons harvest the iliac crest for bone grafting. The epidemiology of surgical site infections (SSI) associated with this procedure at the donor, or recipient site, is unknown. We perform a retrospective pilot evaluation of adult patients undergoing first-time orthopedic surgery at the Balgrist University Hospital between 2014-2019. We excluded patients with infection at the index surgery, diabetic foot surgeries, superficial SSIs, and revision surgeries. We included 20,088 episodes of primary orthopedic surgery, of which 467 with iliac crest bone sampling (467/20,088; 2%). Only two iliac sites (2/467; 0.4%) become infected. In contrast, surgeries with iliac crest sampling yielded more SSIs at the recipient site than those without (1.9% vs. 0.8%; χ2-test; p<0.01). These patients equally revealed more co-morbidities such as a longer duration of surgery (median 127 vs. 79 minutes), when compared to the general orthopedic population. In multivariate logistic regression analysis with the outcome “ SSI at the recipient site”, the iliac harvesting was independently associated with deep SSIs requiring surgical revision (odds ratio 2.1; 95% confidence interval 1.1-4.2). In our pilot evaluation with 20,088 primary orthopedic surgeries, the SSI risk of the iliac harvest site was low. In contrast, surgeries with supplementary iliac crest harvesting revealed a higher SSI risk than the general orthopedic population, potentially due to a mix of local independent risks of grafting together with a prolonged surgery time. Keywords : Autologous bone grafting; Deep surgical site infections; Epidemiology; Iliac crest harvesting; Revision surger

Brauer-Thrall for totally reflexive modules over local rings of higher dimension

Let $R$ be a commutative Noetherian local ring. Assume that $R$ has a pair $\{x,y\}$ of exact zerodivisors such that $\dim R/(x,y)\ge2$ and all totally reflexive $R/(x)$-modules are free. We show that the first and second Brauer--Thrall type theorems hold for the category of totally reflexive $R$-modules. More precisely, we prove that, for infinitely many integers $n$, there exists an indecomposable totally reflexive $R$-module of multiplicity $n$. Moreover, if the residue field of $R$ is infinite, we prove that there exist infinitely many isomorphism classes of indecomposable totally reflexive $R$-modules of multiplicity $n$.Comment: to appear in Algebras and Representation Theor

In Vitro Gut Modeling as a Tool for Adaptive Evolutionary Engineering of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

Research and marketing of probiotics demand holistic strain improvement considering both the biotic and abiotic gut environment. Here, we aim to establish the continuous in vitro colonic fermentation model PolyFermS as a tool for adaptive evolutionary engineering. Immobilized fecal microbiota from adult donors were steadily cultivated up to 72 days in PolyFermS reactors, providing a long-term compositional and functional stable ecosystem akin to the donor’s gut. Inoculation of the gut microbiota with immobilized or planktonic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NZ3400, a derivative of the probiotic model strain WCFS1, led to successful colonization. Whole-genome sequencing of 45 recovered strains revealed mutations in 16 genes involved in signaling, metabolism, transport, and cell surface. Remarkably, mutations in LP_RS14990, LP_RS15205, and intergenic region LP_RS05100<LP_RS05095 were found in recovered strains from different adaptation experiments. Combined addition of the reference strain NZ3400 and each of those mutants to the gut microbiota resulted in increased abundance of the corresponding mutant in PolyFermS microbiota after 10 days, showing the beneficial nature of these mutations. Our data show that the PolyFermS system is a suitable technology to generate adapted mutants for colonization under colonic conditions. Analysis thereof will provide knowledge about factors involved in gut microbiota colonization and persistence

Common incidental findings on sacroiliac joint MRI in children clinically suspected of juvenile spondyloarthritis

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of incidental findings on sacroiliac (SI) joint MRI in children clinically suspected of Juvenile Spondyloarthritis (JSpA). METHODS: In this retrospective multi-center study of 540 children clinically suspected of JSpA who underwent MRI of SI joints from February 2012 to May 2018, the prevalence of sacroiliitis and other incidental findings was recorded. RESULTS: In 106/540 (20 %) children MRI features of sacroiliitis were present. In 228 (42 %) patients MRI showed at least one incidental finding other than sacroiliitis. A total of 271 abnormal findings were reported. The most frequent incidental findings were at lumbosacral spine (158 patients, 29 %) and hip (43 patients, 8 %). The most common incidental finding was axial degenerative changes, seen in 94 patients (17 %). Other less frequent pathologies were: simple (bone) cyst in 15 (2,8 %) patients; enthesitis/tendinitis in 16 (3 %) patients; non-specific focal bone marrow edema (BME) away from SI joints in 10 (1,9 %) patients; ovarian cysts in 7 (1,3 %) patients; BME in the course of chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) in 4 (0,7 %) patients; muscle pathology in 4 (0,7%) patients; benign tumors in 3 (0,6 %) patients; (old) fractures in 3 (0,6 %) patients; bony apophyseal avulsion in 2 (0,4 %) patients and malignant tumors in 2 (0,4 %) patients. CONCLUSION: Incidental findings are common on MRI of the SI joints in children clinically suspected of JSpA, particularly at the lumbar spine and hips. They are seen even more frequently than sacroiliitis and can be relevant, as some will have clinical significance or require treatment