Amine-terminated nanoparticle films: pattern deposition by a simple nanostencilling technique and stability studies under X-ray irradiation

Exploring the surface chemistry of nanopatterned amine-terminated nanoparticle films.</p

Constraining the variation of fundamental constants using 18cm OH lines

We describe a new technique to estimate variations in the fundamental constants using 18cm OH absorption lines. This has the advantage that all lines arise in the same species, allowing a clean comparison between the measured redshifts. In conjunction with one additional transition (for example, an HCO$^+$ line), it is possible to simultaneously measure changes in $\alpha$, $g_p$ and $y \equiv m_e/m_p$. At present, only the 1665 MHz and 1667 MHz lines have been detected at cosmological distances; we use these line redshifts in conjunction with those of HI 21cm and mm-wave molecular absorption in a gravitational lens at $z\sim 0.68$ to constrain changes in the above three parameters over the redshift range $0 < z \lesssim 0.68$. While the constraints are relatively weak ($\lesssim$ 1 part in $10^3$), this is the first simultaneous constraint on the variation of all three parameters. We also demonstrate that either one (or more) of $\alpha$, $g_p$ and $y$ must vary with cosmological time or there must be systematic velocity offsets between the OH, HCO$^+$ and HI absorbing clouds.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

A phase II study of capecitabine and oxalplatin combination chemotherapy in patients with inoperable adenocarcinoma of the gall bladder or biliary tract

Background: Advanced biliary tract carcinomas are associated with a poor prognosis, and palliative chemotherapy has only modest benefit. This multi-centre phase II study was conducted to determine the efficacy of capecitabine in combination with oxaliplatin in patients with inoperable gall bladder or biliary tract cancer. Methods: This was a Phase II, non-randomised, two-stage Simon design, multi-centre study. Ethics approval was sought and obtained by the North West MREC, and then locally by the West Glasgow Hospitals Research Ethics Com mittee. Eligible patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic adenocarcinoma of the gall bladder or biliary tract and with adequate performance status, haematologic, renal, and hepatic function were treated with capecit abine (1000 mg/m2 po, twice daily, days 1–14) and oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2 i.v., day 1) every 3 weeks for up to six cycles. The primary objective of the study was to determine the objective tumour response rates (complete and partial). The secondary objectives included assessment of toxicity, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Results: Forty-three patients were recruited between July 2003 and December 2005. The regimen was well tolerated with no grade 3/4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. Grade 3/4 sensory neuropathy was observed in six patients. Two-thirds of patients received their chemotherapy without any dose delays. Overall response rate was 23.8 % (95 % CI 12.05–39.5 %). Stable disease was observed in a further 13 patients (31 %) and progressive disease observed in 12 (28.6 %) of patients. The median progression-free survival was 4.6 months (95 % CI 2.8–6.4 months; Fig. 1) and the median overall survival 7.9 months (95 % CI 5.3–10.4 months; Fig. 2). Conclusion: Capecitabine combined with oxaliplatin has a lower disease control and shorter overall survival than the combination of cisplatin with gemcitabine which has subsequently become the standard of care in this disease. How ever, capecitabine in combination with oxaliplatin does have modest activity in this disease, and can be considered as an alternative treatment option for patients in whom cisplatin and/or gemcitabine are contra-indicated

Evaluation of Pooled Serum and ‘Meat-Juice’ in a Salmonella ELISA for Pig Herds

Samples of ‘meat-juice’, serum, caecal contents and carcase swabs from 420 pigs from 20 finishing farms were tested for Salmonella bacteriologically and serologically by ELISA on individual samples or on pools of serum or meat juice. In addition pooled floor faeces were taken from the finishing pens on the farm of origin

Comparison of two commercial ELISA kits and bacteriology for Salmonella monitoring in pig herds

Samples of ‘meat-juice’ and serum from 170 pigs from 20 finishing farms were tested for Salmonella using two commercial ELISA kit tests. In parallel samples from caecal contents and pooled pen faeces from the farm were tested by culture. Both ELISA’s gave significantly correlated results with each other but only ELISA B, at a 20 % calculated OD % on ‘meat juice’, gave a result which correlated significantly with the percentage of positive pen faeces. None of the ELISA tests correlated with caecal positives and the 10 % cut-off level was shown to be unsuitable for monitoring commercial herds

National evaluation of the neighbourhood nurseries: integrated report

Report description: The NNI was launched in 2001 to provide high quality childcare in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of England, to help parents into employment, reduce child poverty and boost children’s development. By 2005 45,000 new childcare places had been created in approximately 1,400 neighbourhood nurseries. This report brings together the findings of the four individual strands of the National Evaluation of Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative as shown above and makes a number of recommendations. The report shows the rationale for the government’s strategy in targeting disadvantaged neighbourhoods and in focusing on high quality childcare to provide the link between raising parental employment and income and improving children’s life chances

Cold collisions of OH and Rb. I: the free collision

We have calculated elastic and state-resolved inelastic cross sections for cold and ultracold collisions in the Rb($^1 S$) + OH($^2 \Pi_{3/2}$) system, including fine-structure and hyperfine effects. We have developed a new set of five potential energy surfaces for Rb-OH($^2 \Pi$) from high-level {\em ab initio} electronic structure calculations, which exhibit conical intersections between covalent and ion-pair states. The surfaces are transformed to a quasidiabatic representation. The collision problem is expanded in a set of channels suitable for handling the system in the presence of electric and/or magnetic fields, although we consider the zero-field limit in this work. Because of the large number of scattering channels involved, we propose and make use of suitable approximations. To account for the hyperfine structure of both collision partners in the short-range region we develop a frame-transformation procedure which includes most of the hyperfine Hamiltonian. Scattering cross sections on the order of $10^{-13}$ cm$^2$ are predicted for temperatures typical of Stark decelerators. We also conclude that spin orientation of the partners is completely disrupted during the collision. Implications for both sympathetic cooling of OH molecules in an environment of ultracold Rb atoms and experimental observability of the collisions are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figure