Tritium and helium behavior in irradiated beryllium

Large quantities of Be (> 100 metric tons) are planned for use in the ITER blanket design to enhance tritium breeding and to act as a thermal barrier between coolant and breeder. Tritium retention/release and He-induced swelling are important issues in blanket design. The data base on tritium and helium behavior in Be is reviewed. New data on tritium retention/release and He bubble growth are presented for Be irradiated to 5 {times} 10{sup 22} n(E > 1 MeV)/cm{sup 2} at {approximately}75{degree}C and postirradiation-annealed for 700 hours at 500{degree}C. A model (diffusion/desorption) is proposed and tested against the data base to determine tritium diffusivity and the desorption rate constant. Similarly a model for He-induced swelling is developed and tested against the data base. The dependence of tritium retention and release on He content and impurities (e.g. BeO) is also explored. 11 refs., 6 figs

The Algol System SZ Herculis: Physical Nature and Orbital Behavior

Multiband CCD photometric observations of SZ Her were obtained between 2008 February and May. The light curve was completely covered and indicated a significant temperature difference between both components. The light-curve synthesis presented in this paper indicates that the eclipsing binary is a classical Algol-type system with parameters of $q$=0.472, $i$=87$^\circ$.57, and $\Delta$($T_{1}$--$T_{2}$)=2,381 K; the primary component fills approximately 77% of its limiting lobe and is slightly larger than the lobe-filling secondary. More than 1,100 times of minimum light spanning more than one century were used to study an orbital behavior of the binary system. It was found that the orbital period of SZ Her has varied due to a combination of two periodic variations with cycle lengths of $P_3$=85.8 yr and $P_4$=42.5 yr and semi-amplitudes of $K_3$=0.013 d and $K_4$=0.007 d, respectively. The most reasonable explanation for them is a pair of light-time effects (LITEs) driven by the possible existence of two M-type companions with minimum masses of $M_3$=0.22 M$_\odot$ and $M_4$=0.19 M$_\odot$, that are located close to the 2:1 mean motion resonance. If two additional bodies exist, then the overall dynamics of the multiple system may provide a significant clue to the formation and evolution of the eclipsing pair.Comment: 23 pages, including 5 figures and 7 tables, accepted for publication in A

Nationwide randomised trial evaluating elective neck dissection for early stage oral cancer (SEND study) with meta-analysis and concurrent real-world cohort

BACKGROUND: Guidelines remain unclear over whether patients with early stage oral cancer without overt neck disease benefit from upfront elective neck dissection (END), particularly those with the smallest tumours. // METHODS: We conducted a randomised trial of patients with stage T1/T2 N0 disease, who had their mouth tumour resected either with or without END. Data were also collected from a concurrent cohort of patients who had their preferred surgery. Endpoints included overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). We conducted a meta-analysis of all six randomised trials. // RESULTS: Two hundred fifty randomised and 346 observational cohort patients were studied (27 hospitals). Occult neck disease was found in 19.1% (T1) and 34.7% (T2) patients respectively. Five-year intention-to-treat hazard ratios (HR) were: OS HR = 0.71 (p = 0.18), and DFS HR = 0.66 (p = 0.04). Corresponding per-protocol results were: OS HR = 0.59 (p = 0.054), and DFS HR = 0.56 (p = 0.007). END was effective for small tumours. END patients experienced more facial/neck nerve damage; QoL was largely unaffected. The observational cohort supported the randomised findings. The meta-analysis produced HR OS 0.64 and DFS 0.54 (p < 0.001). // CONCLUSION: SEND and the cumulative evidence show that within a generalisable setting oral cancer patients who have an upfront END have a lower risk of death/recurrence, even with small tumours. // CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NIHR UK Clinical Research Network database ID number: UKCRN 2069 (registered on 17/02/2006), ISCRTN number: 65018995, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00571883

Informing evaluation of a smartphone application for people with acquired brain injury: a stakeholder engagement study

Background Brain in Hand is a smartphone application (app) that allows users to create structured diaries with problems and solutions, attach reminders, record task completion and has a symptom monitoring system. Brain in Hand was designed to support people with psychological problems, and encourage behaviour monitoring and change. The aim of this paper is to describe the process of exploring the barriers and enablers for the uptake and use of Brain in Hand in clinical practice, identify potential adaptations of the app for use with people with acquired brain injury (ABI), and determine whether the behaviour change wheel can be used as a model for engagement. Methods We identified stakeholders: ABI survivors and carers, National Health Service and private healthcare professionals, and engaged with them via focus groups, conference presentations, small group discussions, and through questionnaires. The results were evaluated using the behaviour change wheel and descriptive statistics of questionnaire responses. Results We engaged with 20 ABI survivors, 5 carers, 25 professionals, 41 questionnaires were completed by stakeholders. Comments made during group discussions were supported by questionnaire results. Enablers included smartphone competency (capability), personalisation of app (opportunity), and identifying perceived need (motivation). Barriers included a physical and cognitive inability to use smartphone (capability), potential cost and reliability of technology (opportunity), and no desire to use technology or change from existing strategies (motivation). The stakeholders identified potential uses and changes to the app, which were not easily mapped onto the behaviour change wheel, e.g. monitoring fatigue levels, method of logging task completion, and editing the diary on their smartphone. Conclusions The study identified that both ABI survivors and therapists could see a use for Brain in Hand, but wanted users to be able to personalise it themselves to address individual user needs, e.g. monitoring activity levels. The behaviour change wheel is a useful tool when designing and evaluating engagement activities as it addresses most aspects of implementation, however additional categories may be needed to explore the specific features of assistive technology interventions, e.g. technical functions

Chaperoning Roles of Macromolecules Interacting with Proteins in Vivo

The principles obtained from studies on molecular chaperones have provided explanations for the assisted protein folding in vivo. However, the majority of proteins can fold without the assistance of the known molecular chaperones, and little attention has been paid to the potential chaperoning roles of other macromolecules. During protein biogenesis and folding, newly synthesized polypeptide chains interact with a variety of macromolecules, including ribosomes, RNAs, cytoskeleton, lipid bilayer, proteolytic system, etc. In general, the hydrophobic interactions between molecular chaperones and their substrates have been widely believed to be mainly responsible for the substrate stabilization against aggregation. Emerging evidence now indicates that other features of macromolecules such as their surface charges, probably resulting in electrostatic repulsions, and steric hindrance, could play a key role in the stabilization of their linked proteins against aggregation. Such stabilizing mechanisms are expected to give new insights into our understanding of the chaperoning functions for de novo protein folding. In this review, we will discuss the possible chaperoning roles of these macromolecules in de novo folding, based on their charge and steric features

A comparison of the Charlson comorbidity index derived from medical records and claims data from patients undergoing lung cancer surgery in Korea: a population-based investigation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Calculating the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) from medical records is a time-consuming and expensive process. The objectives of this study are to 1) measure agreement between medical record and claims data for CCI in lung cancer patients and 2) predict health outcomes of lung cancer patients based on CCIs from both data sources.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 392 patients who underwent surgery for pathologic stages I-III of lung cancer. The kappa value was used to measure the agreement between the 17 comorbidities of the CCI prevalence obtained from medical records and claims data. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationships between CCI and length of stay and reimbursement cost.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 17 comorbidities identified in the Charlson comorbidity index, ten had a higher prevalence, four had a lower prevalence and three had a similar prevalence in claims data to those of medical records. The kappa values calculated from the two databases ranged from 0.093 to 0.473 for nine comorbidities. In predicting length of stay and reimbursement cost after surgical resection for lung cancer patients, the CCI scores derived from both the medical records and claims data were not statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Poor agreement between medical record data and claims data may result from different motivations for collecting data. Further studies are needed to determine an appropriate method for predicting health outcomes based on these data sources.</p

Production of β‑ionone by combined expression of carotenogenic and plant CCD1 genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background Apocarotenoids, like the C13-norisoprenoids, are natural compounds that contribute to the flavor and/or aroma of flowers and foods. They are produced in aromatic plantslike raspberries and rosesby the enzymatic cleavage of carotenes. Due to their pleasant aroma and flavour, apocarotenoids have high commercial value for the cosmetic and food industry, but currently their production is mainly assured by chemical synthesis. In the present study, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that synthesizes the apocarotenoid -ionone was constructed by combining integrative vectors and high copy number episomal vectors, in an engineered strain that accumulates FPP. Results Integration of an extra copy of the geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase gene (BTS1), together with the carotenogenic genes crtYB and crtI from the ascomycete Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, resulted in carotenoid producing cells. The additional integration of the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase gene from the plant Petunia hybrida (PhCCD1) let to the production of low amounts of -ionone (0.073 ± 0.01 mg/g DCW) and changed the color of the strain from orange to yellow. The expression of the crtYB gene from a high copy number plasmid in this former strain increased -ionone concentration fivefold (0.34 ± 0.06 mg/g DCW). Additionally, the episomal expression of crtYB together with the PhCCD1 gene in the same vector resulted in a final 8.5-fold increase of -ionone concentration (0.63 ± 0.02 mg/g DCW). Batch fermentations with this strain resulted in a final specific concentration of 1 mg/g DCW at 50 h, which represents a 15-fold increase. Conclusions An efficient -ionone producing yeast platform was constructed by combining integrative and episomal constructs. By combined expression of the genes BTS1, the carotenogenic crtYB, crtI genes and the plant PhCCD1 genethe highest -ionone concentration reported to date by a cell factory was achieved. This microbial cell factory represents a starting point for flavor production by a sustainable and efficient process that could replace current methods.This work was funded by grants COPEC-UC 6C-063 and FONDECYT No 1130822, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation

Facilitated Variation: How Evolution Learns from Past Environments To Generalize to New Environments

One of the striking features of evolution is the appearance of novel structures in organisms. Recently, Kirschner and Gerhart have integrated discoveries in evolution, genetics, and developmental biology to form a theory of facilitated variation (FV). The key observation is that organisms are designed such that random genetic changes are channeled in phenotypic directions that are potentially useful. An open question is how FV spontaneously emerges during evolution. Here, we address this by means of computer simulations of two well-studied model systems, logic circuits and RNA secondary structure. We find that evolution of FV is enhanced in environments that change from time to time in a systematic way: the varying environments are made of the same set of subgoals but in different combinations. We find that organisms that evolve under such varying goals not only remember their history but also generalize to future environments, exhibiting high adaptability to novel goals. Rapid adaptation is seen to goals composed of the same subgoals in novel combinations, and to goals where one of the subgoals was never seen in the history of the organism. The mechanisms for such enhanced generation of novelty (generalization) are analyzed, as is the way that organisms store information in their genomes about their past environments. Elements of facilitated variation theory, such as weak regulatory linkage, modularity, and reduced pleiotropy of mutations, evolve spontaneously under these conditions. Thus, environments that change in a systematic, modular fashion seem to promote facilitated variation and allow evolution to generalize to novel conditions

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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