Men and women in space: bone loss and kidney stone risk after long-duration spaceflight.

Bone loss, a key concern for long-duration space travelers, is typically considered a female issue. The number of women who have flown long-duration space missions is now great enough to allow a quantitative comparison of changes in bone and renal stone risk by sex. Participants were 42 astronauts (33 men and 9 women) on long-duration missions to the International Space Station.

Veterinary and human biobanking practices: enhancing molecular sample integrity.

Animal models have historically informed veterinary and human pathophysiology. Next-generation genomic sequencing and molecular analyses using analytes derived from tissue require integrative approaches to determine macroanalyte integrity as well as morphology for imaging algorithms that can extend translational applications. The field of biospecimen science and biobanking will play critical roles in tissue sample collection and processing to ensure the integrity of macromolecules, aid experimental design, and provide more accurate and reproducible downstream genomic data.

Simplified staging laparotomy in FIGO stage 1 epithelial ovarian cancer: follow-up and outcomes in south Wales, U.K.

We have conducted a retrospective analysis of FIGO stage 1 ovarian cancer patients in south Wales, who underwent a simplified staging laparotomy without routine nodal sampling and peritoneal biopsies. Patient records from January 2004 to December 2010 were analysed. A total of 116 patients were included in the final analysis.

Accelerated hypo-fractionated radiotherapy for non small cell lung cancer: results from 4 UK centres.

Background And Purpose: A variety of radiotherapy fractionations are used as potentially curative treatments for non-small cell lung cancer. In the UK, 55 Gy in 20 fractions over 4 weeks (55/20) is the most commonly used fractionation schedule, though it has not been validated in randomized phase III trials. This audit pooled together existing data from 4 UK centres to produce the largest published series for this schedule.

Using transcriptomics to improve butanol tolerance of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803.

Cyanobacteria are emerging as promising hosts for production of advanced biofuels such as n-butanol and alkanes. However, cyanobacteria suffer from the same product inhibition problems as those that plague other microbial biofuel hosts. High concentrations of butanol severely reduce growth, and even small amounts can negatively affect metabolic processes.

Bio-organic materials in the atmosphere and snow: measurement and characterization.

Bio-organic chemicals are ubiquitous in the Earth's atmosphere and at air-snow interfaces, as well as in aerosols and in clouds. It has been known for centuries that airborne biological matter plays various roles in the transmission of disease in humans and in ecosystems. The implication of chemical compounds of biological origins in cloud condensation and in ice nucleation processes has also been studied during the last few decades, and implications have been suggested in the reduction of visibility, in the influence on oxidative potential of the atmosphere and transformation of compounds in the atmosphere, in the formation of haze, change of snow-ice albedo, in agricultural processes, and bio-hazards and bio-terrorism.

Measurement of the Coulomb logarithm in a radio-frequency Paul trap.

Samples of ultracold 174Yb+ ions, confined in a linear radio-frequency Paul trap, are heated via micromotion interruption, while their temperature, density, and therefore structural phase are monitored and simulated. The observed time evolution of the ion temperature is compared to a theoretical model for ion-ion heating allowing a direct measurement of the Coulomb logarithm in a linear Paul trap. This result permits a simple, yet accurate, analytical description of ion cloud thermodynamic properties, e.

Ongoing requirement for pacing post-transcatheter aortic valve implantation and surgical aortic valve replacement.

Objectives: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established intervention for aortic stenosis. While it is known that the requirement for permanent pacing is higher following CoreValve (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA) TAVI than after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), it remains uncertain whether pacing is required in the medium-to-long term.

Topological dangling bonds with large spin splitting and enhanced spin polarization on the surfaces of Bi2Se3.

We investigate the topological surface state properties at various surface cleaves in the topological insulator Bi2Se3, via first principles calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS). While the typical surface termination occurs between two quintuple layers, we report the existence of a surface termination within a single quintuple layer where dangling bonds form with giant spin splitting owing to strong spin-orbit coupling. Unlike Rashba split states in a 2D electron gas, these states are constrained by the band topology of the host insulator with topological properties similar to the typical topological surface state, and thereby offer an alternative candidate for spintronics usage.

Evidence for sympathetic vibrational cooling of translationally cold molecules.

Compared with atoms, molecules have a rich internal structure that offers many opportunities for technological and scientific advancement. The study of this structure could yield critical insights into quantum chemistry, new methods for manipulating quantum information, and improved tests of discrete symmetry violation and fundamental constant variation. Harnessing this potential typically requires the preparation of cold molecules in their quantum rovibrational ground state.

Role of electronic excitations in ground-state-forbidden inelastic collisions between ultracold atoms and ions.

The role of electronic excitation in inelastic collisions between ultracold Ca atoms and Ba(+) ions, confined in a hybrid trap, is studied for the first time. Unlike previous investigations, this system is energetically precluded from undergoing inelastic collisions in its ground state, allowing a relatively simple experimental determination and interpretation of the influence of electronic excitation. It is found that while the electronic state of the ion can critically influence the inelastic collision rate, the polarizability mismatch of the neutral atom electronic states suppresses short-range collisions, and thus inelastic processes, involving electronically excited neutral atoms.

Quantum phase transition from triangular to stripe charge order in NbSe2.

The competition between proximate electronic phases produces a complex phenomenology in strongly correlated systems. In particular, fluctuations associated with periodic charge or spin modulations, known as density waves, may lead to exotic superconductivity in several correlated materials. However, density waves have been difficult to isolate in the presence of chemical disorder, and the suspected causal link between competing density wave orders and high-temperature superconductivity is not understood.

Low-threshold ultraviolet solid-state laser based on a Ce3+:LiCaAlF6 crystal resonator.

A low-threshold solid-state UV laser using a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator constructed from UV transparent crystalline material is demonstrated. Using a Ce3+:LiCaAlF6 resonator, we observe broad bandwidth lasing (280-330 nm) with a low threshold intensity of 7.5×10(9) W/m(2) and an effective slope efficiency of ~25%.

Multiplex epitope mapping using bacterial surface display reveals both linear and conformational epitopes.

As antibody-based diagnosis and therapy grow at an increased pace, there is a need for methods which rapidly and accurately determine antibody-antigen interactions. Here, we report a method for the multiplex determination of antibody epitopes using bacterial cell-surface display. A protein-fragment library with 10(7) cell clones, covering 60 clinically-relevant protein targets, was created and characterized with massively parallel sequencing.

Identification of multiple 5-HT₄ partial agonist clinical candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The cognitive impairments observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are in part a consequence of reduced acetylcholine (ACh) levels resulting from a loss of cholinergic neurons. Preclinically, serotonin 4 receptor (5-HT(4)) agonists are reported to modulate cholinergic function and therefore may provide a new mechanistic approach for treating cognitive deficits associated with AD. Herein we communicate the design and synthesis of potent, selective, and brain penetrant 5-HT(4) agonists.

Automated solid-phase subcloning based on beads brought into proximity by magnetic force.

In the fields of proteomics, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology there is a need for high-throughput and reliable cloning methods to facilitate construction of expression vectors and genetic pathways. Here, we describe a new approach for solid-phase cloning in which both the vector and the gene are immobilized to separate paramagnetic beads and brought into proximity by magnetic force. Ligation events were directly evaluated using fluorescent-based microscopy and flow cytometry.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy imaging of symmetry-breaking structural distortion in the bismuth-based cuprate superconductors.

A complicating factor in unravelling the theory of high-temperature (high-T(c)) superconductivity is the presence of a 'pseudogap' in the density of states, the origin of which has been debated since its discovery. Some believe the pseudogap is a broken symmetry state distinct from superconductivity, whereas others believe it arises from short-range correlations without symmetry breaking. A number of broken symmetries have been imaged and identified with the pseudogap state, but it remains crucial to disentangle any electronic symmetry breaking from the pre-existing structural symmetry of the crystal.

An integrated ion trap and time-of-flight mass spectrometer for chemical and photo- reaction dynamics studies.

We demonstrate the integration of a linear quadrupole trap with a simple time-of-flight mass spectrometer with medium-mass resolution (m/Δm ∼ 50) geared towards the demands of atomic, molecular, and chemical physics experiments. By utilizing a novel radial ion extraction scheme from the linear quadrupole trap into the mass analyzer, a device with large trap capacity and high optical access is realized without sacrificing mass resolution. This provides the ability to address trapped ions with laser light and facilitates interactions with neutral background gases prior to analyzing the trapped ions.

Feasibility of initiating and sustaining registry-based immunization recall in private practices.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of initiating and sustaining immunization recall by private practices, including the barriers and costs, using a statewide immunization information system (IIS).

Methods: Private practices in southeast Michigan were recruited in 2007 to perform IIS-based immunization recalls. Enrolled practices were provided with training and asked to conduct 4 recalls during the course of 12 months of children 19 to 35 months of age.

Measurement of a large chemical reaction rate between ultracold closed-shell 40Ca atoms and open-shell 174Yb+ ions held in a hybrid atom-ion trap.

Ultracold 174Yb+ ions and 40Ca atoms are confined in a hybrid trap. The charge exchange chemical reaction rate constant between these two species is measured and found to be 4 orders of magnitude larger than recent measurements in other heteronuclear systems. The structure of the CaYb+ molecule is determined and used in a calculation that explains the fast chemical reaction as a consequence of strong radiative charge transfer.

VAMP8 is a vesicle SNARE that regulates mucin secretion in airway goblet cells.

Mucin secretion is an innate defence mechanism, which is noxiously upregulated in obstructive lung diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis and asthma).

Parental weight (mis)perceptions: factors influencing parents' ability to correctly categorise their child's weight status.

This study investigates parents' ability to correctly classify their child's weight status. The influence of parent and child socio-demographic and lifestyle factors on parental misclassification of their child's weight status is explored. A representative sample of Irish children (aged 5-12 (n = 596) years, aged 13-17 years (n = 441)) and their parents (n = 1885) were recruited to participate in a national dietary survey.

Quality of induced sputum using a human-powered nebuliser in a mobile human immunodeficiency virus testing service in South Africa.

Objectives: To investigate the quality of induced sputum samples using a human-powered (HPN) and an electric-powered nebuliser (EPN).

Methods: For each participant two sputum samples were induced using the HPN and the EPN. The sequence of the two nebulisers was allocated at random.

Trapping molecular ions formed via photo-associative ionization of ultracold atoms.

The formation of (40)Ca(2)(+) molecular ions is observed in a hybrid (40)Ca magneto-optical and ion trap system. The molecular ion formation process is determined to be photo-associative ionization of ultracold (40)Ca atoms. A lower bound for the two-body rate constant is found to be beta ≥ 2 ± 1 × 10(-15) cm(3) Hz.

Identification of a lysosomal pathway that modulates glucocorticoid signaling and the inflammatory response.

The antimalaria drug chloroquine has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent for treating systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. We report that chloroquine promoted the transrepression of proinflammatory cytokines by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). In a mouse collagen-induced arthritis model, chloroquine enhanced the therapeutic effects of glucocorticoid treatment.