Stable Deuterium-Tritium plasmas with improved confinement in the presence of energetic-ion instabilities.

Providing stable and clean energy sources is a necessity for the increasing demands of humanity. Energy produced by Deuterium (D) and Tritium (T) fusion reactions, in particular in tokamaks, is a promising path towards that goal. However, there is little experience with plasmas formed by D-T mixtures, since most of the experiments are currently performed in pure D.

Common dihydropyrimidinase ( DPYS ) genetic variations do not predict fluoropyrimidine-related chemotherapy toxicity in a Canadian cohort.

Known genetic variations in dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (gene name DPYD ) do not fully predict patients at risk for severe fluoropyrimidine-associated chemotherapy toxicity. Dihydropyrimidinase (gene name DPYS ), the second catabolic enzyme in fluoropyrimidine metabolism, has been noted as a potential determinant of variation in fluoropyrimidine metabolism and response. In this study, we genotyped for DPYS c.

Differential effects of OATP2B1 on statin accumulation and toxicity in a beta cell model.

An increased risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus has been recently reported for statin therapy, and experimental studies have shown reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and mitochondrial dysfunction in beta cells with effects differing among agents. Organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) 2B1 contributes to hepatic uptake of rosuvastatin, atorvastatin and pravastatin, three known substrates. Since OATP2B1 is present in beta cells of the human pancreas, we investigated if OATP2B1 facilitates the local accumulation of statins in a rat beta cell model INS-1 832/13 (INS-1) thereby amplifying statin-induced toxicity.

Evidence of Electron Heating by Alpha Particles in JET Deuterium-Tritium Plasmas.

The fusion-born alpha particle heating in magnetically confined fusion machines is a high priority subject for studies. The self-heating of thermonuclear fusion plasma by alpha particles was observed in recent deuterium-tritium (D-T) experiments on the joint European torus. This observation was possible by conducting so-called "afterglow" experiments where transient high fusion yield was achieved with neutral beam injection as the only external heating source, and then termination of the heating at peak performance.

Sequencing by avidity enables high accuracy with low reagent consumption.

We present avidity sequencing, a sequencing chemistry that separately optimizes the processes of stepping along a DNA template and that of identifying each nucleotide within the template. Nucleotide identification uses multivalent nucleotide ligands on dye-labeled cores to form polymerase-polymer-nucleotide complexes bound to clonal copies of DNA targets. These polymer-nucleotide substrates, termed avidites, decrease the required concentration of reporting nucleotides from micromolar to nanomolar and yield negligible dissociation rates.

Lost alpha Faraday cup foil noise characterization during Joint European Torus plasma post-processing analysis.

Capacitive plasma pickup is a well-known and difficult problem for plasma-facing edge diagnostics. This problem must be addressed to ensure an accurate and robust interpretation of the real signal measurements vs noise. The Faraday cup fast ion loss detector array of the Joint European Torus (JET) is particularly prone to this issue and can be used as a testbed to prototype solutions.

In-vitro characterization of coding variants with predicted functional implications in the efflux transporter multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4, ABCC4).

MRP4 (gene ABCC4) is a polymorphic efflux transporter that has been implicated in drug-induced toxicity. We selected ten commonly observed MRP4 coding variants among Europeans for experimental characterization including nine variants predicted to be deleterious or functional (combined annotation-dependent depletion score >15). We assessed protein localization and activity by quantifying intracellular accumulation of two prototypic substrates, taurocholic acid (TCA) and estradiol 17-β-glucuronide (E217βG), in HEK293T over-expressing MRP4 wildtype or variant where cellular substrate loading was optimized through co-transfection with an uptake transporter.

Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 2B1 (OATP2B1) Genetic Variants: Functional Characterization and Association With Circulating Concentrations of Endogenous Substrates.

Organic anion transporting polypeptide 2B1 (OATP2B1, gene ) is an uptake transporter that is thought to determine drug disposition and in particular, the oral absorption of medications. At present, the clinical relevance of genetic variation on pharmacokinetics is poorly understood. We sought to determine the functional activity of 5 of the most common missense OATP2B1 variants (c.

Intuitive eating mediates the relationship between interoceptive accuracy and eating disorder risk.

Research supports an association between altered interoceptive accuracy, or the ability to accurately monitor sensations from the body, and disordered eating. However, the behavioral mechanism through which interoceptive accuracy may influence eating behaviors is unclear. Intuitive eating, the ability to regulate food intake according to visceral cues of hunger and satiety, is positively related to interoceptive accuracy and negatively related to disordered eating.

Impact of pretreatment dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase genotype-guided fluoropyrimidine dosing on chemotherapy associated adverse events.

Consensus guidelines exist for genotype-guided fluoropyrimidine dosing based on variation in the gene dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD). However, these guidelines have not been widely implemented in North America and most studies of pretreatment DPYD screening have been conducted in Europe. Given regional differences in treatment practices and rates of adverse events (AEs), we investigated the impact of pretreatment DPYD genotyping on AEs in a Canadian context.

Overshadowing between visual and tactile stimulus elements in an object recognition task.

In recent decades there has been great progress in discovering the conditions under which cue competition occurs during animal learning. In humans, however, the evidence remains equivocal regarding the degree to which stimuli compete with one another for behavioral control. We report here the results of a single experiment wherein thirty-nine college students completed a novel cue competition task with visual and tactile stimuli.

Sox9 knockout mice have improved recovery following stroke.

The partial recovery that can occur after a stroke has been attributed to structural and functional plasticity that compensate for damage and lost functions. This plasticity is thought to be limited in part by the presence of growth inhibitors in the central nervous system. Blocking or reducing signals from inhibitors of axonal sprouting such as Nogo and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) increases post-stroke axonal sprouting and improves recovery.

Effects of heartbeat feedback on beliefs about heart rate and heartbeat counting: a cautionary tale about interoceptive awareness.

Heartbeat counting improves after exposure to heartbeat feedback either because feedback trains individuals to detect heartbeats or updates their knowledge/beliefs about heart rate. These possibilities were examined by assessing heartbeat counting, in different postures and following exercise, before and after exposure to immediate and delayed heartbeat feedback. Immediate and delayed feedback provided accurate information about heart rate and, therefore, either could update beliefs about heart rate.

An arc control and protection system for the JET lower hybrid antenna based on an imaging system.

Arcs are the potentially most dangerous events related to Lower Hybrid (LH) antenna operation. If left uncontrolled they can produce damage and cause plasma disruption by impurity influx. To address this issue an arc real time control and protection imaging system for the Joint European Torus (JET) LH antenna has been implemented.

Effects of magnetic shear on toroidal rotation in tokamak plasmas with lower hybrid current drive.

Application of lower hybrid (LH) current drive in tokamak plasmas can induce both co- and countercurrent directed changes in toroidal rotation, depending on the core q profile. For discharges with q(0) <1, rotation increments in the countercurrent direction are observed. If the LH-driven current is sufficient to suppress sawteeth and increase q(0) above unity, the core toroidal rotation change is in the cocurrent direction.

Circulating 5α-dihydrotestosterone, abdominal obesity and adipocyte characteristics in women.

Unlabelled: Abstract Background: The association between circulating androgen levels and fat distribution in women has been widely inconsistent among existing studies.

Objective: We sought to investigate the relation between plasma adrenal and gonadal androgen levels and body fat distribution, as well as abdominal adipocyte characteristics.

Methods: Paired omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were surgically obtained from 60 women (age, 47±5 years; body mass index, 26±5 kg/m2) undergoing gynecological surgery.

Soluble human IL-1 receptor type 2 inhibits ectopic endometrial tissue implantation and growth: identification of a novel potential target for endometriosis treatment.

Endometriosis is often associated with a chronic pelvic immuno-inflammatory process, which is closely related to disease pathogenesis and major symptoms. Our studies led to the detection of a marked imbalance between IL-1 and its natural inhibitor IL-1 receptor type 2 (IL1R2) in women with endometriosis. This points to a deficiency in the local control of IL-1 that, in view of the cytokine's elevated levels and potent proinflammatory, angiogenic, and growth-promoting effects, may contribute to endometriosis development.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor is involved in a positive feedback loop increasing aromatase expression in endometriosis.

Immune-endocrine interplay may play a major role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In the present study, we have investigated the interaction between macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a major pro-inflammatory and growth-promoting factor markedly expressed in active endometriotic lesions, and estradiol (E(2)) in ectopic endometrial cells. Our data showed a significant increase of MIF protein secretion and mRNA expression in endometriotic cells in response to E(2).

Design of high-performance parallelized gene predictors in MATLAB.

Background: This paper proposes a method of implementing parallel gene prediction algorithms in MATLAB. The proposed designs are based on either Goertzel's algorithm or on FFTs and have been implemented using varying amounts of parallelism on a central processing unit (CPU) and on a graphics processing unit (GPU).

Findings: Results show that an implementation using a straightforward approach can require over 4.

Distinct expression of the soluble and the membrane-bound forms of interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein in the endometrium of women with endometriosis.

Objective: To investigate interleukin (IL) 1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAcP) expression in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Human reproduction research laboratory.

Influence of ground cover management on diversity and density of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in Guadeloupean citrus orchards.

The abundance and diversity of phytoseiid mites in the vegetal ground cover of a citrus orchard were surveyed by monthly samplings from October 2008 to July 2009. Six different vegetal cover management methods were studied: herbicide application without mowing (Gly), mowing without herbicide application (PV), mowing with herbicide application (AV), late mowing without herbicide application (LMV), cover crop (Neonotonia wightii, Fabaceae) without herbicide application (PNeo) and cover crop with herbicide application (ANeo). Eleven species were present in the ground cover, with Phytoseius rex and Proprioseiopsis mexicanus as major species.

Effects of androgens on adipocyte differentiation and adipose tissue explant metabolism in men and women.

Objective: To examine the effects of aromatizable or nonaromatizable androgens on abdominal subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) adipose tissue lipid metabolism and adipogenesis in men and women.

Design And Subjects: Primary organ and preadipocyte cultures were established from surgical samples obtained in men (n = 22) and women undergoing biliopancreatic diversions (n = 12) or gynaecological surgeries (n = 8). Cultures were treated with testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and methyltrienolone (R1881).

Fat depot-specific impact of visceral obesity on adipocyte adiponectin release in women.

Our objective was to examine omental and subcutaneous adipocyte adiponectin release in women. We tested the hypothesis that adiponectin release would be reduced to a greater extent in omental than in subcutaneous adipocytes of women with visceral obesity. Omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue samples were obtained from 52 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomies (age: 47.

Pathways of adipose tissue androgen metabolism in women: depot differences and modulation by adipogenesis.

The objective was to examine pathways of androgen metabolism in abdominal adipose tissue in women. Abdominal subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) adipose tissue samples were surgically obtained in women. Total RNA was isolated from whole adipose tissue samples and from primary preadipocyte cultures before and after induction of differentiation.