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NCBioImpact It operates several pilot-scale bioprocessing laboratories that simulate the production of biological products according to Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) expectations. The facility is home to the first cross-disciplinary Master's in Biomanufacturing program in the United States, which offers education in advanced biomanufacturing, business coursework taught by the Jenkins Graduate College of Management, and professional development courses. The center also offers an undergraduate minor for NC State students and a post-baccalaureate certificate for non-degree students. Professional development courses are offered to individuals or can be customized for industry partners. BTEC has trained investigators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in bioprocessing methods, analytical techniques, and aseptic manufacturing. BTEC has also trained influenza vaccine manufacturing employees from around the world as part of a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). The goal of the training is to increase influenza vaccine production capacity around the world and in developing countries. BTEC also offers analytical testing and development services for the biopharmaceutical industry, government and academia for preparation for preclinical trials and commercialization
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NCBioImpact Located on the campus of North Carolina Central University, the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) prepares undergraduate and graduate students for scientific careers in the biomanufacturing and biopharmaceutical industries. BRITE's 52,000 sq. ft. research and teaching facility provides hands-on training in process and analytical technology, drug discovery and biomanufacturing. Students can pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in the classroom and gain hands-on experience in laboratories. BRITE also offers short courses for incumbent biotechnology workers and potential industry employees. The facility also includes a 350,000 compound library, which was provided by Biogen Idec.
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2002 North American drought The 2002 North American Drought was an exceptional and damaging drought which impacted the Western United States, Midwestern United States and the Mountain States. The Drought of 2002 began around spring and spread over numerous states, including Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Denver was forced to impose water restrictions for the first time in over 20 years. The Drought of 2002 had a negative impact in many states. The Drought of 2002 also ravaged certain parts of Canada, particularly Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39020527
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Robert F. Dill (1927-2004) (Robert Floyd Dill or Bob Dill) was a marine geologist. He is perhaps best known for his studies on stromatolites, the submarine canyons in California and his collaboration with Jacques Cousteau.
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Oncolytic adenovirus Adenovirus varieties have been explored extensively as a viral vector for gene therapy and also as an oncolytic virus. Of the many different viruses being explored for oncolytic potential, an adenovirus was the first to be approved by a regulatory agency, the genetically modified H101 strain. It gained regulatory approval in 2005 from China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Adenoviruses have so far been through three generations of development. Some of the strategies for modification of adenoviruses are described below. For adenovirus replication to occur, the host cell must be induced into S phase by viral proteins interfering with cell cycle proteins. The adenoviral E1A gene is responsible for inactivation of several proteins, including retinoblastoma, allowing entry into S-phase. The adenovirus E1B55kDa gene cooperates with another adenoviral product, E4ORF6, to inactivate p53, thus preventing apoptosis. It was initially proposed that an adenovirus mutant lacking the E1B55kDa gene, "dl1520" (ONYX-015), could replicate selectively in p53 deficient cells. A conditionally replicative adenovirus (CRAd) with a 24 base pair deletion in the retinoblastoma-binding domain of the E1A protein ("Ad5- Δ24E3"), is unable to silence retinoblastoma, and therefore unable to induce S-phase in host cells. This restricts "Ad5-Δ24E3" to replication only in proliferating cells, such as tumour cells
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Oncolytic adenovirus The most commonly used group of adenoviruses is serotype 5 (Ad5), whose binding to host cells is initiated by interactions between the cellular coxsackie virus and adenovirus receptor (CAR), and the knob domain of the adenovirus coat protein trimer. CAR is necessary for adenovirus infection. Although expressed widely in epithelial cells, CAR expression in tumours is extremely variable, leading to resistance to Ad5 infection. Retargeting of Ad5 from CAR, to another receptor that is ubiquitously expressed on cancer cells, may overcome this resistance. H101 and the very similar Onyx-015 have been engineered to remove a viral defense mechanism that interacts with a normal human gene "p53", which is very frequently dysregulated in cancer cells. Despite the promises of early "in vivo" lab work, these viruses do not specifically infect cancer cells, but they still kill cancer cells preferentially. While overall survival rates are not known, short-term response rates are approximately doubled for H101 plus chemotherapy when compared to chemotherapy alone. It appears to work best when injected directly into a tumour, and when any resulting fever is not suppressed. Systemic therapy (such as through infusion through an intravenous line) is desirable for treating metastatic disease. It is now marketed under the brand name Oncorine. Onyx-015 (originally named Ad2/5 dl1520) is an experimental oncolytic virus created by genetically engineering an adenovirus. It has been trialed as a possible treatment for cancer
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Oncolytic adenovirus The "E1B-55kDa" gene has been deleted allowing the virus to selectively replicate in and lyse p53-deficient cancer cells. Traditional research has focussed on species C Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) for creating oncolytic vaccines for the potential use as cancer treatment. However, recent data suggests that it may not be the best virus serotype for deriving all oncolytic agents for treating human malignancies. For example, oncolytic vaccines based on the Ad5 serotype have relatively poor clinical efficacy as monotherapies. The need for increased potency (infectivity and lytic activity) has led to an expanded search involving a larger number of less well studied adenovirus serotypes. One non-species C oncolytic adenovirus currently in development is ColoAd1. It was created using a process of “directed evolution”. This involves the creation of new viral variants or serotypes specifically directed against tumour cells via rounds of directed selection using large populations of randomly generated recombinant precursor viruses. The increased biodiversity produced by the initial homologous recombination step provides a large random pool of viral candidates which can then be passed through a series of selection steps designed to lead towards a pre-specified outcome (e.g. higher tumor specific activity) without requiring any previous knowledge of the resultant viral mechanisms that are responsible for that outcome
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Oncolytic adenovirus One particular application of this approach produced ColoAd1, which is a novel Ad11p/Ad3 chimeric Group B oncolytic virus with specificity for human colon cancer and a broad spectrum of anti-cancer activity in common solid tumours. The therapeutic efficacy of ColoAd1 is currently being evaluated in three ongoing clinical trials (see the EU Clinical Trials Register for further details). ColoAd1 potency can be further enhanced via the use of therapeutic transgenes, which can be introduced into the ColoAd1 genome without compromising the selectivity or activity of the virus. Recent studies with ColoAd1 have shown a unique mechanism of cell death similar to Oncosis with expression of inflammatory cell death markers and cell membrane blistering and have highlighted mechanisms by which ColoAd1 alters host cell metabolism to facilitate replication. Tumours form in cells when mutations in genes involved in cell cycle control and apoptosis accumulate over time. Most tumours studied, have defects in the p53 tumor suppressor pathway. p53 is a transcription factor that plays a role in apoptosis, cell cycle and DNA repair. It blocks cell progression in response to cellular stress or DNA damage. Many viruses replicate by altering the cell cycle and exploiting the same pathways that are altered in cancer cells. E1B proteins produced by adenoviruses protect the infected cell by binding to and degrading the p53 transcription factors, preventing it from targeting the cell for apoptosis
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Oncolytic adenovirus This allows the virus to replicate, package its genome, lyse the cell and spread to new cells. This gave rise to the idea that an altered adenovirus could be used to target and eliminate cancer cells. Onyx-015 is an adenovirus that was developed in 1987 with the function of the E1B gene knocked out, meaning cells infected with Onyx-015 are incapable of blocking p53's function. If Onyx-015 infects a normal cell, with a functioning "p53" gene, it will be prevented from multiplying by the action of the p53 transcription factor. However, if Onyx-015 infects a p53 deficient cell it should be able to survive and replicate, resulting in selective destruction of cancer cells. ColoAd1 from PsiOxus Therapeutics has entered Phase I/II clinical study with its oncolytic vaccine. Phase I of the trial recruited patients with metastatic solid tumors and showed evidence for virus replication within tumour sites after intravenous delivery. The second phase of the ColoAd1 study will involve the comparison of intra-tumoural versus intravenous injection to examine viral replication, viral spread, tumour necrosis and anti-tumoural immune responses (see the EU Clinical Trials Register for further details). Patents for the therapeutic use of ONYX-015 are held by ONYX Pharmaceuticals and it was used in combination with the standard chemotherapeutic agents cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil to combat head and neck tumours
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Oncolytic adenovirus Onyx-015 has been extensively tested in clinical trials, with the data indicating that it is safe and selective for cancer. However, limited therapeutic effect has been demonstrated following injection and systemic spread of the virus was not detected. "ONYX-015" when combined with chemotherapy, however, proved reasonably effective in a proportion of cases. During these trials a plethora of reports emerged challenging the underlying p53-selectivity, with some reports showing that in some cancers with a wild-type p53 ONYX-015 actually did better than in their mutant p53 counterparts. These reports slowed the advancement through Phase III trials in the US, however recently China licensed "ONYX-015" for therapeutic use as "H101". Further development of Onyx-015 was abandoned in the early 2000s, the exclusive rights being licensed to the Chinese company, Shanghai Sunway Biotech. On November 17, 2005, the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration approved H101, an oncolytic adenovirus similar to Onyx-015 (E1B-55K/E3B-deleted), for use in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of late-stage refractory nasopharyngeal cancer. Outside of China, the push to the clinic for "ONYX-015" has been largely been discontinued for financial reasons and until a "real" mechanism can be found.
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Photon counting is a technique in which individual photons are counted using some single-photon detector (SPD). The counting efficiency is determined by the quantum efficiency and any electronic losses that are present in the system. Many photodetectors can be configured to detect individual photons, each with relative advantages and disadvantages, including a photomultiplier, geiger counter, single-photon avalanche diode, superconducting nanowire single-photon detector, transition edge sensor, or scintillation counter. Charge-coupled devices can also sometimes be used. Single-photon detection is useful in many fields including fiber-optic communication, quantum information science, quantum encryption, medical imaging, light detection and ranging, DNA sequencing, astrophysics, and materials science. In radiology, one of the major disadvantages of X-ray imaging modalities is the negative effects of ionising radiation. Although the risk from small exposures (as used in most medical imaging) is thought to be very small, the radiation protection principle of "as low as reasonably practicable" (ALARP) is always applied. One way of reducing exposures is to make X-ray detectors as efficient as possible, so that lower doses can be used for the same diagnostic image quality. detectors could help, due to their ability to reject noise more easily, and other advantages compared to conventional integrating (summing) detectors.<ref name="vision20/20"></ref> Photon-counting mammography was introduced commercially in 2003
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Photon counting Although such systems are not widespread, there is some evidence of their ability to produce comparable images at approximately 40% lower dose to the patient than other digital mammography systems with flat panel detectors. The technology was subsequently developed to discriminate between photon energies, so-called spectral imaging, with the possibility to further improve image quality, and to distinguish between different tissue types. Photon-counting computed tomography is another key area of interest, which is rapidly evolving and is at the verge of being feasible for routine clinical use. The number of photons observed per unit time is the photon flux. The photon flux per unit area is the photon irradiance if the photons are incident on a surface, or photon exitance if the emission of photons from a broad-area source is being considered. The flux per unit solid angle is the photon intensity. The flux per unit source area per unit solid angle is photon radiance. SI units for these quantities are summarized in the table below.
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Peter R. Last Peter Robert Last is an Australian ichthyologist, curator of the Australian National Fish Collection and a senior principal research scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) in Hobart, Tasmania. He is an elasmobranch expert and has described many new species of shark. Last is the co-author of "Sharks and Rays of Australia" and co-author of "A revision of the Australian handfishes (Lophiiformes: Brachionichthyidae), with descriptions of three new genera and nine new species". In 2009, the Australian Society for Fish Biology awarded Last its highest honour, the K. Radway Allen Award.
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Isotopes in medicine A medical isotope is an isotope used in medicine. The first uses of isotopes in medicine were in radiopharmaceuticals, and this is still the most common use. However more recently, separated stable isotopes have also come into use. Examples of non-radioactive medical isotopes are:
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NK-92 is an immortal cell line that has features and characteristics of natural killer (NK) cells that every person has circulating in the blood. Blood NK cells and cells recognize invaders such as viruses and fungi. cells, like blood NK cells, can attack cancer cells if the tumor has not grown out of control. cells were isolated and characterized by the laboratory of Hans Klingemann at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada. The cells came from a patient who had a NK cell lymphoma, a rare lymphoma type. Although several other NK cell lines have been cloned, only cells can be expanded to larger numbers and consistently kill tumor cells. When cells bind to a cancer or infected cell, they secrete perforin, which punches holes in target cells, followed by granzymes, which induce apoptosis in the target cells. cells also attack cancer cells through the Fas-Fas ligand system and are capable of producing cytokines that by themselves can kill cancer cells (such as TNF-alpha) or stimulate and expand other immune cells such as interferon. The cell line has been licensed to NantKwest, Inc. and is currently being developed in the clinic for intravenous therapy in hematological malignancies and solid tumors, for local intra-tumor injection, as effector cells for antibody-mediated killing via CD16 modified cells and as effector cells for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific killing. The cell line has been licensed for non-clinical applications to Brink Biologics and for veterinary applications to Coneksis
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NK-92 NantKwest's authorized distributor is Brink Biologics, which makes cells and certain genetically modified variants available for laboratory assays and in vivo research, including ADCC assays that quantify the contribution of ADCC in the therapeutic effect of monoclonal antibodies (Brink Biologics' Neukopanel) and for other non-clinical assay applications. Three phase I clinical trials, led by experts in adoptive immunotherapy of cancer, have so far yielded excellent results. Hans Klingemann and Sally Arai completed the US trial at Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) in renal cell and melanoma patients, and Torsten Tonn, MD and Oliver Ottmann, MD completed the European trial at the University of Frankfurt in patients with various solid and hematological malignancies. Armand Keating is completing the last cohort of patients in the Canadian trial at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto in lymphoma patients after autologous bone marrow transplants. In all three programs, cells were administered as a simple intravenous infusion, dosed two or three times per treatment course and given in the outpatient setting. Most importantly, there were no grade ≥ 2 side-effects during or after the short infusion of cells. The maximum dose given in the Frankfurt trial was 10e10 cells/me2 x 2 infusions, each 48 hours apart. The Chicago study infused cells at a maximum of 5 x 10e cells/me2 x 3 infusions, each 48 hours apart
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NK-92 This was not the MTD but rather the number of cells that could be expanded in culture bags over a three-week culture period. Alternative cell expansion technologies (bioreactors) will make it possible to further expand the numbers of cells on a smaller 'footprint'. Anecdotal reports of antitumor activity in the two completed phase I studies have been observed in 6/11 patients with renal cancer, 3/4 patients with lung cancer, and 1/1 patient with melanoma, all with very advanced disease. In addition to disease stabilization and regression of metastases in lung and lymph nodes, the severe pain associated with tumor metastases in several patients, which had been refractory to standard chemotherapy, was remarkably lessened. The ongoing trial in Toronto treats patients with lymphoma who have relapsed after an autologous stem cell transplant. Preliminary results suggest a significant benefit in several patients. cells can be genetically engineered to recognize and kill human cancer cells. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) engineered T-lymphocytes are popular in immuno-oncology, having shown that infusion of those engineered cells can achieve remissions in some patients with acute and chronic leukemia
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NK-92 In contrast, NK cells (either from peripheral blood or cord blood) have not generated sufficient interest as CARengineered cytotoxic effector cells because the extent of NK cell expansion can be dependent on the donor and because transfection efficiency, even with lentiviral or retroviral vectors, is only moderately efficient. cells, on the other hand, have predictable expansion kinetics and can be grown in bioreactors to billions of cells within a couple of weeks. They can easily be transfected either with viral supernatant or physical methods. Even mRNA can be shuttled into the cells with high efficiency. Since no integration of mRNA into the genome occurs, this transfection is less risky. cells have also been transfected with a high affinity Fc Receptor (NK-92Fc) which is the main receptor for monoclonal antibodies to execute antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicty (ADCC), including rituximab and ofatumumab. Based on this variant, an assay called Neukopanel has been developed to quantify the ADCC of monoclonal antibodies, a technology that has caught the attention of a number of biotech and pharmaceutical companies that use Neukopanel to determine the contribution of ADCC of their monoclonal antibodies.
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Pseudomonas virus 42 Pseudomonas virus 42, formerly Pseudomonas phage 42, is a bacteriophage known to infect "Pseudomonas" bacteria.
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DEPT (medicine) Directed enzyme prodrug therapy (DEPT) uses enzymes artificially introduced into the body to convert prodrugs, which have no or poor biologically activity, to the active form in the desired location within the body. Many chemotherapy drugs for cancer lack tumour specificity and the doses required to reach therapeutic levels in the tumour are often toxic to other tissues. DEPT strategies are an experimental method of reducing the systemic toxicity of a drug, by achieving high levels of the active drug only at the desired site. This article describes the variations of DEPT technology. ADEPT is a strategy to overcome the problems of lack of tumor selectivity. An antibody designed/developed against a tumor antigen is linked to an enzyme and injected to the blood, resulting in selective binding of the enzyme in the tumor. When the discrimination between tumor and normal tissue enzyme levels is sufficient, a prodrug is administrated into the blood circulation, which is converted to an active cytotoxic drug by the enzyme, only within the tumor. Selectivity is achieved by the tumor specificity of the antibody and by delaying prodrug administration until there is a large differential between tumor and normal tissue enzyme levels. ADEPT has shown antitumor activity in animal tumor models of human choriocarcinoma and colonic and breast carcinoma
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DEPT (medicine) The first pilot-scale clinical trial of ADEPT was carried out at Charing Cross Hospital, London, using an anti-CEA F(ab′)2 antibody conjugated to the bacterial enzyme carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2). The antibody used in the first ADEPT clinical trial was of murine origin and the enzyme was bacterial. Host antibodies to both components of the AEC were present in the blood of all non-immunosuppressed patients by day 10 after AEC infusion. Several patients received ciclosporin since it had been shown in rabbits that this could delay the appearance of host antibodies to soluble proteins. A subsequent, small-scale trial at the Royal Free Hospital, London, used the same agents as in the Charing Cross Hospital trial but the protocol was modified to provide additional pharmacokinetic data and most patients received only a single course of treatment. GDEPT is a suicide gene therapy in which the enzyme required for prodrug conversion is produced within the target cell, using a gene delivered to it by gene therapy. When an adequate differential exists between the targeted cell and endogenous tissue, non-toxic prodrug is administered and is subsequently converted into its toxic form within the target cell. Systems that use viral vectors to deliver the gene are known as VDEPT. VDEPT is the term given to the use of a virus to deliver the gene for GDEPT. VDEPT can potentially be used to enhance the therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses
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DEPT (medicine) LEAPT is a variant of DEPT in which the manipulation of carbohydrates on the surface of the enzyme is used to target the enzyme activity to the cell in question. This allows exploitation of the sometimes highly specific sugar-lectin interactions found in organisms, including humans. Proof-of-principle examples have shown delivery to target organs of enzymes that specifically release cytotoxics to treat tumours. PDEPT uses polymer-drug conjugates, drugs contained within a polymer 'shell' such as pHPMA and designed to be released only by a specific enzyme. CDEPT is the use of Clostridia to convert prodrugs into active drug agents. CDEPT exploits the hypoxic environment of solid tumors to target drugs to tumors using anaerobic bacteria resident in the tumour to convert the pro-drug to the active form. Intravenously injected clostridial spores exhibit a specificity for tumours, colonising the hypoxic areas of the tumours. Perhaps the most challenging issue in cancer treatment is how to reduce the side effects of the injected anti-cancer agents, which are of a high cytotoxicity potential. A widely used solution is to use enzymes which are able to convert a relatively non-toxic prodrug precursor into the active drug form(s). Clostridial-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (CDEPT) is one of the possible approaches. Solid tumors, in contrast to normal tissues, grow rapidly. As a result, the cancerous tissues may suffer from inadequate blood and oxygen supply
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DEPT (medicine) Therefore, clostridia can grow in tumor and destroy it specifically. (Originally, Parker and co-workers showed that the injection of "Clostridium histolyticum" spores to the transplanted sarcomas of mice results in significant tumour lysis. Soon after, it was shown that a direct injection is not necessary, and that tumour colonization was readily obtained after intravenous administration of spores). In CDEPT, a prodrug-converting enzyme expressed by a clostridial expression plasmid converts a prodrug into an active drug form within the tumor. While the prodrug is the inactive form and can be administrated to the blood, the products of the prodrug cleavage are highly cytotoxic and show their effect only in the vicinity of tumor cells. Difficulties in the engineering of clostridial strains have restricted the application of other enzyme prodrug systems. So far, two enzymes have been applied in CDEPT: cytosine deaminase and nitroreductase.
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Salvador Imperatore Marcone (born 11 March 1950) is a Chilean former football referee. He officiated the opening match at the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as the semi final between the United States and Germany. He was later on call as a reserve official for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Imperatore also refereed at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the 1995 Copa América and the 1995 King Fahd Cup. A chemical engineer by trade, Imperatore suffered a stroke in 2008.
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John Elliott Nafe John Elliott (Jack) Nafe (July 22, 1914 in Seattle – April 6, 1996) was an American oceanographer and geophysicist best known for his work on acoustic propagation in the oceans and solid earth. Born in Seattle, Nafe received his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1938. He then served in the United States Merchant Marine, leaving to begin graduate studies at Washington University. He obtained an MS degree in 1940 and then joined the Navy during World War II, during which he taught physics and engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy. Returning to graduate studies at Columbia University after the war, he worked with I.I. Rabi on a celebrated experiment that determined the magnetic moment of the hydrogen atom. He received his Ph.D. in 1948. Nafe was for three years a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, after which he returned to Columbia's Lamont Geological Observatory, where he began to study the acoustic properties of the oceans as they are affected by temperature, salinity, and pressure. For the U.S. Navy, he worked on a listening system for detecting submerged submarines at long distances. Nafe's acoustical research later turned to the solid earth, where he was among the first to develop an accurate relation between density and seismic velocity, allowing inferences about the structure of the Earth. Nafe was chair of Columbia's geology department from 1962 to 1965. He suffered a severe stroke in 1976 and retired to Vancouver in 1980.
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Dorsal nexus The dorsal nexus is an area within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex that serves as an intersection point for multiple brain networks. Research suggests it plays a role in the maintenance and manipulation of information, as well as supporting the control of cognitive functions such as behavior, memory, and conflict resolution. Abnormally increased connectivity between these networks through the Dorsal Nexus has been associated with certain types of depression. The activity generated by this abnormally high level of connectivity during a depressive state can be identified through Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Positron emission tomography (PET). The brain's intrinsic connections are divided into different networks that enable communication between the different structures: The cognitive control network, or Executive network (EN), the affective network or somatic network, and the default mode network. These regions are dependent on the dorsal nexus to communicate. The EN is located in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and lateral parietal cortex, and is responsible for the maintenance and manipulation of the information in working memory. The EN also plays an important role as support of adaptive, goal-directed behaviors, which is why it is colloquially referred to as "the problem solver." The affective (or salience) network includes connections between the limbic area and subcortical areas, and is important during fear and vigilance states, as well as for autonomic and visceral regulation
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Dorsal nexus It also generates the somatic sensations that accompany emotions. The default mode is most active when the brain is at rest, or when a person is communicating socially. Its activity decreases during the performance of cognitively demanding tasks. Neuroimaging studies have shown that many neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders are associated with abnormalities in the functional connectivity of neural networks. MRIs indicate that the dorsal nexus is responsible for connecting these networks, and this might explain how symptoms of depression are influenced by the state of brain networks. The increased connectivity can produce symptoms of decreased focus and increased vigilance, which can present as paranoia, rumination or autonomic, visceral and emotional imbalance. Subjects with depression were observed to have abnormal connectivity in the bilateral parahippocampal cortex, as well as an increase of hyperintensity of white matter. Increased default-mode network connectivity, mediated via a region of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, may underline the characteristics of depression. In this pathology, the dorsal nexus is strongly connected to the task-positive, task-negative and affective networks. The function of this node is to allow enhanced “cross-talk” between networks, and this may explain how the diverse symptoms seen in depression converge The dorsal nexus can be related to two different types of depression: decreased and major depression
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Dorsal nexus It is important to mention that there is a big difference between these two types: With decreased depression, the connectivity between the cingulated subgenual cortex and amygdala, pale striatum, and medial thalamus is diminished. In the case of major depression, connectivity is normal. This could explain differences in response to drugs and psychotherapy. Neuroimaging techniques allow of imaging of the nervous system in vivo, and permit scientists to explore the structures and functions of the human brain. In neuropsychiatry, neuroimaging techniques such as MRI and Positron Emission Tomography allow the identification of different networks that are implicated in various pathologies. In the case of depression, portions of three different networks (the cognitive control network, the default mode network and the affective network) which are related with conflict resolution, making decisions, behavior, regulate memory and future planning present increased function in MRI’s. These three increased connectivity networks converged specifically on the dorsal nexus. The dorsal nexus has extremely high connectivity with large regions including dorso lateral prefrontal cortex, dorso medial prefrontal cortex, ventral medial prefrontal cortex, pregenual an subgenual cortex, posterior cingulate, and precuneus. Because these networks can be determined for each individual based on the strength of correlation to an a priori seed location, group statistical differences in networks can be evaluated on an image – wide basis
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Dorsal nexus Treating the symptoms of depression has the purpose of reduce and control the dysfunction that patients could have in any areas of their life. The choice of treatment is based on the needs of the patient and can include drugs, therapy and other similar treatments. Regardless of the chosen treatment, it is necessary to consider possible side effects . In the case of depression associated with dorsal nexus and other associated structures, reducing the increased connectivity might play a critical role reducing depression symptomatology and thus represent a potential therapy target for affective disorders Since glutamate is the most abundant and major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, pathophysiological changes in glutamatergic signaling are likely to affect neurobehavioral plasticity, information processing and large-scales changes in functional brain connectivity. Ketamine, a fast-acting general anesthetic derived from phencyclidine and use as a pediatric inductor, plays a non-well known role in the neural network dynamics at the healthy brain . The administration of ketamine in abnormal brain has the potential of reduce the increased function of the networks that are seen in depression. The therapeutic potential of ketamine may be explained by reversing disturbances in the glutamatergic system and restoring parts of a disrupted neurobehavioral homeostasis where several structural, metabolic, and functional abnormalities have taken place
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Dorsal nexus Long term ketamine treatments lead to cognitive impairment including problems of short-term memory, visual and verbal memory. On the other hand, short term treatments are generally well tolerated and any damage may be reversible. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) significantly reduces functional connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Dorsal nexus) and the anterior cingulate cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex, and other areas implicated in major depression. Although electroconvulsive therapy has been used as a treatment for depression since 1930, it has several side effects as loss of memory, confusion and difficulties in forming new memories. Because of this reasons, this kind of treatment is limited to severely damaged patients.
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Configurational mechanics is a subdiscipline of continuum mechanics in which particular emphasis is placed on reckoning from the perspective of the material manifold. By contrast, in classical mechanics, reckoning is commonly made from the perspective of spatial coordinates.
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Epiphreatic zone In a cave system, the epiphreatic zone or floodwater zone is the zone between the vadose zone above and phreatic zone below. It is regularly flooded and has a significant porosity. It has a great potential for cave formation.
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Henri Schouteden (9 July 1881, Brussels – 15 November 1972, Brussels) was a Belgian zoologist, ornithologist and entomologist. Species named for Schouteden include a worm lizard "Monopeltis schoutedeni", a chameleon "Trioceros schoutedeni", a snake "Helophis schoutedeni", Schouteden's swift ("Schoutedenapus schoutedeni"), a shrew "Paracrocidura schoutedeni", a butterfly "Bebearia schoutedeni", a testate amoeba "Hyalosphenia schoutedeni", among many others. His collection of butterflies from the Belgian Congo is held by the Royal Museum for Central Africa. Translated from French Wikipedia
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Heterolysis (biology) In biology, heterolysis refers to apoptosis induced by hydrolytic enzymes from surrounding (usually inflammatory) cells. On the other hand, Autolysis is apoptosis of a cell by its own enzymes.
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Homolysis (biology) In biology, homolysis refers to a dividing cell resulting in two equal-size daughter cells.
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Alfred Russel Wallace centenary The centenary of the death of the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on 7 November 1913 was marked in 2013 with events around the world to celebrate his life and work. The commemorations was co-ordinated by the Natural History Museum, London. Events between October 2013 and June 2014 were planned by the Natural History Museum and other organisations including the Zoological Society of London, Cardiff University, the University of Alberta, Dorset County Museum, Swansea Museum, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Ness Botanical Gardens (South Wirral), the Royal Society, the Linnean Society, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the American Museum of Natural History, Hertford Museum and the National Museum of Wales. The naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist Alfred Russel Wallace (born 8 January 1823) died on 7 November 1913. He is principally remembered now for having independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection, which prompted Charles Darwin to publish "On the Origin of Species". Some of his books such as "The Malay Archipelago" remain in print; it is considered one of the best accounts of scientific exploration published during the 19th century
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Alfred Russel Wallace centenary Wallace is also remembered for recognizing the presence of a biogeographical boundary, now known as the Wallace Line, that divides the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are almost entirely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect the influence of Australasia. The South Kensington Natural History Museum, London, co-ordinating commemorative events for the Wallace centenary worldwide in the 'Wallace100' project, created a website to celebrate Wallace's centenary. The museum holds the Wallace Collection of memorabilia including letters, Wallace's notebooks and other documents, and 28 drawers of insects and other specimens that he collected on his expeditions to the Malay Archipelago and to South America. The museum describes Wallace as "Father of biogeography", as a committed socialist, and as a spiritualist. The Royal Societyplanned a two-day discussion meeting in October 2013 for researchers on "Alfred Russel Wallace and his legacy", with speakers including George Beccaloni, Steve Jones, Lynne Parenti, Tim Caro and Martin Rees. Cardiff University's School of Earth & Ocean Sciences has planned a lecture series in 2013-2014 as part of the centenary commemoration of Wallace. Hertford Museum held several events including an evening of illustrated talks on 15 January 2014 at Hertford Theatre
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Alfred Russel Wallace centenary Errol Fuller will discuss Wallace and the curious 19th century social phenomenon that guided his life and Dr Sandra Knapp will talk about Wallace’s life and explorations in the Amazon. The Linnean Society held a two-day celebration of Wallace's centenary in Bournemouth on 7 and 8 June 2013, together with the Society for the History of Natural History, Bournemouth University and Bournemouth Natural Sciences Society. The event included talks about Wallace, his thoughts on natural selection, his evolutionary insights, and his notebooks and letters. A theatrical performance, 'You Should Ask Wallace', was put on by Theatre na n'Og. On the second day the group visited Wallace's grave and went on a nature walk in Wallace's memory. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew ran a display of Wallace memorabilia including letters, photographs, artefacts made from plants, and herbarium specimens in 2013. "Kew" magazine likewise published an article "The Wallace Connection" to mark the centenary. The American Museum of Natural History, New York City, planned a talk by naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough for 12 November 2013, entitled 'Alfred Russel Wallace and the Birds of Paradise'. Birute Galdikas, one of Louis Leakey's 'ape women', will speak about her orangutans at the museum's Wallace conference. In 2013 the BBC broadcast a two-part television series, "Bill Bailey's Jungle hero: Alfred Russel Wallace", in which comedian Bill Bailey travelled in the footsteps of Wallace in Indonesia to show what the naturalist achieved.
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Moron (bacteriophage) A moron, in the context of bacteriophage genetics, is an extra gene in a prophage genome without a function in the phage's lysogenic cycle. These genes may code for products beneficial to the phage's bacterial host, as with the example of gp15 of phage HK97 serving as a superinfection exclusion protein. The term moron comes from the notion that the additional genes mean that these bacteriophage genomes have "more on" them.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39284981
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Mitochondrial fusion Mitochondria are dynamic organelles with the ability to fuse and divide (fission), forming constantly changing tubular networks in most eukaryotic cells. These mitochondrial dynamics, first observed over a hundred years ago are important for the health of the cell, and defects in dynamics lead to genetic disorders. Through fusion, mitochondria can overcome the dangerous consequences of genetic malfunction. The process of mitochondrial fusion involves a variety of proteins that assist the cell throughout the series of events that form this process. When cells experience metabolic or environmental stresses, mitochondrial fusion and fission work to maintain functional mitochondria. An increase in fusion activity leads to mitochondrial elongation, whereas an increase in fission activity results in mitochondrial fragmentation. The components of this process can influence programmed cell death and lead to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Such cell death can be caused by disruptions in the process of either fusion or fission. The shapes of mitochondria in cells are continually changing via a combination of fission, fusion, and motility. Specifically, fusion assists in modifying stress by integrating the contents of slightly damaged mitochondria as a form of complementation. By enabling genetic complementation, fusion of the mitochondria allows for two mitochondrial genomes with different defects within the same organelle to individually encode what the other lacks
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Mitochondrial fusion In doing so, these mitochondrial genomes generate all of the necessary components for a functional mitochondrion. The combined effects of continuous fusion and fission give rise to mitochondrial networks. The mechanisms of mitochondrial fusion and fission are regulated by proteolysis and posttranslational modifications. The actions of fission, fusion and motility cause the shapes of these double membrane bound subcellular organelles we know as mitochondria to continually change. The changes in balance between the rates of mitochondrial fission and fusion directly affect the wide range of mitochondrial lengths that can be observed in different cell types. Rapid fission and fusion of the mitochondria in cultured fibroblasts has been shown to promote the redistribution of mitochondrial green fluorescent protein (GFP) from one mitochondrion to all of the other mitochondria. This process can occur in a cell within a time period as short as an hour. The significance of mitochondrial fission and fusion is distinct for nonproliferating neurons, which are unable to survive without mitochondrial fission. Such nonproliferating neurons cause two human diseases known as dominant optic atrophy and Charcot Marie Tooth disease type 2A, which are both caused by fusion defects. Though the importance of these processes is evident, it is still unclear why mitochondrial fission and fusion are necessary for nonproliferating cells
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Mitochondrial fusion Many gene products that control mitochondrial fusion have been identified, and can be reduced to three core groups which also control mitochondrial fission. These groups of proteins include mitofusins, OPA1/Mgm1, and Drp1/Dnm1. All of these molecules are GTP hydrolyzing proteins (GTPases) that belong to the dynamin family. Mitochondrial dynamics in different cells are understood by the way in which these proteins regulate and bind to each other. These GTPases in control of mitochondrial fusion are well conserved between mammals, flies, and yeast. mediators differ between the outer and inner membranes of the mitochondria. Specific membrane-anchored dynamin family members mediate fusion between mitochondrial outer membranes known as Mfn1 and Mfn2. These two proteins are mitofusin contained within humans that can alter the morphology of affected mitochondria in over-expressed conditions. However, a single dynamin family member known as OPA1 in mammals mediates fusion between mitochondrial inner membranes. These regulating proteins of mitochondrial fusion are organism-dependent; therefore, in "Drosophila" (fruit flies) and yeasts, the process is controlled by the mitochondrial transmembrane GTPase, Fzo. In "Drosophila", Fzo is found in postmeiotic spermatids and the dysfunction of this protein results in male sterility. However, a deletion of Fzo1 in budding yeast results in smaller, spherical mitochondria due to the lack of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
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Mitochondrial fusion The balance between mitochondrial fusion and fission in cells is dictated by the up-and-down regulation of mitofusins, OPA1/Mgm1, and Drp1/Dnm1. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, begins with the breakdown of mitochondria into smaller pieces. This process results from up-regulation of Drp1/Dnm1 and down-regulation of mitofusins. Later in the apoptosis cycle, an alteration of OPA1/Mgm1 activity within the inner mitochondrial membrane occurs. The role of the OPA1 protein is to protect cells against apoptosis by inhibiting the release of cytochrome c. Once this protein is altered, there is a change in the cristae structure, release of cytochrome c, and the activation of the destructive caspase enzymes. These resulting changes indicate that inner mitochondrial membrane structure is linked with regulatory pathways in influencing cell life and death. OPA1 plays both a genetic and molecular role in mitochondrial fusion and in cristae remodeling during apoptosis. OPA1 exists in two forms; the first being soluble and found in the intermembrane space, and the second as an integral inner membrane form, work together to restructure and shape the cristae during and after apoptosis. OPA1 blocks intramitochondrial cytochrome c redistribution which proceeds remodeling of the cristae. OPA1 functions to protect cells with mitochondrial dysfunction due to Mfn deficiencies, doubly for those lacking Mfn1 and Mfn2, but it plays a greater role in cells with only Mfn1 deficiencies as opposed to Mfn2 deficiencies
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Mitochondrial fusion Therefore, it is supported that OPA1 function is dependent on the amount of Mfn1 present in the cell to promote mitochondrial elongation. Both proteins, Mfn1 and Mfn2, can act either together or separately during mitochondrial fusion. Mfn1 and Mfn2 are 81% similar to each other and about 51% similar to the "Drosophila" protein Fzo. Results published for a study to determine the impact of fusion on mitochondrial structure revealed that Mfn-deficient cells demonstrated either elongated cells (majority) or small, spherical cells upon observation. The Mfn protein has three different methods of action: Mfn1 homotypic oligomers, Mfn2 homotypic oligomers and Mfn1-Mfn2 heterotypic oligomers. It has been suggested that the type of cell determines the method of action but it has yet to be concluded whether or not Mfn1 and Mfn2 perform the same function in the process or if they are separate. Cells lacking this protein are subject to severe cellular defects such as poor cell growth, heterogeneity of mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased cellular respiration. plays an important role in the process of embroygenesis, as shown through the Mfn1 and Mfn2 proteins. Using Mfn1 and Mfn2 knock-out mice, which die in utero at midgestation due to a placental deficiency, mitochondrial fusion was shown not to be essential for cell survival in vitro, but necessary for embryonic development and cell survival throughout later stages of development
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Mitochondrial fusion Mfn1 Mfn2 double knock-out mice, which die even earlier in development, were distinguished from the "single" knock-out mice. Mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) originated from the double knock-out mice, which do survive in culture even though there is a complete absence of fusion, but parts of their mitochondria show a reduced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and lose membrane potential. This series of events causes problems with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. The Mitochondrial Inner/Outer Membrane Fusion (MMF) Family (TC# 9.B.25) is a family of proteins that play a role in mitochondrial fusion events. This family belongs to the larger Mitochondrial Carrier (MC) Superfamily. The dynamic nature of mitochondria is critical for function. Chen and Chan (2010) have discussed the molecular basis of mitochondrial fusion, its protective role in neurodegeneration, and its importance in cellular function. The mammalian mitofusins Mfn1 and Mfn2, GTPases localized to the outer membrane, mediate outer-membrane fusion. OPA1, a GTPase associated with the inner membrane, mediates subsequent inner-membrane fusion. Mutations in Mfn2 or OPA1 cause neurodegenerative diseases. enables content mixing within a mitochondrial population, thereby preventing permanent loss of essential components. Cells with reduced mitochondrial fusion show a subpopulation of mitochondria that lack mtDNA nucleoids
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Mitochondrial fusion Such mtDNA defects lead to respiration-deficient mitochondria, and their accumulation in neurons leads to impaired outgrowth of cellular processes and consequent neurodegeneration. A representative list of the proteins belonging to the MMF family is available in the Transporter Classification Database. Mfn1 and Mfn2 (TC# 9.B.25.2.1; Q8IWA4 and O95140, respectively), in mammalian cells are required for mitochondrial fusion, Mfn1 and Mfn2 possess functional distinctions. For instance, the formation of tethered structures "in vitro" occurs more readily when mitochondria are isolated from cells overexpressing Mfn1 than Mfn2. In addition, Mfn2 specifically has been shown to associate with Bax and Bak (Bcl-2 family, TC#1.A.21), resulting in altered Mfn2 activity, indicating that the mitofusins possess unique functional characteristics. Lipidic holes may open on opposing bilayers as intermediates, and fusion in cardiac myocytes is coupled with outer mitochondrial membrane destabilization that is opportunistically employed during the mitochondrial permeability transition. Mutations in Mfn2 (but not Mfn1) result in the neurological disorder Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome. These mutations can be complemented by the formation of Mfn1–Mfn2 hetero-oligomers but not homo-oligomers of Mfn2–Mfn2 This suggests that within the Mfn1–Mfn2 hetero-oligomeric complex, each molecule is functionally distinct
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Mitochondrial fusion This suggests that control of the expression levels of each protein likely represents the most basic form of regulation to alter mitochondrial dynamics in mammalian tissues. Indeed, the expression levels of Mfn1 and Mfn2 vary according to cell or tissue type as does the mitochondrial morphology. In yeast, three proteins are essential for mitochondrial fusion. Fzo1 (P38297) and Mgm1 (P32266) are conserved guanosine triphosphatases that reside in the outer and inner membranes, respectively. At each membrane, these conserved proteins are required for the distinct steps of membrane tethering and lipid mixing. The third essential component is Ugo1, an outer membrane protein with a region homologous to but distantly related to a region in the Mitochondrial Carrier (MC) family. Hoppins "et al.", 2009 showed that Ugo1 is a modified member of this family, containing three transmembrane domains and existing as a dimer, a structure that is critical for the fusion function of Ugo1. Their analyses of Ugo1 indicate that it is required for both outer and inner membrane fusion after membrane tethering, indicating that it operates at the lipid-mixing step of fusion. This role is distinct from the fusion dynamin-related proteins and thus demonstrates that at each membrane, a single fusion protein is not sufficient to drive the lipid-mixing step. Instead, this step requires a more complex assembly of proteins. The formation of a fusion pore has not yet been demonstrated. The Ugo1 protein is a member of the MC superfamily.
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Journal of South American Earth Sciences The is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Elsevier. It covers the earth sciences, primarily on issues that are relevant to South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Antarctica. The journal was established in 1988 and the editor-in-chief is James Kellogg (University of South Carolina). According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2012 impact factor of 1.533.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39289449
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Arsonic acid is the simplest of the arsonic acids. It is a hypothetical compound, although the tautomeric arsenious acid (As(OH)) is well established. In contrast to the instability of HAsO(OH), the phosphorus compound with analogous stoichiometry exists as the tetrahedral tautomer. Similarly, organic derivatives such as phenylarsonic acid are tetrahedral with pentavalent central atom. There are similar acids that are the same except for having different pnictogens. The phosphorus equivalent is phosphonic acid.
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Equatorial Vortex Experiment The (EVEX) is a NASA-funded sounding rocket mission to better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere. As part of this experiment, two rockets were launched for a twelve-minute journey through the equatorial ionosphere above the South Pacific. These rockets were launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands during a period of April 27 to May 10, 2013. The principal investigator for this mission is Erhan Kudeki of the University of Illinois. The purpose of this experiment is to study what disrupts Radio waves. A NASA Terrier Oriole sounding rocket was launched at 3:39 a.m. EDT on 7 May 2013 from Roi Namur, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Ninety seconds later a Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket was also launched successfully. This experiment will help scientists better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere. The electrical storms can interfere with satellite communication and global positioning signals. Payload for each rocket included two canisters of samarium and a dual frequency RF Beacon (NRL CERTO). These two rockets released vapor clouds of lithium (trimethyl aluminum),and were observed from various locations in the area. All scientific instruments on the rockets worked as planned. These two rockets were the second and third rockets of four planned for launch during 2013's campaign in the Marshall Islands
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Equatorial Vortex Experiment In June 2017, a Terrier-Improved Malemute two-stage sounding rocket was launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The artificial clouds released by this rocket helped scientists track the movement of Earth's Ionosphere.
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Alexander Barrett Klots (December 12, 1903 in New York City – April 18, 1989 in Putnam, Connecticut) was an American entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. His collection is conserved in the American Museum of Natural History, a smaller part is held by the University of Connecticut. Two moth species, "Neodactria glenni" and "Neodactria daemonis", were described in the early 21st century using the authority of Bernard Landry and Klots. The specimens had been collected and described by Klots but not published and were published by Landry in 2002 and 2005 respectively. partial list
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Devendra Lal FRS (14 February 1929 – 1 December 2012) was an Indian geophysicist. He was born in Varanasi, India. He graduated from Banaras Hindu University. He graduated from Bombay University; his thesis was on cosmic ray physics; his thesis adviser was Bernard Peters. He was Director, of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad from 1972 to 1983. He was Visiting Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, from 1989 to 2012. was President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) from 1983 to 1987.
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Significant Weather Observing Program The (SWOP) was created at the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Central Illinois in order to provide forecasters with additional data during and after significant weather events.
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Petros Serghiou Florides is a Greek Cypriot mathematical physicist whose career has been based in Ireland. He was born in Lapithos, Cyprus, and in 1958 received his bachelor's degree from the University of London. His 1960 PhD from Royal Holloway on "Problems in Relativity Theory and Relativistic Cosmology" was supervised by William McCrea. After a postdoc with John L Synge at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, he settled at Trinity College Dublin in 1962. There he spent over four decades, rising to the rank of senior fellow and pro-chancellor. In 1964 he was awarded a Master of Arts (juri officii). He was member of the Reviewing Body of the “Mathematical Reviews” (1963-1980), member of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the University of Cyprus (1988-1992), chairman of the Selection Committee for the Mathematics and Statistics Department of the University of Cyprus (1990-1996), chairman of the Peer Review Group for the first Quality Assessment of Third Level Institutions in Greece (1995), and chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the 17th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation, held in Dublin at the RDS Convention Centre from July 18 – 23, 2004 (2001-2004). He is life member of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation, fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London (since 1963), and a patron (and past president) of the Irish Hellenic Society. He was a former pro-chancellor of Trinity College Dublin from 2010–2012.
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Biomaterials exhibit various degrees of compatibility with the harsh environment within a living organism. They need to be nonreactive chemically and physically with the body, as well as integrate when deposited into tissue. The extent of compatibility varies based on the application and material required. Often modifications to the surface of a biomaterial system are required to maximize performance. The surface can be modified in many ways, including plasma modification and applying coatings to the substrate. Surface modifications can be used to affect surface energy, adhesion, biocompatibility, chemical inertness, lubricity, sterility, asepsis, thrombogenicity, susceptibility to corrosion, degradation, and hydrophilicity. Teflon is a hydrophobic polymer composed of a carbon chain saturated with fluorine atoms. The fluorine-carbon bond is largely ionic, producing a strong dipole. The dipole prevents Teflon from being susceptible to Van der Waals forces, so other materials will not stick to the surface. Teflon is commonly used to reduce friction in biomaterial applications such as in arterial grafts, catheters, and guide wire coatings. PEEK is a semicrystalline polymer composed of benzene, ketone, and ether groups. PEEK is known for having good physical properties including high wear resistance and low moisture absorption and has been used for biomedical implants due to its relative inertness inside of the human body
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Plasma modification is one way to alter the surface of biomaterials to enhance their properties. During plasma modification techniques, the surface is subjected to high levels of excited gases that alter the surface of the material. Plasma's are generally generated with a radio frequency (RF) field. Additional methods include applying a large (~1KV) DC voltage across electrodes engulfed in a gas. The plasma is then used to expose the biomaterial surface, which can break or form chemical bonds. This is the result of physical collisions or chemical reactions of the excited gas molecules with the surface. This changes the surface chemistry and therefore surface energy of the material which affects the adhesion, biocompatibility, chemical inertness, lubricity, and sterilization of the material. The table below shows several biomaterial applications of plasma treatments. The surface energy is equal to the sum of disrupted molecular bonds that occur at the interface between two different phases. Surface energy can be estimated by contact angle measurements using a version of the Young–Laplace equation: formula_1 Where formula_2 is the surface tension at the interface of solid and vapor, formula_3 is the surface tension at the interface of solid and liquid, and formula_4 is the surface tension at the interface of liquid and vapor. Plasma modification techniques alter the surface of the material, and subsequently the surface energy. Changes in surface energy then alter the surface properties of the material
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Surface modification techniques have been extensively researched for the application of adsorbing biological molecules. Surface functionalization can be performed by exposing surfaces to RF plasma. Many gases can be excited and used to functionalize surfaces for a wide variety of applications. Common techniques include using air plasma, oxygen plasma, and ammonia plasma as well as other exotic gases. Each gas can have varying effects on a substrate. These effects decay with time as reactions with molecules in air and contamination occur. Ammonia plasma treatment can be used to attach amine functional groups. These functional groups lock on to anticoagulants like Heparin decreasing thrombogenicity. Polysaccharides have been used as thin film coatings for biomaterial surfaces. Polysaccharides are extremely hydrophilic and will have small contact angles. They can be used for a wide range of applications due to their wide range of compositions. They can be used to reduce the adsorption of proteins to biomaterial surfaces. Additionally, they can be used as receptor sites, targeting specific biomolecules. This can be used to activate specific biological responses. Covalent attachment to a substrate is necessary to immobilize polysaccharides, otherwise they will rapidly desorb in a biological environment. This can be a challenge due to the fact that the majority of biomaterials do not possess the surface properties to covalently attach polysaccharides
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications This can be achieved by the introduction of amine groups by RF glow discharge plasma. Gases used to form amine groups, including ammonia or n-heptylamine vapor, can be used to deposit a thin film coating containing surface amines. Polysaccharides must also be activated by oxidation of anhydroglucopyranoside subunits. This can be completed with sodium metaperiodate (NaIO). This reaction converts anhydroglucopyranoside subunits to cyclic hemiacetal structures, which can be reacted with amine groups to form a Schiff base linkage (a carbon-nitrogen double bond). These linkages are unstable and will easily dissociate. Sodium cyanoborohydride (NaBHCN) can be used as a stabilizer by reducing the linkages back to an amine. There are many examples of contamination of biomaterials that are specific to the preparation or manufacturing process. Additionally, nearly all surfaces are prone to contamination of organic impurities in the air. Contamination layers are usually limited to a monolayer or less of atoms and are thus only detectable by surface analysis techniques, such as XPS. It is unknown whether this sort of contamination is harmful, yet it is still regarded as contamination and will most certainly affect surface properties. Glow discharge plasma treatment is a technique that is used for cleaning contamination from biomaterial surfaces. Plasma treatment has been used for various biological evaluation studies to increase the surface energy of biomaterial surfaces, as well as cleaning
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Plasma treatment has also been proposed for sterilization of biomaterials for potential implants. Another method of altering surface properties of biomaterials is to coat the surface. Coatings are used in many applications to improve biocompatibility and alter properties such as adsorption, lubricity, thrombogenicity, degradation, and corrosion. In general, the lower the surface tension of a liquid coating, the easier it will be to form a satisfactory wet film from it. The difference between the surface tension of a coating and the surface energy of a solid substrate to which a coating is applied affects how the liquid coating flows out over the substrate. It also affects the strength of the adhesive bond between the substrate and the dry film. If for instance, the surface tension of the coating is higher than the surface tension of the substrate, then the coating will not spread out and form a film. As the surface tension of the substrate is increased, it will reach a point to where the coating will successfully wet the substrate but have poor adhesion. Continuous increase in the coating surface tension will result in better wetting in film formation and better dry film adhesion
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications More specifically whether a liquid coating will spread across a solid substrate can be determined from the surface energies of the involved materials by using the following equation: formula_5 Where S is the coefficient of spreading, formula_6 is the surface energy of the substrate in air, formula_7 is the surface energy of the liquid coating in air and formula_8 is the interfacial energy between the coating and the substrate. If S is positive the liquid will cover the surface and the coating will adhere well. If S is negative the coating will not completely cover the surface, producing poor adhesion. Organic coatings are a common way to protect a metallic substrate from corrosion. Up until ~1950 it was thought that coatings act as a physical barrier which disallows moisture and oxygen to contact the metallic substrate and form a corrosion cell. This cannot be the case because the permeability of paint films is very high. It has since been discovered that corrosion protection of steel depends greatly upon the adhesion of a noncorrosive coating when in the presence of water. With low adhesion, osmotic cells form underneath the coating with high enough pressures to form blisters, which expose more unprotected steel. Additional non-osmotic mechanisms have also been proposed. In either case, sufficient adhesion to resist displacement forces is required for corrosion protection. Guide wires are an example of an application for biomedical coatings
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Guide wires are used in coronary angioplasty to correct the effects of coronary artery disease, a disease that allows plaque build up on the walls of the arteries. The guide wire is threaded up through the femoral artery to the obstruction. The guide wire guides the balloon catheter to the obstruction where the catheter is inflated to press the plaque against the arterial walls. Guide wires are commonly made from stainless steel or Nitinol and require polymer coatings as a surface modification to reduce friction in the arteries. The coating of the guide wire can affect the trackability, or the ability of the wire to move through the artery without kinking, the tactile feel, or the ability of the doctor to feel the guide wire's movements, and the thrombogenicity of the wire. Hydrophilic coatings can reduce friction in the arteries by up to 83% when compared to bare wires due to their high surface energy. When the hydrophilic coatings come into contact with bodily fluids they form a waxy surface texture that allows the wire to slide easily through the arteries. Guide wires with hydrophilic coatings have increased trackability and are not very thrombogenic; however the low coefficient of friction increases the risk of the wire slipping and perforating the artery. Teflon and Silicone are commonly used hydrophobic coatings for coronary guide wires. Hydrophobic coatings have a lower surface energy and reduce friction in the arteries by up to 48%
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Biomaterial Surface Modifications Hydrophobic coatings do not need to be in contact with fluids to form a slippery texture. Hydrophobic coatings maintain tactile sensation in the artery, giving doctors full control of the wire at all times and reducing the risk of perforation; though, the coatings are more thrombogenic than hydrophilic coatings. The thrombogenicity is due to the proteins in the blood adapting to the hydrophobic environment when they adhere to the coating. This causes an irreversible change for the protein, and the protein remains stuck to the coating allowing for a blood clot to form. Using an MRI to image the guide wire during use would have an advantage over using x-rays because the surrounding tissue can be examined while the guide wire is advanced. Because most guide wires' core materials are stainless steel they are not capable of being imaged with an MRI. Nitinol wires are not magnetic and could potentially be imaged, but in practice the conductive nitinol heats up under the magnetic radiation which would damage surrounding tissues. An alternative that is being examined is to replace contemporary guide wires with PEEK cores, coated with iron particle embedded synthetic polymers.
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GROVER or Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research is an Earth-bound autonomous student-designed rover developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center. With this solar-powered rover, scientists hope to get cheaper data about the Greenland ice sheet that lies in a rapidly warming region. The test drive started in Summit Camp in Greenland on a three kilometer thick ice sheet, which is the highest spot on the largest island of the World. The science team is led by the glaciologist Lora Koenig from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The test began on 3 May 2013 at temperatures as low as and is planned to continue till 8 June 2013. Scientifically, glaciologists expect to get information about how snow accumulates layer by layer over time by using its ground-penetrating radar. Using humans, airplanes or satellites costs more than using rovers. It is expected that the rover will at least meet the performance by humans. Also, the rover should measure newly created layers that occurred in summer 2012, when higher-than-normal temperatures caused surface melting across 97 percent of the ice sheet. In June, it is planned to send another accompanying rover with the name "Cool Robot", which will be able to tow a variety of instruments for glaciological measurements. The solar panels of are like an A so that it can both get energy from the Sun, which does not set at all in the Arctic summer, and from the reflections. It will start to work at a location where the ice sheet is thick
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GROVER It will use a preprogrammed route and will need only little interactions from the operator. Radar penetration will go up to , and it will be possible to get information about snow accumulation in the last 20 years.
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Abell S1077 is a galaxy cluster located in the constellation Piscis Austrinus.
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Ab-polar current Ab-polar current, an obsolete term sometimes found in 19th century meteorological literature, refers to any air current moving away from either the North Pole or the South Pole. In the Northern Hemisphere, this term indicates a northerly wind. The Latin prefix "ab-" means "from" or "away from".
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NGC 4845 (also known as NGC 4910) is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo around 47 million light years away. The galaxy was originally discovered by William Herschel in 1786. The galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center with a mass of 300,000formula_1. In 2013, the ESA observed the black hole absorbing matter from a nearby, low-mass object; possibly a brown dwarf star. The observed X-ray flare was caught by the ESA's INTEGRAL telescope.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39379024
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Modes of toxic action A mode of toxic action is a common set of physiological and behavioral signs that characterize a type of adverse biological response. A mode of action should not be confused with mechanism of action, which refer to the biochemical processes underlying a given mode of action. are important, widely used tools in ecotoxicology and aquatic toxicology because they classify toxicants or pollutants according to their type of toxic action. There are two major types of modes of toxic action: non-specific acting toxicants and specific acting toxicants. Non-specific acting toxicants are those that produce narcosis, while specific acting toxicants are those that are non-narcotic and that produce a specific action at a specific target site. result in narcosis; therefore, narcosis is a mode of toxic action. Narcosis is defined as a generalized depression in biological activity due to the presence of toxicant molecules in the organism. The target site and mechanism of toxic action through which narcosis affects organisms are still unclear, but there are hypotheses that support that it occurs through alterations in the cell membranes at specific sites of the membranes, such as the lipid layers or the proteins bound to the membranes. Even though continuous exposure to a narcotic toxicant can produce death, if the exposure to the toxicant is stopped, narcosis can be reversible
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39392026
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Modes of toxic action Toxicants that at low concentrations modify or inhibit some biological process by binding at a specific site or molecule have a specific acting mode of toxic action. However, at high enough concentrations, toxicants with specific acting modes of toxic actions can produce narcosis that may or may not be reversible. Nevertheless, the specific action of the toxicant is always shown first because it requires lower concentrations. There are several specific acting modes of toxic action: The pioneer work of identifying the major categories of modes of toxic action (see description above) was conducted by investigators from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the Duluth Laboratory using fish, reason why they named the categories as "" (FATS). They proposed the FATS by assessing the behavioral and physiological responses of the fish when subjected to toxicity tests, such as locomotive activities, body color, ventilation patterns, cough rate, heart rate, and others. It has been proposed that modes of toxic action could be estimated by developing a data set of critical body residues (CBR). The CBR is the whole-body concentration of a chemical that is associated with a given adverse biological response and it is estimated using a partition coefficient and a bioconcentration factor. The whole-body residues are reasonable first approximations of the amount of chemical present at the toxic action site(s)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39392026
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Modes of toxic action Because different modes of toxic action generally appear to be associated with different ranges of body residues, modes of toxic action can then be separated into categories. However, it is unlikely that every chemical has the same mode of toxic action in every organism, so this variability should be considered. The effects of mixture toxicity should be considered as well, even though mixture toxicity it's generally additive, chemicals with more than one mode of toxic action may contribute to toxicity. Modeling has become a common used tool to predict modes of toxic action in the last decade. The models are based in Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSARs), which are mathematical models that relate the biological activity of molecules to their chemical structures and corresponding chemical and physicochemical properties. QSARs can then predict modes of toxic action of unknown compounds by comparing its characteristic toxicity profile and chemical structure to reference compounds with known toxicity profiles and chemical structures. Russom and colleagues were one of the first group of researchers being able to classify modes of toxic action with the use of QSARs; they classified 600 chemicals as narcotics. Even though QSARs are a useful tool for predicting modes of toxic action, chemicals having multiple modes of toxic action can obscure QSAR analyses. Therefore, these models are continuously being developed
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39392026
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Modes of toxic action The objective of environmental risk assessment is to protect the environment from adverse effects. Researchers are further developing QSAR models with the ultimate goal providing a clear insight about a mode of toxic action, but also about what the actual target site is, the concentration of the chemical at this target site, and the interaction occurring at the target site, as well as to predict the modes of toxic action in mixtures. Information on the mode of toxic action is crucial not only in understanding joint toxic effects and potential interactions between chemicals in mixtures, but also for developing assays for the evaluation of complex mixtures in the field. The combination of behavioral and physiological responses, CBR estimates, and chemical fate and bioaccumulation QSAR models can be a powerful regulatory tool to address pollution and toxicity in areas where effluents are discharged.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39392026
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Bottlebrush (cave formation) A bottlebrush is a cave formation which results when a stalactite is immersed in rising water which is supersaturated with calcium carbonate. The stalactite becomes coated with pool spar.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39452320
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Cláudio Costa Neto Claudio Costa Neto (born Rio de Janeiro, December 11, 1932) is a Brazilian chemical and chemical engineer, one of the founders of the Institute of Chemistry, UFRJ. He is currently emeritus professor at the Institute of Chemistry of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He got his BSc degree in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Brazil (currently Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) in 1954, Costa Neto worked under supervision of Fritz Feigl, responsible for the development of spot tests for identification and characterization of substances. He was responsible for creating the pioneering shale oil project ("projeto xistoquímica" in Portuguese). He was also responsible for the study of organic geochemistry at UFRJ. Vila Rosário: trilogy about chemistry and society: first part: why and how to eliminate tuberculosis in a society, Claudio Costa Neto, Rio de Janeiro, Calamus Publisher, 480 pages, 2002. Organic analysis: methods and procedures for characterizing organochemicals, Claudio Costa Neto, Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ publisher, 2004, Volumes 1 and 2
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39466812
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Water remote sensing Water Remote Sensing studies the color of water through the observation of the spectrum of water leaving radiation. From the study of this spectrum, the concentration of optically active components of the upper layer of the water body can be concluded via specific algorithms. Water quality monitoring by remote sensing and close-range instruments has obtained considerable attention since the founding of EU Water Framework Directive. If water remote sensing is defined as the observation of the water from a distance in order to describe its color, state of health, saturation levels and more, without taking water samples, the gradual development of understanding of the transparency of natural waters and of the reason of their clarity variability and coloration has been sketched from the times of Henry Hudson (1600) to those of Chandrasekhara Raman (1930). However, the development of water remote sensing techniques (by the use of satellite imaging, aircraft or close range optical devices) didn't start until the early 1970s. These first techniques measured the spectral and thermal differences in the emitted energy from water surfaces. In general, empirical relationships were settled between the spectral properties and the water quality parameters of the water body. In 1974, Ritchie et al. (1974) developed an empirical approach to determine suspended sediments. This kind of empirical models are only able to use to determine water quality parameters of water bodies with similar conditions
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39474341
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Water remote sensing In 1992 an analytical approach was used by Schiebe et al. (1992). This approach was based on the optical characteristics of water and water quality parameters to elaborate a physically based model of the relationship between the spectral and physical properties of the surface water studied. This physically based model was successfully applied in order to estimate suspended sediment concentrations. Water quality sentiment analysis social media learning machines. Water Remote sensing instruments allow to record the color of a water body, which provides information on the presence and abundance of optically active natural water components. The water color spectrum is defined as an apparent optical property (AOP) of the water. This means that the color of the water is influenced by the angular distribution of the light field and by the nature and quantity of the substances in the medium, in this case, water. Thus, the value of this parameter will change with changes in the optical properties and concentrations of the optically active substances in the water, the inherent optical properties or IOPS. The IOPS are independent from the angular distribution of light but they are dependent from the type and substances present in the medium as well. For instance, the diffuse attenuation coefficient of downwelling irradiance, Kd (it is often used as an index of water clarity or ocean turbidity) is defined as an AOP, while the absorption coefficient and the scattering coefficient of the medium are defined as IOPS
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39474341
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Water remote sensing There are two different approaches to determine the concentration of optically active water components by the study of the spectra. The first approach consist of empirical algorithms based on statistical relationships and the second approach consists of analytical algorithms based on the inversion of calibrated bio-optical models. Accurate calibration of the relationships/models used is an important condition for successful inversion on water remote sensing techniques and the determination of concentration of water quality parameters from observed spectral remote sensing data. Thus, these techniques depend on their ability to record these changes in the spectral signature of light backscattered from water surface and relate these recorded changes to water quality parameters via empirical or analytical approaches. Depending of the water constituents of interest and the sensor used, different parts of the spectrum will be analysed. By the use of Optical close range devices (e.g. spectrometers, radiometers), airplanes or helicopters (airborne remote sensing) and satellites (space born remote sensing), the light reflected from the water bodies is measured. For instance, algorithms are used to retrieve parameters such as chlorophyll-a(Chl-a) and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) concentration, the absorption by colored dissolved organic matter at 440 nm (aCDOM) and secchi depth. The measurement of these values will give an idea about the water quality of the water body being studied
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39474341
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Water remote sensing A very high concentration of green pigments like chlorophyll might indicate the presence of an algal bloom, for example, due to eutrophication processes. Thus, the chlorophyll concentration could be used as a proxy or indicator for the trophic condition of a water body. In the same manner, other optical quality parameters such as suspended particles or Suspended Particulate matter (SPM), Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), Transparency (Kd), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) can be used to monitor water quality.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39474341
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Tornaria A tornaria is the planktonic larva of some species of Hemichordata such as the acorn worms. It is very similar in appearance to the bipinnaria larvae of starfishes, with convoluted bands of cilia running around the body. It is an oval shaped, transparent larva. The diameter of the body is about 3 mm. It has an apical plate, which is a thickened region provided by a tuft of cilia and a pair of eye spots. The larva has a complete alimentary canal. The ciliary band stretches throughout the anterior and posterior region, and also the postoral region.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39478635
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Life Sciences Research Foundation The (LSRF) is a postdoctoral fellowship program, with missions ""to identify and fund exceptional young scientists at a critical juncture of their training in all areas of basic life sciences"" and ""to establish partnerships between those who support research in the life sciences and academic institutions for their mutual benefit"". LSRF was established in 1983 by Donald D. Brown of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology. As one of four highly competitive postdoctoral awards in the life sciences, each year LSRF receives more than 1000 applications and awards 15-25 fellowships. The Board of Directors also includes Douglas Koshland and Solomon H. Snyder. The 56 sponsors include many top companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. In 2012, Brown won the Albert Lasker Special Achievement Award in Medical Science, in part for his initiation and 30-year dedication to LSRF. Notable alumni include：
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39482555
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Super-Poissonian distribution In mathematics, a super-Poissonian distribution is a probability distribution that has a larger variance than a Poisson distribution with the same mean. Conversely, a sub-Poissonian distribution has a smaller variance. An example of super-Poissonian distribution is negative binomial distribution. The Poisson distribution is a result of a process where the time (or an equivalent measure) between events has an Exponential distribution, representing a memoryless process.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39484598
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Atul Gurtu (born 16 January 1946) is a leading high energy physicist in India. He joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, in 1971, and retired in 2011 as a senior professor, after a career spanning four decades in particle physics research. Gurtu was born in Lahore in 1946. In 1947, he moved to India. He studied at Auckland House, Shimla, and later at the Lawrence School Sanawar. He attended Panjab University, Chandigarh, and thereafter joined the TIFR in 1969. Gurtu is a particle physics researcher. He participated in numerous experimental projects in collaboration with CERN, Geneva, from 1969 to 2011, as part of high energy physics group at TIFR. From 2003 to 2011, he led a 70-member Indian team which participated in CERN experiment of first proton run at the Large Hadron Collider, known as "mini Big Bang". From 2011-12 he was Distinguished Professor at the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Currently (from March 2018) he is Eminent Scholar at Kyung Hee University, South Korea. He married Promila Bawa in 1971. In 1974, they had their first (and only) child Ashish, who was differently abled and died in 1991. His wife died in 2006. In January 2011, he married National Film Award winning actress Suhasini Mulay, whom he met on Facebook.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39485042
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Karelianite is an rare mineral, a natural form of vanadium(III) oxide, VO. In terms of chemistry it is vanadium-analogue of hematite, corundum, eskolaite, tistarite, bixbyite, avicennite, and yttriaite-(Y). The name comes from Karelia, a region on the Finnish-Russian border. It may be associated with magnesium-rich rocks.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39513103
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NGC 5566 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo, which is approximately 65 million light years away from Earth. The galaxy is the biggest in the constellation Virgo, stretching nearly 150,000 light years in diameter. The galaxy was discovered on 30 April 1786 by the German-British astronomer William Herschel. It is included in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39522465
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Guy Ellcock Pilgrim (Henry) (Stepney, Barbados, December 24, 1875 – Upton, Berkshire, September 15, 1943) was a British geologist and palaeontologist. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, and made significant contributions to Cenozoic continental stratigraphy and vertebrate palaeontology. Pilgrim was born the son of Henry Ellcock Pilgrim and Beatrice Lucy Wrenford. After studies at the local Harrison College, he attended University College London where he received his Bachelor of Science in 1901 and Doctor of Science in 1908. He was appointed to the Geological Survey of India in 1902 and promoted to superintendent in 1920, a post he held until his retirement in 1930. He spent much of his retirement at the Department of Geology at the British Museum. Pilgrim explored the geology of Arabia and Persia. He was the first European to visit Trucial Oman and the first geologist to explore Bahrain Island where his discoveries lead to the present oil exploitations there.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39548732
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Ke Kā o Makali‘i is a Polynesian constellation consisting of five stars in a curving formation in the shape of a bailer surrounding the western constellation Orion, although not including any stars from it. The constellation is seen to rise in the east like a cup and set in the west pouring onto the western horizon. comprises the stars:
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39572092
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Heiheionakeiki is a Polynesian constellation which mariners used to navigate to Tahiti. It contains the seven main stars of the western constellation Orion: As all of Hawaiian Airlines’s new A330s are named for a constellation or star used by the ancient Polynesians for celestial navigation when making their voyages across the Pacific to Hawaii, the airline has named its seventh Airbus 330 aircraft after the constellation.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39572600
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Life Sciences Switzerland (LS2) is the Swiss federation of scientific societies for life sciences. It was formerly known as the Union of the Swiss Societies for Experimental Biology (USGEB). is a member of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (SCNAT). Its members are:
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39576587
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Epstein–Barr virus viral-capsid antigen The (EBV-VCA) is the viral protein that forms the viral capsid of the Epstein–Barr virus. It is the antigen targeted by "anti-VCA antibodies". Such antibodies can be used in serology to diagnose infectious mononucleosis. In cases with primary infection, the sensitivity of IgG (immunoglobulin) and IgM anti-VCA testing has been estimated to be 100% reliable. Elevated Anti-VCA IgM indicates acute infection. Elevated Anti-VCA IgG indicates prior infection.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39579033
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Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) are membership organisations within the NHS in England. They were created in May 2013 with the aim of bringing together health services, and academic and industry members. Their stated purpose is to improve patient outcomes and generate economic benefits for the UK by promoting and encouraging the adoption of innovation in healthcare. In 2019 AHSNs were issued with a new 5 year licence to continue their work. A report in 2008 by Lord Ara Darzi noted that the NHS was poor at innovating, and suggested wider collaboration between industry, education and all aspects of healthcare. The NHS is one of the world's largest employers and with the UK's spending on healthcare at over £140b in 2010 or 9.6% of national GDP, it is a key component of the national economy. There is a generally recognised need to improve the NHS's ability to identify and adopt innovation. AHSNs were first proposed by name in the report Innovation Health and Wealth by Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of NHS England, and launched by the Prime Minister, David Cameron. A request for expressions of interest was issued in June 2012 and, on 23 May 2013, the 15 designated AHSNs were formally announced. They are regional, with non-overlapping territories covering the whole of England. AHSNs take their place in the "fragmented cluttered and confusing" landscape of NHS innovation
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39580391
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Academic Health Science Networks As part of the "Sunset Review" a number of initiatives closed in 2013 including the NHS National Innovation Centre, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and Health Innovation and Education Clusters (HIECs). There is still a range of currently active initiatives including NHS Innovation Hubs, NHS Supply Chain Innovation and NHS Improvement. Core funding will come from NHS England and work was "in hand to identify the funding" when expressions of interest were invited. A briefing paper assumed funding to be in the region of £2 per head of population served. With a population averaging 3m people, a typical AHSN might have expected roughly £6m per AHSN per year. These figures reflect early expectations but were neither clarified nor confirmed with the designation announcement. When contracts were signed with NHS England in November 2013, the 15 AHSNs shared around £60 million of funding. Although their purpose is clear, the structure and approach of individual AHSNs is a matter for local decision. This is apparent in the contrasting approaches taken and the variety of opinions expressed by network founders. As membership organisations, AHSNs do not have any direct authority over their members, but Innovation Health and Wealth states: "all NHS organisations will aspire to be affiliated to their local AHSN where the AHSN will operate as a gateway for the NHS on innovation and working with the life sciences industry on the evaluation, commercialisation and rapid adoption of health technologies"
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39580391
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Academic Health Science Networks They will be seen to be successful if and only if they can demonstrably improve the rate of adoption of medical technologies and ICTs. In April 2014 it emerged that NHS England's 2014-15 business plan, showed that AHSNs would receive £53.6m this financial year, a 5 per cent cut on last year's budget. However, it represents a larger 23 per cent cut on the £70m NHS England announced in May 2013. A senior AHSN figure told the "Health Service Journal" that NHS England risked “castrating” the programme by cutting the budget and by a perceived lack of promotion in the networks. “They are trying to save a comparatively small amount of money [by cutting the budget] but in doing so they risk castrating the AHSNs.Commissioners are not going to sign up to us if they are thinking that we are not going to be around in two years’ time.” In 2019 AHSNs received a new 5 year licence, running to 2023, funded by NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Office of Life Sciences.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39580391
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Arago (Martian crater) Arago is an impact crater in the Arabia quadrangle on Mars at 10.22 N and 29.93° E. It is 152 km in diameter and is in the northernmost of Terra Sabaea. Its name was approved in 1973 and refers to the French astronomer François Arago.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39589883
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Spherical surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor Spherical surface acoustic wave sensors use a type of surface acoustic wave (SAW) that travels along the surface of a medium exhibiting elasticity with exponentially decaying amplitude along depth. MEMS-IDT technology allows the use of SAW waves to sense various gases. Sensitivity up to 10 ppm of hydrogen using a spherical Ball SAW device is obtained. Conventional planar SAW sensors are based on principle that the parameters such as amplitude, speed and phase of Surface acoustic wave changes on adsorption of gas molecules. Limitation of planar SAW based sensors is that the change in above mentioned parameters is very small due to limited path offered to Surface acoustic wave by planar sensor. In case of Spherical sensors surface acoustic wave make several round trips along the equator of a ball as shown in fig, which offer longer paths to Surface acoustic wave hence even smaller change in parameters is amplified with multiple turns, which increases the sensitivity of the sensor considerably.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39594285
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Frustrated triangular lattice Geometrical frustration occurs when a set of degrees of freedom is incompatible with the space it occupies. A purely geometric example of this is the impossibility of close-packing pentagons in two dimensions. Another is atomic magnetic moments with antiferromagnetic interactions. These moments lower their interaction energy by pointing antiparallel to their neighbors. In the case of two dimensional space, the triangular lattice is the simplest example of such frustration. With a triangular lattice, the two spins can easily accommodate two sides, but the third spin is frustrated. If this third spin is up, then two arrangements out of the three are compatible, but one is incompatible. This leads to a huge degeneracy in the ground state with non-zero entropy. This frustration leads to breaking symmetry, which leads to ferroelectricity.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39625286
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Hermann Friedrich Emmrich (Meiningen, February 7, 1815 – Meiningen, 24 January 1879) was a German geologist. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy and taught at the Institute of Meiningen (Henfling-Gymnasium Meiningen). He described the trilobite genera "Phacops", "Odontopleura" and "Trinucleus". He published "Zur Naturgeschichte der Trilobiten" (On the natural history of trilobites) in 1839 and "Geologischem Geschichte des Alpes" (Geological history of the Alps) in 1874. The trilobite genus "Emmrichops" was named in his honor.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39637532
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Arquerite is a naturally occurring alloy of silver with mercury. It is a very rare mineral, consisting of a silver-rich variety of amalgam, containing about 87% silver and 13% mercury. has been reported from only four localities worldwide, two in Chile and two in British Columbia, Canada. Other names for arquerite include argental mercury, mercurian silver, and silver amalgam.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39639449
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Tangeite Tangeite, also known as calciovolborthite, is a calcium, copper vanadate mineral with formula: CaCu(VO)(OH). It occurs as a secondary mineral that can be found in sandstone and also in the oxidized zones of vanadium bearing deposits. It was named in 1925 by Aleksandr Evgenievich Fersman for its discovery locality in the Tange Gorge, Ferghana Valley, Alai Mountains, Kyrgyzstan.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39650173
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Urusovite is a rare copper aluminium arsenate mineral with formula: CuAlAsO. It is a monoclinic-prismatic light green mineral. Its type locality and only reported occurrence is in the Novaya fumarole, Second scoria cone, North Breach, Great Fissure eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Oblast', Far-Eastern Region, Russia. It was named after Vadim Sergeevich Urusov, crystal chemist of Moscow State University. It was approved by the International Mineralogical Association in 1998.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39650606
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Graphene foam is a solid, open-cell foam made of single-layer sheets of graphene. It is a candidate substrate for the electrode of lithium-ion batteries. The foam can be manufactured using vapor deposition to coat a metal foam, a three-dimensional mesh of metal filaments. The metal is then removed. A physically flexible battery was created using the foam for electrodes. The anode was made by coating the foam with a lithium-titanium compound () and the cathode by coating the foam with . Both electrodes were lightweight and their large surface area provided high energy density of 110 Wh/kg, comparable to commercial batteries. Power density was much greater than a typical battery. At a rate that completely discharged the material in 18 seconds, power delivered was 80 percent of what it produced during an hour-long discharge. Performance remained stable through 500 charge/discharge cycles. In 2017 researchers used carbon nanotubes to reinforce a foam. The latter material supports 3,000 times its own weight and can return to its original shape when unweighted. Nanotubes, a powdered nickel catalyst and sugar were mixed. Dried pellets of the substance were then compressed in a steel die in the shape of a screw. The nickel was removed, leaving a screw-shaped piece of foam. The nanotubes' outer layers split and bonded with the graphene.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39650838
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