Stress prevention in bus drivers: Evaluation of 13 natural experiments.

The research aim was to select, compare, and analyze interventions and preventive actions from international bus companies to decrease bus drivers' occupational stress and sickness absenteeism. Through networking, international surveys, and literature study, 13 "natural experiments" were identified with an acceptable research design rating. Interventions were both work and person directed. Principles of worker participation were often followed. The variety in intervention programs, outcome measures, case evaluations, and methodological flaws makes it difficult to present a general picture of program effectiveness. However, analyses on more objective and more subjective outcomes do point at positive effects. This study suggests that stress prevention that combines adequate interventions and proper implementation may be beneficial to both the employee and the company. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microbubbles for optofluidics: controlled defects in bubble crystals

We use liquid–gas microfluidics as a low-cost, tunable microstructuring tool, for which applications can be envisioned in optics. In order to obtain relevant geometries for photonics, beyond simple self-assembled crystals, we propose an original approach that excludes bubbles from chosen zones thanks to tiny pillars. To assess the strength of the exclusion mechanism, we predict the behaviour of a single flattened bubble in front of a thin cylindrical pillar located in a rectangular microchannel. The model compares the hydrodynamic force F _fluid that pushes the bubble and the force F _s, due to surface tension, resulting from the surface augmentation when the bubble rises over the pillar. The resulting predictions have been confirmed by experimental results which showed that the bubble passes over the pillar if F _s < F _fluid and goes around it in other cases. Consistently with this model, dynamic bubble crystals with controlled lacuna defects of one, two, or a line of bubbles have been successfully produced. Defects can be switched on or off by changing the flow. Using a photosensitive polymer as a carrier liquid, static bubble crystals have also been produced.     

Gold nanohole arrays for biochemical sensing fabricated by soft UV nanoimprint lithography

We report on results of fabrication and optical characterisation of sub-250 nm periodic gold nanohole arrays on glass by using UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) combined with both reactive ion etching (RIE) and Cr/Au lift-off processes. The transmission spectra of the fabricated nanohole gratings were measured for different hole diameters and periods. We also show preliminary results of chemical sensing after surface modification of the gold hole arrays. In agreement with the theoretical prediction, we found that any change in the dielectric index of the surrounding environment of the metallic array produces a transmission peak red shift.     

15-Hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase in the bovine endometrium during the oestrous cycle and early pregnancy

Prostaglandins (PG) are primary regulators of reproductive function. In ruminants, the relative production of PGE2 and PGF2alpha determines the return to a new oestrous cycle or to the establishment of pregnancy in response to a viable embryo. PG action depends on biosynthesis, transport and interaction with their receptors, which are all expressed differentially during the oestrous cycle. PGs are, however, local mediators and thus the onsite degradation by enzymes such as 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (HPGD), also known as 15-PGDH, is another factor to consider in the regulation of physiological action. Little information is available on PG catabolism in the endometrium during the oestrous cycle or early pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to clone the bovine 15-PGDH, produce the recombinant protein and generate a specific antibody to study its activity and its expression in the endometrium during the oestrous cycle. We have found that the bovine 15-PGDH is highly homologous to the rat and human isoforms. 15-PGDH is localized principally in the glandular epithelium and to a lesser extent in stromal and luminal epithelial cells. The enzyme expression is regulated during the oestrous cycle and it reaches its maximal level on days 16-18. Transient expression is observed in luminal epithelial and trophoblast cells on day 21 of pregnancy. The mRNA is expressed at a constant high level throughout the cycle. The activity of the recombinant 15-PGDH was also tested and was found comparable for PGF2alpha and PGE2. These data suggest that 15-PGDH contributes to the tight regulation of PG action in the endometrium especially at the critical period of recognition of pregnancy.     

Examining alcohol outcome expectancies in laboratory and naturalistic bar settings: A within-subject experimental analysis.

Using a within-subject design, this study investigated the situational-specificity hypothesis, namely that alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs), subjective evaluations of AOEs, and the speed with which AOEs are accessed from memory vary as a function of environmental setting. Thirty-nine undergraduates (20 women), of legal drinking age, responded to the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol questionnaire (K. Fromme, E. Stroot, & D. Kaplan, 1993) that was presented on a laptop computer in 2 counterbalanced contexts: a laboratory setting and an on-campus bar. Response latencies served as dependent measures for memory accessibility. Consistent with previous research (A.-M. Wall, S. A. McKee, & R. E. Hinson, 2000), evidence in support of the situational-specificity hypothesis was found. Specifically, environmental context influenced undergraduates' expectations concerning alcohol's effects and subjective evaluations of AOEs, as well as the speed with which specific AOEs were accessed from memory. Overall, these findings suggest the need for greater attention to situational variation in AOEs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel Programming of Multi-processor SoC: A HW–SW Interface Perspective

For the design of classic computers the parallel programming concept is used to abstract HW/SW interfaces during high level specification of application software. The software is then adapted to existing multiprocessor platforms using a low level software layer that implements the programming model. Unlike classic computers, the design of heterogeneous MPSoC includes also building the processors and other kind of hardware components required to execute the software. In this case, the programming model hides both hardware and software refinements. This paper deals with parallel programming models to abstract both hardware and software interfaces in the case of heterogeneous MPSoC design. Different abstraction levels will be needed. For the long term, the use of higher level programming models will open new vistas for optimization and architecture exploration like CPU/RTOS tradeoffs.     

A Keratin 7 and E-Cadherin Signature Is Highly Predictive of Tubo-Ovarian High-Grade Serous Carcinoma Prognosis

During tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) progression, tumoral cells undergo phenotypic changes in their epithelial marker profiles, which are essential for dissemination processes. Here, we set out to determine whether standard epithelial markers can predict HGSC patient prognosis. Levels of E-CADH, KRT7, KRT18, KRT19 were quantified in 18 HGSC cell lines by Western blot and in a Discovery cohort tissue microarray (TMA) (n = 101 patients) using immunofluorescence. E-CADH and KRT7 levels were subsequently analyzed in the TMA of the Canadian Ovarian Experimental Unified Resource cohort (COEUR, n = 1158 patients) and in public datasets. Epithelial marker expression was highly variable in HGSC cell lines and tissues. In the Discovery cohort, high levels of KRT7 and KRT19 were associated with an unfavorable prognosis, whereas high E-CADH expression indicated a better outcome. Expression of KRT7 and E-CADH gave a robust combination to predict overall survival (OS, p = 0.004) and progression free survival (PFS, p = 5.5 × 10⁻⁴) by Kaplan–Meier analysis. In the COEUR cohort, the E-CADH-KRT7 signature was a strong independent prognostic biomarker (OS, HR = 1.6, p = 2.9 × 10⁻⁴; PFS, HR = 1.3, p = 0.008) and predicted a poor patient response to chemotherapy (p = 1.3 × 10⁻⁴). Our results identify a combination of two epithelial markers as highly significant indicators of HGSC patient prognosis and treatment response.