B-mode ultrasonography of mammary glands of cows, goats and sheep during alpha- and beta-adrenergic agonist and oxytocin administration.

Teat and gland cistern of the mammary glands of five dairy cows, five goats and five sheep were scanned in a water bath during alpha- and beta-adrenergic agonist and oxytocin administration. A 5 MHz linear array scanner was used to create vertical cut pictures with the scan plane longitudinally through the teat channel. The i.v. injection of the alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (30 micrograms/kg) induced diminution of the section area through teat and gland cistern by 38 +/- 17% on average within 1 min in all three species. In contrast, the i.v. injection of the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (1 microgram/kg) did not change the cisternal areas. The i.v. injection of oxytocin (2.0 x 10(-3) i.u./kg) elicited an enlargement of teat and gland cistern area by 48 +/- 12% on average. Ultrasonography proved to be a valuable system for visualizing changes of the cisternal volume. Smooth muscle contractions in response to phenylephrine administration are thought to cause area reduction, whereas an expected smooth muscle relaxation after injection of isoproterenol could not be observed by ultrasonography. Milk ejection as induced by oxytocin administration caused dramatic enlargement of the cistern area in all three species.     

Rate dependent constitutive relations based on Anand model for92.5Pb5Sn2.5Ag solder

A rate dependent constitutive model, the Anand model, was applied to represent the inelastic deformation behavior for a Pb-rich solder 92.5Pb5Sn2.5Ag used in electronic packaging and surface mount technology. This rate dependent model is a unified viscoplastic constitutive model using an internal state variable, the deformation resistance, to describe the averaged isotropic resistance to macroscopic plastic flow. In order to obtain the acquired data for the fitting of the material parameters of this unified model for 92.5Pb5Sn2.5Ag solder, a series of experiments of constant strain rate test and constant load creep test were conducted under isothermal conditions at different temperatures ranged from -65°C to 250°C. A procedure for the determination of material parameters was proposed in this paper. Model simulations and verifications revealed that there are good agreements between model predictions and experimental data. Moreover, some discussions on using this rate dependent model in the finite element simulation of stress/strain responses of solder joints under thermal fatigue loading were presented     

Grain subdivision and recrystallization in oligocrystalline tantalum during cold swaging and subsequent annealing

A coarse-grained ingot of high-purity tantalum was deformed by swaging at room temperature to a strain of 1.28. During annealing at 900°C for 30 min two neighboring grains were observed to behave quite differently. Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) results show noticeable differences in terms of the misorientations developed in both grains. The grain developing larger misorientations recrystallized much more readily than the other. The result is interpreted in terms of the differences in grain subdivision into strongly misoriented regions.     

Delay-limited throughput of ad hoc networks

The delay-limited throughput of an ad hoc wireless network confined to a finite region is investigated. An approximate expression for the achievable throughput as a function of the maximum allowable delay is obtained. It is found that: 1) for moderate values of the delay d, the throughput that can be achieved by taking advantage of the motion increases as d/sup 2/3/ and 2) for a fixed value of d, the dependence of the achievable throughput on the number of nodes n is n/sup -1/3/. A transmission and relaying strategy ensuring continuous information flow is constructed. It is shown that there exists a critical value of the delay such that: 1) for values of the delay d below the critical delay, the throughput does not benefit appreciably from the motion and 2) the dependence of the critical delay on the number of nodes is a very slowly increasing function (n/sup 1/14/). Finally, asymptotic optimality of the proposed strategy in a certain class is shown.     

Modulation of Specific Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptors Augments a Repair Mediating Schwann Cell Phenotype

Transdifferentiation of Schwann cells is essential for functional peripheral nerve regeneration after injury. By activating a repair program, Schwann cells promote functional axonal regeneration and remyelination. However, chronic denervation, aging, metabolic diseases, or chronic inflammatory processes reduce the transdifferentiation capacity and thus diminish peripheral nerve repair. It was recently described that the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) agonist Fingolimod enhances the Schwann cell repair phenotype by activation of dedifferentiation markers and concomitant release of trophic factors resulting in enhanced neurite growth. Since Fingolimod targets four out of five S1PRs (S1P1, S1P3-5) possibly leading to non-specific adverse effects, identification of the main receptor(s) responsible for the observed phenotypic changes is mandatory for future specific treatment approaches. Our experiments revealed that S1P3 dominates and that along with S1P1 acts as the responsible receptor for Schwann cell transdifferentiation as revealed by the combinatory application of specific agonists and antagonists. Targeting both receptors reduced the expression of myelin-associated genes, increased PDGF-BB representing enhanced trophic factor expression likely to result from c-Jun induction. Furthermore, we demonstrated that S1P4 and S1P5 play only a minor role in the adaptation of the repair phenotype. In conclusion, modulation of S1P1 and S1P3 could be effective to enhance the Schwann cell repair phenotype and thus stimulate proper nerve repair.     

Landscape of Genomic Alterations and PD-L1 Expression in Early-Stage Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)—A Single Center,Retrospective Observational Study

Precision oncology and immunotherapy have revolutionized the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Emerging studies show that targeted therapies are also beneficial for patients with driver alterations such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in early-stage NSCLC (stages I–IIIA). Furthermore, patients with elevated programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression appear to respond favorably to adjuvant immunotherapy. To determine the frequency of genomic alterations and PD-L1 status in early-stage NSCLC, we retrospectively analyzed data from 2066 unselected, single-center patients with NSCLC diagnosed using next-generation sequencing and immunohistochemistry. Nine-hundred and sixty-two patients (46.9%) presented with early-stage NSCLC. Of these, 37.0% had genomic alterations for which targeted therapies have already been approved for advanced NSCLC. The frequencies of driver mutations in the early stages were equivalent to those in advanced stages, i.e., the rates of EGFR mutations in adenocarcinomas were 12.7% (72/567) and 12.0% (78/650) in early and advanced NSCLC, respectively (p = 0778). In addition, 46.3% of early-stage NSCLC cases were PD-L1-positive, with a tumor proportion score (TPS) of ≥1%. With comparable frequencies of driver mutations in early and advanced NSCLC and PD-L1 overexpression in nearly half of patients with early-stage NSCLC, a broad spectrum of biomarkers for adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies is available, and several are currently being investigated in clinical trials.     

Über den Pyridingehalt des Tabaks

European Food Research and Technology - In unseren Versuchstabaken (Ungarische Tabake und Trafikfabrikaten) konnten wir Pyridin bzw. Pyridinbasen überhaupt nicht oder nur in Spuren...