System level design of the ITER bolometer port plug cameras

The ITER bolometer diagnostic is planned to have 550 lines of sight (LOS) distributed all over the vessel. 240 channels are provided by cameras mounted in two upper ports and in one equatorial port. This paper describes the current status of the system level design of the port cameras and the solutions proposed on how to implement all required camera components while meeting a multitude of competing requirements. Sensor holders, support structures, and different apertures depending on the camera type (pinhole or collimator), cable connectors, ceramic track plates, and many mineral insulated cables have to be integrated within a restricted space envelope to guarantee functionality. The design of the internal electrical interfaces and the external mechanical mountings will be described as well. Using the example of an upper port camera with 60 LOS, the assembly of the camera components is explained and two currently discussed architecture options for the remote handling maintenance scheme in the hot cell are compared.

Descriptions of two new species of flea of the genus Plocopsylla in northwestern Argentina

Two new species of flea of the genus Plocopsylla, subgenus Plocopsylla, (Siphonaptera: Stephanocircidae) collected from sigmodontine rodents in northwestern Argentina are described and a key to identification of species of the genus Plocopsylla, subgenus Plocopsylla, in Argentina is presented. Plocopsylla (P.) inti is cited for the first time in Argentina, extending its distribution ∼ 970 km further south than previously documented. New locality data and flea-host associations are recorded. The contributions of this study are relevant because they increase knowledge of the diversity of flea fauna in northwestern Argentina bordering a plague endemic area and will be useful in the implementation of plague control management plans in the future.

Experimental Evidence of a Variant Neutron Spectrum from the T(t,2n)α Reaction at Center-of-Mass Energies in the Range of 16-50 keV

Full calculations of six-nucleon reactions with a three-body final state have been elusive and a long-standing issue. We present neutron spectra from the T(t,2n)α (TT) reaction measured in inertial confinement fusion experiments at the OMEGA laser facility at ion temperatures from 4 to 18 keV, corresponding to center-of-mass energies (E_{c.m.}) from 16 to 50 keV. A clear difference in the shape of the TT-neutron spectrum is observed between the two E_{c.m.}, with the ^{5}He ground state resonant peak at 8.6 MeV being significantly stronger at the higher than at the lower energy. The data provide the first conclusive evidence of a variant TT-neutron spectrum in this E_{c.m.} range. In contrast to earlier available data, this indicates a reaction mechanism that must involve resonances and/or higher angular momenta than L=0. This finding provides an important experimental constraint on theoretical efforts that explore this and complementary six-nucleon systems, such as the solar ^{3}He(^{3}He,2p)α reaction.

POSEIDON study: a pilot, safety and feasibility trial of high-dose omega3 fatty acids and high-dose cholecalciferol supplementation in type 1 diabetes

The anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of high-dose omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D, and the initial encouraging results from case reports on the use of this supplementation in new-onset Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), support further testing of this combination strategy. This intervention appears to be well tolerated, affordable, and sufficiently safe to be further tested in randomized prospective trials to determine whether this combination therapy may be of assistance to halt progression of autoimmunity and/or preserve residual beta-cell function in subjects with new onset and established T1D of up to 10 years duration. In addition, the 1st PreDiRe T1D conference (Preventing Disease and its Recurrence in Type 1 Diabetes - see Editorial in this issue) was organized to discuss initial results and possible alternative/complementary strategies, for collaborative international expansion of these trials, to include strategies for disease prevention. Our POSEIDON clinical trial will test the use of high dose vitamin D3 and highly purified Omega-3 fatty acids in new onset and established T1D. The draft of the study protocol, in addition to the informed consent and assent, is now shared open access to facilitate its international implementation by interested physicians and centers that would like to further test this approach through clinical trials.

Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in acral lentiginous melanoma: a study of a large cohort of cases from Latin America

PURPOSE

Acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is a poor prognosis subtype and is the most prevalent in non-Caucasian populations. The presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) has been associated with poor prognosis in melanoma. A large cohort of ALM cases was studied to determine status of TIL and its association with outcome.

METHODS

All patients with cutaneous melanoma presenting from 2005 to 2012 at Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas in Peru were retrospectively identified. Clinicopathological information was obtained from the medical charts. A prospective evaluation of TIL was performed. Analysis of association between ALM and clinicopathological features including TIL as well as survival analysis compared the outcome of ALM to whole group and extremity NALM was performed.

RESULTS

537 ALM from a total of 824 cutaneous melanoma cases were studied. Older age (p = 0.022), higher Breslow (p = 0.008) and ulceration (p < 0.001) were found to be more frequent in ALM. Acral had worse overall survival (OS) compared with the whole group (p = 0.04). Clinical stage (CS) I-II patients had a median OS of 5.3 (95% CI 4.3-6.2) for ALM and 9.2 (95% CI 5.0-7.0) for extremity NALM (p = 0.016). Grade 0 (absence of TIL), I, II and III were found in 7.5, 34.5, 32.1, and 25.9%, respectively. Lower TIL grade was associated with larger tumor size (p = 0.003), higher Breslow (p = 0.001), higher Clark level (p = 0.007), higher CS (p = 0.002), extremity location (p = 0.048), histological subtype ALM (p = 0.024) and better OS (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

ALM is highly prevalent in Peru and carries poor outcome. Lower TIL levels were associated with poor outcome and ALM.

Short communication: Extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli in colostrum from New Brunswick, Canada, dairy cows harbor blaCMY-2 and blaTEM resistance genes

Dairy calves are colonized shortly after birth by multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria, including Escherichia coli. The role of dairy colostrum fed to calves as a potential source of MDR bacteria resistance genes has not been investigated. This study determined the recovery rate of extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant (ESC-R) E. coli in colostrum from cows. The ESC-R E. coli isolates were further investigated to determine their phenotypic antimicrobial resistance pattern and the genes conferring ESC-R. Fresh colostrum was collected from 452 cows from 8 dairy herds in New Brunswick, Canada. The ESC-R E. coli was isolated from the colostrum by using the VACC agar, a selective media for extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae. Minimum inhibitory concentration was determined for all the suspected ESC-R E. coli isolates using a commercial gram-negative broth microdilution method. Two multiplex PCR were conducted on all the suspected ESC-R E. coli isolates to determine the presence of the bla_CTX-M (groups 1, 2, 9, and 8/25) bla_CMY-2, bla_SHV, and bla_TEM resistance genes. The ESC-R E. coli were detected in 20 (4.43%) of the colostrum samples. At least 1 ESC-R E. coli isolate was detected in 6 (75%) of the dairy herds. All ESC-R E. coli had MDR profiles based on minimum inhibitory concentration testing. No bla_CTX-M groups genes were detected; however, the bla_CMY-2 gene was detected in 9 or 20 (45%) and bla_TEM was detected in 7 of 20 (35%) of the ESC-R E. coli. No ESC-R E. coli had both bla_CMY-2 and bla_TEM resistance genes. This is the first report of bla_CMY-2 and bla_TEM genes found in E. coli isolates cultured from dairy colostrum to our knowledge.