Beam Cone Analysis for the Beams Non-paraxially Input to Dielectric Boundaries

Directional variation of the acceptance angle of angled-endface fibers is studied by the use of a simple vectorial method. By the same method, beam cones are studied in a photodiode substrate after the beam is input with inclination, as in the case of an InP-based photodiode mounted on a silicon v-groove with an optical fiber. The same method can also be applied to the determination of beam cone shapes in prisms.

Evaluation of practice to promote physical activity in schools in a unitary authority in England

OBJECTIVES

To explore what actually happens in relation to physical activity promotion in primary and junior schools within one unitary authority and to relate this to Public Health England (PHE) promising principles of practice to promote physical activity in schools.

STUDY DESIGN

A qualitative approach was undertaken to explore practice in all primary and junior schools in the unitary authority of Southampton.

METHODS

All primary (n = 36) and junior (n = 8) schools in Southampton were involved in the study. Publicly available primary physical education and sport premium (PESP) funding reports (n = 36) alongside a school survey (n = 14) were collated. The collated qualitative data set was semantically coded and then a multilayered approach including identification, reviewing, defining and naming meaningful and important themes were inductively developed. The inductively developed themes were then fitted in relation to PHE eight promising principles.

RESULTS

There was evidence of practice across all eight promising principles although this varied in depth and scale. There was one set of data that did not fit appropriately within the PHE eight promising principles and warranted its own category broadly termed 'rewards to recognise physical activity'. There was widespread evidence of PESP funding providing increased provision, variety and quality of sport opportunities but limited evidence of physical activity practice or programmes targeting the least active. Two different approaches in relation to ensuring a skilled workforce materialised continuing professional development which reflected in impact statements linked to increased confidence to deliver and quality of physical education versus outsourcing to specialists with little impact cited other than offering specialist or diverse sports.

CONCLUSIONS

The study demonstrated that the PHE eight promising principles of practice was a useful framework in relation to current practice, although a ninth promising principle of rewarding physically active behaviour should be considered. The two key themes that need to be addressed for the ambitions established in the new school sport and activity action plan to be deliverable, with PESP funding as a driver, are skilled workforce and development of a wider understanding of what physical activity is.

Multiexon deletion in the procollagen III gene is associated with mild Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV

We have characterized a deletion of approximately 9 kilobases which spans from intron 33 to exon 48 of one pro-alpha 1 (III) collagen allele in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV. The mutation results in the production of an in-frame species of mRNA which lacks the sequences corresponding to residues 595-1,008 of the triple-helical domain. Thus, half of the pro-alpha 1 (III) chains synthesized by the patient's fibroblasts are nearly 30% shorter than normal. The procollagen III molecules composed of either three normal length or three shortened chains are thermally stable and efficiently secreted. In contrast, the procollagen III molecules that contain one or two shortened chains are unstable and are not secreted. Failure to secrete unstable molecules and a residual functional role of the shortened but stable homotrimers may explain the somewhat milder phenotype of this individual compared with that of another Ehlers-Danlos type IV patient bearing a deletion of similar size in the amino-terminal portion of the alpha 1 (III) collagen chain.

The effect of reserpine, oestradiol and in-vitro perfusion on oviduct calcium levels in the mouse during egg transport

Mouse oviduct calcium content, determined by atomic absorbance after ashing of the tissue, showed a significant fall on Day 2 of pregnancy followed by a significant rise on Day 3. This pattern was altered by administration of reserpine and oestradiol in doses which were shown to alter the rate of egg transport. In-vitro perfusion of the oviduct, capable of maintaining muscular activity and back and forth movement of eggs for 24 h, was associated with lack of forward progressive motion of eggs and by a more rapid increase in tissue calcium levels during incubation than occurred in vivo.

Human very low density lipoprotein structure: interaction of the C apolipoproteins with apolipoprotein B-100

Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are a heterogenous population of particles differing in size and composition. Heparin-Sepharose chromatography yields three VLDL subfractions. Two subfractions, VLDLNR-1 and VLDLNR-2, which are not retained by heparin, contain little or no detectable apolipoprotein (apo)E. According to negative stain electron microscopy, VLDLNR-1 is slightly larger than VLDLNR-2. The third fraction, VLDLR, is composed of smaller particles that are retained by the heparin-Sepharose and contain apoE. The C apolipoproteins of the respective VLDL subfractions transfer to 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC) single bilayer vesicles giving three subfractions designated VLDLNR-1-C, VLDLNR-2-C, and VLDLR-C. The protein, phospholipid, and cholesterol (free + esterified) contents decrease in the order VLDLR > VLDLNR-2 > VLDLNR-1. Triglyceride content decreases in the opposite order. POPC treatment of each VLDL subfraction increases the phospholipid and decreases the protein, triglyceride, and cholesteryl ester contents, while free cholesterol remains unchanged. According to immunological analysis of each subfraction with well-characterized monoclonal antibodies, the accessibility of some epitopes of apoB-100 on VLDL is changed by POPC treatment. Electron-microscopic analysis of POPC-treated VLDL subfraction reveals vacancies on the surfaces of each particle. VLDLNR-1, VLDLNR-2, and VLDLR are resistant to thrombin cleavage, whereas the lipoproteins lacking C apolipoproteins are not. Thrombin cleavage (8 h) of apoB-100 of VLDLNR-2-C and VLDLR-C gives two fragments, T1 and T2, that are converted to smaller fragments only after prolonged treatment. In contrast, apoB-100 of VLDLNR-1-C is converted into small fragments after 8 h thrombin treatment. These results suggest that removal of apoCs affects the accessibility and conformation of apoB-100 in the individual VLDL subfractions in the region near residue 3249, which is the primary thrombin cleavage site and the epitope of monoclonal antibody 4C11.

Novel genes in the PAGE and GAGE family of tumor antigens found by homology walking in the dbEST database

We have developed a computer-based screening strategy to search the dbEST database to find differentiation antigens that are expressed by cancers arising in nonessential normal tissues such as prostate, breast, and ovary (G. Vasmatzis et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95: 300-304, 1998). Here, we report the identification of three new members of the GAGE/ PAGE family, termed XAGEs. XAGE-1 and XAGE-2 are expressed in Ewing's sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, a breast cancer, and a germ cell tumor. We also describe the relationship of the XAGEs to the GAGE/ PAGE family. XAGE-1 and XAGE-2 should be evaluated as possible targets for vaccine-based therapies of cancer.

0789 Decreased Sigma Band Power During NREM Sleep in REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Introduction

REM sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) is characterized by dream enacting behaviors and a loss of atonia during REM sleep. Early detection of RBD is important because it is considered premonitory symptoms neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we investigated the slow and fast sigma band power of patients with RBD using frequency analysis.

Methods

Twenty patients who were diagnosed as RBD according to the ICSD-3 criteria and 20 age-matched controls who underwent polysomnography (PSG) for other sleep disorders (insomnia, snoring) and showed normal to mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). NREM sleep EEG data was extracted and N1 sleep data was excluded to minimize arousal artifact. Fast Fourier transform-based spectral power analysis was used to compute the power spectral densities of the EEG in the MATLAB environment. The sigma bands were divided into 2 discrete bands: slow sigma (11 to 13 Hz) and- fast sigma (13 to 15 Hz). Mann-Whitney U test by SPSS was used.

Results

RBD patients (61.9 ± 7.1 years old; 12 men) had a significantly lower sigma band power than the control group (61.5 ± 1.1 years old; 11 men) in central region (p = 0.028). Particularly, the slow sigma band power showed a bigger difference in all regions except O1 (F3 = 0.017, F4 = 0.027, C3 = 0.004, C4 = 0.009, O2 = 0.017).

Conclusion

Sigma power was lower in the RBD patients than in the control. It suggests that RBD has impaired cortical activity. Thus, decreased spindle activity during NREM sleep may be a potential biomarker of RBD.

Support

 

Notch-1 expression is not related to the percentage of CD326+ cells in bone marrow aspirates of patients with primary breast cancer

Abstract #4030

Background: The presence of epithelial cells (CD326+CD45dim) in the bone marrow (BM), i.e. disseminated tumor cells (DTC), are related to poor prognosis of primary breast cancer (PBC). Notch signaling pathway is involved in the development of the breast and aberrant activation of Notch signaling is an early event in breast cancer. Others have shown that breast cancer stem cells (BCSC) with the putative phenotype of CD44+CD24- can be identified within cell lines and primary tumor and have upregulated genes including Notch-1. However, it is unclear if Notch-1 is highly expressed by DTC and BCSC in BM of patients with PBC. We hypothesized that the Notch-1 expression is correlated with the level of BCSC within DTC. In this study, we enumerated BCSC in DTC-enriched populations in patients with PBC and assessed the expression of Notch-1 by RT-PCR.
 Methods and Patients: As part of an ongoing prospective study, from September 2006 to May 2008, 121 BM aspirates were collected from as many patients with PBC. Thirty-seven patients, median age of 52 years (range, 30-76 years), provided BM aspirates under anesthesia at time of surgery. At the time of BM collection, 9 patients had received neoadjuvant therapy. BM mononuclear cells (BMC) were enriched for DTC using anti-CD326 antibody-coated magnetic beads, and isolated using the AutoMACS-Pro cell separator system. DTC and BCSC were identified by multi-color FACS analysis. Thereafter, DTC-enriched cell preparations were analyzed for expression of ER, PR, HER-2, Notch-1, and Numb by RT-PCR; level of each transcript was normalized to a ratio to the house keeping gene GAPDH.
 Results: The mean ± SEM DTC in BMC was 1.05 % ± 0.09% and the majority was BCSC (79.7% ± 1.87%). The proportion of DTC-enriched fractions that expressed Notch-1, Numb, ER, PR, and HER-2 transcripts was 27/37 (73.0%), 33/37 (89.2%), 24/37 (64.9%), 15/37 (40.5%), and 20/37 (54.1%), respectively. The expression of Notch-1, Numb, ER, PR, and HER-2 transcripts did not correlate with the percentage of DTC. Contrary to our hypothesis, Notch-1 and Numb mRNA expression in DTC-enriched cells negatively correlated with the percentage of BCSC (Spearman's rho = -0.384, p= 0.027; and rho= -0.347, p= 0.048, respectively).
 Conclusions: Our results show no correlation between the level of Notch-1 expression and the percentage of BCSC in DTC-enriched populations in BM of patients with PBC. Since these studies were conducted in CD326-enriched populations, it underscores the necessity to further purify the CD44+CD24- cells and conduct studies in isolated single cells to definitively delineate the gene expression of BCSC from patients with PBC.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 4030.

Hippocampal pathology

Medial temporal sclerosis of the hippocampus and other lesions in the adjacent temporal lobe that can cause epilepsy are discussed in this article. The technical factors to consider to optimally image the hippocampus and criteria to diagnose medial temporal sclerosis are emphasized.

Multiple nonfunctional alleles of CCR5 are frequent in various human populations

CCR5 is the major coreceptor for macrophage-tropic strains of the human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1). Homozygotes for a 32-base pair (bp) deletion in the coding sequence of the receptor (CCR5Delta32) were found to be highly resistant to viral infection, and CCR5 became, therefore, one of the paradigms illustrating the influence of genetic variability onto individual susceptibility to infectious and other diseases. We investigated the functional consequences of 16 other natural CCR5 mutations described in various human populations. We found that 10 of these variants are efficiently expressed at the cell surface, bind [(125)I]-MIP-1beta with affinities similar to wtCCR5, respond functionally to chemokines, and act as HIV-1 coreceptors. In addition to Delta32, six mutations were characterized by major alterations in their functional response to chemokines, as a consequence of intracellular trapping and poor expression at the cell surface (C101X, FS299), general or specific alteration of ligand binding affinities (C20S, C178R, A29S), or relative inability to mediate receptor activation (L55Q). A29S displayed an unusual pharmacological profile, binding and responding to MCP-2 similarly to wtCCR5, but exhibiting severely impaired binding and functional responses to MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, and RANTES. In addition to Delta32, only C101X was totally unable to mediate entry of HIV-1. The fact that nonfunctional CCR5 alleles are relatively frequent in various human populations reinforces the hypothesis of a selective pressure favoring these alleles. (Blood. 2000;96:1638-1645)