ITER collective Thomson scattering-Preparing to diagnose fusion-born alpha particles (invited).

The ITER Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic will measure the dynamics of fusion-born alpha particles in the burning ITER plasma by scattering a 1 MW 60 GHz gyrotron beam off fast-ion induced fluctuations in the plasma. The diagnostic will have seven measurement volumes across the ITER cross section and will resolve the alpha particle energies in the range from 300 keV to 3.5 MeV; importantly, the CTS diagnostic is the only diagnostic capable of measuring confined alpha particles for energies below ∼1.7 MeV and will also be sensitive to the other fast-ion populations. The temporal resolution is 100 ms, allowing the capture of dynamics on that timescale, and the typical spatial resolution is 10-50 cm. The development and design of the in-vessel and primary parts of the CTS diagnostic has been completed. This marks the beginning of a new phase of preparation to maximize the scientific benefit of the diagnostic, e.g., by investigating the capability to contribute to the determination of the fuel-ion ratio and the bulk ion temperature as well as integrating data analysis with other fast-ion and bulk-ion diagnostics.

Deslorelin implants in pre-pubertal female dogs: short- and long-term effects on the genital tract.

Deslorelin acetate is a GnRH agonist used for contraception in dogs. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment of pre-pubertal female dogs with deslorelin acetate implants, to better investigate the primary stimulatory effect of the drug and the long-term effects on the genital tract, throughout repeated treatments. Sicilian hound female dogs (24) were randomly assigned to treated group, control group 1 and control group 2. First group bitches were implanted at 4.5, 9.0 and 13.5 months and monitored clinically, ultrasonographically and endocrinologically, throughout the study period (13.5 months). Control group 1 bitches were not implanted and clinically monitored for the same period. At 18 months, the animals underwent ovariohysterectomy, thus allowing evaluation of the internal genitalia. Control group 2 bitches were ovariohysterectomized at the age of 4.5 months. The suppression of oestrus was obtained in the treated group despite the fact that the first implant caused a modest increase in plasmatic levels of 17-beta estradiol and an evident cornification of the vaginal mucosa cells (50-80%). Estradiol and progesterone were at baseline levels for the remaining study period, in which no other oestrous manifestations were observed. The external genitalia maintained a juvenile appearance. The ovaries, ultrasonographically, showed no follicular structures and stayed the same size. At 18 months, the genital tract was still juvenile with inactive small ovaries and a thin filiform uterus. Deslorelin suppressed ovarian activity in pre-pubertal bitches, and oestrous induction was not observed despite the presence of the primary stimulatory effect of the drug. Juvenile genitalia were an expected side effect of the treatment.

Dynamical implications of Viral Tiling Theory.

The Caspar-Klug classification of viruses whose protein shell, called viral capsid, exhibits icosahedral symmetry, has recently been extended to incorporate viruses whose capsid proteins are exclusively organised in pentamers. The approach, named 'Viral Tiling Theory', is inspired by the theory of quasicrystals, where aperiodic Penrose tilings enjoy 5-fold and 10-fold local symmetries. This paper analyses the extent to which this classification approach informs dynamical properties of the viral capsids, in particular the pattern of Raman active modes of vibrations, which can be observed experimentally.

Usefulness of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels in predicting residual myocardial ischemia in patients with ST elevation acute myocardial infarction.

AIM: N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) is a neurohormone synthesized predominantly in ventricular myocardium. In patients with symptoms of heart failure, elevation in NT pro-BNP accurately identifies ventricular dysfunction. However, NT pro-BNP levels are not specific for ventricular dysfunction in patients who do not have overt symptoms of heart failure, suggesting that other cardiac processes such as myocardial ischemia may also cause elevation in NT pro-BNP. The study was aimed to determine whether NT pro-BNP elevations are associated with myocardial ischemia. METHODS: One hundred and thirty patients (104 males, 26 females, mean age 61+12 years), with ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (>45%) at echocardiography performed at entry, from February 2003 and February 2004 were enrolled. In all patients NT pro-BNP plasma levels were checked at entry and 4-5 days after symptoms onset. In addition, maximal or symptom-limited exercise treadmill test (Bruce protocol), and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy using [(99m)Tc]Tetrofosmin single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging were performed within 30 days of STEMI. Ischemia was defined as reversible perfusion abnormalities. RESULTS: Of the 130 participants, 66 (51%) had inducible ischemia. Compared with patients in the lowest tertile, those in the highest tertile of NT pro-BNP had a greater significant risk of residual ischemia (odds ratio: 8.66; 95% CI, 3.90 to 19.24). Nevertheless patients in the highest tertile were older (64.19+/-10.80 years versus 55.90+/-9.67 years, P = 0.0001), had a lower left ventricular ejection fraction (49.70+13.46% versus 59.49+/-6.58%, P = 0.0001) and had a great rate of acute myocardial infarction (anterior acute myocardial infarction = 40.63% versus 25%). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated levels of NT pro-BNP are associated with residual myocardial ischemia among patients with STEMI and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction, as demonstrated by perfusion defect on SPECT imaging, suggesting that these patients may need further evaluation for stratification of the future risk of fatal events. The observed association between NT pro-BNP levels and ischemia may explain because tests for NT pro-BNP are not specific for ventricular dysfunction among patients with coronary artery disease.

Assembly models for Papovaviridae based on tiling theory.

A vital constituent of a virus is its protein shell, called the viral capsid, that encapsulates and hence provides protection for the viral genome. Assembly models are developed for viral capsids built from protein building blocks that can assume different local bonding structures in the capsid. This situation occurs, for example, for viruses in the family of Papovaviridae, which are linked to cancer and are hence of particular interest for the health sector. More specifically, the viral capsids of the (pseudo-) T = 7 particles in this family consist of pentamers that exhibit two different types of bonding structures. While this scenario cannot be described mathematically in terms of Caspar-Klug theory (Caspar D L D and Klug A 1962 Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. Biol. 27 1), it can be modelled via tiling theory (Twarock R 2004 J. Theor. Biol. 226 477). The latter is used to encode the local bonding environment of the building blocks in a combinatorial structure, called the assembly tree, which is a basic ingredient in the derivation of assembly models for Papovaviridae along the lines of the equilibrium approach of Zlotnick (Zlotnick A 1994 J. Mol. Biol. 241 59). A phase space formalism is introduced to characterize the changes in the assembly pathways and intermediates triggered by the variations in the association energies characterizing the bonds between the building blocks in the capsid. Furthermore, the assembly pathways and concentrations of the statistically dominant assembly intermediates are determined. The example of Simian virus 40 is discussed in detail.