G181(P) Evaluation of a new e-health intervention in neonatal care : perspectives of parents and health professionals.

Aim This paper will report findings from the first phase of an evaluation of a new e-health intervention designed to allow mothers to ‘see’ their baby in neonatal care (NNU) when they are not able to be with them. The intervention, MyLittleOne, involves a web-camera being placed over the incubator in NNU, which transmits a real-time video wirelessly to a coupled tablet device at the mother’s bedside. Guided by the MRC Framework for the Development and Evaluation of Healthcare Interventions (MRC, 2008), the aim was to explore parent and professional views of the technology and make recommendations for its future development, use and evaluation. Methods A qualitative approach was adopted, guided by a critical realist perspective (McEvoy and Richards, 2003). The study took place in a Level 3 NNU in Scotland. Participants were recruited purposively and included parents (n = 33) and a range of health professionals working in neonatal and postnatal care (n = 21). The data were collected during semi-structured individual, paired and small group interviews and were analysed thematically using NVivo v10. Results The majority of parents and professionals spoke positively about MyLittleOne. Perceptions were that: use of the technology assisted bonding and responsiveness; it promoted the recovery process following birth; and, for mothers who wished to breast-feed, being able to see their baby on the tablet device encouraged the ‘let-down’ reflex. An additional benefit was that siblings and others who may not be able to visit the NNU were able to see the baby. In contrast, for a small number of mothers, viewing their baby remotely appeared to increase their levels of anxiety. Switching off the camera during a medical procedure and back on after the procedure was completed was found to be problematic, at times and in different ways, for both parents and professionals. Conclusions Findings from this preliminary evaluation will guide future developments of the technology, including its use in family homes following the mother’s discharge. The findings will also inform the design of a feasibility study and subsequent RCT to assess the impact of MyLittleOne on a range of psychological indicators of postnatal adjustment.

Fuel let-down heat exchanger.

"Work performed under contract no. W-7405-Eng.-26."

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Lowcountry

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the lowcountry region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Mid-Carolina

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the midlands region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Pee Dee

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina.

Let your voice be heard : a guide to services available to empower victims of domestic violence : Upstate

This brochure gives directions on how to leave an abusive relationship. It also has a list of community resources and hotlines (by county) available to victims of domestic violence in the upstate region of South Carolina.

A Context For (Encoded Archival) Context: Let's Talk About CPF!

Presentation from the MARAC conference in Roanoke, VA on October 7–10, 2015. S17 - “Un session” II: A MARAC Mini Unconference.

Speech by Mr. Alban Sandi Bonilla, Dean, Faculty of Arts at the Inauguration of Professional Lecture "Managing Information in Specialized Areas in Costa Rican

Friends: Although we have not devoted special sessions to discuss the matter, the truth is that in some informal occasions we talked lightly about the relevance of the School of Library, Documentation and Information is at the Faculty of Arts. We have consistently defined our School Faculty as a humanist. The human reality in all its modes of symbolic production is the object of study that brings us together as an area of knowledge. A school is that, a major academic unit, which it brings together different disciplines deserve epistemological affinity for joint development. Cooperation, ease of interdisciplinary association are elements that justify the existence of the faculties. And our conversations, I insist, casual and light, have led us to establish two positions may seem superficially divergent, but are not. The Library mates look as techniques themselves, and feel that can be placed almost anywhere Faculty, and at first glance does not explain its presence in a humanities faculty. Let me turn away from this self-image.

Marine pollution: Let us not forget beach sand

Background: Assessing the chemical or bacterial contamination in marine waters and sediments is a very common approach to evaluate marine pollution and associated risks. However, toxicity and organic pollution of beach sands have not yet been considered, except in adjacent waters. In the present study, the toxicity and the chemical contamination of natural beach sands collected 20 m from the shoreline at two sites located on the Mediterranean Sea (Marseille and La Marana, Corsica) were studied. Results: Up to 16.93% (net percentage) abnormal or dead larvae was observed in elutriates prepared from the urban beach sand sample (Marseille); no significant toxicity was observed in the sample collected from the reference beach in La Marana. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses revealed that no microplastics were present in either of the samples. Several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] in both samples and a larger number of individual PAHs in the urban sample than in the sample collected from the reference beach were detected. In addition, the antioxidant dioctyldiphenylamine was detected in both beach sand samples, whereby a higher concentration was found in La Marana than in Marseille. Calculated PAH concentrations in elutriates were generally higher than measured ones. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study provide evidence of toxicity and the presence of organic trace contaminants in beach sands from France. According to our results, monitoring using a combination of biotests and chemical analyses is recommended, especially of sediments from beaches abandoned to urban and industrial areas.

Strictly singular operators in pairs of L (p) space

Let E and F be Banach spaces. A linear operator from E to F is said to be strictly singular if, for any subspace Q aS, E, the restriction of A to Q is not an isomorphism. A compactness criterion for any strictly singular operator from L (p) to L (q) is found. There exists a strictly singular but not superstrictly singular operator on L (p) , provided that p not equal 2.

Highly dispersed Ptδ+ on TixCe(1−x)O2 as an active phase in preferential oxidation of CO

Structure–activity relationships for 1 wt.% Pt catalysts were investigated for a series of TixCe(1−x)O2 (x = 1, 0.98, 0.9, 0.5, 0.2 and 0) supports prepared by the sol–gel method. The catalysts prepared by impregnation were characterized in detail by applying a wide range of techniques as N2-isotherms, XRF, XRD, Raman, XPS, H2-TPR, Drifts, UV–vis, etc. and tested in the preferential oxidation of CO in the presence of H2. Also several reaction conditions were deeply analyzed. A strong correlation between catalyst performance and the electronic properties let us to propose, based in all the experimental results, a plausible reaction mechanism where several redox cycles are involved.

Role of the human chymase (CMA1) in the conversion of big-endothelin-1 to endothelin-1 (1-31)

Abstract : The chymase-dependant pathway responsible for converting Big ET-1 to ET-1 was established in vitro. It has only been recently, in 2009, that our group demonstrated that the conversion of Big ET-1 to ET-1 (1-31) can occur in vivo in mice (Simard et al., 2009), knowing that ET-1 (1-31) is converted to ET-1 via NEP in vivo (Fecteau et al., 2005). In addition, our laboratory demonstrated in 2013 that mMCP-4, the murine analogue of human chymase, produces ET-1 (1-31) from the Big ET-1 precursor (Houde et al. 2013). Thus far, in the literature, there are no specific characterizations of recombinant chymases (human or murine). In fact, the group of Murakami published in 1995 a study characterizing the CMA1 (human chymase) in a chymostatin-dependent fashion, using Angiotensin I as a substrate (Murakami et al., 1995). However, chymostatin is a non-specific inhibitor of chymase. It has been shown that chymostatin can inhibit elastase, an enzyme that can convert Angiotensin I to Angiotensin II (Becari et al., 2005). Based on these observations, the proposed hypothesis in the present study suggests that recombinant as well as extracted CMA1 from LUVA (human mast cell line), in addition to soluble fractions of human aortas, convert Big ET-1 into ET-1 (1-31 ) in a TY-51469 (a chymase-specific inhibitor) sensitive manner. In a second component, we studied the enzyme kinetics of CMA1 with regard to the Big ET-1 and Ang I substrate. The affinity of CMA1 against Big ET-1 was greater compared to Ang I (KM Big ET- 1: 12.55 μM and Ang I: 37.53 μM). However, CMA1 was more effective in cleaving Ang I compared to Big ET-1 (Kcat / KM Big ET-1: 6.57 x 10-5 μM-1.s-1 and Ang I: 1.8 x 10-4 ΜM-1.s- 1). In a third component involving in vivo experiments, the pressor effects of Big ET-1, ET-1 and Ang I were tested in conscious mMCP-4 KO mice compared to wild-type mice. The increase in mean arterial pressure after administration of Big ET-1 was greater in wild-type mice compared to mMCP- 4 KO mice. This effect was not observed after administration of ET-1 and / or Ang I.

MicroRNA modulation of aldosterone production in the adrenal gland

Hypertension is the major risk factor for coronary disease worldwide. Primary hypertension is idiopathic in origin but is thought to arise from multiple risk factors including genetic, lifestyle and environmental influences. Secondary hypertension has a more definite aetiology; its major single cause is primary aldosteronism (PA), the greatest proportion of which is caused by aldosteroneproducing adenoma (APA), where aldosterone is synthesized at high levels by an adenoma of the adrenal gland. There is strong evidence to show that high aldosterone levels cause adverse effects on cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, renal and other systems. Extensive studies have been conducted to analyse the role that regulation of CYP11B2, the gene encoding the aldosterone synthase enzyme plays in determining aldosterone production and the development of hypertension. One significant regulatory factor that has only recently emerged is microRNA (miRNA). miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs, synthesized by a series of enzymatic processes, that negatively regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level. Detection and manipulation of miRNA is now known to be a viable method in the treatment, prevention and prognosis of certain diseases. The aim of the present study was to identify miRNAs likely to have a role in the regulation of corticosteroid biosynthesis. To achieve this, the miRNA profile of APA and normal human adrenal tissue was compared, as was the H295R adrenocortical cell line model of adrenocortical function, under both basal conditions and following stimulation of aldosterone production. Key differentially-expressed miRNAs were then identified and bioinformatic tools used to identify likely mRNA targets and pathways for these miRNAs, several of which were investigated and validated using in vitro methods. The background to this study is set out in Chapter 1 of this thesis, followed by a description of the major technical methods employed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 presents the first of the study results, analysing differences in miRNA profile between APA and normal human adrenal tissue. Microarray was implemented to detect the expression of miRNAs in these two tissue types and several miRNAs were found to vary significantly and consistently between them. Furthermore, members of several miRNA clusters exhibited similar changes in expression pattern between the two tissues e.g. members of cluster miR-29b-1 (miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p) and of cluster miR-29b-2 (miR-29b-3p and miR-29c- 3p) are downregulated in APA, while members of cluster let-7a-1 (let-7a-5p and let-7d-5p), cluster let-7a-3 (let-7a-5p and let-7b-5p) and cluster miR-134 (miR- 134 and miR-382) are upregulated. Further bioinformatic analysis explored the possible biological function of these miRNAs using Ingenuity® Systems Pathway Analysis software. This led to the identification of validated mRNAs already known to be targeted by these miRNAs, as well as the prediction of other mRNAs that are likely targets and which are involved in processes relevant to APA pathology including cholesterol synthesis (HMGCR) and corticosteroidogenesis (CYP11B2). It was therefore hypothesised that increases in miR-125a-5p or miR- 335-5p would reduce HMGCR and CYP11B2 expression. Chapter 4 describes the characterisation of H295R cells of different strains and sources (H295R Strain 1, 2, 3 and HAC 15). Expression of CYP11B2 was assessed following application of 3 different stimulants: Angio II, dbcAMP and KCl. The most responsive strain to stimulation was Strain 1 at lower passage numbers. Furthermore, H295R proliferation increased following Angio II stimulation. In Chapter 5, the hypothesis that increases in miR-125a-5p or miR-335-5p reduces HMGCR and CYP11B2 expression was tested using realtime quantitative RT-PCR and transfection of miRNA mimics and inhibitors into the H295R cell line model of adrenocortical function. In this way, miR-125a-5p and miR-335-5p were shown to downregulate CYP11B2 and HMGCR expression, thereby validating certain of the bioinformatic predictions generated in Chapter 3. The study of miRNA profile in the H295R cell lines was conducted in Chapter 6, analysing how it changes under conditions that increase aldosterone secretion, including stimulation Angiotensin II, potassium chloride or dibutyryl cAMP (as a substitute for adrenocorticotropic hormone). miRNA profiling identified 7 miRNAs that are consistently downregulated by all three stimuli relative to basal cells: miR-106a-5p, miR-154-3p, miR-17-5p, miR-196b-5p, miR-19a-3p, miR-20b- 5p and miR-766-3p. These miRNAs include those derived from cluster miR-106a- 5p/miR-20b-5p and cluster miR-17-5p/miR-19a-3p, each producing a single polycistronic transcript. IPA bioinformatic analysis was again applied to identify experimentally validated and predicted mRNA targets of these miRNAs and the key biological pathways likely to be affected. This predicted several interactions between miRNAs derived from cluster miR-17-5p/miR-19a-3p and important mRNAs involved in cholesterol biosynthesis: LDLR and ABCA1. These predictions were investigated by in vitro experiment. miR-17-5p/miR-106a-p and miR-20b-5p were found to be consistently downregulated by stimulation of aldosterone biosynthesis. Moreover, miR-766-3p was upregulation throughout. Furthermore, I was able to validate the downregulation of LDLR by miR-17 transfection, as predicted by IPA. In summary, this study identified key miRNAs that are differentially-expressed in vivo in cases of APA or in vitro following stimulation of aldosterone biosynthesis. The many possible biological actions these miRNAs could have were filtered by bioinformatic analysis and selected interactions validated in vitro. While direct actions of these miRNAs on steroidogenic enzymes were identified, cholesterol handling also emerged as an important target and may represent a useful point of intervention in future therapies designed to modulate aldosterone biosynthesis and reduce its harmful effects.

Le confraternite della comunità ebraica di Modena in età moderna

Il presente contributo intende ricostruire la vicenda storica delle associazioni caritative ebraiche attive a Modena durante l’età Moderna. Attraverso l’analisi dei registri, che si sono conservati nei più svariati archivi e che sono rimasti fino ad oggi per la maggior parte inesplorati, appartenuti alle diverse compagnie o confraternite modenesi, si è tentato di ricostruire non solo la vicenda storica di questi istituti, ma parte della storia della società ebraica, con le sue problematiche, rinchiusa all’interno del ghetto. Partendo dal concetto misnaico di Sedaqah, fino ad arrivare al concetto filantropico di beneficienza, attraverso il fondamentale il paragone con le confraternite cristiane, e l’analisi delle confraternite delle altre città italiane già ampiamente studiate, tramite lo studio di questi registri, in particolare gli statuti e le regole che queste associazioni si davano, è stato possibile ricostruire aspetti rilevanti della vita materiale e culturale che hanno caratterizzato la collettività ebraica di Modena durante l’età Modena. La comunità modenese era popolata da più di quindici confraternite, attive nello stesso periodo storico, che avevano scopi sia religiosi che di beneficienza verso quella parte della popolazione più bisognosa di aiuto, ed ha ospitato una confraternita tutta al femminile che è risultata essere un unicum in Europa, poiché si è conservata per intero la sua documentazione, cosa non avvenuta per altre confraternite femminili. Questo studio intende fornire una panoramica delle suddette fonti, per la maggior parte inedite, di estrema importanza per la ricostruzione di aspetti rilevanti della vita materiale e culturale della collettività ebraica modenese.

Evaluation of the theranostic use of miRNAs in correlation to the radiopharmaceutical 64CuCl2 in glioblastoma

B:Glioblastoma multiforme(GBM) is one of the most prevalent and aggressive malignant primary brain tumors in adult patients. 64CuCl2 is an innovative radiopharmaceutical investigated as theranostic agent in GBM patients. The therapeutic scheme is still under evaluation, therefore the research focused on the possibility of radioresistance development. The actors responsible for modulating radioresistance could be miRNAs, thus their potential use was investigated both in radioresistant cell lines and in GBM patients plasma samples. M:Radioresistant cell lines were generated by exposing U87MG, U373MG lines to increasing doses of radiation for 32 weeks. Cell membrane permeability alterations and DNA damage were assessed to characterize the lines. Moreover, 64Cu cell incorporation and subcellular distribution were investigated measuring gamma-radiation emission. miRNA expression was evaluated: in parental and radioresistant cell lines, both in cell pellet and media exosomes; in plasma samples of GBM patients using TaqMan Array MicroRNA Cards. R:Radioresistant lines exhibited reduction in membrane permeability and in DNA DSBs indicating the capability to skip the drug killing effect. Cell uptake assays showed internalization of 64Cu both in the sensitive and radioresistant lines. Radioresistant lines showed a different miRNA expression profile compared to the parental lines. 5 miRNAs were selected as possible biomarkers of response to treatment (miR-339-3p, miR-133b, miR-103a-3p, miR-32-5p, miR-335-5p) and 6 miRNAs as possible predictive biomarkers of response to treatment (let-7e-5p, miR-15a-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-495, miR-146b-5p, miR-199a-5p). miR-32-5p was selected as possible molecule to be used to restore 64CuCl2 responsiveness in the radioresistant cell lines. C: This is the first study describing the development and characterization of 64CuCl2 radioresistant cell lines useful to implement the approach for dosimetric analysis to avoid radioresistance uprising. miRNAs could bring to a better understanding of 64CuCl2 treatment, becoming a useful tool both in detection of treatment response and both as molecule that could restore responsiveness to 64CuCl2 treatment.