Flashlight Europe N°2–September 2014: Is It Better To Be Alone Than Lonely Together? Scotland Is Voting On Whether Or Not To Become Independent

On 18 September 2014 the Scots are voting on whether or not to sever their ties with the UK. And the pro-independence camp is catching up fast. A survey conducted at the beginning of the month revealed that for the first time 51 percent of the Scottish electorate say that they will be casting a Yes vote, i.e. that they are in favour of independence. The outcome is now in the hands of the undecided voters, who are currently being heavily courted by the various parties. If the Scots vote in favour of independence, it is bound to cast doubt on the future of the government of David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader. Who is fighting on which side? What are the arguments? And what will happen if the Scots decide to opt out of the United Kingdom? Here are some of the things that are a distinct possibility.

Institutions and Growth in Europe. CEPS Working Document No. 421, April 2016

This paper provides empirical evidence in support of the view that the quality of institutions is an important determinant of long-term growth of European countries. When also taking into account the initial level of GDP per capita and government debt, cross-country institutional differences can explain to a great extent the relative long-term GDP performance of European countries. It also shows that an initial government debt level above a threshold (e.g. 60-70%) coupled with institutional quality below the EU average tends to be associated with particularly poor long-term real growth performance. Interestingly, the detrimental effect of high debt levels on long-term growth seems cushioned by the presence of very sound institutions. This might be because good institutions help to alleviate the debt problem in various ways, e.g. by ensuring sufficient fiscal consolidation in the longer-run, allowing for better use of government expenditures and promoting sustainable growth, social fairness and more efficient tax administration. The quality of national institutions seems to enhance the long-term GDP performance across a large sample of countries, also including OECD countries outside Europe. The paper offers some evidence that, in the presence of good institutions, conditions for catching-up seem generally good also for euro-area and fixed exchange rate countries. Looking at sub-groupings, it seems that sound institutions may be particularly important for long-term growth in the countries where the exchange rate tool is no longer available (and where also sovereign debt is high), and less so in the countries with flexible exchange rate regimes. However, this result is preliminary and requires further research. The empirical findings on the importance of institutions are robust to various measures of output growth, different measures of institutional indicators, different sample sizes, different country groupings and to the inclusion of additional control variables. Overall, the results tend to support the call for structural reforms in general and reforms enhancing the efficiency of public administration and regulation, the rule of law and the fight against rent-seeking and corruption in particular.

Roast beef medium; the business adventures of Emma McChesney,

Roast beef medium.--Representing T. A. Buck.--Chickens.--His mother's son.--Pink tights and ginghams.--Simply skirts.--Underneath the high-cut vest.--Catching up with Christmas.--Knee-deep in knickers.--In the absence of the agent.

The genius of Erasmus Darwin

The Genius of Erasmus Darwin provides insight into the full extent of Erasmus Darwin's exceptional intellect. He is shown to be a major creative thinker and innovator, one of the minds behind the late eighteenth-century industrial revolution, and one of the first, if not the first, to perceive the living world (including humans) as part of a unified evolutionary scenario. The contributions here provide contextual understandings of Erasmus Darwin's thought, as well as studies of particular works and accounts of the later reception of his writings. In this way it is possible to see why the young Samuel Taylor Coleridge was moved to describe Darwin as 'the first literary character in Europe, and the most original-minded man'. Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin's grandfather, was one of the leading intellectuals of eighteenth-century England. He was a man with an extraordinary range of interests and activities: he was a doctor, biologist, inventor, poet, linguist, and botanist. He was also a founding member of the Lunar Society, an intellectual community that included such eminent men as James Watt and Josiah Wedgwood. Contents: Introduction; Setting the scene, Jonathan Powers; Prologue 'Catching up with Erasmus Darwin in the New Century', Desmond King-Hele. Section 1: Medicine: Physicians and physic in 17th and 18th century Lichfield, Dennis Gibbs; Dr Erasmus Darwin MD FRS (1731–1802): England's greatest physician?, Gordon Cook; William Pale (1743–1805) and James Parkinson (1755–1824): two peri-Erasmatic thinkers (and several others), Christopher Gardner-Thorpe; The vertiginous philosophers: Erasmus Darwin and William Charles Wells on vertigo, Nicholas Wade. Section 2: Biology: The Antipodes and Erasmus Darwin: the place of Erasmus Darwin in the heritage of Australian literature and biology, John Pearn; Erasmus Darwin on human reproductive generation: placing heredity within historical and Zoonomian contexts, Philip Wilson; All from fibres: Erasmus Darwin's evolutionary psychobiology, C.U.M. Smith; Two special doctors: Erasmus Darwin and Luigi Galvani, Rafaella Simili. Section 3: Education: But what about the women? The lunar society's attitude to women and science and to the education of girls, Jenny Uglow; The Derbyshire 'Darwinians': the persistence of Erasmus Darwin's influence on a British provincial literary and scientific community, c.1780–1850, Paul Elliot. Section 4: Technology: Designing better steering for carriages (and cars); with a glance at other inventions, Desmond King-Hele; Mama and papa: the ancestors of modern-day speech science, Philip Jackson; Negative and positive images: Erasmus Darwin, Tom Wedgwood and the origins of photography, Alan Barnes; Section 5: Environment: Erasmus Darwin's contributions to the geological sciences, Hugh Torrens; The air man, Desmond King-Hele; Erasmus Darwin, work and health, Tim Carter; Section 6: Literature: The progress of society: Darwin's early drafts for the temple of nature, Martin Priestman; The poet as pathologist: myth and medicine in Erasmus Darwin's epic poetry, Stuart Harris; 'Another and the same': nature and human beings in Erasmus Darwin's doctrines of love and imagination, Maurizio Valsania. Epilogue: 'One great slaughter-house the warring world': living in revolutionary times, David Knight; Coda: Midlands memorabilia, Nick Redman; Appendix: The Creation of the Erasmus Darwin Foundation and Erasmus Darwin House, Tony Barnard; Index.

May the contact lens force be with you

FULL TEXT: Like many people one of my favourite pastimes over the holiday season is to watch the great movies that are offered on the television channels and new releases in the movie theatres or catching up on those DVDs that you have been wanting to watch all year. Recently we had the new ‘Star Wars’ movie, ‘The Force Awakens’, which is reckoned to become the highest grossing movie of all time, and the latest offering from James Bond, ‘Spectre’ (which included, for the car aficionados amongst you, the gorgeous new Aston Martin DB10). It is always amusing to see how vision correction or eye injury is dealt with by movie makers. Spy movies and science fiction movies have a freehand to design aliens with multiples eyes on stalks or retina scanning door locks or goggles that can see through walls. Eye surgery is usually shown in some kind of day case simplified laser treatment that gives instant results, apart from the great scene in the original ‘Terminator’ movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger's android character encounters an injury to one eye and then proceeds to remove the humanoid covering to this mechanical eye over a bathroom sink. I suppose it is much more difficult to try and include contact lenses in such movies. Although you may recall the film ‘Charlie's Angels’, which did have a scene where one of the Angels wore a contact lens that had a retinal image imprinted on it so she could by-pass a retinal scan door lock and an Eddy Murphy spy movie ‘I-Spy’, where he wore contact lenses that had electronic gadgetry that allowed whatever he was looking at to be beamed back to someone else, a kind of remote video camera device. Maybe we aren’t quite there in terms of devices available but these things are probably not the behest of science fiction anymore as the technology does exist to put these things together. The technology to incorporate electronics into contact lenses is being developed and I am sure we will be reporting on it in the near future. In the meantime we can continue to enjoy the unrealistic scenes of eye swapping as in the film ‘Minority Report’ (with Tom Cruise). Much more closely to home, than in a galaxy far far away, in this issue you can find articles on topics much nearer to the closer future. More and more optometrists in the UK are becoming registered for therapeutic work as independent prescribers and the number is likely to rise in the near future. These practitioners will be interested in the review paper by Michael Doughty, who is a member of the CLAE editorial panel (soon to be renamed the Jedi Council!), on prescribing drugs as part of the management of chronic meibomian gland dysfunction. Contact lenses play an active role in myopia control and orthokeratology has been used not only to help provide refractive correction but also in the retardation of myopia. In this issue there are three articles related to this topic. Firstly, an excellent paper looking at the link between higher spherical equivalent refractive errors and the association with slower axial elongation. Secondly, a paper that discusses the effectiveness and safety of overnight orthokeratology with high-permeability lens material. Finally, a paper that looks at the stabilisation of early adult-onset myopia. Whilst we are always eager for new and exciting developments in contact lenses and related instrumentation in this issue of CLAE there is a demonstration of a novel and practical use of a smartphone to assisted anterior segment imaging and suggestions of this may be used in telemedicine. It is not hard to imagine someone taking an image remotely and transmitting that back to a central diagnostic centre with the relevant expertise housed in one place where the information can be interpreted and instruction given back to the remote site. Back to ‘Star Wars’ and you will recall in the film ‘The Phantom Menace’ when Qui-Gon Jinn first meets Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine he takes a sample of his blood and sends a scan of it back to Obi-Wan Kenobi to send for analysis and they find that the boy has the highest midichlorian count ever seen. On behalf of the CLAE Editorial board (or Jedi Council) and the BCLA Council (the Senate of the Republic) we wish for you a great 2016 and ‘may the contact lens force be with you’. Or let me put that another way ‘the CLAE Editorial Board and BCLA Council, on behalf of, a great 2016, we wish for you!’

Extending the capabilities of smartphone sensors for applications in interaction and health

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

Innovation diffusion in the portuguese and italian clothing industry

Doutoramento em Economia

Integrated Proteomics Identified Up-regulated Focal Adhesion-mediated Proteins In Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma In An Orthotopic Murine Model.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of oral carcinogenesis will yield important advances in diagnostics, prognostics, effective treatment, and outcome of oral cancer. Hence, in this study we have investigated the proteomic and peptidomic profiles by combining an orthotopic murine model of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), mass spectrometry-based proteomics and biological network analysis. Our results indicated the up-regulation of proteins involved in actin cytoskeleton organization and cell-cell junction assembly events and their expression was validated in human OSCC tissues. In addition, the functional relevance of talin-1 in OSCC adhesion, migration and invasion was demonstrated. Taken together, this study identified specific processes deregulated in oral cancer and provided novel refined OSCC-targeting molecules.

Up-regulation Of Dnam-1 And Nkp30, Associated With Improvement Of Nk Cells Activation After Long-term Culture Of Mononuclear Cells From Patients With Ovarian Neoplasia.

This study aimed at evaluating the functional activation and activating receptors expression on resting, short- and long-term NK and NK-like T cells from blood of ovarian neoplasia patients. Blood from patients with adnexal benign alterations (n = 10) and ovarian cancer (grade I-IV n = 14) were collected after signed consent. Effector cells activation was evaluated by the expression of the CD107a molecule. Short-term culture was conducted overnight with IL-2 and long-term culture for 21 days, by a method designed to expand CD56(+) lymphocytes. Short-term culture significantly increased NK cells activation compared to resting NK cells (p<0.05), however, the long-term procedure supported an even higher increase (p<0.001). Resting NK-like T cells showed poor activation, which was not altered by the culture procedures. The long-term culture effectively increased the expression of the activating receptors on NK and NK-like T cells, either by increasing the number of cells expressing a given receptor and/or by up-regulating their expression intensity. As a conclusion, the long-term culture system employed, resulted in a high number of functional NK cells. The culture system was particularly efficient on the up-regulation of NKp30 and DNAM-1 receptors on NK cells.

What Is The Best Indication For Single-incision Ophira Mini Sling? Insights From A 2-year Follow-up International Multicentric Study.

The Ophira Mini Sling System involves anchoring a midurethral, low-tension tape to the obturator internus muscles bilaterally at the level of the tendinous arc. Success rates in different subsets of patients are still to be defined. This work aims to identify which factors influence the 2-year outcomes of this treatment. Analysis was based on data from a multicenter study. Endpoints for analysis included objective measurements: 1-h pad-weight (PWT), and cough stress test (CST), and questionnaires: International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI)-6. A logistic regression analysis evaluated possible risk factors for failure. In all, 124 female patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) underwent treatment with the Ophira procedure. All patients completed 1 year of follow-up, and 95 complied with the 2-year evaluation. Longitudinal analysis showed no significant differences between results at 1 and 2 years. The 2-year overall objective results were 81 (85.3%) patients dry, six (6.3%) improved, and eight (8.4%) incontinent. A multivariate analysis revealed that previous anti-incontinence surgery was the only factor that significantly influenced surgical outcomes. Two years after treatment, women with previous failed surgeries had an odds ratio (OR) for treatment failure (based on PWT) of 4.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-15.57). The Ophira procedure is an effective option for SUI treatment, with durable good results. Previous surgeries were identified as the only significant risk factor, though previously operated patients showed an acceptable success rate.

Gastrointestinal Involvement In Lipoid Proteinosis: A Ten-year Follow-up Of A Brazilian Female Patient.

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by the deposition of hyaline material in the skin and internal organs. The main clinical features are hoarseness and typical skin lesions. In this report we describe the endoscopic and radiologic findings in a Brazilian female patient presenting extensive gastrointestinal involvement and the evolution of the detected lesions in ten years of follow-up. Initial upper endoscopy and colonoscopy showed a similar pattern of multiple yellowish nodules throughout the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, and colons. Histological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of lipoid proteinosis. In addition, small bowel follow through demonstrated numerous well defined, round, small filling defects throughout the jejunum. Ten years later, the esophageal lesions remained the same, but none of the previous alterations were detected in the stomach, duodenum, and colons. In conclusion, lipoid proteinosis may affect all gastrointestinal organs with the same pattern of macroscopic and microscopic lesions. Some lesions may regress with increasing age.

Direct Adhesive Pin-retained Restorations For Severely Worn Dentition Treatment: A 1.5-year Follow-up Report.

Excessive occlusal surface wear can result in occlusal disharmony, functional and esthetic impairment. As a therapeutic approach, conventional single crowns have been proposed, but this kind of treatment is complex, highly invasive and expensive. This case report describes the clinical outcomes of an alternative minimally invasive treatment based on direct adhesive-pin retained restorations. A 64-year-old woman with severely worn dentition, eating problems related to missing teeth and generalized tooth hypersensitivity was referred for treatment. Proper treatment planning based on the diagnostic wax-up simulation was used to guide the reconstruction of maxillary anterior teeth with direct composite resin over self-threading dentin pins. As the mandibular remaining teeth were extremely worn, a tooth-supported overdenture was installed. A stabilization splint was also used to protect the restorations. This treatment was a less expensive alternative to full-mouth rehabilitation with positive esthetic and functional outcomes after 1.5 years of follow-up.

Long-term Results Of Anderson-hynes Pyeloplasty In Children: How Long Follow-up Is Necessary?

Purpose After a successful pyeloplasty at 3 to 6 months, the question remains whether children need a long follow-up. Methods The medical charts of patients with long-term follow-up (> 5 years), who underwent dismembered pyeloplasty for uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) from May 1998 to May 2007, excluding those with bilateral UPJO, solitary kidney, associated vesicoureteral reflux or other abnormalities, and inconclusive renogram due to poor renal function, were retrospectively reviewed. Ultrasonography, differential renal function (DRF, DMSA), and renal drainage on diuretic renography (diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate technetium-99 or DTPA-Tc99) were performed at 3 and 6 months every year. Results Complete data were available for 28 consecutive patients (28 renal unities) with 2 months to 12 years (mean age, 2.4 years) at surgery, of whom 21 (75%) were boys, 17 diagnosed prenatally (61%) and 18 unities (64.3%) were left, with median follow-up of 10.7 years. Images were graded according to the Society for Fetal Urology grading system: Grade III in 11 (49%) and grade IV in 17 (61%). All cases presented > 10% DRF (DMSA) and obstructed DTPA-Tc99. The T1/2 (the half-time of drainage) less than 20 minutes at 3 months was found in 21 cases (75%) and less than 25 minutes in 7 cases (25%). Renal function and patency were maintained during follow-up for all units with 8% maximum fluctuation of DRF. One index case (3.6%) of renal function deterioration presented DRF fluctuation > 8% at 3 months (from 23 to 32%) and progressive hydronephrosis and indeterminate DTPA at 6 months. Conclusions Satisfactory diuretic renogram at 3 to 6 months after pyeloplasty with maintained renal function and stable hydronephrosis suggests no need for further follow-up and indicates no functional loss with time. More than 8% DRF fluctuation might be a significant cutoff for further intervention aiming nephron preservation.

[repeated Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology For The Diagnosis And Follow-up Of Thyroid Nodules].

The recently-proposed Bethesda reporting system has offered clinical recommendations for each category of reported thyroid cytology, including repeated fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for non-diagnostic and atypia/follicular lesions of undetermined significance, but there are no sound indications for repeated examination after an initial benign exam. To investigate the clinical validity of repeated FNA in the management of patients with thyroid nodules. The present study evaluated 412 consecutive patients who had repeated aspiration biopsies of thyroid nodules after an initial non-diagnostic, atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance, or benign cytology. The majority of patients were female (93.5%) ranging from 13 to 83 years. Non-diagnostic cytology was the most common indication for a repeated examination in 237 patients (57.5%), followed by benign (36.8%), and A/FLUS (5.6%) cytology. A repeated examination altered the initial diagnosis in 70.5% and 78.3% of the non-diagnostic and A/FLUS patients, respectively, whereas only 28.9% of patients with a benign cytology presented with a different diagnosis on a sequential FNA. Repeat FNA is a valuable procedure in cases with initial non-diagnostic or A/FLUS cytology, but its routine use for patients with an initial benign examination appears to not increase the expected likelihood of a malignant finding.

Galectin-3 Up-regulation In Hypoxic And Nutrient Deprived Microenvironments Promotes Cell Survival.

Galectin-3 (gal-3) is a β-galactoside binding protein related to many tumoral aspects, e.g. angiogenesis, cell growth and motility and resistance to cell death. Evidence has shown its upregulation upon hypoxia, a common feature in solid tumors such as glioblastoma multiformes (GBM). This tumor presents a unique feature described as pseudopalisading cells, which accumulate large amounts of gal-3. Tumor cells far from hypoxic/nutrient deprived areas express little, if any gal-3. Here, we have shown that the hybrid glioma cell line, NG97ht, recapitulates GBM growth forming gal-3 positive pseudopalisades even when cells are grafted subcutaneously in nude mice. In vitro experiments were performed exposing these cells to conditions mimicking tumor areas that display oxygen and nutrient deprivation. Results indicated that gal-3 transcription under hypoxic conditions requires previous protein synthesis and is triggered in a HIF-1α and NF-κB dependent manner. In addition, a significant proportion of cells die only when exposed simultaneously to hypoxia and nutrient deprivation and demonstrate ROS induction. Inhibition of gal-3 expression using siRNA led to protein knockdown followed by a 1.7-2.2 fold increase in cell death. Similar results were also found in a human GBM cell line, T98G. In vivo, U87MG gal-3 knockdown cells inoculated subcutaneously in nude mice demonstrated decreased tumor growth and increased time for tumor engraftment. These results indicate that gal-3 protected cells from cell death under hypoxia and nutrient deprivation in vitro and that gal-3 is a key factor in tumor growth and engraftment in hypoxic and nutrient-deprived microenvironments. Overexpression of gal-3, thus, is part of an adaptive program leading to tumor cell survival under these stressing conditions.