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Presents an optical method to control the geometry of buried layers in optoelectronic heterostructures. Description of the technique used; Characteristic near-band-gap spectral variations at different wavelengths; Analysis of the mushroom-type indium-gallium-arsenic-phosphorus/indium-phosphorus laser structure.

Light-chain amyloidosis is a plasma cell dyscrasia characterized by the production of fibrillar proteins comprised of monoclonal light chains, which deposit in tissues causing multiorgan dysfunction and death. The diagnosis is challenging and requires a biopsy and often specialized testing to confirm the subtype of systemic disease. The goal of treatment is eradication of the monoclonal plasma cell population and suppression of the pathologic light chains, which improve organ function and extend survival. Standard treatment approaches have included high-dose melphalan followed by autologous hematopoietic SCT or oral melphalan with dexamethasone. The use of novel agents (thalidomide, lenalidomide and bortezomib) alone and in combination with steroids and alkylating agents has shown efficacy and continues to be explored. A risk-adapted approach to SCT followed by novel agents as consolidation, reduces treatment-related mortality with promising activity. Immunotherapy targeting pathologic plasma cells and amyloid fibrils is being developed and could potentially eliminate visceral amyloid deposits. Improved understanding of the biology that renders light-chains amyloidogenic and a commitment to refer patients to specialized centers conducting well-designed clinical trials is essential to improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggressive treatment with high-dose i.v. melphalan followed by auto-SCT (HDM/SCT) is effective in inducing hematological and clinical remissions, and in extending survival in AL amyloidosis. Tandem cycles of HDM/SCT have been shown to increase hematologic complete response rates in patients with AL amyloidosis. Between April 1994 and July 2008, 57 patients with AL amyloidosis at the Boston University Medical Center were treated with a second cycle of HDM/SCT after failing to achieve a complete response after a first transplantation. A total of 11 of 57 patients (19%) treated with tandem transplantation developed high fever 12–24 h after melphalan administration. The average peak temperature was 39.1 °C. Other clinical features include hypotension, acute renal failure and skin rash. No infectious etiology was identified. One of the patients had serum available for measurement of cytokines before, during and after the febrile reaction. The concentration of several pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6 and TNFα, increased significantly, showing a clear physiological response correlating with the clinical findings. We conclude that an unusual cytokine-mediated febrile reaction can occur in patients with AL amyloidosis exposed to a second cycle of high-dose melphalan, which we have termed a ‘melphalan recall’ reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. We tested the hypothesis thatGerbillus henleyi(de Winton 1903), the smallest species (10 g) of a pssamophilic guild in Israel, is scarce on relatively productive dunes of the Israeli desert, due to negative interactions from the commonG. allenbyi (Thomas 1918) andG. pyramidum(Geoffroy 1825).2. The alternative hypothesis was that scarcity on sand resulted from the size of its naked hind feet, that do not allow efficient locomotion on sand.3. Despite their naked soles the weight-bearing surface ofG. henleyifeet carry less mass/area than those of any other species.4. We measured interaction coefficients with the two common species using field-manipulation experiments in two enclosures.5. Habitat usage ofG. henleyichanged from significantly preferring the stabilized sand, when alone, to significantly using the semistabilized dune, whenG. allenbyiwas also present.6. We also estimated the interaction coefficients and calculated theG. henleyi's isoclines competing with the two common gerbil species using a technique we developed elsewhere.7. The stability analysis of the isoclines ofG. henleyicompeting with eitherG. allenbyior withG. pyramidumsuggests that stable coexistence occurs whenG. henleyiis relatively scarce while the competitors are common.8. Interspecific competition from eitherG. allenbyiorG. pyramidumaccounts for 90·3% reduction inG. henleyidensity, relative to when it is alone.9. We concluded that the negative interactions from congeners was the major cause for the scarcity ofG. henleyion the relatively rich sand dunes of the Israeli desert.Journal of Animal Ecology(2005)74, 567–578doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2005.00956.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: To describe three commercial weight loss programs (Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, and Weight Watchers), including efficacy data when available, and to provide clinicians with information for patient counseling. DATA SOURCES: Personal interviews, journal articles, and Web site information. CONCLUSIONS: Commercial weight loss programs provide weight loss services. Benefits are experience, planned menus, and psychological support. Limitations are cost, sales promotions that encourage on-the-spot commitment to prepaid contracts, and the cost of program food and additional vitamins. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Weight loss is a necessary goal for many patients. Clinicians are mandated to provide counseling regarding weight loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecologists need not despair of discovering the mechanisms that lead to large scale patterns. The search for process at higher scales has already led to enhanced confidence in the patterns and to improvements in their description. For example, species-area relationships turn out to form not one, but three patterns. Each is controlled by gain-loss dynamics at its own scale. At the macroscale, origination and global extinction reign. At the archipelagic scale, immigration and island extinction determine the results. At the local scale, metapopulation processes do. The three scales exhibit species-area curves with systematically different slopes in logarithmic space. We use the three scales of species-area to illuminate the relationship between local and regional diversity. Algebra shows that the latter pattern is an echo of species-area curves, and that those echoes ought to be nearly linear. So, we call the relationship of local and regional diversity, the Echo pattern. Ecology has long known that species-area curves within a region reflect the accumulation of habitat variety. Thus, theirconnection to Echo patterns argues against concluding that local diversity has little or nothing to do with population interactions. To obtain a pure Echo pattern, one should draw data from independent regions rather than separate islands. The independence allows natural selection to adjust the fundamental niches of species to diversity. Theory suggests that higher diversity should shrink niches, allowing the coexistence of more species locally. Hence, independence should tend to produce the straightest Echoes. However, archipelagic species-areacurves predict that even when different islands are used as the regions, the Echoes should show only very gentle curvatures. Flouting theory, some archipelagic Echoes approach an asymptote as regional diversity increases. These must have logarithmic slopes that increase withregional pool size. We do not understand why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examines the behavior, heterogeneity and the dynamics of interacting species. Behavior and dynamics; Heterogeneity, behavior and dynamics; Conclusions.

Presents a technique for enhanced maintenance and retroviral transduction of primitive hematopoietic progenitor cells using a novel three-dimensional culture system. Difficulties that result in alterations in stem cells in vitro; Insights into hematopoietic stem cell biology; Impact of three-dimensional architecture of the culture environment on the maintenance and manipulation of in vitro cells.

We have discovered a severe problem with the current theory of species-area curves (SPARs). This theory claims that we should expect SPARs with z-values of about 0.26. However, that is wrong. The correct prediction turns out to be approximately 0.77. To make this prediction,we used a stochastic sampling scheme, and constructed species-area curves from a lognormal abundance distribution, exactly as previous theory meant to do. We arrived at our prediction using two independent methods: we performed computer simulations of the scheme and we derived its analytical equation. SPARs that result from the simulations are the same as those from the equation, validating the logic of our analysis. We explain what went awry with the previous theory. However, although logically accurate, the new theory has an empirical problem:real SPARs do not have z-values near 0.77. Rather. they tend to lie in the interval 0.1--0.2. To obtain these, we added an assumption to the lognormal abundance distribution. We assumed that range size and abundance are positively correlated. This new assumption is qualitatively similar to Hanski's (1982; Oikos 38: 210-221) pattern. Finally, we derive a simple relation connecting average point diversity, average range size and species diversity for a province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We trained barn owls to fly over 2-ha field enclosures containing populations of Gerbillus allenbyi. Each 2-ha plot was divided into two equal parts by a fence with gates allowing easy passage of the gerbils. We varied the number of gerbils in the enclosure and the number ofowl flights on each side of the dividing fence. Gerbil foraging activity responded within two hours to the difference in number of owl flights over the subplots. The greater the difference, the more the gerbils shifted their foraging to the subplot with fewer flights. Gerbils did not reduce their total foraging effort but redistributed it between subplots. In the absence of owl flights, gerbils divided their foraging effort equally between the matched subplots. Thus, they appear to seek an ideal free distribution in the two halves of each plot. Therefore, based on the gerbils' distribution of activity in the presence of different numbers of owl flights over the two subplots we estimated the shapes and slopes of the gerbil victim isoclines in the middle and right hand side of the 'gerbil-activity vs number of owl flights' state space. The isoclines were parallel straight lines with slope equal to -0.57. We believe this to be the first estimate of a victim isocline for a population of vertebrates in the field. Using the isodar method of Morris, we also determined that the fitness cost of each additional gerbil, i.e., per capita intraspecific competition among the G. allenbyi, is constant. It does not depend on either owl flight frequencies or G. allenbyi densities. The isodar also shows thatthe fitness cost of added owl flights does not vary with G. allenbyipopulation densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which proposed a model which describes the evolution of degradation starting with invisible crystallographic defects. Description of the preparation and heating of samples; Details on degradation in protected crystals; Summary of the characteristic features of the proposed model; Conclusions on processing and device production.

To improve the efficacy of risk-adapted melphalan (MEL) in patients with amyloidosis (AL), we conducted a phase II trial using bortezomib and dexamethasone (BD) as consolidation. Forty untreated patients with renal (70%), cardiac (65%), liver/gastrointestinal (15%) or nervous system (13%) AL were assigned MEL 100, 140 or 200 mg/m2 based on age, renal function and cardiac involvement. Hematological response was assessed at 3 months post stem cell transplant (SCT); patients with less than complete hematological response (CR) received BD consolidation. Four patients with advanced cardiac AL died within 100 days of SCT (10% treatment-related mortality). Survival at 12 and 24 months post treatment start was 88 and 82% overall and was 81 and 72% in patients with cardiac AL. At 3 months post SCT, 45% had  partial response (PR) including 27% CR. Twenty-three patients received consolidation and in 86% response improved; all patients responded in one cycle. At 12 and 24 months, 79 and 60% had  PR, 58 and 40% CR. Organ responses occurred in 55 and 70% at 12 and 24 months. Eight patients relapsed/progressed. One patient with serologic progression had organ impairment at time of progression. In newly diagnosed AL, BD following SCT rapidly and effectively improves responses resulting in high CR rates and maintained organ improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a heterogeneous environment containing multiple patches that may deplete and renew, a forager should be able to detect the quality of food resources within and among patches and choose to exploit them to best maximize returns. From the predator's perspective, the behavioral responses of the prey in a patch will be perceived as depletion when they retreat to refuge and renewal when they reemerge. A predator encountering responsive prey should manage predation risk, and thus behavioral resource depression, by optimally timing its return time to the patch based on prey behavior. We evaluated the foraging decisions of a predator that encountered patches differing in size of the refuge and prey density. We used little egrets and goldfish as predators and prey in an environment that contained three patches (pools). We manipulated prey density and refuge size and availability (using covers) and observed predator foraging behavior. When the egret had previously caught a fish it did not discriminate between the pools, and the return time was similar for all cover types. The fish densities also did not affect the egret decisions to return to pools. However, when it failed to catch fish, it returned sooner to the pool containing the small cover than the larger one. Additionally, after failing to catch fish in patches containing the highest prey density, the egrets subsequently preferred to return to such patches sooner. We show experimentally that previous failures influence the foraging decisions of a predator choosing how quickly to return to a previously visited patch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) metastatic breast cancer is often intractable due to endocrine therapy resistance. Although ESR1 promoter switching events have been associated with endocrine-therapy resistance, recurrent ESR1 fusion proteins have yet to be identified in advanced breast cancer. Patients and methods: To identify genomic structural rearrangements (REs) including gene fusions in acquired resistance, we undertook a multimodal sequencing effort in three breast cancer patient cohorts: (i) mate-pair and/or RNAseq in 6 patientmatched primary-metastatic tumors and 51 metastases, (ii) high coverage (>500×) comprehensive genomic profiling of 287- 395 cancer-related genes across 9542 solid tumors (5216 from metastatic disease), and (iii) ultra-high coverage (>5000×) genomic profiling of 62 cancer-related genes in 254 ctDNA samples. In addition to traditional gene fusion detection methods (i.e. discordant reads, split reads), ESR1 REs were detected from targeted sequencing data by applying a novel algorithm (copyshift) that identifies major copy number shifts at rearrangement hotspots. Results: We identify 88 ESR1 REs across 83 unique patients with direct confirmation of 9 ESR1 fusion proteins (including 2 via immunoblot). ESR1 REs are highly enriched in ER-positive, metastatic disease and co-occur with known ESR1 missense alterations, suggestive of polyclonal resistance. Importantly, all fusions result from a breakpoint in or near ESR1 intron 6 and therefore lack an intact ligand binding domain (LBD). In vitro characterization of three fusions reveals ligand-independence and hyperactivity dependent upon the 30 partner gene. Our lower-bound estimate of ESR1 fusions is at least 1% of metastatic solid breast cancers, the prevalence in ctDNA is at least 10× enriched. We postulate this enrichment may represent secondary resistance to more aggressive endocrine therapies applied to patients with ESR1 LBD missense alterations. Conclusions: Collectively, these data indicate that N-terminal ESR1 fusions involving exons 6-7 are a recurrent driver of endocrine therapy resistance and are impervious to ER-targeted therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the behavioral game between a predator, the little egret (Egretta garzetta), and a prey, the common goldfish (Carassius auratus), in a laboratory theater containing three fish pools. We tested the hypotheses that the egrets maximize their total capture success by responding to the fish's antipredatory behavior and that the behaviors of both players respond adaptively to the density distribution of fish among the pools. One experiment presented egrets with 15 fish per pool. The second experiment used a heterogeneous environment: pools 1, 2, and 3 had 10, 15, and 20 fish, respectively. Within each pool, fish could move between a safe, covered microhabitat and a risky, open microhabitat. Only the risky habitat had food, so fish were trading off food and safety by allocating the time spent in the two habitats. Egrets spent more total time in pools with more fish and returned to them sooner. Egrets maximized the number of fish they captured by following the matching rule of the ideal free distribution. The fish used the risky but productive habitat 65% of the time during experiments without egrets, but only 9% during experiments with 15 fish and egrets present somewhere in the theater. In addition, with egrets present, fish fine-tuned their behavior by reducing their use of the risky habitat as the egrets increased the frequency of their visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if nurses, using patient-centered care (PCC), affect patient satisfaction, perceptions of nursing care, and quality outcomes.Background: The Institute of Medicine proposed PCC as 1 of 6 national quality aims, whereas the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services highlighted integration of PCC as 1 of 12 actions for quality improvement.Methods: A total of 116 patients were randomized into an intervention (PCC) or control group. Patients who were to receive PCC were called before admission and cared for by nurses who trained to administer/practice PCC. Control patients received usual care. Both groups completed questionnaires and received postdischarge calls. Length of stay, falls, infections, and adverse events were measured to assess quality of care.Results: No significant differences were found between groups for length of stay, infection, falls, postoperative complications, quality of care, satisfaction level, or perceptions of nursing care.Conclusions: Patient-centered care did not affect patient's level of satisfaction or quality of care. However, findings yielded clinically relevant results regarding patient/staff responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is caused by a clonal plasma cell disorder in which fragments of monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains form non-fibrillary deposits in various tissues resulting in organ dysfunction. Crystal storing histiocytosis (CSH) is another light chain deposition disorder in which monoclonal light chains form intracytoplasmic crystals. Both are uncommon diseases for which there is limited treatment experience. Between 2003 and 2005, five patients with LCDD and one with CSH were treated at Boston University Medical Center with high-dose melphalan and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (HDM/SCT). Five of the six patients had predominantly renal involvement, and one patient with LCDD had biopsy-proven deposits in the myocardium. Molecular characterization revealed that the pathologic light chains were κ in four of the six patients, and sequence analysis revealed unusual germline donor genes and high rates of amino-acid substitutions. One light chain sequence encoded a new potential N-linked glycosylation site, and another showed evidence of antigen selection. All patients are alive and five of the six patients are in complete hematologic remission at a median follow-up of 12 months (range 4–29 months) after HDM/SCT. In our experience, HDM/SCT is a feasible and effective treatment approach for these disorders.Bone Marrow Transplantation (2006) 38, 339–343. doi:10.1038/sj.bmt.1705447; published online 24 July 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background An optimal system for the expansion of pluripotent HPCs would ideally eliminate the use of cytokines and animal-derived serum. We have shown previously that a 3D, tantalum-coated porous biomaterial (Cytomatrix) supports the maintenance and expansion of human BM HPCs in the absence of cytokines. Methods Umbilical cord blood (UCB) derived HPC were cultured in the Cytomatrix in the absence of exogenous cytokines. Phenotype was determined using FACS. Colony-forming units (CFU) activity was evaluated. Engraftment capacity was evaluated by transplanting the expanded cells into non-obese diabetic (NOD)/SCID mice. Results We describe the expansion of HPCs from UCB using the Cytomatrix system. When UCB-derived CD34 + cells were cultured in the Cytomatrix system for 2 weeks we observed an increase in the number of nucleated cells (3-fold) and CFU (2.6-fold). The number of CD45 + and CD34 + cells both increased three-fold. Trends demonstrated an increase in the frequency of CD34 + C38 - cells, and an increase in both CD34 + C33 + cells and CD34 + C61 + cells. No expansion of T or B lymphocytes was observed. When expanded UCB cells from the Cytomatrix were injected into sub-lethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice, human cells were detected in the murine peripheral blood and BM 6 weeks post-transplantation. Discussion This unique approach to the expansion of UCB cells in a serum-free, cytokine-free environment may provide expansion of HPCs with multi-lineage engraftment capability that could be used clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used recombinant SV40 (rSV40)-derived vectors to deliver transgenes to human and simian hematopoietic progenitor cells in culture, and in vivo after transduction ex vivo. rSV40 are highly efficient vectors that are made in very high titers. They infect almost all cells, whether resting or dividing. Two rSV40s were used: SV(HBS), carrying hepatitis B surface antigen as a marker; and SV(Aw) carrying IN#33, a single chain Fv antibody against HIV-1 integrase. CD34[sup +] cells derived from human fetal bone marrow (HFBM) and rhesus macaque bone marrow were transduced once with SV(HBS) without selection. On average 60% of colonies derived from transduced CD34[sup +] cells carried and expressed HBsAg, as assessed by PCR and immunochemistry. Transgene carriage persisted following differentiation of transduced rhesus CD34[sup +] cells into T lymphocytes. In an effort to increase the percentage of gene-marked cells, three sequential treatments of CD34[sup +] cells were done using SV(Aw), without selection. Two weeks later, >95% of colonies expressed IN#33. Unselected SV(Aw)-transduced CD34[sup +] cells from HFBM were transplanted into sublethally irradiated SCID mice. Bone marrow harvested 3 months later showed that >50% of bone marrow cells expressed IN#33. This is comparable with the percentage of human cells in these animals' bone marrow as judged by immunostaining for human CD45. The stability and longevity of transduction in this setting suggests that rSV40 vectors integrate into the cellular genome. This possibility was supported by finding that PCR of genomic DNA using primer pairs with one cellular and one viral primer yielded PCR products only in transduced, but not control, cells. These PCR products hybridized with an SV40 DNA fragment. Thus, rSV40 vectors transduce normal human and primate bone marrow progenitor cells effectively without selection, and maintain transgene expression in vivo following reimplantation. Such high efficiency transduction may be... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the New Immigrant Survey Pilot (NIS-P), a panel survey of a nationally representative sample of new legal immigrants to the United States based on probability samples of administrative records of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The NIS-P links survey information about immigrants' pre- and post-immigration labor market, schooling, and migratory experiences with data available from INS administrative records, including the visa type under which the immigrant was admitted. Results indicate that the procedures followed for locating, interviewing, and reinterviewing respondents yielded representative samples of new legal immigrants and high-quality data. On the basis of data obtained from the first round of the survey, we present new information never before available on the schooling and language skills of new immigrants and their earnings gains from immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]