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The Textile Museum Journal: Two Velvet Letter Pouches and Their Role in Safavid Diplomacy
No full textAs a part of our online interview series for The Textile Museum Journal, contributing scholars Anna Jolly and Corinne Mühlemann examine two Iranian letter pouches from the Danish National Archives. Sewn from two differently patterned, cut, voided velvets, these pouches are exquisite works of Safavid textile art. Jolly and Mühlemann’s research suggests that they originally contained two letters from Shāh Ṣafī I (r. 1629-1642) addressed to Duke Frederick III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (r. 1616-1659), and received by him in 1639.
The link to these letters provides a new known limit for dating the velvet fabrics of these pouches to before 1637. By placing the two letter pouches in the context of diplomatic exchange between the Safavid court and a European court, this case study highlights the role luxury textiles played in 17th-century Iranian diplomacy.
About The Textile Museum Journal
Our peer-reviewed journal is the leading publication for the exchange of textile scholarship in North America. Published each fall, it features research on the cultural, technical, historical and aesthetic significance of textiles from all around the world.
About Anna Jolly
Anna Jolly received a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Cambridge. She is curator of textiles (1500-1800) at the Abegg-Stiftung in Switzerland, where she has curated exhibitions, organized conferences and published on topics including European silk weavings and linen damasks. She is currently researching Iranian and Indian silk weavings of the 16th to 18th centuries in preparation for a collection catalog and exhibition.
About Corinne Mühlemann
Corinne Mühlemann received a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Bern and is now assistant professor for the history of textile arts. She has also been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Copenhagen. Her forthcoming book Complex Weaves: Technique, Text and Cultural History of Striped Silks bridges the fields of textile history and Islamic art history.
About the Series
In this virtual series, authors who contributed to volume 50 of The Textile Museum Journal discuss new research on historical textiles
HypoFocal SRT Trial: Ultra-hypofractionated focal salvage radiotherapy for isolated prostate bed recurrence after radical prostatectomy; single-arm phase II study; clinical trial protocol.
Get PDFINTRODUCTION
Despite radical prostatectomy (RP) and radiotherapy (RT) being established treatments for localised prostate cancer, a significant number of patients experience recurrent disease. While conventionally fractionated RT is still being used as a standard treatment in the postoperative setting, ultra-hypofractionated RT has emerged as a viable option with encouraging results in patients with localised disease in the primary setting. In addition, recent technological advancements in RT delivery and precise definition of isolated macroscopic recurrence within the prostate bed using prostate-specific membrane antigen-positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) and multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) allow the exploration of ultra-hypofractionated schedules in the salvage setting using five fractions.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
In this single-arm prospective phase II multicentre trial, 36 patients with node-negative prostate adenocarcinoma treated with RP at least 6 months before trial registration, tumour stage pT2a-3b, R0-1, pN0 or cN0 according to the UICC TNM 2009 and evidence of measurable local recurrence within the prostate bed detected by PSMA PET/CT and mpMRI within the last 3 months, will be included. The patients will undergo focal ultra-hypofractionated salvage RT with 34 Gy in five fractions every other day to the site of local recurrence in combination with 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy. The primary outcome of this study is biochemical relapse-free survival at 2 years. Secondary outcomes include acute side effects (until 90 days after the end of RT) of grade 3 or higher based on Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events V.5, progression-free survival, metastasis-free survival, late side effects and the quality of life (based on European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30, QLQ-PR25).
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
The study has received ethical approval from the Ethics Commission of the Canton of Bern (KEK-BE 2022-01026). Academic dissemination will occur through publications and conference presentations.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT05746806
High‐resolution dataset of nocturnal air temperatures in Bern, Switzerland (2007–2022)
Get PDFTo prepare for a hotter future, information on intra- urban temperature distribu-tions is crucial for cities worldwide. In recent years, different methods to compute high- resolution temperature datasets have been developed. Such datasets com-monly originate from downscaling techniques, which are applied to enhance the spatial resolution of existing data. In this study, we present an approach based on a fine- scaled low- cost urban temperature measurement network and a formerly developed land use regression approach. The dataset covers mean nocturnal tem-peratures of 16 summers (2007–2022) of a medium- sized urban area with adapted land cover data for each year. It has a high spatial (50 m) and temporal (daily) resolution and performs well in validation (RMSEs of 0.70 and 0.69 K and mean biases of +0.41 and −0.19 K for two validation years). The dataset can be used to examine very detailed statistics in space and time, such as first heatwave per year, cumulative heat risks or inter- annual variability. Here, we evaluate the dataset with two application cases regarding urban planning and heat risk assessment, which are of high interest for both researchers and practitioners. Due to potential biases of the low- cost measurement devices during daytime, the dataset is cur-rently limited to night- time temperatures. With minor adaptions, the presented approach is transferable to cities worldwide in order to set a basis for researchers, city administrations and private stakeholders to address their heat mitigation and adaptation strategies
Fixed point actions from convolutional neural networks
Get PDFLattice gauge-equivariant convolutional neural networks (L-CNNs) can be used to form arbitrarily shaped Wilson loops and can approximate any gauge-covariant or gauge-invariant function on the lattice. Here we use L-CNNs to describe fixed point (FP) actions which are based on renormalization group transformations. FP actions are classically perfect, i.e., they have no lattice artifacts on classical gauge-field configurations satisfying the equations of motion, and therefore possess scale invariant instanton solutions. FP actions are tree–level Symanzik–improved to all orders in the lattice spacing and can produce physical predictions with very small lattice artifacts even on coarse lattices. We find that L-CNNs are much more accurate at parametrizing the FP action compared to older approaches. They may therefore provide a way to circumvent critical slowing down and topological freezing towards the continuum limit
Estimates of genetic parameters for rumination time, feed efficiency, and methane production traits in first lactation Holstein cows.
Get PDFThe large-scale recording of traits such as feed efficiency and methane emissions for use in genetic improvement programs is complex, costly, and time-consuming. Therefore, heritable traits that can be continuously recorded in dairy herds and are correlated to feed efficiency and methane emission traits could provide useful information for genetic evaluation. Rumination time has been suggested to be associated with feed efficiency, methane production (methane emission in g/day), and production traits at the phenotypic level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the genetic relationships among rumination time, feed efficiency, methane and production traits using 7,358 records from 656 first lactation Holstein cows. The estimated heritabilities were moderate for rumination time (0.45 ± 0.14), methane production (0.36 ± 0.12), milk yield (0.40 ± 0.08), fat yield (0.29 ± 0.06), protein yield (0.32 ± 0.07), and energy corrected milk (0.28 ± 0.07), while low and non-significant for feed efficiency (0.15 ± 0.07), which was defined as the residual of the multiple linear regression of DMI on ECM and MBW. A favorable negative genetic correlation was estimated between rumination time and methane production (-0.53 ± 0.24), while a positive favorable correlation was estimated between rumination time and energy corrected milk (0.49 ± 0.11). The estimated genetic correlation of rumination time with feed efficiency (-0.01 ± 0.17) was not significantly different from zero but showed a trend of a low correlation with dry matter intake (0.21 ± 0.13, P = 0.11). These results indicate that rumination time is genetically associated with methane production and milk production traits, but high standard errors indicate that further analyses should be conducted to verify these findings when more data for rumination time, methane production and feed efficiency become available
Effect of a 1-year physical activity intervention on quality of life, fatigue, and distress in adult childhood cancer survivors-A randomized controlled trial (SURfit).
Get PDFINTRODUCTION
Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk of experiencing lower quality-of-life, fatigue, and depression. Few randomized controlled trials have studied the effect of physical activity (PA) on these in adult long-term CCS. This study investigated the effect of a 1-year individualized PA intervention on health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL), fatigue, and distress symptoms in adult CCS.
METHODS
The SURfit trial randomized 151 CCS ≥16 years old, <16 at diagnosis and ≥5 years since diagnosis, identified through the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry. Intervention participants received personalized PA counselling to increase intense PA by ≥2.5 h/week for 1 year. Controls maintained usual PA levels. The authors assessed physical- and mental-HRQOL, fatigue, and distress symptoms at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. T-scores were calculated using representative normative populations (mean = 50, standard deviation = 10). Generalized linear mixed-effects models with intention-to-treat (ITT, primary), and three per-protocol allocations were used.
RESULTS
At 12 months, ITT (-3.56 larger decrease, 95% confidence interval -5.69 to -1.43, p = .001) and two per-protocol analyses found significantly lower fatigue. Physical-HRQOL improved significantly in two per-protocol analyses at 12 months. No other effects were found.
CONCLUSION
SURfit showed that increased intense PA over 1 year improved fatigue in adult CCS. Survivors should be recommended PA to reduce the burden of late-effects
Sterile inflammation via TRPM8 RNA-dependent TLR3-NF-kB/IRF3 activation promotes antitumor immunity in prostate cancer.
Get PDFInflammation is a common condition of prostate tissue, whose impact on carcinogenesis is highly debated. Microbial colonization is a well-documented cause of a small percentage of prostatitis cases, but it remains unclear what underlies the majority of sterile inflammation reported. Here, androgen- independent fluctuations of PSA expression in prostate cells have lead us to identify a prominent function of the Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel Subfamily M Member 8 (TRPM8) gene in sterile inflammation. Prostate cells secret TRPM8 RNA into extracellular vesicles (EVs), which primes TLR3/NF-kB-mediated inflammatory signaling after EV endocytosis by epithelial cancer cells. Furthermore, prostate cancer xenografts expressing a translation-defective form of TRPM8 RNA contain less collagen type I in the extracellular matrix, significantly more infiltrating NK cells, and larger necrotic areas as compared to control xenografts. These findings imply sustained, androgen-independent expression of TRPM8 constitutes as a promoter of anticancer innate immunity, which may constitute a clinically relevant condition affecting prostate cancer prognosis
[Imaging in pediatric traumatology and orthopedics].
No full textConventional or digital radiography is still the basis of imaging diagnostics of the skeletal system in pediatric patients. It is considered the gold standard for diagnosis, treatment selection, and follow-up. In addition, procedures such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and also nuclear medicine techniques can and should be used. It is advantageous to use trained radiology technicians who are familiar with the handling of children in X‑ray diagnostics. If there is no dedicated pediatric radiology department, it is recommended to follow the guidelines from radiology societies (as low as reasonably achievable [ALARA]) and radiation protection commissions. The present article describes how state-of-the-art tools such as dose monitoring systems and software-controlled image processing and also postprocessing can be used. The article provides information on how the various modalities can be optimally used in order to achieve the best result, i.e., diagnosis, with the least possible effort and burden for the child
Introducing a free-breathing MRI method to assess peri-operative myocardial oxygenation and function: A volunteer cohort study.
Get PDFBACKGROUND
Induction of general anaesthesia has many potential triggers for peri-operative myocardial ischaemia including the acute disturbance of blood gases that frequently follows alterations in breathing and ventilation patterns. Free-breathing oxygenation-sensitive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (OS-CMR) imaging may provide the opportunity to continuously quantify the impact of such triggers on myocardial oxygenation.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the impact of breathing patterns that simulate induction of general anaesthesia on myocardial oxygenation in awake healthy adults using continuous OS-CMR imaging.
DESIGN
Prospective observational study.
SETTING
Single-centre university hospital. Recruitment from August 2020 to January 2022.
PARTICIPANTS
Thirty-two healthy volunteers younger than 45 years old were recruited. Data were analysed from n = 29 (69% male individuals).
INTERVENTION
Participants performed a simulated induction breathing manoeuvre consisting of 2.5 min paced breathing with a respiration rate of 14 breaths per minute, followed by 5 deep breaths, then apnoea for up to 60s inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner (MRI). Cardiac images were acquired with the traditional OS-CMR sequence (OSbh-cine), which requires apnoea for acquisition and with two free-breathing OS-CMR sequences: a high-resolution single-shot sequence (OSfb-ss) and a real-time cine sequence (OSfb-rtcine).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Myocardial oxygenation response at the end of the paced breathing period and at the 30 s timepoint during the subsequent apnoea, reflecting the time of successful intubation in a clinical setting.
RESULTS
The paced breathing followed by five deep breaths significantly reduced myocardial oxygenation, which was observed with all three techniques (OSbh-cine -6.0 ± 2.6%, OSfb-ss -12.0 ± 5.9%, OSfb-rtcine -5.4 ± 7.0%, all P < 0.05). The subsequent vasodilating stimulus of apnoea then significantly increased myocardial oxygenation (OSbh-cine 6.8 ± 3.1%, OSfb-ss 8.4 ± 5.6%, OSfb-rtcine 15.7 ± 10.0%, all P < 0.01). The free-breathing sequences were reproducible and were not inferior to the original sequence for any stage.
CONCLUSION
Breathing manoeuvres simulating induction of general anaesthesia cause dynamic alterations of myocardial oxygenation in young volunteers, which can be quantified continuously with free-breathing OS-CMR. Introducing these new imaging techniques into peri-operative studies may throw new light into the mechanisms of peri-operative perturbations of myocardial tissue oxygenation and ischaemia.
VISUALABSTRACT
http://links.lww.com/EJA/A922
Increasing age and duration of sex work among female sex workers in South Africa and implications for HIV incidence estimation: Bayesian evidence synthesis and simulation exercise.
Get PDFINTRODUCTION
In sub-Saharan Africa, accurate estimates of the HIV epidemic in female sex workers are crucial for effective prevention and care strategies. These estimates are typically derived from mathematical models that assume certain demographic and behavioural characteristics like age and duration of sex work to remain constant over time. We reviewed this assumption for female sex workers in South Africa.
METHODS
We reviewed studies that reported estimates on either the age or the duration of sex work among female sex workers in South Africa. We used Bayesian hierarchical models to synthesize reported estimates and to study time trends. In a simulation exercise, we also investigated the potential impact of the "constant age and sex work duration"-assumption on estimates of HIV incidence.
RESULTS
We included 24 different studies, conducted between 1996 and 2019, contributing 42 estimates on female sex worker age and 27 estimates on sex work duration. There was evidence suggesting an increase in both the duration of sex work and the age of female sex workers over time. According to the fitted models, over each decade the expected duration of sex work increased by 55.6% (95%-credible interval [CrI]: 23.5%-93.9%) and the expected age of female sex workers increased by 14.3% (95%-CrI: 9.1%-19.1%). Over the 23-year period, the predicted mean duration of sex work increased from 2.7 years in 1996 to 7.4 years in 2019, while the predicted mean age increased from 26.4 years to 32.3 years. Allowing for these time trends in the simulation exercise resulted in a notable decline in estimated HIV incidence rate among sex workers over time. This decline was significantly more pronounced than when assuming a constant age and duration of sex work.
CONCLUSIONS
In South Africa, age and duration of sex work in female sex workers increased over time. While this trend might be influenced by factors like expanding community mobilization and improved rights advocacy, the ongoing criminalisation, stigmatisation of sex work and lack of alternative employment opportunities could also be contributing. It is important to account for these changes when estimating HIV indicators in female sex workers
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