Aetiology and pathogenesis of reactive arthritis: role of non-antigen-presenting effects of HLA-B27

Spondyloarthropathies are inflammatory diseases closely associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 by unknown mechanisms. One of these diseases is reactive arthritis (ReA), which is typically triggered by Gram-negative bacteria, which have lipopolysaccharide as an integral component of their outer membrane. Several findings in vivo and in vitro obtained from patients with ReA and from different model systems suggest that HLA-B27 modulates the interaction between ReA-triggering bacteria and immune cells by a mechanism unrelated to the antigen presentation function of HLA-B27. In this review we piece together a jigsaw puzzle from the new information obtained from the non-antigen-presenting effects of HLA-B27

Assessment of human influenza pandemic scenarios in Europe

The response to the emergence of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic was the result of a decade of pandemic planning, largely centred on the threat of an avian influenza A(H5N1) pandemic. Based on a literature review, this study aims to define a set of new pandemic scenarios that could be used in case of a future influenza pandemic. A total of 338 documents were identified using a searching strategy based on seven combinations of keywords. Eighty-three of these documents provided useful information on the 13 virus-related and health-system-related parameters initially considered for describing scenarios. Among these, four parameters were finally selected (clinical attack rate, case fatality rate, hospital admission rate, and intensive care admission rate) and four different levels of severity for each of them were set. The definition of six most likely scenarios results from the combination of four different levels of severity of the four final parameters (256 possible scenarios). Although it has some limitations, this approach allows for more flexible scenarios and hence it is far from the classic scenarios structure used for pandemic plans until 2009

Wandzura-Wilczek approximation for the twist-3 DVCS amplitude

We present a derivation of Wandzura-Wilczek (WW) like relations for skewed parton distributions. It is demonstrated for photon-pion scattering that the skewed twist-3 parton distributions contributing to the DVCS amplitude have discontinuities at the points $x=\pm\xi$ in the WW approximation. This may lead to a violation of factorisation for the twist-3 DVCS amplitude with transverse polarization of the virtual photon. We show, however, that the contribution of the divergencies to the scattering of a transversely polarized virtual photon affects DVCS observables only at order $1/Q^2$ and can be neglected at twist-3 accuracy. For the scattering of a longitudinally polarized photon the twist-3 amplitude is free of such divergencies.Comment: 9 pages, no figures (To appear in Phys. Lett. B

Kinematical twist-3 effects in DVCS as a quark spin rotation

We point out that the kinematical twist-3 contributions to the DVCS amplitude, required to restore electromagnetic gauge invariance of the twist-2 amplitude up to O(t/q^2), can be understood as a spin rotation applied to the twist-2 quark density matrix in the target. This allows for a compact representation of the twist-3 effects, as well as for a simple physical interpretation.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 3 eps figures included using eps

An uptake and elimination kinetics approach to assess the bioavailability of chromium, copper, and arsenic to earthworms (Eisenia andrei) in contaminated field soils

The aim of this study was to determine the bioavailability of metals in field soils contaminated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) mixtures. The uptake and elimination kinetics of chromium, copper, and arsenic were assessed in the earthworm Eisenia andrei exposed to soils from a gradient of CCA wood preservative contamination near Hartola, Finland. In soils contaminated with 1480–1590 mg Cr/kg dry soil, 642–791 mg Cu/kg dry soil, and 850–2810 mg Ag/kg dry soil, uptake and elimination kinetics patterns were similar for Cr and Cu. Both metals were rapidly taken up and rapidly excreted by Eisenia andrei with equilibrium reached within 1 day. The metalloid As, however, showed very slow uptake and elimination in the earthworms and body concentrations did not reach equilibrium within 21 days. Bioaccumulation factors (BAF) were low for Cu and Cr (Peer reviewe

Quark Orbital Angular Momentum in the Wandzura-Wilczek Approximation

We show that quark orbital angular momentum is directly related to off-forward correlation functions which include intrinsic transverse momentum corresponding to a derivative with respect to the transverse coordinates. Its possible contribution to scattering processes is therefore of higher twist and vanishes in the forward limit. The relation of OAM to other twist 2 and 3 distributions known in the literature is derived and formalized by an unintegrated sum rule.Comment: 10 pages; Several points clarified, 3 references added, to be published in PL

Toxicity of binary mixtures of Cu, Cr and As to the earthworm Eisenia andrei

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) mixtures were used in the past for wood preservation, leading to large scale soil contamination. This study aimed at contributing to the risk assessment of CCA-contaminated soils by assessing the toxicity of binary mixtures of copper, chromium and arsenic to the earthwormEisenia andreiin OECD artificial soil. Mixture effects were related to reference models of Concentration Addition (CA) and Independent Action (IA) using the MIXTOX model, with effects being related to total and available (H2O and 0.01 M CaCl(2)extractable) concentrations in the soil. Since only in mixtures with arsenic dose-related mortality occurred (LC(50)92.5 mg/kg dry soil), it was not possible to analyze the mixture effects on earthworm survival with the MIXTOX model. EC(50)s for effects of Cu, Cr and As on earthworm reproduction, based on total soil concentrations, were 154, 449 and 9.1 mg/kg dry soil, respectively. Effects of mixtures were mainly antagonistic when related to the CA model but additive related to the IA model. This was the case when mixture effects were based on total and H2O-extractable concentrations; when based on CaCl2-extractable concentrations effects mainly were additive related to the CA model except for the Cr-As mixture which acted antagonistically. These results suggest that the CCA components do interact leading to a reduced toxicity when present in a mixture.Peer reviewe