40 research outputs found

    The 1B vaccine strain of Chlamydia abortus produces placental pathology indistinguishable from a wild type infection

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    Chlamydia abortus is one of the most commonly diagnosed causes of infectious abortion in small ruminants worldwide. Control of the disease (Enzootic Abortion of Ewes or EAE) is achieved using the commercial live, attenuated C. abortus 1B vaccine strain, which can be distinguished from virulent wild-type (wt) strains by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Published studies applying this typing method and whole-genome sequence analyses to cases of EAE in vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals have provided strong evidence that the 1B strain is not attenuated and can infect the placenta causing disease in some ewes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterise the lesions found in the placentas of ewes vaccinated with the 1B strain and to compare these to those resulting from a wt infection. A C. abortus-free flock of multiparous adult ewes was vaccinated twice, over three breeding seasons, each before mating, with the commercial C. abortus 1B vaccine strain (Cevac® Chlamydia, Ceva Animal Health Ltd.). In the second lambing season following vaccination, placentas (n = 117) were collected at parturition and analysed by C. abortus-specific real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). Two placentas, from a single ewe, which gave birth to live twin lambs, were found to be positive by qPCR and viable organisms were recovered and identified as vaccine type (vt) by PCR-RFLP, with no evidence of any wt strain being present. All cotyledons from the vt-infected placentas were analysed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry and compared to those from wt-infected placentas. Both vt-infected placentas showed lesions typical of those found in a wt infection in terms of their severity, distribution, and associated intensity of antigen labelling. These results conclusively demonstrate that the 1B strain can infect the placenta, producing typical EAE placental lesions that are indistinguishable from those found in wt infected animals

    Abolishing The Police

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    “This is the first time we are seeing… a conversation about defunding, and some people having a conversation about abolishing the police and prison state. This must be what it felt like when people were talking about abolishing slavery.” – Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter. Abolishing the Police (An Illustrated Introduction) is both a contribution to this conversation and an invitation to join it. It provides rigorous and accessible analyses of why we might want to abolish the police, what abolishing them would involve, and how it might be achieved, introducing readers to the rich existing traditions of anti-police theory and practice. Its authors draw on their diverse on-the-ground experiences of political organising, protest, and resistance to policing in the UK, France, Germany, and the United States, as well as their original research in academic fields ranging from law to security studies, political theory to sociology to public health

    Empirical constraints on extrusion mechanisms from the upper margin of an exhumed high-grade orogenic core, Sutlej valley, NW India

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    The Early–Middle Miocene exhumation of the crystalline core of the Himalaya is a relatively well-understood process compared to the preceding phase of burial and prograde metamorphism in the Eocene–Oligocene. Highly deformed rocks of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) dominate the crystalline core, and feature a strong metamorphic and structural overprint related to the younger exhumation. The Tethyan Sedimentary Series was tectonically separated from the underlying GHS during the Miocene by the South Tibetan Detachment, and records a protracted and complex history of Cenozoic deformation. Unfortunately these typically low-grade or unmetamorphosed rocks generally yield little quantitative pressure–temperature�time information to accompany this deformation history. In parts of the western Himalaya, however, the basal unit of the Tethyan Sedimentary Series (the Haimanta Group) includes pelites metamorphosed to amphibolite facies. This presents a unique opportunity to explore the tectono-thermal evolution of crystalline rocks which record the early history of the orogen. Pressure–temperature�time–deformation (P–T�t–d) paths modelled for two Haimanta Group pelitic rocks reveal three distinct stages of metamorphism: (1) prograde Barrovian metamorphism to 610–620 °C at c. 7–8 kbars, with garnet growing over an early tectonic fabric (S1); (2) initial decompression during heating to 640–660 °C at c. 6–7 kbars, with development of a pervasive crenulation cleavage (S2) and staurolite and kyanite porphyroblast growth; (3) further exhumation during cooling, with minor retrograde metamorphism and modification of the pervasive S2 fabric. Monazite growth ages constrain the timing of initial garnet growth (> 34 Ma), the start of D2 and maximum burial (c. 30 Ma), and the termination of garnet growth (c. 28 Ma). Muscovite Ar/Ar ages indicate cooling through c. 300 °C at c. 13 Ma, from which we derive an initial exhumation rate of c. 1.3 mm year? 1 for the Haimanta Group. The underlying GHS was exhumed at a rate of 2.2 to 3 mm year? 1 during this time. The difference in exhumation rate between these two units is considered to reflect Early Miocene displacement on the intervening South Tibetan Detachment. Slower exhumation (c. 0.6 mm year? 1) of both units after c. 13 Ma followed the cessation of major displacement on this structure, after which time the Haimanta Group and the GHS were exhumed as one relatively coherent tectonic block

    Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

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    Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

    Fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin with gemtuzumab ozogamicin improves event-free survival in younger patients with newly diagnosed aml and overall survival in patients with npm1 and flt3 mutations

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    Purpose To determine the optimal induction chemotherapy regimen for younger adults with newly diagnosed AML without known adverse risk cytogenetics. Patients and Methods One thousand thirty-three patients were randomly assigned to intensified (fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin [FLAG-Ida]) or standard (daunorubicin and Ara-C [DA]) induction chemotherapy, with one or two doses of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Results There was no difference in remission rate after two courses between FLAG-Ida + GO and DA + GO (complete remission [CR] + CR with incomplete hematologic recovery 93% v 91%) or in day 60 mortality (4.3% v 4.6%). There was no difference in OS (66% v 63%; P = .41); however, the risk of relapse was lower with FLAG-Ida + GO (24% v 41%; P < .001) and 3-year event-free survival was higher (57% v 45%; P < .001). In patients with an NPM1 mutation (30%), 3-year OS was significantly higher with FLAG-Ida + GO (82% v 64%; P = .005). NPM1 measurable residual disease (MRD) clearance was also greater, with 88% versus 77% becoming MRD-negative in peripheral blood after cycle 2 (P = .02). Three-year OS was also higher in patients with a FLT3 mutation (64% v 54%; P = .047). Fewer transplants were performed in patients receiving FLAG-Ida + GO (238 v 278; P = .02). There was no difference in outcome according to the number of GO doses, although NPM1 MRD clearance was higher with two doses in the DA arm. Patients with core binding factor AML treated with DA and one dose of GO had a 3-year OS of 96% with no survival benefit from FLAG-Ida + GO. Conclusion Overall, FLAG-Ida + GO significantly reduced relapse without improving OS. However, exploratory analyses show that patients with NPM1 and FLT3 mutations had substantial improvements in OS. By contrast, in patients with core binding factor AML, outcomes were excellent with DA + GO with no FLAG-Ida benefit

    The cultural industries and a model of sustainable regeneration: Manufacturing "pop' in the rhondda valleys of south wales

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    Many UK cities that experienced industrial decline during the 1980s and 1990s have turned increasingly to the cultural industries and the production of consumer culture in an effort to diversify local economies and rebuild local communities. This paper attempts to synthesize a range of academic literature addressing the role of the cultural industries in delivering sustainable regeneration. Literature from geography, leisure studies, tourism studies and cultural studies is reviewed in relation to the wider policy context of urban regeneration, neighbourhood renewal and social inclusion. This paper then evaluates three specific policy issues that have given rise to previous debate. First, the issue of linking national and local policy agendas is discussed; second, the role of the cultural industries in generating and integrating economic and social capital is assessed; and third, the place of "flagship' projects and the role of public-private partnerships is explored. Drawing on and developing guidance from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the paper then proposes a series of 11 principles that can be seen as forming the basis of potentially sustainable cultural projects that can contribute positively towards regeneration, renewal and inclusion. These principles are examined in relation to the case study of The Pop Factory, a recent cultural project developed in South Wales with explicit regeneration, renewal and inclusion objectives. © 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd

    El desarrollo del niño desnutrido : un estudio experimental sobre alimentación temprana

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    El estudio fue un ensayo clínico aleatorio en el que participaron dos cohortes de niños (12 y 18 meses) indonesios en riesgo nutricional; hubo tres suplementos dietéticos: energía alta y micronutrientes; leche descremada y micronutrientes; y leche descremada. Se puso a prueba la hipótesis de que un suplemento de energía y micronutrientes administrado tempranamente, previene el retardo en el crecimiento físico y el desarrollo mental. Se obtuvo que el efecto de la suplementación con energía y micronutrientes en los bebés de 12 meses fue superior al efecto producido por la suplementación con micronutrientes y leche descremada. Los efectos en el grupo que comenzó a los 18 meses fueron menores. Hubo una interacción entre los efectos. Los resultados sugieren que este tipo de intervención en niños desnutridos debe iniciarse durante el primer año de vida

    El desarrollo del niño desnutrido : un estudio experimental sobre alimentación temprana

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    The study was a randomized clinical tria! involving two cohorts (12 and 18 months) of nutritionally at risk Jndonesian children and three types of supplementary feeding: high energy and micronutrients; skimmed milk and micronutrients; and skimmed milk. The hypothesis of the study was that high energy and micronutrient supplements given early to children could delay on physical growing and mental development. The results showed that a combined energy and micronutrient supplement given for ayear to the 12-month-old children had wide range beneficia! effects. The same supplement given to the 18-month-old had only a modest effect. This suggests that if such an intervention is to he effective it needs to begin early in life.El estudio fue un ensayo clínico aleatorio en el que participaron dos cohortes de niños (12 y 18 meses) indonesios en riesgo nutricional; hubo tres suplementos dietéticos: energía alta y micronutrientes; leche descremada y micronutrientes; y leche descremada. Se puso a prueba la hipótesis de que un suplemento de energía y micronutrientes administrado tempranamente, previene el retardo en el crecimiento físico y el desarrollo mental. Se obtuvo que el efecto de la suplementación con energía y micronutrientes en los bebés de 12 meses fue superior al efecto producido por la suplementación con micronutrientes y leche descremada. Los efectos en el grupo que comenzó a los 18 meses fueron menores. Hubo una interacción entre los efectos. Los resultados sugieren que este tipo de intervención en niños desnutridos debe iniciarse durante el primer año de vida
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