4,848 research outputs found
Molecular Identification of Eimeria Species in Broiler Chickens in Trinidad, West Indies
Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease of chickens of major economic importance to broiler industries worldwide. Species of coccidia found in chickens include Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria brunetti, Eimeria maxima, Eimeria mitis, Eimeria necatrix, Eimeria praecox, and Eimeria tenella. In recent years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been developed to provide accurate and rapid identification of the seven known Eimeria species of chickens. The aim of this study was to use species-specific real-time PCR (qPCR) to identify which of the seven Eimeria species are present in Trinidad poultry. Seventeen pooled fecal samples were collected from 6 broiler farms (2–5 pens per farm) across Trinidad. Feces were also collected from birds showing clinical signs of coccidiosis in two live bird markets (pluck shops). qPCR revealed the presence of five species of Eimeria (E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. mitis, E. necatrix, and E. tenella), but not E. brunetti or E. praecox. Mixed infections were detected on all broiler farms, and DNA of two highly pathogenic Eimeria species (E. tenella and E. necatrix) was detected in feces taken from clinically sick birds sampled from the two pluck shops
The Two-Dimensional S=1 Quantum Heisenberg Antiferromagnet at Finite Temperatures
The temperature dependence of the correlation length, susceptibilities and
the magnetic structure factor of the two-dimensional spin-1 square lattice
quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet are computed by the quantum Monte Carlo loop
algorithm (QMC). In the experimentally relevant temperature regime the
theoretically predicted asymptotic low temperature behavior is found to be not
valid. The QMC results however, agree reasonably well with the experimental
measurements of La2NiO4 even without considering anisotropies in the exchange
interactions.Comment: 4 Pages, 1 table, 4 figure
Rates of knee arthroplasty within one-year of undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy in England:temporal trends, regional and age-group variation in conversion rates
Objective The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of patients undergoing arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) then subsequently receiving a knee arthroplasty within one or two years, with focus on patients over the age of 60 years and regional variation.
Methods Patients undergoing APM in England over 20-years (01-April-1997 to 31-March 2017) were identified in the national Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). The proportion of patients undergoing arthroplasty in the same knee within one or two years of APM was determined and trends were analysed over time nationally and by NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) region.
Results 806,195 APM patients were eligible for analysis with at least one-year of follow up and 746,630 with two-years. The odds of arthroplasty conversion within one year increased over the study period (odds ratio [OR] 3.10 within 1-year in 2014 vs 2000; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.75–3.50). For patients undergoing APM aged 60 years or older in 2015–16, 9.9% (1689/17,043; 95% CI 9.5–10.4) underwent arthroplasty within 1-year and, in 2014–15, 16.6% (3100/18,734; 95% CI 16.0–17.1) underwent arthroplasty within 2-years. There was greater than 10-fold variation by CCG.
Conclusions Over the study period, the proportion of patients undergoing arthroplasty within one-year of APM increased. In 2015–16, of patients aged 60 years or older who underwent APM, 10% subsequently underwent knee arthroplasty within one year (17% within two years in 2014–15) and there was a high level of regional variation in this outcome. The development and adoption of national treatment guidance is recommended to improve and standardise treatment selection.</p
Atypical anorexia nervosa: a scoping review to determine priorities in research and clinical practice
Background
There is currently a limited understanding of the identification, nature, and treatment of Atypical Anorexia Nervosa (AAN). Recent systematic reviews have identified only small numbers of candidate papers, and some areas lack any meaningful review so far – particularly treatment outcomes. A key issue is the lack of clarity in the literature regarding the definition of weight loss criteria.
Objectives
This scoping review aimed to determine the nature and extent of our knowledge of AAN, in order to assist in the development of future systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as well as indicating what further research is needed.
Method
Following the identification of 6747 records, 317 records using the term AAN or a defined equivalent were identified from six databases, including the ‘grey’ literature.
Results
Of the 317 studies, 111 provided participant characteristics, and only 10 provided discrete treatment outcomes. Each of these subsets of the data are tabulated and supported with supplementary material, so that future systematic reviewers can access this resource.
Discussion
The pattern and content of the existing studies allows recommendations to be made regarding future reviews, research and clinical practice. There is a particular need for clear weight/weight loss criteria and adequate interventions
QCD as a Quantum Link Model
QCD is constructed as a lattice gauge theory in which the elements of the
link matrices are represented by non-commuting operators acting in a Hilbert
space. The resulting quantum link model for QCD is formulated with a fifth
Euclidean dimension, whose extent resembles the inverse gauge coupling of the
resulting four-dimensional theory after dimensional reduction. The inclusion of
quarks is natural in Shamir's variant of Kaplan's fermion method, which does
not require fine-tuning to approach the chiral limit. A rishon representation
in terms of fermionic constituents of the gluons is derived and the quantum
link Hamiltonian for QCD with a U(N) gauge symmetry is expressed in terms of
glueball, meson and constituent quark operators. The new formulation of QCD is
promising both from an analytic and from a computational point of view.Comment: 27 pages, including three figures. ordinary LaTeX; Submitted to Nucl.
Phys.
New Experimental limit on Optical Photon Coupling to Neutral, Scalar Bosons
We report on the first results of a sensitive search for scalar coupling of
photons to a light neutral boson in the mass range of approximately 1.0
milli-electron volts and coupling strength greater than 10 GeV using
optical photons. This was a photon regeneration experiment using the "light
shining through a wall" technique in which laser light was passed through a
strong magnetic field upstream of an optical beam dump; regenerated laser light
was then searched for downstream of a second magnetic field region optically
shielded from the former. Our results show no evidence for scalar coupling in
this region of parameter space.Comment: pdf-file, 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Astrophysical S-factors for fusion reactions involving C, O, Ne and Mg isotopes
Using the Sao Paulo potential and the barrier penetration formalism we have
calculated the astrophysical factor S(E) for 946 fusion reactions involving
stable and neutron-rich isotopes of C, O, Ne, and Mg for center-of-mass
energies E varying from 2 MeV to 18-30 MeV (covering the range below and above
the Coulomb barrier). We have parameterized the energy dependence S(E) by an
accurate universal 9-parameter analytic expression and present tables of fit
parameters for all the reactions. We also discuss the reduced 3-parameter
version of our fit which is highly accurate at energies below the Coulomb
barrier, and outline the procedure for calculating the reaction rates. The
results can be easily converted to thermonuclear or pycnonuclear reaction rates
to simulate various nuclear burning phenomena, in particular, stellar burning
at high temperatures and nucleosynthesis in high density environments.Comment: 30 pages including 11 tables, 4 figures, ADNDT, accepte
- …