28 research outputs found
Operadic formulation of topological vertex algebras and Gerstenhaber or Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras
We give the operadic formulation of (weak, strong) topological vertex
algebras, which are variants of topological vertex operator algebras studied
recently by Lian and Zuckerman. As an application, we obtain a conceptual and
geometric construction of the Batalin-Vilkovisky algebraic structure (or the
Gerstenhaber algebra structure) on the cohomology of a topological vertex
algebra (or of a weak topological vertex algebra) by combining this operadic
formulation with a theorem of Getzler (or of Cohen) which formulates
Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras (or Gerstenhaber algebras) in terms of the homology
of the framed little disk operad (or of the little disk operad).Comment: 42 page
Para-infectious brain injury in COVID-19 persists at follow-up despite attenuated cytokine and autoantibody responses
To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely
Cytology of haematological cells of otariid seals indigenous to Australasian waters
ObjectiveTo characterise the morphology of cells from the blood of otariid seals.
MethodsExamination of blood by light and scanning electron micrcoscopy.
ResultsErythrocytes were typically discocytes. Leukocytes that were recognised included neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils. The morphology varied little between species for neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes. Some variation between species was observed for eosinophils and basophils. Platelets were generally aggregated.
ConclusionThis study provides a guide for the identification of cells from the blood of otariid seals
Evaluation of etorphine and midazolam anesthesia, and the effect of intravenous butorphanol on cardiopulmonary parameters in game-ranched white rhinoceroses (ceratotherium simum)
Nineteen white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum ) were anesthetized with 4 mg of etorphine hydrochloride; 35-40 mg of midazolam; and 7,500 international units of hyaluronidase for dehorning purposes at a game ranch in South Africa, to investigate this anesthetic combination. Median time to recumbency was 548 sec (range 361-787 sec). Good muscle relaxation and no muscle rigidity or tremors were observed in 18 animals, and only 1 individual showed slight tremors. In addition, all animals received butorphanol i.v. 5 min after recumbency at the ratio of 10 mg of butorphanol per 1 mg of etorphine. Blood gas and selected physiologic parameters were measured in the recumbent animal, immediately before and 10 min after the administration of butorphanol. Statistically significant improvements were observed in blood gas physiologic and cardiopulmonary parameters 10 min after the administration of butorphanol, with a reduction in arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate and an increase in pH, arterial partial pressure of oxygen, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate (all P < 0.005). After i.v. naltrexone reversal, recovery was uneventful, and median time to walking or running was 110 sec (range 71-247 sec). The results indicate etorphine and midazolam combination is an effective alternative anesthetic protocol and produces good muscle relaxation. Furthermore, i.v. butorphanol was associated with improved blood gas values and cardiopulmonary function for at least 10 min postinjection.Martine van Zijll Langhout, Charles G.B. Caraguel, Jacobus P. Raath and Wayne S. J. Boardma
Haematological characteristics of captive Parma wallabies ( Macropus parma )
Blood was collected from 31 Parma wallabies from five different captive populations. The morphology of erythrocytes, leucocytes and platelets was similar to that previously described for macropodids. The effects of location (population), anaesthesia and analyser on the haematological characteristics of the wallabies were considered. Location had an affect on many of the values, anaesthesia affected some of the leucocyte values, and analyser had little effect
Rapid detection of bacteria from blood with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Traditional methods for identifying pathogens in bacteremic patients are slow (24-48+ h). This can lead to physicians making treatment decisions based on an incomplete diagnosis and potentially increasing the patient's mortality risk. To decrease time to diagnosis, we have developed a novel technology that can recover viable bacteria directly from whole blood and identify them in less than 7 h. Our technology combines a sample preparation process with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The sample preparation process enriches viable microorganisms from 10 mL of whole blood into a 200 μL aliquot. After a short incubation period, SERS is used to identify the microorganisms. We further demonstrated that SERS can be used as a broad detection method, as it identified a model set of 17 clinical blood culture isolates and microbial reference strains with 100% identification agreement