Community Restoration: A snapshot on how it is obtained and what are the effects?

Community Restoration: A snapshot on how it is obtained and what are the effects? The presentation examines some of the factors to a successful community restoration and what are the end results of a restored community especially when we participate in the process

Adamantane-Resistant Influenza Infection During the 2004–05 Season

Adamantane-resistant influenza A is an emerging problem, but infections caused by resistant and susceptible viruses have not been compared. We identified adamantane resistance in 47% of 152 influenza A virus (H3N2) isolates collected during 2005. Resistant and susceptible viruses caused similar symptoms and illness duration. The prevalence of resistance was highest in children

Effect of xylopic acid on alloxan-induced diabetic neuropathy in rats

Background: Neuropathic pain is a very disturbing condition commonly found in diabetic patients. This study investigated xylopic acid (XA), the major constituent of Xylopia aethiopica in diabetic neuropathy as well as established possible toxicity of the compound on some selected tissues.Methods: Diabetes was induced in six groups of male rats with 120 mg/kg alloxan monohydrate. Diabetes was confirmed as a blood glucose level >15 mmol/dl. Neuropathic pain was confirmed on day three post-diabetes induction and treatment with 10 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg xylopic acid, 10 mg/kg glibenclamide, 10 mg/kg morphine, and 10 ml/kg normal saline were initiated and continued for the next 15 days. The effects of the treatments on cold allodynia (cold water at 4°C) and thermal hyperalgesia (hot water at 55 ± 1°C) were evaluated within the duration of treatments. Histology of the liver and kidney, as well as haematological, serum biochemical, and semen analyses, were done after the fifteenth day of the experiment.Results: Xylopic acid produced significant anti-hyperglycaemic and analgesic effects in the cold allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia tests. Sperm motility, viability and count were significantly restored at 10 mg/kg XA as compared higher doses and negative control. The outcome of haematological analysis revealed a protective effect of XA although histological damage liver and kidney due to alloxan treatment was observable.Conclusions: Xylopic acid ameliorates diabetic neuropathy in rats and does not exert detrimental effects at low doses

MitoNeoD:a mitochondria-targeted superoxide probe

Mitochondrial superoxide (O2⋅−) underlies much oxidative damage and redox signaling. Fluorescent probes can detect O2⋅−, but are of limited applicability in vivo, while in cells their usefulness is constrained by side reactions and DNA intercalation. To overcome these limitations, we developed a dual-purpose mitochondrial O2⋅− probe, MitoNeoD, which can assess O2⋅− changes in vivo by mass spectrometry and in vitro by fluorescence. MitoNeoD comprises a O2⋅−-sensitive reduced phenanthridinium moiety modified to prevent DNA intercalation, as well as a carbon-deuterium bond to enhance its selectivity for O2⋅− over non-specific oxidation, and a triphenylphosphonium lipophilic cation moiety leading to the rapid accumulation within mitochondria. We demonstrated that MitoNeoD was a versatile and robust probe to assess changes in mitochondrial O2⋅− from isolated mitochondria to animal models, thus offering a way to examine the many roles of mitochondrial O2⋅−production in health and disease

The Globular Cluster Systems of the Sculptor Group

We use CTIO 4-m Mosaic II images taken with the Washington $CM$ and Harris $R$ filters to identify candidate globular clusters in the six major galaxies of the Sculptor group: NGC 45, NGC 55, NGC 247, NGC 254, NGC 300, and NGC 7793. From follow-up spectroscopy with Hydra-CTIO, we find 19 new globular clusters in NGC 55, NGC 247, NGC 253, and NGC 300, bringing the total number of known Sculptor group globular clusters to 36. The newly discovered clusters have spectroscopic ages consistent with those of old Milky Way globular clusters, and the majority are metal-poor. Their luminosity function closely resembles that of the Milky Way's globular clusters; their metallicity distribution is somewhat more metal-rich, but this may be the result of our color selection of candidates. The mean [$\alpha$/Fe] ratio in the clusters is $-0.2\pm0.3$, which is lower than the Milky Way average. The specific frequencies $S_N$ are similar to those of other late-type galaxies. However, if we calculate the specific frequency using the $K$-band total magnitudes of the host galaxies, we find values that are more than a factor of two higher. The kinematics of the globular cluster systems are consistent with rotation with the \ion{H}{1} disk in each of the four galaxies; however, only in NGC 253 is this result based on more than seven objects. We suggest that the Sculptor group galaxies add to evidence indicating that many of the first generation globular clusters formed in disks, not halos.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, 7 Tables. Full Table 3 available electronically at http://www.ctio.noao.edu/~olsen/tab3.tex. To appear in May 2004 issue of the Astronomical Journa

Open Data and Digital Morphology

Over the past two decades, the development of methods for visualizing and analysing specimens digitally, in three and even four dimensions, has transformed the study of living and fossil organisms. However, the initial promise that the widespread application of such methods would facilitate access to the underlying digital data has not been fully achieved. The underlying datasets for many published studies are not readily or freely available, introducing a barrier to verification and reproducibility, and the reuse of data. There is no current agreement or policy on the amount and type of data that should be made available alongside studies that use, and in some cases are wholly reliant on, digital morphology. Here, we propose a set of recommendations for minimum standards and additional best practice for three-dimensional digital data publication, and review the issues around data storage, management and accessibility

Numerical analysis of wavefront aberration correction using multielectrode electrowetting-based devices.

We present numerical simulations of multielectrode electrowetting devices used in a novel optical design to correct wavefront aberration. Our optical system consists of two multielectrode devices, preceded by a single fixed lens. The multielectrode elements function as adaptive optical devices that can be used to correct aberrations inherent in many imaging setups, biological samples, and the atmosphere. We are able to accurately simulate the liquid-liquid interface shape using computational fluid dynamics. Ray tracing analysis of these surfaces shows clear evidence of aberration correction. To demonstrate the strength of our design, we studied three different input aberrations mixtures that include astigmatism, coma, trefoil, and additional higher order aberration terms, with amplitudes as large as one wave at 633 nm

Radiographers supporting radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography: a viable strategy to meet the shortage in the number of radiologists.

BackgroundAn alternative approach to the traditional model of radiologists interpreting screening mammography is necessary due to the shortage of radiologists to interpret screening mammograms in many countries.MethodsWe evaluated the performance of 15 Mexican radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, in the interpretation of screening mammography after a 6 months training period in a screening setting. Fifteen radiographers received 6 months standardized training with radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) system. A challenging test set of 110 cases developed by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium was used to evaluate their performance. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, false positive rates, likelihood ratio of a positive test (LR+) and the area under the subject-specific Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for diagnostic accuracy. A mathematical model simulating the consequences in costs and performance of two hypothetical scenarios compared to the status quo in which a radiologist reads all screening mammograms was also performed.ResultsRadiographer's sensitivity was comparable to the sensitivity scores achieved by U.S. radiologists who took the test but their false-positive rate was higher. Median sensitivity was 73.3 % (Interquartile range, IQR: 46.7-86.7 %) and the median false positive rate was 49.5 % (IQR: 34.7-57.9 %). The median LR+ was 1.4 (IQR: 1.3-1.7 %) and the median AUC was 0.6 (IQR: 0.6-0.7). A scenario in which a radiographer reads all mammograms first, and a radiologist reads only those that were difficult for the radiographer, was more cost-effective than a scenario in which either the radiographer or radiologist reads all mammograms.ConclusionsGiven the comparable sensitivity achieved by Mexican radiographers and U.S. radiologists on a test set, screening mammography interpretation by radiographers appears to be a possible adjunct to radiologists in countries with shortages of radiologists. Further studies are required to assess the effectiveness of different training programs in order to obtain acceptable screening accuracy, as well as the best approaches for the use of non-physician readers to interpret screening mammography

ENIGMA and global neuroscience: A decade of large-scale studies of the brain in health and disease across more than 40 countries.

This review summarizes the last decade of work by the ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta Analysis) Consortium, a global alliance of over 1400 scientists across 43 countries, studying the human brain in health and disease. Building on large-scale genetic studies that discovered the first robustly replicated genetic loci associated with brain metrics, ENIGMA has diversified into over 50 working groups (WGs), pooling worldwide data and expertise to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience, psychiatry, neurology, and genetics. Most ENIGMA WGs focus on specific psychiatric and neurological conditions, other WGs study normal variation due to sex and gender differences, or development and aging; still other WGs develop methodological pipelines and tools to facilitate harmonized analyses of "big data" (i.e., genetic and epigenetic data, multimodal MRI, and electroencephalography data). These international efforts have yielded the largest neuroimaging studies to date in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. More recent ENIGMA WGs have formed to study anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts and behavior, sleep and insomnia, eating disorders, irritability, brain injury, antisocial personality and conduct disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Here, we summarize the first decade of ENIGMA's activities and ongoing projects, and describe the successes and challenges encountered along the way. We highlight the advantages of collaborative large-scale coordinated data analyses for testing reproducibility and robustness of findings, offering the opportunity to identify brain systems involved in clinical syndromes across diverse samples and associated genetic, environmental, demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors

Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV

The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA > 72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European Physical Journal