Role of Serum Amyloid P Component in Immune Clearance

In order to clarify the mechanism of interaction of serum amyloid P component (SAP) with complement, the interaction of SAP with Clq was studied. It is known that SAP binds Sepharose 4B in the presence of calcium. 125I-Clq was retained on the Sepharose when purified 125I-Clq was incubated with SAP prior to affinity chromatography on Sepharose. In the absence of SAP, the 125I-Clq was not retained. To further examine the interaction of SAP with Clq, SAP was incubated at varying ratios with Clq. These mixtures were examined via crossed immunoelectro-immunoelectrophoresis against goat anti-SAP. A change in the electrophoretic behavior of SAP was observed in the presence of Clq. It was found that SAP interacted with the collagen-like stem of Clq. In these studies, 125I-SAP was incubated with pepsin digests of Clq in a microtitre solid-phase binding assay. In addition, a microtitre solid-phase binding assay was utilized in order to investigate the possible binding of SAP with IgG. Interestingly, human IgG and Fab2, but not Fc2, were found to bind 125I-SAP. Furthermore, 125I-SAP-IgG complexes bound to immobilized Clq, whereas 125I-SAP-Clq complexes demonstrated significantly less binding to IgG. The ability of SAP to activate complement as detected by C3 conversion was studied. It was found that SAP activated complement to a limited extent in normal human serum but caused extensive C3 conversion when serum from an individual with decreased levels of Cl inhibitor was used. Furthermore, the activation of the complement pathway by SAP in the latter serum was reversed by the addition of exogenous Cl inhibitor, indicating that SAP has the ability to play a role in the regulation of complement via the classical pathway

Multidimensional Coherent Spectroscopy of a Semiconductor Microcavity

Rephasing and non-rephasing two-dimensional coherent spectra map the anti-crossing associated with normal-mode splitting in a semiconductor microcavity. For a 12-meV detuning range near zero detuning, it is observed that there are two diagonal features related to the intra-action of exciton-polariton branches and two off-diagonal features related to coherent interaction between the polaritons. At negative detuning, the lineshape properties of the diagonal intra-action features are distinguishable and can be associated with cavity-like and exciton-like modes. A biexcitonic companion feature is observed, shifted from the exciton feature by the biexciton binding energy. Closer to zero detuning, all features are enhanced and the diagonal intra-action features become nearly equal in amplitude and linewidth. At positive detuning the exciton- and cavity-like characteristics return to the diagonal intra-action features. Off-diagonal interaction features exhibit asymmetry in their amplitudes throughout the detuning range. The amplitudes are strongly modulated (and invert) at small positive detuning, as the lower polariton branch crosses the bound biexciton energy determined from negative detuning spectra.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Little Shaking Quakers

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2017/thumbnail.jp

Valuation of aircraft noise by time of day: a comparison of two approaches

This paper reports an innovative application of stated preference techniques to derive values of aircraft noise by time of day and day of week. Revealed preference techniques cannot provide such segmentations which would clearly be of use in policy development especially relating to airport operations. Given the lack of research on this issue the work reported here is highly experimental. Two stated preference experiments were designed. The first focussed on a single time period whilst the second asked respondents to trade between time periods. Both approaches yielded results that are plausible and mutually consistent in terms of relative values by time period. We conclude that stated preference techniques are particularly useful in this context where the use of aggregated values may lead to non-optimal policy decisions

Stated choice valuation of traffic related noise

This paper reports a novel application of the stated choice method to the valuation of road traffic noise. The innovative context used is that of choice between apartments with different levels of traffic noise, view, sunlight and cost with which respondents would be familiar. Stated choice models were developed on both perceived and objective measures of traffic noise, with the former statistically superior, and an extensive econometric analysis has been conducted to assess the nature and extent of householders’ heterogeneity of preferences for noise. This found that random taste variation is appreciable but also identified considerable systematic variation in valuations according to income level, household composition and exposure to noise. Self-selectivity is apparent, whereby those with higher marginal values of noise tend to live in quieter apartments. Sign and reference effects were apparent in the relationship between ratings and objective noise measures, presumably reflecting the non-linear nature of the latter. However, there was no strong support for sign, size or reference effects in the valuations of perceived noise levels

Signatures of four-particle correlations associated with exciton-carrier interactions in coherent spectroscopy on bulk GaAs

Transient four-wave mixing studies of bulk GaAs under conditions of broad bandwidth excitation of primarily interband transitions have enabled four-particle correlations tied to degenerate (exciton-exciton) and nondegenerate (exciton-carrier) interactions to be studied. Real two-dimensional Fourier-transform spectroscopy (2DFTS) spectra reveal a complex response at the heavy-hole exciton emission energy that varies with the absorption energy, ranging from dispersive on the diagonal, through absorptive for low-energy interband transitions to dispersive with the opposite sign for interband transitions high above band gap. Simulations using a multilevel model augmented by many-body effects provide excellent agreement with the 2DFTS experiments and indicate that excitation-induced dephasing (EID) and excitation-induced shift (EIS) affect degenerate and nondegenerate interactions equivalently, with stronger exciton-carrier coupling relative to exciton-exciton coupling by approximately an order of magnitude. These simulations also indicate that EID effects are three times stronger than EIS in contributing to the coherent response of the semiconductor

Two successful pregnancies following fertility preservation in a patient with anaplastic astrocytoma: a case report

Abstract Background Astrocytomas are the most common malignant glial tumors. With improved prognosis, it is possible for patients to pursue pregnancy post-treatment. However, with potential gonadotoxicity of oncology treatments, fertility preservation prior to chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy should be considered. This requires close collaboration between the oncologist and reproductive endocrinologist. To our knowledge this is the first report of successful pregnancies following fertility preservation for AA. Case presentation 33-year-old nulligravid woman with newly diagnosed anaplastic astrocytoma (AA; WHO grade III, IDH1-negative) sought fertility preservation. Prior to chemotherapy and radiation for AA, the patient underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) for fertility preservation, resulting in 8 vitrified embryos. Following chemo-radiation, the patient underwent two rounds of frozen embryo transfers (FET), each resulting in a successful singleton pregnancy. Conclusion This case illustrates the realistic possibility, in carefully selected patients with brain tumors, of oocyte or embryo cryo-preservation prior to chemo-radiation and subsequent pregnancies

The rural mother's experience of caring for a child with a chronic health condition: An integrative review

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aims and objectives: To identify and review the literature on rural mothers’ experiences in caring for a child with a chronic health condition. Background: Families living with a child who has a chronic health condition experience many challenges; these are often amplified for families living in rural areas, where issues such as the distance from services add further challenges the family must manage. Like many children, rural children with chronic health conditions are primarily cared for by their mothers. The additional strain of geography creates its own unique experiences for mothers who need to access the high-quality care that their child requires. Design: Integrative literature review using the Equator PRISMA guidelines. Methods: A search of databases; Cochrane, CINAHL, Ovid, PubMed, ProQuest Health and Medicine, Informit and Scopus for studies published between 2005–2016 using an integrative review approach. A total of 1,484 studies were identified with an additional six studies found through snowballing. The search resulted in seven studies being meeting the inclusion criteria after using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. Results: Data from the seven articles were analysed, and the mothers’ experiences were synthesised into five themes: “struggling for resources,” “barriers in accessing services,” “strain of decision-making,” “mother's physical and emotional breakdown” and “the daily management of family activities”. These five themes formed the basis of this article. Conclusions: The findings indicate that mothers from rural areas face additional barriers related to their rurality, including transportation difficulties, socioeconomic status and social isolation, and are challenged by limited access to specialty medical services, educators and allied health professionals. The literature review outcome will assist in informing nursing practice through identifying and allocating resources to reduce these barriers; rural mother experience will assist in enabling the child to reach their full developmental potential. Relevance to clinical practice: There is a need for health professionals to understand the challenges and barriers rural mothers face in accessing services. Nurses can assist rural mothers to navigate and access the appropriate services in order to reduce health inequity, increase accessibility to services and reduce rural disadvantage for their child. Nurses and health professionals are in an ideal position to develop future models of care that optimise health outcomes and enable equity and access to services for rural children with chronic conditions similar to those experienced by their urban counterparts