Low-energy particle events associated with sector boundaries

Onsets of some 40 to 45 low-energy proton events during the years 1957–1969 coincided in time with transits of well-defined sector boundaries across the Earth. These events can be interpreted as long-lived proton streams filling up some of the magnetic sectors, indicating an acceleration of protons which is not associated with typical proton-producing flares. The sharp onsets of these particle streams, as well as a deficiency of flare-associated particle events shortly before the boundary transit, indicate that in some cases magnetic sector boundaries can inhibit transverse propagation of low-energy particles in the solar corona or in interplanetary space.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43744/1/11207_2004_Article_BF00155310.pd

Increased epithelial cell proliferation in the ileal pouch mucosa of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis

To eliminate the risk of colorectal cancer in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), reconstructive proctocolectomy is performed. Although most colonic mucosa is resected during the ileal pouch anal anastomosis, adenomas and carcinomas may develop in the pouch. This may be caused by altered cell kinetics due to intraluminal changes in the pouch. In 32 patients with FAP, biopsy specimens from the mucosa of the pouch and also of the afferent ileal loop were taken. Tissue sections were immunohistochemically processed with the monoclonal antibodies M30 and MIB-1 to assess apoptotic and proliferative indices, respectively. Cell proliferation was also assessed by a modified sign test. There were no significant differences in apoptotic rates between the mucosa of the pouch and the mucosa of the afferent ileal loop. However, cell proliferation was significantly higher in the mucosa of the pouch vs afferent ileal loop, both by using the quantitative (68.3% vs 61.6%, p = 0.001) and semiquantitative methods (p < 0.05). Our newly developed semiquantitative approach outperformed previously described methods. The higher cell proliferation in the pouch as compared to the afferent ileal loop may contribute to the increased risk for adenomas and carcinomas in the pouch of patients with FAP and emphasizes the need for regular endoscopic surveillance

Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis using nine in silico predicted B-cell epitopes peptides derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins

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Evaluation of a multi-antigen test based on B-cell epitope peptides for the serodiagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

SETTING: Two sample panels: 1) 20 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 10 healthy subjects from a country with a low incidence of TB (Italy); and 2) 47 PTB patients and 26 healthy subjects from a country with a high incidence of TB (Morocco). OBJECTIVE: To identify a combination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis peptides useful for the serodiagnosis of active PTB. METHODS: Fifty-seven B-cell epitope peptides of M. tuberculosis were evaluated by immunoenzymatic assay and the data were analysed using logistic regression analysis and the random forest method. RESULTS: The best discriminating peptide between PTB patients and healthy subjects from the sample of the low TB incidence country was the 23 amino acid peptide of the Rv3878 protein. The sensitivity and specificity were respectively 65% and 100%. The same peptide had a sensitivity and specificity of respectively 47% and 100% for the sample from the high TB incidence country. The best combination of peptides was a pool of nine peptides which had a sensitivity of 70.2% and a specificity of 100% in the high TB incidence country. CONCLUSIONS: The 9-peptide pool can be useful in identifying patients with active PTB