Detection of Babesia divergens in southern Norway by using an immunofluorescence antibody test in cow sera

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of bovine babesiosis, caused by <it>Babesia divergens </it>(Apicomplexa: Piroplasmida) has decreased markedly since the 1930 s, but may re-emerge as a consequence of climate change and changes in legislation and pasturing practices. This is a potentially serious disease, with both economical and animal welfare consequences. Therefore, there is a need to survey the distribution of <it>B. divergens</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We tested sera from 306 healthy pastured cows from 24 farms along the southern Norwegian coast by using an indirect immunofluorescence IgG antibody test (IFAT). Fractions of seropositive cows were compared by calculating 95% CI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of this test showed that 27% of the sera were positive for <it>B. divergens </it>antibodies. The fraction of antibody-positive sera that we detected showed a two-humped distribution, with a high fraction of positives being found in municipalities in the western and eastern parts of the study area, while the municipalities between these areas had few or no positive serum samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Neither the farmers' observations nor the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System give an adequate picture of the distribution of bovine babesiosis. Serological testing of cows by using IFAT is a convenient way of screening for the presence of <it>B. divergens </it>in an area.</p

Constraining photon-axion oscillations using quasar spectra

Using quasar spectra from the SDSS survey, we constrain the possibility of photon-axion oscillations as a source of dimming of high redshift objects. Such a process has been suggested as an explanation of the apparent faintness of distant Type Ia supernovae. For most combinations of magnetic field strengths and plasma densities along the line of sight, large beam attenuations in broad band filters would also lead to significant differential attenuation, not observed in the quasar sample. However, this conservative study does not exclude the possibility of 0.1 mag dimming of Type Ia supernovae for average plasma densities n_e = 10^(-8) cm^(-3). NIR and MIR spectroscopic studies of high-z sources may be used put further constrains or provide indirect evidence for the existence of a very light axion.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Full characterization of vibrational coherence in a porphyrin chromophore by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

In this work we present experimental and calculated two-dimensional electronic spectra for a 5,15-bisalkynyl porphyrin chromophore. The lowest energy electronic Qy transition couples mainly to a single 380 cm–1 vibrational mode. The two-dimensional electronic spectra reveal diagonal and cross peaks which oscillate as a function of population time. We analyze both the amplitude and phase distribution of this main vibronic transition as a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Even though Feynman diagrams provide a good indication of where the amplitude of the oscillating components are located in the excitation-detection plane, other factors also affect this distribution. Specifically, the oscillation corresponding to each Feynman diagram is expected to have a phase that is a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Therefore, the overall phase of the experimentally observed oscillation will reflect this phase dependence. Another consequence is that the overall oscillation amplitude can show interference patterns resulting from overlapping contributions from neighboring Feynman diagrams. These observations are consistently reproduced through simulations based on third order perturbation theory coupled to a spectral density described by a Brownian oscillator model

Origin of Long Lived Coherences in Light-Harvesting Complexes

A vibronic exciton model is developed to investigate the origin of long lived coherences in light-harvesting complexes. Using experimentally determined parameters and uncorrelated site energy fluctuations, the model predicts oscillations in the nonlinear spectra of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex with a dephasing time of 1.3 ps at 77 K. These oscillations correspond to the coherent superposition of vibronic exciton states with dominant contributions from vibrational excitations on the same pigment. Purely electronic coherences are found to decay on a 200 fs timescale.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Effective suckling in relation to naked maternal-infant body contact in the first hour of life: an observation study

Background Best practice guidelines to promote breastfeeding suggest that (i) mothers hold their babies in naked body contact immediately after birth, (ii) babies remain undisturbed for at least one hour and (iii) breastfeeding assistance be offered during this period. Few studies have closely observed the implementation of these guidelines in practice. We sought to evaluate these practices on suckling achievement within the first hour after birth. Methods Observations of seventy-eight mother-baby dyads recorded newborn feeding behaviours, the help received by mothers and birthing room practices each minute, for sixty minutes. Results Duration of naked body contact between mothers and their newborn babies varied widely from 1 to 60 minutes, as did commencement of suckling (range = 10 to 60 minutes). Naked maternal-infant body contact immediately after birth, uninterrupted for at least thirty minutes did not predict effective suckling within the first hour of birth. Newborns were four times more likely to sustain deep rhythmical suckling when their chin made contact with their mother’s breast as they approached the nipple (OR 3.8; CI 1.03 - 14) and if their mothers had given birth previously (OR 6.7; CI 1.35 - 33). Infants who had any naso-oropharyngeal suctioning administered at birth were six times less likely to suckle effectively (OR .176; CI .04 - .9). Conclusion Effective suckling within the first hour of life was associated with a collection of practices including infants positioned so their chin can instinctively nudge the underside of their mother’s breast as they approach to grasp the nipple and attach to suckle. The best type of assistance provided in the birthing room that enables newborns to sustain an effective latch was paying attention to newborn feeding behaviours and not administering naso-oropharyngeal suction routinely

Breast feeding and intergenerational social mobility: what are the mechanisms?

Objective To investigate the association between breast feeding and intergenerational social mobility and the possible mediating role of neurological and stress mechanisms. Design Secondary analysis of data from the 1958 and the 1970 British Cohort Studies. Setting Longitudinal study of individuals born in Britain during 1 week in 1958 and 1970. Participants 17 419 individuals participated in the 1958 cohort and 16 771 in the 1970 cohort. The effect of breast feeding on intergenerational social mobility from age 10/11 to age 33/34 was analysed after multiple imputations to fill in missing data and propensity score matching on a wide range of confounders measured in childhood (1958 cohort N=16 039-16 154; 1970 cohort N=16 255-16 361). Main outcome measures Own Registrar General's Social Class (RGSC) at 33/34 years adjusted for father's RGSC at 10/11 years, gender and their interaction. Results Breastfed individuals were more likely to be upwardly mobile (1958 cohort: OR 1.24 95% CI 1.12 to 1.38; 1970 cohort: OR 1.24 95% CI 1.12 to 1.37) and less likely to be downwardly mobile (1958 cohort: OR 0.81 95% CI 0.73 to 0.90; 1970 cohort: OR 0.79 95% CI 0.71 to 0.88). In an ordinal regression model, markers of neurological development (cognitive test scores) and stress (emotional stress scores) accounted for approximately 36% of the relationship between breast feeding and social mobility. Conclusions Breast feeding increased the odds of upward social mobility and decreased the odds of downward mobility. Consistent with a causal explanation, the findings were robust to matching on a large number of observable variables and effect sizes were alike for two cohorts with different social distributions of breast feeding. The effect was mediated in part through neurological and stress mechanisms

Photon echo studies of photosynthetic light harvesting

The broad linewidths in absorption spectra of photosynthetic complexes obscure information related to their structure and function. Photon echo techniques represent a powerful class of time-resolved electronic spectroscopy that allow researchers to probe the interactions normally hidden under broad linewidths with sufficient time resolution to follow the fastest energy transfer events in light harvesting. Here, we outline the technical approach and applications of two types of photon echo experiments: the photon echo peak shift and two-dimensional (2D) Fourier transform photon echo spectroscopy. We review several extensions of these techniques to photosynthetic complexes. Photon echo peak shift spectroscopy can be used to determine the strength of coupling between a pigment and its surrounding environment including neighboring pigments and to quantify timescales of energy transfer. Two-dimensional spectroscopy yields a frequency-resolved map of absorption and emission processes, allowing coupling interactions and energy transfer pathways to be viewed directly. Furthermore, 2D spectroscopy reveals structural information such as the relative orientations of coupled transitions. Both classes of experiments can be used to probe the quantum mechanical nature of photosynthetic light-harvesting: peak shift experiments allow quantification of correlated energetic fluctuations between pigments, while 2D techniques measure quantum beating directly, both of which indicate the extent of quantum coherence over multiple pigment sites in the protein complex. The mechanistic and structural information obtained by these techniques reveals valuable insights into the design principles of photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes, and a multitude of variations on the methods outlined here

Nutritional status and functional capacity of hospitalized elderly

Background: The nutritional status of the aging individual results from a complex interaction between personal and environmental factors. A disease influences and is influenced by the nutritional status and the functional capacity of the individual. We asses the relationship between nutritional status and indicators of functional capacity among recently hospitalized elderly in a general hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done with 240 elderly (women, n = 127 and men, n = 113) hospitalized in a hospital that provides care for the public and private healthcare systems. The nutritional status was classified by the MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment) into: malnourished, risk of malnutrition and without malnutrition (adequate). The functional autonomy indicators were obtained by the self-reported Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) questionnaire. The chi-square test was used to compare the proportions and the level of significance was 5%.Results: Among the assessed elderly, 33.8% were classified as adequate regarding nutritional status; 37.1% were classified as being at risk of malnutrition and 29.1% were classified as malnourished. All the IADL and ADL variables assessed were significantly more deteriorated among the malnourished individuals. Among the ADL variables, eating partial (42.9%) or complete (12.9%) dependence was found in more than half of the malnourished elderly, in 13.4% of those at risk of malnutrition and in 2.5% of those without malnutrition.Conclusion: There is an interrelationship between the nutritional status of the elderly and reduced functional capacity

Magnetic Field Generation in Stars

Enormous progress has been made on observing stellar magnetism in stars from the main sequence through to compact objects. Recent data have thrown into sharper relief the vexed question of the origin of stellar magnetic fields, which remains one of the main unanswered questions in astrophysics. In this chapter we review recent work in this area of research. In particular, we look at the fossil field hypothesis which links magnetism in compact stars to magnetism in main sequence and pre-main sequence stars and we consider why its feasibility has now been questioned particularly in the context of highly magnetic white dwarfs. We also review the fossil versus dynamo debate in the context of neutron stars and the roles played by key physical processes such as buoyancy, helicity, and superfluid turbulence,in the generation and stability of neutron star fields. Independent information on the internal magnetic field of neutron stars will come from future gravitational wave detections. Thus we maybe at the dawn of a new era of exciting discoveries in compact star magnetism driven by the opening of a new, non-electromagnetic observational window. We also review recent advances in the theory and computation of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as it applies to stellar magnetism and dynamo theory. These advances offer insight into the action of stellar dynamos as well as processes whichcontrol the diffusive magnetic flux transport in stars.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures. Invited review chapter on on magnetic field generation in stars to appear in Space Science Reviews, Springe