695 research outputs found
Dihydropteroate synthase gene mutations in Pneumocystis and sulfa resistance
Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) remains a major cause of illness and death in HIV-infected persons. Sulfa drugs, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and dapsone are mainstays of PCP treatment and prophylaxis. While prophylaxis has reduced the incidence of PCP, its use has raised concerns about development of resistant organisms. The inability to culture human Pneumocystis, Pneumocystis jirovecii, in a standardized culture system prevents routine susceptibility testing and detection of drug resistance. In other microorganisms, sulfa drug resistance has resulted from specific point mutations in the dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) gene. Similar mutations have been observed in P. jirovecii. Studies have consistently demonstrated a significant association between the use of sulfa drugs for PCP prophylaxis and DHPS gene mutations. Whether these mutations confer resistance to TMP-SMX or dapsone plus trimethoprim for PCP treatment remains unclear. We review studies of DHPS mutations in P. jirovecii and summarize the evidence for resistance to sulfamethoxazole and dapsone
Post-Prior discrepancies in CDW-EIS calculations for ion impact ionization fully differential cross sections
In this work we present fully differential cross sections (FDCSs)
calculations using post and prior version of CDW--EIS theory for helium single
ionization by 100 MeV C amu and 3.6 MeV amu Au and
Au ions. We performed our calculations for different momentum transfer
and ejected electron energies. The influence of internuclear potential on the
ejected electron spectra is taken into account in all cases. We compare our
calculations with absolute experimental measurements. It is shown that prior
version calculations give better agreement with experiments in almost all
studied cases.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
The UNSW Extrasolar Planet Search: Methods and First Results from a Field Centred on NGC 6633
We report on the current status of the University of New South Wales
Extrasolar Planet Search project, giving details of the methods we use to
obtain millimagnitude precision photometry using the 0.5m Automated Patrol
Telescope. We use a novel observing technique to optimally broaden the PSF and
thus largely eliminate photometric noise due to intra-pixel sensitivity
variations on the CCD. We have observed 8 crowded Galactic fields using this
technique during 2003 and 2004. Our analysis of the first of these fields
(centred on the open cluster NGC 6633) has yielded 49 variable stars and 4
shallow transit candidates. Follow-up observations of these candidates have
identified them as eclipsing binary systems. We use a detailed simulation of
our observations to estimate our sensitivity to short-period planets, and to
select a new observing strategy to maximise the number of planets detected.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, version published in MNRAS Updated figures,
references, and additional discussion in section
Statistical Mechanics for Unstable States in Gel'fand Triplets and Investigations of Parabolic Potential Barriers
Free energies and other thermodynamical quantities are investigated in
canonical and grand canonical ensembles of statistical mechanics involving
unstable states which are described by the generalized eigenstates with complex
energy eigenvalues in the conjugate space of Gel'fand triplet. The theory is
applied to the systems containing parabolic potential barriers (PPB's). The
entropy and energy productions from PPB systems are studied. An equilibrium for
a chemical process described by reactions is also
discussed.Comment: 14 pages, AmS-LaTeX, no figur
Bullying at Work and Its Impact on Job Satisfaction: An Exploration of School Psychologists
Given the persistent national shortage of school psychologists, as well as their job retention concerns, likely related to burnout, it is necessary to examine any factors that negatively impact school psychologists’ job satisfaction. In this sample of 94 Pennsylvania school psychologists, the experience of being bullied at work was associated with diminished job satisfaction. Specifically, the independent variables of being bullying at work predicted 18.2% of the variance in job satisfaction in this sample, with verbal and indirect bullying the only types of bullying that contributed a significant amount of the variance. This study indicates that this issue should be closely monitored by management and addressed promptly
Field dependence of the temperature at the peak of the ZFC magnetization
The effect of an applied magnetic field on the temperature at the maximum of
the ZFC magnetization, , is studied using the recently obtained
analytic results of Coffey et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 80}(1998) 5655) for
the prefactor of the N\'{e}el relaxation time which allow one to precisely
calculate the prefactor in the N\'{e}el-Brown model and thus the blocking
temperature as a function of the coefficients of the Taylor series expansion of
the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The present calculations indicate that even
a precise determination of the prefactor in the N\'{e}el-Brown theory, which
always predicts a monotonic decrease of the relaxation time with increasing
field, is insufficient to explain the effect of an applied magnetic field on
the temperature at the maximum of the ZFC magnetization. On the other hand, we
find that the non linear field-dependence of the magnetization along with the
magnetocrystalline anisotropy appears to be of crucial importance to the
existence of this maximum.Comment: 14 LaTex209 pages, 6 EPS figures. To appear in J. Phys.: Condensed
Matte
Can the Existence of Dark Energy Be Directly Detected?
The majority of astronomers and physicists accept the reality of dark energy
and also believe that it can only be studied indirectly through observation of
the motions of stars and galaxies. In this paper I open the experimental
question of whether it is possible to directly detect dark energy through the
presence of dark energy density. Two thirds of this paper outlines the major
aspects of dark energy density as now comprehended by the astronomical and
physics community. The final third summarizes various proposals for direct
detection of dark energy density or its possible effects. At this time I do not
have a fruitful answer to the question: Can the Existence of Dark Energy Be
Directly Detected?Comment: 4 page
Thermally activated escape rates of uniaxial spin systems with transverse field
Classical escape rates of uniaxial spin systems are characterized by a
prefactor differing from and much smaller than that of the particle problem,
since the maximum of the spin energy is attained everywhere on the line of
constant latitude: theta=const, 0 =< phi =< 2*pi. If a transverse field is
applied, a saddle point of the energy is formed, and high, moderate, and low
damping regimes (similar to those for particles) appear. Here we present the
first analytical and numerical study of crossovers between the uniaxial and
other regimes for spin systems. It is shown that there is one HD-Uniaxial
crossover, whereas at low damping the uniaxial and LD regimes are separated by
two crossovers.Comment: 4 PR pages, 3 figures, final published versio
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The use of proactive risk management to reduce emergency service vehicle crashes among firefighters
Introduction: Emergency service vehicle crashes (ESVCs), including rollovers and collisions with other vehicles and fixed objects, are a leading cause of death among U.S. firefighters. Risk management (RM) is a proactive intervention to identifying and mitigating occupational risks and hazards. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of RM in reducing ESVCs. Methods: Three fire departments (A, B and C), representing urban and suburban geographies, and serving medium to large populations, participated in facilitated RM programs to reduce their ESVCs. Interventions were chosen by each department to address their department-specific circumstances and highest risks. Monthly crash rates per 10,000 calls were calculated for each department an average of 28 months before and 23 months after the start of the RM programs. Interrupted time series analysis was used to assess the effect of the RM programs on monthly crash rates. Poisson regression was used to estimate the number of crashes avoided. Economic data from Department A were analyzed to estimate cost savings. Results: Department A had a 15.4% (P = 0.30) reduction in the overall monthly crash rate immediately post-RM and a 1% (P = 0.18) decline per month thereafter. The estimated two-year average cost savings due to 167 crashes avoided was 192,355 - $313,885). Department B had a 9.7% (P = 0.70) increase in the overall monthly crash rate immediately post-RM and showed no significant changes in their monthly crash rate. Department C had a 28.4% (P = 0.001) reduction in overall monthly crash rate immediately post-RM and a 1.2% (P = 0.09) increase per month thereafter, with an estimated 122 crashes avoided. Conclusions: RM programs have the potential to reduce ESVCs in the fire service and their associated costs; results may vary based on the interventions chosen and how they are implemented. Practical applications: Risk management may be an effective and broadly implemented intervention to reduce ESVCs in the US fire service. (C) 2019 The Author(s). National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd.Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
The Impact of HAART on the Respiratory Complications of HIV Infection: Longitudinal Trends in the MACS and WIHS Cohorts
Objective: To review the incidence of respiratory conditions and their effect on mortality in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals prior to and during the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Design: Two large observational cohorts of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected men (Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study [MACS]) and women (Women's Interagency HIV Study [WIHS]), followed since 1984 and 1994, respectively. Methods: Adjusted odds or hazards ratios for incident respiratory infections or non-infectious respiratory diagnoses, respectively, in HIV-infected compared to HIV-uninfected individuals in both the pre-HAART (MACS only) and HAART eras; and adjusted Cox proportional hazard ratios for mortality in HIV-infected persons with lung disease during the HAART era. Results: Compared to HIV-uninfected participants, HIV-infected individuals had more incident respiratory infections both pre-HAART (MACS, odds ratio [adjusted-OR], 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-2.7; p<0.001) and after HAART availability (MACS, adjusted-OR, 1.5; 95%CI 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-OR, 2.2; 95%CI 1.8-2.7; p<0.001). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was more common in MACS HIV-infected vs. HIV-uninfected participants pre-HAART (hazard ratio [adjusted-HR] 2.9; 95%CI, 1.02-8.4; p = 0.046). After HAART availability, non-infectious lung diseases were not significantly more common in HIV-infected participants in either MACS or WIHS participants. HIV-infected participants in the HAART era with respiratory infections had an increased risk of death compared to those without infections (MACS adjusted-HR, 1.5; 95%CI, 1.3-1.7; p<0.001; WIHS adjusted-HR, 1.9; 95%CI, 1.5-2.4; p<0.001). Conclusion: HIV infection remained a significant risk for infectious respiratory diseases after the introduction of HAART, and infectious respiratory diseases were associated with an increased risk of mortality. © 2013 Gingo et al
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