Role of the Laboratory in Ensuring Global Access to ARV Treatment for HIV-Infected Children: Consensus Statement on the Performance of Laboratory Assays for Early Infant Diagnosis

A two day meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was held in May 2006 in Entebbe, Uganda to review the laboratory performance of virologic molecular methods, particularly the Roche Amplicor DNA PCR version 1.5 assay, in the diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in infants. The meeting was attended by approximately 60 participants from 17 countries. Data on the performance and limitations of the HIV-1 DNA PCR assay from 9 African countries with high-burdens of HIV/AIDS were shared with respect to different settings and HIV- subtypes. A consensus statement on the use of the assay for early infant diagnosis was developed and areas of needed operational research were identified. In addition, consensus was reached on the usefulness of dried blood spot (DBS) specimens in childhood as a means for ensuring greater accessibility to serologic and virologic HIV testing for the paediatric population

Radiative properties of stellar plasmas and open challenges

The lifetime of solar-like stars, the envelope structure of more massive stars, and stellar acoustic frequencies largely depend on the radiative properties of the stellar plasma. Up to now, these complex quantities have been estimated only theoretically. The development of the powerful tools of helio- and astero- seismology has made it possible to gain insights on the interiors of stars. Consequently, increased emphasis is now placed on knowledge of the monochromatic opacity coefficients. Here we review how these radiative properties play a role, and where they are most important. We then concentrate specifically on the envelopes of $\beta$ Cephei variable stars. We discuss the dispersion of eight different theoretical estimates of the monochromatic opacity spectrum and the challenges we need to face to check these calculations experimentally.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, in press (conference HEDLA 2010

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Catalog of >4000 Sunyaev–Zel’dovich Galaxy Clusters

We present a catalog of 4195 optically confirmed Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters detected with signal-to-noise ratio >4 in 13,211 deg2 of sky surveyed by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Cluster candidates were selected by applying a multifrequency matched filter to 98 and 150 GHz maps constructed from ACT observations obtained from 2008 to 2018 and confirmed using deep, wide-area optical surveys. The clusters span the redshift range 0.04 1 clusters, and a total of 868 systems are new discoveries. Assuming an SZ signal versus mass-scaling relation calibrated from X-ray observations, the sample has a 90% completeness mass limit of M500c > 3.8 × 1014 M⊙, evaluated at z = 0.5, for clusters detected at signal-to-noise ratio >5 in maps filtered at an angular scale of 2farcm4. The survey has a large overlap with deep optical weak-lensing surveys that are being used to calibrate the SZ signal mass-scaling relation, such as the Dark Energy Survey (4566 deg2), the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (469 deg2), and the Kilo Degree Survey (825 deg2). We highlight some noteworthy objects in the sample, including potentially projected systems, clusters with strong lensing features, clusters with active central galaxies or star formation, and systems of multiple clusters that may be physically associated. The cluster catalog will be a useful resource for future cosmological analyses and studying the evolution of the intracluster medium and galaxies in massive clusters over the past 10 Gyr

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

The interaction of N2O5 with mineral dust: aerosol flow tube and Knudsen reactor studies

Contains fulltext : 133297.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Architecture of the Oman–UAE Ophiolite: evidence for a multi-phase magmatic history

The Oman–United Arab Emirates ophiolite is the world’s largest ophiolite. It is divided into 12 separate fault bounded blocks, of which the northern three lie wholly or partly in the United Arab Emirates. Extensive mapping has shown that the United Arab Emirates blocks contain mantle and crustal sections which correspond to the classic ‘Penrose conference’ ophiolite definition but which are cut by a voluminous later magmatic sequence including ultramafic, mafic and felsic components. Samples from the later magmatic sequence are dated at 96.4 ± 0.3, 95.74 ± 0.3 and 95.2 ± 0.3 Ma; the early crustal section, which has not been dated directly, is thus constrained to be older than c. 96.4 Ma. Petrological evidence shows that the early crustal section formed at a spreading ridge, but the later magmatic sequence was formed from hydrous magmas that produced different mineral crystallisation sequences to normal midocean ridge basalt (MORB). Mineral and whole-rock geochemical analyses show that the early crustal rocks are chemically similar to MORB, but the later magmatic sequence has chemical features typically found in suprasubduction zone (SSZ) settings. The ophiolite in the United Arab Emirates thus preserves clear evidence for two stages of magmatism, an early episode formed at a spreading centre and a later episode associated with the onset of subduction. Similar two-stage magmatism has been recogn sed in the Oman sector, but the United Arab Emirates contains the most voluminous SSZ magmatism yet described from this ophiolit

Adsorption isotherm of formic acid on the surface of ice, as seen from experiment and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation

International audienc

Laboruntersuchungen heterogener Reaktionen von Stickstoffverbindungen an Staub- und Russoberflaechen Abschlussbericht

The heterogeneous reactions of nitric acid and dinitrogen pentoxide with various authentic dust, mineral and soot surfaces has been investigated by means of the Knudsen reactor technique at room temperature. Authentic dust surfaces from the Saharan, the Chinese and the Arizona dust regions were used as substrates, as were the minerals aluminium oxide and calcite. The uptake of both trace gases was investigated at concentrations as low as 10"9 cm"-"3 (HNO_3) and 10"1"0 cm"-"3 (N_2O_5) and found to be large and irreversible. For both trace gases uptake coefficients of the order of 0.1 were determined. Water was found to have some influence onto the uptake coefficient, though this depended on the substrate used. It was observed that diffusion into the pores of the sample bulk was not relevant for the trace gases and substrates used. These results strongly suggest that mineral aerosol can redistribute nitrate from the gaseous cto the particulate phase, modifying tropospheric photochemical cycles involving NOx and NOy. (orig.)Im vorliegenden Forschungsvorhaben wurden mit Hilfe der Knudsen-Reaktor-Technik die heterogenen Reaktionen von Salpetersaeure und Distickstoffpentaoxid mit verschiedenen-authentischen Staeuben, Mineralstaeuben und Russ bei Zimmertemperatur untersucht. Als Substrate wurden authentischer Staub aus der Sahara, aus China und aus Arizona, sowie die Mineralien Aluminiumoxid und Calcit verwendet. Die Aufnahme beider Spurengase wurde bei Konzentrationen von minimal 10"9 cm"-"3 (HNO_3) und 10"1"0 cm"-"3 (N_2O_5) bestimmt. Die Aufnahme von HNO_3 und N_2O_5 war irreversibel mit Aufnahmekoeffizienten in der Groessenordnung von 0,1. Wasser hat je nach Substrat unterschiedlichen Einfluss auf die Aufnahmekoeffizienten. Diffusion von HNO_3 und N_2O_5 in die Substratporen ist nicht wichtig bei den untersuchten Substraten, so dass keine Korrektur der gemessenen Aufnahmekoeffizienten erforderlich ist. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Mineralaerosol Nitrat von der Gasphase in die Partikelphase umverteilen kann, wodurch die photochemischen Kreislaeufe von NOx und NOy in der Troposphaere beeinflusst werden. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: F02B1588+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung, Berlin (Germany)DEGerman