Teste rápido de aglutinação utilizando partículas de látex para a detecção de anticorpos anti-cisticercos em amostras de líquido cefalorraquidiano (LCR)

Simple and rapid latex-based diagnostic tests have been used for detecting specific antigens or antibodies in several diseases. In this article, we present the preliminary results obtained with a latex agglutination test (LAT) for diagnosing neurocysticercosis by detection of antibodies in CSF. A total of 43 CSF samples were assayed by the LAT: 19 CSF samples from patients with neurocysticercosis and 24 CSF samples from patients with other neurologic disorders (neurosyphilis, n = 8; neurotoxoplasmosis, n = 3; viral meningitis, n = 4, chronic headache, n = 9). The LAT exhibited 89.5% sensitivity and 75% specificity. The use of LAT seems to be an additional approach for the screening of neurocysticercosis with advantage of simplicity and rapidity. Further studies could be performed using purified antigens and serum samples.Testes diagnósticos simples e rápidos baseados na aglutinação de partículas de látex têm sido utilizados para a pequisa de antígenos ou anticorpos específicos em muitas doenças. No presente trabalho, é descrito um teste de aglutinação em lâmina para a pesquisa de anticorpos contra cisticercos de Taenia solium, utilizando partículas de látex revestidas com um extrato bruto do parasita. Anticorpos anti-cisticercos foram pesquisados em 19 amostras de LCR de pacientes com neurocisticercose e em 24 amostras de LCR de pacientes com outros problemas neurológicos (neurosífilis, n = 8; neurotoxoplasmose, n = 3; meningite viral, n = 4; cefaléia crônica, n = 9). O teste de aglutinação apresentou sensibilidade e especificidade de 89,5% e 75%, respectivamente. O teste de aglutinação para cisticercose idealizado é simples, rápido e barato. Essas características tornam o teste um meio promissor de expansão e simplificação do imunodiagnósico da neurocisticercose. Estudos futuros poderiam testar a sensibilização das partículas de látex com antígenos de cisticercos purificados e a pesquisa de anticorpos em amostras de soros

Higgs phenomenology of supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model

We explore the Higgs sector in the supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model and find new features in this sector. The charged Higgs sector is revised i.e., in difference of the previous work, the exact eigenvalues and states are obtained without any approximation. In this model, there are three Higgs bosons having masses equal to that of the gauge bosons--the W and extra X and Y. There is one scalar boson with mass of 91.4 GeV, which is closed to the $Z$ boson mass and in good agreement with present limit: 89.8 GeV at 95% CL. The condition of eliminating for charged scalar tachyon leads to splitting of VEV at the first symmetry breaking, namely, $w \simeq w^\prime$. The interactions among the standard model gauge bosons and scalar fields in the framework of the supersymmetric economical 3-3-1 model are presented. From these couplings, at some limit, almost scalar Higgs fields can be recognized in accordance with the standard model. The hadronic cross section for production of the bilepton charged Higgs boson at the CERN LHC in the effective vector boson approximation is calculated. Numerical evaluation shows that the cross section can exceed 35.8 fb.Comment: 33 pages, 1 figur

Prevalence of equine piroplasmosis in Central Mongolia

Antigen for the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was routinely prepared from infected erythrocytes from horses experimentally infected with Babesia equi and Babesia caballi. With the successful establishment of in vitro cultures of B. equi and B. caballi, it is now possible to employ culture- derived antigens in this test. In this study, in vitro-propagated B. equi- and B. caballi-infected erythrocytes were used as antigen in the IFAT. Various modifications to an established protocol had to be implemented to allow repeatable results. Cultures with 3-4% parasitized erythrocytes were found to be most suitable. As cross-reactions of control sera on heterologous antigen were observed at serum dilutions of up to 1/40, a reciprocal titre of 80 was considered to be positive. In positive samples, specific fluorescence of Babesia parasites and/or erythrocyte membranes was observed. Fifteen sera from Babesia-free horses from Japan all tested negative in the IFAT. One hundred and ten field-horse sera from Central Mongolia were investigated in this study. The results indicate that both B. equi and B. caballi are endemic in horses in Central Mongolia, with 88,2% and 84,5% of horses being seropositive to B. equi and B. caballi, respectively.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Teste rápido de aglutinação utilizando partículas de látex para a detecção de anticorpos anti-cisticercos em amostras de líquido cefalorraquidiano (LCR)

Simple and rapid latex-based diagnostic tests have been used for detecting specific antigens or antibodies in several diseases. In this article, we present the preliminary results obtained with a latex agglutination test (LAT) for diagnosing neurocysticercosis by detection of antibodies in CSF. A total of 43 CSF samples were assayed by the LAT: 19 CSF samples from patients with neurocysticercosis and 24 CSF samples from patients with other neurologic disorders (neurosyphilis, n = 8; neurotoxoplasmosis, n = 3; viral meningitis, n = 4, chronic headache, n = 9). The LAT exhibited 89.5% sensitivity and 75% specificity. The use of LAT seems to be an additional approach for the screening of neurocysticercosis with advantage of simplicity and rapidity. Further studies could be performed using purified antigens and serum samples.Testes diagnósticos simples e rápidos baseados na aglutinação de partículas de látex têm sido utilizados para a pequisa de antígenos ou anticorpos específicos em muitas doenças. No presente trabalho, é descrito um teste de aglutinação em lâmina para a pesquisa de anticorpos contra cisticercos de Taenia solium, utilizando partículas de látex revestidas com um extrato bruto do parasita. Anticorpos anti-cisticercos foram pesquisados em 19 amostras de LCR de pacientes com neurocisticercose e em 24 amostras de LCR de pacientes com outros problemas neurológicos (neurosífilis, n = 8; neurotoxoplasmose, n = 3; meningite viral, n = 4; cefaléia crônica, n = 9). O teste de aglutinação apresentou sensibilidade e especificidade de 89,5% e 75%, respectivamente. O teste de aglutinação para cisticercose idealizado é simples, rápido e barato. Essas características tornam o teste um meio promissor de expansão e simplificação do imunodiagnósico da neurocisticercose. Estudos futuros poderiam testar a sensibilização das partículas de látex com antígenos de cisticercos purificados e a pesquisa de anticorpos em amostras de soros.575

Pressure Studies on a High-TcT_c Superconductor Pseudogap and Critical Temperatures

We report simultaneous hydrostatic pressure studies on the critical temperature $T_c$ and on the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ performed through resistivity measurements on an optimally doped high-$T_c$ oxide $Hg_{0.82}Re_{0.18}Ba_2Ca_2Cu_3O_{8+\delta}$. The resistivity is measured as function of the temperature for several different applied pressure below 1GPa. We find that both $T_c$ and $T^*$ increases linearly with the pressure. This result demonstrate that the well known intrinsic pressure effect on $T_c$ is also present at $T^*$ and both temperatures are originated by the same superconducting mechanism.Comment: 4 pages and 2 figures in eps, final versio

Multiwavelength studies of MHD waves in the solar chromosphere: An overview of recent results

The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynamic wave theory, we are now in an ideal position to thoroughly investigate the role waves play in supplying energy to sustain chromospheric and coronal heating. Here, we review the recent progress made in characterising, categorising and interpreting oscillations manifesting in the solar chromosphere, with an impetus placed on their intrinsic energetics.Comment: 48 pages, 25 figures, accepted into Space Science Review

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)