TARGET. D 7.1 - Project Management Plan

The Project Management Plan describes the management structure of TARGET as well as measures of quality management and information flow. This information is also part of the project handbook “Useful information” which all partners received in month 3 of the project. The compilation of useful information for the TARGET project has two main functions. Firstly, it acts as a reference source for all Consortium members, covering day-to-day activities and providing links to further information where required. Secondly, it aims to standardise various elements of the project e.g. project reports, deliverables, file naming conventions etc. through the use of agreed procedures and templates where relevant

Using an open-source tablet perimeter (Eyecatcher) as a rapid triage measure in a glaucoma clinic waiting area

Background: Glaucoma services are under unprecedented pressure. The UK Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch recently called for new ways to identify glaucoma patients most at risk of developing sight loss, and of filtering-out false-positive referrals. Here we evaluate the feasibility of one such technology, “Eyecatcher”: a free, tablet-based ‘triage’ perimeter, designed to be used unsupervised directly within clinic waiting areas. It does not require a button or headrest: patients are simply required to look at fixed-luminance dots as they appear. Methods: Seventy-seven people were tested twice using Eyecatcher (one eye only) while waiting for a routine appointment in a UK glaucoma clinic. The sample included individuals with an established diagnosis of glaucoma, and false-positive new referrals (no visual field or optic nerve abnormalities). No attempts were made to control the testing environment. Patients wore their own glasses and received minimal task instructions. Results: Eyecatcher was fast (median: 2.5 mins), produced results in good agreement with standard automated perimetry (SAP), and was rated as more enjoyable, less tiring, and easier to perform than SAP (P -2 dB). And it was able to flag two thirds of false-positive referrals as functionally normal. However, eight people (10%) failed to complete the test twice, and reasons for this limitation are also discussed. Conclusions: Tablet-based eye-movement perimetry could potentially provide a pragmatic way of triaging busy glaucoma clinics (flagging high-risk patients and possible false-referrals)

Impact of Individual Acute Phase Serum Amyloid A Isoforms on HDL Metabolism in Mice

The acute phase (AP) reactant serum amyloid A (SAA), an HDL apolipoprotein, exhibits pro-inflammatory activities, but its physiological function(s) are poorly understood. Functional differences between SAA1.1 and SAA2.1, the two major SAA isoforms, are unclear. Mice deficient in either isoform were used to investigate plasma isoform effects on HDL structure, composition, and apolipoprotein catabolism. Lack of either isoform did not affect the size of HDL, normally enlarged in the AP, and did not significantly change HDL composition. Plasma clearance rates of HDL apolipoproteins were determined using native HDL particles. The fractional clearance rates (FCRs) of apoA-I, apoA-II, and SAA were distinct, indicating that HDL is not cleared as intact particles. The FCRs of SAA1.1 and SAA2.1 in AP mice were similar, suggesting that the selective deposition of SAA1.1 in amyloid plaques is not associated with a difference in the rates of plasma clearance of the isoforms. Although the clearance rate of SAA was reduced in the absence of the HDL receptor, scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI), it remained significantly faster compared with that of apoA-I and apoA-II, indicating a relatively minor role of SR-BI in SAA’s rapid clearance. These studies enhance our understanding of SAA metabolism and SAA’s effects on AP-HDL composition and catabolism

The Impairment of Macrophage-to-Feces Reverse Cholesterol Transport during Inflammation Does Not Depend on Serum Amyloid A

Studies suggest that inflammation impairs reverse cholesterol transport (RCT). We investigated whether serum amyloid A (SAA) contributes to this impairment using an established macrophage-to-feces RCT model. Wild-type (WT) mice and mice deficient in SAA1.1 and SAA2.1 (SAAKO) were injected intraperitoneally with 3H-cholesterol-labeled J774 macrophages 4 hr after administration of LPS or buffered saline. 3H-cholesterol in plasma 4 hr after macrophage injection was significantly reduced in both WT and SAAKO mice injected with LPS, but this was not associated with a reduced capacity of serum from LPS-injected mice to promote macrophage cholesterol efflux in vitro. Hepatic accumulation of 3H-cholesterol was unaltered in either WT or SAAKO mice by LPS treatment. Radioactivity present in bile and feces of LPS-injected WT mice 24 hr after macrophage injection was reduced by 36% (P \u3c 0.05) and 80% (P \u3c 0.001), respectively. In contrast, in SAAKO mice, LPS did not significantly reduce macrophage-derived 3H-cholesterol in bile, and fecal excretion was reduced by only 45% (P \u3c 0.05). Injection of cholesterol-loaded allogeneic J774 cells, but not syngeneic bone-marrow-derived macrophages, transiently induced SAA in C57BL/6 mice. Our study confirms reports that acute inflammation impairs steps in the RCT pathway and establishes that SAA plays only a minor role in this impairment

WRR4, a broad-spectrum TIR-NB-LRR gene from Arabidopsis thaliana that confers white rust resistance in transgenic oilseed brassica crops

White blister rust caused by Albugo candida (Pers.) Kuntze is a common and often devastating disease of oilseed and vegetable brassica crops worldwide. Physiological races of the parasite have been described, including races 2, 7 and 9 from Brassica juncea, B. rapa and B. oleracea, respectively, and race 4 from Capsella bursa-pastoris (the type host). A gene named WRR4 has been characterized recently from polygenic resistance in the wild brassica relative Arabidopsis thaliana (accession Columbia) that confers broad-spectrum white rust resistance (WRR) to all four of the above Al. candida races. This gene encodes a TIR-NB-LRR (Toll-like/interleukin-1 receptor-nucleotide binding-leucine-rich repeat) protein which, as with other known functional members in this subclass of intracellular receptor-like proteins, requires the expression of the lipase-like defence regulator, enhanced disease susceptibility 1 (EDS1). Thus, we used RNA interference-mediated suppression of EDS1 in a white rust-resistant breeding line of B. napus (transformed with a construct designed from the A. thaliana EDS1 gene) to determine whether defence signalling via EDS1 is functionally intact in this oilseed brassica. The eds1-suppressed lines were fully susceptible following inoculation with either race 2 or 7 isolates of Al. candida. We then transformed white rust-susceptible cultivars of B. juncea (susceptible to race 2) and B. napus (susceptible to race 7) with the WRR4 gene from A. thaliana. The WRR4-transformed lines were resistant to the corresponding Al. candida race for each host species. The combined data indicate that WRR4 could potentially provide a novel source of white rust resistance in oilseed and vegetable brassica crops

Correlation of enthesitis indices with disease activity and function in axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis : a cross-sectional study comparing MASES, SPARCC and LEI

Background: The presence of enthesitis is associated with higher disease activity, more disability and incapacity to work and a poorer quality of life in spondyloarthritis (SpA). There is currently no consensus on which clinical score should be used to assess enthesitis in SpA. The objective of the present work was to compare the correlation of three enthesitis indices (MASES, SPARCC and LEI) with measures of disease activity and function in a heterogeneous population of patients with axial and peripheral SpA. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three Brazilian public university hospitals; patients fulfilling ASAS classification criteria for peripheral or axial SpA were recruited and measures of disease activity and function were collected and correlated to three enthesitis indices: MASES, SPARCC and LEI using Spearman’s Correlation index. ROC curves were used to determine if the the enthesitis indices were useful to discriminate patients with active disease from those with inactive disease. Results: Two hundred four patients were included, 71.1% (N = 145) fulfilled ASAS criteria for axial SpA and 28.9% (N = 59) for peripheral SpA. In axial SpA, MASES performed better than LEI (p = 0.018) and equal to SPARCC (p = 0.212) regarding correlation with disease activity (BASDAI) and function (BASFI). In peripheral SpA, only MASES had a weak but statistical significant correlation with DAS28-ESR (rs 0.310 p = 0.05) and MASES had better correlation with functional measures (HAQ) than SPARCC (p = 0.034). Conclusion: In this sample composed of SpA patients with high coexistence of axial and peripheral features, MASES showed statistical significant correlation with measures of disease activity and function in both axial and peripheral SpA

PERCEPÇÃO DOS SERVIÇOS ECOSSISTÊMICOS DE ÁREAS VERDES URBANAS DE CURITIBA/PR

O presente artigo tem como objetivo a identificação dos serviços ecossistêmicos (SE) de áreas verdes urbanas de Curitiba, PR. Utilizando um método exploratório, realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa com especialistas em meio ambiente, através da ferramenta Ecosystem Services Review – ESR, com o objetivo de identificar os SE mais importantes no que concerne à geração de bem-estar socioeconômico. Os locais de estudo são representativos dos principais contextos geográficos e fitofisionômicos da cidade, que juntos acumulam um total de 40 hectares protegidos, abrangendo um fragmento de Floresta Ombrófila Mista, bem como os últimos remanescentes de Campos Úmidos e Campos Secos de Curitiba. Conclui-se que os serviços ecossistêmicos estudados, especialmente aqueles apontados como mais relevantes, devem ser criteriosamente observados e incorporados na gestão das áreas verdes urbanas. Além disso, foi possível identificar quais os SE são considerados como não sendo passíveis de substituição, no caso de supressão das áreas verdes

Moment Analysis, Multiplicity Distributions and Correlations in High Energy Processes: Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Cumulant oscillations, or $H_q$ moment oscillations, appear if the KNO multiparticle distribution decreases at large z, $z\equiv n/$, faster than the exponential, $exp(-D z^\mu)$, with $\mu > 1$. In nucleus-nucleus interactions this behaviour is related to the limitation in the average number of elementary central collisions (or average number of strings centrally produced), due to the finite number of nucleons involved. Colour deconfinement, via percolating string fusion, will drastically decrease the fraction of centrally produced strings and increase the cut-off parameter $\mu$: Moment oscillations will be displaced to smaller q and the width of the KNO distribution and forward-backward particle correlations will become smaller.Comment: 11 pages, 2 Postscript figure

Egalitarian despots: hierarchy steepness, reciprocity and the grooming-trade model in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Biological-markets theory models the action of natural selection as a marketplace in which animals are viewed as traders with commodities to offer and exchange. Studies of female Old World monkeys have suggested that grooming might be employed as a commodity to be reciprocated or traded for alternative services, yet previous tests of this grooming-trade model in wild adult male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have yielded mixed results. Here we provide the strongest test of the model to date for male chimpanzees: we use data drawn from two social groups (communities) of chimpanzees from different populations, and give explicit consideration to variation in dominance hierarchy steepness as such variation results in differing conditions for biological markets. First, analysis of data from published accounts of other chimpanzee communities, together with our own data, showed that hierarchy steepness varied considerably within and across communities and that the number of adult males in a community aged 20-30 years predicted hierarchy steepness. The two communities in which we tested predictions of the grooming-trade model lay at opposite extremes of this distribution. Second, in accord with the grooming-trade model, we found evidence that male chimpanzees trade grooming for agonistic support where hierarchies are steep (despotic) and consequent effective support is a rank-related commodity, but not where hierarchies are shallow (egalitarian). However, we also found that grooming was reciprocated regardless of hierarchy steepness. Our findings also hint at the possibility of agonistic competition, or at least exclusion, in relation to grooming opportunities compromising the free market envisioned by Biological Markets theory. Our results build on previous findings across chimpanzee communities to emphasise the importance of reciprocal grooming exchanges among adult male chimpanzees, which can be understood in a biological markets framework if grooming by or with particular individuals is a valuable commodity