The impact of non-severe burn injury on cardiac function and long-term cardiovascular pathology

Severe burn injury significantly affects cardiovascular function for up to 3 years. However, whether this leads to long-term pathology is unknown. The impact of non-severe burn injury, which accounts for over 80% of admissions in developed countries, has not been investigated. Using a rodent model of non-severe burn injury with subsequent echocardiography we showed significantly increased left ventricular end systolic diameter (LVESD) and ventricular wall thickness at up to 3 months post-injury. Use of propranolol abrogated the changes in cardiac measures observed. Subsequently we investigated changes in a patient cohort with non-severe injury. Echocardiography measured at baseline and at 3 months post-injury showed increased LVESD at 3 months and significantly decreased posterior wall diameter. Finally, 32 years of Western Australian hospital records were used to investigate the incidence of cardiovascular disease admissions after burn injury. People who had experienced a burn had increased hospital admissions and length of stay for cardiovascular diseases when compared to a matched uninjured cohort. This study presents animal, patient and population data that strongly suggest non-severe burn injury has significant effects on cardiovascular function and long-term morbidity in some burn patients. Identification of patients at risk will promote better intervention and outcomes for burn patients

Criteria for the differentiation between young and old Onchocerca volvulus filariae

Drugs exist that show long-lasting inhibition of embryogenesis and microfilaria production or macrofilaricidal activity against Onchocerca volvulus. Therefore, the patients have to be followed-up for several years. Clinical drug trials have to be performed in areas with ongoing transmission to assess the efficacy on younger worms. In addition, future vaccine trials may also require demonstrating efficacy against establishment of new worms. For the evaluation of the efficacy, it is necessary to differentiate between older worms, which were exposed to the drug, and younger worms newly acquired after drug treatment or vaccination. Here, we describe criteria for the differentiation between young and old filariae based on histological studies of worms with a known age from travellers, or from children, or patients living in areas with interrupted transmission in Burkina Faso, Ghana or Uganda. Older worms were larger and presented degenerated tissues. Gomori's iron stain showed that the worms accumulated more iron with increasing age, first in the gut and later in other organs. Using an antibody against O. volvulus lysosomal aspartic protease, the gut of young worms was stained only weakly; whereas, it was stronger labelled in older worms, accompanied by additional staining of hypodermis and epithelia. Using morphological and immunohistological criteria, it was possible to differentiate young (1–3 years old) from older females and to identify young males

Evidence for the classical integrability of the complete AdS(4) x CP(3) superstring

We construct a zero-curvature Lax connection in a sub-sector of the superstring theory on AdS(4) x CP(3) which is not described by the OSp(6|4)/U(3) x SO(1,3) supercoset sigma-model. In this sub-sector worldsheet fermions associated to eight broken supersymmetries of the type IIA background are physical fields. As such, the prescription for the construction of the Lax connection based on the Z_4-automorphism of the isometry superalgebra OSp(6|4) does not do the job. So, to construct the Lax connection we have used an alternative method which nevertheless relies on the isometry of the target superspace and kappa-symmetry of the Green-Schwarz superstring.Comment: 1+26 pages; v2: minor typos corrected, acknowledgements adde

Burn injury leads to increased long-term susceptibility to respiratory infection in both mouse models and population studies

Background: Burn injury initiates an acute inflammatory response that subsequently drives wound repair. However, acute disruption to the immune response is also common, leading to susceptibility to sepsis and increased morbidity and mortality. Despite increased understanding of the impact of burn injury on the immune system in the acute phase, little is known about longterm consequences of burn injury on immune function. This study was established to determine whether burn injury has long-term clinical impacts on patients' immune responses. Methods: Using a population-based retrospective longitudinal study and linked hospital morbidity and death data from Western Australia, comparative rates of hospitalisation for respiratory infections in burn patients and a non-injured comparator cohort were assessed. In addition, a mouse model of non-severe burn injury was also used in which viral respiratory infection was induced at 4 weeks post-injury using a mouse modified version of the Influenza A virus (H3NN; A/mem/71-a). Results and conclusions: The burn injured cohort contained 14893 adult patients from 1980-2012 after removal of those patients with evidence of smoke inhalation or injury to the respiratory tract. During the study follow-up study a total of 2,884 and 2,625 respiratory infection hospital admissions for the burn and uninjured cohorts, respectively, were identified. After adjusting for covariates, the burn cohort experienced significantly elevated admission rates for influenza and viral pneumonia (IRR, 95%CI: 1.73, 1.27-2.36), bacterial pneumonia (IRR, 95%CI: 2.05, 1.85-2.27) and for other types of upper and lower respiratory infections (IRR, 95% CI: 2.38, 2.09-2.71). In the mouse study an increased viral titre was observed after burn injury, accompanied by a reduced CD8 response and increased NK and NKT cells in the draining lymph nodes. This data suggests burn patients are at long-term increased risk of infection due to sustained modulation of the immune response

Artemisinin Inhibits Chloroplast Electron Transport Activity: Mode of Action

Artemisinin, a secondary metabolite produced in Artemisia plant species, besides having antimalarial properties is also phytotoxic. Although, the phytotoxic activity of the compound has been long recognized, no information is available on the mechanism of action of the compound on photosynthetic activity of the plant. In this report, we have evaluated the effect of artemisinin on photoelectron transport activity of chloroplast thylakoid membrane. The inhibitory effect of the compound, under in vitro condition, was pronounced in loosely and fully coupled thylakoids; being strong in the former. The extent of inhibition was drastically reduced in the presence of uncouplers like ammonium chloride or gramicidin; a characteristic feature described for energy transfer inhibitors. The compound, on the other hand, when applied to plants (in vivo), behaved as a potent inhibitor of photosynthetic electron transport. The major site of its action was identified to be the QB; the secondary quinone moiety of photosystemII complex. Analysis of photoreduction kinetics of para-benzoquinone and duroquinone suggest that the inhibition leads to formation of low pool of plastoquinol, which becomes limiting for electron flow through photosystemI. Further it was ascertained that the in vivo inhibitory effect appeared as a consequence of the formation of an unidentified artemisinin-metabolite rather than by the interaction of the compound per se. The putative metabolite of artemisinin is highly reactive in instituting the inhibition of photosynthetic electron flow eventually reducing the plant growth

Changes in Seizure Frequency and Test-Retest Scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Test-retest performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) of two groups of adult epilepsy patients are presented and compared. In one group, Seizures Improved (SI) group, seizure frequency had decreased during the test-retest interval, and in the other group, Seizures Unimproved (SU) group, the number of seizures had either increased or stayed the same over the test-retest interval. The SI group showed a significant test-retest improvement on WAIS Verbal IQ, Performance 1Q, and Full Scale IQ, as well as on eight of 11 WAIS subtests. In comparison, the SU group showed significant increases only on the Performance IQ and Object Assembly subtest. Furthermore, differences between the two groups were observed in the pattern of test-retest changes seen on the Performance measures relative to the Verbal measures. The results suggest that change in seizure frequency is one of the factors associated with test-retest changes in the intellectual functioning of epilepsy patients. RÉSUMÉ Les rÉsultats obtenus À I‘Échelle de WAIS (Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale) a partir d'une passation I (test) et d'une passation II (retest) chez deux groupes d'Épileptiques adultes sont prÉsentÉs et compares: (a) Dans un groupe la frequence des crises a diminue dur-ant I'intervalle “test-retest” (c'est a dire dans I'inter-valle separant la passation I (test) de la passation II (retest): Groupe des crises ameliorees (SI: seizures improved), (b) Dans l'autre groupe le nombre des crises au contraire a augmente ou bien est reste iden-tique au cours de I'intervalle “test-retest”: Groupe des crises non ameliorees (SU: seizures unimproved). Le groupe des “crises ameliorees” montre une amelioration significative tant sur le plan du QIV (quotient de I'echelle verbale), que du QIP (quotient de I'echelle performance) et du QIG (quotient global), ainsi que de 8 des subtests parmi les onze que contien I'echelle. En comparaison le groupe des “crises non ameliorees” ne montre une amelioration significative qu'au niveau du QIP et en particulier sur le subtest d'assemblage d'ob-jets (celui-ci faisant partie de I'echelle performance). De plus, on observe entre les deux groupes des differences du “type” des modifications entrainees par la situation “test-retest”, sur les rÉsultats obtenus a I'echelle performance et ceux obtensus a I'echelle verbale. Ces rÉsultats permettent de suggerer que, dans le fonctionnement intellectuel des sujets epileptiques, les changements dans la frequence des crises sont un des facteurs a mettre en correlation avec les changements observes a partir de la situation “test-retest”. RESUMEN Se compararon dos grupos de adultos con epilepsia por medio del rendimiento en dos tests de WAIS. En un grupo, la frecuencia de los ataques habia disminuido en el intervalo entre el primer test y el segundo [grupo con mejoria (SI)], mientras que en el otro el mimero de crisis no habia variado o habia au-mentado [grupo sin mejoria (SU)]. El grupo SI mostro una mejoria en laescala verbal CI, en la realizacion CI, en la escala total de CI y en los subtests WAIS. En comparacion, el grupo SU solo mostro un aumento significativo en la realizacion CI y en el subtest de Reunion de Objetos. Ademas, se observaron diferen-cias entre los dos grupos en lo que respecta a la prim-era y a la segunda prueba en la realizacion de las medidas verbales. Los resultados sugieren que los cambios en la frecuencia de los ataques juegan un papel en lo que respecta a funciÓn intelectual cuando se compara el primer WAIS con el segundo. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Test und Retest Ergebnisse im WAIS von 2 Gruppen erwachsener Epileptiker werden dargestellt und ver-glichen. In einer Gruppe hatte die Anfallshaufigkeit wahrend des Test-Retest-Intervalls abgenommen– verbesserte Gruppe (SI)–und in einer anderen Gruppe war die Anfallshaufigkeit entweder gestiegen oder gleich geblieben wahrend des Test-Retest-Intervalls– unveranderte Gruppe (SU). Die SI-Gruppe zeigte signifikante Verbesserung zwischen Test und Retest im Verbal-IQ des WAIS, im Handlungsteil und im Gesamt-IQ ebenso wie in 8 von 11 WAIS Subtests. Im Vergleich hierzu zeigte die SU-Gruppe signifikante Verbesserung nur im Handlungs-IQ und im Objekte-zuordnungs-Subtest. Weiterhin wurden Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Gruppen im Muster der Test-Retest-Veranderungen im Verhaltnis des Handlung-steils zum Verbalteil bemerkt. Die Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, dalJ die Veranderung der Anfallshaufigkeit einer der Faktoren ist, der hinsichtlich der in-tellektuellen Funktion anfallskranker Patienten Bezie-hungen zu den Veranderungen des Test-Retest-Ergeb-nis aufweist.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65457/1/j.1528-1157.1981.tb04334.x.pd

Wolbachia endobacteria depletion by doxycycline as antifilarial therapy has macrofilaricidal activity in onchocerciasis: a randomized placebo-controlled study

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Ghana, 67 onchocerciasis patients received 200-mg/day doxycycline for 4–6 weeks, followed by ivermectin (IVM) after 6 months. After 6–27 months, efficacy was evaluated by onchocercoma histology, PCR and microfilariae determination. Administration of doxycycline resulted in endobacteria depletion and female worm sterilization. The 6-week treatment was macrofilaricidal, with >60% of the female worms found dead, despite the presence of new, Wolbachia-containing worms acquired after the administration of doxycycline. Doxycycline may be developed as second-line drug for onchocerciasis, to be administered in areas without transmission, in foci with IVM resistance and in areas with Loa co-infections

Strong expression of TGF-beta in human host tissues around subcutaneous Dirofilaria repens

Dirofilaria repens and other Dirofilaria species are widely distributed parasitic nematodes of carnivores, which occasionally are transmitted to men, causing subcutaneous nodules. In humans, it usually occurs only as single male or female filariae without production of microfilariae. The non-productive living or dead Dirofilaria worms in subcutaneous biopsies from 15 human patients permitted us to study the role of the pleiotropic and immunoregulatory cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) independent from the influence of microfilariae. Antiserum against latent TGF-beta 1 was used for an immunohistological examination. In the infiltrates around female and male filariae, there occurred strongly TGF-beta-positive macrophages, mast cells, endothelial cells, fibrocytes, and giant cells adjacent to dead worms. In one nodule, secondary lymph follicles were observed with clearly TGF-beta-positive B cells in the mantle zone and weakly positive macrophages and B cells in the germinal centre. A network of CD35-positive follicular dendritic cells was observed in the germinal centre. All Dirofilaria contained Wolbachia endobacteria, which probably had attracted the numerous TGF-beta-negative neutrophils near to the worm. Wolbachia were phagocytosed by neutrophils adjacent to dead filariae. Macrophages and lymphocytes expressed the MHC class II molecule HLA-DR in small accumulations of immune cells in the outer zone of the infiltrate and the mantle zone and germinal centre of secondary lymph follicles. It is concluded that single non-productive Dirofilaria worms elicit a strong expression of TGF-beta. This result is in accordance with observations on Onchocerca volvulus from patients with the hyporeactive (generalised) form

The misuses of sustainability: adult education, citizenship and the dead hand of neoliberalism

‘‘Sustainability’’ has a captivating but disingenuous simplicity: its meanings are complex, and have political and policy significance. Exploring the application of the term to adult education, this paper argues that a particular discourse of ‘‘sustainability’’ has become a common-sense, short-circuiting critical analysis and understanding of policy options. This ‘‘business discourse’’ of sustainability, strongly influenced by neoliberal ideas, encourages the presumption that educational programmes and movements which have died out were unsustainable, bound to fail, and even responsible – having failed to adapt – for their own demise. Potentially valuable experience is thus excluded from the educational policy canon. The author uses three cases from 20th-century adult education, namely (1) English liberal adult education; (2) ‘‘mass education’’, also known as community development, in the British colonies; and (3) UNESCO’s Fundamental Education, to challenge this presumption. He demonstrates for each case how a business discourse has implied their ‘‘unsustainability’’, but that the reality was more complex and involved external political intervention