Parasite specific energy in human filariasis; insights after analysis of parasite antigen-driven lymphokine production

The antigen-specific immune unresponsiveness seen in bancroftian filariasis was studied by examining lymphokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) or PBMC subpopulations from 10 patients with asymptomatic microfilaremia, 13 patients with elephantiasis and 6 normal North Americans. In each group of patients, the kinetics of the lymphokine response and the response to mitogens and nonparasite antigens did not differ significantly. In marked contrast, when antigeninduced lymphokine production was examined, most patients with microfilaremia were unable to produce either interleukin 2 (IL- 2) or y-interferon (i.e., were nonresponders), and the few who could (hyporesponders, generally with quite low microfilaremia levels) did so at levels significantly less than those of patients with elephantiasis, all of whom showed strong responses to parasite antigen. Removal of neither adherent cells or T8+ cells affected the parasite-specific anergy seen in those with microfilaremia, suggesting a state of T cell tolerance to the parasite in patients with this most common clinical manifestation of bancroftian filariasis

A good conversation – how to mobilize their own resources?

Bakgrunn: Tilnærming og holdninger til sykepleierne påvirker i hvilken grad brukermedvirkning opprettholdes. Hensikt: Å undersøke hvordan motiverende samtale som metode, eller elementer av denne kan bidra til gode samtaler med personer som opplever krise. Metode: Denne studien er et systematisk litteraturstudium. Det er gjort en hermeneutisk fortolkning av 14 tidligere utførte forskningsartikler og en empirisk basert analyse er benyttet i analysen av artiklene. Resultat: Fem hovedkategorier fremkom av analysen. Disse var relasjonsbygging, autonomistyrking, terapeutisk allianse, behandlingseffekt og kompetanseutvikling. Diskusjon: MI som metode har mange egenskaper som fremmer gode relasjoner og bidrar til allianseutvikling i positiv retning. Sykepleierne må starte samspillet og bygge en relasjon med pasienten, og for at samtalen skal oppleves som god må den preges av respekt, trygghet, åpenhet og gjensidig samarbeid

Identification of circulating parasite antigen in patients with bancroftian filariasis

Because many cases of lymphatic filariasis cannot be diagnosed either clinically or by immunodiagnostic test based on antibody detection, recent efforts have been more directed towards developing methods for detecting parasite antigen in the blood or urine. Using a solid phase (Sepharose 4B) two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) employing hyperimmune rabbit antifilarial antisera, we have previously shown (Hamilton et al., 1984) that essentially all cases ofpatent (ie. microfilaremic) infection in patients with bancroftian filariasis can be detected by this semi-quantitative assay as well as some individuals with amicrofilaremic (i.e., 'cryptic') infection. The present communication reports the results of studies that identify a prominent circulating antigen detected by this IRMA in sera from patients with microfilaremia. The antigen was eluted from Sepharosebound rabbit polyclonal antiserum that had been reacted with known antigen positive sera. It was run in SDS-PAGE, blotted to nitrocellulose paper and identified autoradiographically using '25l-labelled rabbit antifilarial antiserum. Its high molecular weight (- 200 kD), stability to acid and boiling, and sensitivity to pronase and periodate suggest its being a glycoprotein. Isolation of this antigen will permit the development of specific reagents (such as monoclonal antibodies) which should enhance both the sensitivity and utility of the currently available antigen detection systems

Ultracoherence and Canonical Transformations

The (in)finite dimensional symplectic group of homogeneous canonical transformations is represented on the bosonic Fock space by the action of the group on the ultracoherent vectors, which are generalizations of the coherent states.Comment: 24 page

Applications of Canonical Transformations

Canonical transformations are defined and discussed along with the exponential, the coherent and the ultracoherent vectors. It is shown that the single-mode and the $n$-mode squeezing operators are elements of the group of canonical transformations. An application of canonical transformations is made, in the context of open quantum systems, by studying the effect of squeezing of the bath on the decoherence properties of the system. Two cases are analyzed. In the first case the bath consists of a massless bosonic field with the bath reference states being the squeezed vacuum states and squeezed thermal states while in the second case a system consisting of a harmonic oscillator interacting with a bath of harmonic oscillators is analyzed with the bath being initially in a squeezed thermal state.Comment: 14 page

Disentangling hindgut metabolism in the American cockroach through single-cell genomics and metatranscriptomics

Omnivorous cockroaches host a complex hindgut microbiota comprised of insect-specific lineages related to those found in mammalian omnivores. Many of these organisms have few cultured representatives, thereby limiting our ability to infer the functional capabilities of these microbes. Here we present a unique reference set of 96 high-quality single cell-amplified genomes (SAGs) from bacterial and archaeal cockroach gut symbionts. We additionally generated cockroach hindgut metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequence libraries and mapped them to our SAGs. By combining these datasets, we are able to perform an in-depth phylogenetic and functional analysis to evaluate the abundance and activities of the taxa in vivo. Recovered lineages include key genera within Bacteroidota, including polysaccharide-degrading taxa from the genera Bacteroides, Dysgonomonas, and Parabacteroides, as well as a group of unclassified insect-associated Bacteroidales. We also recovered a phylogenetically diverse set of Firmicutes exhibiting a wide range of metabolic capabilities, including—but not limited to—polysaccharide and polypeptide degradation. Other functional groups exhibiting high relative activity in the metatranscriptomic dataset include multiple putative sulfate reducers belonging to families in the Desulfobacterota phylum and two groups of methanogenic archaea. Together, this work provides a valuable reference set with new insights into the functional specializations of insect gut symbionts and frames future studies of cockroach hindgut metabolism

Lessons from the Pacific programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis: a case study of 5 countries

Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) is an important Neglected Tropical Disease, being a major cause of disability worldwide. The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis aims to eliminate LF as a public health problem by the year 2020, primarily through repeated Mass Drug Administration (MDA). The Pacific region programme commenced in 1999. By June 2007, five of the eleven countries classified as endemic had completed five MDA campaigns and post-MDA prevalence surveys to assess their progress. We review available programme data and discuss their implications for other LF elimination programs in developing countries. Reported MDA coverage and results from initial surveys and post-MDA surveys of LF using the immunochromatographic test (ICT) from these five Pacific Island countries (Tonga, Niue, Vanuatu, Samoa and Cook Islands) were analysed to provide an understanding of their quality and programme progress towards LF elimination. Denominator data reported by each country programme for 2001 was compared to official sources to assess the accuracy of MDA coverage data. Initial survey results from these five countries revealed an ICT prevalence of between 2.7 and 8.6 percent in individuals tested prior to commencement of the programme. Country MDA coverage results varied depending on the source of denominator data. Of the five countries in this case study, three countries (Tonga, Niue and Vanuatu) reached the target prevalence of <1% antigenaemia following five rounds of MDA. However, endpoint data could not be reliably compared to baseline data as survey methodology varied. It was concluded that accurate and representative baseline and post-campaign prevalence data is crucial for determining program effectiveness and the factors contributing to effectiveness. This is emphasised by the findings of this case study. While three of the five Pacific countries reported achieving the target prevalence of <1% antigenaemia, limitations in the data preclude identification of key determinants of this achievement

A persistent Norwegian Atlantic Current through the Pleistocene glacials

Changes in ocean‐circulation regimes in the northern North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas may affect not only the Arctic but potentially hemispheric or even global climate. Therefore, unraveling the long‐term evolution of the North Atlantic Current‐Norwegian Atlantic Current system through the Pleistocene glaciations could yield useful information and climatological context for understanding contemporary changes. In this work, ~50,000 km2 of 3‐D seismic reflection data are used to investigate the Pleistocene stratigraphy for evidence of paleo‐oceanographic regimes on the mid‐Norwegian margin since 2.58 Ma. Across 33 semicontinuous regional paleo‐seafloor surfaces ~17,500 iceberg scours have been mapped. This mapping greatly expands our spatiotemporal understanding of currents and iceberg presence in the eastern Nordic Seas. The scours display a dominant southwest‐northeast trend that complements previous sedimentological and numerical modeling studies that suggest northward‐flowing currents in the Norwegian Sea during the Pleistocene. This paleo‐oceanographic study suggests that through many of the Pleistocene glaciations, the location of surface ocean currents in the Norwegian Sea and, by extension, the eastern North Atlantic, were broadly similar to the present

New Approach to Quantum Field Theory for Arbitrary Observers in Electromagnetic Backgrounds

A reformulation of fermionic QFT in electromagnetic backgrounds is presented which uses methods analogous to those of conventional multiparticle quantum mechanics. Emphasis is placed on the (Schr\"odinger picture) states of the system, described in terms of Slater determinants of Dirac states, and not on the field operator $\hat{\psi}(x)$ (which is superfluous in this approach). The vacuum state `at time $\tau$' is defined as the Slater determinant of a basis for the span of the negative spectrum of the `first quantized' Hamiltonian $\hat{H}(\tau)$, thus providing a concrete realisation of the Dirac Sea. The general S-matrix element of the theory is derived in terms of time-dependent Bogoliubov coefficients, demonstrating that the S-matrix follows directly from the definition of inner product between Slater determinants. The process of `Hermitian extension', inherited directly from conventional multiparticle quantum mechanics, allows second quantized operators to be defined without appealing to a complete set of orthonormal modes, and provides an extremely straightforward derivation of the general expectation value of the theory. The concept of `radar time', advocated by Bondi in his work on k-calculus, is used to generalise the particle interpretation to an arbitrarily moving observer. A definition of particle results, which depends {\it only} on the observer's motion and the background present, not on any choice of coordinates or gauge, or of the particle detector. We relate this approach to conventional methods by comparing and contrasting various derivations. Our particle definition can be viewed as a generalisation to arbitrary observers of Gibbons' approach.Comment: 36 pages, 3 figure