589 research outputs found
The SF36 as an outcome measure of services for end stage renal failure
OBJECTIVE: âTo evaluate the use of the short
form 36 (SF36) as a measure of health
related quality of life of patients with end
stage renal failure, document the results,
and investigate factors, including mode of
treatment, which may influence it.
DESIGN: Cross sectional survey of patients
with end stage renal failure, with the
standard United Kingdom version of the
SF36 supplemented by specific questions
for end stage renal failure.
SETTING: A teaching hospital renal unit.
Subjects and methodsâ660 patients
treated at the Sheffield Kidney Institute by
haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and
transplantation. Internal consistency, percentage
of maximal or minimal responses,
SF36 scores, effect sizes, correlations
between independent predictor variables
and individual dimension scores of the
SF36. Multiple regression analysis of the
SF36 scores for the physical functioning,
vitality, and mental health dimensions
against treatment, age, risk (comorbidity)
score, and other independent variables.
RESULTS: A high response rate was
achieved. Internal consistency was good.
There were no floor or ceiling effects other
than for the two âroleâ dimensions. Overall
health related quality of life was poor
compared with the general population.
Having a functioning transplant was a significant
predictor of higher score in the
three dimensions (physical functioning,
vitality, and mental health) for which
multiple regression models were constructed.
Age, sex, comorbidity, duration
of treatment, level of social and emotional
support, household numbers, and hospital
dialysis were also (variably) significant
predictors.
CONCLUSIONS: The SF36 is a practical and
consistent questionnaire in this context,
and there is evidence to support its
construct validity. Overall the health related
quality of life of these patients is
poor, although transplantation is associated
with higher scores independently of
the effect of age and comorbidity. Age,
comorbidity, and sex are also predictive of
the scores attained in the three dimensions
studied. Further studies are required
to ascertain whether altering those
predictor variables which are under the
influence of professional carers is associated
with changes in health related quality
of life, and thus confirm the value of this
outcome as a measure of quality of care
Locally continuously perfect groups of homeomorphisms
The notion of a locally continuously perfect group is introduced and studied.
This notion generalizes locally smoothly perfect groups introduced by Haller
and Teichmann. Next, we prove that the path connected identity component of the
group of all homeomorphisms of a manifold is locally continuously perfect. The
case of equivariant homeomorphism group and other examples are also considered.Comment: 14 page
Structural Insights into Recognition of MDC1 by TopBP1 in DNA Replication Checkpoint Control
SummaryActivation of the DNA replication checkpoint by the ATR kinase requires protein interactions mediated by the ATR-activating protein, TopBP1. Accumulation of TopBP1 at stalled replication forks requires the interaction of TopBP1 BRCT5 with the phosphorylated SDT repeats of the adaptor protein MDC1. Here, we present the X-ray crystal structures of the tandem BRCT4/5 domains of TopBP1 free and in complex with a MDC1 consensus pSDpT phosphopeptide. TopBP1 BRCT4/5 adopts a variant BRCT-BRCT packing interface and recognizes its target peptide in a manner distinct from that observed in previous tandem BRCT- peptide structures. The phosphate-binding pocket and positively charged residues in a variant loop in BRCT5 present an extended binding surface for the negatively charged MDC1 phosphopeptide. Mutations in this surface reduce binding affinity and recruitment of TopBP1 to ÎłH2AX foci in cells. These studies reveal a different mode of phosphopeptide binding by BRCT domains in the DNA damage response
Spin-3/2 Nucleon and Delta Baryons in Lattice QCD
We present first results for masses of spin-3/2 N and Delta baryons in
lattice QCD using Fat-Link Irrelevant Clover (FLIC) fermions. Spin-3/2
interpolating fields providing overlap with both spin-3/2 and spin-1/2 states
are considered. In the isospin-1/2 sector, we observe, after appropriate spin
and parity projection, a strong signal for the J^P=3/2^- state together with a
weak but discernible signal for the 3/2^+ state with a mass splitting near that
observed experimentally. We also find good agreement between the 1/2^+/- masses
and earlier nucleon mass simulations with the standard spin-1/2 interpolating
field. For the isospin-3/2 Delta states, clear mass splittings are observed
between the various 1/2^+/- and 3/2^+/- channels, with the calculated level
orderings in good agreement with those observed empirically.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 table
Chiral Analysis of Quenched Baryon Masses
We extend to quenched QCD an earlier investigation of the chiral structure of
the masses of the nucleon and the delta in lattice simulations of full QCD.
Even after including the meson-loop self-energies which give rise to the
leading and next-to-leading non-analytic behaviour (and hence the most rapid
variation in the region of light quark mass), we find surprisingly little
curvature in the quenched case. Replacing these meson-loop self-energies by the
corresponding terms in full QCD yields a remarkable level of agreement with the
results of the full QCD simulations. This comparison leads to a very good
understanding of the origins of the mass splitting between these baryons.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Impact of asymptomatic plasmodium falciparum infection on the risk of subsequent matic malaria in a longitudinal cohort in Kenya
Background: Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections are common in sub-Saharan Africa, but their effect on subsequent symptomaticity is incompletely understood. Methods: In a 29-month cohort of 268 people in Western Kenya, we investigated the association between asymptomatic P. falciparum and subsequent symptomatic malaria with frailty Cox models. Results: Compared to being uninfected, asymptomatic infections were associated with an increased 1-month likelihood of symptomatic malaria [adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR):2.61, 95%CI:2.05â3.33], and this association was modified by sex, with females [aHR:3.71, 95%CI:2.62â5.24] at higher risk for symptomaticity than males [aHR:1.76, 95%CI:1.24â2.50]. This increased symptomatic malaria risk was observed for asymptomatic infections of all densities and in people of all ages. Long-term risk was attenuated but still present in children under 5 [29-month aHR:1.38, 95%CI:1.05â1.81]. Conclusions: In this high-transmission setting, asymptomatic P. falciparum can be quickly followed by symptoms and may be targeted to reduce the incidence of symptomatic illness
Excited Baryons in Lattice QCD
We present first results for the masses of positive and negative parity
excited baryons calculated in lattice QCD using an O(a^2)-improved gluon action
and a fat-link irrelevant clover (FLIC) fermion action in which only the
irrelevant operators are constructed with APE-smeared links. The results are in
agreement with earlier calculations of N^* resonances using improved actions
and exhibit a clear mass splitting between the nucleon and its chiral partner.
An correlation matrix analysis reveals two low-lying J^P=(1/2)^- states with a
small mass splitting. The study of different Lambda interpolating fields
suggests a similar splitting between the lowest two Lambda1/2^- octet states.
However, the empirical mass suppression of the Lambda^*(1405) is not evident in
these quenched QCD simulations, suggesting a potentially important role for the
meson cloud of the Lambda^*(1405) and/or a need for more exotic interpolating
fields.Comment: Correlation matrix analysis performed. Increased to 400
configurations. 22 pages, 13 figures, 15 table
Exposure to Diverse Plasmodium falciparum Genotypes Shapes the Risk of Symptomatic Malaria in Incident and Persistent Infections: A Longitudinal Molecular Epidemiologic Study in Kenya
Background: Repeated exposure to malaria infections could protect against symptomatic progression as people develop adaptive immunity to infections acquired over time. Methods: We investigated how new, recurrent, and persistent Plasmodium falciparum infections were associated with the odds of developing symptomatic compared with asymptomatic malaria. Using a 14-month longitudinal cohort in Western Kenya, we used amplicon deep sequencing of 2 polymorphic genes (pfama1 and pfcsp) to assess overlap of parasite genotypes (represented by haplotypes) acquired within an individual's successive infections. We hypothesized infections with novel haplotypes would increase the odds of symptomatic malaria. Results: After excluding initial infections, we observed 534 asymptomatic and 88 symptomatic infections across 186 people. We detected 109 pfcsp haplotypes, and each infection was classified as harboring novel, recurrent, or persistent haplotypes. Incident infections with only new haplotypes had higher odds of symptomatic malaria when compared with infections with only recurrent haplotypes [odds ratio (OR): 3.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20-8.78], but infections with both new and recurrent haplotypes (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.15-2.65) did not. Assessing persistent infections, those with mixed (persistent with new or recurrent) haplotypes (OR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.21-2.75) had no association with symptomatic malaria compared with infections with only persistent haplotypes. Results were similar for pfama1. Conclusions: These results confirm that incident infections with only novel haplotypes were associated with increased odds of symptomatic malaria compared with infections with only recurrent haplotypes but this relationship was not seen when haplotypes persisted over time in consecutive infections
Scale-free static and dynamical correlations in melts of monodisperse and Flory-distributed homopolymers: A review of recent bond-fluctuation model studies
It has been assumed until very recently that all long-range correlations are
screened in three-dimensional melts of linear homopolymers on distances beyond
the correlation length characterizing the decay of the density
fluctuations. Summarizing simulation results obtained by means of a variant of
the bond-fluctuation model with finite monomer excluded volume interactions and
topology violating local and global Monte Carlo moves, we show that due to an
interplay of the chain connectivity and the incompressibility constraint, both
static and dynamical correlations arise on distances . These
correlations are scale-free and, surprisingly, do not depend explicitly on the
compressibility of the solution. Both monodisperse and (essentially)
Flory-distributed equilibrium polymers are considered.Comment: 60 pages, 49 figure
ââAt least with cheating there is an attempt at monogamyââ: Cheating and Monogamism Among Undergraduate Heterosexual Men.
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