Partitioning of Co2+ and Mn2+ into meridianiite (MgSO4·11H2O): Ternary solubility diagrams at 270 K; cation site distribution determined by single-crystal time-of-flight neutron diffraction and density functional theory

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.We have grown single crystals of M 2+ SO 4 hydrates at 270 K from aqueous solutions in the ternary systems CoSO 4 –MgSO 4 –H 2 O and MnSO 4 –MgSO 4 –H 2 O. These systems exhibit broad stability fields for a triclinic undecahydrate on the Mg-rich side (i.e., Co- or Mn-bearing meridianiite solid solutions) and stability fields for monoclinic heptahydrates on the Mg-poor side (i.e., Mg-bearing solid solutions of bieberite or mallardite). The solubility curves and distribution coefficients, describing the partitioning of M 2+ ions between liquid and solid phases, have been determined by thermo-gravimetric and spectroscopic techniques. A subset of M 2+ SO 4 ·11H 2 O specimens were selected for single-crystal time-of-flight neutron diffraction analysis in order to evaluate preferential occupancy of symmetry-inequivalent coordination polyhedra in the structure. Considering the nearly identical dimensions of the first coordination shells, there is a surprising difference in the distribution of Co and Mn over the two available sites.This work was supported in part by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fellowship number PP/E006515/1 and by STFC grant number ST/K000934/1

Deep EST profiling of developing fenugreek endosperm to investigate galactomannan biosynthesis and its regulation

Galactomannans are hemicellulosic polysaccharides composed of a (1 → 4)-linked β-D-mannan backbone substituted with single-unit (1 → 6)-α-linked D-galactosyl residues. Developing fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seeds are known to accumulate large quantities of galactomannans in the endosperm, and were thus used here as a model system to better understand galactomannan biosynthesis and its regulation. We first verified the specific deposition of galactomannans in developing endosperms and determined that active accumulation occurred from 25 to 38 days post anthesis (DPA) under our growth conditions. We then examined the expression levels during seed development of ManS and GMGT, two genes encoding backbone and side chain synthetic enzymes. Based on transcript accumulation dynamics for ManS and GMGT, cDNA libraries were constructed using RNA isolated from endosperms at four ages corresponding to before, at the beginning of, and during active galactomannan deposition. DNA from these libraries was sequenced using the 454 sequencing technology to yield a total of 1.5 million expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Through analysis of the EST profiling data, we identified genes known to be involved in galactomannan biosynthesis, as well as new genes that may be involved in this process, and proposed a model for the flow of carbon from sucrose to galactomannans. Measurement of in vitro ManS and GMGT activities and analysis of sugar phosphate and nucleotide sugar levels in the endosperms of developing fenugreek seeds provided data consistent with this model. In vitro enzymatic assays also revealed that the ManS enzyme from fenugreek endosperm preferentially used GDP-mannose as the substrate for the backbone synthesis

Acute ECG ST-segment elevation mimicking myocardial infarction in a patient with pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism is a common cardiovascular emergency, but it is still often misdiagnosed due to its unspecific clinical symptoms. Elevated troponin concentrations are associated with greater morbidity and mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism. Right ventricular ischemia due to increased right ventricular afterload is believed to be underlying mechanism of elevated troponin values in acute pulmonary embolism, but a paradoxical coronary artery embolism through opened intra-artrial communication is another possible explanation as shown in our case report

Systematic review of prognostic models in traumatic brain injury

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability world-wide. The ability to accurately predict patient outcome after TBI has an important role in clinical practice and research. Prognostic models are statistical models that combine two or more items of patient data to predict clinical outcome. They may improve predictions in TBI patients. Multiple prognostic models for TBI have accumulated for decades but none of them is widely used in clinical practice. The objective of this systematic review is to critically assess existing prognostic models for TBI METHODS: Studies that combine at least two variables to predict any outcome in patients with TBI were searched in PUBMED and EMBASE. Two reviewers independently examined titles, abstracts and assessed whether each met the pre-defined inclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 53 reports including 102 models were identified. Almost half (47%) were derived from adult patients. Three quarters of the models included less than 500 patients. Most of the models (93%) were from high income countries populations. Logistic regression was the most common analytical strategy to derived models (47%). In relation to the quality of the derivation models (n:66), only 15% reported less than 10% pf loss to follow-up, 68% did not justify the rationale to include the predictors, 11% conducted an external validation and only 19% of the logistic models presented the results in a clinically user-friendly way CONCLUSION: Prognostic models are frequently published but they are developed from small samples of patients, their methodological quality is poor and they are rarely validated on external populations. Furthermore, they are not clinically practical as they are not presented to physicians in a user-friendly way. Finally because only a few are developed using populations from low and middle income countries, where most of trauma occurs, the generalizability to these setting is limited

Chromosomal Rearrangements Formed by rrn Recombination Do Not Improve Replichore Balance in Host-Specific Salmonella enterica Serovars

operons. One hypothesis explaining these rearrangements suggests that replichore imbalance introduced from horizontal transfer of pathogenicity islands and prophages drives chromosomal rearrangements in an attempt to improve balance.This hypothesis was directly tested by comparing the naturally-occurring chromosomal arrangement types to the theoretically possible arrangement types, and estimating their replichore balance using a calculator. In addition to previously characterized strains belonging to host-specific serovars, the arrangement types of 22 serovar Gallinarum strains was also determined. Only 48 out of 1,440 possible arrangement types were identified in 212 host-specific strains. While the replichores of most naturally-occurring arrangement types were well-balanced, most theoretical arrangement types had imbalanced replichores. Furthermore, the most common types of rearrangements did not change replichore balance.The results did not support the hypothesis that replichore imbalance causes these rearrangements, and suggest that the rearrangements could be explained by aspects of a host-specific lifestyle

Climate change and environmental impacts on maternal and newborn health with focus on Arctic populations

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented a report on global warming and the impact of human activities on global warming. Later the Lancet commission identified six ways human health could be affected. Among these were not environmental factors which are also believed to be important for human health. In this paper we therefore focus on environmental factors, climate change and the predicted effects on maternal and newborn health. Arctic issues are discussed specifically considering their exposure and sensitivity to long range transported contaminants. Considering that the different parts of pregnancy are particularly sensitive time periods for the effects of environmental exposure, this review focuses on the impacts on maternal and newborn health. Environmental stressors known to affects human health and how these will change with the predicted climate change are addressed. Air pollution and food security are crucial issues for the pregnant population in a changing climate, especially indoor climate and food security in Arctic areas. The total number of environmental factors is today responsible for a large number of the global deaths, especially in young children. Climate change will most likely lead to an increase in this number. Exposure to the different environmental stressors especially air pollution will in most parts of the world increase with climate change, even though some areas might face lower exposure. Populations at risk today are believed to be most heavily affected. As for the persistent organic pollutants a warming climate leads to a remobilisation and a possible increase in food chain exposure in the Arctic and thus increased risk for Arctic populations. This is especially the case for mercury. The perspective for the next generations will be closely connected to the expected temperature changes; changes in housing conditions; changes in exposure patterns; predicted increased exposure to Mercury because of increased emissions and increased biological availability. A number of environmental stressors are predicted to increase with climate change and increasingly affecting human health. Efforts should be put on reducing risk for the next generation, thus global politics and research effort should focus on maternal and newborn health

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase Deficiency Causes Organ-Specific Autoimmune Disease

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) expressed by germinal center B cells is a central regulator of somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR). Humans with AID mutations develop not only the autosomal recessive form of hyper-IgM syndrome (HIGM2) associated with B cell hyperplasia, but also autoimmune disorders by unknown mechanisms. We report here that AID−/− mice spontaneously develop tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) in non-lymphoid tissues including the stomach at around 6 months of age. At a later stage, AID−/− mice develop a severe gastritis characterized by loss of gastric glands and epithelial hyperplasia. The disease development was not attenuated even under germ-free (GF) conditions. Gastric autoantigen -specific serum IgM was elevated in AID−/− mice, and the serum levels correlated with the gastritis pathological score. Adoptive transfer experiments suggest that autoimmune CD4+ T cells mediate gastritis development as terminal effector cells. These results suggest that abnormal B-cell expansion due to AID deficiency can drive B-cell autoimmunity, and in turn promote TLO formation, which ultimately leads to the propagation of organ-specific autoimmune effector CD4+ T cells. Thus, AID plays an important role in the containment of autoimmune diseases by negative regulation of autoreactive B cells