1,439 research outputs found
Comment on ``Cosmological Gamma Ray Bursts and the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays''
In a letter with the above title, published some time ago in PRL, Waxman made
the interesting suggestion that cosmological gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the
source of the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR). This has also been
proposed independently by Milgrom and Usov and by Vietri. However, recent
observations of GRBs and their afterglows and in particular recent data from
the Akeno Great Air Shwoer Array (AGASA) on UHECR rule out extragalactic GRBs
as the source of UHECR.Comment: Comment on a letter with the above title published by E. Waxman in
PRL 75, 386 (1995). Submitted for publication in PRL/Comment
Bacteriological profile of wound infections and antimicrobial resistance in selected gram-negative bacteria
Background: Managing wound infections is a challenging task. Understanding their resistance pattern is an essential step at reducing its burden in hospital settings.
Objective: To determine the bacteriological diversity of wound infections and the antimicrobial resistance exhibited by a selected Gram-negative bacterium in the Aljouf region of Saudi Arabia.
Methods: The study retrospectively analysed the antibiograms of wound infections from hospitalized patients for the year 2019. The European Centre for Disease Control guidelines were adopted for the classification of resistant bacteria. Multidrug-, extensive drug-, and carbapenem-resistant isolates are presented as frequencies and percentages.
Results: A total of 295 non-duplicate wound swab antibiograms were retrieved, 64.4% (190) and 35.6% (105) isolates were Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections respectively. Predominant pathogens included Staphylococcus species 21.0% (62), E. coli 16.3% (48) and K. pneumoniae 13.5% (40). 148 (77.9%), 42 (22.1%) and 43 (22.6%) of the Gram-negative isolates were multidrug-, extensively drug- and carbapenem-resistant. The antibiotic resistance exhibited by gram-negative bacteria was 43.4% (234/539), 59.1% (224/379) and 53.7% (101/188) towards carbapenems, 3rd - and 4th – generation cephalosporins.
Conclusions: The majority of wound infections are caused by multidrug-, extensively drug- and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Further studies should focus on the molecular basis of this resistance.
Keywords: Wound infections; hospital; Gram-negative bacteria; antibiograms; multidrug-resistance; E. coli
Neutrino Induced Upward Going Muons from a Gamma Ray Burst in a Neutrino Telescope of Km^2 Area
The number of neutrino induced upward going muons from a single Gamma Ray
Burst (GRB) expected to be detected by the proposed kilometer scale IceCube
detector at the South Pole location has been calculated. The effects of the
Lorentz factor, total energy of the GRB emitted in neutrinos and its distance
from the observer (red shift) on the number of neutrino events from the GRB
have been examined. The present investigation reveals that there is possibility
of exploring the early Universe with the proposed kilometer scale IceCube
neutrino telescope.Comment: 18pages, 5 figures. Physical Review D in pres
Nuclear Reaction Rates in a Plasma
The problem of determining the effects of the surrounding plasma on nuclear
reaction rates in stars is formulated ab initio, using the techniques of
quantum statistical mechanics. We derive a result that expresses the complete
effects of Coulomb barrier penetration and of the influence of the surrounding
plasma in terms of matrix elements of well defined operators. We find that
possible "dynamical screening" effects that have been discussed in the
literature are absent. The form of our results suggests that an approach that
relies on numerical calculations of the correlation functions in a classical
Coulomb gas, followed by construction of an effective two body potential and a
quantum barrier penetration calculation, will miss physics that is as important
as the physics that it includes.Comment: 66 pages, revtex, Errors Fixed, Explanation Adde
Atypical Localizations of Hydatid Disease: Experience from a Single Institute
Introduction: The hydatid disease most often involves the liver and the lungs. The disease can involve any part of the body except the hair, teeth and nails. Primary extrahepaticopulmonary hydatid cysts are rare and only a few sporadic cases have been reported. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and forty-four patients with hydatid cysts managed surgically from January 2005 to December 2009 were evaluated retrospectively. Fourteen (5.7%) patients had isolated involvement of the atypical sites, while six (2.4%) also had a primary involvement of liver. Results: The cysts were present in gall bladder (0.4%), peritoneum (1.6%), spleen (1.6%), ovary (0.4%), subcutaneous (0.8%), seminal vesicle (0.4%), spinal (0.4%), pancreas (0.4%), kidney (0.4%), mediastinal (0.4%), muscle (0.4%), and brain (0.8%). Discussion and Conclusions: Involvement of sites other than liver and lungs by hydatid disease is rare. Symptoms are related to size, location or possible complication of the cyst. It should be strongly suspected in differential diagnosis of all abdominal cysts especially in an endemic area. Proper surgical and medical management to avoid any recurrences, and a regular follow-up, are of utmost importance to detect any late complications such as local recurrence of the disease and development of hydatidosis at the primary sites.Keywords: Atypical locations, hydatid, echinococcosisNigerian Journal of Surgery, Jan-Jun 2012 | Volume 18 | Issue
Incompressible Turbulence as Nonlocal Field Theory
It is well known that incompressible turbulence is nonlocal in real space
because sound speed is infinite in incompressible fluids. The equation in
Fourier space indicates that it is nonlocal in Fourier space as well. Contrast
this with Burgers equation which is local in real space. Note that the sound
speed in Burgers equation is zero. In our presentation we will contrast these
two equations using nonlocal field theory. Energy spectrum and renormalized
parameters will be discussed.Comment: 7 pages; Talk presented in Conference on "Perspectives in Nonlinear
Dynamics (PNLD 2004)" held in Chennai, 200
Effect of Pulsing Treatments for Enhancing Shelf-Life of Cut Asiatic Lilium cv. Elite
Studies were conducted on cut Asiatic Lilium cv. Elite to assess the effectiveness of various floral preservatives as pulsing treatments for delaying senescence and prolonging vase life. Uniform spikes of lilium at bud colour break stage were brought to the laboratory in the morning and placed in 8 different pulsing solutions consisting of sucrose (Suc) 5%, aluminium sulphate (AS) 400 ppm, silver thio-sulphate (STS) 2.0 mM and citric acid (CA) 1000 ppm alone and in combination with sucrose. Distilled water without any chemical served as the control. Among individual treatments, STS 2.0 mM maintained better water relations and flower quality compared to others. STS also showed superiority over other treatments when combined with Suc 5% by providing largest flower size (16.74 cm) with maximum vase life (17.29 days) owing to most-favourable water relations parameters
Gamma-Ray Bursts from Neutron Star Kicks
The idea that gamma-ray bursts might be a kind of phenomena associated with
neutron star kicks was first proposed by Dar & Plaga (1999). Here we study this
mechanism in more detail and point out that the neutron star should be a high
speed one (with proper motion larger than km/s). It is shown that
the model agrees well with observations in many aspects, such as the
energetics, the event rate, the collimation, the bimodal distribution of
durations, the narrowly clustered intrinsic energy, and the association of
gamma-ray bursts with supernovae and star forming regions. We also discuss the
implications of this model on the neutron star kick mechanism, and suggest that
the high kick speed were probably acquired due to the electromagnetic rocket
effect of a millisecond magnetar with an off-centered magnetic dipole.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, ApJ in press (minor revision with respect to
Version 2
Can Galactic Observations Be Explained by a Relativistic Gravity Theory?
We consider the possibility of an alternative gravity theory explaining the
dynamics of galactic systems without dark matter. From very general assumptions
about the structure of a relativistic gravity theory we derive a general
expression for the metric to order . This allows us to compare the
predictions of the theory with various experimental data: the Newtonian limit,
light deflection and retardation, rotation of galaxies and gravitational
lensing. Our general conclusion is that the possibility for any gravity theory
to explain the behaviour of galaxies without dark matter is rather improbable.Comment: 12p, REVTeX 3.
The novel CXCR4 antagonist POL5551 mobilizes hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with greater efficiency than Plerixafor
Mobilized blood has supplanted bone marrow (BM) as the primary source of hematopoietic stem cells for autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Pharmacologically enforced egress of hematopoietic stem cells from BM, or mobilization, has been achieved by directly or indirectly targeting the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis. Shortcomings of the standard mobilizing agent, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), administered alone or in combination with the only approved CXCR4 antagonist, Plerixafor, continue to fuel the quest for new mobilizing agents. Using Protein Epitope Mimetics technology, a novel peptidic CXCR4 antagonist, POL5551, was developed. In vitro data presented herein indicate high affinity to and specificity for CXCR4. POL5551 exhibited rapid mobilization kinetics and unprecedented efficiency in C57BL/6 mice, exceeding that of Plerixafor and at higher doses also of G-CSF. POL5551-mobilized stem cells demonstrated adequate transplantation properties. In contrast to G-CSF, POL5551 did not induce major morphological changes in the BM of mice. Moreover, we provide evidence of direct POL5551 binding to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) in vivo, strengthening the hypothesis that CXCR4 antagonists mediate mobilization by direct targeting of HSPCs. In summary, POL5551 is a potent mobilizing agent for HSPCs in mice with promising therapeutic potential if these data can be orroborated in humans
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