1,790 research outputs found
Influence of sewage sludge-derived organic matter on the mobility and speciation of heavy metals in colliery spoil
The Butcher-Oemler Effect in High Redshift X-ray Selected Clusters
We are engaged in a wide-field, multi-colour imaging survey of X-ray selected
clusters at intermediate and high redshift. We present blue fractions for the
first 8 out of 29 clusters, covering almost a factor of 100 in X-ray
luminosity. We find no correlation of blue fraction with redshift or X-ray
luminosity. The lack of a correlation with L, places strong constraints
on the importance of ram-pressure stripping as a driver of the Butcher-Oemler
effect.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be puplished in the proceedings of the ''Sesto
2001-Tracing Cosmic Evolution with Galaxy Clusters'', Sesto 3-6 July 2001,
Italy, eds, Stefano Borgan
The Anti-Desmoglein 1 Autoantibodies in Pemphigus Vulgaris Sera are Pathogenic
Pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus are two closely related, but clinically and histologically distinct, autoimmune skin diseases. The autoantigens for pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus are desmoglein 3 and desmoglein 1, respectively. The anti-desmoglein 1 antibodies in pemphigus foliaceus and anti-desmoglein 3 antibodies in pemphigus vulgaris are pathogenic as determined by immunoglobulin G passive transfer animal models. More than 50% of pemphigus vulgaris sera also contain anti-desmoglein 1 autoantibodies; however, the pathogenicity of the anti-desmoglein 1 autoantibodies in pemphigus vulgaris remains unknown. In this study, we used soluble recombinant extracellular domains of desmoglein 1 and desmoglein 3 to obtain affinity-purified anti-desmoglein 1 and anti-desmoglein 3âautoantibodies from pemphigus vulgaris sera and examined the pathogenicity of each fraction separately using the passive transfer mouse model. By immunoprecipitation, the purified anti-desmoglein 1 and anti-desmoglein 3 showed no cross-reactivity. The anti-desmoglein 1 autoantibodies in pemphigus vulgaris induced typical pemphigus foliaceus lesions in neonatal mice, whereas the anti-desmoglein 3 fraction induced pemphigus vulgaris-like lesions. In addition, the pathogenic anti-desmoglein 1 and anti-desmoglein 3 autoantibodies in pemphigus vulgaris had predominant IgG4 subclass specificity. These findings suggest that the anti-desmoglein 1 antibodies in pemphigus vulgaris are pathogenic
Mortality Rate of Bullous Pemphigoid in a US Medical Center
All patients at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals with a new diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid (BP) between May 1, 1997 and September 1, 2002 were included in this study. The age at onset, date of death or date of last follow-up visit, mode of treatment, co-morbidities, and initial and follow-up hospitalizations were noted. Thirty-eight new patients were identified and complete follow-up data were obtained on 37 of the patients. Patients were followed a minimum of 1 y or until the time of death. The mean duration of follow-up was 20 mo. KaplanâMeier analysis of our population indicated a 1-y survival probability of 88.96% (standard error 5.21%), with a 95% confidence interval (75.6%, 94.2%). This survival rate was considerably higher than that recently reported in several studies from Europe (29%â41% first year mortality). Although the age at onset and co-morbidities of our patients were similar to those in the European studies, the rate of hospitalization of our patients was much lower than that of patients from Europe (1.5 d per patient vs 11â25 d per patient). This study suggests that differences in practice patterns may be an important factor in the reduced mortality rate in US BP patients compared with Europe
A randomized, blinded, controlled trial investigating the gastrointestinal health effects of drinking water quality.
A double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial was carried out in in Melbourne, Australia, to determine the contribution of drinking water to gastroenteritis. Melbourne is one of the few major cities in the world that draws drinking water from a protected forest catchment with minimal water treatment (chlorination only). Six hundred families were randomly allocated to receive either real or sham water treatment units (WTUs) installed in their kitchen. Real units were designed to remove viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. Study participants completed a weekly health diary reporting gastrointestinal symptoms during the 68-week observation period. There were 2,669 cases of highly credible gastroenteritis (HCG) during the study (0.80 cases/person/year). The ratio of HCG episode rates for the real WTU group compared to the sham WTU group was 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.85-1.15, p = 0.85). We collected 795 fecal specimens from participants with gastroenteritis, and pathogens were not more significantly common in the sham WTU group. We found no evidence of waterborne disease in Melbourne. The application of this methodology to other water supplies will provide a better understanding of the relationship between human health and water quality
Immunogenicity ofEscherichia coli O antigen in upper urinary tract infection
Immunogenicity ofEscherichia coli O antigen in upper urinary tract infection. The role of immunogenicity of the infecting organism (Escherichia coli) in the antibody response to O antigen in upper urinary tract infection was investigated Heat-killed vaccines were prepared from âimmunogenicâ organisms which had produced upper urinary tract infection associated with high titers of hemag-glutinating antibody to O antigen and ânonimmunogenicâ organisms which had produced upper urinary tract infection without a rise in antibody titer. âImmunogenicâ 06 vaccine produced high titers of antibody in patients regarded as possibly âpoor producersâ of antibody, but ânonimmunogenicâ 011 vaccine was not associated with a rise in titer in patients previously regarded as âgood producersâ. These vaccines were significantly different in immunogenicity (P < 0.05). Five vaccines were tested in 50 rats. The difference in hemagglutinating titers to O antigen between 06 and 011 was highly significant (P < 0.001). Immunogenicity of the infecting organism appears to be a significant factor in determining antibody response to O antigen in upper urinary tract infection.ImmunogĂ©nicitĂ© de l'antigĂšne O d'Escherichia coli dans les infections du haut appareil urinaire. Le rĂŽle de l'immunogĂ©nicitĂ© de l'organisme infectant (Escherichia coli) dans la rĂ©ponse immune Ă l'antigĂšne O au cours des infections du haut appareil urinaire a Ă©tĂ© Ă©tudiĂ©. Des vaccins tuĂ©s par la chaleur ont Ă©tĂ© prĂ©parĂ©s Ă partir d'organismes âimmunogĂ©niquesâ qui ont Ă©tĂ© responsables d'infection du haut appareil urinaire associĂ©es Ă des titres Ă©levĂ©s d'anticorps hĂ©magglutinants contre l'antigĂšne O et d'organismes ânon immunogĂ©niquesâ qui ont produit une infection du haut appareil sans augmentation du titre d'anticorps. Le vaccin âimmunogĂ©niqueâ 06 produit des titres Ă©levĂ©s d'anticorps chez des malades considĂ©rĂ©s comme de faibles producteurs d'anticorps et le vaccin ânon immunogĂ©niqueâ 011 ne dĂ©termine pas d'augmentation du titre chez des malades antĂ©rieurement considĂ©rĂ©s comme de âbons producteursâ. Ces vaccins diffĂšrent significativement en âimmunogĂ©nicitĂ©â (P < 0, 05). Cinq vaccins ont Ă©tĂ© essayĂ©s chez 50 rats. La diffĂ©rence dans les titres d'hĂ©mmaglutination vis Ă vis de l'antigĂšne O est trĂšs significative entre 06 et 011 (P < 0, 001). L'immunogĂ©nicitĂ© de l'organisme infectant parait ĂȘtre un facteur important dans la dĂ©termination de la rĂ©ponse immune Ă l'antigĂšne O au cours des infections du haut appareil urinaire
Cost-effectiveness of a new autoantibody test added to Computed Tomography (CT) compared to CT surveillance alone in the diagnosis of lung cancer amongst patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules
Oncimmune's EarlyCDTÂź-Lung is a simple ELISA blood test that measures seven lung cancer specific autoantibodies and is used in the assessment of malignancy risk in patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs). The objective of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of EarlyCDT-Lung in the diagnosis of lung cancer amongst patients with IPNs in addition to CT surveillance, compared to CT surveillance alone which is the current recommendation by the British Thoracic Society guidelines. A model consisting of a combination of a decision tree and Markov model was developed using the outcome measure of the quality adjusted life year (QALY). A life-time time horizon was adopted. The model was parameterized using a range of secondary sources. At ÂŁ70 per test, EarlyCDT-Lung and CT surveillance was found to be cost-effective compared to CT surveillance alone with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of less than ÂŁ2,500 depending on the test accuracy parameters used. It was also found that EarlyCDT-Lung can be priced up to ÂŁ1,177 and still be cost-effective based on cost-effectiveness acceptance threshold of ÂŁ20,000 / QALY. Further research to resolve parameter uncertainty, was not found to be of value. The results here demonstrate that at ÂŁ70 per test the EarlyCDT-Lung will have a positive impact on patient outcomes and coupled with CT surveillance is a cost-effective approach to the management of patients with IPNs. The conclusions drawn from this analysis are robust to realistic variation in the parameters used in the model
Telling partners about chlamydia: how acceptable are the new technologies?
BACKGROUND Partner notification is accepted as a vital component in the control of chlamydia. However, in reality, many sexual partners of individuals diagnosed with chlamydia are never informed of their risk. The newer technologies of email and SMS have been used as a means of improving partner notification rates. This study explored the use and acceptability of different partner notification methods to help inform the development of strategies and resources to increase the number of partners notified. METHODS Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 40 people who were recently diagnosed with chlamydia from three sexual health centres and two general practices across three Australian jurisdictions. RESULTS Most participants chose to contact their partners either in person (56%) or by phone (44%). Only 17% chose email or SMS. Participants viewed face-to-face as the "gold standard" in partner notification because it demonstrated caring, respect and courage. Telephone contact, while considered insensitive by some, was often valued because it was quick, convenient and less confronting. Email was often seen as less personal while SMS was generally considered the least acceptable method for telling partners. There was also concern that emails and SMS could be misunderstood, not taken seriously or shown to others. Despite these, email and SMS were seen to be appropriate and useful in some circumstances. Letters, both from the patients or from their doctor, were viewed more favourably but were seldom used. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that many people diagnosed with chlamydia are reluctant to use the new technologies for partner notification, except in specific circumstances, and our efforts in developing partner notification resources may best be focused on giving patients the skills and confidence for personal interaction.The study was funded by the Australian Federal Government Department of Health and Ageing Chlamydia Pilot Program of Targeted Grants
A selected ion flow tube study of the reactions of gas-phase cations with PSCl3
A selected ion flow tube was used to investigate the positive ion chemistry of thiophosphoryl chloride, PSCl. Rate coefficients and ion product branching ratios have been determined at room temperature for reactions with nineteen cations ; HO, CF, CF, NO, NO, SF, SF, CF, O, HO, NO, O, CO, CO, N, N, Ar, F and Ne (in order of increasing recombination energy). Complementary data described in the previous paper have been obtained for this molecule via the observation of threshold photoelectron photoion coincidences. For ions whose recombination energies are in the range 10-22 eV, comparisons are made between the product ion branching rations of PSCl from photoionisation and from ion-molecule reactions. In most instances, the data from the two experiments are well correlated, suggesting that long-range charge transfer is the dominant mechanism for these ion-molecule reactions ; the agreement is particularly good for the atomic ions Ar, F and Ne. Some reactions (e.g. O + PSCl), however, exhibit significant differences; short-range charge transfer must then be occurring following the formation of an ion-molecule complex. For ions whose recombination energies are less than 10 eV (i.e. HO, CF, CF and NO), reactions can only occur via a chemical process in which bonds are broken and formed, because the recombination energy of the cation is less than the ionisation energy of PSCl
The effects of rhythmic sensory cues on the temporal dynamics of human gait
Walking is a complex, rhythmic task performed by the locomotor system. However, natural gait rhythms can be influenced by metronomic auditory stimuli, a phenomenon of particular interest in neurological rehabilitation. In this paper, we examined the effects of aural, visual and tactile rhythmic cues on the temporal dynamics associated with human gait. Data were collected from fifteen healthy adults in two sessions. Each session consisted of five 15-minute trials. In the first trial of each session, participants walked at their preferred walking speed. In subsequent trials, participants were asked to walk to a metronomic beat, provided through visually, aurally, tactile or all three cues (simultaneously and in sync), the pace of which was set to the preferred walking speed of the first trial. Using the collected data, we extracted several parameters including: gait speed, mean stride interval, stride interval variability, scaling exponent and maximum Lyapunov exponent. The extracted parameters showed that rhythmic sensory cues affect the temporal dynamics of human gait. The auditory rhythmic cue had the greatest influence on the gait parameters, while the visual cue had no statistically significant effect on the scaling exponent. These results demonstrate that visual rhythmic cues could be considered as an alternative cueing modality in rehabilitation without concern of adversely altering the statistical persistence of walking. © 2012 SejdiÄ et al
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