6,822 research outputs found
Apparent absence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in wild urodeles in the United Kingdom
This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Whether an infectious disease threat to wildlife arises from pathogen introduction or the increased
incidence of an already-present agent informs mitigation policy and actions. The prior absence of a
pathogen can be difcult to establish, particularly in free-living wildlife. Subsequent to the epidemic
emergence of the fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), in mainland Europe in 2010 and
prior to its detection in captive amphibians in the United Kingdom (UK), we tested archived skin swabs
using a Bsal-specifc qPCR. These samples had been collected in 2011 from 2409 wild newts from ponds
across the UK. All swabs were negative for Bsal. Bayesian hierarchical modelling suggests that Bsal
was absent from, or present at very low levels in, these ponds at the time of sampling. Additionally,
surveillance of newt mortality incidents, 2013â2017, failed to detect Bsal. As this pathogen has been
shown to be widespread in British captive amphibian collections, there is an urgent need to raise
awareness of the importance of efective biosecurity measures, especially amongst people with captive
amphibians, to help minimise the risk of Bsal spreading to the wild. Continued and heightened wild
amphibian disease surveillance is a priority to provide an early warning system for potential incursion
eventsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA
Abaloparatide: an anabolic treatment to reduce fracture risk in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis
Objective
Fractures due to osteoporosis represent a serious burden on patients and healthcare systems. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the anabolic agent abaloparatide (ABL) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture.
Methods
A literature review was conducted using PubMed to identify articles focused on ABL published prior to February 10, 2020, using the search term âabaloparatideâ.
Results
ABL, a synthetic analog of human parathyroid hormone-related protein, increased bone mineral density (BMD), improved bone microarchitecture, and increased bone strength in preclinical and clinical studies. The pivotal phase 3 trial ACTIVE and its extension (ACTIVExtend) demonstrated the efficacy of initial treatment with ABL for 18âmonths followed by sequential treatment with alendronate (ALN) for an additional 24âmonths to reduce the risk of vertebral, nonvertebral, clinical, and major osteoporotic fractures and to increase BMD in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Discontinuations from ACTIVE were slightly more common in ABL-treated patients due to dizziness, palpitations, nausea, and headache. Post hoc analyses of ACTIVE and ACTIVExtend support the efficacy and safety of ABL in relevant subpopulations including postmenopausal women with various baseline risk factors, women â„80âyears, women with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and women with renal impairment.
Conclusions
ABL is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. Its therapeutic effects are sustained with subsequent ALN therapy
Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects
The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are
investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid
model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease
the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make
the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the
nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island.
Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to
distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic
potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the
electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion
guiding-center density
Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects
The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are
investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid
model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease
the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make
the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the
nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island.
Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to
distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic
potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the
electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion
guiding-center density
Gyrofluid simulations of collisionless reconnection in the presence of diamagnetic effects
The effects of the ion Larmor radius on magnetic reconnection are
investigated by means of numerical simulations, with a Hamiltonian gyrofluid
model. In the linear regime, it is found that ion diamagnetic effects decrease
the growth rate of the dominant mode. Increasing ion temperature tends to make
the magnetic islands propagate in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. In the
nonlinear regime, diamagnetic effects reduce the final width of the island.
Unlike the electron density, the guiding center density does not tend to
distribute along separatrices and at high ion temperature, the electrostatic
potential exhibits the superposition of a small scale structure, related to the
electron density, and a large scale structure, related to the ion
guiding-center density
A forming disk at z~0.6: Collapse of a gaseous disk or major merger remnant?
[Abridged] We present and analyze observations of J033241.88-274853.9 at
z=0.6679, using multi-wavelength photometry and imaging with FLAMES/GIRAFFE 3D
spectroscopy. J033241.88-274853.9 is found to be a blue, young (~320Myr)
stellar disk embedded in a very gas-rich (fgas=73-82% with
log(Mstellar/Mo)=9.45) and turbulent phase that is found to be rotating on
large spatial scales. We identified two unusual properties of
J033241.88-274853.9. (1) The spatial distributions of the ionized gaseous and
young stars show a strong decoupling; while almost no stars can be detected in
the southern part down to the very deep detection limit of ACS/UDF images,
significant emission from the [OII] ionized gas is detected. (2) We detect an
excess of velocity dispersion in the southern part of J033241.88-274853.9 in
comparison to expectations from a rotating disk model. We considered two disk
formation scenarios, depending on the gaseous phase geometry. In the first one,
we examined whether J033241.88-274853.9 could be a young rotating disk that has
been recently collapsed from a pre-existing, very gas-rich rotating disk. This
scenario requires two (unknown) additional assumptions to explain the
decoupling between the distribution of stars and gas and the excess of velocity
dispersion in the same region. In a second scenario, we examine whether
J033241.88-274853.9 could be a merger remnant of two gas-rich disks. In this
case, the asymmetry observed between the gas and star distributions, as well as
the excess of velocity dispersion, find a common explanation. Shocks produced
during the merger in this region can be ionized easily and heat the gas while
preventing star formation. This makes this scenario more satisfactory than the
collapse of a pre-existing, gas-rich rotating disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 8 pages & 5 figure
A single transcription factor is sufficient to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture
We hypothesized that basic helixâloopâhelix (bHLH) MIST1 (BHLHA15) is a âscaling factorâ that universally establishes secretory morphology in cells that perform regulated secretion. Here, we show that targeted deletion of MIST1 caused dismantling of the secretory apparatus of diverse exocrine cells. Parietal cells (PCs), whose function is to pump acid into the stomach, normally lack MIST1 and do not perform regulated secretion. Forced expression of MIST1 in PCs caused them to expand their apical cytoplasm, rearrange mitochondrial/lysosome trafficking, and generate large secretory granules. Mist1 induced a cohort of genes regulated by MIST1 in multiple organs but did not affect PC function. MIST1 bound CATATG/CAGCTG E boxes in the first intron of genes that regulate autophagosome/lysosomal degradation, mitochondrial trafficking, and amino acid metabolism. Similar alterations in cell architecture and gene expression were also caused by ectopically inducing MIST1 in vivo in hepatocytes. Thus, MIST1 is a scaling factor necessary and sufficient by itself to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture. Our results indicate that, whereas mature cell types in each organ may have unique developmental origins, cells performing similar physiological functions throughout the body share similar transcription factor-mediated architectural âblueprints.
A Simple Explanation for DAMA with Moderate Channeling
We consider the possibility that the DAMA signal arises from channeled events
in simple models where the dark matter interaction with nuclei is suppressed at
small momenta. As with the standard WIMP, these models have two parameters (the
dark matter mass and the size of the cross-section), without the need to
introduce an additional energy threshold type of parameter. We find that they
can be consistent with channeling fractions as low as about ~ 15%, so long as
at least ~70% of the nuclear recoil energy for channeled events is deposited
electronically. Given that there are reasons not to expect very large
channeling fractions, these scenarios make the channeling explanation of DAMA
much more compelling.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
A feasibility randomised controlled trial of the New Orleans intervention of infant mental health: a study protocol
Child maltreatment is associated with life-long social, physical, and mental health problems. Intervening early to provide maltreated children with safe, nurturing care can improve outcomes. The need for prompt decisions about permanent placement (i.e., regarding adoption or return home) is internationally recognised. However, a recent Glasgow audit showed that many maltreated children ârevolveâ between birth families and foster carers. This paper describes the protocol of the first exploratory randomised controlled trial of a mental health intervention aimed at improving placement permanency decisions for maltreated children. This trial compares an infant's mental health intervention with the new enhanced service as usual for maltreated children entering care in Glasgow. As both are new services, the trial is being conducted from a position of equipoise. The outcome assessment covers various fields of a childâs neurodevelopment to identify problems in any ESSENCE domain. The feasibility, reliability, and developmental appropriateness of all outcome measures are examined. Additionally, the potential for linkage with routinely collected data on health and social care and, in the future, education is explored. The results will inform a definitive randomised controlled trial that could potentially lead to long lasting benefits for the Scottish population and which may be applicable to other areas of the world
Dealing with mobility: Understanding access anytime, anywhere
The rapid and accelerating move towards the adoption and use of mobile technologies has increasingly provided people and organisations with the ability to work away from the office and on the move. The new ways of working afforded by these technologies are often characterised in terms of access to information and people âanytime, anywhereâ. This paper presents a study of mobile workers that highlights different facets of access to remote people and information, and different facets of anytime, anywhere. Four key factors in mobile work are identified from the study: the role of planning, working in âdead timeâ, accessing remote technological and informational resources, and monitoring the activities of remote colleagues. By reflecting on these issues, we can better understand the role of technology and artefact use in mobile work and identify the opportunities for the development of appropriate technological solutions to support mobile workers
- âŠ