1,829 research outputs found
A promising new ELISA diagnostic test for cattle babesiosis based on Babesia bigemina Apical Membrane Antigen-1.
Babesiosis due to Babesia bigemina is a relevant tickâborne disease, affecting cattle worldwide. Many surface proteins of the pathogen including the Apical Membrane Antigen 1 (AMAâ1) â have been analysed for vaccine and diagnostic purposes. This study focused on B. bigemina AMAâ1 and on its use for the assessment of diagnostic tests. After bioinformatic analyses, AMAâ1 codifying region was amplified and cloned into an expression vector used to induce protein synthesis in Escherichia coli cells. AMAâ1 was purified by affinity chromatography and used to set up the best condition for an ELISA protocol. Bovine field sera positive to B. bigemina were used to evaluate the presence of antiâAMAâ1 antibodies. In order to verify the assay specificity, sera positive to Babesia bovis or to the piroplasm Theileria annulata were also included. Significant differences were obtained between sera negative to both B. bigemina and B. bovis and samples positive to B. bigemina, to B. bovis or to both pathogens. No significant reaction was observed with T. annulata positive sera. The results showed that AMAâ1 protein is suitable to be used as antigen in diagnostic assays for babesiosis diagnosis in cattle, as it does not show any cross reaction with anti-T. annulata antibodies
Palmitoylethanolamide is a disease-modifying agent in peripheral neuropathy : pain relief and neuroprotection share a PPAR-alpha-mediated mechanism
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Experimental Signals of Phase Transition
The connection between the thermodynamics of charged finite nuclear systems
and the asymptotically measured partitions is presented. Some open questions,
concerning in particular equilibrium partitions are discussed. We show a
detailed comparison of the decay patterns in Au+ C,Cu,Au central collisions and
in Au quasi-projectile events. Observation of abnormally large fluctuations in
carefully selected samples of data is reported as an indication of a first
order phase transition (negative heat capacity) in the nuclear equation of
state.Comment: 8 pages, 8th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions,
Moscow 200
An overview of the EXTraS project: Exploring the X-ray Transient and Variable Sky
The EXTraS project (Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky) will
harvest the hitherto unexplored temporal domain information buried in the
serendipitous data collected by the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC)
instrument onboard the ESA XMM-Newton X-ray observatory since its launch. This
will include a search for fast transients, as well as a search and
characterization of variability (both periodic and aperiodic) in hundreds of
thousands of sources spanning more than nine orders of magnitude in time scale
and six orders of magnitude in flux. X-ray results will be complemented by
multiwavelength characterization of new discoveries. Phenomenological
classification of variable sources will also be performed. All our results will
be made available to the community. A didactic program in selected High Schools
in Italy, Germany and the UK will also be implemented. The EXTraS project
(2014-2016), funded within the EU/FP7 framework, is carried out by a
collaboration including INAF (Italy), IUSS (Italy), CNR/IMATI (Italy),
University of Leicester (UK), MPE (Germany) and ECAP (Germany).Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Proceedings of "Swift: 10 years of Discovery", to
appear in Po
Negative heat capacity in the critical region of nuclear fragmentation: an experimental evidence of the liquid-gas phase transition
An experimental indication of negative heat capacity in excited nuclear
systems is inferred from the event by event study of energy fluctuations in
quasi-projectile sources formed in collisions at 35 A.MeV. The
excited source configuration is reconstructed through a calorimetric analysis
of its de-excitation products. Fragment partitions show signs of a critical
behavior at about 5 A.MeV excitation energy. In the same energy range the heat
capacity shows a negative branch providing a direct evidence of a first order
liquid gas phase transition.Comment: 4 Postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on 14-apr-199
Impact of a nursing information system in clinical practice: a longitudinal study project
Background: The implementation of adequate clinical information systems helps to deal with the immense
flow of health data to ensure the continuity of care and access to a safe and high-quality healthcare system.
Currently there is an increasing awareness of the importance of evaluating and measuring the impact of such
systems in clinical practice. Implementations often fail, due to inadequate interaction between technology
and human elements.
Methods: This article describes a research project aimed at evaluating the impact of a clinical nursing information
system (CNIS), called Professional Assessment Instrument (PAI), in clinical practice. The study will
evaluate PAI Quality, Nurses Satisfaction, PAI Use, Nurses and Environment Characteristics, Net Benefits
and Nursesâ Experiences related to the PAI use. A theoretical model developed for this research will guide
the study. A quali-quantitative longitudinal design will be performed involving two hospitals over a 9-month
period. To measure different dimensions that affect the success/failure of CNIS we will use different tools/
methods of data collection (questionnaires, psychometric tools, surveys and focus groups).
Expected Results: This study will evaluate the impact of a CNIS in hospitals providing an overview of the
factors which can help and hinder the implementation of an information system.
Conclusions: The results of the study will support interventions to improve and implement clinical information
systems designed to computerize nursing data, with positive effects on public health and research
in general, providing further evidence for health policy
Size and asymmetry of the reaction entrance channel: influence on the probability of neck production
The results of experiments performed to investigate the Ni+Al, Ni+Ni, Ni+Ag
reactions at 30 MeV/nucleon are presented. From the study of dissipative
midperipheral collisions, it has been possible to detect events in which
Intermediate Mass Fragments (IMF) production takes place. The decay of a
quasi-projectile has been identified; its excitation energy leads to a
multifragmentation totally described in terms of a statistical disassembly of a
thermalized system (T4 MeV, E4 MeV/nucleon). Moreover, for
the systems Ni+Ni, Ni+Ag, in the same nuclear reaction, a source with velocity
intermediate between that of the quasi-projectile and that of the quasi-target,
emitting IMF, is observed. The fragments produced by this source are more
neutron rich than the average matter of the overall system, and have a charge
distribution different, with respect to those statistically emitted from the
quasi-projectile. The above features can be considered as a signature of the
dynamical origin of the midvelocity emission. The results of this analysis show
that IMF can be produced via different mechanisms simultaneously present within
the same collision. Moreover, once fixed the characteristics of the
quasi-projectile in the three considered reactions (in size, excitation energy
and temperature), one observes that the probability of a partner IMF production
via dynamical mechanism has a threshold (not present in the Ni+Al case) and
increases with the size of the target nucleus.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication on Nuclear Physics
Histamine plasma levels and elimination diet in chronic idiopathic urticaria
Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an oligoantigenic and histamine-free diet on patients affected with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).
Design: Ten patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria were prescribed an oligoantigenic and histamine-free diet for 21 days, followed by serial and controlled reintroduction of foods during a further 70 days. Modification in clinical illness as well as histamine plasma levels, post-heparin plasma diamine oxidase (DAO) and intestinal permeability were evaluated.
Results: The oligoantigenic and histamine-free diet induced a significant improvement of symptoms (P < 0.05). Moreover, CIU patients on free diet showed higher histamine plasma levels (P < 0.05 vs post-diet and vs controls) that fell to control levels during the oligoantigenic and histamine-free diet. Post-heparin plasma diamine oxidase values were slightly reduced and were unchanged during the diet as well as intestinal permeability, which was always normal in all patients.
Conclusions: These data suggest that histamine plays a major role in chronic idiopathic urticaria. The finding of normal intestinal permeability suggests that a morphological damage of intestinal mucosa should be excluded in these patients. However, the presence of low levels of post-heparin plasma diamine oxidase may indicate a subclinical impairment of small bowel enterocyte function that could induce a higher sensitivity to histamine-rich or histamine-producing food
Discovery of periodic dips in the brightest hard X-ray source of M31 with EXTraS
We performed a search for eclipsing and dipping sources in the archive of the
EXTraS project - a systematic characterization of the temporal behaviour of
XMM-Newton point sources. We discovered dips in the X-ray light curve of 3XMM
J004232.1+411314, which has been recently associated with the hard X-ray source
dominating the emission of M31. A systematic analysis of XMM-Newton
observations revealed 13 dips in 40 observations (total exposure time 0.8
Ms). Among them, four observations show two dips, separated by 4.01 hr.
Dip depths and durations are variable. The dips occur only during
low-luminosity states (L erg s), while the
source reaches L erg s. We propose this
system to be a new dipping Low-Mass X-ray Binary in M31 seen at high
inclination (60-80), the observed dipping periodicity is
the orbital period of the system. A blue HST source within the Chandra error
circle is the most likely optical counterpart of the accretion disk. The high
luminosity of the system makes it the most luminous dipper known to date.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ
On the reliability of negative heat capacity measurements
A global protocol for the thermostatistical analysis of hot nuclear sources
is discussed. Within our method of minimization of variances we show that the
abnormal kinetic energy fluctuation signal recently reported in different
experimental data (M.D'Agostino et al.-Phys. Lett. B 473 (2000) 219, N. Le
Neindre et al.- contr. to the XXXVIII Bormio Winter Meeting on Nucl. Phys.
(2001) 404) is a genuine signal of a first order phase transition in a finite
system.Comment: 15 Postscript figures, submitted to NUCL. Phys. A on 24-apr-200
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