101 research outputs found
Identification of giardia lamblia-specific antigens in infected human and gerbil feces by western immunoblotting
Western immunoblot analysis of aqueous extracts of feces obtained from five giardiasis patients and from experimentally infected gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) with rabbit antiserum to Giardia lamblia cysts has revealed antigens of three molecular weight groups. A stepladderlike, evenly-spaced set of strongly reactive antigens (darkest at a molecular weight [m.w.] of 55,000 to 70,000) appeared in the gerbil feces from day 4 (first experiment) or day 2 (second experiment) and lasted to about day 7 but disappeared completely by day 8 and did not reappear later. These antigenic bands were seen in gerbils infected with two isolates of G. lamblia. These bands were not revealed when antiserum to trophozoites was used as the probe, nor were they evident in specimens from the patients or in a preparation of sonicated cysts. A second group of antigens, represented by two to three low-m.w. bands of approximately 15,000 to 20,000, was evident in both the blots of gerbil feces after approximately day 8 and the specimens from the giardiasis patients. The third group of antigens revealed by blotting experiments was a high-m.w. band (approximately 110,000) which appeared on a number of days (beginning of day 8 of gerbil infection), but this band was not seen in the human specimens. A clear band corresponding to the previously reported GSA-65 antigen was not seen in either the gerbil or the human samples. Some low- and high-m.w. bands were also detected by antitrophozoite serum in the gerbil samples, but these were weak and unimpressive compared with those visualized using anticyst serum. A monoclonal antibody-based antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that Giardia spp.-specific stool antigen rose suddenly at day 3 of gerbil infection, at the time when fecal cyst numbers began to rise rapidly
Survey of Canada Goose Feces for Presence of \u3cem\u3eGiardia\u3c/em\u3e
As resident Canada goose (Branta canadensis) populations increase throughout North America, so do the health and environmental risks associated with goose feces. Previous studies suggest that goose feces may be a conduit for transmitting Giardia, a protozoan that is parasitic to humans. We surveyed fecal droppings from free-ranging resident Canada geese for Giardia spp. at 9 sites in the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) of North Carolina in 2007 and 2008. Samples (n = 234) were tested using the ProSpect® Giardia EZ Microplate Assay, and there were no positives. Our results indicate that risk of zoonotic giardiasis from Canada goose feces in the Triangle area of North Carolina is low
The Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere of Sigma Ori E
We attempt to characterize the observed variability of the magnetic
helium-strong star sigma Ori E in terms of a recently developed rigidly
rotating magnetosphere model. This model predicts the accumulation of
circumstellar plasma in two co-rotating clouds, situated in magnetohydrostatic
equilibrium at the intersection between magnetic and rotational equators. We
find that the model can reproduce well the periodic modulations observed in the
star's light curve, H alpha emission-line profile, and longitudinal field
strength, confirming that it furnishes an essentially correct, quantitative
description of the star's magnetically controlled circumstellar environment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap
First HARPSpol discoveries of magnetic fields in massive stars
In the framework of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) project, a
HARPSpol Large Program at the 3.6m-ESO telescope has recently started to
collect high-resolution spectropolarimetric data of a large number of Southern
massive OB stars in the field of the Galaxy and in many young clusters and
associations. In this Letter, we report on the first discoveries of magnetic
fields in two massive stars with HARPSpol - HD 130807 and HD 122451, and
confirm the presence of a magnetic field at the surface of HD 105382 that was
previously observed with a low spectral resolution device. The longitudinal
magnetic field measurements are strongly varying for HD 130807 from -100
G to 700 G. Those of HD 122451 and HD 105382 are less variable with
values ranging from -40 to -80 G, and from -300 to -600 G,
respectively. The discovery and confirmation of three new magnetic massive
stars, including at least two He-weak stars, is an important contribution to
one of the MiMeS objectives: the understanding of origin of magnetic fields in
massive stars and their impacts on stellar structure and evolution.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Lette
Microlensing of circumstellar envelopes III. Line profiles from stellar winds in homologous expansion
This paper examines line profile evolution due to the linear expansion of circumstellar material obsverved during a microlensing event. This work extends our previous papers on emission line profile evolution from radial and azimuthal flow during point mass lens events and fold caustic crossings. Both "flavours" of microlensing were shown to provide effective diagnostics of bulk motion in circumstellar envelopes. In this work a different genre of flow is studied, namely linear homologous expansion, for both point mass lenses and fold caustic crossings. Linear expansion is of particular relevance to the effects of microlensing on supernovae at cosmological distances. We derive line profiles and equivalent widths for the illustrative cases of pure resonance and pure recombination lines, modelled under the Sobolev approximation. The efficacy of microlensing as a diagnostic probe of the stellar environs is demonstrated and discussed
Revisiting the Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere model for sigma Ori E. I. Observations and Data Analysis
We have obtained 18 new high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of
the B2Vp star sigma Ori E with both the Narval and ESPaDOnS
spectropolarimeters. The aim of these observations is to test, with modern
data, the assumptions of the Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere (RRM) model of
Townsend & Owocki (2005), applied to the specific case of sigma Ori E by
Townsend et al. (2005). This model includes a substantially offset dipole
magnetic field configuration, and approximately reproduces previous
observational variations in longitudinal field strength, photometric
brightness, and Halpha emission. We analyze new spectroscopy, including H I, He
I, C II, Si III and Fe III lines, confirming the diversity of variability in
photospheric lines, as well as the double S-wave variation of circumstellar
hydrogen. Using the multiline analysis method of Least-Squares Deconvolution
(LSD), new, more precise longitudinal magnetic field measurements reveal a
substantial variance between the shapes of the observed and RRM model
time-varying field. The phase resolved Stokes V profiles of He I 5876 A and
6678 A lines are fit poorly by synthetic profiles computed from the magnetic
topology assumed by Townsend et al. (2005). These results challenge the offset
dipole field configuration assumed in the application of the RRM model to sigma
Ori E, and indicate that future models of its magnetic field should also
include complex, higher-order components.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
“some kind of thing it aint us but yet its in us”: David Mitchell, Russell Hoban, and metafiction after the millennium
This article appraises the debt that David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas owes to the novels of Russell Hoban, including, but not limited to, Riddley Walker. After clearly mapping a history of Hoban’s philosophical perspectives and Mitchell’s inter-textual genre-impersonation practice, the article assesses the degree to which Mitchell’s metatextual methods indicate a nostalgia for by-gone radical aesthetics rather than reaching for new modes of its own. The article not only proposes several new backdrops against which Mitchell’s novel can be read but also conducts the first in-depth appraisal of Mitchell’s formal linguistic replication of Riddley Walker
Changing Agendas on Sleep, Treatment and Learning in Epilepsy (CASTLE) Sleep-E: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial comparing an online behavioural sleep intervention with standard care in children with Rolandic epilepsy
This is the final version. Available from BMJ Publishing Group via the DOI in this record. INTRODUCTION: Sleep and epilepsy have an established bidirectional relationship yet only one randomised controlled clinical trial has assessed the effectiveness of behavioural sleep interventions for children with epilepsy. The intervention was successful, but was delivered via face-to-face educational sessions with parents, which are costly and non-scalable to population level. The Changing Agendas on Sleep, Treatment and Learning in Epilepsy (CASTLE) Sleep-E trial addresses this problem by comparing clinical and cost-effectiveness in children with Rolandic epilepsy between standard care (SC) and SC augmented with a novel, tailored parent-led CASTLE Online Sleep Intervention (COSI) that incorporates evidence-based behavioural components. METHODS AND ANALYSES: CASTLE Sleep-E is a UK-based, multicentre, open-label, active concurrent control, randomised, parallel-group, pragmatic superiority trial. A total of 110 children with Rolandic epilepsy will be recruited in outpatient clinics and allocated 1:1 to SC or SC augmented with COSI (SC+COSI). Primary clinical outcome is parent-reported sleep problem score (Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire). Primary health economic outcome is the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (National Health Service and Personal Social Services perspective, Child Health Utility 9D Instrument). Parents and children (≥7 years) can opt into qualitative interviews and activities to share their experiences and perceptions of trial participation and managing sleep with Rolandic epilepsy. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The CASTLE Sleep-E protocol was approved by the Health Research Authority East Midlands (HRA)-Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee (reference: 21/EM/0205). Trial results will be disseminated to scientific audiences, families, professional groups, managers, commissioners and policymakers. Pseudo-anonymised individual patient data will be made available after dissemination on reasonable request. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN13202325.National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, Australia)Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Progra
On the evolutionary status of chemically peculiar stars of the upper main sequence
We present further evidence that the magnetic chemically peculiar stars (CP2)
of the upper main sequence already occur at very early stages of the stellar
evolution, significantly before they reach 30% of their life-time on the main
sequence. This result is especially important for models dealing with dynamo
theories, angular momentum loss during the pre- as well as main sequence and
evolutionary calculations for CP2 stars. Results from the literature either
derived for objects in the Hyades and the UMa cluster or from the Hipparcos
mission contradict each other. A way out of this dilemma is to investigate
young open clusters with known ages and accurate distances (error < 10%),
including CP2 members. Up to now, four open clusters fulfill these
requirements: IC 2391, IC 2602, NGC 2451A and NGC 2516. In total, 13 CP2 stars
can be found within these clusters. We have used the measurements and
calibrations of the Geneva 7-color photometric system to derive effective
temperatures and luminosities. Taking into account the overall metallicity of
the individual clusters, isochrones and evolutionary tracks were used to
estimate ages and masses for the individual objects. The derived ages (between
10 and 140 Myr) are well in line with those of the corresponding clusters and
further strengthen the membership of the investigated CP2 stars.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, accepted by A&
A photometric long-term study of CP stars in open clusters
Photometric variability of chemically peculiar (CP) stars of the upper main
sequence is closely connected to their local stellar magnetic field and their
rotational period. Long term investigations, as presented here, help us to
identify possible stellar cycles (as in the Sun). Furthermore, these data
provide a basis for detailed surface mapping techniques. Photoelectric
Stroemgren uvby time series for 27 CP stars within the boundaries of open
clusters are presented. In addition, Hipparcos photometric data (from 1989 to
1993) are used for our analysis. Our observations cover a time period of about
six years (1986 to 1992) with typically fifteen measurements for each objects.
These observations help us to determine the rotational periods of these
objects. A standard reduction procedure was applied to the data. When possible,
we merged our data sets with already published ones to obtain a more
significant result. A detailed time series analysis was performed, involving
five different methods to minimize spurious detections. We established, for the
first time, variability for fourteen CP stars. For additional two stars, a
merging of already published data sets, resulted in more precise periods,
whereas for six objects, the published periods could be confirmed. Last, but
not least, no significant variations were found for five stars. Apart from six
stars, all targets seem to be members of their host open clusters.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic
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