717 research outputs found
Causes of ant sting anaphylaxis in Australia: the Australian Ant Venom Allergy Study
Objective: To determine the Australian native ant species associated with ant sting anaphylaxis, geographical distribution of allergic reactions, and feasibility of diagnostic venom-specific IgE (sIgE) testing. Design, setting and participants: Descriptive clinical, entomological and immunological study of Australians with a history of ant sting anaphylaxis, recruited in 2006-2007 through media exposure and referrals from allergy practices and emergency physicians nationwide. We interviewed participants, collected entomological specimens, prepared reference venom extracts, and conducted serum sIgE testing against ant venom panels relevant to the species found in each geographical region. Main outcome measures: Reaction causation attributed using a combination of ant identification and sIgE testing. Results: 376 participants reported 735 systemic reactions. Of 299 participants for whom a cause was determined, 265 (89%; 95% CI, 84%-92%) had reacted clinically to Myrmecia species and 34 (11%; 95% CI, 8%-16%) to green-head ant (Rhytidoponera metallica). Of those with reactions to Myrmecia species, 176 reacted to jack jumper ant (Myrmecia pilosula species complex), 18 to other jumper ants (15 to Myrmecia nigrocincta, three to Myrmecia ludlowi) and 56 to a variety of bulldog ants, with some participants reacting to more than one type of bulldog ant. Variable serological cross-reactivity between bulldog ant species was observed, and sera from patients with bulldog ant allergy were all positive to one or more venoms extracted from Myrmecia forficata, Myrmecia pyriformis and Myrmecia nigriceps. Conclusion: Four main groups of Australian ants cause anaphylaxis. Serum sIgE testing enhances the accuracy of diagnosis and is a prerequisite for administering species- specific venom immunotherapy
Effect of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy on infants' allergies in first year of life: randomised controlled trial
Objective: To determine whether dietary n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation of pregnant women with a fetus at high risk of allergic disease reduces immunoglobulin E associated eczema or food allergy at 1 year of age. Design: Follow-up of infants at high hereditary risk of allergic disease in the Docosahexaenoic Acid to Optimise Mother Infant Outcome (DOMInO) randomised controlled trial. Setting: Adelaide, South Australia. Participants: 706 infants at high hereditary risk of developing allergic disease whose mothers were participating in the DOMInO trial. Interventions: The intervention group (n=368) was randomly allocated to receive fish oil capsules (providing 900 mg of n-3 LCPUFA daily) from 21 weeksâ gestation until birth; the control group (n=338) received matched vegetable oil capsules without n-3 LCPUFA. Main outcome measure: Immunoglobulin E associated allergic disease (eczema or food allergy with sensitisation) at 1 year of age. Results: No differences were seen in the overall percentage of infants with immunoglobulin E associated allergic disease between the n-3 LCPUFA and control groups (32/368 (9%) v 43/338 (13%); unadjusted relative risk 0.68, 95% confidence interval 0.43 to 1.05, P=0.08; adjusted relative risk 0.70, 0.45 to 1.09, P=0.12), although the percentage of infants diagnosed as having atopic eczema (that is, eczema with associated sensitisation) was lower in the n-3 LCPUFA group (26/368 (7%) v 39/338 (12%); unadjusted relative risk 0.61, 0.38 to 0.98, P=0.04; adjusted relative risk 0.64, 0.40 to 1.02, P=0.06). Fewer infants were sensitised to egg in the n-3 LCPUFA group (34/368 (9%) v 52/338 (15%); unadjusted relative risk 0.61, 0.40 to 0.91, P=0.02; adjusted relative risk 0.62, 0.41 to 0.93, P=0.02), but no difference between groups in immunoglobulin E associated food allergy was seen. Conclusion: n-3 LCPUFA supplementation in pregnancy did not reduce the overall incidence of immunoglobulin E associated allergies in the first year of life, although atopic eczema and egg sensitisation were lower. Longer term follow-up is needed to determine if supplementation has an effect on respiratory allergic diseases and aeroallergen sensitisation in childhood.D J Palmer, T Sullivan, M S Gold, S L Prescott, R Heddle, R A Gibson, M Makride
Phage Orf family recombinases:conservation of activities and involvement of the central channel in DNA binding
Genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that λ Orf is a recombination mediator, promoting nucleation of either bacterial RecA or phage RedÎČ recombinases onto single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) bound by SSB protein. We have identified a diverse family of Orf proteins that includes representatives implicated in DNA base flipping and those fused to an HNH endonuclease domain. To confirm a functional relationship with the Orf family, a distantly-related homolog, YbcN, from Escherichia coli cryptic prophage DLP12 was purified and characterized. As with its λ relative, YbcN showed a preference for binding ssDNA over duplex. Neither Orf nor YbcN displayed a significant preference for duplex DNA containing mismatches or 1-3 nucleotide bulges. YbcN also bound E. coli SSB, although unlike Orf, it failed to associate with an SSB mutant lacking the flexible C-terminal tail involved in coordinating heterologous protein-protein interactions. Residues conserved in the Orf family that flank the central cavity in the λ Orf crystal structure were targeted for mutagenesis to help determine the mode of DNA binding. Several of these mutant proteins showed significant defects in DNA binding consistent with the central aperture being important for substrate recognition. The widespread conservation of Orf-like proteins highlights the importance of targeting SSB coated ssDNA during lambdoid phage recombination
Comment on the narrow structure reported by Amaryan et al
The CLAS Collaboration provides a comment on the physics interpretation of
the results presented in a paper published by M. Amaryan et al. regarding the
possible observation of a narrow structure in the mass spectrum of a
photoproduction experiment.Comment: to be published in Physical Review
Transverse Polarization of in Photoproduction on a Hydrogen Target in CLAS
Experimental results on the hyperon transverse polarization
in photoproduction on a hydrogen target using the CLAS detector at Jefferson
laboratory are presented. The was reconstructed in the
exclusive reaction via the
decay mode. The was reconstructed in the
invariant mass of two oppositely charged pions with the identified in
the missing mass of the detected final state. Experimental data
were collected in the photon energy range = 1.0-3.5 GeV
( range 1.66-2.73 GeV). We observe a large negative polarization of
up to 95%. As the mechanism of transverse polarization of hyperons produced in
unpolarized photoproduction experiments is still not well understood, these
results will help to distinguish between different theoretical models on
hyperon production and provide valuable information for the searches of missing
baryon resonances.Comment: pages 1
Measurement of Exclusive Electroproduction Structure Functions and their Relationship to Transversity GPDs
Exclusive electroproduction at a beam energy of 5.75 GeV has been
measured with the Jefferson Lab CLAS spectrometer. Differential cross sections
were measured at more than 1800 kinematic values in , , , and
, in the range from 1.0 to 4.6 GeV,\ up to 2 GeV,
and from 0.1 to 0.58. Structure functions and were extracted as functions of for each of
17 combinations of and . The data were compared directly with two
handbag-based calculations including both longitudinal and transversity GPDs.
Inclusion of only longitudinal GPDs very strongly underestimates and fails to account for and ,
while inclusion of transversity GPDs brings the calculations into substantially
better agreement with the data. There is very strong sensitivity to the
relative contributions of nucleon helicity flip and helicity non-flip
processes. The results confirm that exclusive electroproduction offers
direct experimental access to the transversity GPDs.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Photoproduction of K+Kâ meson pairs on the proton
The exclusive reaction ÎłpâpK+Kâ was studied in the photon energy range 3.0â3.8ââGeV and momentum transfer range 0.6<ât<1.3ââGeV2. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. In this kinematic range the integrated luminosity was approximately 20ââpbâ1. The reaction was isolated by detecting the K+ and the proton in CLAS, and reconstructing the Kâ via the missing-mass technique. Moments of the dikaon decay angular distributions were extracted from the experimental data. Besides the dominant contribution of the Ï meson in the P wave, evidence for SâP interference was found. The differential production cross sections dÏ/dt for individual waves in the mass range of the Ï resonance were extracted and compared to predictions of a Regge-inspired model. This is the first time the t-dependent cross section of the S-wave contribution to the elastic K+Kâ photoproduction has been measured
Measurement of the neutron F2 structure function via spectator tagging with CLAS
We report on the first measurement of the F2 structure function of the
neutron from semi-inclusive scattering of electrons from deuterium, with
low-momentum protons detected in the backward hemisphere. Restricting the
momentum of the spectator protons to < 100 MeV and their angles to < 100
degrees relative to the momentum transfer allows an interpretation of the
process in terms of scattering from nearly on-shell neutrons. The F2n data
collected cover the nucleon resonance and deep-inelastic regions over a wide
range of Bjorken x for 0.65 < Q2 < 4.52 GeV2, with uncertainties from nuclear
corrections estimated to be less than a few percent. These measurements provide
the first determination of the neutron to proton structure function ratio
F2n/F2p at 0.2 < x < 0.8 with little uncertainty due to nuclear effects.Comment: 6 pages, 3 page
Photoproduction of phi(1020) mesons on the proton at large momentum transfer
The cross section for meson photoproduction on the proton has been
measured for the first time up to a four-momentum transfer -t = 4 GeV^2, using
the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. At low
four-momentum transfer, the differential cross section is well described by
Pomeron exchange. At large four-momentum transfer, above -t = 1.8 GeV^2, the
data support a model where the Pomeron is resolved into its simplest component,
two gluons, which may couple to any quark in the proton and in the .Comment: 5 pages; 7 figure
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