Increased levels of anti-glycan antibodies in patients with cystic fibrosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence of Crohn's disease (CD) is increased in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) have been suggested as a screening tool to detect CD in CF. Recently, several new anti-glycan antibodies have been reported in CD.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>The sera of 119 CF patients of various age groups were prospectively screened for ASCA type IgG (gASCA), anti-laminaribioside carbohydrate IgG antibodies (ALCA), anti-chitobioside carbohydrate IgA antibodies (ACCA), and anti-mannobioside carbohydrate IgG antibodies (AMCA). The frequency of these anti-glycan antibodies was then compared in patients with CD, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and healthy volunteers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant number of CF patients were positive for gASCA (51.3% [41.6-60.6]) and up to three other anti-glycan antibodies concurrently. Serum levels of anti-glycan antibodies in CF and CD were not related to parameters of inflammation. Despite the well-documented difference in clinical course between male and female CF patients no gender difference of anti-glycan antibodies was found. In contrast, there was a significant positive correlation between anti-glycan markers and age in CF patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings demonstrate for the first time the increased frequency of a panel of anti-glycan antibodies in CF and provide a link between the presence of these serological biomarkers and patient's age. Anti-glycan antibody profiling may therefore become a valuable tool in the care of patients with CF.</p

Digestive enzymes of copepodids and adults of Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus in relation to particulate matter

During spring and in summer the digestive enzymes trypsin and amylase of copepodids and adults of Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus were studied in a Swedish fjord in relation to various parameters of particulate matter. Regulation mechanisms of digestive enzymes varied with stage of development and physiological condition. In the stages studied three types of regulation were found: In copepodid stages Cl/II trypsin remained constant at a rather high activity irrespective of variations in amylase activity; in CIII-CV and males trypsin and amylase were strongly correlated; in females both enzymes varied independently of each other. Digestive enzymes of CV, females and males of the overwintering generation, were generally very low and did not correlate with any of the food parameters. The digestive enzyme activities were compared with concentrations of chlorophyll a, particulate carbon, nitrogen and carbohydrates at different depths. Amylase of stages CI-CV and adult males and trypsin of CIII-CV and males correlated significantly with carbohydrate concentrations. On the other hand amylase of adult females gave significant correlations with chlorophyll a and carbon. It is suggested that this difference between females and the other stages indicates different food selection

Perception of delay in haptic telepresence systems

Time delay is recognized as an important issue in haptic telepresence systems as it is inherent to long-distance data transmission. What factors influence haptic delay perception in a time-delayed environment are, however, largely unknown. In this article, we examine the impact of manual movement frequency and amplitude in a sinusoidal exploratory movement as well as the stiffness of the haptic environment on the detection threshold for delay in haptic feedback. The results suggest that the detection of delay in force feedback depends on the movement frequency and amplitude, while variation of the absolute feedback force level does not influence the detection threshold. A model based on the exploration movement is proposed and guidelines for system design with respect to the time delay in haptic feedback are provided

When Offline Stores Reduce Online Returns

Among the dark sides of contemporary multi-channel retailing are the vast amounts of product returns, especially in the online channel. High product returns not only put pressure on the retailers' profitability, but also come at high societal and environmental costs. A central question then is whether multi-channel retailers can use their offline stores to help reduce product returns in the online channel without harming online sales. In an empirical study, we address this issue using data from a large Dutch shoe retailer. We develop a novel spatial model to estimate the influence of proximate retail stores on customers' online shopping behavior, while controlling for spatial and customer heterogeneity. Results demonstrate that an increased offline channel presence indeed reduces online returns, depending on the product's risk profile, without significantly lowering online sales. Offline stores can thus be an effective and appealing way for retailers to mitigate the negative impact of online shopping related to product returns