1,654 research outputs found
Is it possible to enhance immune response after vaccination? The role of a probiotic with a proven positive effect on all components of the immune system
Preventive vaccination is currently the most affordable and economical way to reduce morbidity and mortality from many infections, improve quality and human life expectancy with an almost ideal balance of benefits and risks among all medical procedures. The article deals with the reasons for variability of the immune response caused by vaccines, between individuals and between populations, which is of fundamental importance for human health. The authors have presented data indicating a key role of the gut microbiota in the control of the immune response to vaccination. Particular attention is paid to the microbial diversity in different loci of the body. The role of microorganisms in the proper functioning of the body and the formation of a number of pathological conditions is described. Most modern vaccines are live-attenuated, killed / inactivated or subunit (recombinant) vaccines, and they are designed for the parenteral route of administration. Most of these vaccines elicit a weak immune response, especially in the mucous membranes, due to the route of administration and are associated with weak cell-mediated immunity. Therefore, mechanisms that can enhance virus-specific vaccine immunity in infants and children are required, such as the use of more potent or selective immunity-enhancing adjuvants. Some probiotic strains may be considered as promising vaccine adjuvants. This article evaluates the recent clinical studies of probiotics used to enhance vaccine-specific immunity in adults and infants. The present-day knowledge on the role of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG with the aim of activating immunity after vaccination are presented
Infant colic: from theory to practice
Infant colic is one of the most common, yet least studied, functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Until now, there is no certainty both in the understanding of the nature of this condition and in the approaches to its correction. At the same time, infant crying is of concern to parents, forcing them to seek professional help and incur considerable medical expenses and to resort, sometimes unreasonably, to dietary and medical corrections. This article provides information on the etiology, pathogenesis and management of infantile colic from an evidence-based perspective, based on a review of the current literature. Various preconditions for the occurrence and development of infantile colic are analysed in detail, none of which can affect all occurrences. Evidence for the proven efficacy of including Lactobacillus reuteri in the treatment of intestinal colic in infants is presented. Effects on the gastrointestinal tract microbiome can be of undeniable benefit. Lactobacillus reuteri is one of the most studied and scientifically documented probiotics. 203 completed clinical trials involving 17,200 participants, including 67 trials involving 8,200 participants between 0 and 3 years of age. Numerous placebo-controlled studies have shown that taking Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 can significantly reduce crying time in infants with colic, and in these studies, rates of 50% or more reduction in crying time were 2.3 times higher compared to controls
Transanal surgery in the treatment of rectal tumors
In last two decades, transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) in treatment of both benign and malignant tumor of rectum is actively developing. The aim of this review was to describe the current status of transanal interventions. Due to the low level of recurrens (mean about 6 %) TEM has become the method of choice for removal of rectal adenomas. Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of treatment TEM in cases of early T1 cancer compared to conventional resection. However, for more invasive adenocarcinomas performing TEM remains controversial, but itâs very promising method for the complex treatment. Just as transanal mesorectal exision in treatment of mid- and low rectal cancer as a new strategy â natural orifice transluminal surgery. However, it lack of evidence base and international experience in small series presented, so large randomized trials is needed
Phase Diagram for Charge Density Waves in a Magnetic Field
The influence of an external magnetic field on a quasi one-dimensional system
with a charge density wave (CDW) instability is treated within the random phase
approximation which includes both CDW and spin density wave correlations. We
show that the CDW is sensitive to both orbital and Pauli effects of the field.
In the case of perfect nesting, the critical temperature decreases monotonously
with the field, and the wave vector of the instability starts to shift above
some critical value of magnetic field. Depending on the ratio between the spin
and charge coupling constants and on the direction of the applied magnetic
field, the wave vector shift is either parallel ( order) or
perpendicular ( order) to the most conducting direction. The
order is a field dependent linear combination of the charge and spin density
waves and is sensible only to the Pauli effect. The wave vector shift in
depends on the interchain coupling, but the critical temperature does
not. This order is affected by the confinement of the electronic orbits. By
increasing the relative strength of the orbital effect with respect to the
Pauli effect, one can destroy the , establishing either a , or a
(corresponding to perfect nesting wave vector). We also show that by
increasing the imperfect nesting parameter, one passes from the regime where
the critical temperature decreases with the field to the regime where it is
initially enhanced by the orbital effect and eventually suppressed by the Pauli
effect. For a bad nesting, the quantized phases of the field-induced CDW
appear.Comment: 30 pages (LaTeX) + 15 figure
Pressure Tuning of the Charge Density Wave in the Halogen-Bridged Transition-Metal (MX) Solid
We report the pressure dependence up to 95 kbar of Raman active stretching
modes in the quasi-one-dimensional MX chain solid . The data
indicate that a predicted pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition does
not occur, but are consistent with the solid undergoing either a
three-dimensional structural distortion, or a transition from a charge-density
wave to another broken-symmetry ground state. We show that such a transition
cacan be well-modeled within a Peierls-Hubbard Hamiltonian. 1993 PACS:
71.30.+h, 71.45.Lr, 75.30.Fv, 78.30.-j, 81.40.VwComment: 4 pages, ReVTeX 3.0, figures available from the authors on request
(Gary Kanner, [email protected]), to be published in Phys Rev B Rapid
Commun, REVISION: minor typos corrected, LA-UR-94-246
Constructing a social subject: autism and human sociality in the 1980s
This article examines three key aetiological theories of autism (meta-representations, executive dysfunction and weak central coherence), which emerged within cognitive psychology in the latter half of the 1980s. Drawing upon Foucaultâs notion of âforms of possible knowledgeâ, and in particular his concept of savoir or depth knowledge, two key claims are made. First, it is argued that a particular production of autism became available to questions of truth and falsity following a radical reconstruction of âthe socialâ in which human sociality was taken both to exclusively concern interpersonal interaction and to be continuous with non-social cognition. Second, it is suggested that this recon- struction of the social has affected the contemporary cultural experience of autism, shift- ing attention towards previously unacknowledged cognitive aspects of the condition. The article concludes by situating these claims in relation to other historical accounts of the emergence of autism and ongoing debates surrounding changing articulations of social action in the psy disciplines
A List of Galaxies for Gravitational Wave Searches
We present a list of galaxies within 100 Mpc, which we call the Gravitational
Wave Galaxy Catalogue (GWGC), that is currently being used in follow-up
searches of electromagnetic counterparts from gravitational wave searches. Due
to the time constraints of rapid follow-up, a locally available catalogue of
reduced, homogenized data is required. To achieve this we used four existing
catalogues: an updated version of the Tully Nearby Galaxy Catalog, the Catalog
of Neighboring Galaxies, the V8k catalogue and HyperLEDA. The GWGC contains
information on sky position, distance, blue magnitude, major and minor
diameters, position angle, and galaxy type for 53,255 galaxies. Errors on these
quantities are either taken directly from the literature or estimated based on
our understanding of the uncertainties associated with the measurement method.
By using the PGC numbering system developed for HyperLEDA, the catalogue has a
reduced level of degeneracies compared to catalogues with a similar purpose and
is easily updated. We also include 150 Milky Way globular clusters. Finally, we
compare the GWGC to previously used catalogues, and find the GWGC to be more
complete within 100 Mpc due to our use of more up-to-date input catalogues and
the fact that we have not made a blue luminosity cut.Comment: Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity, 13 pages,
7 figure
Searching for prompt signatures of nearby core-collapse supernovae by a joint analysis of neutrino and gravitational-wave data
We discuss the science motivations and prospects for a joint analysis of
gravitational-wave (GW) and low-energy neutrino data to search for prompt
signals from nearby supernovae (SNe). Both gravitational-wave and low-energy
neutrinos are expected to be produced in the innermost region of a
core-collapse supernova, and a search for coincident signals would probe the
processes which power a supernova explosion. It is estimated that the current
generation of neutrino and gravitational-wave detectors would be sensitive to
Galactic core-collapse supernovae, and would also be able to detect
electromagnetically dark SNe. A joint GW-neutrino search would enable
improvements to searches by way of lower detection thresholds, larger distance
range, better live-time coverage by a network of GW and neutrino detectors, and
increased significance of candidate detections. A close collaboration between
the GW and neutrino communities for such a search will thus go far toward
realizing a much sought-after astrophysics goal of detecting the next nearby
supernova.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Class. Quantum Gra
COPD exacerbation: Lost in translation
The introduction and acceptance of a standard definition for exacerbations of COPD can be helpful in prompt diagnosis and management of these events. The latest GOLD executive committee recognised this necessity and it has now included a definition of exacerbation in the guidelines for COPD which is an important step forward in the management of the disease. This definition is pragmatic and compromises the different approaches for exacerbation. However, the inclusion of the "healthcare utilisation" approach (".. may warrant a change in regular medication") in the definition may introduce in the diagnosis of exacerbation factors related to the access to health care services which may not be related to the underlying pathophysiologal process which characterizes exacerbations. It should be also noted that the aetiology of COPD exacerbations has not yet been included in the current definition. In this respect, the definition does not acknowledge the fact that many patients with COPD may suffer from additional conditions (i.e. congestive cardiac failure or pulmonary embolism) that can masquerade as exacerbations but they should not be considered as causes of them. The authors therefore suggest that an inclusion of the etiologic factors of COPD exacerbations in the definition. Moreover, COPD exacerbations are characterized by increased airway and systemic inflammation and significant deterioration in lung fuction. These fundamental aspects should be accounted in diagnosis/definition of exacerbations. This could be done by the introduction of a "laboratory" marker in the diagnosis of these acute events. The authors acknowledge that the use of a test or a biomarker in the diagnosis of exacerbations meets certain difficulties related to performing lung function tests or to sampling during exacerbations. However, the introduction of a test that reflects airway or systemic inflammation in the diagnosis of exacerbations might be another step forward in the management of COPD
Prospects for joint radio telescope and gravitational wave searches for astrophysical transients
The radio skies remain mostly unobserved when it comes to transient
phenomena. The direct detection of gravitational waves will mark a major
milestone of modern astronomy, as an entirely new window will open on the
universe. Two apparently independent phenomena can be brought together in a
coincident effort that has the potential to boost both searches. In this paper
we will outline the scientific case that stands behind these future joint
observations and will describe the methods that might be used to conduct the
searches and analyze the data. The targeted sources are binary systems of
compact objects, known to be strong candidate sources for gravitational waves.
Detection of transients coincident in these two channels would be a significant
smoking gun for first direct detection of gravitational waves, and would open
up a new field for characterization of astrophysical transients involving
massive compact objects.Comment: 12 pages, Amaldi 8 Conference (New York, 2009) proceedings pape
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