Podiatry services for patients with arthritis: an unmet need

Foot problems are extremely common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). There is ample evidence that foot pain, either alone or as a comorbidity, contributes significantly to disability. Despite the high prevalence of foot disease in RA, this problem is often trivialised or underappreciated. The inequity in foot health provision for patients with rheumatic disorders in New Zealand has recently been highlighted. Expertise in dealing with foot problems is often limited among healthcare professionals, and it has been argued that better integration of podiatric services into rheumatology services would be beneficial. The aim of this paper is to highlight the major issues related to foot care for patients with arthritis and provide key recommendations that should implemented to improve access to podiatric services in New Zealand

Modeling charge transport in Swept Charge Devices for X-ray spectroscopy

We present the formulation of an analytical model which simulates charge transport in Swept Charge Devices (SCDs) to understand the nature of the spectral redistribution function (SRF). We attempt to construct the energy-dependent and position dependent SRF by modeling the photon interaction, charge cloud generation and various loss mechanisms viz., recombination, partial charge collection and split events. The model will help in optimizing event selection, maximize event recovery and improve spectral modeling for Chandrayaan-2 (slated for launch in 2014). A proto-type physical model is developed and the algorithm along with its results are discussed in this paper.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, Proc. SPIE 8453, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy

Metabolism impacts upon Candida immunogenicity and pathogenicity at multiple levels

Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved. Open Access funded by Wellcome TrustNon peer reviewedPublisher PD

Proton irradiation of a swept charge device at cryogenic temperature and the subsequent annealing

A number of studies have demonstrated that a room temperature proton irradiation may not be sufficient to provide an accurate estimation of the impact of the space radiation environment on detector performance. This is a result of the relationship between defect mobility and temperature, causing the performance to vary subject to the temperature history of the device from the point at which it was irradiated. Results measured using Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) irradiated at room temperature therefore tend to differ from those taken when the device was irradiated at a cryogenic temperature, more appropriate considering the operating conditions in space, impacting the prediction of in-flight performance. This paper describes the cryogenic irradiation, and subsequent annealing of an e2v technologies Swept Charge Device (SCD) CCD236 irradiated at −35.4°C with a 10 MeV equivalent proton fluence of 5.0 × 108 protons centerdot cm−2. The CCD236 is a large area (4.4 cm2) X-ray detector that will be flown on-board the Chandrayaan-2 and Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope spacecraft, in the Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer and the Soft X-ray Detector respectively. The SCD is readout continually in order to benefit from intrinsic dither mode clocking, leading to suppression of the surface component of the dark current and allowing the detector to be operated at warmer temperatures than a conventional CCD. The SCD is therefore an excellent choice to test and demonstrate the variation in the impact of irradiation at cryogenic temperatures in comparison to a more typical room temperature irradiation

Proton radiation damage study of the next generation of swept charge devices

The first generation of Swept Charge Device (SCD) the e2v technologies plc CCD54 was used in the Demonstration of a Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (D-CIXS) launched in 2003 and again in the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) instrument currently in orbit around the Moon. The main source of decreased energy resolution in both cases is proton damage, from trapped and solar protons respectively. This paper presents the results from an experimental study to evaluate the performance of the next generation of SCD the CCD234 and CCD236 irradiated with a 10 MeV equivalent proton fluence of 3.0?108 protons.cm-2, demonstrating the factor of two increase in radiation hardness when compared to the CCD54. In particular the increased dark current, decrease in energy resolution and the degradation of charge transfer efficiency (CTE) are described

Six-year record of oxygen and hydrogen isotope variations in South Pole firn

Direct measurements of snow accumulation at stakes near the South Pole over a 6-year period (1958–1963) provide an unusual opportunity to check the reliability of accumulation and annual-layer determinations by stratigraphic and isotopic methods. The results are gratifying. Agreement between interpretations based on stratigraphic and isotopic data is excellent, and both are consistent with accumulation-stake measurements in nearly all respects. All three procedures indicate an average annual accumulation of 7 cm of water at the South Pole over the 1958–1963 interval. Isotope data suggest that depth-hoar formation may result in relative enrichment in O^(18). This could come about through partial recondensation of vapor generated within the depth-hoar layer accompanied by escape of residual vapor impoverished in O^(18)

Importance of charge capture in interphase regions during readout of charge-coupled devices

The current understanding of charge transfer dynamics in charge-coupled devices (CCDs) is that charge is moved so quickly from one phase to the next in a clocking sequence and with a density so low that trapping of charge in the interphase regions is negligible. However, simulation capabilities developed at the Centre for Electronic Imaging, which includes direct input of electron density simulations, have made it possible to investigate this assumption further. As part of the radiation testing campaign of the Euclid CCD273 devices, data have been obtained using the trap pumping method, a method that can be used to identify and characterize single defects within CCDs. Combining these data with simulations, we find that trapping during the transfer of charge among phases is indeed necessary to explain the results of the data analysis. This result could influence not only trap pumping theory and how trap pumping should be performed but also how a radiation-damaged CCD is readout in the most optimal way

Early-expressed chemokines predict kidney immunopathology in experimental disseminated Candida albicans infections

Available under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Co-transport-induced instability of membrane voltage in tip-growing cells

A salient feature of stationary patterns in tip-growing cells is the key role played by the symports and antiports, membrane proteins that translocate two ionic species at the same time. It is shown that these co-transporters destabilize generically the membrane voltage if the two translocated ions diffuse differently and carry a charge of opposite (same) sign for symports (antiports). Orders of magnitude obtained for the time and lengthscale are in agreement with experiments. A weakly nonlinear analysis characterizes the bifurcation