1,593 research outputs found
The cost of moderate and severe COPD exacerbations to the Canadian healthcare system
SummaryBackgroundThe cost of exacerbations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been well studied. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the (average) cost of moderate and severe exacerbations (ME and SE, respectively) from a Canadian perspective.MethodsResources used during ME and SE were identified in a year long prospective, observational study (Resource Utilization Study In COPD (RUSIC)). The units of analysis were ME and SE. Unit costs (2006126 (N=574) and 641. For SEs, the average hospital stay was 10.0 days. The overall mean costs of outpatient, ED and hospitalization services for SE were 774 (N=140) and 9557.ConclusionThe economic burden associated with MEs and especially SEs, in Canada, is considerable and likely has a substantial impact on healthcare costs. The overall burden of exacerbations has been estimated in the range of 736 million per annum
Celtic FC’s 1967 Lisbon Lions:Why the European Cup victory of the first club from Britain was a defining moment for the Irish diaspora in Scotland
In 1967, in Lisbon, Celtic Football Club, won the European Cup becoming the first club outside of Portugal, Spain and Italy to win it. The win was and is totemic for the Irish Catholic immigrant community in Scotland that has historically supported Celtic. We suggest the significance of the win reveals intersections of ethnicity, religion, nationalism, and the politics of ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland. During a period of discriminatory practices and attitudes towards Irish descended Catholics in Scotland, this iconic win for a Scottish based club born of Irish Catholics personified for this diaspora that (on one level) their day had arrived. This article explores the socio-cultural significance and legacy of ‘Lisbon 67ʹ for insider and outsider groups in Scotland. We reveal that soccer remains a central component of group memory connecting the past, present and future. We suggest Celtic’s win offered confidence and hope to a marginalized group within Scotland
Is affect experiencing therapeutic in major depressive disorder? Examining associations between affect experiencing and changes to the alliance and outcome in intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy.
Affect experiencing (AE), defined as the facilitation of client in-session bodily arousal and visceral experiencing of affect, is a distinct theoretical process presumed to contribute to therapeutic improvement. This study examined the role of AE in the treatment of major depressive disorder by exploring its association to client distress and therapeutic alliance on a session-by-session basis. A case series design was used to conduct an intensive analysis of the treatment process of 4 clients who received time-limited intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy, 2 of whom were considered "recovered" and 2 who showed "no change" based upon posttreatment outcomes. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that cross-correlations between AE and client distress discriminated between "recovered" and "no change" clients. In "recovered" clients, there was evidence that higher in-session peak affect experience was associated with reduced distress 7 days later. The results did not provide consistent evidence for a reverse effect, showing that lower distress during the preceding week predicted higher AE in that session. Finally, there was evidence that AE is an in-session activity that can promote the strengthening of the therapeutic alliance. These collective findings suggest that AE is an important treatment process that contributes to alliance formation and psychotherapeutic improvement. Clinical implications include further evidence that psychodynamic therapists can utilize AE as an active change ingredient for depression
Instantons and radial excitations in attractive Bose-Einstein condensates
Imaginary- and real-time versions of an equation for the condensate density
are presented which describe dynamics and decay of any spherical Bose-Einstein
condensate (BEC) within the mean field appraoch. We obtain quantized energies
of collective finite amplitude radial oscillations and exact numerical
instanton solutions which describe quantum tunneling from both the metastable
and radially excited states of the BEC of 7Li atoms. The mass parameter for the
radial motion is found different from the gaussian value assumed hitherto, but
the effect of this difference on decay exponents is small. The collective
breathing states form slightly compressed harmonic spectrum, n=4 state lying
lower than the second Bogolyubov (small amplitude) mode. The decay of these
states, if excited, may simulate a shorter than true lifetime of the metastable
state. By scaling arguments, results extend to other attractive BEC-s.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Mean-field analysis of collapsing and exploding Bose-Einstein condensates
The dynamics of collapsing and exploding trapped Bose-Einstein condensat es
caused by a sudden switch of interactions from repulsive to attractive a re
studied by numerically integrating the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with atomic
loss for an axially symmetric trap. We investigate the decay rate of
condensates and the phenomena of bursts and jets of atoms, and compare our
results with those of the experiments performed by E. A. Donley {\it et al.}
[Nature {\bf 412}, 295 (2001)]. Our study suggests that the condensate decay
and the burst production is due to local intermittent implosions in the
condensate, and that atomic clouds of bursts and jets are coherent. We also
predict nonlinear pattern formation caused by the density instability of
attractive condensates.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, axi-symmetric results are adde
Comparative secretome analysis of Striga and Cuscuta species identifies candidate virulence factors for two evolutionarily independent parasitic plant lineages
Background
Many parasitic plants of the genera Striga and Cuscuta inflict huge agricultural damage worldwide. To form and maintain a connection with a host plant, parasitic plants deploy virulence factors (VFs) that interact with host biology. They possess a secretome that represents the complement of proteins secreted from cells and like other plant parasites such as fungi, bacteria or nematodes, some secreted proteins represent VFs crucial to successful host colonisation. Understanding the genome-wide complement of putative secreted proteins from parasitic plants, and their expression during host invasion, will advance understanding of virulence mechanisms used by parasitic plants to suppress/evade host immune responses and to establish and maintain a parasite-host interaction.
Results
We conducted a comparative analysis of the secretomes of root (Striga spp.) and shoot (Cuscuta spp.) parasitic plants, to enable prediction of candidate VFs. Using orthogroup clustering and protein domain analyses we identified gene families/functional annotations common to both Striga and Cuscuta species that were not present in their closest non-parasitic relatives (e.g. strictosidine synthase like enzymes), or specific to either the Striga or Cuscuta secretomes. For example, Striga secretomes were strongly associated with ‘PAR1’ protein domains. These were rare in the Cuscuta secretomes but an abundance of ‘GMC oxidoreductase’ domains were found, that were not present in the Striga secretomes. We then conducted transcriptional profiling of genes encoding putatively secreted proteins for the most agriculturally damaging root parasitic weed of cereals, S. hermonthica. A significant portion of the Striga-specific secretome set was differentially expressed during parasitism, which we probed further to identify genes following a ‘wave-like’ expression pattern peaking in the early penetration stage of infection. We identified 39 genes encoding putative VFs with functions such as cell wall modification, immune suppression, protease, kinase, or peroxidase activities, that are excellent candidates for future functional studies.
Conclusions
Our study represents a comprehensive secretome analysis among parasitic plants and revealed both similarities and differences in candidate VFs between Striga and Cuscuta species. This knowledge is crucial for the development of new management strategies and delaying the evolution of virulence in parasitic weeds
Critical number of atoms for attractive Bose-Einstein condensates with cylindrically symmetrical traps
We calculated, within the Gross-Pitaevskii formalism, the critical number of
atoms for Bose-Einstein condensates with two-body attractive interactions in
cylindrical traps with different frequency ratios. In particular, by using the
trap geometries considered by the JILA group [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4211
(2001)], we show that the theoretical maximum critical numbers are given
approximately by . Our results also show that, by
exchanging the frequencies and , the geometry with
favors the condensation of larger number of particles.
We also simulate the time evolution of the condensate when changing the ground
state from to using a 200ms ramp. A conjecture on higher order
nonlinear effects is also added in our analysis with an experimental proposal
to determine its signal and strength.Comment: (4 pages, 2 figures) To appear in Physical Review
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