941 research outputs found
Prevalence and mortality of epilepsies with convulsive and non-convulsive seizures in Kilifi, Kenya
Objectives: The prevalence of all epilepsies (both convulsive and non-convulsive seizures) in Low- and Middle- Income Countries (LMIC), particularly sub-Saharan Africa is unknown. Under estimation of non-convulsive ep- ilepsies in data from these countries may lead to inadequate and sub-optimal allocation of resources to control and prevent epilepsy. We determined the prevalence of all types of epilepsies and compared the mortality be- tween convulsive seizures and non-convulsive seizures in a resource limited rural area in Kenya.
Methods: Trained clinicians identified cases of epilepsy in a randomly selected sample of 4,441 residents in the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System site using a cross-sectional survey design. Seizure types were classified by epileptologists using the current guidelines of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). We estimated prevalence for epilepsy with convulsive seizures and non-convulsive seizures and for epilepsy with non-convulsive seizures only and compared premature mortality between these groups of seizures.
Results: Of the 4441 people visited, 141 had lifetime epilepsy and 96 active epilepsy, which is a crude prevalence of 31.7/1,000 persons (95% CI: 26.6-36.9) and 21.6/1,000 (95% CI: 17.3-25.9), respectively. Both convulsive and non-convulsive seizures occurred in 7% people with epilepsy (PWE), only convulsive seizures in 52% and only non-convulsive seizures in 35% PWE; there was insufficient information to classify epilepsy in the remainder 6%. The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of lifetime people was 23.5/1,000 (95% CI: 11.0-36.0), with the adjusted prevalence of epilepsy with non-convulsive seizures only estimated at 8.2/1,000 (95%CI:3.9-12.6). The mortality rate in PWE was 6.3/1,000 (95%CI: 3.4-11.8), compared to 2.8/1,000 (2.3-3.3) in those without epilepsy; hazard ratio (HR) =2.31 (1.22-4.39; p=0.011). The annual mortality rate was 11.2/1,000 (95%CI: 5.3- 23.4) in PWE with convulsive and non-convulsive seizures and none died in PWE with non-convulsive seizures alone.
Conclusions: Our study shows that epilepsy with non-convulsive seizures is common and adds to the prevalence of previously reported estimates of active convulsive epilepsy. Both epilepsy with convulsive seizures and that with non-convulsive seizures should be identified for optimising treatment and for planning resource allocation
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Dictating Pt-Based Electrocatalyst Performance in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells, from Formulation to Application.
In situ electrochemical diagnostics designed to probe ionomer interactions with platinum and carbon were applied to relate ionomer coverage and conformation, gleaned from anion adsorption data, with O2 transport resistance for low-loaded (0.05 mgPt cm-2) platinum-supported Vulcan carbon (Pt/Vu)-based electrodes in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. Coupling the in situ diagnostic data with ex situ characterization of catalyst inks and electrode structures, the effect of ink composition is explained by both ink-level interactions that dictate the electrode microstructure during fabrication and the resulting local ionomer distribution near catalyst sites. Electrochemical techniques (CO displacement and ac impedance) show that catalyst inks with higher water content increase ionomer (sulfonate) interactions with Pt sites without significantly affecting ionomer coverage on the carbon support. Surprisingly, the higher anion adsorption is shown to have a minor impact on specific activity, while exhibiting a complex relationship with oxygen transport. Ex situ characterization of ionomer suspensions and catalyst/ionomer inks indicates that the lower ionomer coverage can be correlated with the formation of large ionomer aggregates and weaker ionomer/catalyst interactions in low-water content inks. These larger ionomer aggregates resulted in increased local oxygen transport resistance, namely, through the ionomer film, and reduced performance at high current density. In the water-rich inks, the ionomer aggregate size decreases, while stronger ionomer/Pt interactions are observed. The reduced ionomer aggregation improves transport resistance through the ionomer film, while the increased adsorption leads to the emergence of resistance at the ionomer/Pt interface. Overall, the high current density performance is shown to be a nonmonotonic function of ink water content, scaling with the local gas (H2, O2) transport resistance resulting from pore, thin film, and interfacial phenomena
The accelerated failure time regression model under the extended-exponential distribution with survival analysis
In this paper, we propose a parametric accelerated failure time (AFT) hazard-based regression model with the extended alpha-power exponential (EAPE) baseline distribution. The proposed model is called the extended alpha-power exponential-AFT (EAPE-AFT) regression model. We show that the EAPE distribution is closed under the AFT model. The parameters of the proposed EAPE-AFT model have been estimated by using the method of maximum likelihood estimation. An extensive simulation study was also conducted to examine the performance of the estimates under several scenarios based on the shapes of the baseline hazard function. Finally, real-life censored survival data has been used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed model
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Changes in IgE- and antigen-dependent histamine-release in peripheral blood of Schistosoma mansoni-infected Ugandan fishermen after treatment with praziquantel.
BACKGROUND: Parasite-specific IgE levels correlate with human resistance to reinfection with Schistosoma spp. after chemotherapy. Although the role of eosinophils in schistosomiasis has been the focus of a great deal of important research, the involvement of other Fcepsilon receptor-bearing cells, such as mast cells and basophils, has not been investigated in relation to human immunity to schistosomes. Chemotherapy with praziquantel (PZQ) kills schistosomes living in an in vivo blood environment rich in IgE, eosinophils and basophils. This releases parasite Ags that have the potential to cross-link cell-bound IgE. However, systemic hypersensitivity reactions are not induced by treatment. Here, we describe the effects of schistosomiasis, and its treatment, on human basophil function by following changes in total cellular histamine and in vitro histamine-release induced by schistosome Ags or anti-IgE, in blood samples from infected Ugandan fishermen, who are continuously exposed to S. mansoni infection, before and 1-day and 21-days after PZQ treatment. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in the total cellular histamine in blood samples at 1-day post-treatment, followed by a very significant further increase by 21-days post-treatment. In vitro histamine-release induced by S. mansoni egg (SEA) or worm (SWA) Ags or anti-IgE antibody, was significantly reduced 1-day post-treatment. The degree of this reduction correlated with pre-treatment infection intensity. Twenty-1-days post-treatment, SEA-induced histamine-release was still significantly lower than at pretreatment. Histamine-release was not correlated to plasma concentrations of total or parasite-specific IgE, nor to specific IgG4 plasma concentrations. CONCLUSION: The biology of human blood basophils is modulated by S. mansoni infection and praziquantel treatment. Infection intensity-dependent suppression of basophil histamine-release, histamine-dependent resistance to infection, and similarities with allergen desensitisation are discussed as possible explanations of these observations
Observation of an Excited Bc+ State
Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date
Study of charmonium production in b -hadron decays and first evidence for the decay Bs0
Using decays to φ-meson pairs, the inclusive production of charmonium states in b-hadron decays is studied with pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb−1, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. Denoting byBC ≡ B(b → C X) × B(C → φφ) the inclusive branching fraction of a b hadron to a charmonium state C that decays into a pair of φ mesons, ratios RC1C2 ≡ BC1 /BC2 are determined as Rχc0ηc(1S) = 0.147 ± 0.023 ± 0.011, Rχc1ηc(1S) =0.073 ± 0.016 ± 0.006, Rχc2ηc(1S) = 0.081 ± 0.013 ± 0.005,Rχc1 χc0 = 0.50 ± 0.11 ± 0.01, Rχc2 χc0 = 0.56 ± 0.10 ± 0.01and Rηc(2S)ηc(1S) = 0.040 ± 0.011 ± 0.004. Here and below the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.Upper limits at 90% confidence level for the inclusive production of X(3872), X(3915) and χc2(2P) states are obtained as RX(3872)χc1 < 0.34, RX(3915)χc0 < 0.12 andRχc2(2P)χc2 < 0.16. Differential cross-sections as a function of transverse momentum are measured for the ηc(1S) andχc states. The branching fraction of the decay B0s → φφφ is measured for the first time, B(B0s → φφφ) = (2.15±0.54±0.28±0.21B)×10−6. Here the third uncertainty is due to the branching fraction of the decay B0s → φφ, which is used for normalization. No evidence for intermediate resonances is seen. A preferentially transverse φ polarization is observed.The measurements allow the determination of the ratio of the branching fractions for the ηc(1S) decays to φφ and p p asB(ηc(1S)→ φφ)/B(ηc(1S)→ p p) = 1.79 ± 0.14 ± 0.32
Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV
Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected
by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the
form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum
difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source
is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The
measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle
multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas
Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV
The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV is measured with the LHCb detector. The fiducial cross-section for inelastic interactions producing at least one prompt long-lived charged particle with momentum p > 2 GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2 < η < 5 is determined to be ϭ acc = 62:2 ± 0:2 ± 2:5mb. The first uncertainty is the intrinsic systematic uncertainty of the measurement, the second is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The statistical uncertainty is negligible. Extrapolation to full phase space yields the total inelastic proton-proton cross-section ϭ inel = 75:4 ± 3:0 ± 4:5mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second due to the extrapolation. An updated value of the inelastic cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV is also reported
Hierarchical Electrode Design of Highly Efficient and Stable Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells (URFCs) for Long-term Energy Storage
The unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) is a promising electrochemical device for intermittent renewable energy storage in chemical bonds. However, widespread application has been hindered due to low round-trip efficiencies
Study of decays to the final state and evidence for the decay
A study of decays is performed for the first time
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0
collected by the LHCb experiment in collisions at centre-of-mass energies
of and TeV. Evidence for the decay
is reported with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, resulting in the
measurement of
to
be .
Here denotes a branching fraction while and
are the production cross-sections for and mesons.
An indication of weak annihilation is found for the region
, with a significance of
2.4 standard deviations.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2016-022.html,
link to supplemental material inserted in the reference
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