Note on A. Barbour’s paper on Stein’s method for diffusion approximations

In [2] foundations for diffusion approximation via Stein’s method are laid. This paper has been cited more than 130 times and is a cornerstone in the area of Stein’s method (see, for example, its use in [1] or [7]). A semigroup argument is used in [2] to solve a Stein equation for Gaussian diffusion approximation. We prove that, contrary to the claim in [2], the semigroup considered therein is not strongly continuous on the Banach space of continuous, real-valued functions on D[0,1] growing slower than a cubic, equipped with an appropriate norm. We also provide a proof of the exact formulation of the solution to the Stein equation of interest, which does not require the aforementioned strong continuity. This shows that the main results of [2] hold true

No systemic reactions to influenza vaccination in egg-sensitized tertiary-care pediatric patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are numerous, disparate guidelines for influenza vaccination in egg-allergic patients. We aimed to describe the outcome of selectively applied guidelines, based on risk-stratification, to our high risk, egg-allergic, tertiary-care pediatric population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Egg allergy was confirmed with skin testing. The vaccine administered was an adjuvunated 2009 H1N1 influenza A vaccine with < 0.165 mcg/ml ovalbumin. Patients with mild egg allergy were to receive the vaccination in 1 dose, those with severe egg allergy were to receive 2 split doses, and patients with exquisite egg allergy or significant co-morbidities were to be skin tested with the vaccine (prick full strength, intradermal 1:100 of final concentration without adjuvant) and had 5 step desensitization if the testing was positive, or 1-2 step administration if negative. Patients were observed for 60 minutes after the final dose and anaphylaxis treatment was available. We report the frequency of allergic reactions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ninety-nine patients were referred and 79 had positive egg testing. Asthma was present in 67% and 30% had prior anaphylaxis to egg. We vaccinated 77 of 79 patients: 71 without performing vaccine skin testing. Two refused vaccination. No patient had a systemic reaction or required treatment. Two patients experienced positive testing to the adjuvanated intradermal vaccine, but were negative without adjuvant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that most egg-allergic tertiary care pediatric patients can be vaccinated with a low ovalbumin content influenza vaccine without prior vaccine testing. Vaccine skin testing, if used at all, can be reserved for special circumstances. The squalene adjuvant may cause an irritant reaction with intradermal testing.</p

Signatures of a dissipative phase transition in photon correlation measurements

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) through the National Centre of Competence in Research - Quantum Science and Technology (NCCR QSIT). A.S., C.S., and S.H. acknowledge support by the State of Bavaria and the DFG within the Project Schn1376/3-1.Understanding and characterizing phase transitions in driven-dissipative systems constitutes a new frontier for many-body physics[1-8]. A generic feature of dissipative phase transitions is a vanishing gap in the Liouvillian spectrum [9], which leads to long-lived deviations from the steady state as the system is driven towards the transition. Here, we show that photon correlation measurements can be used to characterize the corresponding critical slowing down of non-equilibrium dynamics. We focus on the extensively studied phenomenon of optical bistability in GaAs cavity polaritons [10,11], which can be described as a first-order dissipative phase transition [12-14]. Increasing the excitation strength towards the bistable range results in an increasing photon-bunching signal along with a decay time that is prolonged by more than nine orders of magnitude as compared with that of single polaritons. In the limit of strong polariton interactions leading to pronounced quantum fluctuations, the mean-field bistability threshold is washed out. Nevertheless, the functional form with which the Liouvillian gap closes as the thermodynamic limit is approached provides a signature of the emerging dissipative phase transition. Our results establish photon correlation measurements as an invaluable tool for studying dynamical properties of dissipative phase transitions without requiring phase-sensitive interferometric measurements.PostprintPeer reviewe

Comparison of endothelial progenitor cell function in type 2 diabetes with good and poor glycemic control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play an important role in vascular repair and a decrease in the number of EPCs is observed in type 2 diabetes. However, there is no report on the change of EPCs after glycemic control. This study therefore aimed to investigate the EPC number and function in patients with good and poor glycemic control.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The number of EPCs was studied using flow cytometry by co-expression of CD34 and VEGFR2. The EPCs were cultured and characterized by the expression of UEA-I, CD34, VEGFR2, vWF and Dil-Ac-LDL engulfment, as well as the ability to form capillary-like structures. An <it>in vitro </it>study on the effect of hyperglycemia on the proliferation and viability of the cultured EPCs was also performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The number of EPCs in type 2 diabetes was significantly decreased compared with healthy controls and there was an inverse correlation between the EPC numbers and plasma glucose, as well as HbA1_C. The number and function of EPCs in patients with good glycemic control were recovered compared with those with poor glycemic control. When glucose was supplemented in the culture <it>in vitro</it>, there was a negative effect on the proliferation and viability of EPCs, in a dose-dependent manner, whereas the enhancement of apoptosis was observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was EPC dysfunction in type 2 diabetes which might be improved by strict glycemic control. However, the circulating EPC number and proliferative function in patients with good glycemic control did not reach the level in healthy controls.</p

Development of genomic resources for the narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius): construction of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library and BAC-end sequencing

Extent: 15p.BACKGROUND: Lupinus angustifolius L, also known as narrow-leafed lupin (NLL), is becoming an important grain legume crop that is valuable for sustainable farming and is becoming recognised as a potential human health food. Recent interest is being directed at NLL to improve grain production, disease and pest management and health benefits of the grain. However, studies have been hindered by a lack of extensive genomic resources for the species. RESULTS: A NLL BAC library was constructed consisting of 111,360 clones with an average insert size of 99.7 Kbp from cv Tanjil. The library has approximately 12 × genome coverage. Both ends of 9600 randomly selected BAC clones were sequenced to generate 13985 BAC end-sequences (BESs), covering approximately 1% of the NLL genome. These BESs permitted a preliminary characterisation of the NLL genome such as organisation and composition, with the BESs having approximately 39% G:C content, 16.6% repetitive DNA and 5.4% putative gene-encoding regions. From the BESs 9966 simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs were identified and some of these are shown to be potential markers. CONCLUSIONS: The NLL BAC library and BAC-end sequences are powerful resources for genetic and genomic research on lupin. These resources will provide a robust platform for future high-resolution mapping, map-based cloning, comparative genomics and assembly of whole-genome sequencing data for the species.Ling-Ling Gao, James K. Hane, Lars G. Kamphuis, Rhonda Foley, Bu-Jun Shi, Craig A. Atkins and Karam B. Sing

Physical and chemical impacts of a major storm on a temperate lake: a taste of things to come?

Extreme weather can have a substantial influence on lakes and is expected to become more frequent with climate change. We explored the influence of one particular extreme event, Storm Ophelia, on the physical and chemical environment of England's largest lake, Windermere. We found that the substantial influence of Ophelia on meteorological conditions at Windermere, in particular wind speed, resulted in a 25-fold increase (relative to the study-period average) in the wind energy flux at the lake-air interface. Following Ophelia, there was a short-lived mixing event in which the Schmidt stability decreased by over 100 Jm-2 and the thermocline deepened by over 10 m during a 12-hour period. As a result of changes to the strength of stratification, Ophelia also changed the internal seiche regime of Windermere with the dominant seiche period increasing from ~17 h pre-storm to ~21 h post-storm. Following Ophelia, there was an upwelling of cold and low-oxygenated waters at the southern-end of the lake. This had a substantial influence on the main outflow of Windermere, the River Leven, where dissolved oxygen concentrations decreased by ~48 %, from 9.3 mg L-1 to 4.8 mg L-1, while at the mid-lake monitoring station in Windermere, it decreased by only ~3%. This study illustrates that the response of a lake to extreme weather can cause important effects downstream, the influence of which may not be evident at the lake surface. To understand the impact of future extreme events fully, the whole lake and downstream-river system need to be studied together