1,150 research outputs found
Air Insufflation of the Stomach Following Laparoscopic Pyloromyotomy May Not Detect Perforation
Air insufflation of the stomach during laparoscopic pyloromyotomy does not reliably rule-out perforation
Measure representation and multifractal analysis of complete genomes
This paper introduces the notion of measure representation of DNA sequences.
Spectral analysis and multifractal analysis are then performed on the measure
representations of a large number of complete genomes. The main aim of this
paper is to discuss the multifractal property of the measure representation and
the classification of bacteria. From the measure representations and the values
of the spectra and related curves, it is concluded that these
complete genomes are not random sequences. In fact, spectral analyses performed
indicate that these measure representations considered as time series, exhibit
strong long-range correlation. For substrings with length K=8, the
spectra of all organisms studied are multifractal-like and sufficiently smooth
for the curves to be meaningful. The curves of all bacteria
resemble a classical phase transition at a critical point. But the 'analogous'
phase transitions of chromosomes of non-bacteria organisms are different. Apart
from Chromosome 1 of {\it C. elegans}, they exhibit the shape of double-peaked
specific heat function.Comment: 12 pages with 9 figures and 1 tabl
Discovery of an intermediate-luminosity red transient in M51 and its likely dust-obscured, infrared-variable progenitor
We present the discovery of an optical transient (OT) in Messier 51,
designated M51 OT2019-1 (also ZTF19aadyppr, AT 2019abn, ATLAS19bzl), by the
Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). The OT rose over 15 days to an observed
luminosity of (), in the
luminosity gap between novae and typical supernovae (SNe). Spectra during the
outburst show a red continuum, Balmer emission with a velocity width of
km s, Ca II and [Ca II] emission, and absorption features
characteristic of an F-type supergiant. The spectra and multiband light curves
are similar to the so-called "SN impostors" and intermediate-luminosity red
transients (ILRTs). We directly identify the likely progenitor in archival
Spitzer Space Telescope imaging with a m luminosity of
and a color redder than 0.74 mag, similar
to those of the prototype ILRTs SN 2008S and NGC 300 OT2008-1. Intensive
monitoring of M51 with Spitzer further reveals evidence for variability of the
progenitor candidate at [4.5] in the years before the OT. The progenitor is not
detected in pre-outburst Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-IR images. The
optical colors during outburst combined with spectroscopic temperature
constraints imply a higher reddening of mag and higher
intrinsic luminosity of
() near peak than seen in previous ILRT
candidates. Moreover, the extinction estimate is higher on the rise than on the
plateau, suggestive of an extended phase of circumstellar dust destruction.
These results, enabled by the early discovery of M51 OT2019-1 and extensive
pre-outburst archival coverage, offer new clues about the debated origins of
ILRTs and may challenge the hypothesis that they arise from the
electron-capture induced collapse of extreme asymptotic giant branch stars.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, published in ApJ
Critical behavior in 2+1 dimensional black holes
The critical behavior and phase transition in the 2+1 dimensional Ba\~nados,
Teitelboim, and Zanelli (BTZ) black holes are discussed. By calculating the
equilibrium thermodynamic fluctuations in the microcanonical ensemble,
canonical ensemble, and grand canonical ensemble, respectively, we find that
the extremal spinning BTZ black hole is a critical point, some critical
exponents satisfy the scaling laws of the ``first kind'', and the scaling laws
related to the correlation length suggest that the effective spatial dimension
of extremal black holes is one, which is in agreement with the argument that
the extremal black holes are the Bogomol'nyi saturated string states. In
addition, we find that the massless BTZ black hole is a critical point of
spinless BTZ black holes.Comment: RevTex, 9 pages, nofigur
Characterisation of the muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment
A novel single-particle technique to measure emittance has been developed and used to characterise seventeen different muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE). The muon beams, whose mean momenta vary from 171 to 281 MeV/c, have emittances of approximately 1.2β2.3 Οβmm-rad horizontally and 0.6β1.0 Οβmm-rad vertically, a horizontal dispersion of 90β190 mm and momentum spreads of about 25 MeV/c. There is reasonable agreement between the measured parameters of the beams and the results of simulations. The beams are found to meet the requirements of MICE
Disparities and risks of sexually transmissible infections among men who have sex with men in China: a meta-analysis and data synthesis.
BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including Hepatitis B and C virus, are emerging public health risks in China, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). This study aims to assess the magnitude and risks of STIs among Chinese MSM. METHODS: Chinese and English peer-reviewed articles were searched in five electronic databases from January 2000 to February 2013. Pooled prevalence estimates for each STI infection were calculated using meta-analysis. Infection risks of STIs in MSM, HIV-positive MSM and male sex workers (MSW) were obtained. This review followed the PRISMA guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO. RESULTS: Eighty-eight articles (11 in English and 77 in Chinese) investigating 35,203 MSM in 28 provinces were included in this review. The prevalence levels of STIs among MSM were 6.3% (95% CI: 3.5-11.0%) for chlamydia, 1.5% (0.7-2.9%) for genital wart, 1.9% (1.3-2.7%) for gonorrhoea, 8.9% (7.8-10.2%) for hepatitis B (HBV), 1.2% (1.0-1.6%) for hepatitis C (HCV), 66.3% (57.4-74.1%) for human papillomavirus (HPV), 10.6% (6.2-17.6%) for herpes simplex virus (HSV-2) and 4.3% (3.2-5.8%) for Ureaplasma urealyticum. HIV-positive MSM have consistently higher odds of all these infections than the broader MSM population. As a subgroup of MSM, MSW were 2.5 (1.4-4.7), 5.7 (2.7-12.3), and 2.2 (1.4-3.7) times more likely to be infected with chlamydia, gonorrhoea and HCV than the broader MSM population, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prevalence levels of STIs among MSW were significantly higher than the broader MSM population. Co-infection of HIV and STIs were prevalent among Chinese MSM. Integration of HIV and STIs healthcare and surveillance systems is essential in providing effective HIV/STIs preventive measures and treatments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO NO: CRD42013003721
Innate Immune Tolerance and the Role of Kupffer Cells in Differential Responses to Interferon Therapy Among Patients With HCV Genotype 1 Infection
In patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, interferon alfa (IFN-Ξ±) alters expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), but little is understood about factors that determine outcomes of therapy. We used a systems biology approach to evaluate the acute response of patients with chronic hepatitis C to IFN-Ξ± therapy
Small RNAs with 5β²-Polyphosphate Termini Associate with a Piwi-Related Protein and Regulate Gene Expression in the Single-Celled Eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica
Small interfering RNAs regulate gene expression in diverse biological processes, including heterochromatin formation and DNA elimination, developmental regulation, and cell differentiation. In the single-celled eukaryote Entamoeba histolytica, we have identified a population of small RNAs of 27 nt size that (i) have 5β²-polyphosphate termini, (ii) map antisense to genes, and (iii) associate with an E. histolytica Piwi-related protein. Whole genome microarray expression analysis revealed that essentially all genes to which antisense small RNAs map were not expressed under trophozoite conditions, the parasite stage from which the small RNAs were cloned. However, a number of these genes were expressed in other E. histolytica strains with an inverse correlation between small RNA and gene expression level, suggesting that these small RNAs mediate silencing of the cognate gene. Overall, our results demonstrate that E. histolytica has an abundant 27 nt small RNA population, with features similar to secondary siRNAs from C. elegans, and which appear to regulate gene expression. These data indicate that a silencing pathway mediated by 5β²-polyphosphate siRNAs extends to single-celled eukaryotic organisms
Molecular techniques for pathogen identification and fungus detection in the environment
Many species of fungi can cause disease in plants, animals and humans. Accurate and robust detection and quantification of fungi is essential for diagnosis, modeling and surveillance. Also direct detection of fungi enables a deeper understanding of natural microbial communities, particularly as a great many fungi are difficult or impossible to cultivate. In the last decade, effective amplification platforms, probe development and various quantitative PCR technologies have revolutionized research on fungal detection and identification. Examples of the latest technology in fungal detection and differentiation are discussed here
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