41 research outputs found
Chemokines in depression in health and in inflammatory illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Inflammatory illness is associated with depression. Preclinical work has shown that chemokines are linked with peripheral–central crosstalk and may be important in mediating depressive behaviours. We sought to establish what evidence exists that differences in blood or cerebrospinal fluid chemokine concentration discriminate between individuals with depression and those without. Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched Embase, PsycINFO and Medline databases. We included participants with physical illness for subgroup analysis, and excluded participants with comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Seventy-three studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Individuals with depression had higher levels of blood CXCL4 and CXCL7 and lower levels of blood CCL4. Sensitivity analysis of studies with only physically healthy participants identified higher blood levels of CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CXCL7 and CXCL8 and lower blood levels of CCL4. All other chemokines examined did not reveal significant differences (blood CCL5, CCL7, CXCL9, CXCL10 and cerebrospinal fluid CXCL8 and CXCL10). Analysis of the clinical utility of the effect size of plasma CXCL8 in healthy individuals found a negative predictive value 93.5%, given the population prevalence of depression of 10%. Overall, our meta-analysis finds evidence linking abnormalities of blood chemokines with depression in humans. Furthermore, we have demonstrated the possibility of classifying individuals with depression based on their inflammatory biomarker profile. Future research should explore putative mechanisms underlying this association, attempt to replicate existing findings in larger populations and aim to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies
Asymmetric magnetization reversal in exchange biased polycrystalline F/AF bilayers
This paper describes a model for magnetization reversal in polycrystalline
Ferromagnetic/Antiferromagnetic exchange biased bilayers. We assume that the
exchange energy can be expanded into cosine power series. We show that it is
possible to fit experimental asymmetric shape of hysteresis loops in exchange
biased bilayer for any direction of the applied field. The hysteresis asymmetry
is discussed in terms of energy considerations. An angle beta is introduced to
quantify the easy axis dispersion of AF grains.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Determining Absorption, Emissivity Reduction, and Local Suppression Coefficients inside Sunspots
The power of solar acoustic waves is reduced inside sunspots mainly due to
absorption, emissivity reduction, and local suppression. The coefficients of
these power-reduction mechanisms can be determined by comparing time-distance
cross-covariances obtained from sunspots and from the quiet Sun. By analyzing
47 active regions observed by SOHO/MDI without using signal filters, we have
determined the coefficients of surface absorption, deep absorption, emissivity
reduction, and local suppression. The dissipation in the quiet Sun is derived
as well. All of the cross-covariances are width corrected to offset the effect
of dispersion. We find that absorption is the dominant mechanism of the power
deficit in sunspots for short travel distances, but gradually drops to zero at
travel distances longer than about 6 degrees. The absorption in sunspot
interiors is also significant. The emissivity-reduction coefficient ranges from
about 0.44 to 1.00 within the umbra and 0.29 to 0.72 in the sunspot, and
accounts for only about 21.5% of the umbra's and 16.5% of the sunspot's total
power reduction. Local suppression is nearly constant as a function of travel
distance with values of 0.80 and 0.665 for umbrae and whole sunspots
respectively, and is the major cause of the power deficit at large travel
distances.Comment: 14 pages, 21 Figure
Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots
While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their
subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the
subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model.
Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate
subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do
not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient
confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the
development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for
helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of
the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in
active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of
helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this paper,
we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of
numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We
then carry out an helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787
and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by
\citeauthor{gizonetal2009}~(\citeyear{gizonetal2009,gizonetal2009a}). We find
that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive
wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that
travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the
surrounding moat.Comment: 73 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Solar Physic
Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures
Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo
Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury: Clopidogrel, turkey and a red herring?
The authors present the case of acute hepatitis E in a 61-year-old Edinburgh man who had returned from a holiday in Turkey 6 weeks previously. Diagnosis was ambiguous with his presentation initially attributed to a drug-induced liver injury
Cost–utility and value‐of‐information analysis of early versus delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis (Br J Surg 2010; 97: 210–219)
No abstract available