Dynamics of a solar pressure stabilized satellite

Dynamics of sun-pointing satellite in heliocentric orbit of nonzero eccentricit

Interactions of Ar(9+) and metastable Ar(8+) with a Si(100) surface at velocities near the image acceleration limit

Auger LMM spectra and preliminary model simulations of Ar(9+) and metastable Ar(8+) ions interacting with a clean monocrystalline n-doped Si(100) surface are presented. By varying the experimental parameters, several yet undiscovered spectroscopic features have been observed providing valuable hints for the development of an adequate interaction model. On our apparatus the ion beam energy can be lowered to almost mere image charge attraction. High data acquisition rates could still be maintained yielding an unprecedented statistical quality of the Auger spectra.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures, http://pikp28.uni-muenster.de/~ducree

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and anti-HMGB1 antibodies and their relation to disease characteristics in systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction: High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear non-histone protein. HMGB1, which is secreted by inflammatory cells and passively released from apoptotic and necrotic cells, may act as a pro-inflammatory mediator. As apoptotic cells accumulate in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), HMGB1 levels might be increased in SLE. HMGB1 may also serve as an autoantigen, leading to the production of anti-HMGB1 antibodies. In this study we determined levels of HMGB1 and anti-HMGB1 in SLE patients in comparison to healthy controls (HC) and analysed their relation with disease activity. Methods: The study population consisted of 70 SLE patients and 35 age-and sex-matched HC. Thirty-three SLE patients had quiescent disease, the other 37 patients were selected for having active disease. Nineteen of these had lupus nephritis. HMGB1 levels were measured with both Western blot and ELISA. Anti-HMGB1 levels were measured by ELISA. Clinical and serological parameters were assessed according to routine procedures. Results: HMGB1 levels in SLE patients could be measured reliably by Western blotting only, and were significantly increased compared to HC. During active disease HMGB1 levels increased, in particular in patients with renal involvement. Serum HMGB1 levels correlated with SLEDAI, proteinuria, and anti-dsDNA levels, and showed a negative correlation with complement C3. Anti-HMGB1 levels were significantly increased in SLE patients compared to HC, and positively correlated with HMGB1 levels. Conclusions: Levels of HMGB1 in the sera of SLE patients, in particular in those with active renal disease, are increased. Serum HMGB1 levels are related to SLEDAI scores and proteinuria, as well as to levels of anti-HMGB1 antibodies. These findings suggest that besides HMGB1, HMGB1-anti-HMGB1 immune complexes play a role in the pathogenesis of SLE, in particular in patients with renal involvement

Oregon Community-Based Care Survey 2016: Adult Foster Homes

This report describes adult foster homes in Oregon. An adult foster home (AFH) is a type of licensed community-based care (CBC) setting that provides residential, personal care, and health-related services, primarily to older adults. The study collected information from adult foster homes to achieve the following four main goals. Describe adult foster home characteristics, including staffing types and levels, policies, and monthly charges and fees Describe current residents’ health and social characteristics Compare current results to prior Oregon surveys and to national studies of similar setting types to identify changes and possible trends Compare setting types for differences that might affect access, quality, or costs The study findings are intended to provide information that state agency staff, legislators, community-based care providers, and consumers may use to guide their decisions. Providing state-level information was one of the goals of Oregon’s LTC 3.0 planning process

Diagnostic performance of transthyretin measurement in fat tissue of patients with ATTR amyloidosis

In this article, the diagnostic performance of a transthyretin (TTR) ELISA for detection and characterization of transthyretin-derived (ATTR) amyloid in abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue was studied. Fat tissue specimens were analyzed of 38 patients with ATTR amyloidosis, 70 controls, and 17 carriers of a TTR mutation. Amyloid amount was graded semi-quantitatively in Congo red-stained specimens (0-4+). Amyloid was extracted from tissue in guanidine, and the TTR concentration was measured using a sandwich TTR-ELISA. The TTR concentration of patients with ATTR amyloidosis (mean 0.84 ng/mg fat tissue) was significantly higher than controls (p<0.001). With a TTR concentration of 0.13 ng/mg fat tissue as cut-off value, 32 of the 38 ATTR patients were identified resulting in a sensitivity of 84%. Sixty-seven of the 70 controls had values below the cut-off value resulting in a specificity of 96%. Thus, measuring TTR in fat tissue is useful for detecting ATTR amyloidosis and for characterizing amyloid as ATTR type

Integrated Performance Management Using Information Technology, a Study of UK Charities

This paper explores how UK charities use Information Technology (IT) to support Integrated Performance Management (IPM). Based on six case studies of small-medium-sized charities (SMCs), it finds that SMCs see IT as important for IPM, but face significant barriers establishing effective IPM due to the multi-dimensional nature of their operations and stakeholders and their lack of IT infrastructure. The paper concludes that charities would benefit from a more strategic infrastructure approach to IT, integrating IT for data, information and knowledge

Fluorescent Cell Barcoding as a Tool to Assess the Age-Related Development of Intracellular Cytokine Production in Small Amounts of Blood from Infants

Fluorescent Cell Barcoding (FCB) is a flow cytometric technique which has been used for assessing signaling proteins. This FCB technique has the potential to be applied in other multiparameter analyses. Since data on antigen (Ag)-specific T-cell immune responses, like intracellular cytokine production, are still lacking in infants because limited blood volumes can be obtained for analysis, the FCB technique could be very useful for this purpose. The objectives of this study were to modify the FCB method to be able to measure multiple Ag-specific cytokine reponses in T-cells upon simultaneous stimulation by various antigens and mitogens in small amounts of blood and to investigate the cytokine pattern of T-cell subsets in healthy infants aged six and twelve months. Blood samples, collected from 20 healthy infants aged six and twelve months, were stimulated in vitro with the antigens: phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA), purified-protein-derivative (PPD), Tetanus-toxoid (TT), Staphylococcal-enterotoxin-B (SEB), and phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Each stimulus was barcoded by labelling with different intensities of fluorescent cell barcoding (FCB) markers. Intracellular production of interleukin-2, interferon-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha was measured simultaneously in just one blood sample of 600 µl whole blood. Significant age-related differences in cytokine production were shown for PMA, PHA, and TT in CD4+ T-cells, and for PMA, PHA, SEB, and TT in CD8+ T-cells. The intracellular cytokine production by CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells was higher at twelve months compared to six months of age for all antigens, except for PMA, which was lower at the age of twelve months. Based on the consistency in both T-cell subsets, we conclude that the new FCB method is a promising tool to investigate the age-related development of intracellular cytokine production in infants

Urine levels of HMGB1 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus patients with and without renal manifestations

INTRODUCTION: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a severe and frequent manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated but immune complexes are considered to contribute to the inflammatory pathology in LN. High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear non-histone protein which is secreted from different types of cells during activation and/or cell death and may act as a pro-inflammatory mediator, alone or as part of DNA-containing immune complexes in SLE. Urinary excretion of HMGB1 might reflect renal inflammatory injury. To assess whether urinary HMGB1 reflects renal inflammation we determined serum levels of HMGB1 simultaneously with its urinary levels in SLE patients with and without LN in comparison to healthy controls (HC). We also analyzed urinary HMGB1 levels in relation with clinical and serological disease activity. METHODS: The study population consisted of 69 SLE patients and 17 HC. Twenty-one patients had biopsy proven active LN, 15 patients had a history of LN without current activity, and 33 patients had non-renal SLE. Serum and urine levels of HMGB1 were both measured by western blotting. Clinical and serological parameters were assessed according to routine procedures. In 17 patients with active LN a parallel analysis was performed on the expression of HMGB1 in renal biopsies. RESULTS: Serum and urinary levels of HMGB1 were significantly increased in patients with active LN compared to patients without active LN and HC. Similarly, renal tissue of active LN patients showed strong expression of HMGB1 at cytoplasmic and extracellular sites suggesting active release of HMGB1. Serum and urinary levels in patients without active LN were also significantly higher compared to HC. Urinary HMGB1 levels correlated with SLEDAI, and showed a negative correlation with complement C3 and C4. CONCLUSION: Levels of HMGB1 in urine of SLE patients, in particular in those with active LN, are increased and correlate with SLEDAI scores. Renal tissue of LN patients shows increased release of nuclear HMGB1 compared to control renal tissue. HMGB1, although at lower levels, is, however, also present in the urine of patients without active LN. These data suggest that urinary HMGB1 might reflect both local renal inflammation as well as systemic inflammation