INTRA- AND INTERRATER RELIABILITY OF MORPHOLOGICALLY EVALUATED LYMPHOCYTE APOPTOSIS IN TRAINED AND UNTRAINED OBSERVERS

Exercise-induced lymphocyte apoptosis has been reported using biochemical analysis and morphological assessment. Morphological evaluation is limited by the subjective nature of the technique. This investigation evaluated the intra- and interrater reliability of trained and untrained observers assessing apoptosis morphologically. Blood smears at baseline (PRE) and following cycle ergometer exercise (POST) were assessed microscopically for each condition. To obtain reliability measures, cell sets were evaluated for morphological characteristics of apoptosis on two separate occasions by trained and untrained observers using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Test-retest reliability for trained observers was higher for both conditions than untrained observers. Interrater reliability was below-average or below acceptable regardless of training status. Exercise may induce apoptotic changes in lymphocytes that are more easily discriminated by trained observers. Investigations assessing exercise-induced apoptosis should train observers in order to produce reliable results, and a single trained observer would be expected to yield the most reliable results

Adverse childhood experiences during childhood and academic attainment at age 7 and 11 years: an electronic birth cohort study

Objectives Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have a negative impact on childhood health, but their impact on education outcomes is less well known. We investigated whether or not ACEs were associated with reduced educational attainment at age 7 and 11 years. Study design The study design used in the study is a population-based electronic cohort study. Methods We analysed data from a total population electronic child cohort in Wales, UK. ACEs (exposures) were living with an adult household member with any of (i) serious mental illness, (ii) common mental disorder (CMD), (iii) an alcohol problem; (iv) child victimisation, (v) death of a household member and (vi) low family income. We used multilevel logistic regression to model exposure to these ACEs and not attaining the expected level at statutory education assessments, Key Stage (KS) 1 and KS2 separately, adjusted for known confounders including perinatal, socio-economic and school factors. Results There were 107,479 and 43,648 children included in the analysis, with follow-up to 6–7 years (KS1) and 10–11 years (KS2), respectively. An increased risk of not attaining the expected level at KS1 was associated with living with adult household members with CMD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.13 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09–1.17]) or an alcohol problem (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.16 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–1.22]), childhood victimisation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.58 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.37–1.82]), death of a household member (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.14 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04–1.25]) and low family income (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.92 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.84–2.01]). Similar results were observed for KS2. Children with multiple adversities had substantially increased odds of not attaining the expected level at each educational assessment. Conclusion The educational potential of many children may not be achieved due to exposure to adversity in childhood. Affected children who come in to contact with services should have relevant information shared between health and care services, and schools to initiate and facilitate a coordinated approach towards providing additional support and help for them to fulfil their educational potential, and subsequent economic and social participation

Composite quarks and leptons in higher space-time dimensions

A new approach towards the composite structure of quarks and leptons in the context of the higher dimensional unified theories is proposed. Owing to the certain strong dynamics, much like an ordinary QCD, every possible vectorlike multiplets of composites appear in higher dimensional bulk space-time, however, through a proper Sherk-Schwarz compactification only chiral set of composite quarks and leptons survive as the massless states in four dimensions. In this scenario restrictions related with the 't Hooft's anomaly matching condition are turned out to be avoided and, as a result, the composite models look rather simple and economic. We demonstrate our approach by an explicit construction of model of preons and their composites unified in the supersymmetric SU(5) GUT in five space-time dimensions. The model predicts exactly three families of the composite quarks and leptons being the triplets of the chiral horizontal symmetry SU(3)_h which automatically appears in the composite spectrum when going to ordinary four dimensions.Comment: 13 pages, tcilatex, no figures, v2 - misprints correcte

Interplay of structural and electronic phase separation in single crystalline La(2)CuO(4.05) studied by neutron and Raman scattering

We report a neutron and Raman scattering study of a single-crystal of La(2)CuO(4.05) prepared by high temperature electrochemical oxidation. Elastic neutron scattering measurements show the presence of two phases, corresponding to the two edges of the first miscibility gap, all the way up to 300 K. An additional oxygen redistribution, driven by electronic energies, is identified at 250 K in Raman scattering (RS) experiments by the simultaneous onset of two-phonon and two-magnon scattering, which are fingerprints of the insulating phase. Elastic neutron scattering measurements show directly an antiferromagnetic ordering below a N\'eel temperature of T_N =210K. The opening of the superconducting gap manifests itself as a redistribution of electronic Raman scattering below the superconducting transition temperature, T_c = 24K. A pronounced temperature-dependent suppression of the intensity of the (100) magnetic Bragg peak has been detected below T_c. We ascribe this phenomenon to a change of relative volume fraction of superconducting and antiferromagnetic phases with decreasing temperature caused by a form of a superconducting proximity effect.Comment: 9 pages, including 9 eps figures, submitted to PR

Effect of left ventricular hypertrophy on long-term survival of patients with coronary artery disease following percutaneous coronary intervention

The impact of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on survival among patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD) is not well understood. We sought to evaluate the effect of LVH on the survival of patients with CAD following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Three hospitals in New York City contributed prospectively defined data on 4284 consecutive patients undergoing PCI. Allcause mortality at a mean follow-up of three years was the primary endpoint. LVH was present in 383 patients (8.9%). LVH patients had a greater prevalence of hypertension (88% vs. 68%, p<0.001), vascular disease (21% vs. 6.6%, p=0.001), and prior heart failure (10% vs. 5.5%, p<0.001). LVH patients presented less often with one-vessel disease (38% vs. 50%, p=0.040) and more often with two- (34% vs. 29%, p=0.014) or three-vessel (22% vs. 18%, p=0.044) disease. Ejection fractions and angiographic success were similar in both groups. In-hospital mortality did not differ between groups. At three-year follow-up, the survival rate for patients with LVH was 86% vs. 91% in patients without LVH (log-rank p=0.001). However, after adjustment for differences in baseline characteristics using Cox proportional hazards analysis, LVH was found not to be an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio, 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.68–1.28; p=0.67). We conclude that LVH at the time of PCI is not independently associated with an increase in the hazard of death at three years

The composition of the protosolar disk and the formation conditions for comets

Conditions in the protosolar nebula have left their mark in the composition of cometary volatiles, thought to be some of the most pristine material in the solar system. Cometary compositions represent the end point of processing that began in the parent molecular cloud core and continued through the collapse of that core to form the protosun and the solar nebula, and finally during the evolution of the solar nebula itself as the cometary bodies were accreting. Disentangling the effects of the various epochs on the final composition of a comet is complicated. But comets are not the only source of information about the solar nebula. Protostellar disks around young stars similar to the protosun provide a way of investigating the evolution of disks similar to the solar nebula while they are in the process of evolving to form their own solar systems. In this way we can learn about the physical and chemical conditions under which comets formed, and about the types of dynamical processing that shaped the solar system we see today. This paper summarizes some recent contributions to our understanding of both cometary volatiles and the composition, structure and evolution of protostellar disks.Comment: To appear in Space Science Reviews. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0167-

Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial change

Study of Tau-pair Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP and Limits on the Anomalous Electromagnetic Moments of the Tau Lepton

Tau-pair production in the process e+e- -> e+e-tau+tau- was studied using data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP2 during the years 1997 - 2000. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 650 pb^{-1}. The values of the cross-section obtained are found to be in agreement with QED predictions. Limits on the anomalous magnetic and electric dipole moments of the tau lepton are deduced.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Evidence for an Excess of Soft Photons in Hadronic Decays of Z^0

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qqbar disintegrations of the Z^0 were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E_gamma < 1 GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction p_T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected for the photon detection efficiency) is (1.17 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.27) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet in the specified kinematic region, while the expected level of the inner hadronic bremsstrahlung (which is not included in the Monte Carlo) is (0.340 +/- 0.001 +/- 0.038) x 10^{-3} gamma/jet. The ratio of the excess to the predicted bremsstrahlung rate is then (3.4 +/- 0.2 +/- 0.8), which is similar in strength to the anomalous soft photon signal observed in fixed target experiments with hadronic beams.Comment: 37 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.

Study of Inclusive J/psi Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP II with the DELPHI Detector

Inclusive J/psi production in photon-photon collisions has been observed at LEP II beam energies. A clear signal from the reaction gamma gamma -> J/psi+X is seen. The number of observed N(J/psi -> mu+mu-) events is 36 +/- 7 for an integrated luminosity of 617 pb^{-1}, yielding a cross-section of sigma(J/psi+X) = 45 +/- 9 (stat) +/- 17 (syst) pb. Based on a study of the event shapes of different types of gamma gamma processes in the PYTHIA program, we conclude that (74 +/- 22)% of the observed J/psi events are due to `resolved' photons, the dominant contribution of which is most probably due to the gluon content of the photon.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Accepted by Phys. Lett.