Effect of transmission setting and mixed species infections on clinical measures of malaria in Malawi

<p>Background: In malaria endemic regions people are commonly infected with multiple species of malaria parasites but the clinical impact of these Plasmodium co-infections is unclear. Differences in transmission seasonality and transmission intensity between endemic regions have been suggested as important factors in determining the effect of multiple species co-infections.</p> <p>Principal Findings: In order to investigate the impact of multiple-species infections on clinical measures of malaria we carried out a cross-sectional community survey in Malawi, in 2002. We collected clinical and parasitological data from 2918 participants aged >6 months, and applied a questionnaire to measure malaria morbidity. We examined the effect of transmission seasonality and intensity on fever, history of fever, haemoglobin concentration ([Hb]) and parasite density, by comparing three regions: perennial transmission (PT), high intensity seasonal transmission (HIST) and low intensity seasonal transmission (LIST). These regions were defined using multi-level modelling of PCR prevalence data and spatial and geo-climatic measures. The three Plasmodium species (P. falciparum, P. malariae and P. ovale) were randomly distributed amongst all children but not adults in the LIST and PT regions. Mean parasite density in children was lower in the HIST compared with the other two regions. Mixed species infections had lower mean parasite density compared with single species infections in the PT region. Fever rates were similar between transmission regions and were unaffected by mixed species infections. A history of fever was associated with single species infections but only in the HIST region. Reduced mean [Hb] and increased anaemia was associated with perennial transmission compared to seasonal transmission. Children with mixed species infections had higher [Hb] in the HIST region.</p> <p>Conclusions: Our study suggests that the interaction of Plasmodium co-infecting species can have protective effects against some clinical outcomes of malaria but that this is dependent on the seasonality and intensity of malaria transmission.</p&gt

Report of the SNOMS Project 2006 to 2012, SNOMS SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System. Part 1: Narrative description

The ocean plays a major role in controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are a threat to the stability of the earth’s climate. A better understanding of the controlling role of the ocean will improve predictions of likely future changes in climate and the impact of the uptake of CO2 itself on marine eco-systems caused by the associated acidification of the ocean waters. The SNOMS Project (SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System) is a ground breaking joint research project supported by the Swire Group Trust, the Swire Educational Trust, the China Navigation Company (CNCo) and the Natural Environment Research Council. It collects high quality data on concentrations of CO2 in the surface layer of the ocean. It contributes to the international effort to better quantify (and understand the driving processes controlling) the exchanges of CO2 between the ocean and the atmosphere. In 2006 and 2007 a system that could be used on a commercial ship to provide data over periods of several months with only limited maintenance by the ships crew was designed and assembled by NOCS. The system was fitted to the CNCo ship the MV Pacific Celebes in May 2007. The onboard system was supported by web pages that monitored the progress of the ship and the functioning of the data collection system. To support the flow of data from the ship to the archiving of the data at the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC in the USA) data processing procedures were developed for the quality control and systematic handling of the data. Data from samples of seawater collected by the ships crew and analysed in NOC (730 samples) have been used to confirm the consistency of the data from the automated measurement system on the ship. To examine the data collected between 2007 and 2012 the movements of the ship are divided into 16 voyages. Initially The Celebes traded on a route circum-navigating the globe via the Panama and Suez Canals. In 2009 the route shifted to one between Australia and New Zealand to USA and Canada. Analysis of the data is an on going process. It has demonstrated that the system produces reliable data. Data are capable of improving existing estimates of seasonal variability. The work has improved knowledge of gas exchange processes. Data from the crew-collected-samples are helping improve our ability to estimate alkalinity in different areas. This helps with the study of ocean acidification. Data from the 9 round trips in the Pacific are currently being examined along with data made available by the NOAA-PMEL laboratory forming time series from 2004 to 2012. The data from the Pacific route are of considerable interest. One reason is that the data monitors variations in the fluxes of CO2 associated with the current that flows westwards along the equator. This is one of the major natural sources of CO2 from the ocean into the atmosphere

Основные вехи деятельности Народного управления религиозными делами мусульман Крыма

В статье рассматривается история создания системы народного управления в Крымской АССР, анализируется деятельность мусульманских съездов и уточняется политика советской власти по отношению к мусульманам в рассматриваемый исторический период

Nuclear transparencies in relativistic A(e,e'p) models

Relativistic and unfactorized calculations for the nuclear transparency extracted from exclusive A(e,e'p) reactions for 0.3 \leq Q^2 \leq 10 (GeV/c)^2 are presented for the target nuclei C, Si, Fe and Pb. For Q^2 \geq 0.6 (GeV/c)^2, the transparency results are computed within the framework of the recently developed relativistic multiple-scattering Glauber approximation (RMSGA). The target-mass and Q^2 dependence of the RMSGA predictions are compared with relativistic distorted-wave impulse approximation (RDWIA) calculations. Despite the very different model assumptions underlying the treatment of the final-state interactions in the RMSGA and RDWIA frameworks, they predict comparable nuclear transparencies for kinematic regimes where both models are applicable.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Differential effects of lower limb revascularisation on organ injury and the role of the amino acid taurine

Lower torso revascularisation following ischaemia results in a systemic inflammatory response. Endothelial barrier function is disrupted by neutrophil-derived proteases and oxidants. Taurine, an amino acid found in large quantities in neutrophils, is a powerful endogeneous anti-oxidant. The aims of this study were to investigate the systemic effects of reperfusion following lower limb revascularisation and to evaluate the role of taurine administration in preventing this injury. A rat model of aortic occlusion (30 min) followed by 2 h of reperfusion was used. Animals were randomised to one of three groups (n = 10 per group): control; ischaemia reperfusion untreated (IR) and taurine-treated. Taurine (4% solution) was administrated orally for 48 h prior to the experiment. Neutrophil infiltration and microvascular permeability were assessed by measuring tissue myeloperoxidase activity and wet/dry weights respectively in lung, liver, kidney, and in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Statistical analysis was by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA). Reperfusion resulted in pulmonary and renal microvascular injury as assessed by organ oedema. Hepatic tissue, skeletal and cardiac muscle were unaffected by lower limb revascularisation. Taurine was effective in preventing neutrophil-mediated pulmonary but not renal microvascular injury. These data suggest that, whilst reperfusion-induced pulmonary injury is predominantly neutrophilmediated, agents other than neutrophil-derived oxidative metabolites, capable of independently causing organ injury through direct endothelial damage, are produced during reperfusion

Meson Exchange Currents in (e,e'p) recoil polarization observables

A study of the effects of meson-exchange currents and isobar configurations in $A(\vec{e},e'\vec{p})B$ reactions is presented. We use a distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA) model where final-state interactions are treated through a phenomenological optical potential. The model includes relativistic corrections in the kinematics and in the electromagnetic one- and two-body currents. The full set of polarized response functions is analyzed, as well as the transferred polarization asymmetry. Results are presented for proton knock-out from closed-shell nuclei, for moderate to high momentum transfer.Comment: 44 pages, 18 figures. Added physical arguments explaining the dominance of OB over MEC, and a summary of differences with previous MEC calculations. To be published in PR

Superscaling analysis of the Coulomb Sum Rule in quasielastic electron-nucleus scattering

The Coulomb sum rule for inclusive quasielastic electron scattering in $^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca and $^{56}$Fe is analyzed based on scaling and superscaling properties. Results obtained in the relativistic impulse approximation with various descriptions of the final state interactions are shown. A comparison with experimental data measured at Bates and Saclay is provided. The theoretical description based on strong scalar and vector terms present in the relativistic mean field, which has been shown to reproduce the experimental asymmetric superscaling function, leads to results that are in fair agreement with Bates data while it sizeably overestimates Saclay data. We find that the Coulomb sum rule for a momentum transfer $q\geq 500$ $MeV/c$ saturates to a value close to 0.9, being very similar for the three nuclear systems considered. This is in accordance with Bates data, which indicates that these show no significative quenching in the longitudinal response.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures. To be published in Phys. Lett.

Exercise on referral – symposium hosted by the Physical Activity Special Interest Group for the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Durham University

The article discusses a symposium on exercise referral schemes (ERS) that was held at the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham on October 14, 2016. It mentions that exercise referral schemes have increased in popularity to address society's significant chronic disease burden. It also presents the views of Emily Oliver, from Physical Activity Special Interest Group, regarding the same

Hard-Loop Effective Action for Anisotropic Plasmas

We generalize the hard-thermal-loop effective action of the equilibrium quark-gluon plasma to a non-equilibrium system which is space-time homogeneous but for which the parton momentum distribution is anisotropic. We show that the manifestly gauge-invariant Braaten-Pisarski form of the effective action can be straightforwardly generalized and we verify that it then generates all n-point functions following from collisionless gauge-covariant transport theory for a homogeneous anisotropic plasma. On the other hand, the Taylor-Wong form of the hard-thermal-loop effective action has a more complicated generalization to the anisotropic case. Already in the simplest case of anisotropic distribution functions, it involves an additional term that is gauge invariant by itself, but nontrivial also in the static limit.Comment: 12 pages. Version 3: typo in (15) corrected, note added discussing metric conventions use