1,167 research outputs found
Board to Decide Fate of Ole Miss Professor
Prediction that the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning will dismiss James Silver from his position based on exaggerated and contrived charges; Source: Times-Picayune; Unknown datehttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/jws_clip/1204/thumbnail.jp
Mild recessive epidermolytic hyperkeratosis associated with a novel keratin 10 donor splice-site mutation in a family of Norfolk terrier dogs
Backgroundâ Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis in humans is caused by dominant-negative mutations in suprabasal epidermal keratins 1 and 10. However, spontaneous keratin mutations have not been confirmed in a species other than human. Objectivesâ To describe an autosomal recessive, mild, nonpalmar/plantar epidermolytic ichthyosis segregating in an extended pedigree of Norfolk terrier dogs due to a splice-site mutation in the gene encoding keratin 10 (KRT10). Methodsâ Dogs were evaluated clinically, and skin samples were examined by light and electron microscopy. Genomic DNA samples and cDNA from skin RNA were sequenced and defined a mutation in KRT10. Consequences of the mutation were evaluated by assessing protein expression with immunohistochemistry and Western blotting and gene expression with real-time RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction). Resultsâ Adult dogs with the disease had generalized, pigmented hyperkeratosis with epidermal fragility. Light microscopic examination defined epidermolysis with hyperkeratosis; ultrastructural changes included a decrease in tonofilaments and abnormal filament aggregation in upper spinous and granular layer keratinocytes. Affected dogs were homozygous for a single base GTâTT change in the consensus donor splice site of intron 5 in KRT10. Keratin 10 protein was not detected with immunoblotting in affected dogs. Heterozygous dogs were normal based on clinical and histological appearance and keratin 10 protein expression. The mutation caused activation of at least three cryptic or alternative splice sites. Use of the cryptic sites resulted in transcripts containing premature termination codons. One transcript could result in shortening of the proximal portion of the 2B domain before the stutter region. Quantitative real-time PCR indicated a significant decrease in KRT10 mRNA levels in affected dogs compared with wild-type dogs. Conclusionsâ This disease is the first confirmed spontaneous keratin mutation in a nonhuman species and is the first reported recessive form of epidermolytic hyperkeratosis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74670/1/j.1365-2133.2005.06735.x.pd
Prevalence and occurrence of zoonotic bacterial pathogens in surface waters determined by quantitative PCR
The prevalence and concentrations of Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp. and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) were investigated in surface waters in Brisbane, Australia using quantitative PCR (qPCR) based methodologies. Water samples were collected from Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (CBG) Pond, and two urban tidal creeks (i.e., Oxley Creek and Blunder Creek). Of the 32 water samples collected, 8 (25%), 1 (3%), 9 (28%), 14 (44%), and 15 (47%) were positive for C. jejuni mapA, Salmonella invA, EHEC O157 LPS, EHEC VT1, and EHEC VT2 genes, respectively. The presence/absence of the potential pathogens did not correlate with either E. coli or enterococci concentrations as determined by binary logistic regression. In conclusion, the high prevalence, and concentrations of potential zoonotic pathogens along with the concentrations of one or more fecal indicators in surface water samples indicate a poor level of microbial quality of surface water, and could represent a significant health risk to users. The results from the current study would provide valuable information to the water quality managers in terms of minimizing the risk from pathogens in surface waters
A Case-Based Approach to Business Process Monitoring
International audienceThe agile workflow technology deals with flexible workflow adaptation and overriding, in case of foreseen as well as unforeseen changes and problems in the operating business environment. One key issue that an agile workflow system should address is Business Process (BP) monitoring. This consists in properly highlighting and organizing non-compliances and adaptations with respect to the default process schema. Such an activity can be the starting point for other very critical tasks, such as quality assessment and process reengineering. In this paper, we introduce an automated support to BP monitoring, which exploits the Case-based Reasoning (CBR) methodology. CBR is particularly well suited for managing exceptional situations, and has been proposed in the literature for process change reuse and workflow adaptation support. Our work extends these functionalities by retrieving traces of process execution similar to the current one, which can then be automatically clustered. Retrieval and clustering results can provide support both to end users, in the process instance execution phase, and to process engineers, in (formal) process quality evaluation and long term process schema redefinition. Our approach in practice is illustrated by means of a case study in the field of stroke management
Transition to Long Range Magnetic Order in the Highly Frustrated Insulating Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Gd_2Ti_2O_7
Experimental evidence from measurements of the a.c. and d.c. susceptibility,
and heat capacity data show that the pyrochlore structure oxide, Gd_2Ti_2O_7,
exhibits short range order that starts developing at 30K, as well as long range
magnetic order at K. The Curie-Weiss temperature, =
-9.6K, is largely due to exchange interactions. Deviations from the Curie-Weiss
law occur below 10K while magnetic heat capacity contributions are found
at temperatures above 20K. A sharp maximum in the heat capacity at K
signals a transition to a long range ordered state, with the magnetic specific
accounting for only 50% of the magnetic entropy. The heat capacity above
the phase transition can be modeled by assuming that a distribution of random
fields acts on the ground state for Gd. There is no
frequency dependence to the a.c. susceptibility in either the short range or
long range ordered regimes, hence suggesting the absence of any spin-glassy
behavior. Mean field theoretical calculations show that no long range ordered
ground state exists for the conditions of nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic
exchange and long range dipolar couplings. At the mean-field level, long range
order at various commensurate or incommensurate wave vectors is found only upon
inclusion of exchange interactions beyond nearest-neighbor exchange and dipolar
coupling. The properties of Gd$_2Ti_2O_7 are compared with other geometrically
frustrated antiferromagnets such as the Gd_3Ga_5O_{12} gadolinium gallium
garnet, RE_2Ti_2O_7 pyrochlores where RE = Tb, Ho and Tm, and Heisenberg-type
pyrochlore such as Y_2Mo_2O_7, Tb_2Mo_2O_7, and spinels such as ZnFe_2O_4Comment: Letter, 6 POSTSCRIPT figures included. (NOTE: Figure 5 is not
included --) To appear in Physical Review B. Contact:
[email protected]
Factors Associated with Negative Direct Sputum Examination in Asian and African HIV-Infected Patients with Tuberculosis (ANRS 1260)
OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with negative direct sputum examination among African and Cambodian patients co-infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and HIV. DESIGN: Prospective multicenter study (ANRS1260) conducted in Cambodia, Senegal and Central African Republic. METHODS: Univariate and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) were used to identify clinical and radiological features associated with negative direct sputum examination in HIV-infected patients with positive M. tuberculosis culture on Lowenstein-Jensen medium. RESULTS: Between September 2002 and December 2005, 175 co-infected patients were hospitalized with at least one respiratory symptom and pulmonary radiographic anomaly. Acid-fast bacillus (AFB) examination was positive in sputum samples from 110 subjects (63%) and negative in 65 patients (37%). Most patients were at an advanced stage of HIV disease (92% at stage III or IV of the WHO classification) with a median CD4 cell count of 36/mmÂł. In this context, we found that sputum AFB negativity was more frequent in co-infected subjects with associated respiratory tract infections (ORâ=â2.8 [95%CI:1.1-7.0]), dyspnea (ORâ=â2.5 [95%CI:1.1-5.6]), and localized interstitial opacities (ORâ=â3.1 [95%CI:1.3-7.6]), but was less frequent with CD4 †50/mmÂł (ORâ=â0.4 [95%CI:0.2-0.90), adenopathies (ORâ=â0.4 [95%CI:0.2-0.93]) and cavitation (ORâ=â0.1 [95%CI:0.03-0.6]). CONCLUSIONS: One novel finding of this study is the association between concomitant respiratory tract infection and negative sputum AFB, particularly in Cambodia. This finding suggests that repeating AFB testing in AFB-negative patients should be conducted when broad spectrum antibiotic treatment does not lead to complete recovery from respiratory symptoms. In HIV-infected patients with a CD4 cell count below 50/mm3 without an identified cause of pneumonia, systematic AFB direct sputum examination is justified because of atypical clinical features (without cavitation) and high pulmonary mycobacterial burden
The protein structure initiative structural genomics knowledgebase
The Protein Structure Initiative Structural Genomics Knowledgebase (PSI SGKB, http://kb.psi-structuralgenomics.org) has been created to turn the products of the PSI structural genomics effort into knowledge that can be used by the biological research community to understand living systems and disease. This resource provides central access to structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), along with functional annotations, associated homology models, worldwide protein target tracking information, available protocols and the potential to obtain DNA materials for many of the targets. It also offers the ability to search all of the structural and methodological publications and the innovative technologies that were catalyzed by the PSI's high-throughput research efforts. In collaboration with the Nature Publishing Group, the PSI SGKB provides a research library, editorials about new research advances, news and an events calendar to present a broader view of structural biology and structural genomics. By making these resources freely available, the PSI SGKB serves as a bridge to connect the structural biology and the greater biomedical communities
Spin Correlation in tt-bar Production from pp-bar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV
The D0 collaboration has performed a study of spin correlation in tt-bar
production for the process tt-bar to bb-bar W^+W^-, where the W bosons decay to
e-nu or mu-nu. A sample of six events was collected during an exposure of the
D0 detector to an integrated luminosity of approximately 125 pb^-1 of
sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV pp-bar collisions. The standard model (SM) predicts that the
short lifetime of the top quark ensures the transmission of any spin
information at production to the tt-bar decay products.
The degree of spin correlation is characterized by a correlation coefficient
k. We find that k>-0.25 at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the SM
prediction of k=0.88.Comment: Submitted to PRL, Added references, minor changes to tex
A measurement of the W boson mass using large rapidity electrons
We present a measurement of the W boson mass using data collected by the D0
experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron during 1994--1995. We identify W bosons by
their decays to e-nu final states where the electron is detected in a forward
calorimeter. We extract the W boson mass, Mw, by fitting the transverse mass
and transverse electron and neutrino momentum spectra from a sample of 11,089 W
-> e nu decay candidates. We use a sample of 1,687 dielectron events, mostly
due to Z -> ee decays, to constrain our model of the detector response. Using
the forward calorimeter data, we measure Mw = 80.691 +- 0.227 GeV. Combining
the forward calorimeter measurements with our previously published central
calorimeter results, we obtain Mw = 80.482 +- 0.091 GeV
Search for Squarks and Gluinos in Events Containing Jets and a Large Imbalance in Transverse Energy
Using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79 pb-1, D0 has
searched for events containing multiple jets and large missing transverse
energy in pbar-p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron
collider. Observing no significant excess beyond what is expected from the
standard model, we set limits on the masses of squarks and gluinos and on the
model parameters m_0 and m_1/2, in the framework of the minimal low-energy
supergravity models of supersymmetry. For tan(beta) = 2 and A_0 = 0, with mu <
0, we exclude all models with m_squark < 250 GeV/c^2. For models with equal
squark and gluino masses, we exclude m < 260 GeV/c^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to PRL, Fixed typo on page bottom of
p. 6 (QCD multijet background is 35.4 events
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