Depressive symptoms in people with chronic physical conditions: Prevalence and risk factors in a Hong Kong community sample

published_or_final_versio

Monocyte:T cell interaction regulates human T cell activation through a CD28/CD46 crosstalk

International audienc

Normative data and psychometric properties of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the abbreviated version (CD-RISC2) among the general population in Hong Kong

postprin

Cosmological Birefringence: an Astrophysical test of Fundamental Physics

We review the methods used to test for the existence of cosmological birefringence, i.e. a rotation of the plane of linear polarization for electromagnetic radiation traveling over cosmological distances, which might arise in a number of important contexts involving the violation of fundamental physical principles. The main methods use: (1) the radio polarization of radio galaxies and quasars, (2) the ultraviolet polarization of radio galaxies, and (3) the cosmic microwave background polarization. We discuss the main results obtained so far, the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and future prospects.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the JENAM 2010 Symposium "From Varying Couplings to Fundamental Physics", held in Lisbon, 6-10 Sept. 201

Collided path replanning in dynamic environments using RRT and Cell decomposition algorithms

The motion planning is an important part of robots’ models. It is responsible for robot’s movements. In this work, the cell decomposition algorithm is used to find a spatial path on preliminary static workspaces, and then, the rapidly exploring random tree algorithm (RRT) is used to validate this path on the actual workspace. Two methods have been proposed to enhance the omnidirectional robot’s navigation on partially changed workspace. First, the planner creates a RRT tree and biases its growth toward the path’s points in ordered form. The planner reduces the probability of choosing the next point when a collision is detected, which in turn increases the RRT’s expansion on the free space. The second method uses a straight planner to connect path’s points. If a collision is detected, the planner places RRTs on both sides of the collided segment. The proposed methods are compared with the others approaches, and the simulation shows better results in term of efficiency and completeness.Plánování pohybu robota je důležitou součástí modelování funkcí robotů. Plán řídí pohyby robota. V této práci se algoritmus rozkladu na buňky používá k nalezení cesty pracovní plochou a algoritmus prozkoumání náhodného stromu (RRT) k ověření cesty skutečným prostorem. Byly navrženy dvě metody ke zlepšení navigace všesměrové pohyblivého robota částečně změněnou pracovní plochou. Za prvé, plánovač vytvoří RRT strom a vychyluje jeho růst směrem k bodu na cestě. Plánovač snižuje pravděpodobnost výběru dalšího bodu, když je detekována kolize, což zase zvyšuje expanzi RRT na volném prostoru. Druhá metoda používá shodný plánovač pro napojení bodů cesty. Pokud je detekována kolize, plánovač upravuje RRT na obou stranách kolizního segmentu. Navrhované metody jsou porovnávány s dalšími používanými přístupy, přečemž simulace ukazuje lepší výsledky z hlediska účinnosti a úplnosti plánování cesty.The motion planning is an important part of robots’ models. It is responsible for robot’s movements. In this work, the cell decomposition algorithm is used to find a spatial path on preliminary static workspaces, and then, the rapidly exploring random tree algorithm (RRT) is used to validate this path on the actual workspace. Two methods have been proposed to enhance the omnidirectional robot’s navigation on partially changed workspace. First, the planner creates a RRT tree and biases its growth toward the path’s points in ordered form. The planner reduces the probability of choosing the next point when a collision is detected, which in turn increases the RRT’s expansion on the free space. The second method uses a straight planner to connect path’s points. If a collision is detected, the planner places RRTs on both sides of the collided segment. The proposed methods are compared with the others approaches, and the simulation shows better results in term of efficiency and completeness

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding amongst Mothers of Infants in Gwagwalada Area Council, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria

Exclusive breastfeeding provides nutritional, and developmental psychological advantages with regard to general wellbeing of an infant and has dramatically reduced infant deaths in developing countries. This study assessed the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding among women attending antenatal clinic in four communities within Gwagwalada Area Council of FCT, Abuja. The questionnaire sought socio-demographic information, Religion and cultural influence as well as knowledge and awareness level of EBF practice. The data collected was analyzed using Odd ratio, frequencies and simple percentages. The result of the study showed that 70.0% had the knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding, 54.4% exclusively breastfed their newborns for the first six months of life. There was positive attitude among the participants towards exclusive breastfeeding as 70.0% of them agreed that breast milk alone is sufficient for the baby during the first six months of life. There was high level of knowledge on exclusive breastfeeding among the respondents, almost half of the participants practiced exclusive breastfeeding and relatively all the respondents had positive attitude toward exclusive breastfeeding. However, Illiteracy (60.0%; OR = 1.5) and Culture (66.7%; OR = 2.0) negatively influenced exclusive breastfeeding in the area council. Although, majority of the women in this study had good knowledge and attitude towards Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF), the practice is not high. There is still need for improvement. More awareness on the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding must be emphasized in order to increase the knowledge and compliance of the women as only 54.4% actually practiced it. Promotion of EBF should involve programmes that will capture not only nursing mothers and health workers, but other members in the communities, most especially husbands and older women who are involved in child care

Prevalensi Antibodi IgG dan DNA Cytomegalovirus pada darah donor di unit transfusi darah Provinsi DKI Jakarta

Indonesia has not conduct regular screening test of CMV infection due to the lack of seropositive prevelance data information. However, seronegative CMV results is not an indicator of safe blood for transfusion, so that another test that serves as confirmation test for CMV DNA is required.  The aim of this study is to obtain prevalence data of CMV IgG antibody positive, the prevalence of CMV DNA positive and to determine the effect of CMV IgG titers against CMV DNA in blood donors in UTD PMI DKI Jakarta. Cross-sectional method was used to test 113 blood donor samples which have met inclusion criteria. Screening for CMV IgG antibody was held using indirect method chemiluminescence immunoassay (ChLIA) by Liason® XL 10050 Chemiluminescence Analyzer and CMV DNA analysis using qPCR method for the detection of CMV UL 54 with a tool Roche Light Cycler 480 II. Results indicate positive prevalence of IgG CMV in 111 samples (98.23%),  and negative CMV IgG in  2 samples (1.77%).  Prevalence of CMV DNA positive donors is one sample (0.88%), 112 negative CMV DNA samples (99.12%) and Fisher's test results {P (0.982)> α (0.05)} showed no significant association between CMV IgG status with CMV DNA.  CONCLUSIONS: UTD DKI Jakarta has a high prevalence of CMV IgG with low prevalence of CMV DNA

Polycipiviridae: a proposed new family of polycistronic picorna-like RNA viruses

Solenopsis invicta virus 2 is a single-stranded positive-sense picorna-like RNA virus with an unusual genome structure. The monopartite genome of approximately 11 kb contains four open reading frames in its 5′ one third, three of which encode proteins with homology to picornavirus-like jelly-roll fold capsid proteins. These are followed by an intergenic region, and then a single long open reading frame that covers the 3′ two thirds of the genome. The polypeptide translation of this 3′ open reading frame contains motifs characteristic of picornavirus-like helicase, protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domains. Inspection of public transcriptome shotgun assembly sequences revealed five related apparently nearly complete virus genomes isolated from ant species and one from a dipteran insect. By high-throughput sequencing and in silico assembly of RNA isolated from Solenopsis invicta and four other ant species, followed by targeted Sanger sequencing, we obtained nearly complete genomes for four further viruses in the group. Four further sequences were obtained from a recent large-scale invertebrate virus study. The 15 sequences are highly divergent (pairwise amino acid identities as low as 17% in the non-structural polyprotein), but possess the same overall polycistronic genome structure distinct from all other characterized picorna-like viruses. Consequently we propose the formation of a new virus family, Polycipiviridae, to classify this clade of arthropod-infecting polycistronic picorna-like viruses. We further propose that this family be divided into three genera: Chipolycivirus (2 species), Hupolycivirus (2 species), and Sopolycivirus (11 species), with members of the latter infecting ants in at least three different subfamilies.This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust grant [106207] and a European Research Council (ERC) European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant [646891] to A.E.F

Prdm1 Regulates Thymic Epithelial Function To Prevent Autoimmunity

Autoimmunity is largely prevented by medullary thymic epithelial cells (TECs) through their expression and presentation of tissue-specific Ags to developing thymocytes, resulting in deletion of self-reactive T cells and supporting regulatory T cell development. The transcription factor Prdm1 has been implicated in autoimmune diseases in humans through genome-wide association studies and in mice using cell type–specific deletion of Prdm1 in T and dendritic cells. In this article, we demonstrate that Prdm1 functions in TECs to prevent autoimmunity in mice. Prdm1 is expressed by a subset of mouse TECs, and conditional deletion of Prdm1 in either Keratin 14– or Foxn1-expressing cells in mice resulted in multisymptom autoimmune pathology. Notably, the development of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells occurs normally in the absence of Blimp1. Importantly, nude mice developed anti-nuclear Abs when transplanted with Prdm1 null TECs, but not wild-type TECs, indicating that Prdm1 functions in TECs to regulate autoantibody production. We show that Prdm1 acts independently of Aire, a crucial transcription factor implicated in medullary TEC function. Collectively, our data highlight a previously unrecognized role for Prdm1 in regulating thymic epithelial function

Konsumsi zat gizi dan parameter lemak tubuh pada wanita umur lebih dari 40 tahun

Food intake and body fat parameter among women older than 40 years old in DenpasarBackground: The prevalence of obesity in Indonesia tends to increase, particularly among women older than 40 years old.Objective: This study aimed to identify the associations between nutrient consumption and parameters of body fat among women in Denpasar.Methods: This was an observational analytic study with a cross-sectional approach. The population was women aged older than 40 years old in Denpasar with sampled population were members Dharma Wanita PDAM Kota Denpasar. Eighty out of 200 women were selected through systematic random sampling method. Variables collected in this study included women’s characteristics, nutrient consumption, and body fat parameters: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist to hip ratio (WHR). Analysis of the relationship between nutrient consumption and body fat parameters using the Spearman Rank correlation.Results: This study found that the majority aged 41-50 years (83.8%), were Balinese  (95.0%), have married  (98.8%), did not use contraception (65.0%), completed higher education (63.8%), worked in informal sector (60.0%), had low income (65.0%), had no history of obesity (80.0%) and no family with degenerative diseases (73.8%). Based on the body fat parameters, most of the women were obese based on BMI (52.5%), WC (70.0%), and WHR (57.5%) categories. There was a significant association between fiber consumption and waist circumference (p=0.021).Conclusions: There was an association between fiber consumption and waist circumference, thus having a balanced and varied diet is recommended to prevent obesity and reduce risk factors for degenerative diseases