627 research outputs found
Boundedness properties of fermionic operators
The fermionic second quantization operator is shown to be
bounded by a power of the number operator given that the operator
belongs to the -th von Neumann-Schatten class, . Conversely,
number operator estimates for imply von Neumann-Schatten
conditions on . Quadratic creation and annihilation operators are treated as
well.Comment: 15 page
Identification of circulating parasite antigen in patients with bancroftian filariasis
Because many cases of lymphatic filariasis cannot be diagnosed either clinically or by
immunodiagnostic test based on antibody detection, recent efforts have been more
directed towards developing methods for detecting parasite antigen in the blood or urine.
Using a solid phase (Sepharose 4B) two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA)
employing hyperimmune rabbit antifilarial antisera, we have previously shown (Hamilton
et al., 1984) that essentially all cases ofpatent (ie. microfilaremic) infection in patients with
bancroftian filariasis can be detected by this semi-quantitative assay as well as some
individuals with amicrofilaremic (i.e., 'cryptic') infection. The present communication
reports the results of studies that identify a prominent circulating antigen detected by this
IRMA in sera from patients with microfilaremia. The antigen was eluted from Sepharosebound
rabbit polyclonal antiserum that had been reacted with known antigen positive
sera. It was run in SDS-PAGE, blotted to nitrocellulose paper and identified autoradiographically
using '25l-labelled rabbit antifilarial antiserum. Its high molecular weight
(- 200 kD), stability to acid and boiling, and sensitivity to pronase and periodate suggest
its being a glycoprotein. Isolation of this antigen will permit the development of specific
reagents (such as monoclonal antibodies) which should enhance both the sensitivity and
utility of the currently available antigen detection systems
Applications of Canonical Transformations
Canonical transformations are defined and discussed along with the
exponential, the coherent and the ultracoherent vectors. It is shown that the
single-mode and the -mode squeezing operators are elements of the group of
canonical transformations. An application of canonical transformations is made,
in the context of open quantum systems, by studying the effect of squeezing of
the bath on the decoherence properties of the system. Two cases are analyzed.
In the first case the bath consists of a massless bosonic field with the bath
reference states being the squeezed vacuum states and squeezed thermal states
while in the second case a system consisting of a harmonic oscillator
interacting with a bath of harmonic oscillators is analyzed with the bath being
initially in a squeezed thermal state.Comment: 14 page
The Emerging Story of Disability Associated with Lymphatic Filariasis: A Critical Review
Globally, 40 million people live with the chronic effects of lymphatic filariasis (LF), making it the second leading cause of disability in the world. Despite this, there is limited research into the experiences of people living with the disease. This review summarises the research on the experiences of people living with LF disability. The review highlights the widespread social stigma and oppressive psychological issues that face most people living with LF-related disability. Physical manifestations of LF make daily activities and participation in community life difficult. The findings confirm the need for the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) to support morbidity management activities that address the complex biopsychosocial issues that people living with LF-related disability face
Reduction in acute filariasis morbidity during a mass drug administration trial to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Papua New Guinea.
Background
Acute painful swelling of the extremities and scrotum are debilitating clinical manifestations of Wuchereria bancrofti infection. The ongoing global program to eliminate filariasis using mass drug administration is expected to decrease this and other forms of filarial morbidity in the future by preventing establishment of new infections as a consequence of eliminating transmission by the mosquito vector. We examined whether mass treatment with anti-filarial drugs has a more immediate health benefit by monitoring acute filariasis morbidity in Papua New Guinean communities that participated in a 5-year mass drug administration trial.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Weekly active surveillance for acute filariasis morbidity defined by painful swelling of the extremities, scrotum and breast was performed 1 year before and each year after 4 annual mass administrations of anti-filarial drugs (16,480 person-years of observation). Acute morbidity events lasted <3 weeks in 92% of affected individuals and primarily involved the leg (74–79% of all annual events). The incidence for all communities considered together decreased from 0.39 per person-year in the pre-treatment year to 0.31, 0.15, 0.19 and 0.20 after each of 4 annual treatments (p<0.0001). Residents of communities with high pre-treatment transmission intensities (224–742 infective bites/person/year) experienced a greater reduction in acute morbidity (0.62 episodes per person-year pre-treatment vs. 0.30 in the 4th post-treatment year) than residents of communities with moderate pre-treatment transmission intensities (24–167 infective bites/person/year; 0.28 episodes per person-year pre-treatment vs. 0.16 in the 4th post-treatment year).
Conclusions
Mass administration of anti-filarial drugs results in immediate health benefit by decreasing the incidence of acute attacks of leg and arm swelling in people with pre-existing infection. Reduction in acute filariasis morbidity parallels decreased transmission intensity, suggesting that continuing exposure to infective mosquitoes is involved in the pathogenesis of acute filariasis morbidity
Data-driven analysis of <i>JAK2</i> V617F kinetics during interferon-alpha2 treatment of patients with polycythemia vera and related neoplasms
Acute tropical pulmonary eosinophilia: characterization of the lower respiratory tract inflammation and its response to therapy
Although acute tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE) is well
recognized as a manifestation of filarial infection, the processes
that mediate the abnormalities of the lung in TPE are unknown.
To evaluate the hypothesis that the derangements of the lower
respiratory tract in this disorder are mediated by inflammatory
cells in the local milieu we utilized bronchoalveolar lavage to
evaluate affected individuals before and after therapy. Inflaminatory
cells recovered from the lower respiratory tract of individuals
with acute, untreated TPE (a = 8) revealed a striking
eosinophilic alveolitis, with marked elevations in both the proportion
of eosinophils (TPE 54±5%; normal 2±5%; P < 0.001)
and the concentration of eosinophils in the recovered epithelial
lining fluid (ELF) (TPE 63±20 X 103/Al; normal 03±0.1
X 103/jl; P < 0.01). Importantly, when individuals (a = 5) with
acute TPE were treated with diethylcarbamazine (DEC), there
was a marked decrease of the lung eosinophils and concomitant
increase in lung function. These observations are consistent with
the concept that at least some of the abnormalities found in the
lung in acute TPE are mediated by an eosinophil-dominated inflammatory
process in the lower respiratory tract
DNA methylation analysis by digital bisulfite genomic sequencing and digital MethyLight
Alterations in cytosine-5 DNA methylation are frequently observed in most types of human cancer. Although assays utilizing PCR amplification of bisulfite-converted DNA are widely employed to analyze these DNA methylation alterations, they are generally limited in throughput capacity, detection sensitivity, and or resolution. Digital PCR, in which a DNA sample is analyzed in distributive fashion over multiple reaction chambers, allows for enumeration of discrete template DNA molecules, as well as sequestration of non-specific primer annealing templates into negative chambers, thereby increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in positive chambers. Here, we have applied digital PCR technology to bisulfite-converted DNA for single-molecule high-resolution DNA methylation analysis and for increased sensitivity DNA methylation detection. We developed digital bisulfite genomic DNA sequencing to efficiently determine single-basepair DNA methylation patterns on single-molecule DNA templates without an interim cloning step. We also developed digital MethyLight, which surpasses traditional MethyLight in detection sensitivity and quantitative accuracy for low quantities of DNA. Using digital MethyLight, we identified single-molecule, cancer-specific DNA hypermethylation events in the CpG islands of RUNX3, CLDN5 and FOXE1 present in plasma samples from breast cancer patients
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