930 research outputs found
Illness perceptions and explanatory models of viral hepatitis B & C among immigrants and refugees: a narrative systematic review.
© 2015 Owiti et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain
Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article,
unless otherwise stated.BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B and C (HBV, HCV) infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Many countries with traditionally low prevalence (such as UK) are now planning interventions (screening, vaccination, and treatment) of high-risk immigrants from countries with high prevalence. This review aimed to synthesise the evidence on immigrants' knowledge of HBV and HCV that might influence the uptake of clinical interventions. The review was also used to inform the design and successful delivery of a randomised controlled trial of targeted screening and treatment. METHODS: Five databases (PubMed, CINHAL, SOCIOFILE, PsycINFO & Web of Science) were systematically searched, supplemented by reference tracking, searches of selected journals, and of relevant websites. We aimed to identify qualitative and quantitative studies that investigated knowledge of HBV and HCV among immigrants from high endemic areas to low endemic areas. Evidence, extracted according to a conceptual framework of Kleinman's explanatory model, was subjected to narrative synthesis. We adapted the PEN-3 model to categorise and analyse themes, and recommend strategies for interventions to influence help-seeking behaviour. RESULTS: We identified 51 publications including quantitative (n = 39), qualitative (n = 11), and mixed methods (n = 1) designs. Most of the quantitative studies included small samples and had heterogeneous methods and outcomes. The studies mainly concentrated on hepatitis B and ethnic groups of South East Asian immigrants residing in USA, Canada, and Australia. Many immigrants lacked adequate knowledge of aetiology, symptoms, transmission risk factors, prevention strategies, and treatment, of hepatitis HBV and HCV. Ethnicity, gender, better education, higher income, and English proficiency influenced variations in levels and forms of knowledge. CONCLUSION: Immigrants are vulnerable to HBV and HCV, and risk life-threatening complications from these infections because of poor knowledge and help-seeking behaviour. Primary studies in this area are extremely diverse and of variable quality precluding meta-analysis. Further research is needed outside North America and Australia
Quantifying the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) coupling to CO2 concentration and to the length of day variations
The El Ni\~no Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the Earth's strongest climate
fluctuation on inter-annual time-scales and has global impacts although
originating in the tropical Pacific. Many point indices have been developed to
describe ENSO but the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) is considered the most
representative since it links six different meteorological parameters measured
over the tropical Pacific. Extreme values of MEI are correlated to the extreme
values of atmospheric CO2 concentration rate variations and negatively
correlated to equivalent scale extreme values of the length of day (LOD) rate
variation. We evaluate a first order conversion function between MEI and the
other two indexes using their annual rate of variation. The quantification of
the strength of the coupling herein evaluated provides a quantitative measure
to test the accuracy of theoretical model predictions. Our results further
confirm the idea that the major local and global Earth-atmosphere system
mechanisms are significantly coupled and synchronized to each other at multiple
scales.Comment: Theoretical Applied Climatology (2012
Direct effects of doxorubicin on skeletal muscle contribute to fatigue
Chemotherapy-induced fatigue is a multidimensional symptom. Oxidative stress has been proposed as a working mechanism for anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. In this study, doxorubicin (DOX) was tested on skeletal muscle function. Doxorubicin induced impaired ex vivo skeletal muscle relaxation followed in time by contraction impediment, which could be explained by DOX-induced changes in Ca2+ responses of myotubes in vitro. The Ca2+ responses in skeletal muscle, however, could not be explained by oxidative stress
Immune-Mobilizing Monoclonal T Cell Receptors Mediate Specific and Rapid Elimination of Hepatitis B-Infected Cells
Background and Aims:
Therapies for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are urgently needed because of viral integration, persistence of viral antigen expression, inadequate HBV‐specific immune responses, and treatment regimens that require lifelong adherence to suppress the virus. Immune mobilizing monoclonal T Cell receptors against virus (ImmTAV) molecules represent a therapeutic strategy combining an affinity‐enhanced T Cell receptor with an anti‐CD3 T Cell‐activating moiety. This bispecific fusion protein redirects T cells to specifically lyse infected cells expressing the target virus‐derived peptides presented by human leukocyte antigen (HLA).
Approach and Results:
ImmTAV molecules specific for HLA‐A*02:01‐restricted epitopes from HBV envelope, polymerase, and core antigens were engineered. The ability of ImmTAV‐Env to activate and redirect polyclonal T cells toward cells containing integrated HBV and cells infected with HBV was assessed using cytokine secretion assays and imaging‐based killing assays. Elimination of infected cells was further quantified using a modified fluorescent hybridization of viral RNA assay. Here, we demonstrate that picomolar concentrations of ImmTAV‐Env can redirect T cells from healthy and HBV‐infected donors toward hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells containing integrated HBV DNA resulting in cytokine release, which could be suppressed by the addition of a corticosteroid in vitro. Importantly, ImmTAV‐Env redirection of T cells induced cytolysis of antigen‐positive HCC cells and cells infected with HBV in vitro, causing a reduction of hepatitis B e antigen and specific loss of cells expressing viral RNA.
Conclusions:
The ImmTAV platform has the potential to enable the elimination of infected cells by redirecting endogenous non‐HBV‐specific T cells, bypassing exhausted HBV‐specific T cells. This represents a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, with our lead candidate now entering trials
From tension to compression: Asymmetric mechanical behaviour of trabecular bone's organic phase
Search for a Technicolor omega_T Particle in Events with a Photon and a b-quark Jet at CDF
If the Technicolor omega_T particle exists, a likely decay mode is omega_T ->
gamma pi_T, followed by pi_T -> bb-bar, yielding the signature gamma bb-bar. We
have searched 85 pb^-1 of data collected by the CDF experiment at the Fermilab
Tevatron for events with a photon and two jets, where one of the jets must
contain a secondary vertex implying the presence of a b quark. We find no
excess of events above standard model expectations. We express the result of an
exclusion region in the M_omega_T - M_pi_T mass plane.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures. Available from the CDF server (PS with figs):
http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub98/cdf4674_omega_t_prl_4.ps
FERMILAB-PUB-98/321-
Measurement of the B0 anti-B0 oscillation frequency using l- D*+ pairs and lepton flavor tags
The oscillation frequency Delta-md of B0 anti-B0 mixing is measured using the
partially reconstructed semileptonic decay anti-B0 -> l- nubar D*+ X. The data
sample was collected with the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider
during 1992 - 1995 by triggering on the existence of two lepton candidates in
an event, and corresponds to about 110 pb-1 of pbar p collisions at sqrt(s) =
1.8 TeV. We estimate the proper decay time of the anti-B0 meson from the
measured decay length and reconstructed momentum of the l- D*+ system. The
charge of the lepton in the final state identifies the flavor of the anti-B0
meson at its decay. The second lepton in the event is used to infer the flavor
of the anti-B0 meson at production. We measure the oscillation frequency to be
Delta-md = 0.516 +/- 0.099 +0.029 -0.035 ps-1, where the first uncertainty is
statistical and the second is systematic.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Physical Review
Search for New Particles Decaying to top-antitop in proton-antiproton collisions at squareroot(s)=1.8 TeV
We use 106 \ipb of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab to
search for narrow-width, vector particles decaying to a top and an anti-top
quark. Model independent upper limits on the cross section for narrow, vector
resonances decaying to \ttbar are presented. At the 95% confidence level, we
exclude the existence of a leptophobic \zpr boson in a model of
topcolor-assisted technicolor with mass M_{\zpr} 480 \gev for natural
width = 0.012 M_{\zpr}, and M_{\zpr} 780 \gev for =
0.04 M_{\zpr}.Comment: The CDF Collaboration, submitted to PRL 25-Feb-200
Double Diffraction Dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider
We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in
collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross
section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width
(overlapping ) is found to be [] at [630]
GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions
based on Regge theory and factorization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review
Letter
A Measurement of the Differential Dijet Mass Cross Section in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV
We present a measurement of the cross section for production of two or more
jets as a function of dijet mass, based on an integrated luminosity of 86 pb^-1
collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Our dijet mass spectrum is
described within errors by next-to-leading order QCD predictions using CTEQ4HJ
parton distributions, and is in good agreement with a similar measurement from
the D0 experiment.Comment: 18 pages including 2 figures and 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D
Rapid Communication
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