Developmental and tissue-specific expression of the Q5k gene

Expression of the Q5k gene was examined by northern blot analysis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the AKR mouse and various cell lines, each of the H-2k haplotype. Our results show that Q5k mRNA is present during the whole postimplantational development of the AKR embryo/fetus (gestation day 6 to 15). In the juvenile mouse (week 2 to 4) transcription of the Q5k gene persisted in all organs examined. In contrast, in the adult animal expression of the Q5k gene was limited to the thymus and uterus of the pregnant mouse. Upon malignant transformation, the amount of Q5k-specific mRNA increased dramatically in thymus and could also be observed in the spleen of thymoma bearing animals. Expression of the Q5k gene was also detectable in several transformed mouse cell lines. Mitogen stimulation or treatment with cytokines induced Q5k expression in primary spleen cell cultures. A possible explanation for the tissue-restricted expression in the adult AKR mouse is discussed

Deposition of tin oxide, iridium and iridium oxide films by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition for electrochemical wastewater treatment

In this research, the specific electrodes were prepared by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a hot-wall CVD reactor with the presence of O2 under reduced pressure. The Ir protective layer was deposited by using (Methylcyclopentadienyl) (1,5-cyclooctadiene) iridium (I), (MeCp)Ir(COD), as precursor. Tetraethyltin (TET) was used as precursor for the deposition of SnO2 active layer. The optimum condition for Ir film deposition was at 300 °C, 125 of O2/(MeCp)Ir(COD) molar ratio and 12 Torr of total pressure. While that of SnO2 active layer was at 380 °C, 1200 of O2/TET molar ratio and 15 Torr of total pressure. The prepared SnO2/Ir/Ti electrodes were tested for anodic oxidation of organic pollutant in a simple three-electrode electrochemical reactor using oxalic acid as model solution. The electrochemical experiments indicate that more than 80% of organic pollutant was removed after 2.1 Ah/L of charge has been applied. The kinetic investigation gives a two-step process for organic pollutant degradation, the kinetic was zero-order and first-order with respect to TOC of model solution for high and low TOC concentrations, respectively

Non-Chlamydial Bacterial Infection and Progression of Conjunctival Scarring in Trachoma.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether non-chlamydial bacterial infection is associated with progression of trachomatous scarring in adults. Methods: This was a cohort study involving 800 participants in northern Tanzania who underwent clinical examination, photography, and conjunctival swab collection for microbiology over a 24-month period. Samples for microbiology were inoculated onto blood and chocolate agar, and Chlamydia trachomatis was detected by PCR. Progression was determined by comparison of baseline to 24-month photographs. Results: C. trachomatis was detected in only four participants at baseline. At 24 months, 617 participants (77.1%) were followed up. Of those seen at 24 months, 452 could be reliably assessed. Definite scarring progression (progressors) was seen in 345 (55.9%); there was no progression (nonprogressors) in 107 (17.3%). Using combined baseline and 12-month microbiology results, progressors had significantly higher levels of commensal and pathogenic bacterial organisms detected compared with nonprogressors. After adjusting for age, baseline scarring, and ethnicity, there was weak evidence (P = 0.07) that the bacteria category was associated with scarring progression (commensal organisms only: odds ratio [OR] = 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.90 to 2.89; pathogenic organisms either with or without commensal: OR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.10 to 5.16). Conclusion: The findings were consistent with the possibility that trachomatous scarring in adults is associated with the presence of non-chlamydial bacterial organisms, particularly pathogenic organisms. C. trachomatis was detected very infrequently and may not be an important factor in the pathogenesis of scarring progression in adults. This has implications for trachoma control programs, which largely concentrate on reducing C. trachomatis levels and transmission

Primary Care Provider Perceptions of Colorectal Cancer Screening Barriers: Implications for Designing Quality Improvement Interventions

Aims. Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is underutilized. Increasing CRC screening rates requires interventions targeting multiple barriers at each level of the healthcare organization (patient, provider, and system). We examined groups of primary care providers (PCPs) based on perceptions of screening barriers and the relationship to CRC screening rates to inform approaches for conducting barrier assessments prior to designing and implementing quality improvement interventions. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study linking EHR and survey data. PCPs with complete survey responses for questions addressing CRC screening barriers were included (N=166 PCPs; 39,430 patients eligible for CRC screening). Cluster analysis identified groups of PCPs. Multivariate logistic regression estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for predictors of membership in one of the PCP groups. Results. We found two distinct groups: (1) PCPs identifying multiple barriers to CRC screening at patient, provider, and system levels (N=75) and (2) PCPs identifying no major barriers to screening (N=91). PCPs in the top half of CRC screening performance were more likely to identify multiple barriers than the bottom performers (OR, 4.14; 95% CI, 2.43–7.08). Conclusions. High-performing PCPs can more effectively identify CRC screening barriers. Targeting high-performers when conducting a barrier assessment is a novel approach to assist in designing quality improvement interventions for CRC screening

Signal compaction using polynomial EVD for spherical array processing with applications

Multi-channel signals captured by spatially separated sensors often contain a high level of data redundancy. A compact signal representation enables more efficient storage and processing, which has been exploited for data compression, noise reduction, and speech and image coding. This paper focuses on the compact representation of speech signals acquired by spherical microphone arrays. A polynomial matrix eigenvalue decomposition (PEVD) can spatially decorrelate signals over a range of time lags and is known to achieve optimum multi-channel data compaction. However, the complexity of PEVD algorithms scales at best cubically with the number of channel signals, e.g., the number of microphones comprised in a spherical array used for processing. In contrast, the spherical harmonic transform (SHT) provides a compact spatial representation of the 3-dimensional sound field measured by spherical microphone arrays, referred to as eigenbeam signals, at a cost that rises only quadratically with the number of microphones. Yet, the SHT’s spatially orthogonal basis functions cannot completely decorrelate sound field components over a range of time lags. In this work, we propose to exploit the compact representation offered by the SHT to reduce the number of channels used for subsequent PEVD processing. In the proposed framework for signal representation, we show that the diagonality factor improves by up to 7 dB over the microphone signal representation with a significantly lower computation cost. Moreover, when applying this framework to speech enhancement and source separation, the proposed method improves metrics known as short-time objective intelligibility (STOI) and source-to-distortion ratio (SDR) by up to 0.2 and 20 dB, respectively

Intimate partner violence as seen in post-conflict eastern Uganda: prevalence, risk factors and mental health consequences.

BACKGROUND: Conflict and post-conflict communities in sub-Saharan Africa have a high under recognised problem of intimate partner violence (IPV). Part of the reason for this has been the limited data on IPV from conflict affected sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reports on the prevalence, risk factors and mental health consequences of IPV victimisation in both gender as seen in post-conflict eastern Uganda. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in two districts of eastern Uganda. The primary outcome of IPV victimisation was assessed using a modified Intimate Partner Violence assessment questionnaire of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. RESULTS: The prevalence of any form of IPV victimisation (physical and/or sexual and/or psychological IPV) in this study was 43.7 % [95 % CI, 40.1-47.4 %], with no statistically significant difference between the two gender. The factors significantly associated with IPV victimisation were: sub-county (representing ecological factors), poverty, use of alcohol, and physical and sexual war torture experiences. The mental health problems associated with IPV victimisation were probable problem alcohol drinking, attempted suicide and probable major depressive disorder. CONCLUSION: In post-conflict eastern Uganda, in both gender, war torture was a risk factor for IPV victimisation and IPV victimisation was associated with mental health problems

Association between Mycoplasma genitalium infection and HIV acquisition among female sex workers in Uganda: evidence from a nested case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Cross-sectional studies have shown a strong association between Mycoplasma genitalium and HIV infections. We previously reported that in a cohort of female sex workers in Uganda, M genitalium infection at baseline was associated with HIV seroconversion. Here we examine the temporal association between the M genitalium infection status shortly before HIV seroconversion and HIV acquisition. METHODS: A nested case-control study was conducted within a cohort of women at high risk for HIV in Kampala. Cases were those of women acquiring HIV within 2 years of enrolment. For each of the 42 cases, 3 controls were selected from women HIV negative at the visit when the corresponding case first tested HIV seropositive. The association between HIV acquisition and M genitalium infection immediately prior to HIV testing was analysed using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: There was weak evidence of an association between M genitalium infection and HIV acquisition overall (crude OR=1.57; 95% CI 0.67 to 3.72, aOR=2.28: 95% CI 0.81 to 6.47). However, time of M genitalium testing affected the association (p value for effect-modification=0.004). For 29 case-control sets with endocervical samples tested 3 months prior to the first HIV-positive result, M genitalium infection increased the risk of HIV acquisition (crude OR=3.09; 95% CI 1.06 to 9.05, aOR=7.19; 95% CI 1.68 to 30.77), whereas there was little evidence of an association among the 13 case-control sets with samples tested at an earlier visit (crude OR=0.30: 95% CI 0.04 to 2.51; aOR=0.34; 95% CI 0.02 to 5.94). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed evidence of a temporal relationship between M genitalium infection and HIV acquisition that suggests that M genitalium infection may be a co-factor in the acquisition of HIV infection