Efficacy of High-Dose, Rapid, Hepatitis A and B Vaccination Schedules in Patients With Cirrhosis

© 2018 by the AGA Institute. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Auguist 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyPatients with cirrhosis have increased morbidity from hepatitis A (HAV) and B (HBV) infections, and vaccination against these infections is an important standard of care. However, vaccination in patients with cirrhosis is hindered by immune dysfunction and there is limited high quality literature available. The aim of this work was therefore to compare immune responses of standard dose (SD) with high dose, accelerated (HDA) vaccination in cirrhotic patients

Polarised Photoluminescence from Surface-Passivated PbS Nanocrystals

Effective surface-passivation of PbS nanocrystals in aqueous colloidal solution has been achieved following treatment with CdS precursors. The resultant photoluminescent emission displays two distinct components, one originating from the absorption band-edge and the other from above the absorption band-edge. We show that both of these components are strongly polarised but display distinctly different behaviours. The polarisation arising from the band-edge shows little dependence on the excitation energy while the polarisation of the above-band-edge component is strongly dependent on the excitation energy. In addition, time resolved polarisation spectroscopy reveals that the above-band-edge polarisation is restricted to the first couple of nanoseconds, while the band-edge polarisation is nearly constant over hundreds of nanoseconds. We recognise an incompatibility between the two different polarisation behaviours, which enables us to identify two distinct types of surface-passivated PbS nanocrystal.Comment: Preprint, 19 pages, 4 figure

Availability of zinc and cadmium to different plant species

A pot study was conducted to investigate whether differences in the amounts of Zn and Cd taken up by a number of plant species (canola, capeweed, subterranean clover, lettuce, swiss chard, ryegrass, and wheat) growing in a single soil could be explained as the result of plants having access to different soil pools of Zn and Cd. Prior to potting, the soil was spiked with carrier-free 65Zn and 109Cd. Total shoot concentrations of both Zn and Cd varied greatly across the plant species studied. The concentration of Cd in the shoots ranged from 0·075 mg/kg in wheat cv. RAC to 2·27 mg/kg in capeweed, while the concentration of Zn in the shoots ranged from 33 mg/kg in wheat cv. RAC to 259 mg/kg in swiss chard. However, the specific activity of Zn in the shoots was found to be the same in all cases. Hence the experiments showed that all plant species were accessing the same pool of Zn in the soil, despite differences in the total amounts of Zn taken up. In contrast, the specific activity of Cd in canola was found to be nearly double the specific activity of Cd in the other plants, suggesting that canola was unable to access a pool of soil Cd that was available for uptake by the other species. The percentage of total soil Zn and Cd that was in bioavailable pools was calculated to be approximately 12 and 36 (or 20% for canola), respectively, implying that significant percentages of these metals exist in non plant available forms in this soil.R. Hamon, J. Wundke, M. McLaughlin and R. Naid

The Resident Classification Scale: Is it a valid measure of functional dependence?

© 2006 COTA National Seniors PartnershipObjectives: To determine the validity of the Resident Classification Scale (RCS) in measuring functional dependence. Methods: Participants newly assessed in hospital as requiring residential care were randomised to receive either transitional care or traditional inpatient hospital care. At the 4 month follow-up, the RCS and modified Barthel Index were administered. Inter- (n = 21) and intrarater (n = 10) reliability of the RCS was assessed. Results: A total of 317 participants were recruited. Interrater reliability for the RCS was high (ICC = 0.93) as was the intrarater reliability (Spearman's r = 0.84). There was strong agreement between the RCS and the modified Barthel Index. Conclusions: The RCS has been specifically designed to assess the needs of individuals requiring long-term residential care. With minor modifications, the RCS has the potential to be a useful research tool. © 2006 COTA National Seniors Partnership.Jacqueline M. Stepien, Helen White, Rachel Wundke, Lynne C. Giles, Craig H. Whitehead and Maria Crott