76 research outputs found
No Evidence for Borrelia burgdorferi-Specific DNA in Lesions of Localized Scleroderma
A possible association of Borrelia burgdorferi with localized scleroderma is currently the focus of intense research and discussion. Skin biopsies from 30 patients with localized scleroderma (28 of the plaque type/morphea; two linear scleroderma) were analyzed for the presence of Borrelia burgdoferi using three different polymerase chain reaction systems for amplification of segments of borrelial genes.Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded biopsies of 14 patients and fresh-frozen, cryo-conserved biopsies of 16 patients with localized scleroderma were obtained. Lesions of all patients showed clear signs of scleroderma and disease progression at the time of biopsy. Fresh-frozen as well as formalin-fixed biopsies from patients with erythema migrans or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans were used as positive controls.With all three polymerase chain reaction systems, borrelial DNA was detected in none of the 30 specimens of localized scleroderma. In contrast, with one polymerase chain reaction system, Borrelia burgdorferi-specific DNA was found in 24 of 27 frozen biopsies from patients with erythema migrans and in all 5 analyzed frozen biopsies of patients with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. In approximately half of the paraffin-embedded biopsies from patients with erythema migrans (nine of 23) and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (13 of 27), Borrelia burgdorferi specific DNA was identified.These results question the association of localized scleroderma with known subtypes of Borrelia burgdorferi
On the mechanical quality factors of cryogenic test masses from fused silica and crystalline quartz
Current interferometric gravitational wave detectors (IGWDs) are operated at
room temperature with test masses made from fused silica. Fused silica shows
very low absorption at the laser wavelength of 1064 nm. It is also well suited
to realize low thermal noise floors in the detector signal band since it offers
low mechanical loss, i. e. high quality factors (Q factors) at room
temperature. However, for a further reduction of thermal noise, cooling the
test masses to cryogenic temperatures may prove an interesting technique. Here
we compare the results of Q factor measurements at cryogenic temperatures of
acoustic eigenmodes of test masses from fused silica and its crystalline
counterpart. Our results show that the mechanical loss of fused silica
increases with lower temperature and reaches a maximum at 30 K for frequencies
of slightly above 10 kHz. The losses of crystalline quartz generally show lower
values and even fall below the room temperature values of fused silica below 10
K. Our results show that in comparison to fused silica, crystalline quartz has
a considerably narrower and lower dissipation peak on cooling and thus has more
promise as a test mass material for IGDWs operated at cryogenic temperatures.
The origin of the different Q factor versus temperature behavior of the two
materials is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Class. Quantum Gra
A model for the very early Universe
A model with N species of massless fermions interacting via (microscopic)
gravitational torsion in de Sitter spacetime is investigated in the limit
N->infinity. The U_V(N)*U_A(N) flavor symmetry is broken dynamically
irrespective of the (positive) value of the induced four-fermion coupling. This
model is equivalent to a theory with free but massive fermions fluctuating
about the chiral condensate. When the fermions are integrated out in a way
demonstrated long ago by Candelas and Raine, the associated gap equation
together with the Friedmann equation predict that the Hubble parameter
vanishes. Introducing a matter sector (subject to a finite gauge symmetry) as a
source for subsequent cosmology, the neutral Goldstone field acquires mass by
the chiral anomaly, resulting in a Planck-scale axion.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; some references added; version to appear in JHE
The Impact of Methylphenidate on Pubertal Maturation and Bone Age in ADHD Children and Adolescents:Results from the ADHD Drugs Use Chronic Effects (ADDUCE) Project
Objective: The short-term safety of methylphenidate (MPH) has been widely demonstrated; however the long-term safety is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and to explore the monitoring of bone age.Method: Participants from ADDUCE, a two-year observational longitudinal study with three parallel cohorts (MPH group, no-MPH group, and a non-ADHD control group), were compared with respect to Tanner staging. An Italian subsample of medicated-ADHD was further assessed by the monitoring of bone age.Results: The medicated and unmedicated ADHD groups did not differ in Tanner stages indicating no higher risk of sexual maturational delay in the MPH-treated patients. The medicated subsample monitored for bone age showed a slight acceleration of the bone maturation after 24 months, however their predicted adult height remained stable.Conclusion: Our results do not suggest safety concerns on long-term treatment with MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and growth.</p
The Impact of Methylphenidate on Pubertal Maturation and Bone Age in ADHD Children and Adolescents:Results from the ADHD Drugs Use Chronic Effects (ADDUCE) Project
Objective: The short-term safety of methylphenidate (MPH) has been widely demonstrated; however the long-term safety is less clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety of MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and to explore the monitoring of bone age.Method: Participants from ADDUCE, a two-year observational longitudinal study with three parallel cohorts (MPH group, no-MPH group, and a non-ADHD control group), were compared with respect to Tanner staging. An Italian subsample of medicated-ADHD was further assessed by the monitoring of bone age.Results: The medicated and unmedicated ADHD groups did not differ in Tanner stages indicating no higher risk of sexual maturational delay in the MPH-treated patients. The medicated subsample monitored for bone age showed a slight acceleration of the bone maturation after 24 months, however their predicted adult height remained stable.Conclusion: Our results do not suggest safety concerns on long-term treatment with MPH in relation to pubertal maturation and growth.</p
Operator Product Expansion and Quark-Hadron Duality: Facts and Riddles
We review the status of the practical operator product expansion (OPE), when
applied to two-point correlators of QCD currents which interpolate to mesonic
resonances, in view of the violations of local quark-hadron duality. Covered
topics are: a mini-review of mesonic QCD sum rules in vacuum, at finite
temperature, or at finite baryon density, a comparison of model calculations of
current-current correlation functions in 2D and 4D with the OPE expression, a
discussion of meson distribution amplitudes in the light of nonperturbatively
nonlocal modifications of the OPE, and a reorganization of the OPE which
(partially) resums powers of covariant derivatives.Comment: now 68 pages, 29 figures (1 figure added), habilitation thesis, mild
restructuring, typos corrected, about 30 references and corresponding text
added, version to be published in Prog. Part. Nucl. Phy
Integrative phylogenetic, phylogeographic and morphological characterisation of the Unio crassus species complex reveals cryptic diversity with important conservation implications
The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. Recent studies have resurrected several species from synonymy based on mitochondrial data, revealing U. crassus to be a complex of cryptic species. To address long-standing taxonomic uncertainties hindering effective conservation, we integrate morphometric, phylogenetic, and phylogeographic analyses to examine species diversity within the U. crassus complex across its entire range. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (815 specimens from 182 populations) and, for selected specimens, whole mitogenome sequences and Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) data on ∼ 600 nuclear loci. Mito-nuclear discordance was detected, consistent with mitochondrial DNA gene flow between some species during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Fossil-calibrated phylogenies based on AHE data support a Mediterranean origin for the U. crassus complex in the Early Miocene. The results of our integrative approach support 12 species in the group: the previously recognised Unio bruguierianus, Unio carneus, Unio crassus, Unio damascensis, Unio ionicus, Unio sesirmensis, and Unio tumidiformis, and the reinstatement of five nominal taxa: Unio desectus stat. rev., Unio gontierii stat. rev., Unio mardinensis stat. rev., Unio nanus stat. rev., and Unio vicarius stat. rev. Morphometric analyses of shell contours reveal important morphospace overlaps among these species, highlighting cryptic, but geographically structured, diversity. The distribution, taxonomy, phylogeography, and conservation of each species are succinctly described.We thank Ana-Maria Benedek, Monica Sîrbu and Jouni Leinikki for
their assistance with the fieldwork, and to Jeroen Goud, Sankurie Pye,
Fiona Ware, Emily Mitchell, and Aleksandra Skawina for their assistance
with the taxonomic investigation. We would also like to thank the editor,
Dr. Guillermo OrtÃ, and two anonymous reviewers for their time and
effort in reviewing our manuscript and for their insightful comments and
valuable improvements to our work. This publication is based upon
work from COST Action CA18239: CONFREMU - Conservation of
freshwater mussels: a pan-European approach, supported by COST
(European Cooperation in Science and Technology), including STSMs,
the interaction of the authors and the writing of the paper. This work
was supported by the project ConBiomics: The Missing Approach for the Conservation of Freshwater Bivalves Project No. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030286, co-financed by FEDER through POCI and by FCT - Fundaç˜ao
para a Ciˆencia e a Tecnologia, through national funds. Strategic funding
UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 was provided by FCT. FCT
also supported DVG (2020.03848.CEECIND), EF (CEECINST/00027/
2021/CP2789/CT0003) and MLL (2020.03608.CEECIND). INB, AVK
and IVV were supported by the Russian Science Foundation under grants
(19-14-00066-P), (21-17-00126) and (21-74-10130) respectively. BVB
acknowledges the bioinformatics platform of UMR 8198 for the
computing resources to perform time-calibrated phylogenetic analyses;
this platform is in part funded by CPER research project CLIMIBIO
through the French Minist`ere de l’Enseignement Sup´erieur et de la
Recherche, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, the European Fund
for Regional Development (FEDER) and the region Hauts-de-France
(HdF). Support to KD came from the Czech Science Foundation
(19–05510S). TT and MT were supported by the National Science Fund
of Bulgaria under the project ‘Conservation of freshwater mussels on the
Balkan Peninsula’ (KP-06-COST-9/20.07.2022). Any use of trade, firm,
or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply
endorsement by the United States Government.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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