98 research outputs found
What is creative to whom and why? Perceptions in advertising agencies
The authors apply recent advances in creativity theory to discover perceptual differences in the factors of strategy, originality, and artistry among creatives and noncreatives. It was found that current advertising position influences subjective perceptions of what constitutes creative advertising. Creatives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are artistic, but account executives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are strategic. The study also indicates that creatives have a distinctive preference for a strong originality component to strategy. To be original within the confines of a tight strategy is perceived as the most creative by advertising creatives. Account executives are so focused on strategy, they will often accept artistic advertisements as a substitute for truly original work. The authors consider future research implications of the study and its limitations
Quantum spin systems and magnetic frustration investigated with high frequency AC susceptibility and muons
An ac susceptometer is described that can measure up to 3.5 MHz at temperatures down to 2 K and in dc magnetic fields up to 1 T by integration with a Quantum Design PPMS. The susceptometer is described with a detailed explanation of the calibration procedure. ac susceptibility data on MgB2 and Dy2Ti2O7 measured by the high frequency susceptometer is presented and compared with data recorded using a commercial susceptometer which shows good agreement. FeraSpin XS magnetic nano particles are measured and the ac susceptibility is used to deter- mine the mean particle radius, which shows good agreement with the literature.
The quantum tunnelling plateau is measured in powder CdEr2Se4 and CdEr2S4 using the high frequency susceptometer. Ac susceptibility measurements in dc magnetic fields reveal field induced coexisting relaxation mechanisms, a thermally activated and a quantum process. CdEr2Se4 is measured at down to 70 mK and the two mechanisms are shown to persist to the spin freezing temperature which is also measured. Single crystal samples of CdEr2Se4 do not show any sign of the field induced relaxation mechanism at any temperature or field. The single crystal spin freezing temperature is found to be lower than in the powder. A muon spin rotation experiment in powder CdEr2Se4 finds that the spin fluctuation rates are orders of magnitude faster than those seen with ac susceptibility.
Muon spin rotation experiments in PVDF and LiY0.95Ho0.05F4 are performed where the F-μ and F-μ-F quantum states form respectively. Measurements are performed in zero field and in the presence of an RF photon field. Multiple approaches to fitting the zero field data are discussed, including by considering the state as an open quantum system. A close fit is achieved in LiY0.95Ho0.05F4 but not in PVDF which is attributed to difficulty in accounting for amorphous regions. The application of the RF field is shown to alter the measured muon asymmetry. It is shown that the effect of the RF field cannot be accounted by a rotating magnetic field and therefore the RF field must be manipulating the occupation probabilities of the state
The Health and Structural Consequences of Acute Knee Injuries Involving Rupture of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Although there is an abundance of literature regarding the development of knee osteoarthritis after rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the mechanism underlying this link is not clear. Recent studies have reported that several factors may be predictive of the development of osteoarthritis, including damage to the menisci and articular cartilage during the initial trauma, altered knee biomechanics after injury, and episodic instability. This article summarizes recent developments in the understanding of the joint damage resulting from an ACL tear, and the influence that current and future treatment methods may have on the long-term progression to osteoarthritis
clinical status and evolution in moyamoya which angiographic findings correlate
Abstract
Moyamoya is a progressive steno-occlusive cerebrovascular pathology of unknown aetiology that usually involves the terminal portions of the internal carotid arteries and/or the proximal portions of the anterior and middle cerebral arteries bilaterally. The pre-operative Suzuki staging system and post-operative Matsushima grade are nearly universally used markers of natural history and surgical revascularization results, respectively, but their correlation with clinical and radiographic manifestations of moyamoya has not been systematically evaluated in a large cohort. This study evaluated the strength of correlations between pre- and post-operative angiographic parameters and clinical status among paediatric patients with moyamoya. The participants included 58 patients of mean age 11 years at the time of surgery who underwent bilateral indirect revascularization in the same procedure at Boston Children's Hospital, between January 2010 and December 2015. All included patients had available pre-operative and 1-year post-operative digital subtraction angiography. Clinical data included presenting symptoms, degree of functional incapacity, and peri-operative and long-term complications. Radiographic data included pre-operative Suzuki stage, degree of arterial stenosis, a novel collateral score, the presence of hypovascular territories on digital subtraction angiography, and post-operative Matsushima grade and evolution of stenosis. Chi-squared test and Pearson coefficient were used for correlation studies for categorical variables and Spearman's rho was used for correlation studies for continuous variables. Results showed that Suzuki stage, collateral score and degree of stenosis were insufficient to predict clinical presentation, pre-operative incapacity and radiographic presentation, whereas the presence of hypovascular territories was correlated with all of these. At 1-year follow-up, Matsushima grade was insufficient for predicting peri-operative or long-term complications, nor did it correlate with post-operative incapacity. The presence of hypovascular territories at 1-year follow-up was correlated with the incidence of post-operative ischaemic symptoms
Identification of N -Linked Glycosylation Sites in Human Testis Angiotensin-converting Enzyme and Expression of an Active Deglycosylated Form
The sites of glycosylation of Chinese hamster ovary cell expressed testicular angiotensin-converting enzyme (tACE) have been determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time of flight/mass spectrometry of peptides generated by proteolytic and cyanogen bromide digestion. Two of the seven potential N-linked glycosylation sites, Asn90 and Asn109, were found to be fully glycosylated by analysis of peptides before and after treatment with a series of glycosidases and with endoproteinase Asp-N. The mass spectra of the glycopeptides exhibit characteristic clusters of peaks which indicate the N-linked glycans in tACE to be mostly of the biantennary, fucosylated complex type. This structural information was used to demonstrate that three other sites, Asn155, Asn337, and Asn586, are partially glycosylated, whereas Asn72 appears to be fully glycosylated. The only potential site that was not modified is Asn620. Sequence analysis of tryptic peptides obtained from somatic ACE (human kidney) identified six glycosylated and one unglycosylated Asn. Only one of these glycosylation sites had a counterpart in tACE. Comparison of the two proteins reveals a pattern in which amino-terminal N-linked sites are preferred. The functional significance of glycosylation was examined with a tACE mutant lacking the O-glycan-rich first amino-terminal 36 residues and truncated at Ser625. When expressed in the presence of the alpha-glucosidase I inhibitor N-butyldeoxynojirimycin and treated with endoglycosidase H to remove all but the terminal N-acetylglucosamine residues, it retained full enzymatic activity, was electrophoretically homogeneous, and is a good candidate for crystallographic studies
Information resource preferences by general pediatricians in office settings: a qualitative study
BACKGROUND: Information needs and resource preferences of office-based general pediatricians have not been well characterized. METHODS: Data collected from a sample of twenty office-based urban/suburban general pediatricians consisted of: (a) a demographic survey about participants' practice and computer use, (b) semi-structured interviews on their use of different types of information resources and (c) semi-structured interviews on perceptions of information needs and resource preferences in response to clinical vignettes representing cases in Genetics and Infectious Diseases. Content analysis of interviews provided participants' perceived use of resources and their perceived questions and preferred resources in response to vignettes. RESULTS: Participants' average time in practice was 15.4 years (2–28 years). All had in-office online access. Participants identified specialist/generalist colleagues, general/specialty pediatric texts, drug formularies, federal government/professional organization Websites and medical portals (when available) as preferred information sources. They did not identify decision-making texts, evidence-based reviews, journal abstracts, medical librarians or consumer health information for routine office use. In response to clinical vignettes in Genetics and Infectious Diseases, participants identified Question Types about patient-specific (diagnosis, history and findings) and general medical (diagnostic, therapeutic and referral guidelines) information. They identified specialists and specialty textbooks, history and physical examination, colleagues and general pediatric textbooks, and federal and professional organizational Websites as information sources. Participants with access to portals identified them as information resources in lieu of texts. For Genetics vignettes, participants identified questions about prenatal history, disease etiology and treatment guidelines. For Genetics vignettes, they identified patient history, specialists, general pediatric texts, Web search engines and colleagues as information sources. For Infectious Diseases (ID) vignettes, participants identified questions about patients' clinical status at presentation and questions about disease classification, diagnosis/therapy/referral guidelines and sources of patient education. For ID vignettes, they identified history, laboratory results, colleagues, specialists and personal experience as information sources. CONCLUSION: Content analysis of office-based general pediatricians' responses to clinical vignettes provided a qualitative description of their perceptions of information needs and preferences for information resource for cases in Genetics and Infectious Diseases. This approach may provide complementary information for discovering practitioner's information needs and resource preferences in different contexts
Exploring the relationship between environmental enteric dysfunction and oral vaccine responses.
Oral vaccines significantly underperform in low-income countries. One possible contributory factor is environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), a subclinical disorder of small intestinal structure and function among children living in poverty. Here, we review studies describing oral vaccine responses and EED. We identified eight studies evaluating EED and oral vaccine responses. There was substantial heterogeneity in study design and few consistent trends emerged. Four studies reported a negative association between EED and oral vaccine responses; two showed no significant association; and two described a positive correlation. Current evidence is therefore insufficient to determine whether EED contributes to oral vaccine underperformance. We identify roadblocks in the field and future research needs, including carefully designed studies those can investigate this hypothesis further.JAC (Grant 201293/Z/16/Z) and AJP (Grant 108065/Z/15/Z) are funded by the Wellcome Trust. JAC and AJP also received funding from DfID via the Sanitation & Hygiene Applied Research for Equity (SHARE) Consortium
DNA-Free Recombinant SV40 Capsids Protect Mice from Acute Renal Failure by Inducing Stress Response, Survival Pathway and Apoptotic Arrest
Viruses induce signaling and host defense during infection. Employing these natural trigger mechanisms to combat organ or tissue failure is hampered by harmful effects of most viruses. Here we demonstrate that SV40 empty capsids (Virus Like Particles-VLPs), with no DNA, induce host Hsp/c70 and Akt-1 survival pathways, key players in cellular survival mechanisms. We postulated that this signaling might protect against organ damage in vivo. Acute kidney injury (AKI) was chosen as target. AKI is critical, prevalent disorder in humans, caused by nephrotoxic agents, sepsis or ischemia, via apoptosis/necrosis of renal tubular cells, with high morbidity and mortality. Systemic administration of VLPs activated Akt-1 and upregulated Hsp/c70 in vivo. Experiments in mercury-induced AKI mouse model demonstrated that apoptosis, oxidative stress and toxic renal failure were significantly attenuated by pretreatment with capsids prior to the mercury insult. Survival rate increased from 12% to >60%, with wide dose response. This study demonstrates that SV40 VLPs, devoid of DNA, may potentially be used as prophylactic agent for AKI. We anticipate that these finding may be projected to a wide range of organ failure, using empty capsids of SV40 as well as other viruses
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