1,432 research outputs found
Prognostic utility of ADAMTS13 activity for the atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) and comparison of complement serology between aHUS and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Background
Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) involves dysregulation of the complement system, but whether this also occurs in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) remains unclear. Although these conditions are difficult to differentiate clinically, TTP can be distinguished by low (<10%) ADAMTS13 activity. The aim was to identify the differences in complement activation products between TTP and aHUS and investigate ADAMTS13 activity as a prognostic factor in aHUS.
Methods
We analyzed patients with thrombotic microangiopathy diagnosed as TTP (N=48) or aHUS (N=50), selected from a Korean registry (N=551). Complement activation products in the plasma samples collected from the patients prior to treatment and in 40 healthy controls were measured by ELISA.
Results
The levels of generalized (C3a), alternate (factor Bb), and terminal (C5a and C5b-9) markers were significantly higher (all P<0.01) in the patients than in the healthy controls. Only the factor Bb levels significantly differed (P=0.008) between the two disease groups. In aHUS patients, high normal ADAMTS13 activity (≥77%) was associated with improved treatment response (OR, 6.769; 95% CI, 1.605–28.542; P=0.005), remission (OR, 6.000; 95% CI, 1.693–21.262; P=0.004), exacerbation (OR, 0.242; 95% CI, 0.064–0.916; P=0.031), and disease-associated mortality rates (OR, 0.155; 95% CI, 0.029–0.813; P=0.017).
Conclusion
These data suggest that complement biomarkers, except factor Bb, are similarly activated in TTP and aHUS patients, and ADAMTS13 activity can predict the treatment response and outcome in aHUS patients
The Asymptotic distribution of circles in the orbits of Kleinian groups
Let P be a locally finite circle packing in the plane invariant under a
non-elementary Kleinian group Gamma and with finitely many Gamma-orbits. When
Gamma is geometrically finite, we construct an explicit Borel measure on the
plane which describes the asymptotic distribution of small circles in P,
assuming that either the critical exponent of Gamma is strictly bigger than 1
or P does not contain an infinite bouquet of tangent circles glued at a
parabolic fixed point of Gamma. Our construction also works for P invariant
under a geometrically infinite group Gamma, provided Gamma admits a finite
Bowen-Margulis-Sullivan measure and the Gamma-skinning size of P is finite.
Some concrete circle packings to which our result applies include Apollonian
circle packings, Sierpinski curves,
Schottky dances, etc.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures. Final version. To appear in Inventiones Mat
Evaluation of fermented whole crop wheat and barley feeding on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, faecal volatile fatty acid emission, blood constituents, and faecal microbiota in growing pigs
This study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets with fermented whole crop wheat (FWW) and fermented whole crop barley (FWB) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood constituents, faecal volatile fatty acid (VFA) emission and faecal microbiota in growing pigs. A total of 200 growing pigs were randomly allotted to five treatments with eight replicates per treatment and five pigs per replicate. Dietary treatments consisted of i) CON (basal diet), ii) 0.5% FWW (CON + 0.5% fermented whole crop wheat), iii) 1.0% FWW (CON + 1.0% fermented whole crop wheat), iv) 0.5% FWB (CON + 0.5% fermented whole crop barley), and v) 1.0% FWB (CON + 1.0% fermented whole crop barley). The digestibility of total dietary fibre was significantly higher in pigs fed FWW diets. The faecal emissions of VFA of pigs fed the fermented treatments was increased significantly compared with CON. Concentrations of cortisol and triglyceride in blood of pigs fed 1.0% FWW were significantly lower than pigs fed CON diets. The pigs fed 1.0% FWB diets had a significantly decreased level of total cholesterol in blood compared with CON. In conclusion, the current results indicated that diets supplemented with FWW and FWB could increase faecal VFA emission and reduce concentration of triglyceride and cortisol, while 0.5% and 1.0% FWW had no negative effects on growth performance, and could increase digestibility of dietary fibre in growing pigs.Keywords:Â Dietary fibre, faecal short-chain fatty acid emissions, fermented feed, serum parameter, swin
Temperature-scaling behavior of the Hall conductivity for Hg-based superconducting thin films
The Hall conductivities of HgBa_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{6+\delta}and
HgBa_{2}Ca_{2}Cu_{3}O_{8+\delta} thin films are investigated for a magnetic
field parallel to the c axis. The mixed-state Hall conductivity for these
compounds is well described by \sigma_{xy}=C_{1}/H+C_{2}+C_{3}H. The prefactor
C_1 shows a temperature dependence of the form C_1 = A(1-t)^n near T_c, where
t=T/T_c is the reduced temperature. Contrary to the previous results, C_2 also
follows a temperature-scaling behavior similar to that of the coefficient C_1.
The observed value of n = 1.8 - 2.3 is comparable to the previously observed
values for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-\delta} and La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figure
Liquid-phase fabrication of patterned carbon nanotube field emission cathodes
A high throughput electrophoresis process using functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNT) was used to fabricate high resolution electron field emission cathodes at room temperature. It was shown that the process could be used to achieve well defined and adherent CNT patterns with 20 μm feature size on a variety of substrates with fine control of the CNT technology. The cathodes were found to show uniform emission patterns across the entire surfaces and emission current with long term stability. It was also found that the emission characteristics of the cathodes could be compared favourably to those from other fabrication methods for CNT based field emission display applications
Room-temperature fabrication of high-resolution carbon nanotube field-emission cathodes by self-assembly
The room-temperature fabrication process of high-resolution carbon nanotube (CNT) field-emission cathodes by self-assembly was discussed. The well-defined patterns with variable thickness and less than a 10-μm linewidth were readily deposited. The CNTs were found to show long-range in-plane orientation ordering and adhered strongly to the substrates
K* nucleon hyperon form factors and nucleon strangeness
A crucial input for recent meson hyperon cloud model estimates of the nucleon
matrix element of the strangeness current are the nucleon-hyperon-K* (NYK*)
form factors which regularize some of the arising loops. Prompted by new and
forthcoming information on these form factors from hyperon-nucleon potential
models, we analyze the dependence of the loop model results for the
strange-quark observables on the NYK* form factors and couplings. We find, in
particular, that the now generally favored soft N-Lambda-K* form factors can
reduce the magnitude of the K* contributions in such models by more than an
order of magnitude, compared to previous results with hard form factors. We
also discuss some general implications of our results for hadronic loop models.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, new co-author, discussion extended to the
momentum dependence of the strange vector form factor
LHC as and Collider
We propose an experiment at the LHC with leading neutron production.The
latter can be used to extract from it the total cross-sections. With
two leading neutrons we can get access to the total
cross-sections. In this note we give some estimates and discuss related
problems and prospects.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures, 8 tables, to be publishe
Dissociation cross sections of ground-state and excited charmonia with light mesons in the quark model
We present numerical results for the dissociation cross sections of
ground-state, orbitally- and radially-excited charmonia in collisions with
light mesons. Our results are derived using the nonrelativistic quark model, so
all parameters are determined by fits to the experimental meson spectrum.
Examples of dissociation into both exclusive and inclusive final states are
considered. The dissociation cross sections of several C=(+) charmonia may be
of considerable importance for the study of heavy ion collisions, since these
states are expected to be produced more copiously than the J/psi. The relative
importance of the productions of ground-state and orbitally-excited charmed
mesons in a pion-charmonium collision is demonstrated through the -dependent charmonium dissociation cross sections.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
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