1,157 research outputs found
Verified and potential pathogens of predatory mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae)
Several species of phytoseiid mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae), including species of the genera Amblyseius, Galendromus, Metaseiulus, Neoseiulus, Phytoseiulus and Typhlodromus, are currently reared for biological control of various crop pests and/or as model organisms for the study of predator¿prey interactions. Pathogen-free phytoseiid mites are important to obtain high efficacy in biological pest control and to get reliable data in mite research, as pathogens may affect the performance of their host or alter their reproduction and behaviour. Potential and verified pathogens have been reported for phytoseiid mites during the past 25 years. The present review provides an overview, including potential pathogens with unknown host effects (17 reports), endosymbiotic Wolbachia (seven reports), other bacteria (including Cardinium and Spiroplasma) (four reports), cases of unidentified diseases (three reports) and cases of verified pathogens (six reports). From the latter group four reports refer to Microsporidia, one to a fungus and one to a bacterium. Only five entities have been studied in detail, including Wolbachia infecting seven predatory mite species, other endosymbiotic bacteria infecting Metaseiulus (Galendromus, Typhlodromus) occidentalis (Nesbitt), the bacterium Acaricomes phytoseiuli infecting Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, the microsporidium Microsporidium phytoseiuli infecting P. persimilis and the microsporidium Oligosproridium occidentalis infecting M. occidentalis. In four cases (Wolbachia, A. phytoseiuli, M. phytoseiuli and O. occidentalis) an infection may be connected with fitness costs of the host. Moreover, infection is not always readily visible as no obvious gross symptoms are present. Monitoring of these entities on a routine and continuous basis should therefore get more attention, especially in commercial mass-production. Special attention should be paid to field-collected mites before introduction into the laboratory or mass rearing, and to mites that are exchanged among rearing facilities. However, at present general pathogen monitoring is not yet practical as effects of many entities are unknown. More research effort is needed concerning verified and potential pathogens of commercially reared arthropods and those used as model organisms in research
Persistent Intersection Homology for the Analysis of Discrete Data
Topological data analysis is becoming increasingly relevant to support the
analysis of unstructured data sets. A common assumption in data analysis is
that the data set is a sample---not necessarily a uniform one---of some
high-dimensional manifold. In such cases, persistent homology can be
successfully employed to extract features, remove noise, and compare data sets.
The underlying problems in some application domains, however, turn out to
represent multiple manifolds with different dimensions. Algebraic topology
typically analyzes such problems using intersection homology, an extension of
homology that is capable of handling configurations with singularities. In this
paper, we describe how the persistent variant of intersection homology can be
used to assist data analysis in visualization. We point out potential pitfalls
in approximating data sets with singularities and give strategies for resolving
them.Comment: Topology-based Methods in Visualization 201
Surviving streptococcal toxic shock syndrome: a case report
Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and associated myositis caused by group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus pyogenes generally have a poor outcome despite aggressive operative treatment. Frequently the diagnosis is missed initially as the clinical features are non-specific. The progression to a toxic state is rapid and unless definitive treatment measures are initiated early, the end result can be catastrophic. We report a previously healthy patient who had features of toxic shock syndrome due to alpha haemolytic (viridans) streptococcus mitis which was treated successfully with antibiotics, aggressive intensive care support including the use of a 'sepsis care bundle', monitoring and continuous multidisciplinary review. Life and limb threatening emergencies due to streptococcus mitis in an immune-competent person are rare and to our knowledge, have not previously been described in the English scientific literature. Successful outcome is possible provided a high degree of suspicion is maintained and the patient is intensively monitored
Accreting Black Holes
This chapter provides a general overview of the theory and observations of
black holes in the Universe and on their interpretation. We briefly review the
black hole classes, accretion disk models, spectral state classification, the
AGN classification, and the leading techniques for measuring black hole spins.
We also introduce quasi-periodic oscillations, the shadow of black holes, and
the observations and the theoretical models of jets.Comment: 41 pages, 18 figures. To appear in "Tutorial Guide to X-ray and
Gamma-ray Astronomy: Data Reduction and Analysis" (Ed. C. Bambi, Springer
Singapore, 2020). v3: fixed some typos and updated some parts. arXiv admin
note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1711.1025
Thermal infrared emission reveals the Dirac point movement in biased graphene
Graphene is a 2-dimensional material with high carrier mobility and thermal
conductivity, suitable for high-speed electronics. Conduction and valence bands
touch at the Dirac point. The absorptivity of single-layer graphene is 2.3%,
nearly independent of wavelength. Here we investigate the thermal radiation
from biased graphene transistors. We find that the emission spectrum of
single-layer graphene follows that of a grey body with constant emissivity (1.6
\pm 0.8)%. Most importantly, we can extract the temperature distribution in the
ambipolar graphene channel, as confirmed by Stokes/anti-Stokes measurements.
The biased graphene exhibits a temperature maximum whose location can be
controlled by the gate voltage. We show that this peak in temperature reveals
the spatial location of the minimum in carrier density, i.e. the Dirac point.Comment: Accepted in principle at Nature Nanotechnolog
Tracking the spatial diffusion of influenza and norovirus using telehealth data: A spatiotemporal analysis of syndromic data
Background: Telehealth systems have a large potential for informing public health authorities in
an early stage of outbreaks of communicable disease. Influenza and norovirus are common viruses
that cause significant respiratory and gastrointestinal disease worldwide. Data about these viruses
are not routinely mapped for surveillance purposes in the UK, so the spatial diffusion of national
outbreaks and epidemics is not known as such incidents occur. We aim to describe the
geographical origin and diffusion of rises in fever and vomiting calls to a national telehealth system,
and consider the usefulness of these findings for influenza and norovirus surveillance.
Methods: Data about fever calls (5- to 14-year-old age group) and vomiting calls (≥ 5-year-old age
group) in school-age children, proxies for influenza and norovirus, respectively, were extracted
from the NHS Direct national telehealth database for the period June 2005 to May 2006. The
SaTScan space-time permutation model was used to retrospectively detect statistically significant
clusters of calls on a week-by-week basis. These syndromic results were validated against existing
laboratory and clinical surveillance data.
Results: We identified two distinct periods of elevated fever calls. The first originated in the
North-West of England during November 2005 and spread in a south-east direction, the second
began in Central England during January 2006 and moved southwards. The timing, geographical
location, and age structure of these rises in fever calls were similar to a national influenza B
outbreak that occurred during winter 2005–2006. We also identified significantly elevated levels of
vomiting calls in South-East England during winter 2005–2006.
Conclusion: Spatiotemporal analyses of telehealth data, specifically fever calls, provided a timely
and unique description of the evolution of a national influenza outbreak. In a similar way the tool
may be useful for tracking norovirus, although the lack of consistent comparison data makes this
more difficult to assess. In interpreting these results, care must be taken to consider other
infectious and non-infectious causes of fever and vomiting. The scan statistic should be considered
for spatial analyses of telehealth data elsewhere and will be used to initiate prospective geographical
surveillance of influenza in England.
Mapping of hormones and cortisol responses in patients after Lyme neuroborreliosis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Persistent symptoms after treatment for neuroborreliosis are common for reasons mainly unknown. These symptoms are often unspecific and could be caused by dysfunctions in endocrine systems, an issue that has not been previously addressed systematically. We therefore mapped hormone levels in patients with previous confirmed Lyme neuroborreliosis of different outcomes and compared them with a healthy control group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty patients of a retrospective cohort of patients treated for definite Lyme neuroborreliosis were recruited 2.3 to 3.7 years (median 2.7) after diagnosis, together with 23 healthy controls. Lyme neuroborreliosis patients were stratified into two groups according to a symptom/sign score. All participants underwent anthropometric and physiological investigation as well as an extensive biochemical endocrine investigation including a short high-dose adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation (Synacthen<sup>®</sup>) test. In addition to hormonal status, we also examined electrolytes, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D and interleukin-6.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eight patients (40%) had pronounced symptoms 2-3 years after treatment. This group had a higher cortisol response to synacthen as compared with both controls and the Lyme neuroborreliosis patients without remaining symptoms (p < 0.001 for both comparisons). No other significant differences in the various baseline biochemical parameters, anthropometric or physiological data could be detected across groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Apart from a positive association between the occurrence of long-lasting complaints after Lyme neuroborreliosis and cortisol response to synacthen, no corticotropic insufficiency or other serious hormonal dysfunction was found to be associated with remaining symptoms after treatment for Lyme neuroborreliosis.</p
The use of the SF-36 questionnaire in adult survivors of childhood cancer: evaluation of data quality, score reliability, and scaling assumptions
BACKGROUND: The SF-36 has been used in a number of previous studies that have investigated the health status of childhood cancer survivors, but it never has been evaluated regarding data quality, scaling assumptions, and reliability in this population. As health status among childhood cancer survivors is being increasingly investigated, it is important that the measurement instruments are reliable, validated and appropriate for use in this population. The aim of this paper was to determine whether the SF-36 questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument in assessing self-perceived health status of adult survivors of childhood cancer. METHODS: We examined the SF-36 to see how it performed with respect to (1) data completeness, (2) distribution of the scale scores, (3) item-internal consistency, (4) item-discriminant validity, (5) internal consistency, and (6) scaling assumptions. For this investigation we used SF-36 data from a population-based study of 10,189 adult survivors of childhood cancer. RESULTS: Overall, missing values ranged per item from 0.5 to 2.9 percent. Ceiling effects were found to be highest in the role limitation-physical (76.7%) and role limitation-emotional (76.5%) scales. All correlations between items and their hypothesised scales exceeded the suggested standard of 0.40 for satisfactory item-consistency. Across all scales, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of reliability was found to be higher than the suggested value of 0.70. Consistent across all cancer groups, the physical health related scale scores correlated strongly with the Physical Component Summary (PCS) scale scores and weakly with the Mental Component Summary (MCS) scale scores. Also, the mental health and role limitation-emotional scales correlated strongly with the MCS scale score and weakly with the PCS scale score. Moderate to strong correlations with both summary scores were found for the general health perception, energy/vitality, and social functioning scales. CONCLUSION: The findings presented in this paper provide support for the validity and reliability of the SF-36 when used in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. These findings should encourage other researchers and health care practitioners to use the SF-36 when assessing health status in this population, although it should be recognised that ceiling effects can occur
The clinical features of the piriformis syndrome: a systematic review
Piriformis syndrome, sciatica caused by compression of the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle, has been described for over 70 years; yet, it remains controversial. The literature consists mainly of case series and narrative reviews. The objectives of the study were: first, to make the best use of existing evidence to estimate the frequencies of clinical features in patients reported to have PS; second, to identify future research questions. A systematic review was conducted of any study type that reported extractable data relevant to diagnosis. The search included all studies up to 1 March 2008 in four databases: AMED, CINAHL, Embase and Medline. Screening, data extraction and analysis were all performed independently by two reviewers. A total of 55 studies were included: 51 individual and 3 aggregated data studies, and 1 combined study. The most common features found were: buttock pain, external tenderness over the greater sciatic notch, aggravation of the pain through sitting and augmentation of the pain with manoeuvres that increase piriformis muscle tension. Future research could start with comparing the frequencies of these features in sciatica patients with and without disc herniation or spinal stenosis
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