Influence of temperature on the immune response of juvenile summer flounder, paralichthys dentatus, and its role in the elimination of Trypanoplasma bullocki infections

Two groups of juvenile summer flounder maintained at 5�C were experimentally infected with the hemoflagellate Trypanoplasma bullocki. Another group maintained at 5�C was not infected. The water temperature of one infected group was raised stepwise to 12�C, 18�C, and 24�C for 2 to 3 weeks at each level. The other infected group was maintained at 5�C for 12 weeks, the duration of the experiment. In addition, juvenile flounder were collected over a temperature range of 6�C to 22�C from February to June, 1982 to monitor natural infections. Live T. bullocki were incubated in plasma from fish at each temperature to monitor the host\u27s humoral response. Trypanoplasmacidal lysis occurred in experimental infections maintained at 24�C and in natural infections over a range of 10�C to 22�C. Complete elimination of trypanoplasms occurred in experimental infections at 24�C and in natural infections at 22�C. Differences in temperature where lytic activity occurred was mainly attributable to the short time exposure of experimental infections to increasing temperatures in contrast to that occurring in nature. Trypanoplasmacidal lysis with increasing water temperatures in flounder indicates that the fish\u27s humoral immunity is responsible for the annual spring decline in prevalence and eventual elimination of T. bullocki infections. Elevated levels of macroglobulins were detected in the sera of juvenile flounder recovering from T. bullocki infections, and this may be associated with antibody production in response to the parasite

ZARZĄDZANIE STRATEGICZNE W POLSKICH PUBLICZNYCH SZKOŁACH MUZYCZNYCH

The article presents the results of a pilot study on strategic management in Polish public music schools. The aim of the study was to identify and identify practices in the field of strategic management. The conceptual framework was the Balanced Scorecard. The pilot used a questionnaire and in-depth non-standardized interview. The article points out the need to popularize among the managers of music schools the possibility of using the Balanced Scorecard.Artykuł prezentuje wyniki badania pilotażowego, dotyczącego zarządzania strategicznego w polskich publicznych szkołach muzycznych. Celem badania była identyfikacja oraz wskazanie praktyk w zakresie zarządzania strategicznego. Ramę koncepcyjną stanowiła Zrównoważona Karta Wyników. W pilotażu wykorzystano ankietę i pogłębiony wywiad niestandaryzowany. Artykuł wskazuje na potrzebę upowszechnienia wśród kadry kierowniczej szkół muzycznych możliwości wykorzystania Zrównoważonej Karty Wyników

Descriptive study of organ donation and hanging in Australia and New Zealand between 2006 and 2015

INTRODUCTION: The annual incidence of hanging in Australia & New Zealand had increased in the past decade, with an increasing number of such patients appearing to become organ donors. The rates of organ donation following death due to hanging is unknown and the characteristics of this cohort of donors have not been previously described. METHODS: The Australia and New Zealand Organ Donor (ANZOD) registry donor data (2006 - 2015), was analysed, to describe the cohort of donors following hanging, in comparison to other donors. RESULTS: During the study period, both the number and proportion of donors due to hanging have increased between 2006 - 2015. The probability that a victim of hanging would become an organ donor progressively increased from 0.5% to 3%. Compared to other donor groups, the donor population due to hanging is younger (median age 30 years Vs. 50 years), with less co-morbidities, but a higher incidence of smoking. There is no significant difference in the proportion who indicated a prior intent to donate between post-hanging donors (34%) and other donors (38%). A higher proportion of donors post hanging donated via the Donation after circulatory death (DCD) pathway (36.28%) compared to donors with other causes of death (24.2%). Patients in the post hanging cohort donated an average of 4.19 organs, compared to 3.62 organs in the other donor cohort. CONCLUSIONS: It is expected that this retrospective analysis will better inform clinical decision making surrounding organ donation, including consenting approaches while providing care to the patients and families in this challenging group with a high organ donation potential, as demonstrated in this study. Further investigation is required to determine which aspects of health care influence the donation rates in victims of hanging and the outcomes from transplanted organs

Comparison of cause of death between ANZDATA and the Australian national death index.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to understand the differences in how cause of death for patients receiving renal replacement therapy in Australia is recorded in The Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA) compared to the National Death Index (NDI). Methods: Data linkage was performed between ANZDATA and NDI for all deaths in the period 1980-2013. Cause of death was classified according to ICD-10 chapter. Overall and chapter specific agreement were assessed using the Kappa statistic. Descriptive analysis was used to explore differences where there was disagreement on primary cause of death. Results: The analysis cohort included 28 675 patients. Ninety five percent of ANZDATA reported deaths fell within +/- 3 days of the date recorded by NDI. Circulatory death was the most common cause of death in both databases (ANZDATA 48%, NDI 32%). Overall agreement at ICD chapter level of primary cause was poor (36%, kappa 0.22). Agreement was best for malignancy (kappa 0.71). When there was disagreement on primary cause of death these were most commonly coded as genitourinary (35%) and endocrine (25.0%) in NDI, and circulatory (39%) and withdrawal (24%) in ANZDATA. Sixty-nine percent of patients had a renal related cause documented as either primary or a contributing cause of death in the NDI. Conclusion: There is poor agreement in primary cause of death between ANZDATA and NDI which is in part explained by the absence of diabetes and renal failure as causes of death in ANZDATA and the absence of 'withdrawal' in NDI. These differences should be appreciated when interpreting epidemiological data on cause of death in the Australian end stage kidney disease population

Superelasticity and micaceous plasticity of the novel intermetallic compound CaFe2As2 at small length scales

Shape memory materials have the capability to recover their original shape after plastic deformation when they are subjected to certain stimulus. Shape recovery usually occurs through a reversible phase transformation and, in general, has limited performance with 10% maximum strain. Here, we report the first discovery of superelastic and shape memory behavior with 12% recoverable strain in a novel intermetallic compound CaFe2As2, and discuss its unique elastic and plastic deformation behaviors in terms of a collapsed tetragonal phase transition and anisotropic stacking fault energy, respectively, with solution growth of the single crystal, in-situ micropillar compression, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Single crystals of CaFe2As2 were grown out from Sn flux and contains mirror-like clean facets of {0 0 1} and {3 0 1} type planes. We fabricated micropillars on these two planes, and conducted in-situ micropillar compression testing in a scanning electron microscope. The [0 0 1] CaFe2As2 micropillar exhibits unprecedented superelasticity: over 12% recoverable strain without negligible residual fatigue damage under cyclic deformation. Due to its high yield strength (2.6 GPa) and large elastic strain, it is possible to absorb and release a large amount of elastic strain energy. Also, it has potential to show one-dimensional shape memory effects at low temperatures (near 0 K) by the reversible phase transformation between the tetragonal/orthorhombic to the collapsed tetragonal phase. Furthermore, this material exhibits strong anisotropy in plasticity. For the [3 0 -1] CaFe2As2 micropillar, we found easy, preferential slip in the [1 0 0]/(0 0 1) slip system which we termed micaceous plasticity. Superelasticity and micaceous plasticity was quantitatively investigated through measuring the uni-axial stress-strain data and comparing our results to DFT calculations. DFT calculations revealed that making and breaking As-As bonds is responsible for superelasticity. A composite model was developed to monitor the volume fraction evolution of the two different phases under compression testing and successfully reproduced the experimental stress-strain curve we measured. In addition, DFT results showed a significantly low energy barrier for the [1 0 0]/(0 0 1) slip between Ca and As layers, which agrees with our experimental observation. We believe that our efforts in both experimental and computational analysis allow us to gain a fundamental understanding of the unique deformation behavior of CaFe2As2 Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Imaging properties of the light sword optical element used as a contact lens in a presbyopic eye model

The paper analyzes the imaging properties of the light sword optical element (LSOE) applied as a contact lens to the presbyopic human eye. We performed our studies with a human eye model based on the Gullstrand parameterization. In order to quantify the discussion concerning imaging with extended depth of focus, we introduced quantitative parameters characterizing output images of optotypes obtained in numerical simulations. The quality of the images formed by the LSOE were compared with those created by a presbyopic human eye, reading glasses and a quartic inverse axicon. Then we complemented the numerical results by an experiment where a 3D scene was imaged by means of the refractive LSOE correcting an artificial eye based on the Gullstrand model. According to performed simulations and experiments the LSOE exhibits abilities for presbyopia correction in a wide range of functional vision distances.This work was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under grant N N 514 149038 and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), grant FIS2008-03884 with complementary support from the European Social Fund implemented under the Human Capital Programme (POKL), project, “Preparation and Realization of Medical Physics Specialty.”S

Characteristics of Organ Donors Who Died From Suicide by Hanging in Australia and New Zealand: A Retrospective Study

Background and objective: The annual incidence of suicide by hanging in Australia and New Zealand has increased in the past decade, and a significant number of these individuals are becoming organ donors. The rates of organ donation following deaths from hanging is unknown and the characteristics of this cohort of donors have not been described in the literature. In light of this, we aimed to examine the trends in organ donation from individuals who had died from hanging, based on the solid organ donor data from the Australia and New Zealand Organ Donation (ANZOD) Registry. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study that analyzed the ANZOD Registry donor data (2006-2015) to describe the characteristics of solid organ donors who had died by hanging (post-hanging group); these characteristics were compared to those of individuals who died by all other causes (non-hanging group). Results: During the study period, the number and proportion of donors who died by suicide from hanging increased. Of the 4,024 consented organ donors, 226 had died by hanging and 3,798 had died from other causes. The probability that an individual who died by hanging would become an organ donor increased from 0.5 to 3%. Compared to donors who died by all other causes, post-hanging donors were younger (median age of 30 vs. 50 years), with fewer comorbidities, and a higher incidence of smoking. There was no significant difference in the proportion of those who indicated a prior intent to donate organs between post-hanging (34%) and non-hanging donors (38%). A higher proportion of post-hanging donors donated via the donation after the circulatory death pathway (36.3%) than non-hanging donors (24.2%). Individuals in the post-hanging cohort donated an average of 4.19 organs compared to 3.62 in the non-hanging cohort. Conclusion: We believe the findings of this retrospective analysis will help inform clinical decision-making regarding organ donation, including the best approaches to obtaining donation consent. Our findings will help physicians provide care to patients and to families of individuals in this challenging group, where organ donation potential is high. Further investigations are required to determine which aspects of healthcare influence the donation rates in individuals who have died by hanging and the outcomes related to transplanted organs

Geometrical Aberration Suppression for Large Aperture Sub-THz Lenses

Advanced THz setups require high performance optical elements with large numerical apertures and small focal lengths. This is due to the high absorption of humid air and relatively low efficiency of commercially available detectors. Here, we propose a new type of double-sided sub-THz diffractive optical element with suppressed geometrical aberration for narrowband applications (0.3 THz). One side of the element is designed as thin structure in non-paraxial approach which is the exact method, but only for ideally flat elements. The second side will compensate phase distribution differences between ideal thin structure and real volume one. The computer-aided optimization algorithm is performed to design an additional phase distribution of correcting layer assuming volume designing of the first side of the element. The experimental evaluation of the proposed diffractive component created by 3D printing technique shows almost two times larger performance in comparison with uncorrected basic diffractive lens

Strehl ratios characterizing optical elements designed for presbyopia compensation

We present results of numerical analysis of the Strehl ratio characteristics for the light sword optical element (LSOE). For comparison there were analyzed other optical imaging elements proposed for compensation of presbyopia such as the bifocal lens, the trifocal lens, the stenopeic contact lens, and elements with extended depth of focus (EDOF), such as the logarithmic and quartic axicons. The simulations were based on a human eye’s model being a simplified version of the Gullstrand model. The results obtained allow to state that the LSOE exhibits much more uniform characteristics of the Strehl ratio comparing with other known hitherto elements and therefore it could be a promising aid to compensate for the insufficient accommodation range of the human eye.This work was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under grants N N 514 149038 and N N 518 378237 as well as by the European Social Fund implemented under the Human Capital Operational Programme (POKL), project: “Preparation and Realization of Medical Physics Specialty” with complementary support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) grant FIS2008-03884S