Sequential changes in hematologic and biochemical parameters in African tick bite fever

ObjectivesTo evaluate the sequential changes and to estimate the frequencies of abnormalities in some commonly measured biological variables in patients with African tick bite fever (ATBF), an emerging spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiosis in international travelers to rural sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsA study was done of hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, absolute lymphocyte count, blood platelet count and serum levels of C-reactive protein (S-CRP), alanine aminotransferase (S-ALAT), aspartate aminotransferase, lactic dehydrogenase, γ-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, sodium and creatinine during the first two weeks of illness and prior to the institution of antirickettsial therapy in 108 patients with travel-associated ATBF.ResultsThere were significant falls in mean total leukocyte count, mean absolute lymphocyte count, and mean platelet count, and significant increases in mean S-CRP and S-ALAT. During the first ten days of illness, elevated S-CRP, lymphopenia and elevated S-ALAT were detected in 91.7%, 73.3% and 40.7% of patients, respectively. Most abnormalities were mild. For 55 patients who underwent both S-CRP and absolute lymphocyte count determination, at least one parameter was abnormal in 52 (94.5%) patients.ConclusionsThe sequential changes in many biological parameters during the acute phase of ATBF mimic those reported in other SFG rickettsioses. Mild abnormalities are frequent, with increased S-CRP and lymphopenia being the two most consistent findings

Probing Colored Particles with Photons, Leptons, and Jets

If pairs of new colored particles are produced at the Large Hadron Collider, determining their quantum numbers, and even discovering them, can be non-trivial. We suggest that valuable information can be obtained by measuring the resonant signals of their near-threshold QCD bound states. If the particles are charged, the resulting signatures include photons and leptons and are sufficiently rich for unambiguously determining their various quantum numbers, including the charge, color representation and spin, and obtaining a precise mass measurement. These signals provide well-motivated benchmark models for resonance searches in the dijet, photon+jet, diphoton and dilepton channels. While these measurements require that the lifetime of the new particles be not too short, the resulting limits, unlike those from direct searches for pair production above threshold, do not depend on the particles' decay modes. These limits may be competitive with more direct searches if the particles decay in an obscure way.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figures; v2: more recent searches include

Behaviour of Solitary Adult Scandinavian Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) when Approached by Humans on Foot

Successful management has brought the Scandinavian brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) back from the brink of extinction, but as the population grows and expands the probability of bear-human encounters increases. More people express concerns about spending time in the forest, because of the possibility of encountering bears, and acceptance for the bear is decreasing. In this context, reliable information about the bear's normal behaviour during bear-human encounters is important. Here we describe the behaviour of brown bears when encountering humans on foot. During 2006–2009, we approached 30 adult (21 females, 9 males) GPS-collared bears 169 times during midday, using 1-minute positioning before, during and after the approach. Observer movements were registered with a handheld GPS. The approaches started 869±348 m from the bears, with the wind towards the bear when passing it at approximately 50 m. The bears were detected in 15% of the approaches, and none of the bears displayed any aggressive behaviour. Most bears (80%) left the initial site during the approach, going away from the observers, whereas some remained at the initial site after being approached (20%). Young bears left more often than older bears, possibly due to differences in experience, but the difference between ages decreased during the berry season compared to the pre-berry season. The flight initiation distance was longer for active bears (115±94 m) than passive bears (69±47 m), and was further affected by horizontal vegetation cover and the bear's age. Our findings show that bears try to avoid confrontations with humans on foot, and support the conclusions of earlier studies that the Scandinavian brown bear is normally not aggressive during encounters with humans

Degradation of low-density polyethylene during extrusion. VI. Effects of oxygen content in air gap

In our previous papers polyethylene degradation during extrusion coating has been studied and the type of degradation products that are formed and from which step they originate have been discussed. A trained sensory panel has rated the off-flavor intensities in water samples that have been in contact with various extruded films. Encouraged by the results from these investigations and the documented synergism between aldehydes and ketones and aldehydes and carboxylic acids in off-flavor intensity, the present study was aimed at confirming the belief that the off-flavor depends on the presence of oxidative degradation products that have migrated from the film into the water. By decreasing the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere surrounding the extruded melt presence of the highly oxidized species (i.e., carbonyl compounds and carboxylic acids) would decrease and thus the off-flavor in the water should decline. From this study it could be concluded that the extrusion temperature and the oxygen content in the atmosphere nearest the molten film before quenching are the most important parameters for oxidative degradation and residence time in the air gap influence the amount of oxidative degradation products formed. Furthermore we concluded that the off-flavor intensity is strongly correlated to the surface oxidation index of the film. Carboxylic acids are present in the water extracts of extruded films and are related to the off-flavor intensities. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Film Extrusion and Film Weldability of Poly(lactic acid) Plasticized with Triacetine and Tributyl Citrate.

Film extrusion and welding of biodegradable polymer films are important processes that must be considered in the development of compostable packaging materials. Film extrusion of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has proved to be rather difficult because of its brittleness, but the flexibility of PLA can be improved by incorporation of a plasticizer in the material. PLA was plasticized with triacetine (TAc) and tributyl citrate (TbC). The blended materials and neat PLA were film extruded and the films were welded with constant heat (CH) welding. The films were analyzed by means of gas chromatography (GC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), contact angle measurements, and tensile testing. Storage of the plasticized films resulted in an increased crystallinity and changes in the film properties, rendering CH welding difficult. The welding process had no influence on thermal properties, such as cold crystallization temperature, melting temperature, crystallization temperature, and degree of crystallinity, of neat PLA but caused significant changes in the crystallinity of the plasticized materials. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Two-electron quantum dot in tilted magnetic fields: Sensitivity to the confinement model

Semiconductor quantum dots are conventionally treated within the effective-mass approximation and a harmonic model potential in the two-dimensional plane for the electron confinement. The validity of this approach depends on the type of the quantum-dot device as well as on the number of electrons confined in the system. Accurate modeling is particularly demanding in the few-particle regime, where screening effects are diminished and thus the system boundaries may have a considerable effect on the confining potential. Here we solve the numerically exact two-electron states in both harmonic and hard-wall model quantum dots subjected to tilted magnetic fields. Our numerical results enable direct comparison against experimental singlet-triplet energy splittings. Our analysis shows that hard and soft wall models produce qualitatively different results for quantum dots exposed to tilted magnetic fields. Hence, we are able to address the sensitivity of the two-body phenomena to the modeling, which is of high importance in realistic spin-qubit design