Glycans in pathogenic bacteria - potential for targeted covalent therapeutics and imaging agents

A substantial obstacle to the existing treatment of bacterial diseases is the lack of specific probes that can be used to diagnose and treat pathogenic bacteria in a selective manner while leaving the microbiome largely intact. To tackle this problem, there is an urgent need to develop pathogen-specific therapeutics and diagnostics. Here, we describe recent evidence that indicates distinctive glycans found exclusively on pathogenic bacteria could form the basis of targeted therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. In particular, we highlight the use of metabolic oligosaccharide engineering to covalently deliver therapeutics and imaging agents to bacterial glycans. © 2014 The Partner Organisations

Deep Venous Reconstruction: A Case Series

Objectives This study aims to review a case series of deep venous reconstruction procedures performed at one centre by a single consultant. Methods A retrospective review of deep venous reconstruction procedures performed by a single consultant from 1994 to 2013 was carried out and all notes were reviewed for outcomes. A 58-month cumulative patency rate was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results Nineteen patients underwent deep venous reconstruction procedures including the Palma bypass, May-Husni bypass, femoral vein transposition and axillary vein transplant techniques from 1994 to 2013. Eleven patients were male and eight were female with a mean average age of 45.2 years (range 29-63). Clinical severity of disease ranged from C3 to C6, and 16 patients had a confirmed history of deep vein thrombosis. Cumulative primary patency rate for all reconstructions at 58 months was 89.5%, with two patients occluding and 17 remaining patent at last follow-up. Conclusion Deep venous reconstructions, particularly the Palma and May-Husni procedures, are feasible and can have good outcomes in patients failed by endovascular techniques and other more conservative therapies

Contribution of Nepal’s Free Delivery Care Policies in Improving Utilisation of Maternal Health Services

Background: Nepal has made remarkable improvements in maternal health outcomes. The implementation of demand and supply side strategies have often been attributed with the observed increase in utilization of maternal healthcare services. In 2005, Free Delivery Care (FDC) policy was implemented under the name of Maternity Incentive Scheme (MIS), with the intention of reducing transport costs associated with giving birth in a health facility. In 2009, MIS was expanded to include free delivery services. The new expanded programme was named “Aama” programme, and further provided a cash incentive for attending four or more antenatal visits. This article analysed the influence of FDC policies, individual and community level factors in the utilisation of four antenatal care (4 ANC) visits and institutional deliveries in Nepal. Methods: Demographic and health survey data from 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 were used and a multi-level analysis was employed to determine the effect of FDC policy intervention, individual and community level factors in utilisation of 4 ANC visits and institutional delivery services. Results: Multivariate analysis suggests that FDC policy had the largest effect in the utilisation of 4 ANC visits and institutional delivery compared to individual and community factors. After the implementation of MIS in 2005, women were three times (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=3.020, P<.001) more likely to attend 4 ANC visits than when there was no FDC policy. After the implementation of Aama programme in 2009, the likelihood of attending 4 ANC visits increased six-folds (AOR=6.006, P<.001) compared prior to the implementation of FDC policy. Similarly, institutional deliveries increased two times after the implementation of the MIS (AOR=2.117, P<.001) than when there was no FDC policy. The institutional deliveries increased five-folds (AOR=5.116, P<.001) after the implementation of Aama compared to no FDC policy. Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that MIS and Aama policies have had a strong positive influence on the utilisation of 4 ANC visits and institutional deliveries in Nepal. Nevertheless, results also show that FDC policies may not be sufficient in raising demand for maternal health services withoutadequately considering the individual and community level factors

Evidence for non-self-similarity of microearthquakes recorded at a Taiwan borehole seismometer array

We investigate the relationship between seismic moment M0 and source duration tw of microearthquakes by using high-quality seismic data recorded with a vertical borehole array installed in central Taiwan. We apply a waveform cross-correlation method to the three-component records and identify several event clusters with high waveform similarity, with event magnitudes ranging from 0.3 to 2.0. Three clusters—Clusters A, B and C—contain 11, 8 and 6 events with similar waveforms, respectively. To determine how M0 scales with tw, we remove path effects by using a path-averaged Q. The results indicate a nearly constant tw for events within each cluster, regardless of M0, with mean values of tw being 0.058, 0.056 and 0.034 s for Clusters A, B and C, respectively. Constant tw, independent of M0, violates the commonly used scaling relation tw∝M1/30tw∝M01/3. This constant duration may arise either because all events in a cluster are hosted on the same isolated seismogenic patch, or because the events are driven by external factors of constant duration, such as fluid injections into the fault zone. It may also be related to the earthquake nucleation size

Collateral and Debt Maturity Choice. A Signaling Model

This paper derives optimal loan policies under asymmetric information where banks offer loan contracts of long and short duration, backed or unbacked with collateral. The main novelty of the paper is that it analyzes a setting in which high quality firms use collateral as a complementary device along with debt maturity to signal their superiority. The least-cost signaling equilibrium depends on the relative costs of the signaling devices, the difference in firm quality and the proportion of good firms in the market. Model simulations suggest a non-monotonic relationship between firm quality and debt maturity, in which high quality firms have both long-term secured debt and short-term secured or non-secured debt.

Incentivizing universal safe delivery in Nepal: ten years of experience

Payments to users and providers of health services are an important ingredient in attempts to promote universal health coverage in low resource settings. The maternal health programme in Nepal explicitly recognizes that ensuring universal access to safe delivery care requires policies that both ensure effective services and overcome demand-side barriers. The programme has used three innovative financing initiatives to stimulate an increase in the use of facility-based delivery: the maternity incentive scheme (2005) reimbursing women for accessing a facility, activity payments in poor districts (2006) and universal free-delivery (2009). We examine the impact of these mechanisms on access to safe delivery services. Multiple waves of the Demographic and Health Survey were merged to provide household-level cross-sectional data on maternity services. A multilevel logit model was used to investigate the roll-out of the three policies across ecological zones assuming a district-wide treatment effect. An interrupted time-series approach that includes cross sectional data on deliveries at each period is used to detect the association between outcomes and policy. The maternal Incentive programme was associated with an increase in service delivery in hill and tarai areas. A positive effect in mountain areas was detectable as a result of the supply side payments made to facilities for delivery. Although use among the non-poor increased across the country, a positive effect on the poorest population was only present in mountain areas. The beneficial impact of maternal financing policies in Nepal is skewed towards areas and households that are geographically more accessible and wealthy. Inferior services in remote areas reduce the impact of financing policies. Policy may need to be refocused on poorer, less accessible areas if improvements in access to maternal health services are to continue

Performance of Silica Gel in the Role of Residual Air Drying. Part II.

Removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a necessary step in air revitalization and is often accomplished with sorbent materials. Since moisture competes with CO2 in zeolite sorbent materials, it is necessary to remove the water first. This is typically accomplished in two stages: bulk removal and residual drying. Silica gel is used as the bulk drying material in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) in operation on the ISS (International Space Station). There has been some speculation that silica gel may also be capable of serving as both bulk and residual drying material to reduce system mass and Foreign Object Debris (FOD). Previous research tested silica gel alone as drying material. However, the silica gel volume used was not comparable to the current amount used on the CDRA. Therefore, the tests were repeated with the new silica gel volume. This paper discusses the fabrication and assembly of the modified canister to accommodate the new volume, the testing, and the evaluation of the test results

On DLA's η

In his pioneering 1961 paper on seismic anisotropy in a layered earth, Don L. Anderson (hereafter referred to as DLA) introduced a parameter often referred to in global seismology as η without providing any reasoning. This note hopes to clarify the significance of η in the context of the dependence of body wave velocities in a transversely isotropic system on the angle of incidence, and also its relation with the other well-known anisotropic parameters introduced by Leon Thomsen in 1986