458 research outputs found
An investigation of the surgical treatment of endometriosis
EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Potency of a human monoclonal antibody to diphtheria toxin relative to equine diphtheria anti-toxin in a guinea pig intoxication model
Prompt administration of anti-toxin reduces mortality following Corynebacterium diphtheriae infection. Current treatment relies upon equine diphtheria anti-toxin (DAT), with a 10% risk of serum sickness and rarely anaphylaxis. The global DAT supply is extremely limited; most manufacturers have ceased production. S315 is a neutralizing human IgG1 monoclonal antibody to diphtheria toxin that may provide a safe and effective alternative to equine DAT and address critical supply issues. To guide dose selection for IND-enabling pharmacology and toxicology studies, we dose-ranged S315 and DAT in a guinea pig model of diphtheria intoxication based on the NIH Minimum Requirements potency assay. Animals received a single injection of antibody premixed with toxin, were monitored for 30 days, and assigned a numeric score for clinical signs of disease. Animals receiving \u3e /= 27.5 microg of S315 or \u3e /= 1.75 IU of DAT survived whereas animals receiving \u3c /= 22.5 microg of S315 or \u3c /= 1.25 IU of DAT died, yielding a potency estimate of 17 microg S315/IU DAT (95% CI 16-21) for an endpoint of survival. Because some surviving animals exhibited transient limb weakness, likely a systemic sign of toxicity, DAT and S315 doses required to prevent hind limb paralysis were also determined, yielding a relative potency of 48 microg/IU (95% CI 38-59) for this alternate endpoint. To support advancement of S315 into clinical trials, potency estimates will be used to evaluate the efficacy of S315 versus DAT in an animal model with antibody administration after toxin exposure, more closely modeling anti-toxin therapy in humans
Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children and young people: an umbrella review
Background:
Over the past 3 years, a multitude of studies have highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and young people (CYP). In this umbrella review, we synthesise global evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of CYP from existing systematic reviews with and/or without meta-analysis.
Methods:
Adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we evaluated 349 citations and identified 24 eligible reviews with medium to high methodological quality to be reviewed narratively.
Results:
Most of the reviews reported a high prevalence of anxiety disorders, depression, suicidal behaviour, eating disorders and other mental health problems. Most studies that used data at multiple time points indicate a significant increase in mental health problems in CYP, particularly in females and older adolescents.
Conclusions:
Multipronged psychosocial care services, policies and programmes are needed to alleviate the burden of mental health problems in CYP as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated global health measures.
PROSPERO registration number:
CRD42021276312
Morphology, ecology and biogeography of Stauroneis pachycephala P.T. Cleve (Bacillariophyta) and its transfer to the genusEnvekadea
Stauroneis pachycephala was described in 1881 from the Baakens River, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Recently, it was found during surveys of the MacKenzie River (Victoria, Australia), the Florida Everglades (USA) and coastal marshes of Louisiana (USA). The morphology, ecology and geographic distribution of this species are described in this article. This naviculoid species is characterised by lanceolate valves with a gibbous centre, a sigmoid raphe, an axial area narrowing toward the valve ends, and capitate valve apices. The central area is a distinct stauros that is slightly widened near the valve margin. The raphe is straight and filiform, and the terminal raphe fissures are strongly deflected in opposite directions. Striae are fine and radiate in the middle of the valve, becoming parallel and eventually convergent toward the valve ends. The external surface of the valves and copulae is smooth and lacks ornamentation. We also examined the type material of S. pachycephala. Our observations show this species has morphological characteristics that fit within the genus Envekadea. Therefore, the transfer of S. pachycephala to Envekadea is proposed and a lectotype is designated
Image-Subtraction Photometry of Variable Stars in the Globular Clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441
We have applied Alard's image subtraction method (ISIS v2.1) to the
observations of the globular clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 previously analyzed
using standard photometric techniques (DAOPHOT, ALLFRAME). In this reanalysis
of observations obtained at CTIO, besides recovering the variables previously
detected on the basis of our ground-based images, we have also been able to
recover most of the RR Lyrae variables previously detected only in the analysis
of Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 observations of the inner region of NGC6441. In
addition, we report five possible new variables not found in the analysis of
the HST observations of NGC 6441. This dramatically illustrates the
capabilities of image subtraction techniques applied to ground-based data to
recover variables in extremely crowded fields. We have also detected twelve new
variables and six possible variables in NGC 6388 not found in our previous
ground-based studies. The revised mean period for RRab stars in NGC 6388 is
0.676 day, while the mean period of RRab stars in NGC 6441 is unchanged at
0.759 day. These values are among the largest known for any galactic globular
cluster. Additional probable type II Cepheids were identified in NGC 6388,
confirming its status as a metal-rich globular cluster rich in Cepheids.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. AJ, in pres
Deep HST Photometry of NGC 6388: Age and Horizontal Branch Luminosity
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we have obtained the first color-magnitude
diagram (CMD) to reach the main-sequence turnoff of the Galactic globular
cluster NGC 6388. From a comparison between the cluster CMD and 47 Tucanae's,
we find that the bulk of the stars in these two clusters have nearly the same
age and chemical composition. On the other hand, our results indicate that the
blue horizontal branch and RR Lyrae components in NGC 6388 are intrinsically
overluminous, which must be due to one or more, still undetermined,
non-canonical second parameter(s) affecting a relatively minor fraction of the
stars in NGC 6388.Comment: 4 pages, 3 colored figures. LOW-RESOLUTION VERSION. The interested
reader is strongly encouraged to download the full-resolution preprint from
http://www.astro.puc.cl/~mcatelan/N6388-HST.pd
Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children and young people: An umbrella review
Background Over the past 3 years, a multitude of studies have highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and young people (CYP). In this umbrella review, we synthesise global evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of CYP from existing systematic reviews with and/or without meta-analysis. Methods: Adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we evaluated 349 citations and identified 24 eligible reviews with medium to high methodological quality to be reviewed narratively. Results: Most of the reviews reported a high prevalence of anxiety disorders, depression, suicidal behaviour, eating disorders and other mental health problems. Most studies that used data at multiple time points indicate a significant increase in mental health problems in CYP, particularly in females and older adolescents. Conclusions: Multipronged psychosocial care services, policies and programmes are needed to alleviate the burden of mental health problems in CYP as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated global health measures. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021276312
HST Snaphot Study of Variable Stars in Globular Clusters: Inner Region of NGC 6441
[Abridged] We present the results of a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot
program to survey the inner region of the globular cluster NGC 6441 for its
variable stars. A total of 57 variable stars was found including 38 RR Lyrae
stars, 6 Population II Cepheids, and 12 long period variables. Of the RR Lyrae
stars observed in this survey, 26 are pulsating in the fundamental mode with a
mean period of 0.753d and 12 are first-overtone mode pulsators with a mean
period of 0.365d. These values match up very well with those found in
ground-based surveys. Combining all the available data for NGC 6441, we find
mean periods of 0.759d and 0.375d for the RRab and RRc stars, respectively. We
also find that the RR Lyrae in this survey are located in the same regions of a
period-amplitude diagram as those found in ground-based surveys. Although NGC
6441 is a metal-rich globular cluster, its RR Lyrae more closely resemble those
in Oosterhoff type II globular clusters. However, even compared to typical
Oosterhoff type II systems, the mean period of its RRab stars is unusually
long. We also derived I-band period-luminosity relations for the RR Lyrae
stars. Of the six Population II Cepheids, five are of W Virginis type and one
is a BL Herculis variable stars. This makes NGC 6441, along with NGC 6388, the
most metal-rich globular cluster known to contain these types of variable
stars. Another variable, V118, may also be a Population II Cepheid given its
long period and its separation in magnitude from the RR Lyrae stars. We argue
that there does not appear to be a change in the period-luminosity relation
slope between the BL Herculis and W Virginis stars, but that a change of slope
does occur when the RV Tauri stars are added to the period-luminosity relation.Comment: 28 pages, including 9 figures and 8 tables, emulateapj5/apjfonts
style. Accepted by the Astronomical Journal. Approximate publication date
September 2003. We recommend the interested reader to download the preprint
with full-resolution figures, which can be found at
http://www.astro.puc.cl/~mcatelan/Pritzl.zi
Correspondence: Are Cognitive Functions Localizable? Colin Camerer et al. versus Marieke van Rooij and John G. Holden
The Fall 2011 issue of this journal published a
two-paper section on “Neuroeconomics.” One
paper, by Ernst Fehr and Antonio Rangel, clearly
and concisely summarized a small part of the fast-growing
literature. The second paper, “It’s about
Space, It’s about Time, Neuroeconomics, and the
Brain Sublime,” by Marieke van Rooij and Guy Van
Orden, is beautifully written and enjoyable to read,
but misleading in many critical ways. A number
of economists and neuroscientists working at the
intersection of the two fields shared our reaction
and have signed this letter, as shown below. Some of
the paper’s descriptions of empirical findings and
methods in neuroeconomics are incomplete, badly
out of date, or flatly wrong. In studies the authors
describe in detail, their skeptical interpretations
have often been refuted by published data, old and
new, that they overlook
Dynamics of direct inter-pack encounters in endangered African wild dogs
Aggressive encounters may have important life history consequences due to the potential for injury and death, disease transmission, dispersal opportunities or exclusion from key areas of the home range. Despite this, little is known of their detailed dynamics, mainly due to the difficulties of directly observing encounters in detail. Here, we describe detailed spatial dynamics of inter-pack encounters in African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), using data from custom-built high-resolution GPS collars in 11 free-ranging packs. On average, each pack encountered another pack approximately every 7 weeks and met each neighbour twice each year. Surprisingly, intruders were more likely to win encounters (winning 78.6% of encounters by remaining closer to the site in the short term). However, intruders did tend to move farther than residents toward their own range core in the short-term (1 h) post-encounter, and if this were used to indicate losing an encounter, then the majority (73.3%) of encounters were won by residents. Surprisingly, relative pack size had little effect on encounter outcome, and injuries were rare (<15% of encounters). These results highlight the difficulty of remotely scoring encounters involving mobile participants away from static defendable food resources. Although inter-pack range overlap was reduced following an encounter, encounter outcome did not seem to drive this, as both packs shifted their ranges post-encounter. Our results indicate that inter-pack encounters may be lower risk than previously suggested and do not appear to influence long-term movement and ranging
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