New insights into measurement variability in glaucomatous visual fields from computer modelling.

To develop a model to simulate visual fields (VFs) in glaucoma patients, and to characterize variability of the Mean Deviation (MD) VF summary measurement using real VFs and simulations

Psychological effects of withdrawal of growth hormone therapy from adults with growth hormone deficiency.

Objective: Growth hormone (GH) is known to be required for physical well-being. Whilst it is also widely believed to be important for quality of life (QoL) and psychological health, there is less supportive evidence. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychological effects of discontinuation of GH replacement from adults with severe GH deficiency (GHD). Design: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which GH replacement therapy was discontinued for 3 months from 12 of 21 GH-deficient adults, where 9 continued with GH replacement. Patients: GH-treated adults (10 men, 11 women), all with severe GHD (peak GH Measurements: Semi-structured interviews were given at baseline and end-point plus questionnaires that included a new hormone-deficiency specific, individualised, QoL questionnaire (HDQoL), the General Well-being Index (GWBI), the Well-being Questionnaire (W-BQ12), Short-Form 36 health status questionnaire (SF-36), the Nottingham Health Profile NHP) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results: Three months after baseline the serum total IGF-I of placebo-treated patients fell from normal, age related levels (mean 26.6 ± 13.2 nmol/ L) to levels indicative of severe GHD (11.6 ± 6.6 nmol/ L) (P Conclusion: Withdrawal of GH-treatment from adults with severe GHD has detrimental psychological effects

The Mineralogy of Ceres’ Nawish Quadrangle

Quadrangle Ac-H-08 Nawish is located in the equatorial region of Ceres (Lat 22°S-22°N, Lon 144°E- 216°E), and it has variable mineralogy and geology. Here, we report on the mineralogy using spectra from the Visible and InfraRed (VIR) mapping spectrometer onboard the NASA Dawn mission. This quadrangle has two generally different regions: the cratered highlands of the central and eastern sector, and the eastern lowlands. We find this dichotomy is also associated with differences in the NH_4-phyllosilicates distribution. The highlands, in the eastern part of the quadrangle, appear depleted in NH_4-phyllosilicates, conversely to the lowlands, in the north-western side. The Mg-phyllosilicates distribution is quite homogeneous across Nawish quadrangle, except for few areas. The 2.7 µm band depth is lower in the south-eastern part, e.g. in the Azacca ejecta and Consus crater ejecta, and the band depth is greatest for the Nawish crater ejecta, and indicates the highest content of Mg-phyllosilicates of the entire quadrangle. Our analysis finds an interesting relationship between geology, mineralogy, topography, and the age in this quadrangle. The cratered terrains in the highlands, poor in NH_4 phyllosilicates, are older (̴2 Ga). Conversely, the smooth terrain, such as with Vindimia Planitia, is richer in ammonia-bearing phyllosilicates and is younger (̴1 Ga). At the local scale, Ac-H-8 Nawish, displays several interesting mineralogical features, such as at Nawish crater, Consus crater, Dantu and Azzacca ejecta, which exhibit localized Na-carbonates deposits. This material is superimposed on the cratered terrains and smooth terrains and shows the typical depletion of phyllosilicates, already observed on Ceres in the presence of Na-carbonates

Identification of novel subgroup a variants with enhanced receptor binding and replicative capacity in primary isolates of anaemogenic strains of feline leukaemia virus

<b>BACKGROUND:</b> The development of anaemia in feline leukaemia virus (FeLV)-infected cats is associated with the emergence of a novel viral subgroup, FeLV-C. FeLV-C arises from the subgroup that is transmitted, FeLV-A, through alterations in the amino acid sequence of the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the envelope glycoprotein that result in a shift in the receptor usage and the cell tropism of the virus. The factors that influence the transition from subgroup A to subgroup C remain unclear, one possibility is that a selective pressure in the host drives the acquisition of mutations in the RBD, creating A/C intermediates with enhanced abilities to interact with the FeLV-C receptor, FLVCR. In order to understand further the emergence of FeLV-C in the infected cat, we examined primary isolates of FeLV-C for evidence of FeLV-A variants that bore mutations consistent with a gradual evolution from FeLV-A to FeLV-C.<p></p> <b>RESULTS:</b> Within each isolate of FeLV-C, we identified variants that were ostensibly subgroup A by nucleic acid sequence comparisons, but which bore mutations in the RBD. One such mutation, N91D, was present in multiple isolates and when engineered into a molecular clone of the prototypic FeLV-A (Glasgow-1), enhanced replication was noted in feline cells. Expression of the N91D Env on murine leukaemia virus (MLV) pseudotypes enhanced viral entry mediated by the FeLV-A receptor THTR1 while soluble FeLV-A Env bearing the N91D mutation bound more efficiently to mouse or guinea pig cells bearing the FeLV-A and -C receptors. Long-term in vitro culture of variants bearing the N91D substitution in the presence of anti-FeLV gp70 antibodies did not result in the emergence of FeLV-C variants, suggesting that additional selective pressures in the infected cat may drive the subsequent evolution from subgroup A to subgroup C.<p></p> <b>CONCLUSIONS:</b> Our data support a model in which variants of FeLV-A, bearing subtle differences in the RBD of Env, may be predisposed towards enhanced replication in vivo and subsequent conversion to FeLV-C. The selection pressures in vivo that drive the emergence of FeLV-C in a proportion of infected cats remain to be established

Hard Two-Photon Contribution to Elastic Lepton-Proton Scattering: Determined by the OLYMPUS Experiment

The OLYMPUS collaboration reports on a precision measurement of the positron-proton to electron-proton elastic cross section ratio, $R_{2\gamma}$, a direct measure of the contribution of hard two-photon exchange to the elastic cross section. In the OLYMPUS measurement, 2.01~GeV electron and positron beams were directed through a hydrogen gas target internal to the DORIS storage ring at DESY. A toroidal magnetic spectrometer instrumented with drift chambers and time-of-flight scintillators detected elastically scattered leptons in coincidence with recoiling protons over a scattering angle range of $\approx 20\degree$ to $80\degree$. The relative luminosity between the two beam species was monitored using tracking telescopes of interleaved GEM and MWPC detectors at $12\degree$, as well as symmetric M{\o}ller/Bhabha calorimeters at $1.29\degree$. A total integrated luminosity of 4.5~fb$^{-1}$ was collected. In the extraction of $R_{2\gamma}$, radiative effects were taken into account using a Monte Carlo generator to simulate the convolutions of internal bremsstrahlung with experiment-specific conditions such as detector acceptance and reconstruction efficiency. The resulting values of $R_{2\gamma}$, presented here for a wide range of virtual photon polarization $0.456<\epsilon<0.978$, are smaller than some hadronic two-photon exchange calculations predict, but are in reasonable agreement with a subtracted dispersion model and a phenomenological fit to the form factor data.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

New approaches to measuring anthelminthic drug efficacy: parasitological responses of childhood schistosome infections to treatment with praziquantel

By 2020, the global health community aims to control and eliminate human helminthiases, including schistosomiasis in selected African countries, principally by preventive chemotherapy (PCT) through mass drug administration (MDA) of anthelminthics. Quantitative monitoring of anthelminthic responses is crucial for promptly detecting changes in efficacy, potentially indicative of emerging drug resistance. Statistical models offer a powerful means to delineate and compare efficacy among individuals, among groups of individuals and among populations.; We illustrate a variety of statistical frameworks that offer different levels of inference by analysing data from nine previous studies on egg counts collected from African children before and after administration of praziquantel.; We quantify responses to praziquantel as egg reduction rates (ERRs), using different frameworks to estimate ERRs among population strata, as average responses, and within strata, as individual responses. We compare our model-based average ERRs to corresponding model-free estimates, using as reference the World Health Organization (WHO) 90 % threshold of optimal efficacy. We estimate distributions of individual responses and summarize the variation among these responses as the fraction of ERRs falling below the WHO threshold.; Generic models for evaluating responses to anthelminthics deepen our understanding of variation among populations, sub-populations and individuals. We discuss the future application of statistical modelling approaches for monitoring and evaluation of PCT programmes targeting human helminthiases in the context of the WHO 2020 control and elimination goals

Analysis of Temperature Maps of Selected Dawn Data Over the Surface of Vesta

The thermal behavior of areas of unusual albedo at the surface of Vesta can be related to physical properties that may provide some information about the origin of those materials. Dawn s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR) [1] hyperspectral cubes can be used to retrieve surface temperatures. Due to instrumental constraints, high accuracy is obtained only if temperatures are greater than 180 K. Bright and dark surface materials on Vesta are currently investigated by the Dawn team [e.g., 2 and 3 respectively]. Here we present temperature maps of several local-scale features that were observed by Dawn under different illumination conditions and different local solar times