Do successful tuberculosis vaccines need to be immunoregulatory rather than merely Th1-boosting?

Tuberculosis vaccine candidates are entering clinical studies in areas where BCG fails. This is a high-risk strategy. We suggest that geographical variation in the efficacy of BCG is related to the presence in developing countries of a cross-reactive background Th2-like response, probably attributable to exposure of mother and infant to helminths and environmental mycobacteria. Such Th2-like activity can stop Mycobacterium tuberculosis from being pushed into a latent state by the Th1 response, impair bactericidal functions and cause toxicity of TNF-alpha and pulmonary fibrosis. A successful vaccine, rather than driving a Th1 response, might need to suppress this pre-existing subversive Th2-like component. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The impact of T.S. Eliot on the English drama of his time. A study of the years 1919-55

The aim of this thesis is to determine the nature and value of Eliot's contribution to the development of drama in England in the first half of the twentieth century. An attempt is made to estimate the force of Eliot's impact on the English drama of his time by a critical analysis of the essential nature of the drama written before and after his entry upon the dramatic scene, and by an estimate of the fundamental changes effected by his work in the nature of this drama, and in dramatic outlook and technique. Chapter I is a study of the main trends in English drama from the heritage of Ibsen in England in which Eliot's work is reviewed as a possible outcome of the drama which preceded it. Chapter II traces the development of Eliot from poet into dramatist, and involves an examination, with particular reference to Eliot's own work, of the essential difference between the poetic drama and the dramatic poem. In Chapter III the nature and originality of Eliot's drama is discussed, and his plays are criticised in detail. Chapter IV is an attempt to formulate Eliot's dramatic theory fromhis critical theories of this century. Chapter V is a study of the work written after Eliot, indicating the primary effects of Eliot's impact, exhibiting any evidence of direct influence, and looking back to the findings of the first chapter. The conclusion outlines the progress of development in brief and summarises the achievement. A select book-list is appended.<p

Intake Characteristics of Diploid and Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass Varieties when Grazed by Simmental x Holstein Yearling Heifers Under Rotational Stocking Management

Orr et al. (2003) measured large differences in dry matter (DM) intake rate between 15 intermediate-heading perennial ryegrass varieties when they were continuously stocked with sheep and subsequently explored the extent to which, for 5 of these varieties, these differences could be explained by chemical and morphological traits (Orr et al., 2004a) which could be targeted in grass breeding programmes. Here, four of the 15 varieties, which within ploidy had low or high intake characteristics when grazed by sheep, were rotationally stocked with cattle and intake and sward factors were measured

Shared Care, Elder and Family Member Skills Used to Manage Burden

Aim. The aim of this paper is to further develop the construct of Shared Care by comparing and contrasting it to related research, and to show how the construct can be used to guide research and practice. Background. While researchers have identified negative outcomes for family caregivers caused by providing care, less is known about positive aspects of family care for both members of a family dyad. Understanding family care relationships is important to nurses because family participation in the care of chronically ill elders is necessary to achieve optimal outcomes from nursing interventions. A previous naturalistic inquiry identified a new construct, Shared Care, which was used to describe a family care interaction that contributed to positive care outcomes. Methods. A literature review was carried out using the databases Medline, CINAHL, and Psych-info and the keywords home care, care receiver, disability, family, communication, decision-making and reciprocity. The results of the review were integrated to suggest how Shared Care could be used to study care difficulties and guide interventions. Results. The literature confirmed the importance of dyad relationships in family care. Shared Care extended previous conceptualizations of family care by capturing three critical components: communication, decision-making, and reciprocity. Shared Care provides a structure to expand the conceptualization of family care to include both members of a care dyad and account for positive and negative aspects of care. Conclusions. The extended view provided by the construct of Shared Care offers practitioners and scholars tools to use in the context of our ageing population to improve the effectiveness of family care relationships

Tryptophan metabolism in the central nervous system: medical implications

The metabolism of the amino acid L-tryptophan is a highly regulated physiological process leading to the generation of several neuroactive compounds within the central nervous system. These include the aminergic neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), products of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism (including 3-hydroxykynurenine, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, quinolinic acid and kynurenic acid), the neurohormone melatonin, several neuroactive kynuramine metabolites of melatonin, and the trace amine tryptamine. The integral role of central serotonergic systems in the modulation of physiology and behaviour has been well documented since the first description of serotonergic neurons in the brain some 40 years ago. However, while the significance of the peripheral kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism has also been recognised for several decades, it has only recently been appreciated that the synthesis of kynurenines within the central nervous system has important consequences for physiology and behaviour. Altered kynurenine metabolism has been implicated in the pathophysiology of conditions such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related dementia, Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease. In this review we discuss the molecular mechanisms involved in regulating the metabolism of tryptophan and consider the medical implications associated with dysregulation of both serotonergic and kynurenine pathways of tryptophan metabolism

Native Birdlife in Hawke’s Bay: application of the river values assessment system (RiVAS and RiVAS+)

This report presents an application of the River Values Assessment System for existing value (RiVAS) and for potential value (RiVAS+) to native birdlife in the Hawkes Bay Region. A workshop was held in Napier on 3rd October 2011 to apply the method. This Hawkes Bay Region bird report needs to be read in conjunction with the method and with the first native bird application reports (see Hughey et al. 2010 and Gaze et al. 2010).Ministry of Science and Information, and Hawkes Bay Regional Counci

Sparkle: toward accessible meta-algorithmics for improving the state of the art in solving challenging problems

Many fields of computational science advance through improvements in the algorithms used for solving key problems. These advancements are often facilitated by benchmarks and competitions that enable performance comparisons and rankings of solvers. Simultaneously, meta-algorithmic techniques, such as automated algorithm selection and configuration, enable performance improvements by utilizing the complementary strengths of different algorithms or configurable algorithm components. In fact, meta-algorithms have become major drivers in advancing the state of the art in solving many prominent computational problems. However, meta-algorithmic techniques are complex and difficult to use correctly, while their incorrect use may reduce their efficiency, or in extreme cases, even lead to performance losses. Here, we introduce the Sparkle platform, which aims to make meta-algorithmic techniques more accessible to nonexpert users, and to make these techniques more broadly available in the context of competitions, to further enable the assessment and advancement of the true state of the art in solving challenging computational problems. To achieve this, Sparkle implements standard protocols for algorithm selection and configuration that support easy and correct use of these techniques. Following an experiment, Sparkle generates a report containing results, problem instances, algorithms, and other relevant information, for convenient use in scientific publications.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

The DiskMass Survey. IV. The Dark-Matter-Dominated Galaxy UGC 463

We present a detailed and unique mass budget for the high-surface-brightness galaxy UGC 463, showing it is dominated by dark matter (DM) at radii beyond one scale length (h_R) and has a baryonic-to-DM mass ratio of approximately 1:3 within 4.2 h_R. Assuming a constant scale height (h_z, calculated via an empirical oblateness relation), we calculate dynamical disk mass surface densities from stellar kinematics, which provide vertical velocity dispersions after correcting for the shape of the stellar velocity ellipsoid (measured to have sigma_theta/sigma_R=1.04 +/- 0.22 and sigma_z/sigma_R=0.48 +/- 0.09). We isolate the stellar mass surface density by accounting for all gas mass components and find an average K-band mass-to-light ratio of 0.22 +/- 0.09 (ran) ^{+0.16}_{-0.15} (sys) M_{sun}/L_{sun}^{K}; Zibetti et al. and Bell et al. predict, respectively, 0.56 and 3.6 times our dynamical value based on stellar-population-synthesis modeling. The baryonic matter is submaximal by a factor of ~3 in mass and the baryonic-to-total circular-speed ratio is 0.61^{+0.07}_{-0.09} (ran) ^{+0.12}_{-0.18} (sys) at 2.2 h_R; however, the disk is globally stable with a multi-component stability that decreases asymptotically with radius to Q~2. We directly calculate the circular speed of the DM halo by subtracting the baryonic contribution to the total circular speed; the result is equally well described by either a Navarro-Frenk-White halo or a pseudo-isothermal sphere. The volume density is dominated by DM at heights of |z|>1.6 h_z for radii of R > h_R. As is shown in follow-up papers, UGC 463 is just one example among nearly all galaxies we have observed that contradict the hypothesis that high-surface-brightness spiral galaxies have maximal disks.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ (36 pages, 20 figures, 9 tables