Secondary antibody deficiency: a complication of anti-CD20 therapy for neuroinflammation

B-cell depleting anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapies are being increasingly used as long-term maintenance therapy for neuroinflammatory disease compared to many non-neurological diseases where they are used as remission-inducing agents. While hypogammaglobulinaemia is known to occur in over half of patients treated with medium to long-term B-cell-depleting therapy (in our cohort IgG 38, IgM 56 and IgA 18%), the risk of infections it poses seems to be under-recognised. Here, we report five cases of serious infections associated with hypogammaglobulinaemia occurring in patients receiving rituximab for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Sixty-four per cent of the whole cohort of patients studied had hypogammaglobulinemia. We discuss the implications of these cases to the wider use of anti-CD20 therapy in neuroinflammatory disease

Detecting morphed passport photos : a training and individual differences approach

Our reliance on face photos for identity verification is at odds with extensive research which shows that matching pairs of unfamiliar faces is highly prone to error. This process can therefore be exploited by identity fraudsters seeking to deceive ID checkers (e.g. using a stolen passport which contains an image of similar looking individual to deceive border control officials). In this study we build on previous work which sought to quantify the threat posed by a relatively new type of fraud - morphed passport photos. Participants were initially unaware of the presence of morphs in a series of face photo arrays, and were simply asked to detect which images they thought had been digitally manipulated (i.e. “images that didn’t look quite right”). All participants then received basic information on morph fraud and rudimentary guidance on how to detect such images, followed by a morph detection training task (Training Group, N = 40), or a non-face control task (Guidance Group, N = 40). Participants also completed a post-guidance/training morph detection task, and the Models Face Matching Test (MFMT). Our findings show that baseline morph detection rates were poor, that morph detection training significantly improved the identification of these images over and above basic guidance, and accuracy on the mismatch condition of the MFMT correlated with morph detection ability. The results are discussed in relation to potential counter-measures for morph-based identity fraud

Effect of pre-lab information on chemical spillage on volume subsequently spilled : a randomized controlled trial, meta-analysis and comparison with improvement through repetition

Understanding methods to improve the safe handling of hazardous chemicals is important to improve laboratory safety. In this work a simple online resource with contextual safety information on chemical spillage was developed and provided to year 1 undergraduate students prior to undertaking a laboratory practical. The effects of this safety information on amount of chemical subsequently spilled was examined using a randomized controlled trial, with a median effect size for the reduction in spillage of 37%, in comparison with those not receiving this information (95% confidence interval: -18% to 68% reduction and p=.14). To improve the robustness of this finding, a pre-trial protocol for this randomized controlled trial was published on an open platform in a frozen document prior to data collection commencing. The effects of this pre-experiment, non-individualised safety information was combined, using meta-analysis methodology, with results from a previous study which provided safety information post-experiment based on spillage by individual students; the effect of contextual safety information on chemical spillage gave a median reduction in spillage of 50% (95% confidence interval of 0% to 71% reduction, and p=.034). Any improvement through repeating the experiment was also investigated with spillage reduced by a median of 61% (95% confidence interval of 52% to 72% reduction, and p=.012). These three methods for reducing chemical spillage are compared using an implementation science perspective, highlighting that for the three methods discussed, there is the trade-off in that the higher the evidence of benefit, the lower the ease, and hence likelihood, of implementation

Influence of dynamical scattering in crystalline poly„vinylidene

The effective Debye temperature of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymers was measured using photoemission and neutron diffraction techniques. An effective Debye temperature of 53611K is obtained from the photoemission data and 6963.5K from neutron diffraction measurements. This effective Debye temperature is a consequence of the temperature-dependent dynamic motions perpendicular to the surface of these crystalline polymer films

Embryonic Lethality in Mice Homozygous for a Targeted Disruption of the N-myc Gene

The N-myc gene encodes a putative transcription factor that is thought to function in the regulation of gene expression during cell differentiation and/or growth. To examine the role of N-myc during development, we have used targeted mutagenesis in embryonic stem cells to produce a mouse line that carries an N-myc null allele. Mice homozygous for the mutation died between 10.5 and 12.5 days of gestation. Histological analysis of mutant embryos revealed that organs and tissues expected at these stages of development were present. However, multiple defects were observed, primarily in tissues and organs that normally express N-myc. In particular, mutant hearts were underdeveloped, often retaining the S-shape more typical of 9-day-old embryos. In addition, cranial and spinal ganglia were reduced in size and/or cellularity. Most of the noted defects were more consistent with a role of N-myc in proliferation of precursor populations than with a block in differentiation per se, at least at these early stages. These results demonstrate that N-myc plays an essential role during development and clearly confirm that N-myc has a physiological function that is distinct from that of the other myc-family genes