131,078 research outputs found
Protecting from Slash Knife Attacks
No full textThe provision of stab- and bullet-resistant body armour to UK police officers is now commonplace. These garments comprise of a multi-layer pack which contributes to thermo-physiological loading and reduction in mobility. Recently interest has turned towards slash protection, culminating in the publication of a standard method for testing slash resistance (Malbon and Croft, 2006). A retrospective survey of hospital admissions data that contributed to the development of the standard suggested that 63 % of wounds attributable to sharp edged weapons were slash events. The most vulnerable areas were the head, arms, thighs and neck (Bleetman, Watson, Horsfall and Champion, 2003). The incorporation of successful slash protection into garments should not affect mobility, and is required to be covert. In the current research the effectiveness of a quilting pattern applied to a 100 % cotton plain woven fabric (nominally mass per unit area 360 g/m2, thickness 0.62 mm, sett 14 x 14 yarns / 10 mm) on resisting slash attacks was investigated. In this preliminary study, quilting was applied to a single layer of fabric by hand (stitch type ISO 209, stitch length ~ 3 mm) using titanium wire, braided Dyneema, braided Kevlar and plaited Kevlar in 5 x 5 mm and 10 x 10 mm patterns orientated on-grain and in the bias directions. All slash events were conducted in the weft direction of the fabric. Number of slashes to penetrate, the effect of dry and wet conditions, the effect of backing materials and failure mechanisms were determined
International mobile-health intervention on physical activity, sitting, and weight: the Stepathlon cardiovascular health study
No full textAbstract not availableAnand N. Ganesan, Jennie Louise, Matthew Horsfall, Shane A. Bilsborough, Jeroen Hendriks, Andrew D. McGavigan, Joseph B. Selvanayagam, Derek P. Che
Quantitative analysis of metabolic profile and Tamm-Horsfall protein in pediatric stone patients
No full textAccording to some studies, the secretion of urinary glycoprotein Tamm-Horsfall protein (uromodulin) plays a significant part in the suppression of calcium nephrolith formation. The aim of the present study was to detect correlation of Tamm-Horsfall protein with soluble Ca2+ in the urine of urolithic patients and compare it with a control group, in order to estimate the degree of the disease progress, as well as the prognosis for the disease. The research included 29 urolithic patients, aged 8,0±0,2 y. The content of soluble Ca2+ in fresh urine was estimated by the method of capillary zone electrophoresis. The level of Tamm-Horsfall protein in urine was measured from cryoprecipitate using SDS Polyacrylamide electrophoresis and semiquantitative analysis. Urine from the urolithic patients was consistently higher in Ca2+ and in Tamm-Horsfall protein concentrations than urine from controls, at all periods of the day. © 2008 American Institute of Physics
Characterization of N-acetyl-β-d-galactosaminyl-transferase from guinea-pig kidney involved in the biosynthesis of Sda antigen associated with tamm-horsfall glycoprotein
No full textThis study reports the catalytic activity of N-acetyl-beta-D- galactosaminyltransferase from guinea-pig kidney towards such non- glycoprotein acceptors as small oligosaccharides and glycolipids, having a carbohydrate structure similar to that of the Sda antigen associated with human Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein. 3'-O-Sialyllactose, but not 6'-O-sialyllactose or lactose, was an effective acceptor of the glycosyltransferase. On the basis of enzymic and chemical treatment of the tetrasaccharide obtained by the transfer of [14C]GalNAc to 3'-O- sialyllactose, we propose that the glycosyltransferase attaches beta-D- GalNAc to O-4 of the galactose residue that is substituted at O-3 by sialic acid. The GM3 ganglioside, in which the identical carbohydrate moiety of 3'-O-sialyllactose is bound to a ceramide residue, did not serve as an acceptor of the kidney-N-acetyl-beta-D- galactosaminyltransferase and did not behave as a competitive inhibitor of the Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein in the transferase assay. These results indicate that the hydrophobic moiety in the ganglioside hinders the action of N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase. Study of the transferase activity towards a heterogeneous glycopeptide species prepared from a Sd(a-) Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein indicated that guinea- pig kidney enzyme preferentially transferred [14C]GalNAc to the oligosaccharides having a tetraantennary branching-structur
MeSH term explosion and author rank improve expert recommendations
No full textInformation overload is an often-cited phenomenon that reduces the productivity, efficiency and efficacy of scientists. One challenge for scientists is to find appropriate collaborators in their research. The literature describes various solutions to the problem of expertise location, but most current approaches do not appear to be very suitable for expert recommendations in biomedical research. In this study, we present the development and initial evaluation of a vector space model-based algorithm to calculate researcher similarity using four inputs: 1) MeSH terms of publications; 2) MeSH terms and author rank; 3) exploded MeSH terms; and 4) exploded MeSH terms and author rank. We developed and evaluated the algorithm using a data set of 17,525 authors and their 22,542 papers. On average, our algorithms correctly predicted 2.5 of the top 5/10 coauthors of individual scientists. Exploded MeSH and author rank outperformed all other algorithms in accuracy, followed closely by MeSH and author rank. Our results show that the accuracy of MeSH term-based matching can be enhanced with other metadata such as author rank
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Immunolocalization of apolipoprotein d, androgen receptor and prostate specific antigen in early stage prostate cancers
No full textPURPOSE: To determine the cellular distribution and levels of immunohistochemical staining for apolipoprotein D (Apo-D), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and androgen receptor (AR) in early stage prostate cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cellular distribution of Apo-D, PSA and AR in 30 stage A/B prostate cancers and in non-malignant glandular tissue contained in the same sections was detected immunohistochemically, and staining was evaluated by computerized video image analysis. RESULTS: Staining for Apo-D (percentage positive cellular area) was significantly increased in tumor cells of early stage prostate cancers compared with non-malignant glandular tissue. PSA and AR were present at high levels in both early stage prostate tumors and non-malignant prostate. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant transformation in the prostate is associated with increased cellular levels of Apo-D.Steven X.D. Zhang, Jacqueline M. Bentel, Carmela Ricciardelli, David J. Horsfall, Darrow E. Haagensen, Villis R. Marshall and Wayne D. Tille
Design and engineering genetic tools for Desulfovibrio alaskensis
No full textMicroorganisms, such as the anaerobic bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis, have
evolved various mechanisms to resist high concentrations of toxic heavy metals; one
of these mechanisms involves the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs). It may be
possible to utilise this ability to both reclaim heavy metals from contaminated
effluents and to convert them into industrially useful NPs. By engineering a
genetically modified D. alaskensis, through synthetic biology, cell surface
engineering and by designing a modular cloning (MoClo) toolkit, there is a further
opportunity to tailor nanoparticle synthesis.
DNA assembly techniques have revolutionised biotechnology research and
innovation. However, despite many advances in molecular biology, the assembly of
DNA parts into new constructs remains cumbersome and unpredictable. The
innovation of cloning toolkits and standards such as MoClo have standardised the
process of DNA assembly, making it easier, faster, modular and cost-effective. The
D. alaskensis MoClo toolkit developed in this work consists of characterised oxygen-independent
reporters, synthetic promoters and ribosome binding site (RBS)
libraries.
The D. alaskensis MoClo toolkit was utilised to assemble a combinatorial library of
transcriptional units (TUs) expressing the NiFe hydrogenase small subunit. Platinum
NPs were synthesised by the combinatorial library, and examined for their oxidative
and reduction catalytic activities were tested.
To enhance D. alaskensis resistance to Cu, Pt and Pd, cell surface engineering was
used to express synthetic phytochelatin EC20 on the outer membrane. Tests of
Escherichia coli expressing EC20/IgA to Cu, Pt and Pd concluded that EC20 confers
a higher resistance to all metals
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