582 research outputs found
Experience of Lyme disease and preferences for precautions: A cross-sectional survey of UK patients
No full textThis article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ 2013 Marcu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Lyme disease (LD) is a tick-borne zoonosis currently affecting approximately 1000 people annually in the UK (confirmed through serological diagnosis) although it is estimated that the real figures may be as high as 3000 cases. It is important to know what factors may predict correct appraisal of LD symptoms and how the experience of LD might predict preferences for future precautionary actions.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with early LD patients via the Lyme Borreliosis Unit at the Health Protection Agency. One hundred and thirty participants completed measures of awareness of having been bitten by ticks, knowledge of ticks and LD, interpretation of LD symptoms, suspicions of having LD prior to seeing the General Practitioner (GP), and preferences for precautionary actions during future countryside visits. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to identify key predictors of awareness of having been bitten by ticks and of having LD. t-tests assessed differences between groups of participants on suspicions of having LD and preferences for future precautions. Pearson correlations examined relationships between measures of preferences for precautions and frequency of countryside use, knowledge of ticks and LD, and intentions to avoid the countryside in the future.
Results: 73.8% of participants (n = 96) reported a skin rash as the reason for seeking medical help, and 44.1% (n = 64) suspected they had LD before seeing the GP. Participants reporting a direct event in realizing they had been bitten by ticks (seeing a tick on skin or seeing a skin rash and linking it to tick bites) were more likely to suspect they had LD before seeing the doctor. Participants distinguished between taking precautions against tick bites during vs. after countryside visits, largely preferring the latter. Also, the more frequently participants visited the countryside, the less likely they were to endorse during-visit precautions.
Conclusions: The results suggest that the risk of LD is set in the context of the restorative benefits of countryside practices, and that it may be counterproductive to overemphasize pre- or during-visit precautions. Simultaneously, having experienced LD is not associated with any withdrawal from countryside.Economic and Social Research Counci
The IKK -Dependent NF- B p52/RelB Noncanonical Pathway Is Essential To Sustain a CXCL12 Autocrine Loop in Cells Migrating in Response to HMGB1
No full textHMGB1 is a chromatin architectural protein that is released by dead or damaged cells at sites of tissue injury. Extracellular HMGB1 functions as a proinflammatory cytokine and chemoattractant for immune effector and progenitor cells. Previously, we have shown that the inhibitor of NF-kappa B kinase (IKK)beta- and IKK alpha-dependent NF-kappa B signaling pathways are simultaneously required for cell migration to HMGB1. The IKK beta-dependent canonical pathway is needed to maintain expression of receptor for advanced glycation end products, the ubiquitously expressed receptor for HMGB1, but the target of the IKK alpha non-canonical pathway was not known. In this study, we show that the IKK alpha-dependent p52/RelB noncanonical pathway is critical to sustain CXCL12/SDF1 production in order for cells to migrate toward HMGB1. Using both mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages and mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs), it was observed that neutralization of CXCL12 by a CXCL12 mAb completely eliminated chemotaxis to HMGB1. In addition, the HMGB1 migration defect of IKKa KO and p52 KO cells could be rescued by adding recombinant CXCL12 to cells. Moreover, p52 KO MEFs stably transduced with a GFP retroviral vector that enforces physiologic expression of CXCL12 also showed near normal migration toward HMGB1. Finally, both AMD3100, a specific antagonist of CXCL12's G protein-coupled receptor CXCR4, and an anti-CXCR4 Ab blocked HMGB1 chemotactic responses. These results indicate that HMGB1-CXCL12 interplay drives cell migration toward HMGB1 by engaging receptors of both chemoattractants. This novel requirement for a second receptor-ligand pair enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating HMGB1-dependent cell recruitment to sites of tissue injury
Carbon leakage: an overview. CEPS Special Report No. 79, 6 December 2013
No full textCarbon leakage is central to the discussion on climate policy, given the confluence of issues
that are currently being debated, including the 2030 Energy and Climate Framework and the
review of the EU carbon leakage list by 2014. Carbon leakage is the result of asymmetrical
carbon policies, especially carbon pricing, and the resulting carbon cost, which affects the
international competitive position of some EU industry and could displace production
and/or investment, and the emissions of the activities displaced.
This paper identifies the difference between carbon price and carbon cost to leakage exposed
industry as one of two fundamental issues to be understood and addressed; lack of
visibility on future climate policies and anti-leakage provisions is the other key issue. While
this is a global issue, most of the experience has been accumulated in the EU. Carbon leakage
is only one of the factors that could affect the competitive position of sectors, but it is
difficult to attribute the impact of carbon costs versus other variables such as energy costs,
labour, etc. Studies have predicted the risk of a significant amount of production leakage in a
number of energy-intensive industries. To address the danger, they were included in the EU
ETS carbon leakage list, which gave them access to free allowances. However, a limited
number of studies undertaken after the end of the second trading period (2012) show little
evidence of production leakage and asks the question whether the issue has not been blown
out of proportion.
The paper argues that the past may not be a good representation of the future, as it was
heavily influenced by a high level of free allocation, the exceptional economic downturn, CO2
prices significantly below what was anticipated, as well as the potential for changes in some
fundamental variables such as the shrinking pool of allowances available for free allocation.
It emphasises the need for a well-informed debate in the EU on measures to address carbon
leakage post-2020, underpinned by a number of options, and objective criteria to evaluate
those options. It emphasises that the debate should cover both investment and production
leakage, caused by both direct and indirect carbon costs
Public preferences for vaccination and antiviral medicines under different pandemic flu outbreak scenarios.
No full textDuring the 2009-2010 A(H1N1) pandemic, many people did not seek care quickly enough, failed to take a full course of antivirals despite being authorised to receive them, and were not vaccinated. Understanding facilitators and barriers to the uptake of vaccination and antiviral medicines will help inform campaigns in future pandemic influenza outbreaks. Increasing uptake of vaccines and antiviral medicines may need to address a range of drivers of behaviour. The aim was to identify facilitators of and barriers to being vaccinated and taking antiviral medicines in uncertain and severe pandemic influenza scenarios using a theoretical model of behaviour change, COM-B
Romanian immigrants in the domestic service and of elderly care of the Community of Madrid: Qualitative study
No full text27 páginas, 1 anexo.[ES] El artículo analiza el trabajo que desempeñan las mujeres inmigrantes rumanas, como
trabajadoras irregulares en el servicio doméstico de la Comunidad de Madrid, (CAM)
haciendo hincapié en el cuidado de personas mayores. Vincula dos tendencias muy
presentes en la sociedad española de comienzos del siglo XXI: por un lado, el acentuado
envejecimiento de la población y por el otro lado, la inmigración, la mano de
obra extranjera necesitada en el sector doméstico y de cuidados de personas mayores.
Analiza conjuntamente el contexto de la inmigración de la mujer rumana teniendo en
cuenta su situación de partida y trayectoria profesional; se indaga en la situación laboral
y en la valoración que realizan las inmigrantes en relación con el trabajo realizado
en los domicilios españoles; por último se atiende a las perspectivas de futuro de este
sector en el mercado de trabajo español.[EN] The article analyzes the work of the women Rumanian immigrants, like irregular workers
in the domestic service of the Community of Madrid, (CAM) insisting on the
care of elderly. It ties two very present tendencies in the Spanish society of beginnings
of the 21st century: on the one hand, the marked aging of the population and on the
other side, immigration, foreign manpower needed in the domestic sector and taken
care of people majors. It jointly analyzes the context of the immigration of the Rumanian
woman considering his departure situation and professional trajectory; it is investigated
in the labour situation and the valuation that the immigrants in relation to
the work carried out in the Spanish addresses realise; finally it is taken care of the
perspective of future of this sector in the market of Spanish work.[FR] L’article analyse le travail que les femmes immigrantes roumaines effectuent, comme
travailleuses irrégulières dans le service domestique de la Communauté de Madrid,
(CAM) en mettant l’accent sur le soin des vieilles personnes. Il lie deux tendances très
présentes dans la société espagnole de commencements du XXIe siècle : d’un côté, le
vieillissement accentué de la population et par l’autre côté, l’immigration, la main
d’oeuvre étrangère eue besoin dans le secteur domestique et des soins de plus grandes
personnes. On analyse conjointement le contexte de l’immigration de la femme roumaine
en tenant en compte de sa situation de départ et de trajectoire professionnelle;
il est recherché dans la situation de travail et dans l’évaluation que les immigrantes réalisent
en relation avec le travail réalisé dans les domiciles espagnols; on fait attention
finalement aux perspectives d’avenir de ce secteur sur le marché de travail espagnol.El artículo utiliza las entrevistas en profundidad realizadas para el Proyecto de Investigación
“Inmigración y cuidado de mayores en la Comunidad de Madrid” financiado por la Fundación
BBVA (IEGD. CCHS 2006-2009).Peer reviewe
ECM remodelling plays a crucial role in the loss of maturational arrest of a OA chondrocytes.
No full textInhibitor of NF- B Kinases and Are Both Essential for High Mobility Group Box 1-Mediated Chemotaxis
No full textInhibitor of NF-kappa B kinases beta (IKK beta) and alpha (IKK alpha) activate distinct NE-kappa B signaling modules. The IKK beta/canonical NF-kappa B pathway rapidly responds to stress-like conditions, whereas the IKK alpha/noncanonical pathway controls adaptive immunity. Moreover, IKK alpha can attenuate IKK beta-initiated inflammatory responses. High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a chromatin protein, is an extracellular signal of tissue damage-attracting cells in inflammation, tissue regeneration, and scar formation. We show that IKK alpha and IKK beta are each critically important for HMGB1-elicited chemotaxis of fibroblasts, macrophages, and neutrophils in vitro and neutrophils in vivo. By time-lapse microscopy we dissected different parameters of the HMGB1 migration response and found that IKK alpha and IKK beta are each essential to polarize cells toward HMGB1 and that each kinase also differentially affects cellular velocity in a time-dependent manner. In addition, HMGB1 modestly induces noncanonical IKK alpha-dependent p52 nuclear translocation and p52/RelB target gene expression. Akin to IKK alpha and IKK beta, p52 and RelB are also required for HMGB1 chemotaxis, and p52 is essential for cellular orientation toward an HMGB1 gradient. RAGE, a ubiquitously expressed HMGB1 receptor, is required for HMGB1 chemotaxis. Moreover, IKK beta, but not IKK alpha, is required for HMGB1 to induce RAGE mRNA, suggesting that RAGE is at least one IKK beta target involved in HMGB1 migration responses, and in accord with these results enforced RAGE expression rescues the HMGB1 migration defect of IKK beta, but not IKKa, null cells. Thus, proinflammatory HMGB1 chemotactic responses mechanistically require the differential collaboration of both IKK-dependent NF-kappa B signaling pathways
Approximate Personal Name-Matching Through Finite-State Graphs
No full textThis article shows how finite-state methods can be employed in a new and different task: the conflation of personal name variants in standard forms. In bibliographic databases and citation index systems, variant forms create problems of inaccuracy that affect information retrieval, the quality of information from databases, and the citation statistics used for the evaluation of scientists' work. A number of approximate string matching techniques have been developed to validate variant forms, based on similarity and equivalence relations. We classify the personal name variants as nonvalid and valid forms. In establishing an equivalence relation between valid variants and the standard form of its equivalence class, we defend the application of finite-state transducers. The process of variant identification requires the elaboration of: (a) binary matrices and (b) finite-state graphs. This procedure was tested on samples of author names from bibliographic records, selected from the Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) databases. The evaluation involved calculating the measures of precision and recall, based on completeness and accuracy. The results demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, although it should be complemented with methods based on similarity relations for the recognition of spelling variants and misspellings
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