91,131 research outputs found
Genetic susceptibility to meningococcal infection
No full textMeningococcal disease is caused by a limited range of clonal complexes of Neisseria meningitidis. The disease occurs in people who lack bactericidal antibodies to this pathogen, and therefore the patients are reliant on innate immunity or components of acquired immunity other than bactericidal antibodies. Gene variants that influence the function of innate and acquired immune response components have been associated with altered host susceptibility to meningococcal disease, and some genetic factors have also been associated with more severe disease. Identification of genetic factors associated with meningococcal disease will enhance our understanding of this rare but dangerous condition which causes death and serious morbidity in young, previously fit individuals. Genetic variations in the gene cluster encoding IL-1 and in key genes including TNF, SP-A2 and CFH have been associated with susceptibility to meningococcal disease. Understanding the mechanisms underlying genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease will permit the development of novel therapeutic measures for the treatment of Gram-negative sepsis. To enable the discovery of new mechanisms of the disease, future research will move away from small-scale association studies and instead include analysis of large patient cohorts with accurately linked clinical and demographic information
Neisseria meningitidis and meningococcal disease: recent discoveries and innovations
No full textPURPOSE OF REVIEW: Meningococcal disease is a severe consequence of infection with Neisseria meningitidis, a pathobiont of the pharynx. This organism is panmitic so virulent clones transformed with new genetic material can emerge and cause severe outbreaks. The key to sustainable prevention is to restrict carriage of disease-causing strains and thus reduce the chances of transmission between human hosts.RECENT FINDINGS: Meningococcal population biology has changed recently with emergence of virulent strains linked to a number of sublineages of clonal complex 11. These strains have variously expressed the capsular material of serogroups C and W and caused severe disease in various countries. Glycoconjugate vaccines including quadrivalent (ACWY) and now pentavalent (ACWYX) vaccines are highly immunogenic and prevent disease and carriage due to their respective serogroups. For NmB, new vaccines (4CMenB and MenB-FHbp) containing conserved outer membranes proteins have been deployed and are immunogenic and protective at population level, but clones exist which do not express cognate antigens. In contrast to glycoconjugate vaccines they may not have potent carriage-reducing activity. Mass chemoprophylaxis is gaining credence as an alternative strategy is effective, but has significant shortcomings in sustainability.SUMMARY: Meningococcal disease is well defined genomically for epidemiological purposes. There is potential for unpredictable emergence of clones that may have reduced susceptibility even to modern vaccines, and continued surveillance and vigilance is necessary. However, tremendous strides have been made in recent years.</p
Measurement of the ratio of prompt χ c to J / ψ production in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV
Get PDFThe prompt production of charmonium χ c and J / ψ states is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The χ c and J / ψ mesons are identified through their decays χ c → J / ψ γ and J / ψ → μ + μ - using 36 pb - 1 of data collected by the LHCb detector in 2010. The ratio of the prompt production cross-sections for χ c and J / ψ, σ (χ c → J / ψ γ) / σ (J / ψ), is determined as a function of the J / ψ transverse momentum in the range 2 < p T J / ψ < 15 GeV / c. The results are in excellent agreement with next-to-leading order non-relativistic expectations and show a significant discrepancy compared with the colour singlet model prediction at leading order, especially in the low p T J / ψ region
Corporate Taxation in Europe: Competitive Pressure and Cooperative Targets
No full textAnalisi comparativa dei sistemi di fiscalità corporate nei paesi europei ed extra europei mediante analisi interdisciplinare economica e giuridic
Reading in the mobile era
Get PDFMobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world.
Summary
Millions of people do not read for one reason: they do not have access to text. But today mobile phones and cellular networks are transforming a scarce resource into an abundant one.
Drawing on the analysis of over 4,000 surveys collected in seven developing countries and corresponding qualitative interviews, this report paints the most detailed picture to date of who reads books and stories on mobile devices and why.
The findings illuminate, for the first time, the habits, beliefs and profiles of mobile readers. This information points to strategies to expand mobile reading and, by extension, the educational, social and economic benefits associated with increased reading.
Mobile technology can advance literacy and learning in underserved communities around the world. This report shows how
Erratum to: Proximal humeral fractures in elderly patients (Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, (2013), 25, S1, (85-87), 10.1007/s40520-013-0078-x)
No full textIn the original publication of the article, the name of the third author was incorrectly published as C. Capra. However, the correct name should read as P. Capra
Conservations of various regions in read-through (RT) and non-read-through (non-RT) genes.
No full textThe read-through genes used are from [8, 9], whereas all other genes are treated as non-read-through genes. A total of 147 read-through and 4,225 non-read-through yeast genes and 233 read-through and 8,367 non-read-through fly genes are considered. Region 1 refers to the transcript segment between the canonical stop codon and the following in-frame stop codon, whereas region 2 refers to the transcript segment between the first and second in-frame stop codon after the canonical stop codon. CDS, coding sequence. (A-B) Sequence conservation of coding region, region 1, and region 2 between S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus (A) or between D. melanogaster and D. simulans (B) for read-through and non-read-through genes. (C-D) Fractions of frame-shifting indels in regions 1 and 2 of read-through and non-read-through genes, based on a comparison between the two yeasts (C) or two fruit flies (D). In (A)-(D), error bars show the standard deviation of the mean determined by bootstrapping genes. Each one-tailed P-value is based on respectively bootstrapping genes of the two groups being compared, and "ns" means not significant. (E-F) Relative length differences in regions 1 and 2 of read-through genes and non-read-through genes between the two yeasts (E) or two fruit flies (F). In each boxplot, the lower and upper edges of a box represent the first (qu1) and third quartiles (qu3), respectively, the horizontal line inside the box indicates the median (md), and the whiskers extend to the most extreme values inside inner fences, md±1.5(qu3-qu1). One-tailed Mann-Whitney U test result is presented, where "ns" means not significant. Note that the Y-axis does not start from 0 in some panels.</p
Read-through reporter systems.
No full text(A) Plasmids of the YEpGR series harboring the yEGFP and yEmRFP coding sequences separated by either an in frame sense or nonsense codon; (B) Constructs bearing the same yEmRFP and yEGFP ORFs cloned in the inverted order; (C) Fluorescence microscope images of yeast cells transformed with plasmids expressing a yEGFP-sense-yEmRFP construct (CGA) or yEmRFP-nonsense-yEGFP (UGA) configuration; (D) plasmids expressing a yEmRFP-sense-yEGFP (CGA) or yEmRFP-nonsense-yEGFP (UGA) read-through cassette.</p
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Poor hospital infection control practice in venepuncture and use of tourniquets
No full textPrevious studies have indicated that tourniquets may act as reservoirs of pathogenic organisms and could therefore pose a risk to patients through cross-infection. In this study, 200 tourniquets were sampled from health professionals working in a large teaching hospital. A parallel survey of control of infection was also undertaken. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 10 (5%) of the tourniquets sampled. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus was not isolated. Seventy-five (37.5%) of the tourniquets sampled had visible blood stains; house officers (72.7%) and laboratory phlebotomists (69.2%) had the highest proportion of blood-stained tourniquets. Tourniquets were owned on average for 1.86 years, with most respondents only obtaining a new tourniquet when the old tourniquet was lost. Three percent of respondents used a separate tourniquet for patients with known infective risk factors, e.g. HIV, MRSA. Twenty-seven percent of respondents did not wear gloves for venepuncture or did so only occasionally. Only 42% washed their hands both before and after venepuncture. Our survey reveals poor infection control practice, but a relatively low frequency of S. aureus contamination of tourniquets.</p
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