15 research outputs found
Sam and Elizabeth Aellig Egger Folder
No full text32 pages of family history documents containing and related to Samuel "Sam" Egger; Elizabeth Aellig Egger; Susanna Egger; Christian Egger - including: Handwritten diary; family tree; written family history
Trends in CD4 and viral load testing 2005 to 2018: multi-cohort study of people living with HIV in Southern Africa.
Full text linkINTRODUCTION
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a CD4 cell count before starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) to detect advanced HIV disease, and routine viral load (VL) testing following ART initiation to detect treatment failure. Donor support for CD4 testing has declined to prioritize access to VL monitoring. We examined trends in CD4 and VL testing among adults (≥15 years of age) starting ART in Southern Africa.
METHODS
We analysed data from 14 HIV treatment programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2005 to 2018. We examined the frequency of CD4 and VL testing, the percentage of adults with CD4 or VL tests, and among those having a test, the percentage starting ART with advanced HIV disease (CD4 count 1000 HIV-RNA copies/mL) after ART initiation. We used mixed effect logistic regression to assess time trends adjusted for age and sex.
RESULTS
Among 502,456 adults, the percentage with CD4 testing at ART initiation decreased from a high of 78.1% in 2008 to a low of 38.0% in 2017; the probability declined by 14% each year (odds ratio (OR) 0.86; 95% CI 0.86 to 0.86). Frequency of CD4 testing also declined. The percentage starting ART with advanced HIV disease declined from 83.3% in 2005 to 23.5% in 2018; each year the probability declined by 20% (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.80 to 0.81). VL testing after starting ART varied; 61.0% of adults in South Africa and 10.7% in Malawi were tested, but fewer than 2% were tested in the other four countries. The probability of VL testing after ART start increased only modestly each year (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.06). The percentage with unsuppressed VL was 8.6%. There was no evidence of a decrease in unsuppressed VL over time (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.99 to 1.01).
CONCLUSIONS
CD4 cell counting declined over time, including testing at the start of ART, despite the fact that many patients still initiated ART with advanced HIV disease. Without CD4 testing and expanded VL testing many patients with advanced HIV disease and treatment failure may go undetected, threatening the effectiveness of ART in sub-Saharan Africa
Author response: EM connectomics reveals axonal target variation in a sequence-generating network
Full text linkProductivity and the Decision to Import and Export: Theory and Evidence
Full text linkThis paper develops an open economy model with heterogeneous final goods producers who simultaneously choose whether to export their goods and whether to use imported intermediates. The model highlights mechanisms whereby import policies affect aggregate productivity, resource allocation, and industry export activity along both the extensive and intensive margins. Using the theoretical model, we develop and estimate a structural empirical model that incorporates heterogeneity in productivity and shipping costs using Chilean plant-level data for a set of manufacturing industries. The estimated model is consistent with the key features of the data regarding productivity, exporting, and importing. We perform a variety of counterfactual experiments to assess quantitatively the positive and normative effects of barriers to trade in import and export markets. These experiments suggest that there are substantial aggregate productivity and welfare gains due to trade. Furthermore, because of import and export complementarities, policies which inhibit the importation of foreign intermediates can have a large adverse effect on the exportation of final goods.exporting, importing, firm heterogeneity, aggregate productivity, resource allocation
Attitudes towards the Use of Medicine in Jewish Literature from the Third and Second Centuries BCE
Full text linkThis dissertation examines the attitudes towards the use of medicine in Jewish traditions of the third and second centuries BCE. More specifically, I examine the references to medicine and healing found in the books of 1 Enoch (particularly in the Book of Watchers and the Epistle of Enoch), Tobit, Ben Sira and Jubilees. These texts participate in a debate about the appropriateness of medicine on the one hand, and on the consultation of physicians, on the other. By means of an examination of the multiple manuscript evidence for these texts, I aim to throw light on the earliest strata of the textual tradition. Furthermore, through a discussion on the picture of medicine as presented in Assyria-Babylon, Egypt and Greece—nations alongside which ancient Israel has lived for centuries—I attempt to explore the historico-cultural milieu that lies behind these texts, to offer some fresh insights and to account for the attitudes towards the use of medicine these present. My thesis is that there was no unified approach towards the use of medicine in the Jewish circles of the third and second centuries BCE; the authors of these literary compositions, each in his own unique way, ventured to create afresh medical awareness to his fellow Jews. The existence of opposing views towards medical practice should be understood as different ways to comprehend the multifarious Jewish identity of the Second Temple period. Finally, I suggest that the medical and healing material of the aforementioned writings may be considered as further literary evidence that can contribute to the broader understanding of the manifold medical situations in Hellenistic times
Tenure Profiles and Efficient Separation in a Stochastic Productivity Model
Full text linkThis paper provides a new way of analyzing tenure profiles in wages, by modelling simultaneously the evolution of wages and the distribution of tenures. We develop a theoretical model based on efficient bargaining, where both log outside wage and log wage in the current job follow a random walk, as found empirically. This setting allows the application of real option theory. We derive the efficient separation rule. The model fits the observed distribution of job tenures well. Since we observe outside wages only at job start and job separation, our empirical analysis of within job wage growth is based on expected wage growth conditional on the outside wages at both dates. Our modelling allows testing of the efficient bargaining hypothesis. The model is estimated on the PSID.random productivity growth, efficient bargaining, job tenure, inverse gaussian, wage-tenure profiles, option theory
InterSCOPE study: Associations between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and human papillomavirus serological markers
No full textBackground The role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the causation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is unclear. We examined the associations between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 28 centrally measured HPV serological markers in serum from six existing case-control studies conducted in regions with differing Background risks of esophageal cancer. Methods We used centralized multiplex serology to test serum samples from 1561 case subjects and 2502 control subjects from six case-control studies for antibodies to the major HPV capsid protein (L1) and/or the early proteins E6 and/or E7 of eight high-risk, two low-risk, and four cutaneous HPV types. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95 confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using conditional logistic regression with adjustment for smoking, alcohol consumption, and other potential confounders. Pooled odds ratios and 95 confidence intervals were calculated using either a linear mixed-effects approach or a joint fixed-effects approach. All statistical tests were two-sided. ResultsWe found statistically significant associations between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and antibodies to E6 for HPV16 (OR = 1.89, 95 CI = 1.09 to 3.29, P =. 023) and HPV6 (OR = 2.53, 95 CI = 1.51 to 4.25, P <. 001) but not for other tested HPV types. There were no statistically significant associations between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and antibodies to E7 for any of the tested HPV types. Simultaneous seropositivity for HPV16 E6 and E7 was rare (four case subjects, two control subjects; OR = 5.57, 95 CI = 0.90 to 34.35; P =. 064). We also found statistically significant associations between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and capsid antibodies for the high-risk mucosal type HPV33 L1 (OR = 1.30, 95 CI = 1.00 to 1.69; P =. 047) and the low-risk mucosal types HPV6 (OR = 1.22, 95 CI = 1.05 to 1.42; P =. 010) and HPV11 (OR = 1.30, 95 CI = 1.09 to 1.56, P =. 0036). Conclusions We found limited serological evidence of an association between esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and HPV in the populations studied. Although HPV does not appear to be an important risk factor for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, we cannot exclude the possibility that certain HPV types may be involved in a small subset of cancers. © 2012 The Author
Oxygen Sensing with Perfluorocarbon-Loaded Ultraporous Mesostructured Silica Nanoparticles
No full textActive X-ray optics for the next generation of X-ray space telescopes
No full textDescribed within is the design, manufacture, metrology and X-ray testing of an active X-ray
prototype intended for the next generation of X-ray telescopes. One of the challenges faced by
the X-ray telescope community is how to combine high resolution and high sensitivity into one
system, as weight limitations place constraints on the optics that can be launched. Therefore the
mandate of the active X-ray prototype is to provide high sensitivity through the ability of the optics
to be nested and to deliver high angular resolution through the active control of the optic’s form.
Piezoelectric unimorph actuators provide the active component: it is intended that they will correct
for figure errors within the optic and therefore increase the angular resolution capability.
The prototype’s design is based upon an ellipsoidal segment which provides point-to-point
focussing of an X-ray source. The prototype itself is composed of an electroformed nickel optic
where the non-reflective surface is populated with 30 piezoelectric actuators and it is the production
of the prototype that is the core of the presented research. Metrology of the actuators’ influence
functions is presented and highlight the prototype’s ability to deform its optic surface by microns.
In addition, the measured influence functions are compared against finite element models and a
distinct similarity between the functions is observed.
The prototype was tested at an X-ray beamline facility in November 2008 and the results
showed the prototype’s ability to correct the optic to achieve an improved angular resolution: from
0.786 arc-minutes to 0.686 arc-minutes in terms of full width half maximum. Finally, difficulties
in the manufacture of the prototype and X-ray testing shall be presented alongside future work in
conclusion to this thesis
