1,034 research outputs found
Coinfection of Schistosoma species with Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C Viruses
No full textAlthough a considerable number of studies have been undertaken to date, it is still controversial as to whether or not coinfection with schistosomiasis increases the susceptibility to or progression from HBV or HCV infection. This review is a closer examination of the key studies conducted on human populations on clinical factors that were published in English between 1975 to January 2015. Our review is mainly based on tables containing the salient information, which are arranged first by study population, country of study, and publication date. We provide further explanation, clarification and discussion in the text. As such, it includes both studies that have been conducted on general populations who are largely asymptomatic for clinical disease (Table 1.2.1), as well as those focusing on special populations, which are usually comprised of clinical patients. These special populations have been presented as follow: subjects with chronic liver disease or related conditions such as cirrhosis, Table 1.3.1; subjects with primary liver cancer, Table 1.3.2; subjects with schistosomiasis, Table 1.3.3; subjects with acute or chronic hepatitis resulting from Hepatitis B virus, Table 1.3.4; and, subjects with Hepatitis C virus, Table 1.3.5. We have presented studies that compared two mono-infected groups with one that is coinfected separately in Table 1.4, as these offer us the best basis from which to evaluate if any synergistic effects accompany coinfection.
A number of factors contributed to the results reported in our tables. These included, but are not limited to: subject selection (i.e., asymptomatic cases typically drawn from the general population vs. subjects presenting to a hospital or clinic with clinical disease); study design, which directly impacts our ability to infer causality (i.e., case series, cross-sectional, case control, cohort study); use and choice of control population (i.e., apparently healthy subjects vs. other hospital patients vs. none); sample size, which directly impacts statistical power and can result in a Type II error; geographic area, which may reflect differences in population genetics, public health history, environmental differences or any number of other important factors (i.e., Egypt, Brazil, China); method of testing for schistosomal infections (i.e., stool vs. antibody test); method of testing to determine if advanced schistosomal disease was present (i.e., ultrasound, liver biopsy vs. none); method of serological testing for HBV (i.e., use of HBsAg alone or with other markers or DNA testing); method of serological testing for HCV (i.e., use of anti-HCV alone or with RNA testing); and, year of the study, which reflects among other things, technological improvements between tests as well as possible changes in the frequency of exposure in the populations under study (i.e., use of parenteral anti-schistosomal therapy vs. the oral anti-schistosomal medication).
Despite all these differences, throughout this review we have observed general patterns that seem largely consistent with one another. Studies conducted on general, largely asymptomatic populations tend to support the view that having one of the diseases in question (i.e., schistosomiasis does not necessarily predispose one to becoming coinfected with another (i.e., HBV or HCV). Rather, the probability of becoming coinfected seems most closely associated with modes of transmission for either HBV or HCV in schistosome-endemic areas, such as the past use of parenteral anti-schistosomal therapy or frequent blood transfusion. Once coinfected, however, the clinical course of illness for those with Schistosoma-HBV or Schistosoma-HCV infections are typically much more severe than for mono-infected subjects. The strongest evidence for this was found in the half-dozen or so prospective cohort studies that systematically monitored disease progression in their subjects. With respect to HBV infection, coinfection with Schistosoma prolonged the carriage state and more often resulted in chronic hepatitis with greater cirrhosis as well as higher mortality. Much of the same was also observed with respect to HCV, where coinfection with Schistosoma was associated with a reduced ability to spontaneously resolve the viral infection and more often resulted in rapid fibrosis as well as higher mortality. Furthermore, two of these studies which were fully comparative in nature, support the supposition that there is a synergistic association between Schistosoma-HCV for both liver fibrosis and mortality. Immunological studies, all conducted on HCV, also generally seem to support this.
The results of our research argue for greater primary prevention for both HBV and HCV in Schistosoma-endemic populations. Although no vaccine currently exists for HCV as it does for HBV, additional steps can still be taken to reduce transmission in high risk populations. Greater use of the HBV vaccine is particularly advisable. Finally, additional observational, longitudinal studies conducted on human populations that are fully comparative in nature could help answer some of the remaining questions on both Schistosoma-HBV as well as Schistosoma-HCV coinfections. Some of these include the role of active vs. past schistosomal infections, the role of genetic variants, as well as the effect of coinfection on treatment. Future studies should make a particular effort to use a sufficient sample size to ensure adequate statistical power, which was not often properly considered in many of the studies we reviewed for this paper.Peer reviewe
Sparrows can't sing : East End kith and kinship in the 1960s
No full textSparrows Can’t Sing (1963) was the only feature film directed by
the late and much lamented Joan Littlewood. Set and filmed in
the East End, where she worked for many years, the film deserves
more attention than it has hitherto received. Littlewood’s career
spanned documentary (radio recordings made with Ewan MacColl
in the North of England in the 1930s) to directing for the stage
and the running of the Theatre Royal in London’s Stratford East,
often selecting material which aroused memories in local audiences
(Leach 2006: 142). Many of the actors trained in her Theatre
Workshop subsequently became better known for their appearances
on film and television. Littlewood herself directed hardly any material
for the screen: Sparrows Can’t Sing and a 1964 series of television
commercials for the British Egg Marketing Board, starring Theatre
Workshop’s Avis Bunnage, were rare excursions into an area of practice
which she found constraining and unamenable (Gable 1980: 32).
The hybridity and singularity of Littlewood’s feature may answer,
in some degree, for its subsequent neglect. However, Sparrows Can’t
Sing makes a significant contribution to a group of films made in
Britain in the 1960s which comment generally on changes in the
urban and social fabric. It is especially worthy of consideration,
I shall argue, for the use which Littlewood made of a particular
community’s attitudes – sentimental and critical – to such changes and
for its amalgamation of an attachment to documentary techniques
(recording an aural landscape on location) with a preference for nonnaturalistic
delivery in performance
Identification of Sensitive Outcome Measures of Participation for Children With Autism
No full textAbstract
Date Presented 4/1/2017
Mixed methods were used to identify valid, reliable, performance-based outcome measures for daily living skills and socialization for children ages 6–9 with ASD. We chose the best measures. Feasibility and validity testing for use in a future comparative study is under way.
Primary Author and Speaker: Roseann C. Schaaf
Additional Authors and Speakers: Amy Carroll, Elizabeth M. Ridgway</jats:p
A sibling-mediated behavioral intervention for promoting play skills in children with autism
No full textSiblings of children with autism often experience isolation and frustration within the sibling relationship. Studies have suggested that the quantity and quality of interaction between the pair is significantly poorer relative to sibling dyads affected by other developmental disabilities. However, research has shown that siblings can act as effective interventionists for their sibling with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The present study assessed the efficacy of a home-based treatment program to teach siblings to use three sets of behavioral skills while playing with their brother or sister with autism. In a multiple baseline design across skills, three sibling dyads were trained to a) elicit play and play related speech, b) to deliver reinforcement and c) to prompt the child with autism following an incorrect or non-response. Siblings were also given a target word for each session which they attempted to teach. As evidenced in the completer dyad, siblings successfully acquired these behavioral skills, they maintained over time, and generalized to untrained contexts. Siblings with autism showed increases in responding to and initiating play-based interactions, and one of the children spontaneously verbalized target words. Siblings found the treatment to be acceptable, and parents indicated satisfaction with the procedures. These findings support the hypothesis that siblings can utilize behavioral skills to act as effective interventionists in a play setting with their brother or sister with autism.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Amy P. Hansfor
The air microwave yield (AMY) experiment - A laboratory measurement of the microwave emission from extensive air showers
No full textThe AMY experiment aims to measure the microwave bremsstrahlung radiation (MBR) emitted by air-showers secondary electrons accelerating in collisions with neutral molecules of the atmosphere. The measurements are performed using a beam of 510 MeV electrons at the Beam Test Facility (BTF) of Frascati INFN National Laboratories. The goal of the AMY experiment is to measure in laboratory conditions the yield and the spectrum of the GHz emission in the frequency range between 1 and 20 GHz. The final purpose is to characterise the process to be used in a next generation detectors of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. A description of the experimental setup and the first results are presented. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence
Risk - adjusted rates of return for project appraisal
No full textIncorporating risk assessment into public project appraisal makes sense when project risk is significantly correlated with uncertainty about national income. It is especially important in countries that specialize in particular agricultural or resource sectors. This report presents the following conclusions: (a) risk corrections can be substantial; (b) the intuition that risk is great for further investment in a crop or sector that constitutes a large part of a country's GNP is not invalid, but the effect may be offset by other forces in operation; (c) risk corrections can be negative because of a negative correlation between project return and GNP; (d) risk premia vary greatly across countries and sectors - so recognizing the risk correction needed for each project on its own merits makes more sense than including a common general risk premium in the rate of return required for all lending; (e) risk corrections are small for many sectors and countries - so efforts can be concentrated on the other categories, where the proposed treatment of risk makes a big difference; (f) risk affects investment projects in many different, subtle ways; and (g) resource requirements for this are not great.Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Statistical&Mathematical Sciences,Crops&Crop Management Systems
Atlas of canine and feline peripheral blood smears /
No full text"An illustrated guide to the morphology of blood cells, Atlas of Canine and Feline Peripheral Blood Smears covers patient assessment for common hematologic disorders and diseases in dogs and cats. Over 1,000 full-color photomicrographs depict abnormalities within each blood cell line, with multiple pictures of each morphologic abnormality and variations in their appearance. Written by pathology experts Amy Valenciano, Rick Cowell, Theresa Rizzi, and Ronald Tyler, this concise reference will enhance your skills as you interpret blood smears and recognize hematological cellular response to inflammation, infection, and toxicity."--Provided by publisher.Includes bibliographical references and index.Online resource; title from e-book title screen (ScienceDirect platform, viewed August 18, 2016)."An illustrated guide to the morphology of blood cells, Atlas of Canine and Feline Peripheral Blood Smears covers patient assessment for common hematologic disorders and diseases in dogs and cats. Over 1,000 full-color photomicrographs depict abnormalities within each blood cell line, with multiple pictures of each morphologic abnormality and variations in their appearance. Written by pathology experts Amy Valenciano, Rick Cowell, Theresa Rizzi, and Ronald Tyler, this concise reference will enhance your skills as you interpret blood smears and recognize hematological cellular response to inflammation, infection, and toxicity."--Provided by publisher.General assessment -- Red blood cells -- White blood cells -- Platelets -- Hematopoietic neoplasia -- Extracellular organisms.Produced by the publisher.Held by CAPER-BC, Langara College.Elsevie
Review: Joseph Urban: Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom
No full textReview of Joseph Urban: Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom by Amy Miller Dehan. Cincinnati Art Museum in association with D Giles Limited, February 2022. 128 p. ill. ISBN 978-1-911282-56-3 (h/c), $49.95. Reviewed July 2022 by Sara Mautino, Librarian, Oklahoma State University School of Architecture - Cunningham Architecture Library, Oklahoma State University Libraries, [email protected]
Narrative forms: Modern American short story cycles by Louise Erdrich and Amy Tan
No full textForrest Ingram wrote the first book-length study of the short story cycle in which he defined the form as "a book of short stories so linked to each other by their author that the reader's successive experience on various levels of the pattern of the whole significantly modifies his experience of each of its component parts." Since then, other critics and theorists have added to and argued against the specifics of Ingram's work. My study will sketch the theory of this form and then employ ideas from various theorists to examine Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and Amy Tan's The loy Luck Club. Through multiple first- and third-person point of view, and the interaction of characters through storytelling, Erdrich and Tan build the themes of community and continuity. Just as the many characters become a community the many stories form a fictive community in the short story cycle
Amy\u27s Army: An Evolution of Support and Grief in a Private Facebook Community
No full textThis paper takes a rhetorical autoethnographic approach to understanding the evolution of support and grief in one private online Facebook group, Amy\u27s Army. Initially created as a private channel for one woman to communicate cancer treatment news to her social network, the Amy’s Army group evolved into a source of support, developed a specific culture, and cultivated offline relationships. Following Amy’s death, the group became a source of grief support, memorialization, and familial support. This paper specifically explores how the group’s rhetoric adapted and transitioned after Amy’s passing. The author argues that the specific community constituted in Amy’s Army served to support the community members’ grief during and after the bereavement transition, perhaps at the expense of the dying person
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