244 research outputs found
Comparison between HIV- and CMV-specific T cell responses in long-term HIV infected donors.
No full textThe mechanisms underlying non-progression in HIV-1 infection are not well understood; however, this state has been associated previously with strong HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses and the preservation of proliferative CD4+ T cell responses to HIV-1 antigens. Using a combination of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) ELISpot assays and tetramer staining, the HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell populations were quantified and characterized in untreated long-term HIV-1-infected non-progressors and individuals with slowly progressive disease, both in relation to CD4+ T cell responses, and in comparison with responses to cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens. High levels of CD8+ T cell responses specific for HIV-1 or CMV were observed, but neither their frequency nor their phenotype seemed to differ between the two patient groups. Moreover, while CMV-specific CD4+ T cell responses were preserved in these donors, IFN-gamma release by HIV-1-specific CD4+ T cells was generally low. These data raise questions with regard to the role played by CD8+ T cells in the establishment and maintenance of long-term non-progression
Ask the expert: How to prevent leg ulcer recurrence when moving into compression hosiery. Leg ulceration
No full textOnce patients’ leg ulcers are healed, it
is recommended that you move them
from compression bandaging into
leg ulcer hosiery kits or maintenance
hosiery. But nurses often have
difficulty in getting patients to comply
with long-term hosiery use — which
does require a lot of commitment — and ulcers often return.
We asked Leanne Atkin, vascular nurse specialist at Mid-
Yorkshire NHS Trust, how to ensure that your patients
keep healing and remain healed when they move into
maintenance compression hosiery
SECONDARY EMISSION PRODUCED BY NEUTRAL MERCURY ATOMS
No full textRights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author
La Vie Dans Les Plis
No full textLa vie dans les plis was premiered at The Firehouse Space (Brooklyn, NY) on June 9, 2014, by violinist Karen Rostron and pianist Mirna Lekić. The piece\u27s title is a reference to an eponimous collection of texts by Belgian author Henri Michaux. There is no direct connection between Michaux\u27s text and the structure of the piece. This choice of title, in addition to its great poetic beauty, is meant as an acknowledgement of my indebtedness to Henri Michaux\u27s writings, and, more generally, to Surrealist - and Surrealist-influenced - poetry, for revealing to me the artistic value of a bold exploration of the self
CD8(+) T-cell selection, function, and death in the primary immune response in vivo.
No full textThe primary immune response to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is characterized by striking proliferation of EBV-specific CD8(+) T cells. In this study we have investigated the clonal composition and functional properties of the cells mediating this primary response and have analyzed the mechanisms that control the downregulation of the primary response and the selection of memory cells. We show that massively expanded T-cell clones often dominate the primary antigen-specific T-cell response. Despite the enormous extent of expansion, the virus-specific T cells express high levels of intracellular perforin and are potently cytotoxic. They are, however, functionally heterogeneous in their ability to secrete proinflammatory cytokines, with subpopulations of the antigen-specific T cells being hyporesponsive. The primary response is closely regulated, and the majority of cells are programmed to die via a cytokine-rescuable pathway, leaving only small populations of memory T cells surviving. Comparison of the clonal composition of primary and memory responses in vivo shows that the clones that dominate the primary response are relatively heavily culled during the downregulation of the primary response and the establishment of T-cell memory
A method to support Leadership Effectiveness in a Construction Project Organisation in Nigeria
No full textAbstract
Title: A method to support Leadership effectiveness in a construction project organisation in Nigeria
Author: Ahmed M. Ibrahim, Doctor of Business Administration, University of Liverpool
Background: The leaders of a construction project organisation live and work in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. These leaders are the participants of this research and desire to improve their effectiveness. Why? The current recession in the Nigerian economy has adversely affected their organisation by drastically slowing down operations. The critical situation signifies the importance of this study which focuses on a $10m (ten million USD) project that involves conceiving, designing, developing and selling of seventy-one houses. The planned lifespan of the project was thirty-five months but has seen an extension of another eighteen months. The extension came directly from the scarcity of funds. The challenge has called for the concerned group or the leaders of the organisation to rethink from an individualistic to a more collaborative approach (Raelin, 2015): an internal response to an external business challenge.
Research question and objectives of the study: The main research question is: How can a method be developed to improve leadership effectiveness in the construction project organisation? The objectives of the study are 1) Developing mutual collaborative behaviour, 2) Value creation from analogical reasoning, 3) Effective decision making from critical reflection. These objectives came from the three organisational issues that make up the organisational problem.
Methodology and methods of inquiry: The action research methodology was used to work on the organisational problem. A social constructionist perspective and the positive note of appreciative inquiry were used to define the challenge collectively, take action, and evaluate the action. The aim was to develop an ethical process to dealing with messy problems not by solving situations but by making them significantly better.
Outcomes: The result was the development of actionable knowledge for the participants from the three areas of collaboration, value creation and effective decision making. While these areas were developed from the three organisational issues, a collective action inquiry phase together with an individual template analysis by the researcher revealed three other thought-provoking areas. These findings were 1) Integrative, 2) Questioning, and 3) Development and Learning approach to leadership effectiveness. There was also methodological significance as the action inquiry process highlighted leadership effectiveness as appreciative, developmental and as a continuously evolving process. Finally, there was the continuous application of critical reflexive practice as personal development for the researcher. Alternatively, there was a challenge of managing organisational politics which was confirmed as the most complex process in researching one's organisation.
Limitations: Although there were several limitations in this study the ones that stand out are: firstly, the action inquiry phase was majorly within the leadership team. Hence there was a limitation in the exploration with external stakeholders. Secondly, the participants were used to facts and figures to confirm the impact of inquiries like this one. As a result, a mixed-method study could have provided additional evidence on the findings of the study.
Keywords: Leadership effectiveness, project management, action research, case study research, template analysi
Shows the mean, median and range angles for both males and females groups and comparing the results using Independent t-test to show the significance.
No full textShows the mean, median and range angles for both males and females groups and comparing the results using Independent t-test to show the significance.</p
Beyond Market Share Liability: Theory of Proportional Share Liability for Nonfungible Products
No full textTwenty-five years have passed since courts first adopted market share liability, a theory under which a plaintiff unable to identify the manufacturer of the product that caused his injury can recover on a proportional basis from each manufacturer that might have made the product. Courts have severely restricted the reach of this potentially powerful theory by insisting that it can apply only to products that are perfectly fungible. Most products vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, posing different levels of risk, and therefore do not satisfy the fungibility requirement. As a result, courts have applied market share liability to a very small number of products.
This Article argues that courts should eliminate the fungibility requirement by recognizing that market share liability is just one variant of a broader concept that the author calls proportional share liability. Rather than deny recovery in cases involving products that pose varying degrees of danger, courts should consider whether proportional share liability can be imposed by using information other than market share data to make a reasonable and fair allocation of liability among the defendants. This Article examines the potential application of proportional share liability in a wide variety of contexts, including vaccines or lead paint causing brain damage, violence fueled by negligent distribution and sales of firearms, disease resulting from exposure to asbestos or tobacco, and damage to spacecraft from collisions with orbital debris
Rapid death of adoptively transferred T cells in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
No full textHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) probably play the major role in controlling HIV replication. However, the value of adoptive transfer of HIV-specific CTL expanded in vitro to HIV+ patients has been limited: this contrasts with the success of CTL therapy in treating or preventing Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus disease after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). We investigated the fate of expanded HIV-specific CTL clones in vivo following adoptive transfer to a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Two autologous CTL clones specific for HIV Gag and Pol were expanded to large numbers (>10(9)) in vitro and infused into an HIV-infected patient whose viral load was rising despite antiretroviral therapy. The fate of one clone was monitored by staining peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with T-cell receptor-specific tetrameric major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-peptide complexes. Although the CTL transfer was well tolerated, there were no significant changes in CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte counts and virus load. By tracking an infused clone using soluble MHC-peptide complexes, we show that cells bearing the Gag-specific T-cell receptors were rapidly eliminated within hours of infusion through apoptosis. Thus, the failure of adoptively transferred HIV-specific CTL to reduce virus load in AIDS may be due to rapid apoptosis of the infused cells, triggered by a number of potential mechanisms. Further trials of adoptive transfer of CTL should take into account the susceptibility of infused cells to in vivo apoptosis
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