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Lewis RC, Smith SJ, Krevanko CF, Hall ED, Miller EW, Beckett EM, Pierce JS. Occupational exposure to cosmetic talc and mesothelioma in barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists: A systematic review of the epidemiology. Toxicol Ind Health 2023; 39:564-582. [PMID: 37527434 DOI: 10.1177/07482337231191162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Inhalation exposure to cosmetic talc has generated much scientific debate regarding its potential as a risk factor for mesothelioma, a rare, but fatal cancer. Barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists have regularly used cosmetic talc-containing products, but the collective epidemiological evidence for mesothelioma in these occupations has yet to be described. As such, we conducted a systematic review of PubMed and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) Numbered Publications list to identify original epidemiological literature reporting measures of association between these occupations and incidence of or death from mesothelioma. Literature screening was performed independently twice, the results of which were summarized and tabulated and underwent a review for their accuracy. A total of 12 studies met our inclusion criteria, including three cohort, six case-control, and three proportionate mortality/registration studies. The data from these studies were collected in 13 European and North American countries, spanning more than 50 years. We supplemented this review with queries of occupational mortality databases that are managed by the Washington State Department of Health and NIOSH for 26 U.S. states. Most findings were null and if statistically significant, nearly all showed an inverse relationship, indicative of a protective effect of these occupations on mesothelioma risk. Overall, the epidemiological evidence does not support an increased risk of mesothelioma for these occupations. This research fills an important data gap on the etiology of mesothelioma in barbers, hairdressers, and cosmetologists, and provides a benchmark for those with comparatively less exposure, such as non-occupational users of similar cosmetic talc-containing products.
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Bucciarelli GM, Smith SJ, Choe JJ, Shin PD, Fisher RN, Kats LB. Native amphibian toxin reduces invasive crayfish feeding with potential benefits to stream biodiversity. BMC Ecol Evol 2023; 23:51. [PMID: 37700256 PMCID: PMC10498594 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-023-02162-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Biodiversity is generally reduced when non-native species invade an ecosystem. Invasive crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, populate California freshwater streams, and in the Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles, USA), their introduction has led to trophic cascades due to omnivorous feeding behavior and a rapid rate of population growth. The native California newt, Taricha torosa, possesses a neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX), that affects freshwater animal behavior. Given P. clarkii has a limited evolutionary history with TTX, we hypothesized that TTX may affect crayfish feeding behaviors. To determine if TTX affects P. clarkii behavior, we measured cumulative movement and various feeding behaviors of P. clarkii exposed to (i) waterborne, ecologically realistic concentrations of TTX (~ 3.0 × 10- 8 moles/L), (ii) an anuran chemical cue to account for intraguild cues, or (iii) a T. torosa chemical cue with quantitated TTX in it (~ 6.2 × 10- 8 moles/L). RESULTS We found that the presence of TTX in any form significantly reduced crayfish movement and decreased the amount of food consumed over time. Crayfish responses to the anuran treatment did not significantly differ from controls. CONCLUSION Our laboratory results show that naturally occurring neurotoxin from native California newts limits invasive crayfish foraging and feeding rates, which may play a role in preserving local stream ecosystems by limiting invasive crayfish behaviors that are detrimental to biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary M Bucciarelli
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | - Sierra J Smith
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, 90263, USA
| | - Justin J Choe
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, 90263, USA
| | - Phoebe D Shin
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, 90263, USA
| | - Robert N Fisher
- Western Ecological Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, San Diego, CA, 92101, USA
| | - Lee B Kats
- Natural Science Division, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, 90263, USA
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Sandau US, McFarland TJ, Smith SJ, Galasko DR, Quinn JF, Saugstad JA. Differential Effects of APOE Genotype on MicroRNA Cargo of Cerebrospinal Fluid Extracellular Vesicles in Females With Alzheimer's Disease Compared to Males. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:864022. [PMID: 35573689 PMCID: PMC9092217 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.864022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple biological factors, including age, sex, and genetics, influence Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Of the 6.2 million Americans living with Alzheimer's dementia in 2021, 3.8 million are women and 2.4 million are men. The strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic AD is apolipoprotein E-e4 (APOE-e4). Female APOE-e4 carriers develop AD more frequently than age-matched males and have more brain atrophy and memory loss. Consequently, biomarkers that are sensitive to biological risk factors may improve AD diagnostics and may provide insight into underlying mechanistic changes that could drive disease progression. Here, we have assessed the effects of sex and APOE-e4 on the miRNA cargo of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) extracellular vesicles (EVs) in AD. We used ultrafiltration (UF) combined with size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to enrich CSF EVs (e.g., Flotillin+). CSF EVs were isolated from female and male AD or controls (CTLs) that were either APOE-e3,4 or -e3,3 positive (n = 7/group, 56 total). MiRNA expression levels were quantified using a custom TaqMan™ array that assayed 190 miRNAs previously found in CSF, including 25 miRNAs that we previously validated as candidate AD biomarkers. We identified changes in the EV miRNA cargo that were affected by both AD and sex. In total, four miRNAs (miR-16-5p, -331-3p, -409-3p, and -454-3p) were significantly increased in AD vs. CTL, independent of sex and APOE-e4 status. Pathway analysis of the predicted gene targets of these four miRNAs with identified pathways was highly relevant to neurodegeneration (e.g., senescence and autophagy). There were also three miRNAs (miR-146b-5p, -150-5p, and -342-3p) that were significantly increased in females vs. males, independent of disease state and APOE-e4 status. We then performed a statistical analysis to assess the effect of APOE genotype in AD within each sex and found that APOE-e4 status affects different subsets of CSF EV miRNAs in females vs. males. Together, this study demonstrates the complexity of the biological factors associated with AD risk and the impact on EV miRNAs, which may contribute to AD pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula S. Sandau
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Trevor J. McFarland
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Sierra J. Smith
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Douglas R. Galasko
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Joseph F. Quinn
- Department of Neurology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
- Parkinson Center and Movement Disorders Program, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
- Portland VAMC Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Julie A. Saugstad
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
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Clark MA, Ota WM, Smith SJ, Muramoto BK, Ngo S, Chan GE, Kenyon MA, Sturtevant MC, Diamond MG, Bucciarelli GM, Kats LB. A natural experiment identifies an impending ecological trap for a neotropical amphibian in response to extreme weather events. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8848. [PMID: 35475175 PMCID: PMC9034451 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Extreme weather events are predicted to increase as a result of climate change, yet amphibian responses to extreme disturbance events remain understudied, especially in the Neotropics. Recently, an unprecedented windstorm within a protected Costa Rican rainforest opened large light gaps in sites where we have studied behavioral responses of diurnal strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) to ultraviolet radiation for nearly two decades. Previous studies demonstrate that O. pumilio selects and defends perches where ultraviolet radiation (UV‐B) is relatively low, likely because of the lethal and sublethal effects of UV‐B. In this natural experiment, we quantified disturbance to O. pumilio habitat, surveyed for the presence of O. pumilio in both high‐disturbance and low‐disturbance areas of the forest, and assessed UV‐B levels and perch selection behavior in both disturbance levels. Fewer frogs were detected in high‐disturbance habitat than in low‐disturbance habitat. In general, frogs were found vocalizing at perches in both disturbance levels, and in both cases, in significantly lower UV‐B levels relative to ambient adjacent surroundings. However, frogs at perches in high‐disturbance areas were exposed to UV‐B levels nearly 10 times greater than males at perches in low‐disturbance areas. Thus, behavioral avoidance of UV‐B may not reduce the risks associated with elevated exposure under these novel conditions, and similarly, if future climate and human‐driven land‐use change lead to sustained analogous environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan A Clark
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - William M Ota
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Sierra J Smith
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Brett K Muramoto
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Summer Ngo
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Gabriella E Chan
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Maxwell A Kenyon
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | | | - Max G Diamond
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
| | - Gary M Bucciarelli
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology UCLA Los Angeles California USA.,La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science Los Angeles California USA
| | - Lee B Kats
- Natural Science Division Pepperdine University Malibu California USA
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McFarland TJ, Sandau US, Smith SJ, Baker SC, Saugstad JA. Extracellular vesicle miRNA from cerebrospinal fluid as potential biomarkers for neurodegeneration. Alzheimers Dement 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.057306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ursula S. Sandau
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Sierra J. Smith
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Sarah Catherine Baker
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Julie A. Saugstad
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
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Sandau US, McFarland T, Smith SJ, Baker SC, Duggan E, Nolan JP, Saugstad JA. Utility of extracellular vesicles and their MicroRNA cargo as biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.057265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ursula S. Sandau
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Trevor McFarland
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Sierra J. Smith
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | - Sarah Catherine Baker
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
| | | | | | - Julie A Saugstad
- Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine Portland OR USA
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Sandau US, Duggan E, Shi X, Smith SJ, Huckans M, Schutzer WE, Loftis JM, Janowsky A, Nolan JP, Saugstad JA. Methamphetamine use alters human plasma extracellular vesicles and their microRNA cargo: An exploratory study. J Extracell Vesicles 2020; 10:e12028. [PMID: 33613872 PMCID: PMC7890470 DOI: 10.1002/jev2.12028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Methamphetamine (MA) is the largest drug threat across the globe, with health effects including neurotoxicity and cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have begun to link microRNAs (miRNAs) to the processes related to MA use and addiction. Our studies are the first to analyse plasma EVs and their miRNA cargo in humans actively using MA (MA-ACT) and control participants (CTL). In this cohort we also assessed the effects of tobacco use on plasma EVs. We used vesicle flow cytometry to show that the MA-ACT group had an increased abundance of EV tetraspanin markers (CD9, CD63, CD81), but not pro-coagulant, platelet-, and red blood cell-derived EVs. We also found that of the 169 plasma EV miRNAs, eight were of interest in MA-ACT based on multiple statistical criteria. In smokers, we identified 15 miRNAs of interest, two that overlapped with the eight MA-ACT miRNAs. Three of the MA-ACT miRNAs significantly correlated with clinical features of MA use and target prediction with these miRNAs identified pathways implicated in MA use, including cardiovascular disease and neuroinflammation. Together our findings indicate that MA use regulates EVs and their miRNA cargo, and support that further studies are warranted to investigate their mechanistic role in addiction, recovery, and recidivism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula S. Sandau
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative MedicineOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | | | - Xiao Shi
- VA Portland Health Care SystemPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of PsychiatryOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Methamphetamine Research CenterOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of Behavioral NeuroscienceOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | - Sierra J. Smith
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative MedicineOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | - Marilyn Huckans
- VA Portland Health Care SystemPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of PsychiatryOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Methamphetamine Research CenterOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Clinical Psychology ProgramOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | - William E. Schutzer
- VA Portland Health Care SystemPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of PsychiatryOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Methamphetamine Research CenterOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of Behavioral NeuroscienceOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | - Jennifer M. Loftis
- VA Portland Health Care SystemPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of PsychiatryOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Methamphetamine Research CenterOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Clinical Psychology ProgramOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | - Aaron Janowsky
- VA Portland Health Care SystemPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of PsychiatryOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Methamphetamine Research CenterOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
- Department of Behavioral NeuroscienceOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
| | | | - Julie A. Saugstad
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative MedicineOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
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Sandau US, Wiedrick JT, Smith SJ, McFarland TJ, Lusardi TA, Lind B, Harrington CA, Lapidus JA, Galasko DR, Quinn JF, Saugstad JA. Performance of Validated MicroRNA Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease in Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis 2020; 78:245-263. [PMID: 32955460 PMCID: PMC9262405 DOI: 10.3233/jad-200396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been identified, but have not been evaluated in prodromal AD, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI). OBJECTIVE To assess whether a set of validated AD miRNA biomarkers in CSF are also sensitive to early-stage pathology as exemplified by MCI diagnosis. METHODS We measured the expression of 17 miRNA biomarkers for AD in CSF samples from AD, MCI, and cognitively normal controls (NC). We then examined classification performance of the miRNAs individually and in combination. For each miRNA, we assessed median expression in each diagnostic group and classified markers as trending linearly, nonlinearly, or lacking any trend across the three groups. For trending miRNAs, we assessed multimarker classification performance alone and in combination with apolipoprotein E ɛ4 allele (APOEɛ4) genotype and amyloid-β42 to total tau ratio (Aβ42:T-Tau). We identified predicted targets of trending miRNAs using pathway analysis. RESULTS Five miRNAs showed a linear trend of decreasing median expression across the ordered diagnoses (control to MCI to AD). The trending miRNAs jointly predicted AD with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.770, and MCI with AUC of 0.705. Aβ42:T-Tau alone predicted MCI with AUC of 0.758 and the AUC improved to 0.813 (p = 0.051) after adding the trending miRNAs. Multivariate correlation of the five trending miRNAs with Aβ42:T-Tau was weak. CONCLUSION Selected miRNAs combined with Aβ42:T-Tau improved classification performance (relative to protein biomarkers alone) for MCI, despite a weak correlation with Aβ42:T-Tau. Together these data suggest that that these miRNAs carry novel information relevant to AD, even at the MCI stage. Preliminary target prediction analysis suggests novel roles for these biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ursula S. Sandau
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Jack T. Wiedrick
- Biostatistics & Design Program, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Sierra J. Smith
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Trevor J. McFarland
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Theresa A. Lusardi
- Knight Cancer Institute Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Babett Lind
- Department of Neurology, Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | | | - Jodi A. Lapidus
- Biostatistics & Design Program, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
- Oregon Health & Science University–Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Douglas R. Galasko
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph F. Quinn
- Parkinson Center and Movement Disorders Program, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
- Portland VAMC Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Julie A. Saugstad
- Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
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Smith SJ, Parveen S, Sass C, Drury M, Oyebode JR, Surr CA. An audit of dementia education and training in UK health and social care: a comparison with national benchmark standards. BMC Health Serv Res 2019; 19:711. [PMID: 31638974 PMCID: PMC6802111 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-019-4510-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite people living with dementia representing a significant proportion of health and social care users, until recently in the United Kingdom (UK) there were no prescribed standards for dementia education and training. This audit sought to review the extent and nature of dementia education and training offered to health and social care staff in the UK against the standards described in the 2015 Dementia Training Standards Framework, which describes the knowledge and skills required of the UK dementia workforce. METHODS This audit presents national data concerning the design, delivery, target audience, length, level, content, format of training, number of staff trained and frequency of delivery within existing dementia training programmes offered to health and social care staff. The Dementia Training Standards Framework was used as a reference for respondents to describe the subjects and learning outcomes associated with their training. RESULTS The findings are presented from 614 respondents offering 386 training packages, which indicated variations in the extent and quality of training. Many training packages addressed the subjects of 'person-centred care', 'communication', 'interaction and behaviour in dementia care', and 'dementia awareness'. Few training packages addressed subjects concerning 'pharmacological interventions in dementia care', 'leadership' and 'end of life care'. Fewer than 40% of The Dementia Training Standards Framework learning outcomes targeted to staff with regular contact with people with dementia or in leadership roles were covered by the reported packages. However, for training targeted at increasing dementia awareness more than 70% of the learning outcomes identified in The Dementia Training Standards Framework were addressed. Many training packages are not of sufficient duration to derive impact; although the majority employed delivery methods likely to be effective. CONCLUSIONS The development of new and existing training and education should take account of subjects that are currently underrepresented and ensure that training reflects the Training Standard Framework and evidence regarding best practice for delivery. Lessons regarding the limitations of training in the UK serve as a useful illustration of the challenge of implementing national dementia training standards; particularly for countries who are developing or have recently implemented national dementia strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Centre for Dementia Research, School of Health and Community Studies, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS1 3HE, UK.
| | - S Parveen
- Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD5 0BB, UK
| | - C Sass
- Centre for Dementia Research, School of Health and Community Studies, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS1 3HE, UK
| | - M Drury
- Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD5 0BB, UK
| | - J R Oyebode
- Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD5 0BB, UK
| | - C A Surr
- Centre for Dementia Research, School of Health and Community Studies, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, LS1 3HE, UK
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Durkin M, Adams JS, Bandler SR, Chervenak JA, Chaudhuri S, Dawson CS, Denison EV, Doriese WB, Duff SM, Finkbeiner FM, FitzGerald CT, Fowler JW, Gard JD, Hilton GC, Irwin KD, Joe YI, Kelley RL, Kilbourne CA, Miniussi AR, Morgan KM, O'Neil GC, Pappas CG, Porter FS, Reintsema CD, Rudman DA, SaKai K, Smith SJ, Stevens RW, Swetz DS, Szypryt P, Ullom JN, Vale LR, Wakeham N, Weber JC, Young BA. Demonstration of Athena X-IFU Compatible 40-Row Time-Division-Multiplexed Readout. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond 2019; 29:2101005. [PMID: 31160861 PMCID: PMC6544157 DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2019.2904472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is the backup readout technology for the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU), a 3,168-pixel X-ray transition-edge sensor (TES) array that will provide imaging spectroscopy for ESA's Athena satellite mission. X-0IFU design studies are considering readout with a multiplexing factor of up to 40. We present data showing 40-row TDM readout (32 TES rows + 8 repeats of the last row) of TESs that are of the same type as those being planned for X-IFU, using measurement and analysis parameters within the ranges specified for X-IFU. Singlecolumn TDM measurements have best-fit energy resolution of (1.91 ± 0.01) eV for the Al Kα complex (1.5 keV), (2.10 ± 0.02) eV for Ti Kα (4.5 keV), (2.23 ± 0.02) eV for Mn Kα (5.9 keV), (2.40 ± 0.02) eV for Co Kα (6.9 keV), and (3.44 ± 0.04) eV for Br Kα (11.9 keV). Three-column measurements have best-fit resolution of (2.03 ± 0.01) eV for Ti Kα and (2.40 ± 0.01) eV for Co Kα. The degradation due to the multiplexed readout ranges from 0.1 eV at the lower end of the energy range to 0.5 eV at the higher end. The demonstrated performance meets X-IFU's energy-resolution and energy-range requirements. True 40-row TDM readout, without repeated rows, of kilopixel scale arrays of X-IFU-like TESs is now under development.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Durkin
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J S Adams
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - S R Bandler
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - J A Chervenak
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - S Chaudhuri
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - C S Dawson
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - E V Denison
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - W B Doriese
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S M Duff
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - F M Finkbeiner
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - C T FitzGerald
- Santa Clara University Dept. of Physics, Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA
| | - J W Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J D Gard
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C Hilton
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K D Irwin
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Y I Joe
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - R L Kelley
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - C A Kilbourne
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - A R Miniussi
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - K M Morgan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C O'Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C G Pappas
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - F S Porter
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - C D Reintsema
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D A Rudman
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K SaKai
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - S J Smith
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - R W Stevens
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D S Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - P Szypryt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J N Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L R Vale
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - N Wakeham
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - J C Weber
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - B A Young
- Santa Clara University Dept. of Physics, Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA
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11
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Jaeckel FT, Ambarish CV, Christensen N, Gruenke R, Hu L, McCammon D, McPheron M, Meyer M, Nelms KL, Roy A, Wulf D, Zhang S, Zhou Y, Adams JS, Bandler SR, Chervenak JA, Datesman AM, Eckart ME, Ewin AJ, Finkbeiner FM, Kelley R, Kilbourne CA, Miniussi AR, Porter FS, Sadleir JE, Sakai K, Smith SJ, Wakeham N, Wassell E, Yoon W, Morgan KM, Schmidt DR, Swetz DS, Ullom JN. Energy calibration of high-resolution X-Ray TES microcalorimeters with 3 eV optical photons. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond 2019; 29:2100104. [PMID: 31186605 PMCID: PMC6557579 DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2019.2899856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
With the improving energy resolution of transitionedge sensor (TES) based microcalorimeters, performance verification and calibration of these detectors has become increasingly challenging, especially in the energy range below 1 keV where fluorescent atomic X-ray lines have linewidths that are wider than the detector energy resolution and require impractically high statistics to determine the gain and deconvolve the instrumental profile. Better behaved calibration sources such as grating monochromators are too cumbersome for space missions and are difficult to use in the lab. As an alternative, we are exploring the use of pulses of 3 eV optical photons delivered by an optical fiber to generate combs of known energies with known arrival times. Here, we discuss initial results of this technique obtained with 2 eV and 0.7 eV resolution X-ray microcalorimeters. With the 2 eV detector, we have achieved photon number resolution for pulses with mean photon number up to 133 (corresponding to 0.4 keV).
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Affiliation(s)
- F T Jaeckel
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - C V Ambarish
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - N Christensen
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - R Gruenke
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - L Hu
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - D McCammon
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - M McPheron
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - M Meyer
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - K L Nelms
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - A Roy
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - D Wulf
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - S Zhang
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Y Zhou
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
| | - J S Adams
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - S R Bandler
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - J A Chervenak
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - A M Datesman
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - M E Eckart
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - A J Ewin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - F M Finkbeiner
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - R Kelley
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - C A Kilbourne
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - A R Miniussi
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - F S Porter
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - J E Sadleir
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - K Sakai
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - S J Smith
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - N Wakeham
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - E Wassell
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - W Yoon
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771
| | - K M Morgan
- National Institute for Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305
| | - D R Schmidt
- National Institute for Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305
| | - D S Swetz
- National Institute for Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305
| | - J N Ullom
- National Institute for Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305
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12
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Brown MR, Baptista JC, Lunn M, Swan DL, Smith SJ, Davenport RJ, Allen BD, Sloan WT, Curtis TP. Coupled virus - bacteria interactions and ecosystem function in an engineered microbial system. Water Res 2019; 152:264-273. [PMID: 30682570 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2018] [Revised: 01/06/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Viruses are thought to control bacterial abundance, affect community composition and influence ecosystem function in natural environments. Yet their dynamics have seldom been studied in engineered systems, or indeed in any system, for long periods of time. We measured virus abundance in a full-scale activated sludge plant every week for two years. Total bacteria and ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) abundances, bacterial community profiles, and a suite of environmental and operational parameters were also monitored. Mixed liquor virus abundance fluctuated over an order of magnitude (3.18 × 108-3.41 × 109 virus's mL-1) and that variation was statistically significantly associated with total bacterial and AOB abundance, community composition, and effluent concentrations of COD and NH4+- N and thus system function. This suggests viruses play a far more important role in the dynamics of activated sludge systems than previously realised and could be one of the key factors controlling bacterial abundance, community structure and functional stability and may cause reactors to fail. These findings are based on statistical associations, not mechanistic models. Nevertheless, viral associations with abiotic factors, such as pH, make physical sense, giving credence to these findings and highlighting the role that physical factors play in virus ecology. Further work is needed to identify and quantify specific bacteriophage and their hosts to enable us to develop mechanistic models of the ecology of viruses in wastewater treatment systems. However, since we have shown that viruses can be related to effluent quality and virus quantification is simple and cheap, practitioners would probably benefit from quantifying viruses now.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Brown
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK.
| | - J C Baptista
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - M Lunn
- Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, OX1 3TG, UK
| | - D L Swan
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - S J Smith
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - R J Davenport
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - B D Allen
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - W T Sloan
- Department of Civil Engineering, University of Glasgow, G12 8LT, UK
| | - T P Curtis
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, UK
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13
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Doriese WB, Bandler SR, Chaudhuri S, Dawson CS, Denison EV, Duff SM, Durkin M, FitzGerald CT, Fowler JW, Gard JD, Hilton GC, Irwin KD, Joe YI, Morgan KM, O'Neil GC, Pappas CG, Reintsema CD, Rudman DA, Smith SJ, Stevens RW, Swetz DS, Szypryt P, Ullom JN, Vale LR, Weber JC, Young BA. Optimization of Time- and Code-Division-Multiplexed Readout for Athena X-IFU. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond 2019; 29:10.1109/TASC.2019.2905577. [PMID: 31360051 PMCID: PMC6662226 DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2019.2905577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Readout of a large, spacecraft-based array of superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) requires careful management of the layout area and power dissipation of the cryogenic-circuit components. We present three optimizations of our time- (TDM) and code-division-multiplexing (CDM) systems for the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU), a several-thousand-pixel-TES array for the planned Athena-satellite mission. The first optimization is a new readout scheme that is a hybrid of CDM and TDM. This C/TDM architecture balances CDM's noise advantage with TDM's layout compactness. The second is a redesign of a component: the shunt resistor that provides a dc-voltage bias to the TESs. A new layout and a thicker Pd-Au resistive layer combine to reduce this resistor's area by more than a factor of 5. Third, we have studied the power dissipated by the first-stage SQUIDs (superconducting quantum-interference devices) and the readout noise versus the critical current of the first-stage SqUIDs. As a result, the X-IFU TDM and C/TDM SQUIDs will have a specified junction critical current of 5 μA. Based on these design optimizations and TDM experiments described by Durkin, et al. (these proceedings), TDM meets all requirements to be X-IFU's backup-readout option. Hybrid C/TDM is another viable option that could save spacecraft resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- W B Doriese
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S R Bandler
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - S Chaudhuri
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - C S Dawson
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - E V Denison
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S M Duff
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - M Durkin
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C T FitzGerald
- Santa Clara University Dept. of Physics, Santa Clara, CA 95053 USA
| | - J W Fowler
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J D Gard
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C Hilton
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K D Irwin
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Y I Joe
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - K M Morgan
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - G C O'Neil
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C G Pappas
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - C D Reintsema
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D A Rudman
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - S J Smith
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - R W Stevens
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - D S Swetz
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - P Szypryt
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J N Ullom
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - L R Vale
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - J C Weber
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
| | - B A Young
- Stanford University Dept. of Physics, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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14
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Zhou Y, Ambarish CV, Gruenke R, Jaeckel FT, Kripps KL, McCammon D, Morgan KM, Wulf D, Zhang S, Adams JS, Bandler SR, Chervenak JA, Datesman AM, Eckart ME, Ewin AJ, Finkbeiner FM, Kelley RL, Kilbourne CA, Miniussi AR, Porter FS, Sadleir JE, Sakai K, Smith SJ, Wakeham NA, Wassell EJ, Yoon W. Mapping TES Temperature Sensitivity and Current Sensitivity as a Function of Temperature, Current, and Magnetic Field with IV curve and Complex Admittance Measurements. J Low Temp Phys 2018; 193:321-327. [PMID: 31186584 PMCID: PMC6557576 DOI: 10.1007/s10909-018-1970-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We have specialized astronomical applications for X-ray microcalorimeters with superconducting transition edge sensors (TESs) that require exceptionally good TES performance, but which operate in the small-signal regime. We have therefore begun a program to carefully characterize the entire transition surface of TESs with and without the usual zebra stripes to see if there are reproducible local "sweet spots" where the performance is much better than average. These measurements require precise knowledge of the circuit parameters. Here, we show how the Shapiro effect can be used to precisely calibrate the value of the shunt-resistor. We are also investigating the effects of stress and external magnetic fields to better understand reproducibility problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Zhou
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - C V Ambarish
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - R Gruenke
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - F T Jaeckel
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - K L Kripps
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - D McCammon
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - K M Morgan
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - D Wulf
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - S Zhang
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - J S Adams
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - S R Bandler
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J A Chervenak
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - A M Datesman
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - M E Eckart
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - A J Ewin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | | | - R L Kelley
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - C A Kilbourne
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - A R Miniussi
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - F S Porter
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - J E Sadleir
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - K Sakai
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - S J Smith
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - N A Wakeham
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - E J Wassell
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
| | - W Yoon
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
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15
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Brandt-Rauf PW, Niman HL, Smith SJ. Correlation between Serum Oncogene Protein Expression and the Development of Neoplastic Disease in a Worker Exposed to Carcinogens. J R Soc Med 2018; 83:594-5. [PMID: 2213815 PMCID: PMC1292827 DOI: 10.1177/014107689008300922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- P W Brandt-Rauf
- Division of Environmental Sciences, Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032
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16
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Wassell EJ, Adams JS, Bandler SR, Betancourt-Martinez GL, Chiao MP, Chang MP, Chervenak JA, Datesman AM, Eckart ME, Ewin AJ, Finkbeiner FM, Ha JY, Kelley R, Kilbourne CA, Miniussi AR, Sakai K, Porter F, Sadleir JE, Smith SJ, Wakeham NA, Yoon W. Fabrication of X-ray Microcalorimeter Focal Planes Composed of Two Distinct Pixel Types. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond 2017; 27:2300205. [PMID: 28804229 PMCID: PMC5548520 DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2016.2633783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We are developing superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter focal planes for versatility in meeting specifications of X-ray imaging spectrometers including high count-rate, high energy resolution, and large field-of-view. In particular, a focal plane composed of two sub-arrays: one of fine-pitch, high count-rate devices and the other of slower, larger pixels with similar energy resolution, offers promise for the next generation of astrophysics instruments, such as the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument on the European Space Agency's Athena mission. We have based the sub-arrays of our current design on successful pixel designs that have been demonstrated separately. Pixels with an all gold X-ray absorber on 50 and 75 micron scales where the Mo/Au TES sits atop a thick metal heatsinking layer have shown high resolution and can accommodate high count-rates. The demonstrated larger pixels use a silicon nitride membrane for thermal isolation, thinner Au and an added bismuth layer in a 250 micron square absorber. To tune the parameters of each sub-array requires merging the fabrication processes of the two detector types. We present the fabrication process for dual production of different X-ray absorbers on the same substrate, thick Au on the small pixels and thinner Au with a Bi capping layer on the larger pixels to tune their heat capacities. The process requires multiple electroplating and etching steps, but the absorbers are defined in a single ion milling step. We demonstrate methods for integrating heatsinking of the two types of pixel into the same focal plane consistent with the requirements for each sub-array, including the limiting of thermal crosstalk. We also discuss fabrication process modifications for tuning the intrinsic transition temperature (Tc) of the bilayers for the different device types through variation of the bilayer thicknesses. The latest results on these "hybrid" arrays will be presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- E J Wassell
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Stinger-Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - J S Adams
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. CRESST, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - S R Bandler
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - G L Betancourt-Martinez
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - M P Chiao
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - M P Chang
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - J A Chervenak
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - A M Datesman
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Stinger-Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
| | - M E Eckart
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - A J Ewin
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - F M Finkbeiner
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Wyle Information Systems, McLean, VA 22102 USA
| | - J Y Ha
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. SB Microsystems Inc., Glen Burnie, MD 20161 USA
| | - R Kelley
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - C A Kilbourne
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - A R Miniussi
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - K Sakai
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Universities Space Research Association, MD, USA
| | - F Porter
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - J E Sadleir
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA
| | - S J Smith
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. CRESST, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA
| | - N A Wakeham
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Universities Space Research Association, MD, USA
| | - W Yoon
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA. Universities Space Research Association, MD, USA
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17
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Abstract
Objective: To investigate the association between gender and deprivation and rates of admission to a national neurorehabilitation facility following subarachnoid haemorrhage or traumatic brain injury. Design: Retrospective analysis of hospital activity data. Setting: Lothian Health Board hospital activity; national neurorehabilitation centre. Subjects: Patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage or traumatic brain injury. Methods: We obtained data for hospital discharge for subarachnoid haemorrhage and traumatic brain injury for patients living in the Lothian Health Board area for the five years 1995 to 1999 by age (15 and over), sex and deprivation category of home residence from nationally held data sets. Similar data were extracted for discharges from the national neurorehabilitation unit. Main measures: Rates of neurorehabilitation admission per 1000 hospital admissions. Chi-squared testing was used to assess statistical significance. Results: Data for 13 338 hospital admissions and 329 neurorehabilitation admissions were available. We observed higher than expected rates of rehabilitation admission for men with subarachnoid haemorrhage and for patients from more affluent postcode sectors with traumatic brain injury. Conclusion: Higher rehabilitation rates are seen among men following subarachnoid haemorrhage and may indicate a focus on return-to-work in the referral or assessment of those suitable for or requiring neurorehabilitation. Higher rehabilitation rates in head injury in those from Carstairs Deprivation Category (DepCat) 2 postcode sectors may represent a bias favouring those from affluent areas in the interaction between the individual and the health service in this group.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Macleod
- Clinical Neurosciences, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
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18
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Surr CA, Smith SJ, Crossland J, Robins J. Impact of a person-centred dementia care training programme on hospital staff attitudes, role efficacy and perceptions of caring for people with dementia: A repeated measures study. Int J Nurs Stud 2015; 53:144-51. [PMID: 26421910 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2015] [Revised: 09/09/2015] [Accepted: 09/09/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND People with dementia occupy up to one quarter of acute hospital beds. However, the quality of care delivered to this patient group is of national concern. Staff working in acute hospitals report lack of knowledge, skills and confidence in caring for people with dementia. There is limited evidence about the most effective approaches to supporting acute hospital staff to deliver more person-centred care. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a specialist training programme for acute hospital staff regarding improving attitudes, satisfaction and feelings of caring efficacy, in provision of care to people with dementia. DESIGN A repeated measures design, with measures completed immediately prior to commencing training (T1), after completion of Foundation level training (T2: 4-6 weeks post-baseline), and following Intermediate level training (T3: 3-4 months post-baseline). SETTING One NHS Trust in the North of England, UK. PARTICIPANTS 40 acute hospital staff working in clinical roles, the majority of whom (90%) were nurses. METHODS All participants received the 3.5 day Person-centred Care Training for Acute Hospitals (PCTAH) programme, comprised of two levels, Foundation (0.5 day) and Intermediate (3 days), delivered over a 3-4 months period. Staff demographics and previous exposure to dementia training were collected via a questionnaire. Staff attitudes were measured using the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ), satisfaction in caring for people with dementia was captured using the Staff Experiences of Working with Demented Residents questionnaire (SEWDR) and perceived caring efficacy was measured using the Caring Efficacy Scale (CES). RESULTS The training programme was effective in producing a significant positive change on all three outcome measures following intermediate training compared to baseline. A significant positive effect was found on the ADQ between baseline and after completion of Foundation level training, but not for either of the other measures. CONCLUSIONS Training acute hospital staff in Intermediate level person-centred dementia care is effective in producing significant improvements in attitudes towards and satisfaction in caring for people with dementia and feelings of caring efficacy. Foundation level training is effective in changing attitudes but does not seem to be sufficient to bring about change in satisfaction or caring efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- C A Surr
- School of Health and Communities Studies, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, UK.
| | - S J Smith
- School of Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, UK
| | | | - J Robins
- School of Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, UK
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19
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Nosheny RL, Belichenko PV, Busse BL, Weissmiller AM, Dang V, Das D, Fahimi A, Salehi A, Smith SJ, Mobley WC. Increased cortical synaptic activation of TrkB and downstream signaling markers in a mouse model of Down Syndrome. Neurobiol Dis 2015; 77:173-90. [PMID: 25753471 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.02.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2014] [Revised: 02/15/2015] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Down Syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, is characterized by synaptic abnormalities and cognitive deficits throughout the lifespan and with development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology and progressive cognitive decline in adults. Synaptic abnormalities are also present in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS, but which synapses are affected and the mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction are unknown. Here we show marked increases in the levels and activation status of TrkB and associated signaling proteins in cortical synapses in Ts65Dn mice. Proteomic analysis at the single synapse level of resolution using array tomography (AT) uncovered increased colocalization of activated TrkB with signaling endosome related proteins, and demonstrated increased TrkB signaling. The extent of increases in TrkB signaling differed in each of the cortical layers examined and with respect to the type of synapse, with the most marked increases seen in inhibitory synapses. These findings are evidence of markedly abnormal TrkB-mediated signaling in synapses. They raise the possibility that dysregulated TrkB signaling contributes to synaptic dysfunction and cognitive deficits in DS.
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Affiliation(s)
- R L Nosheny
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - P V Belichenko
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - B L Busse
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - A M Weissmiller
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - V Dang
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medical School, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - D Das
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medical School, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - A Fahimi
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medical School, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - A Salehi
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medical School, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - S J Smith
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - W C Mobley
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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Smith SJ, Rahman CV, Clarke PA, Ritchie AA, Gould TW, Ward JH, Shakesheff KM, Grundy RG, Rahman R. Surgical delivery of drug releasing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) paste with in vivo effects against glioblastoma. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2014; 96:495-501. [PMID: 25245726 DOI: 10.1308/003588414x13946184903568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The median survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (astrocytoma grade 4) remains less than 18 months despite radical surgery, radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy. Surgical implantation of chemotherapy eluting wafers into the resection cavity has been shown to improve length of survival but the current licensed therapy has several drawbacks. This paper investigates in vivo efficacy of a novel drug eluting paste in glioblastoma. METHODS Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA/PEG) self-sintering paste was loaded with the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide and delivered surgically into partially resected tumours in a flank murine glioblastoma xenograft model. RESULTS Surgical delivery of the paste was successful and practical, with no toxicity or surgical morbidity to the animals. The paste was retained in the tumour cavity, and preliminary results suggest a useful antitumour and antiangiogenic effect, particularly at higher doses. Bioluminescent imaging was not affected significantly by the presence of the paste in the tumour. CONCLUSIONS Chemotherapy loaded PLGA/PEG paste seems to be a promising technology capable of delivering active drugs into partially resected tumours. The preliminary results of this study suggest efficacy with no toxicity and will lead to larger scale efficacy studies in orthotopic glioblastoma models.
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Abstract
A 30-year-old male presented with a 2 year progressive course of bowel and bladder dysfunction, mild leg weakness and sensory abnormalities in sacral dermatomes. MRI showed an intra-axial conus medullaris lesion which was excised and identified as a ganglioglioma. The case presents the typical clinical course and histopathology of this unusual lesion which carries a favorable prognosis after gross total removal. Preoperative neurological function in such patients is highly predictive of post-operative outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
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22
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Chesnel K, Trevino M, Cai Y, Hancock JM, Smith SJ, Harrison RG. Particle size effects on the magnetic behaviour of 5 to 11 nm Fe3O4nanoparticles coated with oleic acid. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/521/1/012004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Smith SJ, Young V, Robertson C, Dancer SJ. Where do hands go? An audit of sequential hand-touch events on a hospital ward. J Hosp Infect 2012; 80:206-11. [PMID: 22297169 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2011.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2011] [Accepted: 12/14/2011] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reservoirs of pathogens could establish themselves at forgotten sites on a ward, posing a continued risk for transmission to patients via unwashed hands. AIM To track potential spread of organisms between surfaces and patients, and to gain a greater understanding into transmission pathways of pathogens during patient care. METHODS Hand-touch activities were audited covertly for 40 × 30 min sessions during summer and winter, and included hand hygiene on entry; contact with near-patient sites; patient contact; contact with clinical equipment; hand hygiene on exit; and contact with sites outside the room. FINDINGS There were 104 entries overall: 77 clinical staff (59 nurses; 18 doctors), 21 domestic staff, one pharmacist and five relatives. Hand-hygiene compliance among clinical staff before and after entry was 25% (38/154), with higher compliance during 20 summer periods [47%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 35.6-58.8] than during 20 winter periods (7%; 95% CI: 3.2-14.4; P < 0.0001). More than half of the staff (58%; 45/77) touched the patient. Staff were more likely to clean their hands prior to contact with a patient [odds ratio (OR): 3.44; 95% CI: 0.94-16.0); P = 0.059] and sites beside the patient (OR: 6.76; 95% CI: 1.40-65.77; P = 0.0067). Nearly half (48%; 37/77) handled patient notes and 25% touched the bed. Most frequently handled equipment inside the room were intravenous drip (30%) and blood pressure stand (13%), and computer (26%), notes trolley (23%) and telephone (21%) outside the room. CONCLUSION Hand-hygiene compliance remains poor during covert observation; understanding the most frequent interactions between hands and surfaces could target sites for cleaning.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Department of Surgery, Hairmyres Hospital, Lanarkshire, UK
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24
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Spencer EC, Ross NL, Parker SF, Woodfield BF, Boerio-Goates J, Smith SJ, Olsen RE, Kolesnikov AI, Navrotsky A, Ma C. Determination of the magnetic contribution to the heat capacity of cobalt oxide nanoparticles and the thermodynamic properties of the hydration layers. J Phys Condens Matter 2011; 23:205303. [PMID: 21540512 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/23/20/205303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
We present low temperature (11 K) inelastic neutron scattering (INS) data on four hydrated nanoparticle systems: 10 nm CoO·0.10H(2)O (1), 16 nm Co(3)O(4)·0.40H(2)O (2), 25 nm Co(3)O(4)·0.30H(2)O (3) and 40 nm Co(3)O(4)·0.026H(2)O (4). The vibrational densities of states were obtained for all samples and from these the isochoric heat capacity and vibrational energy for the hydration layers confined to the surfaces of these nanoparticle systems have been elucidated. The results show that water on the surface of CoO nanoparticles is more tightly bound than water confined to the surface of Co(3)O(4), and this is reflected in the reduced heat capacity and vibrational entropy for water on CoO relative to water on Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles. This supports the trend, seen previously, for water to be more tightly bound in materials with higher surface energies. The INS spectra for the antiferromagnetic Co(3)O(4) particles (2-4) also show sharp and intense magnetic excitation peaks at 5 meV, and from this the magnetic contribution to the heat capacity of Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles has been calculated; this represents the first example of use of INS data for determining the magnetic contribution to the heat capacity of any magnetic nanoparticle system.
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Affiliation(s)
- E C Spencer
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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Kettle PR, Vlassoff A, Ayling JM, McMurtry LW, Smith SJ, Watson AJ. A survey of nematode control measures used by sheep farmers and of anthelmintic resistance on their farms Part 2: South Island excluding the Nelson region. N Z Vet J 2011; 30:79-81. [PMID: 16030874 DOI: 10.1080/00480169.1982.34888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Forty-three randomly selected farms located throughout South Island, excluding the Nelson region, were surveyed for anthelmintic usage and for sheep nematodes resistant to anthelmintics. Most farmers had used both benzimidazole and non-benzimidazole broad-spectrum drenches on their properties in previous years. Sheep were being drenched, on average, 5.6 times within their first year of life but much less frequently thereafter. Commercial interests played the dominant role in helping farmers formulate their drenching policies. On each farm 24 numbered ewe replacement lambs, born during the spring of 1980, were sampled for faeces at the beginning of the trial to provide material for egg counts and larval cultures. The lambs were weighed and divided into three groups of eight. One group received thiabendazole (TBZ) at 66 mg/kg, the second levamisole (LEV) at 8 mg/kg while the third remained untreated as controls. All were resampled 4 to 10 days later. On 32 (88%) of the 40 farms where drenching trials were successfully carried out during autumn 1981, the faecal egg count depression (FECD) following treatment with either drench was 100%. On one farm TBZ was less than 100% effective as gauged by FECD. LEV proved to be less than 100% effective on 7 farms. On one farm the FECD was less than 80%, on 2 between 90% and 95% and on 4 between 95% and 99%.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Kettle
- Wallaceville Animal Research Centre, Research Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Private Bag, Upper Hutt
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Abstract
Pre-oxygenation in the seated (sitting) position has been associated with better oxygenation. This randomised, cross over study compared oxygenation in the supine position with that in the 45° seated position in 40 young, healthy volunteers. Oxygen was administered through a circle system and tight fitting facemask. Transcutaneous P(O)₂ levels were recorded at 10-s intervals from two measurement points during 4 min of oxygenation in the two positions. The mean (SD) values of 12 measurements taken between the third and fourth minute were recorded. There was no difference in the increase in tissue oxygenation when comparing the supine and seated positions (32.7 (7.3) vs 32.6 (6.7) kPa, respectively). We conclude that there is no evidence that pre-oxygenation in the 45° seated position improves tissue oxygenation in young healthy volunteers compared with the supine position.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline, UK
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Smith SJ, Diehl NN, Smith BD, Mohney BG. Urine catecholamine levels as diagnostic markers for neuroblastoma in a defined population: implications for ophthalmic practice. Eye (Lond) 2010; 24:1792-6. [PMID: 20865029 DOI: 10.1038/eye.2010.125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE although elevated urinary catecholamine levels have been reported in 90-95% of patients with neuroblastoma, more recent studies of pediatric Horner syndrome caused by an underling neuroblastoma have reported normal values at presentation. The purpose of this population-based study is to report the percentage of cases of neuroblastoma with elevated urinary catecholamine levels at presentation and to suggest a recommended work-up for cases of idiopathic pediatric Horner syndrome. METHODS the medical records of all pediatric (<19 years) residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota diagnosed with neuroblastoma from 1 January 1969 through 31 December 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS a total of 14 patients <19 years of age were diagnosed with neuroblastoma as residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, during the 40-year study period. A total of 10 (71%) of the 14 cases manifested elevated urinary catecholamine metabolites at the initial presentation. Urinary vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) levels were greater than twice the upper limit of normal in eight (57%) of 14 cases, whereas homovanillic acid (HVA) levels were greater than two times the upper limit of normal in 10 (71%) of the 14 cases. Three (75%) of the four cases without significantly elevated urinary VMA or HVA levels were diagnosed with stage IV disease, whereas one (25%) had stage II neuroblastoma. CONCLUSION urinary catecholamine levels were significantly elevated at presentation in 10 (71%) of the 14 neuroblastoma cases during the 40-year study period, suggesting that greater emphasis be placed on performing a thorough physical examination and obtaining warranted imaging studies in cases of idiopathic pediatric Horner syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN, USA
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Bell GS, Sinha S, Tisi JD, Stephani C, Scott CA, Harkness WF, McEvoy AW, Peacock JL, Walker MC, Smith SJ, Duncan JS, Sander JW. Premature mortality in refractory partial epilepsy: does surgical treatment make a difference? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2010; 81:716-8. [PMID: 20478848 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2008.170837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epilepsy carries an increased risk of premature death. For some people with intractable focal epilepsy, surgery offers hope for a seizure-free life. The authors aimed to see whether epilepsy surgery influenced mortality in people with intractable epilepsy. METHODS The authors audited survival status in two cohorts (those who had surgery and those who had presurgical assessment but did not have surgery). RESULTS There were 40 known deaths in the non-surgical group (3365 person years of follow-up) and 19 in the surgical group (3905 person-years of follow-up). Non-operated patients were 2.4 times (95% CI 1.4 to 4.2) as likely to die as those who had surgery. They were 4.5 times (95% CI 1.9 to 10.9) as likely to die a probable epilepsy-related death. In the surgical group, those with ongoing seizures 1 year after surgery were 4.0 (95% CI 1.2 to 13.7) times as likely to die as those who were seizure-free or who had only simple partial seizures. Time-dependent Cox analysis showed that the yearly outcome group did not significantly affect mortality (HR 1.3, 95% CI 0.9 to 1.8). CONCLUSION Successful epilepsy surgery was associated with a reduced risk of premature mortality, compared with those with refractory focal epilepsy who did not have surgical treatment. To some extent, the reduced mortality is likely to be conferred by inducing freedom from seizures. It is not certain whether better survival is attributable only to surgery, as treatment decisions were not randomised, and there may be inherent differences between the groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- G S Bell
- Department of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
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Smith SJ, Jones NS, Shakib F. Circulating IgG autoanti-IgE antibodies in atopic patients block the binding of IgE to its low affinity receptor (CD23). Mol Pathol 2010; 48:M342-6. [PMID: 16696035 PMCID: PMC408002 DOI: 10.1136/mp.48.6.m342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Aims-To investigate the ability of circulating IgG autoanti-IgE antibodies from atopic rhinitis patients to block the binding of IgE to its low affinity receptor (FcepsilonRII), also termed CD23.Methods-This involved the use of a well validated flow cytometric method to detect inhibition of FITC labelled IgE binding to human B cells expressing CD23 (RPMI 8866 cell line).Results-Taking inhibition values greater than 20% as being significant, 15 out of 20 IgG anti-IgE containing sera inhibited the binding of IgE-FITC to the RPMI 8866 cells. The inhibitory effect was recoverable in the IgG fraction of serum, but was not related to the titre of either IgG1 anti-IgE or IgG4 anti-IgE, thus suggesting that it might be related to epitope specificity. No such inhibition was demonstrable with rheumatoid sera containing autoanti-IgG (that is, rheumatoid factor), but lacking autoanti-IgE.Conclusions-The capacity of anti-IgE to block the binding of IgE to CD23 has important implications, particularly in terms of upregulation of IgE synthesis and the consequent perpetuation of the inflammatory response.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Division of Molecular and Clinical Immunology, University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham
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Smith SJ, Galvin A, Hall I, Shakib F. Circulating human IgG autoanti-IgE antibodies in asthma patients block the binding of IgE to its high affinity receptor. Mol Pathol 2010; 48:M148-52. [PMID: 16695996 PMCID: PMC407948 DOI: 10.1136/mp.48.3.m148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Aims-To investigate the ability of circulating human IgG autoanti-IgE antibodies from asthma patients to block the binding of IgE to the alpha chain of the high affinity receptor (FcepsilonRI).Methods-This involved the use of a well validated flow cytometric method to detect inhibition of FITC labelled IgE binding to a fibroblast cell line (CHK1E1) transfected with the alpha chain of FcepsilonRI.Results-IgG autoanti-IgE-containing sera blocked the binding of IgE-FITC to the CHK1E1 cells. No such inhibition was demonstrable with rheumatoid sera containing autoanti-IgG (that is, rheumatoid factor) but lacking autoanti-IgE. Percentage inhibition (up to 50%) of IgE binding to the CHK1E1 cells was directly related to the titre of IgG1, but not IgG4, autoanti-IgE in the sera tested (correlation coefficient 0.66, probability 0.003).Conclusions-The capacity of anti-IgE to block the binding of IgE to FcepsilonRI has important clinical implications, particularly in terms of downregulation of allergic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Division of Molecular and Clinical Immunology, University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham
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Moragianni VA, Cohen JD, Smith SJ, Rosenn MF, Craparo FJ. The role of ultrasound-indicated cerclage in triplets. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2009; 34:43-46. [PMID: 19565536 DOI: 10.1002/uog.6387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Preterm delivery is the leading cause of major perinatal morbidity and mortality associated with triplet pregnancies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ultrasound-indicated cervical cerclage in triplet pregnancies that are diagnosed with cervical shortening on biweekly transvaginal sonography (TVS). METHODS A retrospective review of all triplets who were followed with biweekly TVS for measurement of cervical length was conducted. Cervical shortening was defined as cervical length <or= 2.5 cm. Outcomes of interest included cervical cerclage placement, gestational age at delivery and birth weight. RESULTS In our population of 24 triplet pregnancies, 13 had cervical shortening. Of these, 54% underwent cervical cerclage at a mean gestational age of 20 weeks. Overall, patients without cervical shortening delivered on average 17 days later than those with cervical shortening (32 + 2 weeks vs. 29 + 6 weeks, P = 0.034). Moreover, infants of patients without cervical shortening weighed on average 456 g more at birth than did those with cervical shortening (1751 g vs. 1295 g, P = 0.039) and had a lower percentage of very low birth weight infants (30.3% vs. 69.2%, P = 0.002). Within the subset of patients with cervical shortening, there was no statistical difference in any of the outcomes studied between patients who underwent cervical cerclage and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS Triplet pregnancies complicated by cervical shortening diagnosed on biweekly TVS surveillance do not appear to benefit from placement of cervical cerclage, based on assessment of gestational age at delivery, birth weight and incidence of very low birth weight infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- V A Moragianni
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, PA 19001, USA
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Lampe AS, Schroijen MA, Smith SJ. [Endocarditis due to Aggregatibacter (formerly: Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans, a bacterium that grows in characteristic star-shaped colonies]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2008; 152:827-830. [PMID: 18491827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
A 72-year-old man, having had an artificial valve for almost 20 years now, presented with tiredness that had persisted for several weeks and reported weight loss of 5 kg. In more recent days he experienced fever and cold shivers, and an associated dry cough. Bearing in mind the potential for endocarditis, blood cultures were grown. In this, we identified a small, Gram-negative rod with a small, smooth, raised colony that grew slowly. We considered a micro-organism from the 'HACEK group', which is a group of micro-organisms including Haemophilus aphrophilus, Haemophilus paraphrophilus, Cardiobacterium hominis, Eikenella corrodens, Kingella kingae and Aggregatibacter (formerly: Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans. More careful observation revealed that the bacteria formed star-shaped colonies, proving that A. actinomycetemcomitans was the cause of this non-acute endocarditis. The patient received antibiotic treatment. Because non-acute endocarditis is often caused by hidden abnormalities in the mouth or teeth and A. actinomycetemcomitans plays an important role in severe cases of peridontitis, a dental surgeon was consulted. The dental surgeon diagnosed multifocal peridontitis and treated the patient, who was able to leave the hospital after 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Lampe
- HagaZiekenhuis, Afd. Medische Microbiologie, Den Haag.
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Abstract
It has been well established that astrocytes possess functional receptors for the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and respond to physiological concentrations of this substance with oscillations in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentrations and spatially propagating Ca2+ waves. These findings strongly suggest that glutamate released during synaptic transmission triggers such phenomena within the perisynaptic astrocyte in situ. We test this hypothesis in two preparations, the organotypic hippocampal slice and hippocampal neuron-astrocyte co-cultures, using the Ca2+ indicator fluo-3 and confocal laser microscopy. An agonist for the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-preferring glutamate receptor is employed to stimulate neuronal populations specifically, leaving the astrocytic population unaffected as these cells appear to lack this glutamate receptor subtype. Such pharmacological stimulation initially elicits large Ca2+ transients within the neuronal populations, followed by Ca2+ spikes in surrounding astrocytes, presumably as the result of neuronal glutamate release. During continuous neuronal stimulation, the astrocyte's Ca2+ response becomes oscillatory, with a period averaging 33 s and ranging from 15 to 50 s at 21 degrees C. These findings establish another form of communication within the brain, that between neurons and astrocytes, which perhaps acts to couple astrocytic regulatory responses to neuronal activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W Dani
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Beckman Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305, USA
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Kendrick D, Coupland C, Mulvaney C, Simpson J, Smith SJ, Sutton A, Watson M, Woods A. Home safety education and provision of safety equipment for injury prevention. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007:CD005014. [PMID: 17253536 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd005014.pub2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In industrialised countries injuries are the leading cause of childhood death and steep social gradients exist in child injury mortality and morbidity. The majority of injuries in pre-school children occur at home, but there is little meta-analytic evidence that child home safety interventions improve a range of safety practices or reduce injury rates and little evidence on their effect by social group. OBJECTIVES We evaluated the effectiveness of home safety education, with or without the provision of low cost, discounted or free equipment in increasing home safety practices or reducing child injury rates and whether the effect varied by social group. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, DARE, ASSIA, Psychinfo and Web of Science, plus a range of relevant web sites, conference proceedings and bibliographies. We contacted authors of included studies and surveyed a range of organisations. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), non-randomised controlled trials and controlled before and after studies where home safety education with or without the provision of safety equipment was provided to those aged 19 years and under, which reported safety practices, possession of safety equipment or injury. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two authors independently assessed study quality and extracted data. We attempted to obtain individual participant level data (IPD) for all included studies and summary data and IPD were simultaneoulsy combined in meta-regressions by social and demographic variables. MAIN RESULTS Eighty studies were included; 37 of which were included in at least one meta-analysis. Twenty-three (62%) were RCTs and 12 (32%) included in the meta-analysis provided IPD. Home safety education was effective in increasing the proportion of families with safe hot tap water temperatures (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.01 to 180), functional smoke alarms (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.75), storing medicines (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.13) and cleaning products (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.17) out of reach, syrup of ipecac (OR 3.34, 95% CI 1.50 to 7.44) and poison control centre numbers accessible (OR 3.66, 95% CI 1.84 to 7.27), fitted stair gates (1.26, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.51), socket covers on unused sockets (OR 3.73, 95% CI 1.48 to 9.39) and storing sharp objects out of reach (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.29). There was a lack of evidence that interventions reduced rates of thermal injuries, poisoning or a range of injuries. There was no consistent evidence that interventions were less effective in families whose children were at greater risk of injury. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Home safety education provided most commonly as one-to-one, face-to-face education, in a clinical setting or at home, especially with the provision of safety equipment is effective in increasing a range of safety practices. There is a lack of evidence regarding its impact on child injury rates. There was no consistent evidence that home safety education, with or without the provision of safety equipment was less effective in those at greater risk of injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Kendrick
- University of Nottingham, Division of Primary Care, Floor 13, Tower Building, University Park, Nottingham, UK, NG7 2RD.
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Abstract
Over the last fifteen years there has been much excitement in the idea that targeting phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 with small molecule inhibitors could lead to the discovery of novel, steroid-sparing compounds with utility in treating a multitude of diseases associated with chronic inflammation. However, dose-limiting side effects, of which nausea and vomiting are the most common are worrisome, have hampered their clinical development. Indeed, a fundamental obstacle that still is to be overcome by the pharmaceutical industry is to make compounds that dissociate beneficial from the adverse events. Unfortunately, both of these activities of PDE4 inhibitors represents an extension of their pharmacology and improving the therapeutic ratio has proved to be a major challenge. Several strategies have been considered, with some degree of success, but compounds with an optimal pharmacophore still have not been reported. An alternative approach to targeting PDE4 is to inhibit other cAMP PDE families that are also expressed in immune and pro-inflammatory cells in the hope that the beneficial activity can be retained at the expense of side effects. One such candidate is PDE7A. In this article we review the literature on PDE7A and explore the possibility that selective small molecule inhibitors of this enzyme family could provide a novel approach to alleviate the inflammation that is associated with many inflammatory diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Giembycz
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Respiratory Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
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Wallace DB, Ellis CE, Espach A, Smith SJ, Greyling RR, Viljoen GJ. Protective immune responses induced by different recombinant vaccine regimes to Rift Valley fever. Vaccine 2006; 24:7181-9. [PMID: 16870311 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.06.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2006] [Revised: 05/26/2006] [Accepted: 06/20/2006] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The glycoprotein (GP) and nucleocapsid (NC) genes of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) were expressed in different expression systems and were evaluated for their ability to protect mice from virulent challenge using a prime-boost regime. Mice vaccinated with a lumpy skin disease virus-vectored recombinant vaccine (rLSDV-RVFV) expressing the two RVFV glycoproteins (G1 and G2) developed neutralising antibodies and were fully protected when challenged, as were those vaccinated with a crude extract of truncated G2 glycoprotein (tG2). By contrast mice vaccinated with a DNA vaccine expressing G1 and G2 did not sero-convert with only 20% of them surviving challenge. Mice vaccinated with the DNA vaccine and boosted with rLSDV-RVFV also failed to sero-convert but 40% survived challenge. Surprisingly, although none of the mice immunised with the purified NC protein sero-converted, 60% of them survived virulent challenge. The rLSDV-RVFV construct was then further evaluated in sheep for its dual protective abilities against RVFV and sheeppox virus (SPV). Vaccinated sheep sero-converted for both viruses and were protected against RVFV challenge, however, neither the immunised or negative control animals showed any significant reactions to the virulent SPV challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Wallace
- Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, South Africa.
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Smith SJ, Fenwick PS, Nicholson AG, Kirschenbaum F, Finney-Hayward TK, Higgins LS, Giembycz MA, Barnes PJ, Donnelly LE. Inhibitory effect of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors on cytokine release from human macrophages. Br J Pharmacol 2006; 149:393-404. [PMID: 16953188 PMCID: PMC1978438 DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0706885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Macrophages release cytokines that may contribute to pulmonary inflammation in conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thus, inhibition of macrophage cytokine production may have therapeutic benefit. p38 MAPK may regulate cytokine production, therefore, the effect of two p38 MAPK inhibitors, SB239063 and SD-282, on the release of TNF-alpha, GM-CSF and IL-8 from human macrophages was investigated. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Cytokine release was measured by ELISA. Immunoblots and mRNA expression studies were performed to confirm p38 MAPK isoform expression and activity. Macrophages were isolated from lung tissue of current smokers, ex-smokers and emphysema patients and exposed to lipopolysaccharide. These cells then released cytokines in a concentration-dependent manner. KEY RESULTS SB239063 only inhibited TNF-alpha release (EC50 0.3 +/- 0.1 microM). Disease status had no effect on the efficacy of SB239063. SD-282 inhibited both TNF-alpha and GM-CSF release from macrophages (EC50 6.1 +/- 1.4 nM and 1.8 +/- 0.6 microM respectively) but had no effect on IL-8 release. In contrast, both inhibitors suppressed cytokine production in monocytes. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS The differential effects of p38 MAPK inhibitors between macrophages and monocytes could not be explained by differences in p38 MAPK isoform expression or activity. However, the stability of TNF-alpha mRNA was significantly increased in macrophages compared to monocytes. These data suggest a differential involvement for p38 MAPK in macrophage cytokine production compared with monocytes. These effects are not due to lack of p38 activation or p38alpha expression in macrophages but may reflect differential effects on the stability of cytokine mRNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Airway Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London London, UK
| | - P S Fenwick
- Airway Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London London, UK
| | - A G Nicholson
- Department of Histopathology, Royal Brompton Hospital London, UK
| | | | - T K Finney-Hayward
- Airway Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London London, UK
| | | | - M A Giembycz
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Institute of Immunity, Infection and Inflammation, University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - P J Barnes
- Airway Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London London, UK
| | - L E Donnelly
- Airway Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London London, UK
- Author for correspondence:
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Lawson-Smith MJ, Smith SJ, Leach JCD, Cadoux-Hudson T. Lateral medullary syndrome caused by penetrating head injury. J Clin Neurosci 2006; 13:792-4. [PMID: 16914313 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2005.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2005] [Accepted: 09/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Herein, we report a rare case of a patient surviving penetrating trauma to the brainstem. Low velocity penetrating head injuries may be occult and are associated with a high incidence of vascular injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Lawson-Smith
- Department of Neurosurgery, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, OX2 6HE, UK
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Dunlop AL, Reichrtova E, Palcovicova L, Ciznar P, Adamcakova-Dodd A, Smith SJ, McNabb SJN. Environmental and dietary risk factors for infantile atopic eczema among a Slovak birth cohort. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2006; 17:103-11. [PMID: 16618359 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2005.00372.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Infantile atopic eczema (AE) is a risk marker for future asthma. This study assesses the contribution of modifiable exposures to infantile AE. If modifiable exposures contribute substantially to infantile AE, its prevention might be a sensible approach to asthma prevention. Pregnant women (n = 1978) were systematically recruited from maternity hospitals of the Slovak Republic; their birthed cohort of 1990 children were prospectively followed for 1 yr. Children's exposures to selected environmental and dietary factors were assessed via maternal questionnaires administered at delivery and 1 yr of age. A child was considered to have AE, based on physical examination (SCORAD index >2) or mother's report of a previous physician diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios and percent total regression scores (TRS) for each variable. At 1 yr of age 1326 (67%) of the children remained in the cohort and 207 (15.6%) developed AE. Various modifiable environmental and dietary exposures increased the likelihood of AE (ownership of cats; consumption of infant formula, eggs, and fish) while others decreased the likelihood of AE (ownership of livestock; exclusive breast feeding for > or =4 months). Overall, modifiable exposures contributed less to the TRS than did non-modifiable exposures (38% vs. 62%, respectively). The modifiable exposure category that contributed most to the TRS was infant feeding practices (27.5% TRS). Modifiable exposures -- especially those related to infant feeding practices -- significantly contribute to infantile AE, although modifiable factors contribute less overall than do non-modifiable exposures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne L Dunlop
- Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Kendrick D, Coupland C, Mulvaney C, Simpson J, Smith SJ, Sutton A, Watson M, Woods A. Home safety education and provision of safety equipment for injury prevention. THE COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS 2004. [DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd005014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Abstract
The EEG appearances in patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) were compared with those in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). EEG abnormalities were found in 61% of FTLD patients, with the degree of EEG abnormality increasing with dementia severity. There was no significant difference in the severity of EEG abnormality between the FTLD and AD patient groups. These data suggest a need for reappraisal of the role of the EEG in the diagnostic differentiation of FTLD from AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Chan
- Dementia Research Group, National Hospital for Neurology, London, UK
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42
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Abstract
Resonance Raman scattering from cytochrome P450 BM3 is obtained with a Raman microprobe using 406-nm excitation with an accumulation time of a few seconds. The small sample size and rapid measurement time make the routine characterization of P450 systems by resonance Raman spectroscopy easier. Addition of imidazole and imidazole derivatives as inhibitors causes the appearance of additional peaks due to vinyl modes, increases the relative intensity of symmetric modes that would be A(1g) in D(4h) symmetry, and causes a large drop in the intensity of nu(11). This information indicates that the ligation of imidazoles to the heme iron causes the alignment of the vinyl modes with the plane of the heme ring and reduces the out of plane distortion of the ring. The effect of both inhibitors is similar but there is a subtle difference in the extent of the reduction in the intensity of nu(11), which suggests that steric effects within the pocket are having some effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, Thomas Graham Building, 295 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G1 1XL, United Kingdom
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Ford ES, Liu S, Mannino DM, Giles WH, Smith SJ. C-reactive protein concentration and concentrations of blood vitamins, carotenoids, and selenium among United States adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 2003; 57:1157-63. [PMID: 12947436 DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine the relationships between circulating concentrations of C-reactive protein and concentrations of retinol, retinyl esters, vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, and selenium. DESIGN Cross-sectional study using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) data. SETTING United States population. SUBJECTS Up to 14 519 US noninstitutionalized civilian men and women aged > or=20 y. RESULTS C-reactive protein concentration (dichotomized at the sex-specific 85th percentile) was inversely and significantly associated with concentrations of retinol, retinyl esters, vitamin C, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein/zeaxanthin, lycopene, and selenium after adjustment for age, sex, race or ethnicity, education, cotinine concentration, body mass index, leisure-time physical activity, and aspirin use. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the inflammatory process, through the production of reactive oxygen species, may deplete stores of antioxidants. Whether increased consumption of foods rich in antioxidants or supplementation with antioxidants can provide health benefits to people characterized by elevated C-reactive protein concentrations may be worthy of further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- E S Ford
- Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Imperial College School of Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK
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Abstract
Cortical circuits can undergo experience-dependent remodeling, while retaining the capacity for long-term information storage. The stability of individual synaptic connections is fundamental to both processes, but poorly understood; two studies using new in vivo imaging techniques have finally shed some light on this important issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Meyer
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Beckman Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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Paweska JT, Smith SJ, Wright IM, Williams R, Cohen AS, Van Dijk AA, Grobbelaar AA, Croft JE, Swanepoel R, Gerdes GH. Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of antibody against Rift Valley fever virus in domestic and wild ruminant sera. Onderstepoort J Vet Res 2003; 70:49-64. [PMID: 12825681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (I-ELISA) for the detection of specific IgG immunoglobulins against Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) was validated in-house. A total of 3055 sera from sheep (n = 1159), goats (n = 636), cattle (n = 203), African buffalo (n = 928), and other wild ruminants (n = 129), including eland, kudu, and black wildebeest, was used. Sera from domestic ruminants were collected in West (n = 10), South (n = 1654) and East Africa (n = 334), and sera from wild ruminants (n = 1064) were collected in South Africa. In addition, 136 sera from eight experimentally RVFV-infected sheep, taken during a period of 28 days post infection (dpi), were used to study the kinetics of RVFV antibody production. Field sera were tested by the serum neutralization (VN) test and experimental sera by VN and haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test. Based on VN test results, negative sera were regarded as reference controls from RVFV-free, and positive sera were regarded as reference controls from RVFV-infected subpopulations of animals. ELISA data were expressed as the percentage positivity (PP) of an internal high positive control. The two-graph receiver operating characteristics approach was used for the selection and optimization of I-ELISA cut-offs including the misclassification costs term and Youden index (J). In addition, cut-off values were determined as the mean plus two-fold standard deviation of the result observed with the RVFV-free subpopulations. Established optimal cut-offs were different for each of the data sets analyzed, and ranged from 1.65 PP (buffalo) to 9.1 PP (goats). At the cut-off giving the highest estimate of combined measure of diagnostic accuracy (highest J value), the I-ELISA test parameters were determined as follows: (1) Diagnostic sensitivity (%): cattle--84.31, buffalo--94.44, sheep--98.91, goats--99.18. (2) Diagnostic specificity (%): cattle--99.34, buffalo--98.28, sheep--99.16, goats--99.23 and other game ruminants--99.26. In the group of RVFV-experimentally infected sheep, seroconversion In all individuals was detected by VN on 4-6 dpi, by HI on 5-7 dpi, and by I-ELISA on 6-7 dpi. All tests showed the same kinetic pattern of immunological response. Antibody levels were low for a very short period before increasing to high titres, after which it was easily detectable by all tests. Compared to traditional tests, the lower sensitivity of I-ELISA in the detection of the earliest stage of immunological response may be practically insignificant, particularily when this assay is used in population-based, disease-surveillance programmes. The high sensitivity and specificity of I-ELISA established in this study, especially for the statistically more representative subpopulations of animals tested, seem to support this prediction. Test parameters determined in this study should, however, be regarded as in-house diagnostic decision limits, for which further updating is recommended, particularly for specimens from other countries, and preferably by applying a standardized method for sampling of new subpopulations of animals to be targeted by the assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- J T Paweska
- Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa.
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Prasad RS, Smith SJ, Wright H. Lower abdominal pressure versus external bladder stimulation to aid bladder emptying in multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled study. Clin Rehabil 2003; 17:42-7. [PMID: 12617378 DOI: 10.1191/0269215503cr583oa] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate the change in post-void residual bladder volumes (PVR) with 'abdominal vibration' using a percutaneous bladder stimulator in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients compared with either 'no treatment' or 'abdominal pressure'. DESIGN Randomized controlled cross-over study. SETTING Regional neurorehabilitation clinics. SUBJECTS Twenty-eight MS patients with urinary symptoms and PVR > 100 ml. Twelve patients had urinary incontinence. METHODS MS patients with voiding dysfunction and elevated PVR of 100-500 ml on BVI-3000 Ultrasound Scanner were randomized to either 'abdominal pressure' or 'vibration' by a portable, percutaneous, vibrating device (Queen Square Bladder Stimulator; Malem Medical) or to 'no treatment'. PVR was assessed at the end of each two-week phase. OUTCOME MEASURE PVR reduction by greater than 100 ml. RESULTS The 28 patients ranged in age from 29 to 71 years with a mean age of 49 years and a mean duration of MS of 12 years (range 1-37 years). The PVR decreased from 231 (SD 119) ml during no treatment to 191 (SD 132) ml with abdominal pressure (p = 0.242). Using suprapubic vibration the PVR reduced further to 126 (SD 121) ml, which was highly significant (p = 0.002) compared with no treatment. The difference between abdominal pressure and vibration just failed to reach significance (p = 0.059). There was no significant reduction in either the frequency of micturition or episodes of incontinence. The device was well-tolerated by patients. CONCLUSION Abdominal vibration is an effective method of reducing PVR in MS patients and appears more effective than abdominal pressure alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- R S Prasad
- Neurorehabilitation Unit, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Leckie MJ, Jenkins GR, Khan J, Smith SJ, Walker C, Barnes PJ, Hansel TT. Sputum T lymphocytes in asthma, COPD and healthy subjects have the phenotype of activated intraepithelial T cells (CD69+ CD103+). Thorax 2003; 58:23-9. [PMID: 12511714 PMCID: PMC1746466 DOI: 10.1136/thorax.58.1.23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND T cells of intraepithelial phenotype have previously been detected in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in a range of lung diseases; these cells express the adhesion molecule alpha(E)beta(7) integrin, CD103, the ligand for epithelial cell E-cadherin. In subjects with asthma CD4+ lymphocytes are the predominant T cell subtype found in bronchial biopsy specimens and in BAL fluid, whereas CD8+ lymphocytes have been shown to predominate in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to analyse the expression of CD103, activation markers (CD25 and CD69), and chemokine receptors (CXCR3, CCR5 and CCR3) on CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes from sputum and peripheral blood of subjects with asthma, COPD, and healthy controls. METHODS T cell surface markers were assessed by immunofluorescence labelling and flow cytometry of gated lymphocytes among CD45+ leucocytes in sputum cell suspensions. RESULTS Sputum lymphocytes expressed higher levels of CD103 and CD69 than blood lymphocytes in all subject groups, with CD103 expressed at higher levels on CD8+ than on CD4+ cells. There were no detectable differences in numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells between subjects with asthma, COPD and controls. The percentage of sputum lymphocytes expressing CXCR3 was lower in subjects with asthma or COPD than in healthy controls; CCR3 was not detectable on sputum or blood lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS Sputum T lymphocytes are predominantly of activated intraepithelial phenotype (CD103+ CD69+), and normal numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell populations are found in the sputum of patients with asthma and COPD.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Leckie
- National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) Clinical Studies Unit, Imperial College, London, UK
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Smith SJ, Piliponsky AM, Rosenhead F, Elchalal U, Nagler A, Levi-Schaffer F. Dexamethasone inhibits maturation, cytokine production and Fc epsilon RI expression of human cord blood-derived mast cells. Clin Exp Allergy 2002; 32:906-13. [PMID: 12047438 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2745.2002.01418.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mast cells are responsible for eliciting the early phase and for contributing to the development of the late phase of allergic reactions, through the release of cytokines and other inflammatory mediators. OBJECTIVE To assess whether the glucocorticoid dexamethasone has a direct effect on mast cell progenitor maturation and on mature cord blood-derived mast cell properties. METHODS Mast cells were obtained by culturing human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells with stem cell factor, IL-6 and prostaglandin E2. Mast cell numbers were assessed by Toluidine Blue staining and immunocytochemistry of tryptase positive cells. The expression of Fc epsilon RI, CD49d and c-kit was assessed by flow cytometry. Histamine release was determined by a radioenzymatic assay. Cys-LT, GM-CSF and TNF-alpha production and release were determined by ELISA. RESULTS Dexamethasone (10(-6) M-10(-9) M) time- and dose-dependently inhibited the maturation of the mast cell progenitors. Dexamethasone did not affect the basal expression of Fc epsilon RI, CD49d and c-kit, but it inhibited the IgE-dependent enhanced expression of Fc epsilon RI. Dexamethasone (10(-6) M-10(-9) M) had no significant effect on Fc epsilon RI-dependent histamine release or the synthesis and release of Cys-LT from the mature mast cells. However, pre-incubation of the mast cell cultures with dexamethasone for 1 h, prior to cross-linking of Fc epsilon RI, dose-dependently inhibited the production and secretion of both GM-CSF and TNF-alpha. CONCLUSIONS From these in vitro data we propose that glucocorticosteroids are effective drugs in the management of allergic inflammation due to their capacity to inhibit mast cell development, IgE-dependent Fc epsilon RI expression and mast cell production of GM-CSF and TNF-alpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- S J Smith
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital of The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
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50
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Niimura M, Cadez I, Smith SJ, Chutjian A. Measurement of absolute cross sections for excitation of the 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(3/2)- 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(1/2) fine-structure transition in Fe9+. Phys Rev Lett 2002; 88:103201. [PMID: 11909352 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.88.103201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2001] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Experimental cross sections are reported for the 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(3/2)- 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(1/2) transition in Fe9+ located at 1.945 eV. The center-of-mass interaction energies are in the range of 1.72 eV (below threshold) through threshold, to 5.6 eV (2.9 x threshold). Data are compared with results of a 49-state Breit-Pauli R-matrix theory. The experiment detects structures at 3.5 and 4.6 eV corresponding to enhancement of the direct excitation via many narrow, closely spaced resonances about these energies calculated by the theory. Iron is present in practically every astrophysical object, as well as being an impurity in fusion plasmas. Present data are the first electron-energy-loss measurements on a highly charged iron ion.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Niimura
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
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