Clinical studies have shown that groups of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients exhibit a chronically activated hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. However, the association of HPA axis activity and ...disease progression in MS is unknown. In this longitudinal study over a 3-year follow-up period, we report that patients who exhibited stronger HPA reactivity at baseline were significantly more likely to experience progression as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) during the follow-up period. Furthermore, HPA axis activity correlated with progression ratings and cognitive impairment three years later. Tests of HPA axis activity may be useful biomarkers for disease progression in MS.
Variations in biological behavior suggest that each carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) type should be considered individually in etiologic studies. HPV genotyping assays might have clinical ...applications if they are approved for use by the FDA. A widely used genotyping assay is the Roche Linear Array HPV genotyping test (LA). We used LA to genotype the HPV isolates from cervical specimens from women with the full spectrum of cervical disease: cervical cancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and HPV infections. To explore the feasibility and value of the automated reading of the LA results, we custom-designed novel, optical imaging software that provides optical density measurements of LA bands. We compared unmagnified visual examination with the automated measurements. The two measurements were highly associated. By either method, the threshold between a negative and a positive result was fairly sharp, with a clear bimodal distribution. Visually, most positive results were judged to be strong or medium, with fewer equivocal results categorized as weak (9.5% of positive samples), very weak (6.5% of positive samples), or extremely weak (7.7% of positive samples). The automated measurements of the intensities were significantly associated with the strength of the visual categories (P < 0.001). At the extremes of the automated signal intensities (=120 units), the bands were almost always categorized visually as negative and positive, respectively. In the equivocal zone (20 to 119 units), specimens were more increasingly likely to be judged to be visually positive as the number of other, definite infections on the same strip increased (P for trend < 0.001). Multiple, concurrent infections comprise >=25% of HPV infections; thus, any systematic visual tendency that influences their evaluation when the result is equivocal should be minimized. Therefore, automated reading is probably worth development if easy-to-calibrate hardware and software can be optimized.
Abstract Background There is increasing evidence that psychological factors (e.g., defeatist performance beliefs, trait negative affect) contribute to poor functional outcome in people with ...schizophrenia. In the current study, we evaluated whether multiple psychological factors predict poor functional outcome in individuals with schizophrenia, and whether associations between psychological variables and functional outcome persist even after accounting for neuropsychological impairment and negative symptoms. Methods 100 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 78 demographically matched healthy control subjects completed self-report psychological measures, neuropsychological testing, and clinical rating scales. Results Self-report scales assessing negative affectivity, defeatist performance beliefs, anhedonia, and behavioral inhibition were significantly correlated with functional outcome in people with schizophrenia. Neuropsychological impairment was associated with vocational outcome, whereas most of the self-report measures were related to social outcome. Defeatist performance attitudes were not correlated with neuropsychological performance. Conclusions Self-report measures predict variance in functional outcome beyond measures of clinical symptomatology and neuropsychological impairment. Findings indicate that psychological factors may be meaningful targets for psychosocial interventions aimed at improving functional outcome in schizophrenia.
The DRIFT-II dark matter detector: Design and commissioning Alner, G.J.; Araujo, H.; Bewick, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2005, Letnik:
555, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
DRIFT-II is a second generation multi-module gaseous dark matter detector. Each module contains two time projection chambers positioned back-to-back inside a stainless steel vacuum vessel containing ...carbon disulphide gas. This paper describes the DRIFT-II detector modules and the commissioning work performed to date.
An in vitro bioassay system was developed to study endothelium-mediated, shear stressinduced, or flow-dependent generation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF). Monolayers of aortic ...endothelial cells were grown on a rigid and large surface area of microcarrier beads and were packed in a small column perfused with Krebs bicarbonate solution. The perfusate was allowed to superfuse three endothelium-denuded target pulmonary arterial strips arranged in a cascade. Fluid shear stress caused a flow-dependent release of EDRF from the endothelial cells. The action of EDRF was abolished by oxyhemoglobin and methylene blue, and the generation of EDRF in response to shear stress was markedly inhibited or abolished by N-nitro-L-arginine, by N-amino-L-arginine, by calcium-free extracellular medium, and by depleting endothelial cells of endogenous L-arginine. Addition of L-arginine to arginine-deficient but not arginine-containing endothelial cells rapidly restored the capacity of shear stress and bradykinin to generate EDRF. These observations indicate that fluid shear stress causes the generation of EDRF with properties of nitric oxide from aortic endothelial cells and that the bioassay system described may be useful for studying the mechanism of mechanochemical coupling that leads to nitric oxide generation.
Indoor navigation is important for various applications such as disaster management, building modeling, safety analysis etc. In the last decade, indoor environment has been a focus of wide research ...that includes development of indoor data acquisition techniques, 3D data modeling and indoor navigation. In this research, an automated method for 3D modeling of indoor navigation network has been presented. 3D indoor navigation modeling requires a valid 3D model that can be represented as a cell complex: a model without any gap or intersection such that two cells (e.g. room, corridor) perfectly touch each other. This research investigates an automated method for 3D modeling of indoor navigation network using a geometrical model of indoor building environment. In order to reduce time and cost of surveying process, Trimble LaserAce 1000 laser rangefinder was used to acquire indoor building data which led to the acquisition of an inaccurate geometry of building. The connection between surveying benchmarks was established using Delaunay triangulation. Dijkstra algorithm was used to find shortest path in between building floors. The modeling results were evaluated against an accurate geometry of indoor building environment which was acquired using highlyaccurate Trimble M3 total station. This research intends to investigate and propose a novel method of topological navigation network modeling with a less accurate geometrical model to overcome the need of required an accurate geometrical model. To control the uncertainty of the calibration and of the reconstruction of the building from the measurements, interval analysis and homotopy continuation will be investigated in the near future.
Bacteria and archaea possess a protein complex in the plasma membrane that governs protein secretion and membrane protein insertion. Eukaryotes carry homologues in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) ...where they direct the same reaction. A combination of experiments conducted on the systems found in all three domains of life has revealed a great deal about protein translocation. The channel provides a route for proteins to pass through the hydrophobic barrier of the membrane, assisted by various partner proteins which maintain an unfolded state of the substrate, target it to the channel and provide the energy and mechanical drive required for transport. In bacteria, the post-translational reaction utilizes an ATPase that couples the free energy of ATP binding and hydrolysis to move the substrate through the protein pore. This review will draw on genetic, biochemical and structural findings in an account of our current understanding of this mechanism.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Dysfunction in the neural circuits underlying salience signaling is implicated in symptoms of psychosis and may predict conversion to a psychotic disorder in youth at clinical high risk ...(CHR) for psychosis. Additionally, negative symptom severity, including consummatory and anticipatory aspects of anhedonia, may predict functional outcome in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. However, it is unclear whether anhedonia is related to the ability to attribute incentive salience to stimuli (through reinforcement learning RL) and whether measures of anhedonia and RL predict functional outcome in a younger, help-seeking population. We administered the Salience Attribution Test (SAT) to 33 participants who met criteria for either CHR or a recent-onset psychotic disorder and 29 help-seeking youth with nonpsychotic disorders. In the SAT, participants must identify relevant and irrelevant stimulus dimensions and be sensitive to different reinforcement probabilities for the 2 levels of the relevant dimension (“adaptive salience”). Adaptive salience attribution was positively related to both consummatory pleasure and functioning in the full sample. Analyses also revealed an indirect effect of adaptive salience on the relation between consummatory pleasure and both role (αβ = .22, 95% CI = 0.02, 0.48) and social functioning (αβ = .14, 95% CI = 0.02, 0.30). These findings suggest a distinct pathway to poor global functioning in help-seeking youth, via impaired reward sensitivity and RL.
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