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Macrophages, as effector cells involved in the innate and adaptive immunity, play a key role in the response to nanomaterials as graphene oxide (GO) and in their cellular uptake. The ...interactions at the interface of GO nanosheets, macrophages and microbial pathogens need to be assessed to determine the possible impairment of the immune system induced by biomedical treatments with this nanomaterial. Here, we have evaluated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy the ability of murine peritoneal macrophages to phagocytose the fungal pathogen Candida albicans, alive or heat-killed, after treatment with poly(ethylene glycol-amine)-derivatized GO nanosheets (PEG-GO). After GO treatment, differences in fungal phagocytosis were observed between macrophages that had taken up GO nanosheets (GO+ population) and those that had not (GO− population). GO treatment increased the ingested alive yeasts in GO− macrophages, whereas phagocytosis diminished in the GO+ population. Ingestion of heat-killed yeasts was slightly higher in both GO− and GO+ populations when comparing with control macrophages. For the first time, we show that GO uptake by macrophages modulates its phagocytic capability, affecting differentially the subsequent ingestion of either alive or heat-killed yeasts. Enhanced ingestion of heat-killed yeast by GO-treated macrophages suggests a beneficial role of this nanomaterial for the clearance of dead microorganisms during infection.
The current development of cloud computing is completely changing the paradigm of data knowledge extraction in huge databases. An example of this technology in the cardiac arrhythmia field is the ...SCOOP platform, a national-level scientific cloud-based big data service for implantable cardioverter defibrillators. In this scenario, we here propose a new methodology for automatic classification of intracardiac electrograms (EGMs) in a cloud computing system, designed for minimal signal preprocessing. A new compression-based similarity measure (CSM) is created for low computational burden, so-called weighted fast compression distance, which provides better performance when compared with other CSMs in the literature. Using simple machine learning techniques, a set of 6848 EGMs extracted from SCOOP platform were classified into seven cardiac arrhythmia classes and one noise class, reaching near to 90% accuracy when previous patient arrhythmia information was available and 63% otherwise, hence overcoming in all cases the classification provided by the majority class. Results show that this methodology can be used as a high-quality service of cloud computing, providing support to physicians for improving the knowledge on patient diagnosis.
Mn oxide and/or Co oxide are deposited on flexible carbon cloth by a cathodic potentiodynamic procedure from their respective sulfates. In KOH electrolyte, the charge stored from reversible redox ...reactions of the two oxides (battery response) overlaps with the charge stored from the double layer of the carbon cloth (supercapacitor response). These charges or capacities are compared. For the electrodes having one oxide only, either Mn or Co oxide, the highest capacity is obtained for 8 wt% oxide load. To overcome this limitation, both Mn and Co oxide are simultaneously or sequentially electrodeposited on carbon cloth over a broad compositional range. The electrode capacity can reach 71 mA·h·g−1 or 0.9 mA·h· cm−2, which are higher than the values found for the bare carbon cloth. The electrode capacity depends on the relative content of the carbon cloth and the two deposited oxides according to the rule of mixtures. The decrease of the specific surface area of the carbon cloth is discussed in relation to the deposited oxide. The high capacity retention vs current is due to the contribution of the carbon cloth substrate. The electrode cycle life is discussed on the basis of the supercapacitor response and battery one.
Purpose
People with schizophrenia continue to encounter barriers to employment acquisition. The aim of this scoping study was to identify and synthesize existent evidence about the employment support ...needs of people diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Methods
Five relevant databases were used: CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. Additional material of potential interest was identified through the references of the retrieved articles. A manual search for publications from the 3 months immediately prior to the electronic search was carried out in specialized journals. Searches covered the period between 1945 and August 30, 2017 without language restrictions. Two approaches were used to display the data: descriptive analysis and thematic analysis.
Results
Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria, most of which discussed experiences of participation in individual placement and support programmes. Thematic analysis identified four support needs: developing skills, vocational intervention, support and encouragement, and a supportive work environment.
Conclusions
There is a paucity of literature examining and evaluating employment support needs from the perspectives of people with schizophrenia. Future research must look beyond individual factors affecting employment outcomes to consider societal attitudes, stigma and work-related legislation.
Achieving the highest precision for theoretical predictions at the LHC requires the calculation of hard-scattering cross sections that include perturbative QCD corrections up to (N)NNLO and ...electroweak (EW) corrections up to NLO. Parton distribution functions (PDFs) need to be provided with matching accuracy, which in the case of QED effects involves introducing the photon parton distribution of the proton,
x
γ
(
x
,
Q
2
)
. In this work a determination of the photon PDF from fits to recent ATLAS measurements of high-mass Drell–Yan dilepton production at
s
=
8
TeV is presented. This analysis is based on the xFitter framework, and has required improvements both in the APFEL program, to account for NLO QED effects, and in the aMCfast interface to account for the photon-initiated contributions in the EW calculations within MadGraph5_aMC@NLO. The results are compared with other recent QED fits and determinations of the photon PDF, consistent results are found.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and psychosis is ubiquitous and acknowledged as a core feature of clinical expression, pathophysiology, and prediction of functioning. However, ...assessment of cognitive functioning is excessively time-consuming in routine practice, and brief cognitive instruments specific to psychosis would be of value. Two screening tools have recently been created to address this issue, i.e., the Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool for Schizophrenia (B-CATS) and the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The aim of this research was to examine the comparative validity of these two brief instruments in relation to a global cognitive score. 161 patients with psychosis (96 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 65 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder) and 76 healthy control subjects were tested with both instruments to examine their concurrent validity relative to a more comprehensive neuropsychological assessment battery. Scores from the B-CATS and the SCIP were highly correlated in the three diagnostic groups, and both scales showed good to excellent concurrent validity relative to a Global Cognitive Composite Score (GCCS) derived from the more comprehensive examination. The SCIP-S showed better predictive value of global cognitive impairment than the B-CATS. Partial and semi-partial correlations showed slightly higher percentages of both shared and unique variance between the SCIP-S and the GCCS than between the B-CATS and the GCCS. Brief instruments for assessing cognition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, such as the SCIP-S and B-CATS, seem to be reliable and promising tools for use in routine clinical practice.
Missing data is a common problem in scientific research. The availability of extensive environmental time series is usually laborious and difficult, and sometimes unexpected failures are not detected ...until samples are processed. Consequently, environmental databases frequently have some gaps with missing data in it. Applying an interpolation method before starting the data analysis can be a good solution in order to complete this missing information. Nevertheless, there are several different approaches whose accuracy should be considered and compared. In this study, data from 6 aerobiological sampling stations were used as an example of environmental data series to assess the accuracy of different interpolation methods. For that, observed daily pollen/spore concentration data series were randomly removed, interpolated by using different methods and then, compared with the observed data to measure the errors produced. Different periods, gap sizes, interpolation methods and bioaerosols were considered in order to check their influence in the interpolation accuracy. The moving mean interpolation method obtained the highest success rate as average. By using this method, a success rate of the 70% was obtained when the risk classes used in the alert systems of the pollen information platforms were taken into account. In general, errors were mostly greater when there were high oscillations in the concentrations of biotic particles during consecutive days. That is the reason why the pre-peak and peak periods showed the highest interpolation errors. The errors were also higher when gaps longer than 5 days were considered. So, for completing long periods of missing data, it would be advisable to test other methodological approaches. A new Variation Index based on the behaviour of the pollen/spore season (measurement of the variability of the concentrations every 2 consecutive days) was elaborated, which allows to estimate the potential error before the interpolation is applied.
•Interpolating gaps generally reduce errors in the analysis of bioaerosols data.•Periods with high and unsteady concentrations are the most difficult to interpolate.•The lowest errors were obtained by using moving mean interpolation method.•The best method obtained a success rate of 70% when estimating allergy risk.•An index was defined (variation index) to anticipate the error of interpolating gaps.
A single stress exposure facilitates memory formation through neuroplastic processes that reshape excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, probably requiring changes in extracellular matrix ...components. We tested the hypothesis that matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), an enzyme that degrades components of extracellular matrix and synaptic proteins such as β-dystroglycan (β-DG43), changes their activity and distribution in rat hippocampus during the acute stress response. After 2.5 h of restraint stress, we found (i) increased MMP-9 levels and potential activity in whole hippocampal extracts, accompanied by β-DG43 cleavage, and (ii) a significant enhancement of MMP-9 immunoreactivity in dendritic fields such as stratum radiatum and the molecular layer of hippocampus. After 24 h of stress, we found that (i) MMP-9 net activity rises at somatic field, i.e., stratum pyramidale and granule cell layers, and also at synaptic field, mainly stratum radiatum and the molecular layer of hippocampus, and (ii) hippocampal synaptoneurosome fractions are enriched with MMP-9, without variation of its potential enzymatic activity, in accordance with the constant level of cleaved β-DG43. These findings indicate that stress triggers a peculiar timing response in the MMP-9 levels, net activity, and subcellular distribution in the hippocampus, suggesting its involvement in the processing of substrates during the stress response.
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