Neurocysticercosis is the most common helminthic infection of the CNS but its diagnosis remains difficult. Clinical manifestations are nonspecific, most neuroimaging findings are not pathognomonic, ...and some serologic tests have low sensitivity and specificity. The authors provide diagnostic criteria for neurocysticercosis based on objective clinical, imaging, immunologic, and epidemiologic data. These include four categories of criteria stratified on the basis of their diagnostic strength, including the following: 1) absolute--histologic demonstration of the parasite from biopsy of a brain or spinal cord lesion, cystic lesions showing the scolex on CT or MRI, and direct visualization of subretinal parasites by funduscopic examination; 2) major--lesions highly suggestive of neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging studies, positive serum enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot for the detection of anticysticercal antibodies, resolution of intracranial cystic lesions after therapy with albendazole or praziquantel, and spontaneous resolution of small single enhancing lesions; 3) minor--lesions compatible with neurocysticercosis on neuroimaging studies, clinical manifestations suggestive of neurocysticercosis, positive CSF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of anticysticercal antibodies or cysticercal antigens, and cysticercosis outside the CNS; and 4) epidemiologic--evidence of a household contact with Taenia solium infection, individuals coming from or living in an area where cysticercosis is endemic, and history of frequent travel to disease-endemic areas. Interpretation of these criteria permits two degrees of diagnostic certainty: 1) definitive diagnosis, in patients who have one absolute criterion or in those who have two major plus one minor and one epidemiologic criterion; and 2) probable diagnosis, in patients who have one major plus two minor criteria, in those who have one major plus one minor and one epidemiologic criterion, and in those who have three minor plus one epidemiologic criterion.
Specimen collection: An essential tool Rocha, L. A.; Aleixo, A.; Allen, G. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
05/2014, Letnik:
344, Številka:
6186
Journal Article
Here we put forward a roadmap that summarizes important questions that need to be answered to determine more effective and safer treatments. A key concept in management of neurocysticercosis is the ...understanding that infection and disease due to neurocysticercosis are variable and thus different clinical approaches and treatments are required. Despite recent advances, treatments remain either suboptimal or based on poorly controlled or anecdotal experience. A better understanding of basic pathophysiologic mechanisms including parasite survival and evolution, nature of the inflammatory response, and the genesis of seizures, epilepsy, and mechanisms of anthelmintic action should lead to improved therapies.
ABSTRACT
Spectral variability of radio sources encodes information about the conditions of intervening media, source structure, and emission processes. With new low-frequency radio interferometers ...observing over wide fractional bandwidths, studies of spectral variability for a large population of extragalactic radio sources are now possible. Using two epochs of observations from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey that were taken one year apart, we search for spectral variability across 100–230 MHz for 21 558 sources. We present methodologies for detecting variability in the spectrum between epochs and for classifying the type of variability: either as a change in spectral shape or as a uniform change in flux density across the bandwidth. We identify 323 sources with significant spectral variability over a year-long time-scale. Of the 323 variable sources, we classify 51 of these as showing a significant change in spectral shape. Variability is more prevalent in peaked-spectrum sources, analogous to gigahertz-peaked spectrum and compact steep-spectrum sources, compared to typical radio galaxies. We discuss the viability of several potential explanations of the observed spectral variability, such as interstellar scintillation and jet evolution. Our results suggest that the radio sky in the megahertz regime is more dynamic than previously suggested.
As the field of ocean acidification has grown, researchers have increasingly turned to laboratory experiments to understand the impacts of increased CO2 on marine organisms. However, other changes ...such as ocean warming and deoxygenation are occurring concurrently with the increasing CO2 concentrations, complicating the understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic changes on organisms. This experimental aquarium design allows for independent regulation of CO2 concentration, O2 levels, and temperature in a controlled environment to study the impacts of multiple stressors. The system has the flexibility for a wide range of treatment chemistry, seawater volumes, and study organisms. Control of the seawater chemistry is achieved by equilibration of a chosen gas mixture with seawater using a Liqui-Cel® membrane contactor. Included as examples, two experiments performed using the system have shown control of CO2 at values between approximately 500 and 1400 μatm and O2 at values from 80 to 240 μmol kg−1. Temperature has been maintained to 0.5 °C or better in the range of 10–17 °C. On a weeklong timescale, the system has achieved variability in pH of less than 0.007 pH units and in oxygen concentration of less than 3.5 μmol kg−1. Longer experiments, over a month in duration, have been completed with control to better than 0.08 pH units and 13 μmol kg−1 O2. The ability to study the impacts of multiple stressors in the laboratory simultaneously, as well as independently, will be an important part of understanding the response of marine organisms to a high-CO2 world.
PURPOSEThe primary aim of this study was to test the effect of a school-based physical activity intervention on adolescents’ performance in mathematics. A secondary aim was to explore potential ...mechanisms that might explain the intervention effect.
METHODSThe Activity and Motivation in Physical EDucation intervention was evaluated using a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial in 14 secondary schools located in low socioeconomic areas of Western Sydney, Australia. Study participants (n = 1173) were grade 8 students (mean age = 12.94 yr, SD = 0.54). The multicomponent intervention was designed to help teachers maximize students’ opportunities for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during physical education (PE) and enhance students’ motivation toward PE. Mathematics performance was assessed as part of national testing in grade 7, which was the year before the trial began and then again in grade 9. Potential mediators were(i) proportion of PE lesson time that students spent in MVPA and leisure time MVPA (%), measured using Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers, and (ii) students’ self-reported engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) during mathematics lessons. Mediators were assessed at baseline (grade 8) and follow-up (grade 9, 14–15 months after baseline).
RESULTSThe effect of the intervention on mathematics performance was small-to-medium (β = 0.16, P < 0.001). An intervention effect was observed for MVPA% in PE (β = 0.59, P < 0.001), but not for leisure time MVPA or any of the engagement mediators. There were no significant associations between changes in potential mediators and mathematics performance.
CONCLUSIONSThe Activity and Motivation in Physical EDucation intervention had a significant positive effect on mathematics performance in adolescents. However, findings should be interpreted with caution as the effect was small and not associated with changes in hypothesized mediators.
We have used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to image ∼100 deg2 of SDSS Stripe 82 at 1–2 GHz. The survey consists of 1026 snapshot observations of 2.5 min duration, using the hybrid CnB ...configuration. The survey has good sensitivity to diffuse, low surface brightness structures and extended radio emission, making it highly synergistic with existing 1.4 GHz radio observations of the region. The principal data products are continuum images, with 16 × 10 arcsec resolution, and a catalogue containing 11 782 point and Gaussian components resulting from fits to the thresholded Stokes-I brightness distribution, forming approximately 8948 unique radio sources. The typical effective 1σ noise level is 88 μJy beam−1. Spectral index estimates are included, as derived from the 1 GHz of instantaneous bandwidth. Astrometric and photometric accuracy are in excellent agreement with existing narrowband observations. A large-scale simulation is used to investigate clean bias, which we extend into the spectral domain. Clean bias remains an issue for snapshot surveys with the VLA, affecting our total intensity measurements at the ∼1σ level. Statistical spectral index measurements are in good agreement with existing measurements derived from matching separate surveys at two frequencies. At flux densities below ∼35σ the median in-band spectral index measurements begin to exhibit a bias towards flatness that is dependent on both flux density and the intrinsic spectral index. In-band spectral curvature measurements are likely to be unreliable for all but the very brightest components. Image products and catalogues are publicly available via an FTP server.
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