The contagiousness and deadliness of COVID-19 have necessitated drastic social management to halt transmission. The immediate effects of a nationwide lockdown were investigated by comparing matched ...samples of New Zealanders assessed before (Nprelockdown = 1,003) and during the first 18 days of lockdown (Nlockdown = 1,003). Two categories of outcomes were examined: (a) institutional trust and attitudes toward the nation and government and (b) health and well-being. Applying propensity score matching to approximate the conditions of a randomized controlled experiment, the study found that people in the pandemic/lockdown group reported higher trust in science, politicians, and police, higher levels of patriotism, and higher rates of mental distress compared to people in the prelockdown prepandemic group. Results were confirmed in within-subjects analyses. The study highlights social connectedness, resilience, and vulnerability in the face of adversity and has applied implications for how countries face this global challenge.
Public Significance Statement
This study describes the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown on levels of institutional trust and attitudes toward the nation and government and health and well-being in New Zealand, with implications for other nations. Our results suggest that a strong national response to COVID-19 may bolster national attachment and increase trust in the bodies determining and enforcing lockdown guidelines. Against a backdrop of general resilience, small increases in psychological distress serve as a warning about potential psychological consequences of lockdown and isolation.
Earth's climate underwent a fundamental change between 1250 and 700 thousand years ago, the mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT), when the dominant periodicity of climate cycles changed from 41 thousand ...to 100 thousand years in the absence of substantial change in orbital forcing. Over this time, an increase occurred in the amplitude of change of deep-ocean foraminiferal oxygen isotopic ratios, traditionally interpreted as defining the main rhythm of ice ages although containing large effects of changes in deep-ocean temperature. We have separated the effects of decreasing temperature and increasing global ice volume on oxygen isotope ratios. Our results suggest that the MPT was initiated by an abrupt increase in Antarctic ice volume 900 thousand years ago. We see no evidence of a pattern of gradual cooling, but near-freezing temperatures occur at every glacial maximum.
Pathogenesis of chronic urticaria Kaplan, A. P.; Greaves, M.
Clinical and experimental allergy,
June 2009, Letnik:
39, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Summary
Chronic urticaria is defined as the presence of urticaria (hives) for at least 6 weeks with the assumption that it occurs daily or close to it. If we eliminate physical urticarias and ...urticarial vasculitis from consideration, the remainder can be divided into autoimmune chronic urticaria (45%) and idiopathic chronic urticaria (55%). The autoimmune subgroup is associated with the IgG anti‐IgE receptor α subunit in 35–40% of patients and IgG anti‐IgE in an additional 5–10%. These autoantibodies have been shown to activate blood basophils and cutaneous mast cells in vitro with augmentation of basophil activation by complement and release of C5a, in particular. Binding methods (immunoblot and ELISA) yield positives in many autoimmune diseases as well as occasional normal subjects or patients with other forms of urticaria but most such sera are non‐functional. Activation of basophils or mast cells causing histamine release is quite specific for chronic urticaria and defines the autoimmune subgroup. Although pathogenicity is not formally proven, the antibodies cause wealing upon intradermal injection, and removal of the autoantibody leads to remission. A cellular infiltrate is seen to be characterized by mast cell degranulation and infiltration of CD4+ T lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils. The intensity of the infiltrate and clinical severity of the disease (including accompanying angio‐oedema) is more severe in the autoimmune subpopulation. This latter group also has a higher evidence of human leucocyte antigen DR alleles associated with autoimmunity and a 25% incidence of antithyroid antibodies with diagnosed hypothyroidism in some. Hypo‐responsiveness of patients' basophils to anti‐IgE and hyperresponsiveness to serum defines another subpopulation (at least 50%) that overlaps the idiopathic and autoimmune subgroups. Hypo‐responsiveness to anti‐IgE has been shown to be associated with elevated levels of cytoplasmic phosphatases that inhibit degranulation. Reversal of the abnormality is seen with disease remission. Further work will be needed to distinguish whether this is a cause or a consequence of persistent urticaria and to further assess the relationship (or lack thereof) of altered responsiveness (decreased or increased) with the presence or absence of activating autoantibodies.
Antiphospholipid antibodies are associated with arterial and venous thrombosis, recurrent pregnancy loss, and thrombocytopenia. Although the antibodies have not been conclusively shown to be causal ...in thrombosis and miscarriage, they are useful laboratory markers for the antiphospholipid syndrome. The identification of the syndrome is clinically important because of the risk of recurrent thrombosis and the need for antithrombotic therapy in many cases. Diagnosis and treatment of antiphospholipid syndrome is difficult, however, because of the protean clinical manifestations and associations, limitations of existing laboratory tests for antiphospholipid antibodies, and the absence of evidence-based guidance on best management.
The various cleaning steps required for preparation of foraminiferal samples for Mg/Ca (and Sr/Ca) analysis are evaluated for their relative importance and effects on measured elemental ratios. It is ...shown that the removal of silicate contamination is the most important step for the measurement of Mg/Ca ratios. In an example, bulk sample Mg/Ca decreases from 10.5 to 2.5 mmol mol−1 during clay removal. Oxidation of organic material causes a lowering of sample Mg/Ca in the order of 10% or approximately 1°C when converted to temperature. Use of dilute acid leaching to remove adsorbed contaminants causes partial dissolution of the sample carbonate and a corresponding decrease in Mg/Ca. Reductive treatment also causes dissolution of the sample and a decrease in the Mg/Ca ratio of up to 10–15%. Sample preparation for Sr/Ca analysis does not require the same degree of rigor as is necessary for Mg/Ca work. The “within‐run” reproducibility of the method described here for G. ruber in a core‐top sample from the Arabian Sea was ±1.8% (mean sample ratio was 4.72 mmol mol−1). When converted to temperature, this becomes 28 ± 0.2°C. The equivalent result for Sr/Ca was ±0.5% (mean ratio = 1.44 mmol mol−1).
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