This retrospective case series identifies the largest cohort of non-O1, non-O139 Vibrio cholerae bacteraemia in an Australian population from 2000 to 2013. We examine the risk factors, epidemiology, ...clinical presentations and mortality of non-O1, non-O139 V. cholerae bacteraemia in Victoria and compare them with published cases in the literature. This case series highlights the pathogenic potential of non-O1, non-O139 V. cholerae and identifies possible associations with host (underlying chronic liver disease and malignancy) and environmental factors (contaminated water supply and raw seafood). Clinicians should be aware of the morbidity and mortality associated with invasive non-O1, non-O139 V. cholerae infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients.
Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after lung transplantation may result from ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). The innate immune response to IRI may be mediated by Toll‐like receptor and IL‐1‐induced ...long pentraxin‐3 (PTX3) release. We hypothesized that elevated PTX3 levels were associated with PGD. We performed a nested case control study of lung transplant recipients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from the Lung Transplant Outcomes Group cohort. PTX3 levels were measured pretransplant, and 6 and 24 h postreperfusion. Cases were subjects with grade 3 PGD within 72 h of transplantation and controls were those without grade 3 PGD. Generalized estimating equations and multivariable logistic regression were used for analysis. We selected 40 PGD cases and 79 non‐PGD controls. Plasma PTX3 level was associated with PGD in IPF but not COPD recipients (p for interaction < 0.03). Among patients with IPF, PTX3 levels at 6 and 24 h were associated with PGD (OR = 1.6, p = 0.02 at 6 h; OR = 1.4, p = 0.008 at 24 h). Elevated PTX3 levels were associated with the development of PGD after lung transplantation in IPF patients. Future studies evaluating the role of innate immune activation in IPF and PGD are warranted.
In a multicenter nested case control study of 119 lung transplant recipients, elevated plasma levels of the innate immune mediator long pentraxin‐3 are associated with the development of primary graft dysfunction in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Engaging communities in tuberculosis research Boulanger, Renaud F, BA; Seidel, Stephanie, BA; Lessem, Erica, MPH ...
The Lancet infectious diseases,
06/2013, Letnik:
13, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Summary According to a growing consensus among biomedical researchers, community engagement can improve the ethics and outcomes of clinical trials. Although successful efforts to develop community ...engagement practices in HIV/AIDS research have been reported, little attention has been given to engagement with the community in tuberculosis research. This article aims to draw attention to some existing community engagement initiatives in tuberculosis research and to resources that might help tuberculosis researchers to establish and implement community engagement programmes for their trials. One of these resources—the good participatory practice guidelines for tuberculosis drug trials—offers a conceptual framework and practical guidance for community engagement in tuberculosis research. To build momentum and to improve community engagement, lessons need to be shared, and formal assessment strategies for community engagement initiatives need to be developed. To build successfully on the promising activities described in this personal view, research funders and sponsors should show leadership in allocation of resources for the implementation and assessment of community engagement programmes in tuberculosis trials.
Many big-data processing jobs use data-analytics frameworks such as Apache Hadoop (currently also known as YARN). Such frameworks have tunable configuration parameters set by experienced system ...administrators and/or job developers. However, tuning parameters manually can be hard and time-consuming because it requires domain-specific knowledge and understanding of complex inter-dependencies among parameters. Most of the frameworks seek efficient resource management by assigning resource units to jobs, the maximum number of units allowed in a system being part of the static configuration of the system. This static resource management has limited effectiveness in coping with job diversity and workload dynamics, even in the case of a single job. The work reported in this article seeks to improve performance (e.g., multiple-jobs makespan and job completion time) without modification of either the framework or the applications and avoiding problems of previous self-tuning approaches based on performance models or resource usage. These problems include (1) the need for time-consuming training, typically offline and (2) unsuitability for multi-jobs/tenant environments. This article proposes a hierarchical self-tuning approach using (1) a fuzzy-logic controller to dynamically adjust the maximum number of concurrent jobs and (2) additional controllers (one for each cluster node) to adjust the maximum number of resource units assigned to jobs on each node. The fuzzy-logic controller uses fuzzy rules based on a concave-downward relationship between aggregate CPU usage and the number of concurrent jobs. The other controllers use a heuristic algorithm to adjust the number of resource units on the basis of both CPU and disk IO usage by jobs. To manage the maximum number of available resource units in each node, the controllers also take resource usage by other processes (e.g., system processes) into account. A prototype of our approach was implemented for Apache Hadoop on a cluster running at CloudLab. The proposed approach was demonstrated and evaluated with workloads composed of jobs with similar resource usage patterns as well as other realistic mixed-pattern workloads synthesized by SWIM, a statistical workload injector for MapReduce. The evaluation shows that the proposed approach yields up to a 48% reduction of the jobs makespan that results from using Hadoop-default settings.
In the context of conservation hatcheries that seek to bolster wild populations by releasing captively‐reared fishes into the wild, steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss were used to test the hypothesis that ...naturalistic rearing environments promote adaptive behaviour that might otherwise not develop in typical hatchery environments. When comparisons were made among fish reared in barren, structured or structurally variable environments (i.e. the location of the structure was repositioned every 2–3 days), structure in the rearing environment increased future exploratory behaviour, but only if the structure was stable. Under conditions of high perceived predation risk, the fish no longer exhibited increased exploratory behaviour, suggesting that it is expressed in an adaptive, context‐dependant manner. Another concern with hatcheries is that relaxed selection over multiple generations in captivity can increase maladaptive behavioural variation. Compared to rearing in hatchery‐typical barren environments, rearing in structured‐stable environments decreased behavioural variation. This effect, which occurred during development and did not involve selection, demonstrates a different mechanism for change in behavioural variation in captivity. These experiments show that effects of structure and structural stability occur at the level of both average behaviour and behavioural variation, and suggest that these effects should be considered when fishes are reared in hatcheries for later release into the wild.
Several lines of evidence show that climatic variation and global warming can have a major effect on fisheries production and replenishment. To prevent overfishing and rebuild overfished stocks under ...changing and uncertain environmental conditions, new research partnerships between fisheries scientists and climate change experts are required. The International Workshop on Climate and Oceanic Fisheries held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 3–5 October 2011, brought representatives from these disciplines together to consider the effects of climate variability and change on oceanic fisheries, the tools and strategies required for identifying potential impacts on oceanic fisheries, and the priority adaptations for sustaining future harvests, especially in the Pacific Ocean. Recommendations made by the workshop included (1) development and implementation of sustainable management measures for fisheries; (2) long-term commitment to monitoring necessary to assess stock status and to conduct integrated ecosystem assessments; (3) process oriented research to evaluate the potential of marine species for adaptation to a changing ocean environment; (4) provision of improved national meteorological and hydrological services to fisheries agencies, enterprises and communities; (5) continuing communication of potential impacts and adaptation strategies to stakeholders to reduce the threats to oceanic fisheries and capitalise on opportunities; and (6) continued collaborative efforts between meteorological, oceanographic, biological and fisheries researchers and management agencies to better monitor and understand the impacts of short-term variability and longer-term change on oceanic fisheries.
Abstract Lassa virus (LASV) is a BSL-4 restricted agent. To allow study of infection by LASV under BSL-2 conditions, we generated a recombinant virus in which the LASV glycoprotein (Gp) was placed on ...the backbone of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) Cl13 nucleoprotein, Z and polymerase genes (rLCMV Cl13/LASV Gp). The recombinant virus displayed high tropism for dendritic cells following in vitro or in vivo infection. Inoculation of immunocompetent adults resulted in an acute infection, generation of virus-specific CD8+ T cells and clearance of the infection. Inoculation of newborn mice with rLCMV Cl13/LASV Gp resulted in a life-long persistent infection. Interestingly, adoptive transfer of rLCMV Cl13/LASV Gp immune memory cells into such persistently infected mice failed to purge virus but, in contrast, cleared virus from mice persistently infected with wt LCMV Cl13.
Humility facilitates higher self-control Tong, Eddie M.W.; Tan, Kenny W.T.; Chor, Agapera A.B. ...
Journal of experimental social psychology,
January 2016, 2016-01-00, 20160101, Letnik:
62
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Prior evidence and existing theories imply that humility engenders intra- and inter-personal attributes that facilitate self-regulatory abilities. Four experiments were conducted to test the ...hypothesis that humility predicts enhanced self-control. Participants who recalled humility experiences were found to be better able at sustaining their physical stamina in a handgrip task (Studies 1 and 4), resisting indulgence in chocolates (Study 2), and persevering in a frustrating tracing task (Study 3) than those who recalled neutral experiences. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that the effect of humility was distinct from that of self-esteem, which did not affect self-control. Study 2 ruled out two alternative hypotheses concerning achievement and compliance motives. We discuss how the findings might relate to outcomes associated with humility as evidenced in past studies.
•We hypothesize that humility enhances self-control.•Recalling humility experiences improved performance in a handgrip task (Studies 1 and 4), food abstinence task (Study 2), and tracing task (Study 3) than recalling other experiences.•In Studies 3 and 4, reported self-control was higher in the humility condition compared to the low and high self-esteem conditions.•We discuss how the findings might be relevant to understanding outcomes associated with humility.
SPT-CL J2040-4451-spectroscopically confirmed at z = 1.478-is the highest-redshift galaxy cluster yet discovered via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. SPT-CL J2040-4451 was a candidate galaxy cluster ...identified in the first 720 deg super(2) of the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SPT-SZ) survey, and has been confirmed in follow-up imaging and spectroscopy. From multi-object spectroscopy with Magellan-I/Baade+IMACS wemeasure spectroscopic redshifts for 15 cluster member galaxies, all of which have strong OII lambdalambda3727 emission. SPT-CL J2040-4451 has an SZ-measured mass of M sub(500,SZ) = 3.2 + or - 0.8 x 10 super(14) M sub(middot in circle) h super(-1) sub(70) , corresponding to M sub(200,SZ) = 5.8 + or - 1.4 x 10 super(14) M sub(middot in circle) h super(-1) sub(70). The velocity dispersion measured entirely from blue star-forming members is sigma sub(v) = 1500 + or - 520 km s super(-1). The prevalence of star-forming cluster members (galaxies with >1.5 M yr super(-1)) implies that this massive, high-redshift cluster is experiencing a phase of active star formation, and supports recent results showing a marked increase in star formation occurring in galaxy clusters at z gap 1.4. We also compute the probability of finding a cluster as rare as this in the SPT-SZ survey to be >99%, indicating that its discovery is not in tension with the concordance LambdaCDM cosmological model.
Background The emergency surgery score is a mortality-risk calculator for emergency general operation patients. We sought to examine whether the emergency surgery score predicts 30-day morbidity and ...mortality in a high-risk group of patients undergoing emergent laparotomy. Methods Using the 2011–2012 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we identified all patients who underwent emergent laparotomy using (1) the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program definition of “emergent,” and (2) all Current Procedural Terminology codes denoting a laparotomy, excluding aortic aneurysm rupture. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to measure the correlation (c-statistic) between the emergency surgery score and (1) 30-day mortality, and (2) 30-day morbidity after emergent laparotomy. As sensitivity analyses, the correlation between the emergency surgery score and 30-day mortality was also evaluated in prespecified subgroups based on Current Procedural Terminology codes. Results A total of 26,410 emergent laparotomy patients were included. Thirty-day mortality and morbidity were 10.2% and 43.8%, respectively. The emergency surgery score correlated well with mortality (c-statistic = 0.84); scores of 1, 11, and 22 correlated with mortalities of 0.4%, 39%, and 100%, respectively. Similarly, the emergency surgery score correlated well with morbidity (c-statistic = 0.74); scores of 0, 7, and 11 correlated with complication rates of 13%, 58%, and 79%, respectively. The morbidity rates plateaued for scores higher than 11. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the emergency surgery score effectively predicts mortality in patients undergoing emergent (1) splenic, (2) gastroduodenal, (3) intestinal, (4) hepatobiliary, or (5) incarcerated ventral hernia operation. Conclusion The emergency surgery score accurately predicts outcomes in all types of emergent laparotomy patients and may prove valuable as a bedside decision-making tool for patient and family counseling, as well as for adequate risk-adjustment in emergent laparotomy quality benchmarking efforts.
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