One-neutron knockout reactions have been performed on a beam of radioactive ^{53}Co in a high-spin isomeric state. The analysis is shown to yield a highly selective population of high-spin states in ...an exotic nucleus with a significant cross section, and hence represents a technique that is applicable to the planned new generation of fragmentation-based radioactive beam facilities. Additionally, the relative cross sections among the excited states can be predicted to a high level of accuracy when reliable shell-model input is available. The work has resulted in a new level scheme, up to the 11^{+} band-termination state, of the proton-rich nucleus ^{52}Co (Z=27, N=25). This has in turn enabled a study of mirror energy differences in the A=52 odd-odd mirror nuclei, interpreted in terms of isospin-nonconserving (INC) forces in nuclei. The analysis demonstrates the importance of using a full set of J-dependent INC terms to explain the experimental observations.
The multiprotein complex C1 initiates the classical pathway of complement activation on binding to antibody–antigen complexes, pathogen surfaces, apoptotic cells, and polyanionic structures. It is ...formed from the recognition subcomponent C1q and a tetramer of proteases C1r₂C1s₂ as a Ca2+-dependent complex. Here we have determined the structure of a complex between the CUB1-EGF-CUB2 fragments of C1r and C1s to reveal the C1r–C1s interaction that forms the core of C1. Both fragments are L-shaped and interlock to form a compact antiparallel heterodimer with a Ca2+ from each subcomponent at the interface. Contacts, involving all three domains of each protease, are more extensive than those of C1r or C1s homodimers, explaining why heterocomplexes form preferentially. The available structural and biophysical data support a model of C1r₂C1s₂ in which two C1r-C1s dimers are linked via the catalytic domains of C1r. They are incompatible with a recent model in which the N-terminal domains of C1r and C1s form a fixed tetramer. On binding to C1q, the proteases become more compact, with the C1r-C1s dimers at the center and the six collagenous stems of C1q arranged around the perimeter. Activation is likely driven by separation of the C1r-C1s dimer pairs when C1q binds to a surface. Considerable flexibility in C1s likely facilitates C1 complex formation, activation of C1s by C1r, and binding and activation of downstream substrates C4 and C4b-bound C2 to initiate the reaction cascade.
Porphyromonas gingivalis is a keystone pathogen of chronic periodontitis, and its intraoral levels have been shown to predict disease progression (activity). An accurate and sensitive chair-side ...(point of care) test to determine disease activity is critical for early intervention and clinical management of disease. This study aimed to develop a rapid, chair-side, saliva-based detection of P. gingivalis. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to the A1-adhesin domain of the P. gingivalis RgpA-Kgp proteinase-adhesin complex were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and microbial flow cytometry, with 2 mAbs shown to recognize all laboratory and clinical strains tested, without significantly cross-reacting with other oral bacteria tested. With these mAbs, an immunochromatographic device was produced and shown in preclinical studies to detect, in inoculated saliva, all P. gingivalis laboratory strains and clinical isolates tested. The device was able to detect ≥1 × 105 P. gingivalis cells/mL. In a patient age- and sex-matched control clinical cohort, P. gingivalis levels in saliva—as measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction—positively correlated with P. gingivalis levels in subgingival plaque (r = 0.819, P < 0.01) and clinical parameters of disease (r = 0.633, P < 0.01). A positive device result strongly correlated with P. gingivalis levels >1 × 105 cells/mL in saliva (r = 0.778, P < 0.001) and subgingival plaque (r = 0.715, P < 0.001) with sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive values, and accuracy levels of 95.0%, 93.3%, 90.5%, 96.6%, and 94.0%, respectively. The device result also positively correlated (r = 0.695, P < 0.01) with disease severity as measured by probing depth. Detection of P. gingivalis in saliva was found to be rapid, taking 3 min from sample collection.
Because results from single‐center (mostly kidney) donor studies demonstrate interpersonal relationship and financial strains for some donors, we conducted a liver donor study involving nine centers ...within the Adult‐to‐Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort Study 2 (A2ALL‐2) consortium. Among other initiatives, A2ALL‐2 examined the nature of these outcomes following donation. Using validated measures, donors were prospectively surveyed before donation and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 mo after donation. Repeated‐measures regression models were used to examine social relationship and financial outcomes over time and to identify relevant predictors. Of 297 eligible donors, 271 (91%) consented and were interviewed at least once. Relationship changes were positive overall across postdonation time points, with nearly one‐third reporting improved donor family and spousal or partner relationships and >50% reporting improved recipient relationships. The majority of donors, however, reported cumulative out‐of‐pocket medical and nonmedical expenses, which were judged burdensome by 44% of donors. Lower income predicted burdensome donation costs. Those who anticipated financial concerns and who held nonprofessional positions before donation were more likely to experience adverse financial outcomes. These data support the need for initiatives to reduce financial burden.
Prospective surveys of 271 living liver donors across nine transplant centers show a majority of donors experience improved relationships postdonation, but nearly half had negative financial outcomes, including 44% with out‐of‐pocket donation‐related expenses they considered burdensome.
Abstract
Context
Vitamin D status is usually assessed by serum total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (t25-OHD). Whether free 25-hydroxyvitamin D measures better correlate with various clinical outcomes is ...unclear.
Objective
To identify correlations between t25-OHD, calculated and direct measures of free 25-OHD, and to identify associations of these measures with other outcomes in children, across the 6 common GC haplotypes.
Design
Healthy urban-dwelling children underwent measurement of relevant variables.
Setting
Academic medical center.
Participants
The study included 203 healthy, urban-dwelling children, aged 6 months to 10 years, predominantly of Hispanic background and representative of all common GC haplotypes.
Intervention
None.
Main Outcome Measures
Total and free 25-OHD and 1,25(OH)2D, calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone (PTH), glucose, insulin, aldosterone, and renin.
Results
Mean t25-OHD 26.3 ± 6.7ng/ml; 65.8 ± 16.8nmol/L were lowest in the GC2 genotype. Mean t1,25(OH)2D 57.6 ± 16.5pg/ml; 143.9 ± 41.3pmol/L, were lowest in GC1f/1f, GC1f/2, and GC2/2 groups. T25-OHD correlated strongly with calculated free 25-OHD (cf25-OHD) (r = 0.89) and moderately with directly measured free 25-OHD (dmf25-OHD) (r = 0.69). Cf25-OHD correlated with dmf25-OHD (r = 0.69) (P < 0.001 for all). t25-OHD inversely correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r=-0.191; P = 0.006), skin reflectometry, and systolic blood pressure. T25-OHD correlated with fasting insulin and the homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), however significance for these correlations was not evident after adjustment for BMI. PTH inversely correlated with all measures of 25-OHD, but most strongly with t25-OHD.
Conclusions
Measures of circulating total and free 25-OHD are comparable measures of vitamin D status in heathy children. Correlations are similar with other outcome variables, however t25-OHD remains the strongest correlate of circulating PTH and other variables. These data argue against routine refinement of the t25-OHD measure using currently available assessments of free 25-OHD.
Clinical Trial Information
Clinicaltrials.gov registration no: NCT01050387 (January 15, 2010).
Objectives To assess the overall effect of vitamin D supplementation on risk of acute respiratory tract infection, and to identify factors modifying this effect.Design Systematic review and ...meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) from randomised controlled trials.Data sources Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number registry from inception to December 2015.Eligibility criteria for study selection Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trials of supplementation with vitamin D3 or vitamin D2 of any duration were eligible for inclusion if they had been approved by a research ethics committee and if data on incidence of acute respiratory tract infection were collected prospectively and prespecified as an efficacy outcome.Results 25 eligible randomised controlled trials (total 11 321 participants, aged 0 to 95 years) were identified. IPD were obtained for 10 933 (96.6%) participants. Vitamin D supplementation reduced the risk of acute respiratory tract infection among all participants (adjusted odds ratio 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.81 to 0.96; P for heterogeneity <0.001). In subgroup analysis, protective effects were seen in those receiving daily or weekly vitamin D without additional bolus doses (adjusted odds ratio 0.81, 0.72 to 0.91) but not in those receiving one or more bolus doses (adjusted odds ratio 0.97, 0.86 to 1.10; P for interaction=0.05). Among those receiving daily or weekly vitamin D, protective effects were stronger in those with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels <25 nmol/L (adjusted odds ratio 0.30, 0.17 to 0.53) than in those with baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels ≥25 nmol/L (adjusted odds ratio 0.75, 0.60 to 0.95; P for interaction=0.006). Vitamin D did not influence the proportion of participants experiencing at least one serious adverse event (adjusted odds ratio 0.98, 0.80 to 1.20, P=0.83). The body of evidence contributing to these analyses was assessed as being of high quality.Conclusions Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall. Patients who were very vitamin D deficient and those not receiving bolus doses experienced the most benefit.Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42014013953.
Summary
A comprehensive sequential extraction procedure was applied to isolate soil organic components using aqueous solvents at different pH values, base plus urea (base‐urea), and finally ...dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) plus concentrated H2SO4 (DMSO‐acid) for the humin‐enriched clay separates. The extracts from base‐urea and DMSO‐acid would be regarded as ‘humin’ in the classical definitions. The fractions isolated from aqueous base, base‐urea and DMSO‐acid were characterized by solid and solution state NMR spectroscopy. The base‐urea solvent system isolated ca. 10% (by mass) additional humic substances. The combined base‐urea and DMSO‐acid solvents isolated ca. 93% of total organic carbon from the humin‐enriched fine clay fraction (<2 μm). Characterization of the humic fractions by solid‐state NMR spectroscopy showed that oxidized char materials were concentrated in humic acids isolated at pH 7, and in the base‐urea extract. Lignin‐derived materials were in considerable abundance in the humic acids isolated at pH 12.6. Only very small amounts of char‐derived structures were contained in the fulvic acids and fulvic acids‐like material isolated from the base‐urea solvent. After extraction with base‐urea, the 0.5 m NaOH extract from the humin‐enriched clay was predominantly composed of aliphatic hydrocarbon groups, and with lesser amounts of aromatic carbon (probably including some char material), and carbohydrates and peptides. From the combination of solid and solution‐state NMR spectroscopy, it is clear that the major components of humin materials, from the DMSO‐acid solvent, after the exhaustive extraction sequence, were composed of microbial and plant derived components, mainly long‐chain aliphatic species (including fatty acids/ester, waxes, lipids and cuticular material), carbohydrate, peptides/proteins, lignin derivatives, lipoprotein and peptidoglycan (major structural components in bacteria cell walls). Black carbon or char materials were enriched in humic acids isolated at pH 7 and humic acids‐like material isolated in the base‐urea medium, indicating that urea can liberate char‐derived material hydrogen bonded or trapped within the humin matrix.
Tests on B−L symmetry breaking models are important probes to search for new physics. One proposed model with Δ(B−L)=2 involves the oscillations of a neutron to an antineutron. In this paper, a new ...limit on this process is derived for the data acquired from all three operational phases of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment. The search concentrated on oscillations occurring within the deuteron, and 23 events were observed against a background expectation of 30.5 events. These translated to a lower limit on the nuclear lifetime of 1.48×1031 yr at 90% C.L. when no restriction was placed on the signal likelihood space (unbounded). Alternatively, a lower limit on the nuclear lifetime was found to be 1.18×1031 yr at 90% C.L. when the signal was forced into a positive likelihood space (bounded). Values for the free oscillation time derived from various models are also provided in this article. This is the first search for neutron-antineutron oscillation with the deuteron as a target.
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