This paper develops a definition of a supercell reflectivity feature called the descending reflectivity core (DRC). This is a reflectivity maximum pendant from the rear side of an echo overhang above ...a supercell weak-echo region. Examples of supercells with and without DRCs are presented from two days during the Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX), as well as one day with tornadic high-precipitation supercell storms in central Kansas. It was found that in all cases, tornado formation was preceded by the descent of a DRC. However, the sample reported herein is much too small to allow conclusions regarding the overall frequency of DRC occurrence in supercells, or the frequency with which DRCs precede tornado formation. Although further research needs to be done to establish climatological frequencies, the apparent relationship observed between DRCs and impending tornado formation in several supercells is important enough to warrant publication of preliminary findings.
Reversible dysphasia and statins Davies, Gordon Robert Wyndham
Journal of Korean medical science,
04/2012, Letnik:
27, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
This paper presents a case of reversible dysphasia occurring in a patient prescribed atorvastatin in combination with indapamide. A milder dysphasia recurred with the prescription of rosuvastatin and ...was documented on clinical examination. This resolved following cessation of rosuvastatin. The case highlights both a need for a wider understanding of potential drug interactions through the CYP 450 system and for an increased awareness, questioning and reporting of drug side-effects.
Recent studies have demonstrated that RANTES, a member of the CC chemokine family affecting monocytes, T cells, basophils, and eosinophils, is expressed by several cell types. To investigate whether ...human bronchial epithelial cells can also express this chemokine, we investigated human bronchial epithelial cells for their ability to synthesize RANTES, both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, we investigated the effect of treatment for 4 mo with inhaled corticosteroids on the expression of RANTES in these cells in vivo. Human bronchial epithelial cells cultured from surgical tissue expressed the mRNA for RANTES and synthesized RANTES, as demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemical staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Incubation of the cultures with 50 ng/ml of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) significantly increased the release of RANTES into culture medium after 18 to 48 h of incubation, an effect that was abolished by treatment of the cultures with anti-TNF-alpha antibody. RANTES was also expressed in the bronchial epithelium in vivo, as indicated by positive immunocytochemical staining of bronchial biopsy tissues obtained from mild asthmatic patients before and after treatment with 500 micrograms of inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) twice daily or matched placebo for 4 mo. Quantitation, by color image analysis, of the percentage of epithelium staining for RANTES showed that treatment with BDP decreased the expression of RANTES in the bronchial epithelium from 17.12% to 4.22% (P < 0.05). The numbers of EG2-staining cells in the epithelium were also reduced, from 790.1/mm2 to 203.3/mm2 (geometric mean; P < 0.01), after BDP treatment. These results suggest that human bronchial epithelial cells are capable of synthesizing RANTES and may therefore play an important role in the development of inflammation in allergic airways disease. Furthermore, corticosteroids may prevent airway inflammation by downregulating the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in the bronchial epithelium.
Self-assembling peptide P
-4 is amphiphilic and pH-triggered, effective on repairing early enamel carious lesions and dentin remineralization. However, P
-4 effects on dentin biomineralization and ...repair ability remain unexplored. Thus, cytocompatibility and effectiveness of P
-4 on inducing mineralization and migration of odontoblast-like cells (MDPC-23) were investigated.
MDPC-23 were seeded in contact with P
-4 (0.5 and 1 µg/ml), Dentin Matrix Protein 1 (DMP1 0.5 and 1 µg/ml) or Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)
100 µg/ml) solutions. Cell viability was verified using MTT (n = 6/group). Mineral deposition was tested using Alizarin Red (n = 4/group). Cell migration was assessed by light microscopy (n = 2/group). MTT and Alizarin Red data were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney (α=0.01).
P
-4 (0.5 and 1 µg/ml) and DMP1 (0.5 and 1 µg/ml) resulted the highest cell viability; Ca(OH)
presented the lowest. 1 µg/ml DMP1 and 1 µg/ml P
-4 promoted the highest mineral deposition. Ca(OH)
presented lower values of mineral deposits than DMP1 1 µg/ml (p < 0.01), but similar to P
-4 1 µg/ml. P
-4 and DMP1 at 0.5 µg/ml induced lesser mineral precipitation than P
-4 and DMP1 at 1 µg/ml (p < 0.01), with no difference to Ca(OH)
. All materials stimulated cell migration, however, lower concentrations of DMP1 and P
-4 demonstrated a higher migration potential.
P
-4 did not affect cell viability, induces mineral deposition and MDPC-23 migration like DMP1.
Self-assembling peptide P
-4 does not affect the cell viability and induces mineral deposition comparable to native protein involved in biomineralization. Combined with its ability to bind type I collagen, P
-4 is a promising bioinspired molecule that provides native-tissue conditions and foster further studies on its ability to form dentin bridges in pulp-capping strategies.
The dissociative chemisorption of HCl on clean and oxidized Cu(100) surfaces has been investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Whereas the ...dissociation of HCl at the clean surface is limited to the formation of a (√2×√2)-R45° Cl(a) monolayer, the presence of surface oxygen removes this barrier, leading to chlorine coverages up to twice that obtained at the clean surface. Additional features in the STM images that appear at these coverages are tentatively assigned to the nucleation of CuCl islands. The rate of reaction of the HCl was slightly higher on the oxidized surface but unaffected by the initial oxygen concentration or the availability of clean copper sites. Of the two distinct domains of adsorbed oxygen identified at room temperature on the Cu(100) surfaces, the (√2×√2)-R45° structure reacts slightly faster with HCl than the missing row (√2×2√2)-R45° O(a) structure. The results address the first stages in the formation of a copper chloride and present an interesting comparison with the HCl/O(a) reaction at Cu(110) surfaces, where oxygen also increased the extent of HCl reactions. The results emphasize the importance of the exothermic reaction to form water in the HCl/O(a) reaction on copper.
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•HCl dissociation at clean and oxidised Cu(100) surface studied with XPS and STM.•(√2×√2)-R45° O(a) and (√2×2√2)-R45° O(a) imaged and recorded reacting with HCl.•Effects of O(a) concentration on HCl studied: clean copper surface sites not required.•O(a) accelerates formation of multilayer chlorides.•Reaction of HCl with high concentrations of oxygen shown to involve etching of oxide surface and nucleation of copper chlorides islands.
A trial of intrapleural streptokinase Katikireddy, Chandra K; Dube, Daniel S
The New England journal of medicine,
2005-May-26, Letnik:
352, Številka:
21
Journal Article
Formulas in an Eulerian framework are presented for the absolute velocity and vorticity of individual parcels in inviscid isentropic flow. The analysis is performed in a rectangular Cartesian ...rotating coordinate system. The dependent variables are the Lagrangian coordinates, initial velocities, cumulative temperature, entropy, and a potential. The formulas are obtained in two different ways. The first method is based on finding a matrix integrating factor for the Euler equations of motion and a propagator for the vector vorticity equation. The second method is a variational one. Hamilton's principle of least action is used to minimize the fluid's absolute kinetic energy minus its internal energy and potential energy subject to the Lin constraints and constraints of mass and entropy conservation. In the first method, the friction and diabatic heating terms in the governing equations are carried along in integrands so that the generalized formulas lead to Eckart's circulation theorem. Using them to derive other circulation theorems, the helicity-conservation theorem, and Cauchy's formula for the barotropic vorticity checks the formulas further. The formulas are suitable for generating diagnostic fields of barotropic and baroclinic vorticity in models if some simple auxiliary equations are added to the model and integrated stably forward in time alongside the model equations.
Recent investigations have highlighted the value of neuropsychological testing for the assessment and screening of Alcohol-Related Brain Damage (ARBD). The aim of the present study was to evaluate ...the suitability of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE-III) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) for this purpose.
Comparing 28 participants with ARBD (11 with Korsakoff's Syndrome and 17 with the umbrella "ARBD" diagnosis) and 30 alcohol-dependent participants without ARBD (ALs) we calculated Area Under the Curve (AUC) statistics, sensitivity and specificity values, base-rate adjusted predictive values, and likelihood ratios for both tests.
High levels of screening accuracy were found for the total scores of both the ACE-III (
= 0.823, 95% CIs 0.714, 0.932,
= 0.056; optimal cut-off ≤86: sensitivity = 82%, specificity = 73%) and RBANS (
= 0.846, 95% CIs 0.746, 0.947,
= 0.052; optimal cut-off ≤83: sensitivity = 89%, specificity = 67%) at multiple cut-off points. Removing participants with a history of polysubstance from the samples (10 ALs and 1 ARBD) improved the diagnostic capabilities of the RBANS substantially (
= 0.915, 95% CIs 0.831, 0.999,
= 0.043; optimal cut-off ≤85: sensitivity = 98%, specificity = 80%), while only minor improvements to the ACE-III's accuracy were observed (
= 0.854, 95% CIs 0.744, 0.963,
= 0.056; optimal cut-off ≤88: sensitivity = 85%, specificity = 75%).
Overall, both the ACE-III and RBANS are suitable tools for ARBD screening within an alcohol-dependent population, though the RBANS is the superior of the two. Clinicians using these tools for ARBD screening should be cautious of false-positive outcomes and should therefore combine them with other assessment methods (e.g., neuroimaging, clinical observations) and more detailed neuropsychological testing before reaching diagnostic decisions.
Qualified presumption of safety (QPS) was developed to provide a generic safety evaluation for biological agents to support EFSA's Scientific Panels. The taxonomic identity, body of knowledge, safety ...concerns and antimicrobial resistance are assessed. Safety concerns identified for a taxonomic unit (TU) are where possible to be confirmed at strain or product level, reflected by ‘qualifications’. No new information was found that would change the previously recommended QPS TUs and their qualifications. The list of microorganisms notified to EFSA was updated with 54 biological agents, received between April and September 2019; 23 already had QPS status, 14 were excluded from the QPS exercise (7 filamentous fungi, 6 Escherichia coli, Sphingomonas paucimobilis which was already evaluated). Seventeen, corresponding to 16 TUs, were evaluated for possible QPS status, fourteen of these for the first time, and Protaminobacter rubrum, evaluated previously, was excluded because it is not a valid species. Eight TUs are recommended for QPS status. Lactobacillus parafarraginis and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii are recommended to be included in the QPS list. Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius and Paenibacillus illinoisensis can be recommended for the QPS list with the qualification ‘for production purposes only’ and absence of toxigenic potential. Bacillus velezensis can be recommended for the QPS list with the qualifications; the absence of toxigenic potential and the absence of aminoglycoside production, including the genes encoding this. Cupriavidus necator, Aurantiochytrium limacinum and Tetraselmis chuii can be recommended for the QPS list with the qualification; for production purposes only. Pantoea ananatis is not recommended for the QPS list due to lack of body of knowledge in relation to its pathogenicity potential for plants. Corynebacterium stationis, Hamamotoa singularis, Rhodococcus aetherivorans and Rhodococcus ruber cannot be recommended for the QPS list due to lack of body of knowledge. Kodamaea ohmeri cannot be recommended for the QPS list due to safety concerns.
Analysis of whole genome sequencing data uncovered a previously undetected outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis that had been on-going for four years. Cases were resident in all countries of the United ...Kingdom and 40% of the cases were aged less than 11 years old. Initial investigations revealed that 30% of cases reported exposure to pet snakes. A case-control study was designed to test the hypothesis that exposure to reptiles or their feed were risk factors. A robust case-definition, based on the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profile, increased the power of the analytical study. Following univariable and multivariable analysis, exposure to snakes was the only variable independently associated with infection (Odds ratio 810 95% CI (85–7715) p < 0.001). Isolates of S. Enteritidis belonging to the outbreak profile were recovered from reptile feeder mice sampled at the retail and wholesale level. Control measures included improved public health messaging at point of sale, press releases and engagement with public health and veterinary counterparts across Europe. Mice destined to be fed to reptiles are not regarded as pet food and are not routinely tested for pathogenic bacteria. Routine microbiological testing to ensure feeder mice are free from Salmonella is recommended.
•WGS uncovered a previously undetected 4-year long outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis.•SNP typing faciliated a robust case definition and increased the power of analytical study.•Univariable and multivariable analysis highlighted exposure to snakes.•S. Enteritidis belonging to the outbreak profile were recovered from reptile feeder mice.•WGS provides an unprecedented level of strain discrimination.
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