Background: In multiple sclerosis (MS) neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a marker of neuronal da... more Background: In multiple sclerosis (MS) neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a marker of neuronal damage secondary to inflammation and neurodegeneration. NfL levels drop after commencement of disease-modifying treatment, especially the highly active ones. However, the factors that influence this drop are unknown. Objective: To examine the patient and treatment-related factors that influence CSF NfL before and after starting treatment. Methods: Eligible patients across two centres with two CSF NfL measurements, clinical and MRI data were included as part of an observational cohort study. Results: Data were available in 61 patients, of which 40 were untreated at the first CSF sampling (T1) and treated at the second (T2; mean T1-T2: 19 months). CSF NfL reduction correlated with age (beta=1.24 95%CI(1.07,1.43); R 2 =0.17; p=0.005), Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) (beta=1.12 95%CI(1.00,1.25); R 2 =0.21; p=0.05) and the type of MS (beta=0.63 95%CI(0.43, 0.92); R 2 =0.12; p=0.018; reference=relapsing MS). The treatment effect on a baseline NfL of 702 pg/mL was 451 pg/ml 95%CI(374,509) in a 30-year-old versus 228 pg/ml 95%CI(63,350) in a 60-year-old. There was no association in CSF NfL reduction with BMI, disease duration or sex. In cladribine-and alemtuzumab-treated patients, the CSF NfL T2/T1 ratio did not correlate with lymphocyte depletion rate at 23 weeks. Conclusions: In this observational study, we found that factors reflecting early disease stage, including a younger age, lower disability and relapsing MS were associated with treatment response in CSF NfL. Other factors were not found to be related, including lymphopaenia in highly-active treatments.
The first report of Oecophora bractella (L.) from North America is given, based on collection rec... more The first report of Oecophora bractella (L.) from North America is given, based on collection records from Washington and British Columbia. This species is found throughout Europe, but is generally rare to uncommon through most of its range. Larvae occur on rotting wood in association with certain fungi and are not expected to reach pest status. Adults were captured at nine locations, with the first record from Seattle, WA in 1998. This first record and some of the subsequent records are from sites immediately adjacent to or associated with international shipping routes. Other sites with O. bractella are from residential areas, two of which have established breeding populations. The introduction of this moth is surprising, particularly given the low interception rate at United States ports and its specialized feeding niche. A diagnosis and photographs of adults are provided to enable North American researchers to identify this species and to monitor its spread. Additional key words:...
Rationale Sepsis is a life-threatening, dysregulated response to infection. Lipid biomarkers incl... more Rationale Sepsis is a life-threatening, dysregulated response to infection. Lipid biomarkers including cholesterol are dynamically regulated during sepsis and predict short-term outcomes. In this study, we investigated the predictive ability of lipid biomarkers for physical function and long-term mortality after sepsis. Methods Prospective cohort study of sepsis patients admitted to a surgical intensive-care unit (ICU) within 24 h of sepsis bundle initiation. Samples were obtained at enrollment for lipid biomarkers. Multivariate regression models determined independent risk factors predictive of poor performance status (Zubrod score of 3/4/5) or survival at 1-year follow-up. Measurements and main results The study included 104 patients with surgical sepsis. Enrollment total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels were lower, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were higher for patients with poor performance status at 1 year. A similar trend was seen in comparisons based ...
ObjectiveTo evaluate the use of CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL) measurements in clinical prac... more ObjectiveTo evaluate the use of CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL) measurements in clinical practice as well as their effect on treatment strategies and outcomes in patients with MS.MethodsThis was an observational cohort study of patients with MS who had a CSF NfL measurement between December 2015 and July 2018 as part of their routine clinical care. Treatment strategies were classified as “No Treatment/No Escalation” (no treatment or no escalation of treatment) or “Treatment/Escalation” (first-line injectable/oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), highly active DMTs, or treatment escalation). Change in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores was evaluated after 1-year follow-up.ResultsOf 203 patients with MS, 117 (58%) had relapsing-remitting MS. Disease activity was most frequently indicated by elevated CSF NfL (n = 85), followed by clinical (n = 81) and MRI activity (n = 65). CSF NfL measurements were independently associated with clinical (p= 0.02) and MRI activity (p...
Men of intemperate minds cannot be free.Their passions forge their fetters.Edmund BurkeIt is not ... more Men of intemperate minds cannot be free.Their passions forge their fetters.Edmund BurkeIt is not necessary to carry a torch for the colonels who seized power in Greece in 1967 to suggest that they evoked from the start in much of the Western world a sense of shock and hostility beyond their obvious deserts. Their coup was bloodless, after all, and scarcely unexpected. Their authoritarian style was more typical than the preceding parliamentary system had been of the prevailing trend in other countries with similar historical, economic and social weaknesses; and in purely Greek ferms it could be seen as a comprehensible and characteristic, albeit depressing, response to a genuine national crisis. The changes in the Greek economy which had ensued from the postwar period of reconstruction, the accelerating drift from the land, the startling growth of Athens, the soaring emigration figures, and the termination of American aid had all imposed great new strains upon the country.
ABSTRACTSalmonella typhimuriumstrains harboring independent, defined mutations inaroA,invA,ssrA, ... more ABSTRACTSalmonella typhimuriumstrains harboring independent, defined mutations inaroA,invA,ssrA, ormsbBwere assessed for their ability to induce fluid accumulation, tissue damage, and local inflammation in rabbit ileal loops. Three wild-type strains ofS. typhimurium, TML, HWSH, and SL1344, and two mutant strains,S. typhimuriumSL1344ssrAandS. typhimuriumSL1344msbB, consistently induced fluid accumulation in the lumen of loops and inflammation of loop-associated tissues. In contrast, three differentS. typhimurium aroAstrains and aninvAmutant of SL1344 did not induce significant fluid accumulation in the rabbit ileal loops. However, theS. typhimurium aroAstrains did induce an inflammatory infiltrate and some local villus-associated damage, but theinvAmutant did not. Histologically, wild-typeS. typhimurium,S. typhimuriumSL1344ssrA, andS. typhimuriumSL1344msbBdemonstrated more severe effects on villus architecture thanS. typhimurium aroAstrains, whereasS. typhimurium invA-infected loops ...
Cerceris fumipennis Say, 1837 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a wasp that provisions its subterrane... more Cerceris fumipennis Say, 1837 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a wasp that provisions its subterranean nests with jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). At 3 newly discovered colonies in British Columbia (BC), C. fumipennis prey were collected by excavating the subterranean nests, using sweep nets to capture paralyzed prey in the grasp of a female returning to her nest, or collecting prey discarded at the nest entrance. In total, 9 species were collected: Acmaeodera idahoensis Barr, Agrilus crataegi Frost, Agrilus granulatus populi Fisher, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) caseyi caseyi Obenberger, Chrysobothris laricis Van Dyke, Chrysobothris leechi Barr, Phaenops drummondi (Kirby), Phaenops gentilis (LeConte) and Phaenops intrusa (Horn). Anthaxia caseyi caseyi was the smallest beetle (4.2 mm) while C. leechi was the largest (12.0 mm). The average size of all buprestid prey taken by females from all 3 colonies was 8.8 mm. These represent the first prey records for C. fumipennis in BC and with the exception of P. drummondi are new prey records for this wasp. A single Harpalus affinis (Schrank) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was discovered within a brood cell containing Acmaeodera spp. elytra, but it is unclear if this beetle was placed in the cell by a female wasp.
How the Queensland government has bulldozed public opinion and one of the earth's most ancient fo... more How the Queensland government has bulldozed public opinion and one of the earth's most ancient forests -to build a road whose purpose no one knows 'Look, Aila. if we indulged in scientific honesty we'd be crucified politically.' -senior Queensland forestry official to Dr Aila Keto, President of the Rainforest Conservation Society in Australia.
AIL-an acronym for Amoeba Interface Language -is a class-oriented RPC stub generator, used with A... more AIL-an acronym for Amoeba Interface Language -is a class-oriented RPC stub generator, used with Amoeba's RPC primitives. Together with Amoeba's facilities for manipulating capabilities (bit patterns that are unforgeable references to objects maintained by servers anywhere on a network), AIL provides a completely object-oriented view of a distributed operating system. Input to AlL consists of class and type definitions and generator directives; output are several flies containing function definitions to be compiled and linked with clients and servers. Class definitions consist mainly of function headers (specifying parameter types, etc.). Classes can inherit multiple other classes. AlL can (in principle) generate stubs for different programming languages, so clients and servers need not be written in the same language.
... external influences which (apart from the possibility of Chinese influence in southern Yemen ... more ... external influences which (apart from the possibility of Chinese influence in southern Yemen and Dhofar ... A Libyan-type coup d'?tat in Saudi Arabia would have profound repercussions throughout ... a period of upheaval greater than anything it has known since the British Raj took ...
Background: In multiple sclerosis (MS) neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a marker of neuronal da... more Background: In multiple sclerosis (MS) neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a marker of neuronal damage secondary to inflammation and neurodegeneration. NfL levels drop after commencement of disease-modifying treatment, especially the highly active ones. However, the factors that influence this drop are unknown. Objective: To examine the patient and treatment-related factors that influence CSF NfL before and after starting treatment. Methods: Eligible patients across two centres with two CSF NfL measurements, clinical and MRI data were included as part of an observational cohort study. Results: Data were available in 61 patients, of which 40 were untreated at the first CSF sampling (T1) and treated at the second (T2; mean T1-T2: 19 months). CSF NfL reduction correlated with age (beta=1.24 95%CI(1.07,1.43); R 2 =0.17; p=0.005), Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) (beta=1.12 95%CI(1.00,1.25); R 2 =0.21; p=0.05) and the type of MS (beta=0.63 95%CI(0.43, 0.92); R 2 =0.12; p=0.018; reference=relapsing MS). The treatment effect on a baseline NfL of 702 pg/mL was 451 pg/ml 95%CI(374,509) in a 30-year-old versus 228 pg/ml 95%CI(63,350) in a 60-year-old. There was no association in CSF NfL reduction with BMI, disease duration or sex. In cladribine-and alemtuzumab-treated patients, the CSF NfL T2/T1 ratio did not correlate with lymphocyte depletion rate at 23 weeks. Conclusions: In this observational study, we found that factors reflecting early disease stage, including a younger age, lower disability and relapsing MS were associated with treatment response in CSF NfL. Other factors were not found to be related, including lymphopaenia in highly-active treatments.
The first report of Oecophora bractella (L.) from North America is given, based on collection rec... more The first report of Oecophora bractella (L.) from North America is given, based on collection records from Washington and British Columbia. This species is found throughout Europe, but is generally rare to uncommon through most of its range. Larvae occur on rotting wood in association with certain fungi and are not expected to reach pest status. Adults were captured at nine locations, with the first record from Seattle, WA in 1998. This first record and some of the subsequent records are from sites immediately adjacent to or associated with international shipping routes. Other sites with O. bractella are from residential areas, two of which have established breeding populations. The introduction of this moth is surprising, particularly given the low interception rate at United States ports and its specialized feeding niche. A diagnosis and photographs of adults are provided to enable North American researchers to identify this species and to monitor its spread. Additional key words:...
Rationale Sepsis is a life-threatening, dysregulated response to infection. Lipid biomarkers incl... more Rationale Sepsis is a life-threatening, dysregulated response to infection. Lipid biomarkers including cholesterol are dynamically regulated during sepsis and predict short-term outcomes. In this study, we investigated the predictive ability of lipid biomarkers for physical function and long-term mortality after sepsis. Methods Prospective cohort study of sepsis patients admitted to a surgical intensive-care unit (ICU) within 24 h of sepsis bundle initiation. Samples were obtained at enrollment for lipid biomarkers. Multivariate regression models determined independent risk factors predictive of poor performance status (Zubrod score of 3/4/5) or survival at 1-year follow-up. Measurements and main results The study included 104 patients with surgical sepsis. Enrollment total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels were lower, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels were higher for patients with poor performance status at 1 year. A similar trend was seen in comparisons based ...
ObjectiveTo evaluate the use of CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL) measurements in clinical prac... more ObjectiveTo evaluate the use of CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL) measurements in clinical practice as well as their effect on treatment strategies and outcomes in patients with MS.MethodsThis was an observational cohort study of patients with MS who had a CSF NfL measurement between December 2015 and July 2018 as part of their routine clinical care. Treatment strategies were classified as “No Treatment/No Escalation” (no treatment or no escalation of treatment) or “Treatment/Escalation” (first-line injectable/oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), highly active DMTs, or treatment escalation). Change in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores was evaluated after 1-year follow-up.ResultsOf 203 patients with MS, 117 (58%) had relapsing-remitting MS. Disease activity was most frequently indicated by elevated CSF NfL (n = 85), followed by clinical (n = 81) and MRI activity (n = 65). CSF NfL measurements were independently associated with clinical (p= 0.02) and MRI activity (p...
Men of intemperate minds cannot be free.Their passions forge their fetters.Edmund BurkeIt is not ... more Men of intemperate minds cannot be free.Their passions forge their fetters.Edmund BurkeIt is not necessary to carry a torch for the colonels who seized power in Greece in 1967 to suggest that they evoked from the start in much of the Western world a sense of shock and hostility beyond their obvious deserts. Their coup was bloodless, after all, and scarcely unexpected. Their authoritarian style was more typical than the preceding parliamentary system had been of the prevailing trend in other countries with similar historical, economic and social weaknesses; and in purely Greek ferms it could be seen as a comprehensible and characteristic, albeit depressing, response to a genuine national crisis. The changes in the Greek economy which had ensued from the postwar period of reconstruction, the accelerating drift from the land, the startling growth of Athens, the soaring emigration figures, and the termination of American aid had all imposed great new strains upon the country.
ABSTRACTSalmonella typhimuriumstrains harboring independent, defined mutations inaroA,invA,ssrA, ... more ABSTRACTSalmonella typhimuriumstrains harboring independent, defined mutations inaroA,invA,ssrA, ormsbBwere assessed for their ability to induce fluid accumulation, tissue damage, and local inflammation in rabbit ileal loops. Three wild-type strains ofS. typhimurium, TML, HWSH, and SL1344, and two mutant strains,S. typhimuriumSL1344ssrAandS. typhimuriumSL1344msbB, consistently induced fluid accumulation in the lumen of loops and inflammation of loop-associated tissues. In contrast, three differentS. typhimurium aroAstrains and aninvAmutant of SL1344 did not induce significant fluid accumulation in the rabbit ileal loops. However, theS. typhimurium aroAstrains did induce an inflammatory infiltrate and some local villus-associated damage, but theinvAmutant did not. Histologically, wild-typeS. typhimurium,S. typhimuriumSL1344ssrA, andS. typhimuriumSL1344msbBdemonstrated more severe effects on villus architecture thanS. typhimurium aroAstrains, whereasS. typhimurium invA-infected loops ...
Cerceris fumipennis Say, 1837 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a wasp that provisions its subterrane... more Cerceris fumipennis Say, 1837 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a wasp that provisions its subterranean nests with jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). At 3 newly discovered colonies in British Columbia (BC), C. fumipennis prey were collected by excavating the subterranean nests, using sweep nets to capture paralyzed prey in the grasp of a female returning to her nest, or collecting prey discarded at the nest entrance. In total, 9 species were collected: Acmaeodera idahoensis Barr, Agrilus crataegi Frost, Agrilus granulatus populi Fisher, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) caseyi caseyi Obenberger, Chrysobothris laricis Van Dyke, Chrysobothris leechi Barr, Phaenops drummondi (Kirby), Phaenops gentilis (LeConte) and Phaenops intrusa (Horn). Anthaxia caseyi caseyi was the smallest beetle (4.2 mm) while C. leechi was the largest (12.0 mm). The average size of all buprestid prey taken by females from all 3 colonies was 8.8 mm. These represent the first prey records for C. fumipennis in BC and with the exception of P. drummondi are new prey records for this wasp. A single Harpalus affinis (Schrank) (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was discovered within a brood cell containing Acmaeodera spp. elytra, but it is unclear if this beetle was placed in the cell by a female wasp.
How the Queensland government has bulldozed public opinion and one of the earth's most ancient fo... more How the Queensland government has bulldozed public opinion and one of the earth's most ancient forests -to build a road whose purpose no one knows 'Look, Aila. if we indulged in scientific honesty we'd be crucified politically.' -senior Queensland forestry official to Dr Aila Keto, President of the Rainforest Conservation Society in Australia.
AIL-an acronym for Amoeba Interface Language -is a class-oriented RPC stub generator, used with A... more AIL-an acronym for Amoeba Interface Language -is a class-oriented RPC stub generator, used with Amoeba's RPC primitives. Together with Amoeba's facilities for manipulating capabilities (bit patterns that are unforgeable references to objects maintained by servers anywhere on a network), AIL provides a completely object-oriented view of a distributed operating system. Input to AlL consists of class and type definitions and generator directives; output are several flies containing function definitions to be compiled and linked with clients and servers. Class definitions consist mainly of function headers (specifying parameter types, etc.). Classes can inherit multiple other classes. AlL can (in principle) generate stubs for different programming languages, so clients and servers need not be written in the same language.
... external influences which (apart from the possibility of Chinese influence in southern Yemen ... more ... external influences which (apart from the possibility of Chinese influence in southern Yemen and Dhofar ... A Libyan-type coup d'?tat in Saudi Arabia would have profound repercussions throughout ... a period of upheaval greater than anything it has known since the British Raj took ...
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