Despite the vast importance of ticks as disease vectors, the infectious agents transmitted by ticks are still incompletely known in many areas. Here, we report for the first time the detection of the bacterium 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' in Romania, in an Ixodes ricinus tick obtained from a human. Furthermore, the tick also had a co-infection with Borrelia afzelii. 'Candidatus Neoehrlichi

Objective. Costimulatory receptor CD226 plays an important role in T cell activation, differentiation, and cytotoxicity. This study was undertaken to investigate the genetic association of CD226 with susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to assess the functional implications of this association. Methods. Twelve tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CD226 were typed in 1,

Given a point and an expanding map on the unit interval, we consider the set of points for which the forward orbit under this map is bounded away from the given point. It is well-known that in many cases such sets have full Hausdorff dimension. We prove that such sets have a large intersection property, i.e. countable intersections of such sets also have full Hausdorff dimension. This result appli

We present observations of the emission of XUV continua in the 20-37-eV region by high-harmonic generation with 4-7-fs pulses focused onto a Kr gas jet. The underlying mechanism relies on coherent control of the relative delays and phases between individually generated attosecond pulses, achievable by adjusting the chirp of the driving pulses and the interaction geometry. Under adequate negative c

Background: Two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have investigated the efficacy of IV alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) augmentation therapy on emphysema progression using CT densitometry. Methods: Data from these similar trials, a 2-center Danish-Dutch study (n = 54) and the 3-center EXAcerbations and CT scan as Lung Endpoints (EXACTLE) study (n = 65), were pooled to increase the stati

OBJECTIVE: The outcomes, in terms of quality of life and satisfaction with rehabilitation, of the 16-week Redesigning Daily Occupations (ReDO) programme as a work rehabilitation method for women with stress-related disorders was evaluated. It was hypothesised that, compared to women who got Care as Usual (CAU), the ReDO group would improve their quality of life and self-mastery more, and that thos

We applied the new injury severity scoring system and studied mechanisms of injury and risk factors for mortality, in order to find potential preventive measures, in the present Scandinavian trauma cohort triaged through red trauma alarm according to the Medical Emergency Triage and Treatment System.

Oral anticoagulation is the recommended treatment for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. Notwithstanding, many patients are treated with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) as monotherapy. Our objective was to investigate if atrial fibrillation patients benefit from ASA as monotherapy for stroke prevention. Retrospective study of patients with a clinical diagnosis of atrial fibrillatio

What is already known about this subject Sagittal diameter (SAD), i.e. the mid height of the abdomen when lying down, has been reported to correlate to visceral fat, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors in adults. SAD seems to be the best anthropometric predictor of cardiovascular risk, and also of more importance than waist circumference (WC) in adults. There has been no validation

A novel super-macroporous monolithic composite cryogel was prepared by embedding macroporous cellulose beads into poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogel. The cellulose beads were fabricated by using a microchannel liquid-flow focusing and cryopolymerization method, while the composite cryogel was prepared by cryogenic radical polymerization of the hydroxyethyl methacrylate monomer with poly(ethyl

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common indication for lumbar spine surgery. The proportion of patients having a second surgery within 2 years varies in the literature between 0.5% and 24%, with recurrent herniation being the most common cause. Several studies have not found any relevant outcome differences between patients undergoing surgery for primary LDH and patients undergoing reoperation fo

This article is a largely constructivist revisit to the crisis of confidence between Iran and the West. It strives to investigate the chief historical, cultural, ideological, and identity-related, as well as geostrategic factors, involved in postrevolutionary Iran-West relations, and how they have caused an almost solidified sense of fear, suspicion, and mistrust between the two. The contemporary

The quality of spatial analyses of biodiversity is improved by (i) utilizing study areas with well defined physiogeographical boundaries, (ii) limiting the impact of widespread species, and (iii) using taxa with heterogeneous distributions. These conditions are typically met by ecosystems such as oceanic islands or ancient lakes and their biota. While research on ancient lakes has contributed sign

Global change may substantially affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning but little is known about its effects on essential biotic interactions. Since different environmental drivers rarely act in isolation it is important to consider interactive effects. Here, we focus on how two key drivers of anthropogenic environmental change, climate change and the introduction of alien species, affect p

Aim: Our aim was to test the hypothesis that dual endothelin receptor blockade with tezosentan attenuates hypoxia induced pulmonary vasoconstriction. Methods: 14 anaesthetised, ventilated pigs, with a mean±SEM weight of 30,5±0,6 kg, were studied, in normoxia (FiO(2) â0,21) and with tezosentan (5mg·kg(-1) ) infusion during (n=7) or before (n=7) hypoxia (FiO(2) ∼0,10). Results: Compared to normoxia,

We have recorded extreme ultraviolet spectra from W11+ to W15+ ions using a flat-field spectrometer installed at the Shanghai high-temperature superconducting electron-beam ion trap. The spectra were recorded at beam energies ranging between 200 and 400 eV and showed spectral lines and transition arrays in the 170-260 angstrom region. The charge states and spectra transitions were identified by co

Fertility remains higher and contraceptive levels are substantially lower in Sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the developing world. In this paper we use information on individuals and couples provided in recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, fifth wave) undertaken in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, and Zambia. We use bivariate and multivariate techniques to examine the determinants of contrace

We have previously shown analytically that the biologically effective dose (BED), including effects of repair during irradiation and of incomplete repair between fractions, can be formulated using a convolution between the absorbed dose rate function and the function describing repair. In this work, a discrete formalism is derived along with its implementation via the fast Fourier transform. The i