The IL-17 cytokine family members are inhibitors of human hematopoietic progenitor proliferation.
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Cell Proliferation↗
Biomedical subjects
Elizabeth Williamson
Publications and source records attributed to Elizabeth Williamson.
The effect of font and line width on reading speed in people with mild to moderate vision loss.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of print size, typeface, and line width on reading speed in readers with mild to moderate sight problems. METHODS: A total of 43 patients, most of whom had mild cataract or glaucoma with acuity 6/30 or better (median age = 72; range = 24-88 years), read aloud a selection of texts presented randomly in four sizes (10, 12, 14 and 16 point), for each of four typefaces [Foundry Form Sans (FFS), Helvetica (HV), Tiresias PCfont (TPC), Times New Roman (TNR)] at a standard line width of 70 characters and a viewing distance of 40 cm. A subset of letter sizes and typefaces were tested at two additional line widths (35, 90). RESULTS: As expected, reading speed increased with print size from a median of 144 words min(-1) for 10-point text to 163 words min(-1) for 16-point text (repeated measures anova, p < 0.0001). There was also a significant effect of typeface with TPC being read about 8 words min(-1) faster, on average, than the other fonts (159 words min(-1) for TPC vs 151 words min(-1) for the other fonts, p < 0.0001). However fonts of the same nominal point size were not equivalent in actual size. When adjusted for the actual horizontal and vertical space occupied, the advantage of TPC was eliminated. There was no effect of line width (p > 0.3). Data from the present study were extrapolated to the general population over age 65. This extrapolation indicated that increasing minimum print size from 10 points to 16 points would increase the proportion of the population able to read fluently (>85 words min(-1)) from 88.0% to 94.4%. CONCLUSION: This study shows that line width and typeface have little influence on reading speed in people with mild to moderate sight problems. Increasing the minimum recommended print size from 10 points to 14 or 16 points would significantly increase the proportion of the population able to read fluently.
Adolescent↗
Isopimaric acid from Pinus nigra shows activity against multidrug-resistant and EMRSA strains of Staphylococcus aureus.
The diterpene isopimaric acid was extracted from the immature cones of Pinus nigra (Arnold) using bioassay-guided fractionation of a crude hexane extract. Isopimaric acid was assayed against multidrug-resistant (MDR) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were 32-64 microg/mL and compared with a commercially obtained resin acid, abietic acid, with MICs of 64 microg/mL. Resin acids are known to have antibacterial activity and are valued in traditional medicine for their antiseptic properties. These results show that isopimaric acid is active against MDR and MRSA strains of S. aureus which are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Both compounds were evaluated for modulation activity in combination with antibiotics, but did not potentiate the activity of the antibiotics tested. However, the compounds were also assayed in combination with the efflux pump inhibitor reserpine, to see if inhibition of the TetK or NorA efflux pump increased their activity. Interestingly, rather than a potentiation of activity by a reduction in MIC, a two to four-fold increase in MIC was seen. It may be that isopimaric acid and abietic acid are not substrates for these efflux pumps, but it is also possible that an antagonistic interaction with reserpine may render the antibiotics inactive. 1H-NMR of abietic acid and reserpine taken individually and in combination, revealed a shift in resonance of some peaks for both compounds when mixed together compared with the spectra of the compounds on their own. It is proposed that this may be due to complex formation between abietic acid and reserpine and that this complex formation is responsible for a reduction in activity and elevation of MIC.
Abietanes↗