The thermal model of the rat under hemorrhagic shock hypothermia with microwave intervention

A whole body thermal model simulating heat distribution and temperature regulation in rats during hemorrhagic shock and during post-shock microwave core rewarming period was developed. An electrical circuit was used to simulate the thermal system and a software named PSpice? was used to analyze the circuit. The temperature regulation as the result of the simulation is demonstrated to match the measured temperature histories of rats in hemorrhagic shock and the microwave rewarming experiment. The blood pressure drop and cardiac output decrease were considered in the simulation and the so called set point temperature was investigated in the model. Linear decrease and increase of the set point temperature were assumed during the simulation of the shock period and the post-shock rewarming period, respectively. The agreement between the simulation result and the experimental data validates the general structure of the model and assumptions. Sensitivity Analysis shows the blood pressure drop, set point temperature and the ambient temperature to be the most sensitive parameters in the simulation. A small group(n=3) of rats were rewarmed with microwave energy in a chilled environment meant to cool and vasoconstrict the peripheral circulation while warming the core organs with the penetrating microwave energy. The the survival rate of the rats was compared with the previous rewarming experiments. Even though the number of animals was statistically not adequate, the result of this work does suggest that further experiments along the same line, to increase the statistical data pool, are warranted. A larger number of experiments need to be performed to validate the suggestion. A significant higher temperature gradient between the core and skin was observed during the chilled ambient rewarming which may be a contributory factor in the improvement of the survival statistics. The data acquisition is very time consuming and labor intensive. It requires at least 2 days to gather the data from one animal; most of the animals die during the shock interval and these animals are lost to the data poll

Attitudes Toward Marriage Among Albanians: Establishing Baseline Attitudinal Clusters and Predictors from the 2008 European Values Study

Because attitudes toward marriage impact the lives of many members of society, it is important to understand what those attitudes are and what predicts such attitudes in order to inform future research and marriage advocacy. Furthermore, to design studies to examine attitudes toward marriage, it is important to have an understanding of the power of previous studies. Towards those goals, this study attempted to answer two questions: a) To what extent do attitudes of Albanians toward marriage parallel theorized typologies of attitudes? b) What predicts membership in attitudinal groups? To answer these questions, this study examined attitudes toward marriage among Albanians using data from the 2008 European Values Study. It tested the hypothesis that institutional, companionate, and individualistic attitudes toward marriage documented in literature from Europe and North America would emerge in the data from Albania, alongside a hypothesized fourth “façade” attitudinal grouping. It further tested the hypothesis that lower educational attainment, higher religiosity, increasing age, being male, living in rural areas, having a lower income, reporting lower parental educational attainment, living with both parents at age 14, and having no history of cohabitation would positively and significantly predict membership in more traditional attitudinal clusters. A hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis with a forced four-cluster solution and a follow-up discriminant analysis were used to test the first hypothesis and a multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to test the second hypothesis. In order to inform future studies, a power analysis of the multinomial logistic regression results and sample size estimates for forthcoming studies were also conducted. The study found that the three attitudinal groups in literature emerged in the cluster and discriminant analyses. The façade group did not emerge. Using weighted data with replacement of missing values, the study found that age and degree of urbanism were significant predictors of membership in attitudinal groups. The power analysis indicated that the study was robustly powered, while sample size estimates suggested that between 600 to 1400 respondents will be needed for future studies of similar variables in a similar population. The findings show that Albania is very similar to the rest of Europe in its place on the map of attitudes toward marriage. The study lays the groundwork for future studies and can inform advocacy for stronger marriages and families in Albania

The disaster of the Nazi-power in science as reflected by some leading journals and scientists in physics - A bibliometric study

The consequences of the Nazi-power for the scientific process are described qualitatively in various articles and books. However, recent progress in information systems allows a quantitative reflection. Literature databases ranging back to the beginning of the 20th century, the ISI citation indexes ranging back to 1945 now and sophisticated search systems are suitable tools for this purpose. In this study the overall break in the scientific productivity and that of selected physical journals are examined. An overview of the citation impact of some 50 leading physicists is given. The productivity before and after departure is analyzed and connected to biographical data.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl

'Sacrament of (Be)longing' : Analysis of Finnish Lutheran and Orthodox Christian Eucharistic Practices amid Absence and Estrangement

This article addresses eucharistic and communal transformations of two local Finnish churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) and the Orthodox Church of Finland (ocF), amid the coven-19 pandemic and precautions. We analyze how eucharistic practices have transformed in the ELCF and the OCF and the ways these transformations are reflected in the experiences of both parishioners and pastors. The data consist of four questionnaires (N = 739) collected from Lutheran and Orthodox believers and Lutheran vicars during the pandemic. Our results indicate that the significance of belonging was emphasized during the time of social distancing. While among those in the ELCF, experiences of belonging were manifested in terms of Eucharist, among those in the OCR, belonging was most often reflected in relation to liturgical community. The differences in eucharistic theologies of the OCF and the ELCF have perhaps become more visible in exceptional circumstances.Peer reviewe

Testicular Cancer Update

The advances seen in the treatment of testicular cancer are among the great achievements in modern medicine. These advances were made possible by the collaborative efforts of cancer researchers around the world. Investigators have been able to address many questions regarding the treatment of patients with disease limited to the testis, those with metastasis to the retroperitoneum only, and those with advanced metastatic disease. Questions answered include the chemotherapeutic agents to be used and in what combinations, the proper intensity of treatment and appropriate dosing, the optimal number of cycles of chemotherapy according to validated risk stratification, appropriate surgical approaches that preserve sexual function, the treatment of relapsed disease, what supportive care measures to take, and survivorship issues following treatment of testicular cancer. Today, cure is achievable in 95% of all patients with testicular cancer and 80% of those who have metastatic disease. Despite remarkable results with frontline and salvage combination chemotherapy, metastatic testicular cancer remains incurable in approximately 10% of patients, and novel treatment approaches are warranted. This review highlights past and recent discoveries in the treatment of patients with testicular cancer

Establishing catalytic activity on an artificial (βα)8-barrel protein designed from identical half-barrels

AbstractIt has been postulated that the ubiquitous (βα)8-barrel enzyme fold has evolved by duplication and fusion of an ancestral (βα)4-half-barrel. We have previously reconstructed this process in the laboratory by fusing two copies of the C-terminal half-barrel HisF-C of imidazole glycerol phosphate synthase (HisF). The resulting construct HisF-CC was stepwise stabilized to Sym1 and Sym2, which are extremely robust but catalytically inert proteins. Here, we report on the generation of a circular permutant of Sym2 and the establishment of a sugar isomerization reaction on its scaffold. Our results demonstrate that duplication and mutagenesis of (βα)4-half-barrels can readily lead to a stable and catalytically active (βα)8-barrel enzyme

Politics as Usual: The Pirate Party and New Politics in OECD Countries

Standard bearer left and right parties, the customary powers for over a century, are under siege from new political movements that range from green and animal rights parties to a resurgent radical right. One piece of this new politics movement is a party that began in Sweden. Focusing on intellectual property rights and technology, specifically the internet, the Pirate Party of Sweden achieved representation in the European Parliament in June of 2009. This success has lead to the emergence of other Pirate Parties across Europe and even Canada. This paper seeks to answer what domestic factors would result in individuals forming and voting for Pirate Parties, a small piece of this new politics movement. Analysis is done using logistic regressions of variables corresponding to four schools of thought. After the data is analyzed, the evidence points to the Pirate Party being the result of electoral structural (the effective number of parties) and the culmination of values change in the 34 OECD countries

Nationwide Stepwise Emergence and Evolution of Multidrug-Resistant Campylobacter jejuni Sequence Type 5136, United Kingdom

We thank Food Standards Scotland (Contracts S14054, FSS00017) and the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RG13588-10) for funding this work. Part of this work was presented at the Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Related Organisms (CHRO) 2017 Congress, Nantes, France.Peer reviewedPublisher PD