Diversity of cervical microbiota in asymptomatic chlamydia trachomatis genital infection: a pilot study

Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection continues to be an important public health problem worldwide due to its increasing incidence. C. trachomatis infection can lead to severe sequelae, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, obstructive infertility, and preterm birth. Recently, it has been suggested that the cervico-vaginal microbiota may be an important defense factor toward C. trachomatis infection as well as the development of chronic sequelae. Therefore, the investigation of microbial profiles associated to chlamydial infection is of the utmost importance. Here we present a pilot study aiming to characterize, through the metagenomic analysis of sequenced 16s rRNA gene amplicons, the cervical microbiota from reproductive age women positive to C. trachomatis infection. The main finding of our study showed a marked increase in bacterial diversity in asymptomatic C. trachomatis positive women as compared to healthy controls in terms of Shannon's diversity and Shannon's evenness (P = 0.031 and P = 0.026, respectively). More importantly, the cervical microbiota from C. trachomatis positive women and from healthy controls significantly separated into two clusters in the weighted UniFrac analysis (P = 0.0027), suggesting that differences between the two groups depended entirely on the relative abundance of bacterial taxa rather than on the types of bacterial taxa present. Furthermore, C. trachomatis positive women showed an overall decrease in Lactobacillus spp. and an increase in anaerobes. These findings are part of an ongoing larger epidemiological study that will evaluate the potential role of distinct bacterial communities of the cervical microbiota in C. trachomatis infection

The Globalisation of Inflation: The Growing Importance of Global Value Chains

Greater international economic interconnectedness over recent decades has been changing inflation dynamics. This paper presents evidence that the expansion of global value chains (GVCs), ie cross-border trade in intermediate goods and services, is an important channel through which global economic slack influences domestic inflation. In particular, we document the extent to which the growth in GVCs explains the established empirical correlation between global economic slack and national inflation rates, both across countries and over time. Accounting for the role of GVCs, we also find that the conventional trade-based measures of openness used in previous studies are poor proxies for this transmission channel. The results support the hypothesis that as GVCs expand, direct and indirect competition among economies increases, making domestic inflation more sensitive to the global output gap. This can affect the trade-offs that central banks face when managing inflation

Estrogens and genomic instability in human cancer cells-involvement of Src/Raf/Erk signaling in micronucleus formation by estrogenic chemicals

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2008 The Authors.Reports of the ability of estrogenic agents such as 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3) and bisphenol A (BPA) to induce micronuclei (MN) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells have prompted us to investigate whether these effects are linked to activation of the estrogen receptor (ER) α. Coadministration of tamoxifen and the pure ER antagonist ICI 182 780 to cells treated with E2 and E3 did not lead to significant reductions in micronucleus frequencies. Since these antiestrogens interfere with the transcriptional activity of the ER and block promotion of ER-dependent gene expression, it appears that this process is not involved in micronucleus formation. However, ER activation also triggers rapid signaling via the Src/Raf/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) pathway. When MCF-7 cells were exposed to E2 and BPA in combination with the specific kinase inhibitors pyrazolopyrimidine and 2′-amino-3′-methoxyflavone, reductions in micronucleus frequencies occurred. These findings suggest that the Src/Raf/Erk pathway plays a role in micronucleus formation by estrogenic agents. Enhanced activation of the Src/Raf/Erk cascade disturbs the localization of Aurora B kinase to kinetochores, leading to a defective spindle checkpoint with chromosome malsegregation. Using antikinetochore CREST antibody staining, a high proportion of micronucleus containing kinetochores was observed, indicating that such processes are relevant to the induction of MN by estrogens. Our results suggest that estrogens induce MN by causing improper chromosome segregation, possibly by interfering with kinase signaling that controls the spindle checkpoint, or by inducing centrosome amplification. Our findings may have some relevance in explaining the effects of estrogens in the later stages of breast carcinogenesis.European Commissio

Assessment of the Severity of Paravalvular Regurgitation and its Role on Survival After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Background: To evaluate the impact of various measurements of paravalvular regurgitation (PVR) on survival after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). PVR can be difficult to grade and both its incidence and impact on survival may be decreasing as TAVR evolves. Methods: This retrospective study included 911 patients undergoing TAVR in two institutions. PVR was graded according to the 3-grade scheme proposed by the guidelines (PVR grade), and subsequently grade 2 and 3, and grade 0 and 1 were lumped together. PVR was also graded as a composite score (PVR score), based on 6 commonly used metrics. PVR grade, PVR score and its six individual components were tested against the risk of both 1-year and longer term mortality after TAVR. Results: Patients with moderate/severe PVR had a higher Society of Thoracic Sugeons (STS) score, higher levels of serum creatinine and larger left atria compared to patients with none/mild PVR. Moderate/severe PVR was more frequent with self-expandable and larger valves. After adjusting for American College of Cardiology (ACC) TAVR risk score, neither PVR grade, PVR score nor its six components were associated with an increased risk of mortality at 1-year (severe PVR adjusted HR: 0.75, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.19, 3.01, p = 0.50). However, intervention for clinically severe PVR increased the risk of mortality by more than 7-fold (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 7.6, 95% CI: 2.4, 23.5, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: In the contemporary era, moderate-severe PVR is uncommon. However, re-intervention for PVR portends a poor prognosis. This highlights the crucial importance of clinical judgment over imaging alone

An investigation into CLIL-related sections of EFL coursebooks : issues of CLIL inclusion in the publishing market

The current ELT global coursebook market has embraced CLIL as a weak form of bilingual education and an innovative component to include in General English coursebooks for EFL contexts. In this paper I investigate how CLIL is included in ELT coursebooks aimed at teenaged learners, available to teachers in Argentina. My study is based on the content analysis of four series which include a section advertised as CLIL-oriented. Results suggest that such sections are characterised by (1) little correlation between featured subject specific content and school curricula in L1, (2) oversimplification of contents, and (3) dominance of reading skills development and lower-order thinking tasks. Through this study, I argue that CLIL components become superficial supplements rather than a meaningful attempt to promote weak forms of bilingual education

Shift-Volatility Transmission in East Asian Equity Markets

This paper attempts to provide evidence of "shift-volatility" transmission in the East Asian equity markets. By shift-volatility, we mean the volatility shifts from a low level to a high level, corresponding respectively to tranquil and crisis periods. We examine the interdependence of equity volatilities between Hong-Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. Our main issue is whether shift-volatility needs to be considered as a regional phenomenon, or from a more global perspective. We find that the timing/spans of high volatility regimes correspond adequately to years historically documented as those of crises (the Asian crisis and the years following the 2008 crisis). Moreover, we suggest different indicators that could be useful to guide the investors in their arbitrage behavior in the different regimes: the duration of each state, the sensitivity of the volatility in a market following a change in the volatility in another market. Finally, we are able to identify which market can be considered as leading markets in terms of volatility

Platelet-rich plasma induces post-natal maturation of immature articular cartilage and correlates with LOXL1 activation

Platelet-­rich plasma (PRP) is used to stimulate the repair of acute and chronic cartilage damage even though there is no definitive evidence of how this is achieved. Chondrocytes in injured and diseased situations frequently re­ express phenotypic biomarkers of immature cartilage so tissue maturation is a potential pathway for restoration of normal structure and function. We used an in vitro model of growth factor­induced maturation to perform a comparative study in order to determine whether PRP can also induce this specific form of remodeling that is characterised by increased cellular proliferation and tissue stiffness. Gene expression patterns specific for maturation were mimicked in PRP treated cartilage, with chondromodulin, collagen types II/X downregulated, deiodinase II and netrin­1 upregulated. PRP increased cartilage surface cell density 1.5­fold (P &#60; 0.05), confirmed by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and proportionate increases in proliferating cell nuclear antigen gene expression. Atomic force microscopy analysis of PRP and growth factor treated cartilage gave a 5­fold increase in stiffness correlating with a 10­fold upregulation of lysyl oxidase like­1 gene expression (P &#60; 0.001). These data show PRP induces key aspects of post­natal maturation in immature cartilage and provides the basis to evaluate a new biological rationale for its activity when used clinically to initiate joint repair

Macro-financial linkages and bank behaviour: evidence from the second-round effects of the global financial crisis on East Asia

This paper studies the link between macro-financial variability and bank behaviour, which justifies the second-round effects of the global financial crisis on East Asia. Following Gallego et al. (The impact of the global economic and financial crisis on Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe (CESEE) and Latin America, 2010), the second round effects are defined as the adverse feedback loop from the slumps in economic activities and sharp financial market deterioration, which may influence the financial performance of bank, inter alia via deteriorating credit quality, declining profitability and increasing problems in retaining necessary capitalization. Differentiating itself from other research, this study stresses adjustments in four dimensions of bank performance and behaviour: asset quality, profitability, capital adequacy, and lending behaviour, assuming that any change in a bank-specific characteristic is induced by endogenous adjustments of the others. The empirical results based on partial adjustment models and two-step system GMM estimation show that bank’s adjustment behaviour is subject to the variation in the macro-financial environment and the stress condition in the global financial market. There is no convincing evidence to support the effectiveness of policy rate cut to boots bank lending and to avoid a financial accelerator effect

Electrochemical incineration of oxalic acid in the presence of NaCl

Recent researches have demonstrated that electrochemical methods offer an attractive alternative to traditional routes for treating wastewaters containing toxic or/and refractory organic pollutants. The effectiveness of the electrochemical treatment depends on many factors including the presence in solution of specie able to act as mediators. In particular, the effect of chloride ions on the performances of the process has been the object of numerous researches. However, up to now, many practical and theoretical aspects about this argument are not completely clear. In the present work, the anodic incineration of oxalic acid (OA) in the presence of NaCl has been investigated with the aim of studying in a systematic way the influence of numerous parameters, such as the current density, the flow rate, the OA, the NaCl concentrations and the pH on the performances of the process and to individuate the optimal operative conditions. Oxalic acid was chosen as model substrate for its low reactivity toward anodic oxidation, which also results in an incomplete mineralization of more complex organics. Furthermore, the oxidation of this simple molecule does not involve the formation of stable intermediates thus giving rise to a more easy rationalizing of experimental results. Since the effect of NaCl on the process is expected to depend on the nature of the electrodic material, two very different anodes were used: the Ti/IrO2-Ta2O5 which presents a quite low oxygen overpotential and boron doped diamond (BDD) which is probably one of the more promising materials for the electrochemical incineration