132 research outputs found

    On generalized Sethi-Vafa-Witten formulas

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    We present a formula for computing proper pushforwards of classes in the Chow ring of a projective bundle under the projection \pi:\Pbb(\Escr)\rightarrow B, for BB a non-singular compact complex algebraic variety of any dimension. Our formula readily produces generalizations of formulas derived by Sethi,Vafa, and Witten to compute the Euler characteristic of elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau fourfolds used for F-theory compactifications of string vacua. The utility of such a formula is illustrated through applications, such as the ability to compute the Chern numbers of any non-singular complete intersection in such a projective bundle in terms of the Chern class of a line bundle on BB

    EVALUATION OF MEDICATION COMPLIANCE IN PATIENTS WITH CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE IN YEMEN

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    Objective: Non-compliance with heart failure medication is related to the highest mortality, morbidity, and health-care costs. The objective of this study was to evaluate medication compliance with patients with congestive heart failure. Methods:Inpatients of the cardiac care unit and medical ward of Republican Hospital, German Hospital, Revolutionary Hospital, and Chinese–Yemeni Friendship Hospital were recruited for this study. The study was conducted on patients that were diagnosed as having congestive heart failure and were receiving treatment. Questionnaires were distributed and personal interviews to evaluate the patients’ compliance was conducted to determine the reasons for their non-compliance in taking drugs. Results: Of 86 patients, 44% (n = 38) reported compliance and 56% (n = 48) reported non-compliance. The distribution of the patients in terms of sex was as follows: among men, 41% (n = 24) were compliant and 59% (n = 35) were non-compliant; among women, 52% (n = 14) were compliant and 48% (n = 13) were non-compliant. In addition, smoking status was too significantly linked with non-compliance (P = 0.001). Furthermore, the status of chewing of khat tree leaves was also significantly associated with non-compliance (P = 0.007). Conclusion: This study indicates that the reasons for non-compliance with medications among patients can be attributed to lack of education, chewing of khat tree leaves, lack of health insurance, and cigarette smoking. Therefore, healthcare professionals should create strategies to address these reasons in order to increase medication compliance with patients in heart failure

    To the question about human typological aspects theoretical and applied significance on the basis of literary and own data

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    The most important human typological aspects are assessed under physiological and pathological conditions, in theoretical and applied disciplines, in the Earth various areas. Age typological aspect actuality is described by the fact that students represent separate age category, diseases age peculiarities for instance developmental dyscalculia in children; ethno-gender-age - in the work about Iranian boys with autism (R. Nasiri et al., 2017). Health control locus was studied in Poland at heart failure, at thyroid diseases; internalizing symptoms and disorders - with ethno-age aspect in Australian adolescents. Externalizing and internalizing problems in boys and girls pre-adolescents were different in both genders but there was a correlation between temperament type and psychopathology in Netherlands. Iranian scientists devoted their works to internalizing (M. A. Fallahnejad et al., 2017) and externalizing (S. Azimifar et al., 2018) behavior in primary school children. There is association between temperament type with extra- and intaversion and health problems in Iranian male and female students; temperament also can influence on coping with interparental conflicts; there are temperament specific classifications in Persian medicine: brain temperament (H. Salmannegad et al., 2016), of warmth and humidity (Gh. R. Mohammadi Farsani et al., 2017). Genes of left-handedness are absent in Dutch population. British biologists assessed links between cerebral lateralization and developmental language disorder in children (A. C. Wilson et al., 2018). Scientists are still not sure about apraxy dominance either in lefties or dextrals. Norwegian scientists found the dependence between autism and lefthandedness and ambidextrism (A. L. Rysstad et al., 2018)

    High-frequency vector harmonic mode locking driven by acoustic resonances

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    A controllable passive harmonic mode locking (HML) in an erbium-doped fiber laser with a soliton pulse shaping using a single-wall carbon nanotube has been experimentally demonstrated. By increasing the pump power and adjusting the in-cavity polarization controller, we reached the 51st-order harmonic (902 MHz) having the output power of 37 mW. We attribute the observed high-frequency HML to the electrostriction effect caused by periodic pulses and leading to excitation of the radial and torsional-radial acoustic modes in the transverse section of the laser. The exited acoustic modes play the role of the bandpass filter, which stabilizes the high-frequency HML regime

    Detection of IL28B SNP DNA from Buccal Epithelial Cells, Small Amounts of Serum, and Dried Blood Spots

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    Background & Aims: Point mutations in the coding region of the interleukin 28 gene (rs12979860) have recently been identified for predicting the outcome of treatment of hepatitis C virus infection. This polymorphism detection was based on whole blood DNA extraction. Alternatively, DNA for genetic diagnosis has been derived from buccal epithelial cells (BEC), dried blood spots (DBS), and genomic DNA from serum. The aim of the study was to investigate the reliability and accuracy of alternative routes of testing for single nucleotide polymorphism allele rs12979860CC. Methods: Blood, plasma, and sera samples from 200 patients were extracted (400 mL). Buccal smears were tested using an FTA card. To simulate postal delay, we tested the influence of storage at ambient temperature on the different sources of DNA at five time points (baseline, 48 h, 6 days, 9 days, and 12 days) Results: There was 100 % concordance between blood, plasma, sera, and BEC, validating the use of DNA extracted from BEC collected on cytology brushes for genetic testing. Genetic variations in HPTR1 gene were detected using smear technique in blood smear (3620 copies) as well as in buccal smears (5870 copies). These results are similar to those for whole blood diluted at 1/10. A minimum of 0.04 mL, 4 mL, and 40 mL was necessary to obtain exploitable results respectively for whole blood, sera, and plasma. No significant variation between each time point was observed for the different sources of DNA. IL28B SNPs analysis at these different time points showed the same results using the four sources of DNA

    Role of the Mitochondria in Immune-Mediated Apoptotic Death of the Human Pancreatic β Cell Line βLox5

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    Mitochondria are indispensable in the life and death of many types of eukaryotic cells. In pancreatic beta cells, mitochondria play an essential role in the secretion of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. Unregulated blood glucose is a hallmark symptom of diabetes. The onset of Type 1 diabetes is preceded by autoimmune-mediated destruction of beta cells. However, the exact role of mitochondria has not been assessed in beta cell death. In this study, we examine the role of mitochondria in both Fas- and proinflammatory cytokine-mediated destruction of the human beta cell line, βLox5. IFNγ primed βLox5 cells for apoptosis by elevating cell surface Fas. Consequently, βLox5 cells were killed by caspase-dependent apoptosis by agonistic activation of Fas, but only after priming with IFNγ. This beta cell line undergoes both apoptotic and necrotic cell death after incubation with the combination of the proinflammatory cytokines IFNγ and TNFα. Additionally, both caspase-dependent and -independent mechanisms that require proper mitochondrial function are involved. Mitochondrial contributions to βLox5 cell death were analyzed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depleted βLox5 cells, or βLox5 ρ0 cells. βLox5 ρ0 cells are not sensitive to IFNγ and TNFα killing, indicating a direct role for the mitochondria in cytokine-induced cell death of the parental cell line. However, βLox5 ρ0 cells are susceptible to Fas killing, implicating caspase-dependent extrinsic apoptotic death is the mechanism by which these human beta cells die after Fas ligation. These data support the hypothesis that immune mediators kill βLox5 cells by both mitochondrial-dependent intrinsic and caspase-dependent extrinsic pathways

    Airway smooth muscle as a target of asthma therapy: history and new directions

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    Ultimately, asthma is a disease characterized by constriction of airway smooth muscle (ASM). The earliest approach to the treatment of asthma comprised the use of xanthines and anti-cholinergics with the later introduction of anti-histamines and anti-leukotrienes. Agents directed at ion channels on the smooth muscle membrane (Ca(2+ )channel blockers, K(+ )channel openers) have been tried and found to be ineffective. Functional antagonists, which modulate intracellular signalling pathways within the smooth muscle (β-agonists and phosphodiesterase inhibitors), have been used for decades with success, but are not universally effective and patients continue to suffer with exacerbations of asthma using these drugs. During the past several decades, research energies have been directed into developing therapies to treat airway inflammation, but there have been no substantial advances in asthma therapies targeting the ASM. In this manuscript, excitation-contraction coupling in ASM is addressed, highlighting the current treatment of asthma while proposing several new directions that may prove helpful in the management of this disease

    Cross-tolerance to abiotic stresses in halophytes: Application for phytoremediation of organic pollutants

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    International audienceHalopytes are plants able to tolerate high salt concentrations but no clear definition was retained for them. In literature, there are more studies that showed salt-enhanced tolerance to other abiotic stresses compared to investigations that found enhanced salt tolerance by other abiotic stresses in halophytes. The phenomenon by which a plant resistance to a stress induces resistance to another is referred to as cross-tolerance. In this work, we reviewed cross-tolerance in halophytes at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels. A special attention was accorded to the cross-tolerance between salinity and organic pollutants that could allow halophytes a higher potential of xenobiotic phytoremediation in comparison with glycophytes

    Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

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    PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks
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