Treatment of acute hepatitis C virus infection with interferon-α 2b and ribavirin: Case report and review of the literature

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection becomes chronic in about 85 % of individuals as demonstrated by the persistence of HCV. It is necesseray to treat acute hepatitis C infection. Interferon-α is generally used for the treatment of acute HCV infection. A 55-year-old woman with a history of fatique and icter was diagnosed as acute hepatitis C virus infection. She was treated with interferon-α 2b 3 million unite sc three times in a week and ribavirin 1000 mg daily for 6 months. Within 2 weeks of therapy, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) had became normal. At the end of the 3 months of therapy, HCV RNA was negative and remained negative 6 months after the end of interferon treatment (sustained response). This report suggests that interferon-α 2b and ribavirin may have a role in treatment of acute hepatitis C virus infection

Molecular mapping of the V locus in pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Peas are a nutritious annual cool season legume crop are widely consumed as a vegetable. Garden peas, in which the immature seed is eaten as a vegetable are used as either fresh, canned, or frozen product. Edible pod peas, eaten at a very immature stage, either fresh or frozen, are growing in popularity. Edible pod peas have either reduced or no parchment in the inner pod wall. Parchment is governed by two non-allelic genes - P and V. When at least one copy of the dominant allele of each gene is present, pods have parchment. If one locus is homozygous recessive and the other has a dominant allele, the parchment is reduced and if both loci are homozygous recessive, parchment is absent. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine the genotype of Apollo; and 2) identify SNPs associated with parchment using a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from pea cv 'Aragorn' (with parchment) and cv 'Apollo' (with reduced parchment). In this study, Apollo was crossed to two tester lines with known genotypes and based on the phenotype of the F1 pods was determined to be PPvv. The F6-derived RIL population was phenotyped in controlled conditions and genotyped using the two-enzyme genotyping-by sequencing (GBS) approach. Of the 172 members of the RIL population, 91lines had reduced parchment), and 81 lines had strong parchment. Using GBS, 2507 high-quality SNPs were identified and a linkage map was constructed using a total of 2757 markers. The linkage map identified seven linkage groups and had a total length of 1063 cM with an average density of 2.5 markers per cM. In the results of these analyses using the RIL population, Apollo was determined to be PPvv and V was localized at 173.16 cM on chromosome 5 (LG III). The nearest SNPs to V are at 168.3 cM and 176.9 cM. The identity of the genotype of Apollo can be confirmed by crossing Apollo and the two tester lines with other lines with known genotypes

Probabilistic distance clustering on networks

In this study, a soft clustering problem on networks is investigated. It is assumed that cluster centers are located not only on vertices, but also on the edges of the network. Two different soft assignment schemes are studied where different membership functions are considered for the assignments. Structural properties for the clustering problem have been derived for different problem settings and the relation to the p-median problem has been shown under specific conditions. As a solution approach, a metaheuristic algorithm using the properties of the problem has been proposed. Computational experiments have been conducted with different problem instances

Conformable heat equation on a radial symmetric plate

The conformable heat equation is defined in terms of a local and limit-based definition called conformable derivative which provides some basic properties of integer order derivative such that conventional fractional derivatives lose some of them due to their non-local structures. In this paper, we aim to find the fundamental solution of a conformable heat equation acting on a radial symmetric plate. Moreover, we give a comparison between the new conformable and the existing Grunwald-Letnikov solutions of heat equation. The computational results show that conformable formulation is quite successful to show the sub-behaviors of heat process. In addition, conformable solution can be obtained by a analytical method without the need of a numerical scheme and any restrictions on the problem formulation. This is surely a significant advantageous compared to the Grunwald-Letnikov solution

Changing Views: Pre-suasion in a Reddit Discussion Community

Social media allows people to connect and disconnect easily, which leads to more polarization over time. Polarization and the emergence of echo chambers pose a threat to humanity, implying a need to design a healthy social ecosystem in the digital space. Online platforms fostering an environment for good faith discussions and diverse opinions could serve this need. ChangeMyView community of Reddit can be a good example for such an environment because of community-specific characteristics. In this study, utilizing elaboration likelihood model and Cialdini’s pre-suasion, we study the effect of the reward system on individuals’ persuasion mechanisms. Our research design employs a mixed-methods approach in which we investigate (1) the persuasion strategies used in the community and (2) the information processing mechanisms of the community members. We believe that this study will provide insights into potential features of a healthier social ecosystem in digital spaces

The Medicinal Plant of Genus Paronychia and the Karyotype Analysis of Paronychia adalia

The genus Paronychia Miller is placed in the family Caryophyllaceae. It contains approximately 110 species of annual or perennial found all over the world except Southern Africa, Southeast Asia. Genus Paronychia is known as Algerian tea in the world. In our country, the genus commonly known as et yaran, kepek otu and dolama otu is used as medicinal tea because of relieving inflammation between the hands and toes, aphrodisiac, diuretic and blood purifier. Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the genus are known. The chromosome number is 2n = 36 in many species of Paronychia. But there are various chromosome numbers as 2n = 10, 14, 16, 18 and 28. In this study, the chromosome number of P. adalia Chaudhri was reported for the first time. The chromosome number and karyotype formula are 2n = 2x = 36 = 34m + 2sm. Total haploid length, centromeric index and karyotype asymmetry were calculated with detailed chromosomal measurements