1,648 research outputs found
Π‘ΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅Π· ΠΈ Π°Π½ΡΠΈΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠΎΠ½Π½ΠΎΠ΅ ΠΏΡΠΎΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ²Π½ΠΎΠ΅ Π΄Π΅ΠΉΡΡΠ²ΠΈΠ΅ Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»- ΠΈ Ξ²-2-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΡΡΠΈΠ»Π³Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ·ΠΈΠ΄ΠΎΠ² ΠΌΡΡΠ°ΠΌΠΎΠΈΠ»Π΄ΠΈΠΏΠ΅ΠΏΡΠΈΠ΄Π°
ΠΡΡΡΠ΅ΡΡΠ²Π»Π΅Π½ ΡΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅Π· Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»- ΠΈ Ξ²-2-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΡΡΠΈΠ»Π³Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΎΠ·ΠΈΠ΄ΠΎΠ² ΠΌΡΡΠ°ΠΌΠΎΠΈΠ»Π΄ΠΈΠΏΠ΅ΠΏΡΠΈΠ΄Π°. ΠΡΡ
ΠΎΠ΄Π½ΡΠ΅ ΠΏΠ΅ΡΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»ΠΈΡΠΎΠ²Π°Π½Π½ΡΠ΅ Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»Π°Π»ΠΊΠΈΠ»Π³Π»ΡΠΊΠΎΠ·Π°ΠΌΠΈΠ½ΠΈΠ΄Ρ Π±ΡΠ»ΠΈ ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΡΠ΅Π½Ρ ΠΎΠΊΡΠ°Π·ΠΎΠ»ΠΈΠ½ΠΎΠ²ΡΠΌ ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΎΠ΄ΠΎΠΌ. Π£ΡΡΠ°Π½ΠΎΠ²Π»Π΅Π½ΠΎ, ΡΡΠΎ Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»- ΠΈ Ξ²-(2-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΡΡΠΈΠ»)-ΠΠΠ ΠΎΠ±Π»Π°Π΄Π°ΡΡ Π²ΡΡΠΎΠΊΠΈΠΌ Π°Π½ΡΠΈΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠΎΠ½Π½ΡΠΌ ΠΏΡΠΎΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ²Π½ΡΠΌ ΡΡΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΎΠΌ ΠΏΡΠΈ ΠΏΠΎΡΠ°ΠΆΠ΅Π½ΠΈΠΈ ΠΌΡΡΠ΅ΠΉ Π»Π΅ΡΠ°Π»ΡΠ½ΠΎΠΉ Π΄ΠΎΠ·ΠΎΠΉ Staphylococcus aureus.ΠΠ΄ΡΠΉΡΠ½Π΅Π½ΠΎ ΡΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅Π· Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»- Ρ Ξ²-2-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»Π΅ΡΠΈΠ» Π³Π»ΡΠΊΠΎΠ·ΠΈΠ΄Ρ Π² ΠΌΡΡΠ°ΠΌΠΎΡΠ»Π΄ΠΈΠΏΠ΅ΠΏΡΠΈΠ΄Ρ. ΠΠΈΡ
ΡΠ΄Π½Ρ ΠΏΠ΅ΡΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»ΡΠΎΠ²Π°Π½Ρ (Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»Π°Π»ΠΊΡΠ»Π³Π»ΡΠΊΠΎΠ·Π°ΠΌΡΠ½ΡΠ΄ΠΈ Π±ΡΠ»ΠΈ ΠΎΡΡΠΈΠΌΠ°Π½Ρ Π·Π° ΠΎΠΊΡΠ°Π·ΠΎΠ»ΡΠ½ΠΎΠ²ΠΈΠΌ ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΎΠ΄ΠΎΠΌ. ΠΡΡΠ°Π½ΠΎΠ²Π»Π΅Π½ΠΎ, ΡΠΎ Ξ²-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»ΠΌΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ»- Ρ Ξ²-(2-ΡΠΈΠΊΠ»ΠΎΠ³Π΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ»Π΅ΡΠΈΠ»)-ΠΠΠ Π²ΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄ΡΡΡΡ Π²ΠΈΡΠΎΠΊΠΈΠΌ Π°Π½ΡΠΈΡΠ½ΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΡΠΉΠ½ΠΈΠΌ ΠΏΡΠΎΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΈΠ²Π½ΠΈΠΌ Π΅ΡΠ΅ΠΊΡΠΎΠΌ ΠΏΡΠΈ ΠΏΠΎΡΠ°Π·ΡΡ ΠΌΠΈΡΠ΅ΠΉ Π»Π΅ΡΠ°Π»ΡΠ½ΠΎΡ Π΄ΠΎΠ·ΠΎΡ Staphylococcus aureus.The synthesis of Ξ²-cyclohexylmethyl- and Ξ²-2-cyclohexylethylglycosides of muramyldipeptide has been carried out. The starting peracetates of Ξ²-cyclohexylalkylglucosaminides have been obtained by the oxazoline method. It been found that Ξ²-cyclohexylmethyl- and Ξ²-(2-cyclohexylethyl)-MDP have a high anti-infection protective effect against the lethal dose of Staphylococcus aureus in mice
Systematic Analysis and Biomarker Study for Alzheimer's Disease.
Revealing the relationship between dysfunctional genes in blood and brain tissues from patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) will help us to understand the pathology of this disease. In this study, we conducted the first such large systematic analysis to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in blood samples from 245 AD cases, 143 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) cases, and 182 healthy control subjects, and then compare these with DEGs in brain samples. We evaluated our findings using two independent AD blood datasets and performed a gene-based genome-wide association study to identify potential novel risk genes. We identified 789 and 998 DEGs common to both blood and brain of AD and MCI subjects respectively, over 77% of which had the same regulation directions across tissues and disease status, including the known ABCA7, and the novel TYK2 and TCIRG1. A machine learning classification model containing NDUFA1, MRPL51, and RPL36AL, implicating mitochondrial and ribosomal function, was discovered which discriminated between AD patients and controls with 85.9% of area under the curve and 78.1% accuracy (sensitivityβ=β77.6%, specificityβ=β78.9%). Moreover, our findings strongly suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction, NF-ΞΊB signalling and iNOS signalling are important dysregulated pathways in AD pathogenesis
Bridging the Mid-Infrared-to-Telecom Gap with Silicon Nanophotonic Spectral Translation
Expanding far beyond traditional applications in optical interconnects at
telecommunications wavelengths, the silicon nanophotonic integrated circuit
platform has recently proven its merits for working with mid-infrared (mid-IR)
optical signals in the 2-8 {\mu}m range. Mid-IR integrated optical systems are
capable of addressing applications including industrial process and
environmental monitoring, threat detection, medical diagnostics, and free-space
communication. Rapid progress has led to the demonstration of various silicon
components designed for the on-chip processing of mid-IR signals, including
waveguides, vertical grating couplers, microcavities, and electrooptic
modulators. Even so, a notable obstacle to the continued advancement of
chip-scale systems is imposed by the narrow-bandgap semiconductors, such as
InSb and HgCdTe, traditionally used to convert mid-IR photons to electrical
currents. The cryogenic or multi-stage thermo-electric cooling required to
suppress dark current noise, exponentially dependent upon the ratio Eg/kT, can
limit the development of small, low-power, and low-cost integrated optical
systems for the mid-IR. However, if the mid-IR optical signal could be
spectrally translated to shorter wavelengths, for example within the
near-infrared telecom band, photodetectors using wider bandgap semiconductors
such as InGaAs or Ge could be used to eliminate prohibitive cooling
requirements. Moreover, telecom band detectors typically perform with higher
detectivity and faster response times when compared with their mid-IR
counterparts. Here we address these challenges with a silicon-integrated
approach to spectral translation, by employing efficient four-wave mixing (FWM)
and large optical parametric gain in silicon nanophotonic wires
Evaluation of changes in postnatal care using the "Parents' Postnatal Sense of Security" instrument and an assessment of the instrument's reliability and validity
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A sense of security is important for experiences of parenthood in the early postpartum period. The objectives of this study were to evaluate two models of postnatal care using a questionnaire incorporating the Parents' Postpartum Sense of Security (<it>PPSS</it>) instrument and to test the validity of the <it>PPSS </it>instrument.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Postal surveys were sent to 234 mothers who had experienced two different forms of postnatal care (study group and control group) and returned by 86.8%. These two groups of mothers were compared for total scores on the <it>PPSS </it>instrument. Demographic variables and mothers' opinions about care interventions were also compared and these variables were tested for correlations with the total <it>PPSS </it>score. A regression analysis was carried out to assess areas of midwifery care which might affect a sense of security. The internal consistency and concurrent validity of the instrument were tested for the total population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>there were no significant differences between the groups for scores on the <it>PPSS </it>instrument. A total of three variables predicted 26% of the variability on the <it>PPSS </it>scores for the study group and five variables predicted 37% of the variability in the control group. One variable was common to both: "<it>The midwives on the postnatal ward paid attention to the mother as an individual"</it>. There were significant correlations between the total <it>PPSS </it>scores and scores for postpartum talks and visits to the breastfeeding clinic. There was also a significant correlation between the single question: "<it>I felt secure during the first postpartum week</it>" and the total <it>PPSS </it>score. Tests for internal consistency and concurrent validity were satisfactory.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The proposed new model of care neither improved nor impaired mothers' feelings of security the week following birth. Being seen as an individual by the midwife who provides postnatal care may be an important variable for mothers' sense of postnatal security. It is possible that postpartum talks may encourage the processing of childbirth experiences in a positive direction. Availability of breastfeeding support may also add to a sense of security postpartum. The <it>PPSS </it>instrument has shown acceptable reliability and validity.</p
ΠΠΊΡΠΈΠ²ΠΈΠ·Π°ΡΠΈΡ Π±ΠΎΡΡΠ±Ρ Ρ ΡΠ΅Π»ΠΈΠ³ΠΈΠΎΠ·Π½ΡΠΌ ΠΏΠΎΠ΄ΠΏΠΎΠ»ΡΠ΅ΠΌ Π½Π°ΠΊΠ°Π½ΡΠ½Π΅ ΠΠ»ΠΈΠΌΠΏΠΈΠΉΡΠΊΠΈΡ ΠΈΠ³Ρ 1980 Π³ΠΎΠ΄Π° (Π½Π° ΠΌΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ°Π»Π°Ρ ΠΡΡΠΌΠ°)
In order to make European regions more resilient to flood risks a broadening of Flood Risk Management strategies (FRMSs) might be necessary. The development and implementation of FRMSs like risk prevention, flood defence, mitigation, preparation and recovery is a matter of governance, a process of more or less institutionalized interaction between public and/or private entities ultimately aiming at the realization of collective goals. Such processes are institutionally embedded in Flood Risk Governance Arrangements (FRGAs), which can be defined as βthe constellation resulting from a dynamic interplay between actors and actor coalitions involved in all policy domains relevant for Flood Risk Management β including water management, spatial planning and disaster management; their dominant discourses; formal and informal rules of the game; and the power and resource base of the actors involvedβ. This definition stresses that FRGAs have an actor dimension, a rule dimension, a power and resource dimension and a discursive dimension. By focussing on FRGAs we hope to get a better insight into the societal aspects of FRMSs and the way they are institutionally embedded in a broad sense. The concept allows us to combine insights from policy scientists as well as legal scholars and urges researchers to focus on FRMSs using combined perspectives.
The aim of this report is twofold. First we want to explore the governance challenges a shift in FRMSs may pose to society and second we will identify questions for further research. The report is based on a first exploration of relevant scientific articles and reports.
Governance challenges are found within each of the four dimensions of the FRGAs. We therefore discuss these dimensions in separate chapters. Major challenges in the actor dimension are the necessity to organise joint working between relevant actors in an effective way, to adequately involve stakeholders and to optimise the science-policy interface. In the rule dimension we have found that the major challenge concerns the translation of general Flood Risk Management principles into a set of more specific organisational, substantive and procedural provisions. Efficient and joint use of resources is the major challenge addressed under the power and resources dimension. The overarching discourse-related governance challenge is the realisation of a discursive shift. Overall, our exploration indicates that FRGAs tend to be highly fragmented. The overall challenge flood risk governance has to face is the development and implementation of inspiring bridging concepts which change agents may use to create synergies between key actors involved in flood risk governance. Concepts like Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) or climate proofing are examples of this. Empirical research is needed to further elaborate on this
Factor structure and validity of the shoulder pain and disability index in a population-based study of people with shoulder symptoms
Background: The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) is a self-administered questionnaire that aims to measure pain and disability associated with shoulder disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the construct validity and factor structure of the SPADI in a population-based study of patients with self-reported chronic shoulder symptoms. Methods: The North West Adelaide Health Study is a representative longitudinal cohort study of people aged 18 years and over. The original sample was randomly selected and recruited by telephone interview. Overall, 3 206 participants returned to the clinic during the second stage (2004-2006) and were asked to report whether they had pain, aching or stiffness on most days in either of their shoulders. Data was also collected on body mass index and shoulder range of motion (ROM) and demographic factors. The SPADI (numeric rating scale) was administered to participants with shoulder symptoms. Principal components factor analysis, with varimax rotation of factor loadings, was used to assess subscale structure of SPADI. Correlations between the SPADI, shoulder ROM and SF-36 were performed. Results: Overall, 22.3% of participants indicated that they had pain, aching or stiffness in either of their shoulders. SPADI results were available for 588 of participants with current shoulder symptoms. The internal consistency of the SPADI subscales were high (Cronbach's alpha > 0.92). Two factors, explaining 61.4% of the total variance were extracted by factor analysis. These were interpreted as disability and pain respectively. There was a strong negative correlation between SPADI disability subscale scores and shoulder range of motion. SPADI disability, but not pain, subscale scores were correlated with age. Conclusions: The SPADI is a valid measure to assess pain and disability in people with shoulder pain in a population-based study. In this setting, the SPADI had a bidimensional structure with both pain and disability subscales.Catherine L Hill, Susan Lester, Anne W Taylor, Michael E Shanahan, Tiffany K Gil
Epigenetic signatures relating to disease-associated genotypic burden in familial risk of bipolar disorder
Environmental factors contribute to risk of bipolar disorder (BD), but how environmental factors impact the development of psychopathology within the context of elevated genetic risk is unknown. We herein sought to identify epigenetic signatures operating in the context of polygenic risk for BD in young people at high familial risk (HR) of BD. Peripheral blood-derived DNA was assayed using Illumina PsychArray, and Methylation-450K or -EPIC BeadChips. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated using summary statistics from recent genome-wide association studies for BD, major depressive disorder (MDD) and cross-disorder (meta-analysis of eight psychiatric disorders). Unrelated HR participants of European ancestry (n = 103) were stratified based on their BD-PRS score within the HR-population distribution, and the top two quintiles (High-BD-PRS; n = 41) compared against the bottom two quintiles (Low-BD-PRS; n = 41). The High-BD-PRS stratum also had higher mean cross-disorder-PRS and MDD-PRS (ANCOVA p = 0.035 and p = 0.024, respectively). We evaluated DNA methylation differences between High-BD-PRS and Low-BD-PRS strata using linear models. One differentially methylated probe (DMP) (cg00933603; p = 3.54 Γ 10β7) in VARS2, a mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, remained significantly hypomethylated after multiple-testing correction. Overall, BD-PRS appeared to broadly impact epigenetic processes, with 1,183 genes mapped to nominal DMPs (p < 0.05); these displayed convergence with genes previously associated with BD, schizophrenia, chronotype, and risk taking. We tested poly-methylomic epigenetic profiles derived from nominal DMPs in two independent samples (n = 54 and n = 82, respectively), and conducted an exploratory evaluation of the effects of family environment, indexing cohesion and flexibility. This study highlights an important interplay between heritable risk and epigenetic factors, which warrant further exploration
The bipolar disorder risk allele at CACNA1C also confers risk of recurrent major depression and of schizophrenia
Molecular genetic analysis offers opportunities to advance our understanding of the nosological relationship between psychiatric diagnostic categories in general, and the mood and psychotic disorders in particular. Strong evidence (P=7.0 Γ 10β7) of association at the polymorphism rs1006737 (within CACNA1C, the gene encoding the Ξ±-1C subunit of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel) with the risk of bipolar disorder (BD) has recently been reported in a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies of BD, including our BD sample (N=1868) studied within the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. Here, we have used our UK case samples of recurrent major depression (N=1196) and schizophrenia (N=479) and UK non-psychiatric comparison groups (N=15316) to examine the spectrum of phenotypic effect of the bipolar risk allele at rs1006737. We found that the risk allele conferred increased risk for schizophrenia (P=0.034) and recurrent major depression (P=0.013) with similar effect sizes to those previously observed in BD (allelic odds ratio βΌ1.15). Our findings are evidence of some degree of overlap in the biological underpinnings of susceptibility to mental illness across the clinical spectrum of mood and psychotic disorders, and show that at least some loci can have a relatively general effect on susceptibility to diagnostic categories, as currently defined. Our findings will contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of major psychiatric illness, and such knowledge should be useful in providing an etiological rationale for shaping psychiatric nosology, which is currently reliant entirely on descriptive clinical data
The effect of acetaminophen (four grams a day for three consecutive days) on hepatic tests in alcoholic patients β a multicenter randomized study
Background: Hepatic failure has been associated with reported therapeutic use of acetaminophen by alcoholic patients. The highest risk period for alcoholic patients is immediately after
discontinuation of alcohol intake. This period exhibits the largest increase in CYP2E1 induction and lowest glutathione levels. Our hypothesis was that common liver tests would be unaffected by
administration of the maximum recommended daily dosage of acetaminophen for 3 consecutive days to newly-abstinent alcoholic subjects.
Methods: Adult alcoholic subjects entering two alcohol detoxification centers were enrolled in a prospective double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Subjects were randomized to
acetaminophen, 4 g/day, or placebo for 3 consecutive days. The study had 95% probability of detecting a 15 IU/L difference in serum ALT.
Results: A total of 443 subjects were enrolled: 308 (258 completed) received acetaminophen and 135 subjects (114 completed) received placebo. Study groups did not differ in demographics,
alcohol consumption, nutritional status or baseline laboratory assessments. The peak mean ALT activity was 57 [plus or minus] 45 IU/L and 55 [plus or minus] 48 IU/L in the acetaminophen and placebo groups, respectively. Subgroup analyses for subjects presenting with an elevated ALT, subjects fulfilling a diagnosis of
alcoholic hepatitis and subjects attaining a peak ALT greater than 200 IU/L showed no statistical difference between the acetaminophen and control groups. The one participant developing an increased international normalized ratio was in the placebo group.
Conclusion: Alcoholic patients treated with the maximum recommended daily dose of acetaminophen for 3 consecutive days did not develop increases in serum transaminase or other measures of liver injury. Treatment of pain or fever for 3 days with acetaminophen appears safe in
newly-abstinent alcoholic patients, such as those presenting for acute medical care.Funding for this study was provided by McNeil Consumer Healthcare to the Denver Health Authority, Denver, Colorado
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