Corrigendum: an overview of MicroRNAs as biomarkers of ALS

A Corrigendum on An Overview of MicroRNAs as Biomarkers of ALS by Joilin, G., Leigh, P. N., Newbury, S. F., and Hafezparast, M. (2019). Front. Neurol. 10:186. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00186 In the original article, there was a mistake in Table 1 as published. Some of the miRNAs listed in the table were incorrectly placed in the wrong column and/or row. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated

The ecology and evolution of non-domesticated Saccharomyces species

Yeast researchers need model systems for ecology and evolution, but the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not ideal because its evolution has been affected by domestication. Instead, ecologists and evolutionary biologists are focusing on close relatives of S. cerevisiae: the seven species in the genus Saccharomyces. The best-studied Saccharomyces yeast, after S. cerevisiae, is S. paradoxus, an oak tree resident throughout the northern hemisphere. In addition, several more members of the Saccharomyces genus have recently been discovered. Some Saccharomyces species are only found in nature, while others include both wild and domesticated strains. Comparisons between domesticated and wild yeasts have pinpointed hybridization, introgression, and high phenotypic diversity as signatures of domestication. But studies of wild Saccharomyces natural history, biogeography, and ecology are only beginning. Much remains to understand about wild yeasts' ecological interactions and life cycles in nature. We encourage researchers to continue to investigate Saccharomyces yeasts in nature, both to place S. cerevisiae biology into its ecological context, and to develop the Saccharomyces genus as a model clade for ecology and evolution

Vessels for the future

The European research association Vessels for the Future was launched in November 2014. It has members has 59 members (as of May 2015) in 14 EU Member States. Members represent ship owners, ship yards, ship system suppliers, classification societies, research institutes, university departments and industry associations. Hence Vessels for the Future brings together a leading group of maritime stakeholders with a common interest to ensure that European maritime research has a strong and vibrant future sustaining a competitive maritime industry. This will be achieved through agreeing collaborative research and with the support of public and private financing

Emergency Portasystemic Shunting in Cirrhotics With Bleeding Varices — A Comparison of Portacaval and Mesocaval Shunts

Despite the best conservative measures available for the control of major variceal hemorrhage, some patients either continue to bleed, or rebleed early, and require emergency surgery. One hundred patients with cirrhosis and uncontrolled bleeding were treated with emergency portasystemic shunts between 1968 and 1983. Fifty eight patients had end-to-side portacaval shunts and 42 had Dacron interposition mesocaval shunts. Both groups were comparable with respect to age, sex and prevalence of alcoholism. There was an increased severity of liver disease as assessed by Child's class in the mesocaval group of patients

Assessment of the usefulness of lithic clasts from pyroclastic deposits for paleointensity determination

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic measurements were carried out on lithic clasts found within pyroclastic deposits to assess their potential for paleointensity determinations. The use of multiple lithologies in a single paleointensity determination would provide confidence that the result is not biased by alteration within one lithology. Lithic clasts were sampled from three historically active volcanoes: Láscar in the Chilean Andes, Mt. St. Helens, United States, and Vesuvius, Italy. At Láscar, triple heating paleointensity experiments allow development of new selection criteria for lithic clasts found within pyroclastic deposits. Using these criteria, the Láscar data yield a mean paleointensity of 24.3 ± 1.3 μT (1σ, N = 26), which agrees well with the expected value of 24.0 μT. This indicates that pyroclastic rocks have promise for paleointensity determinations. Pyroclastics, however, still suffer from the range of problems associated with conventional paleointensity experiments on lava flows. Samples from Mt. St. Helens are strongly affected by multidomain (MD) behavior, which results in all samples failing to pass the paleointensity selection criteria. At Vesuvius, MD grains, magnetic interactions, and chemical remanent magnetizations contributed to failure of all paleointensity experiments. Rock magnetic analyses allow identification of the causes of failure of the paleointensity experiments. However, in this study, they have not provided adequate preselection criteria for identifying pyroclastics that are suitable for paleointensity determination.NERC, Royal Societ

Heterosexual men in the United States of America : are the oppressors also oppressed?

This qualitative study examines the experiences of heterosexual men in the United States, exploring their disadvantages, in particular. The responses of the men studied showed that they did feel oppressed on some level, and/or that they perceived that heterosexual men they knew experienced oppression because of the social expectations for men. On their own accord, they also acknowledged their privileges and that it is great to be a man. The most salient forms of oppression discussed involved feelings of limitations in their authentic self-expression and disenfranchisement in unwed fathers. Research data were collected from a focus group of five men and an individual interview. A second individual interview was conducted with one of the members of the focus group who asked to speak more on men feeling limited in what they can say to a female, especially around other men. A female researcher conducted all interviews. Examining the ways in which the deemed oppressors feel limited, disadvantaged and disenfranchised, contributes to the Anti-Sexism movement as it helps redefine sexism from something that only victimizes women to something that victimizes everybody by fallaciously considering a person\u27s sex to be relevant in a context in which it is not, thereby inviting wrongful discrimination. Implications include the sensitization of clinicians to the experiences of heterosexual males, and further exploration into birth control options for men. A larger scale mixed methods study on this topic is suggested for further research

Modelling and testing the x-ray performance of CCD and CMOS APS detectors using numerical finite element simulations

Pixellated monolithic silicon detectors operated in a photon-counting regime are useful in spectroscopic imaging applications. Since a high energy incident photon may produce many excess free carriers upon absorption, both energy and spatial information can be recovered by resolving each interaction event. The performance of these devices in terms of both the energy and spatial resolution is in large part determined by the amount of diffusion which occurs during the collection of the charge cloud by the pixels. Past efforts to predict the X-ray performance of imaging sensors have used either analytical solutions to the diffusion equation or simplified monte carlo electron transport models. These methods are computationally attractive and highly useful but may be complemented using more physically detailed models based on TCAD simulations of the devices. Here we present initial results from a model which employs a full transient numerical solution of the classical semiconductor equations to model charge collection in device pixels under stimulation from initially Gaussian photogenerated charge clouds, using commercial TCAD software. Realistic device geometries and doping are included. By mapping the pixel response to different initial interaction positions and charge cloud sizes, the charge splitting behaviour of the model sensor under various illuminations and operating conditions is investigated. Experimental validation of the model is presented from an e2v CCD30-11 device under varying substrate bias, illuminated using an Fe-55 source

Similar mortality and reduced loss to follow-up in integrated compared with vertical programs providing antiretroviral treatment in sub-saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: Vertical HIV programs have achieved good results but may not be feasible or appropriate in many resource-limited settings. Médecins sans Frontières has treated HIV in vertical programs since 2000 and over time integrated HIV treatment into general health care services using simplified protocols. We analyzed the survival probability among patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) from 2003 to 2010 in integrated versus vertical programs in 9 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Cox regression assessed mortality and program design association, adjusting for baseline age, body mass index, clinical WHO stage, tuberculosis, program age and setting. The analysis included 15,403 HIV-positive adults on ART in 7 vertical (14,124 patients) and 10 integrated (1279 patients) programs. Cox regression including 14,523 patients followed for up to 30 months ART showed similar outcomes for mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83 to 1.24) and lower risk of loss to follow-up (aHR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.61 to 0.83) in integrated compared with vertical programs. The greatest risk of death was from initiating ART at WHO stage 4 (aHR 1.99, 95% CI: 1.74 to 2.29), although greater program experience was protective (aHR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.66 to 0.89). Risk of loss to follow-up was greater in experienced programs (aHR: 3.33; 95% CI: 2.92 to 3.79) and rural settings (aHR: 3.82; 95% CI: 3.49 to 4.20). CONCLUSIONS: ART delivery in integrated general health care programs results in good outcomes. Compared with vertical HIV programs, patients initiated ART in integrated programs at more advanced stages of clinical immunosuppression yet had similar risk of death and lower risk of loss to follow-up

Serum Concentrations of Myostatin and Myostatin-Interacting Proteins do not differ between young and Scarcopenic elderly men

Peer reviewedPostprin

Planetary Nebulae as Probes of Stellar Evolution and Populations

Planetary Nebulae (PNe) have been used satisfactory to test the effects of stellar evolution on the Galactic chemical environment. Moreover, a link exists between nebular morphology and stellar populations and evolution. We present the latest results on Galactic PN morphology, and an extension to a distance unbiased and homogeneous sample of Large Magellanic Cloud PNe. We show that PNe and their morphology may be successfully used as probes of stellar evolution and populations.Comment: to appear in: Chemical Evolution of the Milky Way: stars versus clusters, ed. F. Giovannelli and F. Matteucci, Kluwer (2000), in pres