Leakage and Comparative Advantage Implications of Agricultural Participation in Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation

The world is moving toward efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Net emission reduction efforts may involve the agricultural sector through options such as planting of trees, crop and livestock management changes, and production of biofuels. However, such options can be competitive with domestic food production. In a free trade arena, reduced domestic food production could stimulate increased production and exports in other countries, which are not pursuing similar mitigative courses of action. As a consequence, net emission reductions in implementing countries may be offset by activities stimulated in other countries. In addition producers in countries where agriculture is subject to greenhouse gas mitigation have expressed concern about their competitive position to countries which are not trying to reduce net emissions.Emission Leakage, Agricultural Sector Model, Greenhouse Gas Policy, Mitigation, Carbon Sequestration

Coexisting Innominate Vein Compression Syndrome and May-Thurner Syndrome

AbstractInnominate vein compression syndrome and May-Thurner syndrome (also called iliac vein compression syndrome) are venous compression syndromes caused by normal anatomic structures. Here, we present a case in which these two conditions were found in the same patient using multidetector row computed tomography. This case is significant for two reasons: (1) it is, to the best of our knowledge, the first case study in the literature to report coexisting innominate vein compression syndrome and May-Thurner syndrome; and (2) it shows that multidetector row computed tomography has powerful diagnostic ability for venous diseases

Thoracoscopic plication for a huge thoracic meningocele in a patient with Neurofibromatosis

Intrathoracic meningoceles associated with neurofibromatosis type I are rare, and the optimal treatment is still unknown. Herein, we present the case of a 48-year-old Asian female with a huge thoracic meningocele associated with cutaneous neurofibromatosis type I and kyphoscoliosis of the thoracic spine. The large thoracic meningocele was successfully treated through thoracoscopic plication

Changes in sugars in organs of Phalaenopsis florets during different flowering stages of intact plant inflorescences

Phalaenopsis flowers possess extraordinary longevity. However, the changes of sugars, including glucose, fructose and sucrose, in organs of floret during different flowering stages of inflorescences attached to a plant have not been reported. To accomplish this, the sugars level in different floret organs were studied at 4 different stages (1. half open, 2. bloom 1 month, 3. bloom 2 months, and 4. wilting). Glucose and fructose were the major soluble sugars in the sepal, petal, labellum, pedicel, and remainder (including the column, anther cap, pollinia, and stigma) of a floret, but their levels decreased from stages 1 to 4. However, the amount of sucrose increased significantly at stage 4 in the sepal, petal, pedicel, and remainder, with the exception that the labellum remained constant throughout all stages. These results demonstrate that glucose and fructose are the major solutes that contribute to floret opening and blooming, and sucrose is salvaged and exported before floret senescence for opening other florets on the same inflorescence. Meanwhile, labellum possesses different sugar metabolism from other organs of Phalaenopsis floret

Elevated Krüppel-like factor 4 transcription factor in canine mammary carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) are critical regulators of biological and physiological systems and have been extensively studied for their roles in cell proliferation, differentiation and survival in the context of cancer. Among the KLFs, KLF4 is highly expressed in human breast cancers and plays an oncogenic role. The present study examined the expression of KLF4 and assessed its significance in canine mammary carcinoma.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Immunohistochemistry was employed to investigate the expression of KLF4 in 142 cases of canine mammary tumor. 75 of the 142 (52.8%) cases were histologically confirmed as mammary carcinoma. Quantification of immunohistochemistry was carried out using Quick score which multiply the staining intensity by the percentage of positive cells. High KLF4 expression was identified in 44 of the 75 (59%) dogs with mammary carcinoma and none in the benign cases. High KLF4 expression occurred only in the tumor cells and not the adjacent normal cells in mammary carcinoma (P < 0.001). Moreover, the high expression level of KLF4 expression was statistically associated with poor grade, late stage, histological subtypes of simple and complex carcinoma, and shorter 24-month survival. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis also indicated that dogs with high nuclear KLF4 expression had a significantly shorter survival than those with low/moderate KLF4 expression (P = 0.011).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>KLF4 is highly and frequently expressed in canine mammary carcinoma and correlates with a more aggressive phenotype.</p

In vitro assay to estimate tea astringency via observing flotation of artificial oil bodies sheltered by caleosin fused with histatin 3

AbstractAstringency, a sensory characteristic of food and beverages rich in polyphenols, mainly results from the formation of complexes between polyphenols and salivary proteins, causing a reduction of the lubricating properties of saliva. To develop an in vitro assay to estimate the astringency of oolong tea infusion, artificial oil bodies were constituted with sesame oil sheltered by a modified caleosin fused with histatin 3, one of the human salivary small peptides. Aggregation of artificial oil bodies was induced when they were mixed with oolong tea infusion or its major polyphenolic compound, (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) of 100μM as observed in light microscopy. The aggregated artificial oil bodies gradually floated on top of the solution and formed a visible milky layer whose thickness was in proportion to the concentrations of tea infusion. This assay system was applied to test four different oolong tea infusions with sensory astringency corresponding to their EGCG contents. The result showed that relative astringency of the four tea infusions was correlated to the thickness of floated artificial oil bodies, and could be estimated according to the standard curve generated by simultaneously observing a serial dilution of the tea infusion with the highest astringency

Managing cardiac arrest with refractory ventricular fibrillation in the emergency department: Conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation

AbstractAimRefractory ventricular fibrillation, resistant to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), is a life threatening rhythm encountered in the emergency department. Although previous reports suggest the use of extracorporeal CPR can improve the clinical outcomes in patients with prolonged cardiac arrest, the effectiveness of this novel strategy for refractory ventricular fibrillation is not known. We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation managed with conventional CPR or extracorporeal CPR in our institution.MethodThis is a retrospective chart review study from an emergency department in a tertiary referral medical center. We identified 209 patients presenting with cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation between September 2011 and September 2013. Of these, 60 patients were enrolled with ventricular fibrillation refractory to resuscitation for more than 10min. The clinical outcome of patients with ventricular fibrillation received either conventional CPR, including defibrillation, chest compression, and resuscitative medication (C-CPR, n=40) or CPR plus extracorporeal CPR (E-CPR, n=20) were compared.ResultsThe overall survival rate was 35%, and 18.3% of patients were discharged with good neurological function. The mean duration of CPR was longer in the E-CPR group than in the C-CPR group (69.90±49.6min vs 34.3±17.7min, p=0.0001). Patients receiving E-CPR had significantly higher rates of sustained return of spontaneous circulation (95.0% vs 47.5%, p=0.0009), and good neurological function at discharge (40.0% vs 7.5%, p=0.0067). The survival rate in the E-CPR group was higher (50% vs 27.5%, p=0.1512) at discharge and (50% vs 20%, p=0. 0998) at 1 year after discharge.ConclusionsThe management of refractory ventricular fibrillation in the emergency department remains challenging, as evidenced by an overall survival rate of 35% in this study. Patients with refractory ventricular fibrillation receiving E-CPR had a trend toward higher survival rates and significantly improved neurological outcomes than those receiving C-CPR