The diagnosis of rupture of fetal membranes (ROM): a meta-analysis

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of tests based on the detection of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) and placental α-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) in diagnosing rupture of fetal membranes (ROM) across different patient populations. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on prospective observational or cohort studies investigating ROM tests based on the detection of IGFBP-1 and PAMG-1 meeting the following criteria: (1) performance metrics calculated by comparing results to an adequate reference method; (2) sensitivity thresholds of the investigated tests matching those of the currently available tests; (3) study population, as a minimum, included patients between 25 and 37 weeks of gestation. Sensitivities, specificities, and diagnostic odds ratios were calculated. Results: Across all patient populations, the analyzed performance measures of the PAMG-1 test were significantly superior compared with those of the IGFBP-1 test. Of particular clinical relevance, PAMG-1 outperformed IGFBP-1 in the equivocal group, which comprised patients with uncertain rupture of membranes (sensitivity, 96.0% vs. 73.9%; specificity, 98.9% vs. 77.8%; PAMG-1 vs. IGFBP-1 tests, respectively). Conclusions: Compared with its performance in women with known membrane status, the accuracy of the IGFBP-1 test decreases significantly when used on patients whose membrane status is unknown. In this latter clinically relevant population, the PAMG-1 test has higher accuracy than the IGFBP-1 tes

The seeds of divergence: the economy of French North America, 1688 to 1760

Generally, Canada has been ignored in the literature on the colonial origins of divergence with most of the attention going to the United States. Late nineteenth century estimates of income per capita show that Canada was relatively poorer than the United States and that within Canada, the French and Catholic population of Quebec was considerably poorer. Was this gap long standing? Some evidence has been advanced for earlier periods, but it is quite limited and not well-suited for comparison with other societies. This thesis aims to contribute both to Canadian economic history and to comparative work on inequality across nations during the early modern period. With the use of novel prices and wages from Quebec—which was then the largest settlement in Canada and under French rule—a price index, a series of real wages and a measurement of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are constructed. They are used to shed light both on the course of economic development until the French were defeated by the British in 1760 and on standards of living in that colony relative to the mother country, France, as well as the American colonies. The work is divided into three components. The first component relates to the construction of a price index. The absence of such an index has been a thorn in the side of Canadian historians as it has limited the ability of historians to obtain real values of wages, output and living standards. This index shows that prices did not follow any trend and remained at a stable level. However, there were episodes of wide swings—mostly due to wars and the monetary experiment of playing card money. The creation of this index lays the foundation of the next component. The second component constructs a standardized real wage series in the form of welfare ratios (a consumption basket divided by nominal wage rate multiplied by length of work year) to compare Canada with France, England and Colonial America. Two measures are derived. The first relies on a “bare bones” definition of consumption with a large share of land-intensive goods. This measure indicates that Canada was poorer than England and Colonial America and not appreciably richer than France. However, this measure overestimates the relative position of Canada to the Old World because of the strong presence of land-intensive goods. A second measure is created using a “respectable” definition of consumption in which the basket includes a larger share of manufactured goods and capital-intensive goods. This second basket better reflects differences in living standards since the abundance of land in Canada (and Colonial America) made it easy to achieve bare subsistence, but the scarcity of capital and skilled labor made the consumption of luxuries and manufactured goods (clothing, lighting, imported goods) highly expensive. With this measure, the advantage of New France over France evaporates and turns slightly negative. In comparison with Britain and Colonial America, the gap widens appreciably. This element is the most important for future research. By showing a reversal because of a shift to a different type of basket, it shows that Old World and New World comparisons are very sensitive to how we measure the cost of living. Furthermore, there are no sustained improvements in living standards over the period regardless of the measure used. Gaps in living standards observed later in the nineteenth century existed as far back as the seventeenth century. In a wider American perspective that includes the Spanish colonies, Canada fares better. The third component computes a new series for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is to avoid problems associated with using real wages in the form of welfare ratios which assume a constant labor supply. This assumption is hard to defend in the case of Colonial Canada as there were many signs of increasing industriousness during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The GDP series suggest no long-run trend in living standards (from 1688 to circa 1765). The long peace era of 1713 to 1740 was marked by modest economic growth which offset a steady decline that had started in 1688, but by 1760 (as a result of constant warfare) living standards had sunk below their 1688 levels. These developments are accompanied by observations that suggest that other indicators of living standard declined. The flat-lining of incomes is accompanied by substantial increases in the amount of time worked, rising mortality and rising infant mortality. In addition, comparisons of incomes with the American colonies confirm the results obtained with wages— Canada was considerably poorer. At the end, a long conclusion is provides an exploratory discussion of why Canada would have diverged early on. In structural terms, it is argued that the French colony was plagued by the problem of a small population which prohibited the existence of scale effects. In combination with the fact that it was dispersed throughout the territory, the small population of New France limited the scope for specialization and economies of scale. However, this problem was in part created, and in part aggravated, by institutional factors like seigneurial tenure. The colonial origins of French America’s divergence from the rest of North America are thus partly institutional

Memory Influences Visual Cognition across Multiple Functional States of Interactive Cortical Dynamics

No embargo requiredMemory supports a wide range of abilities from categorical perception to goal-directed behavior, such as decision-making and episodic recognition. Memory activates fast and surprisingly accurately and even when information is ambiguous or impoverished (i.e., showing object constancy). This paper proposes the multiple-state interactive (MUSI) account of object cognition that attempts to explain how sensory stimulation activates memory across multiple functional states of neural dynamics, including automatic and strategic mental simulation mechanisms that can ground cognition in modal information processing. A key novel postulate of this account is ‘multiple-function regional activity’: The same neuronal population can contribute to multiple brain states, depending upon the dominant set of inputs at that time. In state 1, the initial fast bottom-up pass through posterior neocortex happens between 95 ms and ~200 ms, with knowledge supporting categorical perception by 120 ms. In state 2, starting around 200 ms, a sustained state of iterative activation of object-sensitive cortex involves bottom-up, recurrent, and feedback interactions with frontoparietal cortex. This supports higher cognitive functions associated with decision-making even under ambiguous or impoverished conditions, phenomenological consciousness, and automatic mental simulation. In the latest state so far identified, state M, starting around 300 to 500 ms, large-scale cortical network interactions, including between multiple networks (e.g., control, salience, and especially default mode), further modulate posterior cortex. This supports elaborated cognition based on earlier processing, including episodic memory, strategic mental simulation, decision evaluation, creativity, and access consciousness. Convergent evidence is reviewed from cognitive neuroscience of object cognition, decision-making, memory, and mental imagery that support this account and define the brain regions and time course of these brain dynamics

Thuật chinh phục khách hàng : Khuôn vàng thước ngọc cho các nhà doanh nghiệp

156 tr.; 19 cm

BPR1K653, a novel Aurora Kinase Inhibitor, exhibits potent anti-proliferative activity in P-gp170 (MDR1)-mediated VX680-resistant cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

[[abstract]]Background: Mitosis is a key step in cell cycle that is tightly regulated by many proteins. Abnormal expression or activation of these regulatory proteins could result in aberrant mitosis, leading to the development of cancer [1]. At the molecular level, Aurora kinases (Aurora-A, Aurora-B and Aurora-C) are serine/threonine kinases that function as key regulators of mitosis. In this study, a novel pan-Aurora kinase inhibitor entitled BPR1K653 was developed and its potency against various MDR1-negative and MDR1-positive cancer cells was evaluated. Our data revealed that unlike the well characterized Aurora kinase inhibitors VX680 and PHA-739358, BPR1K653 is effective in targeting both MDR1-negative and -positive cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: In vitro kinase activity assay was used to determine the activity and target specificity of BPR1K653. Antiproliferative activity of BPR1K653 was evaluated in various cancer cell lines. Flow cytomertic analysis, immunofluorescence microscopy, Western blot analysis, real-time caspase?3/?7 activity imaging, and the TUNEL assay were used to follow mechanisms of action of BPR1K653. Efficacy of BPR1K653 was determined in different xenograft mice models. Results: BPR1K653 specifically inhibited the activity of Aurora-A/-B kinase in vitro. It showed potent activity in a variety of human tumour cell lines regardless to the tissue origin, p53 status, and expression of the common drug efflux pump MDR1 (P-gp-170). In contrast, clinically tested Aurora kinase inhibitors, VX680 and PHA-739358, were ineffective in targeting the MDR1-expressing cancer cells. Interestingly, MDR1-expressing cancer cells treated with BPR1K653, but not with VX680, showed reduced-MDR1 activity. BPR1K653 induced cell endo-replication and the reduction of phosphor-histone H3, which are classical phenotypes of Aurora kinase inhibition. BPR1K653 also showed potent activity against the growth of xenograft tumours of the human cervical carcinoma KB and KB-derived MDR1-expressing VX680/vincristine-resistant KB-VIN10 cells in nude mice. Conclusion: BPR1K653 is a promising anti-cancer compound that has potential for the management of various malignancies, particularly for patients with MDR1-related drug resistance after prolonged chemotherapeutic treatments

Type 2 confined placental mosaicisms (CPM2) and type 3 confined placental mosaicisms (CPM3) diagnosed in the fetal medicine center of the University Hospital of Bordeaux (France) from 19321 chorionic villus samplings performed between 1997 and 2015.

<p>A. Weight and gestation age at delivery for CPM2 and CPM3, and a control population. B. Association between birth weight percentile and percentage of placental cells with chromosomal abnormalities after long-term cultured villi for CPM2 and CPM3 (Pearson's correlation coefficient = -0.34, p<0.01).</p