Klotho controls the brain-immune system interface in the choroid plexus.

Located within the brain's ventricles, the choroid plexus produces cerebrospinal fluid and forms an important barrier between the central nervous system and the blood. For unknown reasons, the choroid plexus produces high levels of the protein klotho. Here, we show that these levels naturally decline with aging. Depleting klotho selectively from the choroid plexus via targeted viral vector-induced knockout in Klotho flox/flox mice increased the expression of multiple proinflammatory factors and triggered macrophage infiltration of this structure in young mice, simulating changes in unmanipulated old mice. Wild-type mice infected with the same Cre recombinase-expressing virus did not show such alterations. Experimental depletion of klotho from the choroid plexus enhanced microglial activation in the hippocampus after peripheral injection of mice with lipopolysaccharide. In primary cultures, klotho suppressed thioredoxin-interacting protein-dependent activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages by enhancing fibroblast growth factor 23 signaling. We conclude that klotho functions as a gatekeeper at the interface between the brain and immune system in the choroid plexus. Klotho depletion in aging or disease may weaken this barrier and promote immune-mediated neuropathogenesis

Reusing IEEE 1687-Compatible Instruments and Sub-Networks over a System Bus

Accessing embedded test and monitoring circuitry (the so-called embedded instruments) in in-field products can reduce maintenance and diagnostics costs. Performing such access can be facilitated when done over an internal system bus, due to that it might be faster and less cumbersome to reach a system processor (on an in-field product) over a network interface, compared with the effort and speed of gaining access to a test interface on the same product. Enabling such access might require that, at the component level, the embedded instruments in a system-on-chip (SoC) become accessible both from a chip interface and from an on-chip processor over a system bus. Although this reuse of embedded instruments can be achieved by already existing standards, such as IEEE 1687, the system bus might become a scalability bottleneck when the number of instruments that are to be reused increases. In this paper, we propose two solutions that address the scalability in this type of reuse while maintaining compatibility with IEEE 1687 tools. We also discuss the trade-offs associated with each approach and present timing analyses that by considering system parameters such as clock rates determine how the correct operation can be guaranteed. To validate the proposed solutions, we have implemented them on an FPGA using AXI as system bus, and have used standard IEEE 1687 tools to access the instruments. We present some details of the implementation to highlight practical issues such as clock domain crossing, as well as how the presented timing analyses can be used to adjust design parameters

Bilateral variations of the head of the digastric muscle in Korean: a case report

The digastric muscle, as the landmark in head and neck surgery, has two bellies, of which various variations have been reported. In the submental region of a 72-year-old Korean male cadaver, bilateral variations were found in the anterior belly of the digastric muscle. Two accessory bellies, medial to the two normal anterior bellies of the digastric muscle, ran posterior and medially, merging and attaching at the mylohyoid raphe of the mylohyoid muscle. The 3rd accessory belly originated from the right intermediate tendon and ran horizontally, merging the right lower bundle of the right accessory belly and inserted together. These accessory bellies had no connection with the left anterior belly. This unique variation has not been reported in the literature previously, and this presentation will guide clinicians during surgical interventions and radiological diagnoses

UPPAAL in 1995

UPPAAL is a tool suite for automatic verification of safety andbounded liveness properties of real-time systems modeled as networks of timed automata[12, 9, 4], developed during the past two years. In this paper, we summarizethe main features of UPPAAL in particular its various extensions developed in 1995as well as applications to various case-studies, review and provide pointers to thetheoretical foundation

Расчет перенапряжений в распределительной сети при прерывистых дуговых замыканиях на землю с различными режимами заземления нейтрали

Рассмотрен вопрос о наиболее эффективном режиме заземления нейтрали электрических сетей среднего напряжения. Определены максимальные перенапряжения при моделировании различных режимов работы сети (режим заземления нейтрали, место замыкания фазы на землю, место измерений перенапряжений). Приведены результаты исследований эффективности ограничения перенапряжений при дуговых прерывистых замыканиях на землю с различными режимами заземления нейтрали на математических моделях реальных электрических сетей 6–35 кВ.The problem of the most efficient condition of neutral ground of medium voltage electric networks is considered. Maximum overvoltages during simulating various operational modes of the network are determined (neutral ground condition, the location of the phase ground, the point of overvoltage measuring). The results of the study of the efficiency of overvoltage limitation during discontinuous arcing earth at various neutral ground conditions are presented at mathematical models of real electric networks of 6–35 kV

A histomorphometric study of dental implants with different surface characteristics

PURPOSE. One of the major keys to achieve successful osseointegration of the implant is its surface properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the bone response to dental implants with different surface characteristics using the rabbit tibia model. Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) coated, anodic oxidized and turned (control) surfaces were compared. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Seventy two implants were placed in the tibia of eighteen rabbits. Nine rabbits were sacrificed at 3 weeks of healing and the remaining nine were sacrificed at 6 weeks of healing. The bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and the bone volume density (BVD) were assessed by light microscope after 3 and 6 weeks of healing. RESULTS. Statistical analysis showed that no significant differences in the BIC and BVD were observed between the different implant surfaces and the control group at 3 weeks and 6 weeks of healing. Data also suggested that the BVD of all the surfaces showed significant difference at 3 and 6 weeks. CONCLUSION. The present study has showed that osseointegration occurred in all investigated types of surface-treated implants. In the current study all of the threads of the implants were observed to calculate BIC and BVD values (instead of choosing some of the threads from the bone cortex for example), which didn`t make BIC or BVD percentage values better than in the control group, therefore the clinical relevance of these results remains to be shown. [J Adv Prosthodont 2010;2:142-7]

Aortic Valve Disease and Vascular Mechanics: Two-Dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiographic Analysis

PURPOSE: Degenerative aortic valve disease (AVD) is a complex disorder that goes beyond valve itself, also undermining aortic wall. We aimed to assess the ascending aortic mechanics with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) in patients with aortic regurgitation (AR) and hypothesized a relationship with degree of AR. Aortic mechanics were then compared with those of similarly studied healthy controls and patients with aortic stenosis (AS); finally, we aimed to assess the prognostic significance of vascular mechanics in AVD. METHODS: Overall, 73 patients with moderate-to-severe AR and 22 healthy subjects were enrolled, alongside a previously examined cohort (N = 45) with moderate-to-severe AS. Global circumferential ascending aortic strain (CAAS) and strain rate (CAASR) served as indices of aortic deformation; corrected CAAS was calculated as CAAS/pulse pressure (PP). Median clinical follow-up was 438 days. RESULTS: In patients with severe (vs. moderate) AR, CAASR (1.53 ± 0.29/sec vs. 1.90 ± 0.62/sec, P 0.88/sec was significantly higher (log rank, 97.4% vs. 73.0%; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative measures of aortic mechanics were lower for AS patients, suggesting a more significant derangement of aortic elastic properties. In the context of AVD, vascular mechanics assessment proved useful in gauging clinical prognosis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio