Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of ant-TLR4-antibody MTS510 in experimental stroke and significa of different routes of application

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are central sensors for the inflammatory response in ischemia-reperfusion injury. We therefore investigated whether TLR4 inhibition could be used to treat stroke in a standard model of focal cerebral ischemia. Anti-TLR4/MD2-antibody (mAb clone MTS510) blocked TLR4-induced cell activation in vitro, as reported previously. Here, different routes of MTS510 application in vivo were used to study the effects on stroke outcome up to 2d after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO) for 45 min in adult male C57Bl/6 wild-type mice. Improved neurological performance, reduced infarct volumes, and reduced brain swelling showed that intravascular application of MTS510 had a protective effect in the model of 45 min MCAO. Evaluation of potential long-term adverse effects of anti-TLR4-mAb-treament revealed no significant deleterious effect on infarct volumes nor neurological deficit after 14d of reperfusion in a mild model of stroke (15 min MCAO). Interestingly, inhibition of TLR4 resulted in an altered adaptive immune response at 48 hours after reperfusion. We conclude that blocking TLR4 by the use of specific mAb is a promising strategy for stroke therapy. However, long-term studies with increased functional sensitivity, larger sampling sizes and use of other species are required before a clinical use could be envisaged

Sensitivity of Mediterranean bivalve mollusc aquaculture to climate change, ocean acidification, and other environmental pressures: findings from a producer survey

Human-induced climate change and ocean acidification are global environmental phenomena with a common driver: anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. Both processes potentially threaten the Mediterranean bivalve mollusc aquaculture sector, which is economically relevant to several regions and countries. Detrimental effects on bivalve mollusc species might arise from the associated increase in sea surface temperature, pH reduction, higher frequency of extreme climatic events, and possible synergies with other nonclimatic stressors, such as harmful algal blooms and mollusc diseases. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire-based study of Mediterranean bivalve mollusc producers from 12 coastal regions and six countries, the latter including those with the highest production share in the Mediterranean region. This study aims to assess knowledge and perception of threat of climatic and nonclimatic environmental stressors within the Mediterranean aquaculture industry. Furthermore, it collects information about the (geographical) impacts of summer heat waves and ocean acidification. The results suggest that ocean acidification is still a relatively unknown phenomenon and generally poorly understood. Moreover, it is considered a secondary threat compared with other pressures. Summer heat waves are presently perceived as the highest threat, having been observed in a majority of the studied production sites in past years, with effects on seed (spat), adult mortality, and byssus attachment

Audience - Performer Engagement in Live Dance

PhD thesisIn live performances seated audiences have restricted opportunities for response, most commonly through cheering and applause at the end. However, audiences make other apparently incidental movements during a performance such as fixing hair, adjusting glasses, scratching ears, supporting their chin or shifting their bodies in the chair to change posture. The question we address here is whether these apparently incidental movements may provide systematic clues about people’s level of engagement with a performance. Our programmatic hypothesis is that audiences’ ongoing responses are part of a bi-directional system of audience-performer communication that distinguishes live from recorded performance. What could performers be detecting in these situations that informs their dynamic sense of how well a performance is going? Existing audience research has mostly focused on the non-visible or self-reported responses, while little is known about the overt audience responses. The main aim of this research is to uncover these audience responses and examine whether they may provide an indication of audience engagement and thereby form part of a feedback cycle between the performers and their audience. This thesis investigates this in the hardest case of contemporary dance where the production and setting should make audience responses hard to detect. A series of live performance studies is conducted in real theatrical settings in UK. This requires the development of methods capable of capturing continuous responses of the audience and the dancers and making sense of the resulting multi-modal data. Video recordings of performers and audience are analysed using computer vision techniques to extract face and body movement data while audience hand movement is captured using specialised wearable devices. The results show that while there is no systematic relationship between the responses of audience and dancers, audience members body movements do signal their levels of engagement to the dancers. The empirical findings of this thesis provide evidence that stillness and blank expressions are characteristic markers of cognitive engagement during performance whereas movement and hand to face gestures typically signal restlessness or boredom. This work argues that the audience’s overt responses matter and are an important characteristic of the live experience. The audience responses that have been disclosed in this thesis can provide a systematic basis to design for audiences and suggest new forms of live experience more focused on the audience.(EPSRC) as part of the Doctoral Training Centre in Media and Arts Technology at Queen Mary University of London (ref: EP/G03723X/1)

Birthing and Parenting a Premature Infant in a Cultural Context

The purpose of this longitudinal qualitative descriptive study was to explore American Indian (AI) mothers’ perceptions of parenting their premature infants over their first year of life in the context of their culture, including the birth and hospitalization experience. A convenience sample of 17 AI mothers and their premature infants were recruited from either a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or pediatric clinic in the southeast. Semistructured interviews were conducted at two time points. Through content analytic methods, three broad categories were revealed: descriptions of having a premature infant in the NICU, descriptions of parenting a premature infant, and the influence of Lumbee culture on parenting a premature infant. Certain aspects of AI culture appear to be important in having a premature infant in the NICU and in parenting a premature infant. We recommend that healthcare providers deliver culturally appropriate care that fully supports AI mothers and their premature infants

Numerical renormalization-group study of spin correlations in one-dimensional random spin chains

We calculate the ground-state two-spin correlation functions of spin-1/2 quantum Heisenberg chains with random exchange couplings using the real-space renormalization group scheme. We extend the conventional scheme to take account of the contribution of local higher multiplet excitations in each decimation step. This extended scheme can provide highly accurate numerical data for large systems. The random average of staggered spin correlations of the chains with random antiferromagnetic (AF) couplings shows algebraic decay like $1/r^2$, which verifies the Fisher's analytic results. For chains with random ferromagnetic (FM) and AF couplings, the random average of generalized staggered correlations is found to decay more slowly than a power-law, in the form close to $1/\ln(r)$. The difference between the distribution functions of the spin correlations of the random AF chains and of the random FM-AF chains is also discussed.Comment: 14 pages including 8 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Physical Review

Τεκμηρίωση πληροφοριακού συστήματος προγραμματισμού παραγωγής

191 σ.Σκοπός της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η λεπτομερής περιγραφή,μελέτη και αξιολόγηση της υπάρχουσας εφαρμογής προγραμματισμού και ελέγχου παραγωγής της εταιρείας κλειθροποιίας DOMUS AEBE. Ουσιαστικά γίνεται μια προσπάθεια περιγραφής των παραπάνω σε μορφή εγχειριδίου (programming manual and user manual).The goal of my ETD is the description and research of the Production Planning and Control system witch DOMUS AEBE uses in order to organise its production system.Αγγελική Λ. Θεοδώρο

Health practitioners' perceptions of the barriers and enablers to the implementation of reproductive genetic carrier screening: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: As interest in reproductive genetic carrier screening rises, with increased availability, the role of healthcare practitioners is central in guiding uptake aligned with a couples' values and beliefs. Therefore, practitioners' views on implementation are critical to the success of any reproductive genetic carrier screening programme. AIM: To explore healthcare practitioners' perceptions of the barriers and enablers to implementation. MATERIALS & METHODS: We undertook a systematic review of the literature searching seven databases using health practitioner, screening and implementation terms returning 490 articles. RESULTS: Screening led to the inclusion of 26 articles for full-text review. We found three interconnected themes relating to reproductive genetic carrier screening: (i) use and impact, (ii) practitioners' beliefs and expectations and (iii) resources. DISCUSSION: Barriers and enablers to implementation were present within each theme and grouping these determinants by (a) community for example lack of public interest, (b) practitioner for example lack of practitioner time and (c) organisation for example lack of effective metrics, reveals a preponderance of practitioner barriers and organisational enablers. Linking barriers with potential enablers leaves several barriers unresolved (e.g., costs for couples) implying additional interventions may be required. CONCLUSION: Future research should draw on the findings from this study to develop and test strategies to facilitate appropriate offering of reproductive genetic carrier screening by healthcare practitioners

Blockchain technology as a support infrastructure in E-Government evolution at Dubai economic department

© 2019 Association for Computing Machinery. World is experiencing revolution with the proliferation of technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, IOT, and cloud computing in our lives. This study explores Dubai Economic Department\u27s (DED) electronic government (e-government) stages of integrating emerging technologies as its contribution in creating a smarter city. Our findings suggest that blockchain technology can be used as a platform to transform the e-business operating models in order to offer fully integrated services and to enforce common business rules. It can help governments in making processes simpler, faster and secure. It can be used for syncing of data across different departments, automatically & instantaneously. This work provides policy makers, enterprise architects and IT managers with useful guidelines to define and drive their e-government strategy and planning actions towards the most appropriate domains of implementation