The incidence of myelodysplastic syndromes in Western Greece is increasing.

Descriptive epidemiology of the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is always interesting and may reveal time-dependent and geographical variations, as well as occupational exposure. Epidemiological data in Greece are not available by now. We have collected and analyzed medical records of all patients with a documented diagnosis of MDS, performed by an expert hematologist and/or hematopathologist, in the geographical area of Western Greece, during the 20-year period, defined between 1990 and 2009. We have then calculated and described demographic and clinical features of the diagnosed MDS patient population, and assessed the incidence and prevalence rates of MDS in Western Greece, during the above-mentioned period. A total of 855 patients with newly diagnosed MDS have been identified. Refractory anemia was the most common subtype in both FAB and WHO classification systems and in both genders. Del-5q and RARS were more commonly encountered among females, and the dysplastic subtype of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia among males. Trisomy 8 was the most common single cytogenetic abnormality. The crude mean annual incidence rate of MDS was 6.0 per 100,000 inhabitants aged ≥15 years old (all subtypes according to FAB), and it was 4.8 per 100,000 when CMML and RAEB-T were excluded. Crude incidence rate was higher in rural than in urban areas, but this finding was not confirmed after age standardization. Age-standardized mean annual incidence rate in men was 7.9/100,000 and in women 3.4/100,000. A continuously increasing incidence rate of MDS has been observed throughout the study period

Inventory of long and short term future needs of food chain users for future functions of internet

vokKVIKA

Increased Expression of Toll-Like Receptors by Monocytes and Natural Killer Cells in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis

INTRODUCTION: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of receptors that sense pathogen associated patterns such as bacterial cell wall proteins. Bacterial infections are associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). Here, we assessed the expression of TLRs 2, 4, and 9 by peripheral blood leukocytes from patients with AAV, and investigated TLR mediated responses ex vivo. METHODS: Expression of TLRs was determined in 38 AAV patients (32 remission, 6 active disease), and 20 healthy controls (HC). Membrane expression of TLRs 2, 4, and 9, and intracellular expression of TLR9 by B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, NK cells, monocytes and granulocytes was assessed using 9-color flowcytometry. Whole blood from 13 patients and 7 HC was stimulated ex vivo with TLR 2, 4 and 9 ligands and production of cytokines was analyzed. RESULTS: In patients, we observed increased proportions of TLR expressing NK cells. Furthermore, patient monocytes expressed higher levels of TLR2 compared to HC, and in a subset of patients an increased proportion of TLR4(+) monocytes was observed. Monocytes from nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus expressed increased levels of intracellular TLR9. Membrane expression of TLRs by B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, and granulocytes was comparable between AAV patients and HC. Patients with active disease did not show differential TLR expression compared to patients in remission. Ex vivo responses to TLR ligands did not differ significantly between patients and HC. CONCLUSIONS: In AAV, monocytes and NK cells display increased TLR expression. Increased TLR expression by these leukocytes, probably resulting from increased activation, could play a role in disease (re)activation

Digital signatures in public key cryptography

150 σ.Η κρυπτογραφία χρησιμοποιείται για πλήθος εφαρμογών, όμως ο βασικός της σκοπός είναι η παραποίηση μιας πληροφορίας έτσι ώστε να μπορεί να γίνει αντιληπτή μόνο από αυτόν στον οποίο απευθύνεται. Οι ψηφιακές υπογραφές είναι μία από τις πιο χρήσιμες ανακαλύψεις της κρυπτογραφίας. Είναι μία μέθοδος να υπογράφουμε ένα μήνυμα που είναι αποθηκευμένο σε ηλεκτρονική μορφή. Το 1978 παρουσιάζεται για πρώτη φορά το RSA, το πρώτο σχήμα που παράγει ψηφιακές υπογραφές. Από τότε μέχρι σήμερα έχουν δημιουργηθεί πάρα πολλά σχήματα. Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία είναι χωρισμένη σε έξι κεφάλαια. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο γίνεται μια γενική παρουσίαση της επιστήμης της Κρυπτογραφίας και παρουσιάζονται βασικά στοιχεία από τη θεωρία αριθμών και την άλγεβρα. Το δεύτερο κεφάλαιο είναι μία εισαγωγή στις βασικές έννοιες των ψηφιακών υπογραφών. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται το κρυπτοσύστημα και το σχήμα ψηφιακής υπογραφής RSA. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται εφτά σχήματα υπογραφών. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται τέσσερα σχήματα υπογραφών μιας χρήσης. Τέλος στο έκτο και τελευταίο κεφάλαιο γίνεται αναφορά σε τυφλά σχήματα υπογραφών, αδιαμφισβήτητα σχήματα υπογραφών και σχήματα υπογραφών εύρεσης πλαστογράφησης. Η παρουσίαση κάθε σχήματος περιλαμβάνει την πλήρη περιγραφή των τριών αλγορίθμων που το συνθέτουν, σχόλια για την ασφάλεια του σχήματος και παράδειγμα με μικρές παραμέτρους ώστε να γίνει πιο κατανοητός ο τρόπος λειτουργίας του.Cryptography has many applications, however its basic purpose is information modification such that it can be perceptible only by the one to whom is addressed. The most useful cryptography’s discoveries are digital signatures. Digital signature is a method which can be used in order to sign a message which is in an electronic form. The RSA scheme, the first scheme that produces digital signatures, became known in 1978. Since then many schemes have been developed by the scientific community. This thesis is composed of six chapters. The first chapter presents an overview of cryptography and includes some main theoretical prerequisites from number theory and algebra. The second chapter is an introduction to the main notions of digital signatures. The third chapter describes the RSA cryptosystem and RSA signature scheme. At the fourth chapter, seven digital signature schemes are presented. At the fifth chapter, four one-time digital signature schemes are presented. Finally at the last chapter blind signature schemes, undeniable signature schemes and fail-stop signature schemes are described. The presentation of each scheme includes the full description of their three core algorithms, some comments on its safety, and also an example.Παναγιώτα Η. Λαμπροπούλο

NRP1 regulates CDC42 activation to promote filopodia formation in endothelial tip cells

Sprouting blood vessels are led by filopodia-studded endothelial tip cells that respond to angiogenic signals. Mosaic lineage tracing previously revealed that NRP1 is essential for tip cell function, although its mechanistic role in tip cells remains poorly defined. Here, we show that NRP1 is dispensable for genetic tip cell identity. Instead, we find that NRP1 is essential to form the filopodial bursts that distinguish tip cells morphologically from neighboring stalk cells, because it enables the extracellular matrix (ECM)-induced activation of CDC42, a key regulator of filopodia formation. Accordingly, NRP1 knockdown and pharmacological CDC42 inhibition similarly impaired filopodia formation in vitro and in developing zebrafish in vivo. During mouse retinal angiogenesis, CDC42 inhibition impaired tip cell and vascular network formation, causing defects that resembled those due to loss of ECM-induced, but not VEGF-induced, NRP1 signaling. We conclude that NRP1 enables ECM-induced filopodia formation for tip cell function during sprouting angiogenesis

MAGNETIC VERSUS ELECTRICAL STIMULATION IN THE INTERPOLATION TWITCH TECHNIQUE OF ELBOW FLEXORS

The study compared peripheral magnetic with electrical stimulation of the biceps brachii m. (BB) in the single pulse Interpolation Twitch Technique (ITT). 14 healthy participants (31±7 years) participated in a within-subjects repeated-measures design study. Single, constant-current electrical and magnetic stimuli were delivered over the motor point of BB with supramaximal intensity (20% above maximum) at rest and at various levels of voluntary contraction. Force measurements from right elbow isometric flexion and muscle electromyograms (EMG) from the BB, the triceps brachii m. (TB) and the abductor pollicis brevis m. (APB) were obtained. The twitch forces at rest and maximal contractions, the twitch force-voluntary force relationship, the M-waves and the voluntary activation (VA) of BB between magnetic and electrical stimulation were compared. The mean amplitude of the twitches evoked at MVC was not significantly different between electrical (0.62 ± 0.49 N) and magnetic (0.81 ± 0.49 N) stimulation (p > 0.05), and the maximum VA of BB was comparable between electrical (95%) and magnetic (93%) stimulation (p > 0. 05). No differences (p >0.05) were revealed in the BB M-waves between electrical (13.47 ± 0.49 mV.ms) and magnetic (12.61 ± 0.58 mV.ms) stimulation. The TB M-waves were also similar (p > 0.05) but electrically evoked APB M-waves were significantly larger than those evoked by magnetic stimulation (p < 0.05). The twitch-voluntary force relationship over the range of MVCs was best described by non-linear functions for both electrical and magnetic stimulation. The electrically evoked resting twitches were consistently larger in amplitude than the magnetically evoked ones (mean difference 3.1 ± 3.34 N, p < 0.05). Reduction of the inter-electrodes distance reduced the twitch amplitude by 6.5 ± 6.2 N (p < 0.05). The fundamental similarities in voluntary activation assessment of BB with peripheral electrical and magnetic stimulation point towards a promising new application of peripheral magnetic stimulation as an alternative to the conventional ITT for the assessment of BB voluntary activatio

Elk-1 associates with FAK, regulates the expression of FAK and MAP kinases as well as apoptosis in HK-2 cells

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), MAP kinases and the nuclear transcription factor Elk-1 have been reported to be implicated in the same cellular processes, however, their direct or indirect interaction and potential function(s) has not been documented. Here, we explored the association of FAK with Elk-1, the implication of Elk-1 in the regulation of FAK and MAP kinases expression as well as apoptosis, in HK-2 cells. Biochemical and immunofluorescence approaches strongly support the association of low molecular weight protein bands, recognized by FAK antibodies, with Elk-1 or pser383Elk-1. The FAK/Elk-1 complex is found, mainly, in the cytoplasm, near the nuclear membrane periphery, raising the possibility that Elk-1 may have alternative extranuclear function(s) in HK-2 cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Elk-1 siRNA-mediated knockdown experiments, increased apoptosis. By contrast, Elk-1 siRNA decreased significantly the expression of FAK and MAP kinases, supporting the hypothesis that Elk-1 may act as a potential physiological substrate and regulator of FAK and MAP kinases expression. These results strongly support that Elk-1 protein is a novel binding-protein partner for FAK, a finding that significantly broadens the potential functioning of FAK and Elk-1. J. Cell. Physiol. 216: 198–206, 2008

Neurodevelopmental outcome in extremely low birth weight infants at 2–3 years of age

Background and objectives: The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between neurological outcomes at 3-and 6-months corrected age with the neurodevelopmental outcome at 3 years of age; to identify the perinatal/neonatal risk factors for poor neurodevelopmental outcomes at 3 years of age. Materials and methods: In our single-centre longitudinal cohort study, of the 73 consecutive infants admitted to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), 49 infants (80%) received both Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) at 3-and 6-months corrected age and Bayley–III neurodevelopmental assessment at 2–3 years chronological age. At 3 months follow up, 8.2% had suboptimal scores (below 10th percentile) on the HINE. At 6 months follow up, 4.1% had suboptimal scores (below 10th percentile) on the HINE. The means(±SD) for Bayley-III cognitive, language, and motor subscales were (96.3 ± 9.8), (99.9 ± 11.9), (93.2 ± 9.9). Results: At 3 months corrected age, higher total HINE scores and subscores for function of cranial nerves, posture, tone, were associated with better cognitive scores while poorer scores for function of cranial nerves, posture, movements, tone, and total HINE score were associated with lower motor scores. Infants with a HINE subscore of function of cranial nerves in the suboptimal range have three times higher odds of having a motor delay. Infants with a HINE subscore of function of cranial nerves in the suboptimal range have more than two times higher odds of having a language delay. At 6 months corrected age, poorer scores for function of cranial nerves, movements, tone, reflexes, and total HINE score were associated with worse Bayley-III motor scores whilst infants who have a total HINE score and a subscore of reflexes in the suboptimal range have four and seven times, respectively, higher odds of having a motor delay. Conclusions: Early identification of infants at risk for adverse long-term outcomes is essential in introducing early intervention therapies for optimizing neurodevelopmental outcomes. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland