A multicenter study on chronic cough in children: Burden and etiologies based on a standardized management pathway

Background: While the burden of chronic cough in children has been documented, etiologic factors across multiple settings and age have not been described. In children with chronic cough, we aimed (1) to evaluate the burden and etiologies using a standar

Outflows and inflows in astrophysical systems

We seek for self-similar solutions describing the time-dependent evolution of self-gravity systems with either spherical symmetry or axisymmetric disk geometry. By assuming self-similar variable $x\equiv r/at$ where $a$ is isothermal sound speed we find self-similar solutions extending from the initial instant $t=0$ to the final stage $t\to \infty$ using standard semi-analytical methods. Different types of solutions are constructed, which describe overall expansion or collapse, envelope expansion with core collapse (EECC), the formation of central rotationally supported quasi-equilibrium disk as well as shocks. Though infinitely many, these self-similarity solutions have similar asymptotic behaviors which may impose diagnosis on the velocity and density structures in astrophysical systems.Comment: ChJAA accepted; contribution to the proceedings of the 5th microquasar worksho

Vegetative Ecological Characteristics of Restored Reed (Phragmites australis) Wetlands in the Yellow River Delta, China

In this study, we compared ecological characteristics of wetland vegetation in a series of restoration projects that were carried out in the wetlands of Yellow River Delta. The investigated characteristics include plant composition structure, species diversity and community similarity in three kinds of Phragmites australis wetlands, i.e. restored P. australis wetlands (R1, R2, R3 and R4: restored in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009, respectively), natural P. australis wetland (N) and degraded P. australis wetland (D) to assess the process of wetlands restoration. The coverage of the R1 was 99%, which was similar to natural wetland. Among all studied wetlands, the highest and lowest stem density was observed in R1 and R2, respectively, Plant height and stem diameter show the same trend as N > R2 > R1 > R3 > D > R4. Species diversity of restored P. australis wetlands became closed to natural wetland. Both species richness and Shannon–Wiener index had similar tendency: increased first and then decreased with restored time. The highest species richness and species diversity were observed in R2, while the lowest values of those parameters were found in natural P. australis wetland. Similarity indexes between restored wetlands and natural wetland increased with the restoration time, but they were still less than 50%. The results indicate that the vegetation of P. australis wetlands has experienced a great improvement after several years’ restoration, and it is feasible to restored degraded P. australis wetlands by pouring fresh water into those wetlands in the Yellow River Delta. However, it is notable that costal degraded P. australis wetland in this region may take years to decades to reach the status of natural wetland

Sequestration and Tissue Accumulation of Human Malaria Parasites: Can We Learn Anything from Rodent Models of Malaria?

The sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum–infected red blood cells (irbcs) in the microvasculature of organs is associated with severe disease; correspondingly, the molecular basis of irbc adherence is an active area of study. In contrast to P. falciparum, much less is known about sequestration in other Plasmodium parasites, including those species that are used as models to study severe malaria. Here, we review the cytoadherence properties of irbcs of the rodent parasite Plasmodium berghei ANKA, where schizonts demonstrate a clear sequestration phenotype. Real-time in vivo imaging of transgenic P. berghei parasites in rodents has revealed a CD36-dependent sequestration in lungs and adipose tissue. In the absence of direct orthologs of the P. falciparum proteins that mediate binding to human CD36, the P. berghei proteins and/or mechanisms of rodent CD36 binding are as yet unknown. In addition to CD36-dependent schizont sequestration, irbcs accumulate during severe disease in different tissues, including the brain. The role of sequestration is discussed in the context of disease as are the general (dis)similarities of P. berghei and P. falciparum sequestration

miR-210: fine-tuning the hypoxic response

Hypoxia is a central component of the tumor microenvironment and represents a major source of therapeutic failure in cancer therapy. Recent work has provided a wealth of evidence that noncoding RNAs and, in particular, microRNAs, are significant members of the adaptive response to low oxygen in tumors. All published studies agree that miR-210 specifically is a robust target of hypoxia-inducible factors, and the induction of miR-210 is a consistent characteristic of the hypoxic response in normal and transformed cells. Overexpression of miR-210 is detected in most solid tumors and has been linked to adverse prognosis in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma, breast, head and neck, and pancreatic cancer. A wide variety of miR-210 targets have been identified, pointing to roles in the cell cycle, mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, angiogenesis, DNA damage response, and cell survival. Additional microRNAs seem to be modulated by low oxygen in a more tissue-specific fashion, adding another layer of complexity to the vast array of protein-coding genes regulated by hypoxia

Study of the spin and parity of the Higgs boson in diboson decays with the ATLAS detector

Studies of the spin, parity and tensor couplings of the Higgs boson in the H→ZZ∗→4ℓ, H→WW∗→eνμν and H→γγ decay processes at the LHC are presented. The investigations are based on 25fb−1 of pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at √s=7 TeV and √s=8 TeV. The Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson hypothesis, corresponding to the quantum numbers JP=0+, is tested against several alternative spin scenarios, including non-SM spin-0 and spin-2 models with universal and non-universal couplings to fermions and vector bosons. All tested alternative models are excluded in favour of the SM Higgs boson hypothesis at more than 99.9 % confidence level. Using the H → ZZ∗ → 4ℓ and H → WW∗ → eνμν decays, the tensor structure of the interaction between the spin-0 boson and the SM vector bosons is also investigated. The observed distributions of variables sensitive to the non-SM tensor couplings are compatible with the SM predictions and constraints on the non-SM couplings are derived

Cough in children: definitions and clinical evaluation

• The aetiology and management approach for cough in children differs greatly to that in adults, so the empirical approach commonly used in adults is unsuitable for children. • Clinical evaluation of cough in children should include an assessment of

Cough in children: definitions and clinical evaluation.

The aetiology and management approach for cough in children differs greatly to that in adults, so the empirical approach commonly used in adults is unsuitable for children