1,308 research outputs found

    Beyond Polycystic Kidney Disease

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    Tuberous sclerosis(TS) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in TSC1 and TSC2 genes. TSC2 gene is located in chromosome 16p13.3, adjacent to PKD1 gene, responsible for the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. In a rare subgroup of patients, the presence of a deletion which simultaneously affects the TSC2 and PKD1 genes has been confirmed. TSC2/PKD1-Contiguous Gene Syndrome is characterised by the early appearance of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in combination with several phenotypic manifestations of TS. We present a 13-year-old girl with bilateral renal cysts detected at the age of 9 months. At the age of 13, she was referred to the Dermatology Outpatients Clinic due to a facial cutaneous eruption. She presented with facial erythema, fibroadenomas with malar distribution and disseminated hypomelanotic macules, meeting the criteria for TS. TSC2/PKD1 Contiguous Gene Syndrome deletion was suspected, being later confirmed by genetic testing.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    'Too-much-of-a-good-thing'? The role of advanced eco-learning and contingency factors on the relationship between corporate environmental and financial performance

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    Inspired by the natural-resource-based view (NRBV) theory, we attempt to shed light on a controversy which has been persistent over the last decade, concerning the relationship between corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Using the 'too-much-of-a-good-thing' (TMGT) concept, which suggests that "too much can be worse than too little," we link mixed results and consider the roles of advanced eco-learning and contingency factors in influencing the CEP-CFP relationship. Based on a sample composed of ISO 14001 certified companies in Indonesia, and analyzing the data using consistent Partial Least Squares (PLSc), we found that: the CEP-CFP relationship follows an inverted U-shape; advanced eco-learning is a significant predictor of the CEP-CFP relationship, meaning that organizations able to develop higher eco-learning capability will be better able to identify the ideal boundaries of investment in environmental performance without reducing their financial performance; and that contingency factors such as environmental strategy and firm size have a significant role in influencing the CEP-CFP relationship. The study's limitations, implications for practitioners and a future research agenda are also detailed

    A dynamic logic for every season

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    This paper introduces a method to build dynamic logics with a graded semantics. The construction is parametrized by a structure to support both the spaces of truth and of the domain of computations. Possible instantiations of the method range from classical assertional) dynamic logic to less common graded logics suitable to deal with programs whose transitional semantics exhibits fuzzy or weighted behaviour.This leads to the systematic derivation of program logics tailored to specific program classes

    ILAE Genetic Literacy Series: Postmorterm Genetic Testing in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

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    A 24-year-old man with non-lesional bitemporal lobe epilepsy since age 16 years was found dead in bed around midday. He was last seen the previous night when he was witnessed to have a tonic–clonic seizure. Before his death, he was experiencing weekly focal impaired awareness seizures and up to two focal-to-bilateral tonic–clonic seizures each year. He had trialed several antiseizure medications and was on levetiracetam 1500 mg/day, lamotrigine 400 mg/day, and clobazam 10 mg/day at the time of death. Other than epilepsy, his medical history was unremarkable. Of note, he had an older brother with a history of febrile seizures and a paternal first cousin with epilepsy. No cause of death was identified following a comprehensive postmortem investigation. The coroner classified the death as “sudden unexpected death in epilepsy” (SUDEP), and it would qualify as “definite SUDEP” using the current definitions.1 This left the family with many questions unanswered; in particular, they wish to know what caused the death and whether it could happen to other family members. Could postmortem genetic testing identify a cause of death, provide closure to the family, and facilitate cascade genetic testing of first-degree family members who may be at risk of sudden death? While grieving family members struggle with uncertainty about the cause of death, we as clinicians also face similar uncertainties about genetic contributions to SUDEP, especially when the literature is sparse, and the utility of genetic testing is still being worked out. We aim to shed some light on this topic, highlighting areas where data is emerging but also areas where uncertainty remains, keeping our case in mind as we examine this clinically important area

    ILAE Genetic Literacy Series: Self-limited familial epilepsy syndromes with onset in neonatal age and infancy

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    The self-limited (familial) epilepsies with onset in neonates or infants, formerly called benign familial neonatal and/or infantile epilepsies, are autosomal dominant disorders characterized by neonatal- or infantile-onset focal motor seizures and the absence of neurodevelopmental complications. Seizures tend to remit during infancy or early childhood and are therefore called “self-limited”. A positive family history for epilepsy usually suggests the genetic etiology, but incomplete penetrance and de novo inheritance occur. Here, we review the phenotypic spectrum and the genetic architecture of self-limited (familial) epilepsies with onset in neonates or infants. Using an illustrative case study, we describe important clues in recognition of these syndromes, diagnostic steps including genetic testing, management, and genetic counseling

    Detection of diploid males in a natural colony of the cleptobiotic bee Lestrimelitta sp (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

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    When working at quantifying the genome size of stingless bees, it was observed that males of Lestrimelitta sp possessed the same amount of nuclear DNA as the females. Thus, we used flow cytometry (FCM) and cytogenetic analysis to confirm the ploidy of these individuals. The males analyzed proved to be diploid, since, through cytometric analysis, it was demonstrated that the mean genome size of both males and females was the same (C = 0.463 pg), and, furthermore, cytogenetic analysis demonstrated that both had 2n = 28 chromosomes
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