Interaction of Pattern Recognition Receptors with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is considered a major worldwide health problem with 10 million new cases diagnosed each year. Our understanding of TB immunology has become greater and more refined since the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) as an etiologic agent and the recognition of new signaling pathways modulating infection. Understanding the mechanisms through which the cells of the immune system recognize MTB can be an important step in designing novel therapeutic approaches, as well as improving the limited success of current vaccination strategies. A great challenge in chronic disease is to understand the complexities, mechanisms, and consequences of host interactions with pathogens. Innate immune responses along with the involvement of distinct inflammatory mediators and cells play an important role in the host defense against the MTB. Several classes of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are involved in the recognition of MTB including Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs), C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) and Nod-like receptors (NLRs) linked to inflammasome activation. Among the TLR family, TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, and TLR9 and their down-stream signaling proteins play critical roles in the initiation of the immune response in the pathogenesis of TB. The inflammasome pathway is associated with the coordinated release of cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18 which also play a role in the pathogenesis of TB. Understanding the cross-talk between these signaling pathways will impact on the design of novel therapeutic strategies and in the development of vaccines and immunotherapy regimes. Abnormalities in PRR signaling pathways regulated by TB will affect disease pathogenesis and need to be elucidated. In this review we provide an update on PRR signaling during M. tuberculosis infection and indicate how greater knowledge of these pathways may lead to new therapeutic opportunities

Macrosomia and large for gestational age in Asia:One size does not fit all

Macrosomia, usually defined as infant birth weight of >= 4000 g, does not consider gestational age, sex, or country/region-specific differences in mean birth weight and maternal body weight. This issue is particularly relevant for Asia, where 60% of the world's population lives, due to variations in maternal size and birth weights across populations. Large for gestational age (LGA), defined as birth weight > 90th centile, is a more sensitive measure as it considers gestational age and sex, though it is dependent on the choice of growth charts. We aimed to review reporting of macrosomia and LGA in Asia. We reviewed the literature on prevalence and risk of macrosomia and LGA in Asia over the last 29 years. Prevalence of macrosomia ranged from 0.5% (India) to 13.9% (China) while prevalence of LGA ranged from 4.3% (Korea) to 22.1% (China), indicating substantial variation in prevalence within and between Asian countries. High pre-pregnancy body mass index, excessive gestational weight gain, and impaired glucose tolerance conferred risk of macrosomia/LGA. Incidence of macrosomia and LGA varies substantially within and between Asian countries, as do the growth charts and definitions. The latter makes it impossible to make comparisons but suggests differences in intrauterine growth between populations. Reporting LGA, using standardized country/regional growth charts, would better capture the incidence of high birth weight and allow for comparison and identification of contributing factors. Better understanding of local drivers of excessive intrauterine growth could enable development of improved strategies for prevention and management of LGA

SWEAR WORDS IN THE MOVIE MIDNIGHT RUN

Swear words are often heard and spoken spontaneously. They are usually intended to express when angry, depressed, joking, hateful, frustrated, disappointed, surprised, or excited. This graduating paper examines swear words found in the American movie Midnight Run. The data used in this research were dialogues containing swear words. The results show that 193 swear words were found in the movie. 10 swear words (5.2%) belong to anatomical terms, 19 (9.9%) to animal terms, 89 (46.2%) to copulative terms, 29 (15.1%) to excretory terms, 9 (4.5%) to imbecilic terms, 16 (8.3%) to religious terms, and 21 (10.8%) to spirits or death terms. This shows that copulative terms are the most commonly used for swearing. This research also found 7 functions used in this movie. The most commonly used function is for expressing anger 106 (55%), expressing amazement 36 (18.7%), expressing annoyance 20 (10.3%), expressing intimacy 14 (7.2%), expressing insult 13 (6.7%), expressing disappointment 3 (1.6%), and expressing regret 1 (0.5%)

High crystallinity N-polar InGaN layers grown on cleaved ScAlMgO4 substrates

We have grown high-crystallinity InGaN layers on ScAlMgO4 (SAM) substrates using metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy. We have prepared atomically flat SAM substrates by cleaving them along the c-plane and have utilized direct InGaN growth without any low-temperature buffer layer. The resulting InGaN layer has a distinct hexagonal hillock morphology and remarkable crystalline quality. The x-ray rocking curve measurements showed that (0002̄) and (10–1–2) peaks full widths at half-maximum are as good as 384 and 481 arcsec, respectively. The calculated threading dislocations densities are as low as 2.9 × 108 and 1.6 × 109 cm−2 in the case of screw-type and edge-type dislocations, respectively