Impairments in signaling cascades mediating the progression of liver disease from chronic hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma in animal and human models

The most common risk factors for chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include chronic alcohol abuse and infection with hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV) virus. Growing evidence from human studies and experimental models suggests that pre-degenerative and premalignant abnormalities include disturbances in intracellular signaling and ongoing injury with oxidative stress, inflammation, and lipotoxicity. The major signal transduction pathways affected in both degenerative and neoplastic disease states in liver include: insulin/IGF, Wnt/β-catenin, and others

Critical phenomena around the SU(3) symmetric tri-critical point of a spin-1 chain

We investigate critical phenomena of a spin-1 chain in the vicinity of the SU(3) symmetric critical point, which we already specified in the previous study. We numerically diagonalize a Hamiltonian combining the bilinear-biquadratic (BLBQ) Hamiltonian with the trimer Hamiltonian. We then discuss the numerical results based on the conformal field theory (CFT) and the renormalization group. As a result, we firstly verify that the critical point found in our previous study is the tri-critical point among the Haldane phase, trimer phase, and the trimer liquid (TL) phase. Secondly, with regard to the TL--trimer transition and TL--Haldane transition, we find that the critical phenomena around this tri-critical point belong to the Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless (BKT)-like universality class. We thirdly find the boundary between the Haldane phase and the trimer phase, which is illustrated by the massive self-dual sine-Gordon (SDSG) model.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2108.0188

Helicobacter pylori Infection: Antibiotic Resistance and Solutions for Effective Management in Africa

Helicobacter pylori. pylori infection is ubiquitous worldwide, with prevalence rates of greater than 70% in Africa. Symptomatic patients present with foregut gastrointestinal symptoms which can be readily diagnosed with standardized non-invasive or invasive tests. The biggest challenge, however, is in the management of this condition with rising antimicrobial resistance rates to most of the antibiotics recommended for therapy. This is a problem worldwide, but more specifically in Africa, where the socio-economic and political climate is such that eradication of this organism seems impossible. Furthermore, the recommended antimicrobial susceptibility testing for drug resistance is not widely available in Africa due to the lack of infrastructural as well as human resources. With the widespread unregulated use of antibiotics in some parts of Africa, the figures of antimicrobial resistance are likely to soar. In the face of these significant challenges, this ‘perspectives’ article aims to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance in Africa, by providing achievable and targeted goals to curb the spread of infection and rising antimicrobial resistance

Mouse spermatozoa with higher fertilization rates have thinner nuclei

Mashiko D, Ikawa M, Fujimoto K. 2017. Mouse spermatozoa with higher fertilization rates have thinner nuclei. PeerJ 5:e3913 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.391

Collaborative planning for post-disaster reconstruction in Italy

Community participation after a disaster is widely acknowledged to be crucial in both mitigation and reconstruction planning; however, to date very little research has been done on collaborative planning in a post-disaster context. This paper addresses the issue of collaborative planning for post-disaster reconstruction to effectively facilitate community participatory processes. First, we surveyed the characteristics of community participation for post-disaster reconstruction in Italy. Second, we studied the regional legislative regulations for reconstruction in Emilia-Romagna. Third, we compared the community participation and formulation processes of reconstruction planning tools used by communities. Lastly, we verified the dynamic mechanism of the town of Novi di Modena’s reconstruction planning process by using an evaluation framework with two axes: stage of planning process and community participation level. As a conclusion, we identified three key factors that encourage collaborative planning for reconstruction. The first key factor is the timing of the participatory process must be well managed. The second is a participatory proposal shared with citizens, which must be considered the guiding document for local development. The third key factor is regeneration scenarios for the whole territory considering the different periods must be defined, as well as the implementation strategies and tactics for each urban core