Global existence and exponential decay for hyperbolic dissipative relativistic fluid theories

We consider dissipative relativistic fluid theories on a fixed flat, compact, globally hyperbolic, Lorentzian manifold. We prove that for all initial data in a small enough neighborhood of the equilibrium states (in an appropriate Sobolev norm), the solutions evolve smoothly in time forever and decay exponentially to some, in general undetermined, equilibrium state. To prove this, three conditions are imposed on these theories. The first condition requires the system of equations to be symmetric hyperbolic, a fundamental requisite to have a well posed and physically consistent initial value formulation. The second condition is a generic consequence of the entropy law, and is imposed on the non principal part of the equations. The third condition is imposed on the principal part of the equations and it implies that the dissipation affects all the fields of the theory. With these requirements we prove that all the eigenvalues of the symbol associated to the system of equations of the fluid theory have strictly negative real parts, which in fact, is an alternative characterization for the theory to be totally dissipative. Once this result has been obtained, a straight forward application of a general stability theorem due to Kreiss, Ortiz, and Reula, implies the results above mentioned.Comment: 10 pages, Late

Portal vein thrombosis and arterioportal shunts : effects on tumor response after chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the effect of portal vein thrombosis and arterioportal shunts on local tumor response in advanced cases of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma treated by transarterial chemoembolization. METHODS: A retrospective study included 39 patients (mean age: 66.4 years, range: 45-79 years, SD: 7) with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were treated with repetitive transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the period between March 2006 and October 2009. The effect of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) (in 19 out of 39 patients), the presence of arterioportal shunt (APS) (in 7 out of 39), the underlying liver pathology, Child-Pugh score, initial tumor volume, number of tumors and tumor margin definition on imaging were correlated with the local tumor response after TACE. The initial and end therapy local tumor responses were evaluated according to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) and magnetic resonance imaging volumetric measurements. RESULTS: The treatment protocols were well tolerated by all patients with no major complications. Local tumor response for all patients according to RECIST criteria were partial response in one patient (2.6%), stable disease in 34 patients (87.1%), and progressive disease in 4 patients (10.2%). The MR volumetric measurements showed that the PVT, APS, underlying liver pathology and tumor margin definition were statistically significant prognostic factors for the local tumor response (P = 0.018, P = 0.008, P = 0.034 and P = 0.001, respectively). The overall 6-, 12- and 18-mo survival rates from the initial TACE were 79.5%, 37.5% and 21%, respectively. CONCLUSION: TACE may be exploited safely for palliative tumor control in patients with advanced unresectable HCC; however, tumor response is significantly affected by the presence or absence of PVT and APS

(E)-2-Cyano-N′-(1,2,3,4-tetra­hydro­naphthalen-1-yl­idene)acetohydrazide

In the title compound, C13H13N3O, the tetra­hydro­benzene ring adopts a half-boat (envelope) conformation. The mean plane of the tetra­hydro­naphthalene ring system forms a dihedral angle of 9.56 (6)° with the mean plane of the cyano­acetohydrazide group. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate R 2 2(8) loops. The dimers are connected by C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds into a chain propagating along [101]. The crystal packing also features C—H⋯π inter­actions

Dual RNA-Seq Profiling Unveils Mycoparasitic Activities of Trichoderma atroviride against Haploid Armillaria ostoyae in Antagonistic Interaction Assays

Armillaria species can survive for decades in the soil on dead woody debris, develop rapidly under favorable conditions, and harmfully infect newly planted forests. Our previous study found Trichoderma atroviride to be highly effective in controlling Armillaria growth; therefore, our current work explored the molecular mechanisms that might play a key role in Trichoderma-Armillaria interactions

Combined treatment of MCF-7 cells with AICAR and methotrexate, arrests cell cycle and reverses Warburg metabolism through AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and FOXO1

Cancer cells are characterized by metabolic alterations, namely, depressed mitochondrial oxidation, enhanced glycolysis and pentose phosphate shunt flux to support rapid cell growth, which is called the Warburg effect. In our study we assessed the metabolic consequences of a joint treatment of MCF-7 breast cancer cells with AICAR, an inducer of AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) jointly with methotrexate (MTX), a folate-analog antimetabolite that blunts de novo nucleotide synthesis. MCF7 cells, a model of breast cancer cells, were resistant to the individual application of AICAR or MTX, however combined treatment of AICAR and MTX reduced cell proliferation. Prolonged joint application of AICAR and MTX induced AMPK and consequently enhanced mitochondrial oxidation and reduced the rate of glycolysis. These metabolic changes suggest an anti-Warburg rearrangement of metabolism that led to the block of the G1/S and the G2/M transition slowing down cell cycle. The slowdown of cell proliferation was abolished when mitotropic transcription factors, PGC-1α, PGC-1β or FOXO1 were silenced. In human breast cancers higher expression of AMPKα and FOXO1 extended survival. AICAR and MTX exerts similar additive antiproliferative effect on other breast cancer cell lines, such as SKBR and 4T1 cells, too. Our data not only underline the importance of Warburg metabolism in breast cancer cells but nominate the AICAR+MTX combination as a potential cytostatic regime blunting Warburg metabolism. Furthermore, we suggest the targeting of AMPK and FOXO1 to combat breast cancer

Methodological Quality and Risk of Bias Assessment of Cardiovascular Disease Research: Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Published in 2017

BACKGROUND: All randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) are required to follow high methodological standards. In this study, we aimed to assess the methodological quality of published cardiovascular clinical research trials in a representative sample of RCTs published in 2017. METHODS: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was used to identify cardiovascular clinical research trials with adult participants published in 2017. Overall, 250 (10%) RCTs were randomly selected from a total of 2,419 studies. Data on general trial characteristics were extracted and the risk of bias (RoB) was determined. RESULTS: Overall, 86% of RCTs have reported at least one statistically significant result, with the primary outcome significant in 69%, treatment favored in 55%, and adverse events reported in 68%. Less than one-third (29%) of trials were overall low RoB, while the other two-thirds were rated unclear (40%) or with high RoB (31%). Sequence generation, allocation concealment, and selective reporting were the domains most often rated with high RoB. Drug trials were more likely to have low RoB than non-drug trials. Significant differences were found in RoB for the allocation concealment and blinding of participants and personnel between industry-funded and non-industry-funded trials, with industry-funded trials more often rated at low RoB. CONCLUSION: Almost two-thirds of RCTs in the field of cardiovascular disease (CVD) research, were at high or unclear RoB, indicating a need for more rigorous trial planning and conduct. Prospective trial registration is a factor predicting a lower risk of bias

Strongly hyperbolic second order Einstein's evolution equations

BSSN-type evolution equations are discussed. The name refers to the Baumgarte, Shapiro, Shibata, and Nakamura version of the Einstein evolution equations, without introducing the conformal-traceless decomposition but keeping the three connection functions and including a densitized lapse. It is proved that a pseudo-differential first order reduction of these equations is strongly hyperbolic. In the same way, densitized Arnowitt-Deser-Misner evolution equations are found to be weakly hyperbolic. In both cases, the positive densitized lapse function and the spacelike shift vector are arbitrary given fields. This first order pseudodifferential reduction adds no extra equations to the system and so no extra constraints.Comment: LaTeX, 16 pages, uses revtex4. Referee corections and new appendix added. English grammar improved; typos correcte

Effect of Nanoformulated Thymol, Nanoformulated Doxorubicin and Their Combination on Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line: A Comparative Ex-Vivo Study

Background: Nanoparticles are a promising technology in drug delivery mechanisms as they are considered the upcoming technological revolution in the 21st century.  Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common kind of cancer in the head and neck, with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounting for the majority of cases and an expanding number of scientific research on this subject supports the need to emphasize that there is still much room for improvement. Recently, there has been a noticeable rise in interest in dietary phytochemical consumption for possible cancer chemoprevention. Our study is pioneer in applying nanoformulated thymol as antineoplastic drug to overcome drawbacks of chemotherapeutic drugs. Although Doxorubicin (DOX) is the most preferrable chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of OSCC, its application is limited due to its various side effects. Accordingly, it is mandatory to explore the outstanding properties of nanoformulated form on HNO-97 cell line. Aim: Investigate the possible synergy between nanoformulated thymol and nanoformulated DOX on the oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line. Material and Method: Lingual cell line (HNO-97) cells were cultured. Serial concentrations of nanoformulated thymol and nanoformulated DOX were prepared. Calculation of minimum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of thymol, DOX, nano-thymol and nano-DOX, followed by investigation of cell proliferation by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) through the measurement of C-MYC gene expression was performed. Results: HNO-97 cells treated with combined therapy of nano-thymol and nano-DOX, drastically reduced C-MYC gene expression. Conclusion: Based on current findings, combination of nano-DOX and nano-thymol may be a viable supplementary anticancer therapy for OSCC by reducing proliferation of the cells

Development of Logical and Critical Thinking Skills of Children

Toddlers solve problems through trial and error. This in turn helps them think logically. During play, children discover real-life skills that are needed to identify a problem resolve a conflict and take action. Critical thinking is one of the main skills of the 21st century that allows you to analyze data, draw conclusions and make decisions based on analysis, as well as form your own opinion and defend your own position. Today in the modern world, everyone can be seen under the sea of data. They have a wide variety of resources and the information needs to be revised and verified. Through critical thinking, we see various contradictions and contradictions, remove misinformation from among them and interpret them sorted