Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org

Smith-Waterman peak alignment for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC × GC-MS) is a powerful technique which has gained increasing attention over the last two decades. The GC × GC-MS provides much increased separation capacity, chemical selectivity and sensitivity for complex sample analysis and brings more accurate information about compound retention times and mass spectra. Despite these advantages, the retention times of the resolved peaks on the two-dimensional gas chromatographic columns are always shifted due to experimental variations, introducing difficulty in the data processing for metabolomics analysis. Therefore, the retention time variation must be adjusted in order to compare multiple metabolic profiles obtained from different conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We developed novel peak alignment algorithms for both homogeneous (acquired under the identical experimental conditions) and heterogeneous (acquired under the different experimental conditions) GC × GC-MS data using modified Smith-Waterman local alignment algorithms along with mass spectral similarity. Compared with literature reported algorithms, the proposed algorithms eliminated the detection of landmark peaks and the usage of retention time transformation. Furthermore, an automated peak alignment software package was established by implementing a likelihood function for optimal peak alignment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The proposed Smith-Waterman local alignment-based algorithms are capable of aligning both the homogeneous and heterogeneous data of multiple GC × GC-MS experiments without the transformation of retention times and the selection of landmark peaks. An optimal version of the SW-based algorithms was also established based on the associated likelihood function for the automatic peak alignment. The proposed alignment algorithms outperform the literature reported alignment method by analyzing the experiment data of a mixture of compound standards and a metabolite extract of mouse plasma with spiked-in compound standards.</p

Uso medicinal do canabidiol no tratamento da epilepsia refratária em pacientes pediátricos: um estudo bibliográfico / The medicinal use of cannabidiol in the treatment of refrectory epilepsy in pediatric patients: a biography study

Introdução: Um conjunto de evidências sugere que o uso do Canabidiol apresenta crescente potencial terapêutico para o tratamento de crises convulsivas decorrentes da epilepsia refratária. Objetivo: Reunir dados que descrevam a evolução histórica das pesquisas sobre o uso medicinal do canabidiol no tratamento da epilepsia refratária em pacientes pediátricos. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão bibliográfica cujas informações coletadas para composição da pesquisa foram identificadas por meio de busca eletrônica nas bases de dados SciELO e Lilacs entre os anos de 2013 a 2018. Resultados: Diante dos estudos foram evidenciados efeitos benéficos do uso do canabidiol no tratamento de crises convulsivas apresentando melhoria total ou parcial na maioria dos pacientes. Conclusão: É possível concluir que o uso do canabidiol é uma alternativa promissora para crianças que sofrem com crises epilépticas e não manifestam respostas positivas aos tratamentos convencionais, uma vez que ele pode impedir danos cerebrais

The influence of weight and gender on intestinal bacterial community of wild largemouth bronze gudgeon (Coreius guichenoti, 1874)

© 2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: Largemouth bronze gudgeon (Coreius guichenoti) is of economic importance in China, distributed in upstream regions of the Yangtze River in China. But it has recently dramatically declined and is close to elimination. However, there is little knowing about the character of its intestinal microbiota. This study was conducted to elucidate the intestinal microbiota of wild largemouth bronze gudgeon with different body weight and gender. Results: Thirty wild largemouth bronze gudgeon were measured for body length and body weight, and identified for male and female according to gonadal development, and thereafter the intestinal microbiota’s were assessed by MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The results revealed that phyla Proteobacteria and Tenericutes were dominant in wild largemouth bronze gudgeon intestine independent of the body weight. Shannon’s and Inverse Simpson’s diversity indexes were significant (P < 0.05) different between male and female fish. The phylum profile in the intestine of male fish revealed that phylum Proteobacteria was dominant, in contrast to female fish where five phyla Tenericutes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Spirochaetes were dominant. The genus profile revealed that genera Shewanella and Unclassified bacteria were dominant in male fish, while genus Mycoplasma was dominant in female fish. Conclusions: Our results revealed that the intestinal microbial community of wild largemouth bronze gudgeon was dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria and Tenericutes regardless of the different body weight, but the communities are significant different between male and female fish. These results provide a theoretical basis to understand the biological mechanisms relevant to the protection of the endangered fish species

'Communicate to vaccinate' (COMMVAC). building evidence for improving communication about childhood vaccinations in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for a programme of research

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Effective provider-parent communication can improve childhood vaccination uptake and strengthen immunisation services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Building capacity to improve communication strategies has been neglected. Rigorous research exists but is not readily found or applicable to LMICs, making it difficult for policy makers to use it to inform vaccination policies and practice. The aim of this project is to build research knowledge and capacity to use evidence-based strategies for improving communication about childhood vaccinations with parents and communities in LMICs. Methods and design This project is a mixed methods study with six sub-studies. In sub-study one, we will develop a systematic map of provider-parent communication interventions for childhood vaccinations by screening and extracting data from relevant literature. This map will inform sub-study two, in which we will develop a taxonomy of interventions to improve provider-parent communication around childhood vaccination. In sub-study three, the taxonomy will be populated with trial citations to create an evidence map, which will also identify how evidence is linked to communication barriers regarding vaccination. In the project's fourth sub-study, we will present the interventions map, taxonomy, and evidence map to international stakeholders to identify high-priority topics for systematic reviews of interventions to improve parent-provider communication for childhood vaccination. We will produce systematic reviews of the effects of high-priority interventions in the fifth sub-study. In the sixth and final sub-study of the project, evidence from the systematic reviews will be translated into accessible formats and messages for dissemination to LMICs. DISCUSSION: This project combines evidence mapping, conceptual and taxonomy development, priority setting, systematic reviews, and knowledge transfer. It will build and share concepts, terms, evidence, and resources to aid the development of communication strategies for effective vaccination programmes in LMIC

International recommendations for glucose control in adult non diabetic critically ill patients

The purpose of this research is to provide recommendations for the management of glycemic control in critically ill patients.Comparative StudyJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedPour la Société Française d'Anesthésie-Réanimation (SFAR); Société de Réanimation de langue Française (SRLF) and the Experts grou

Genes from Chagas Susceptibility Loci That Are Differentially Expressed in T. cruzi-Resistant Mice Are Candidates Accounting for Impaired Immunity

Variation between inbred mice of susceptibility to experimental Trypanosoma cruzi infection has frequently been described, but the immunogenetic background is poorly understood. The outcross of the susceptible parental mouse strains C57BL/6 (B6) and DBA/2 (D2), B6D2F1 (F1) mice, is highly resistant to this parasite. In the present study we show by quantitative PCR that the increase of tissue parasitism during the early phase of infection is comparable up to day 11 between susceptible B6 and resistant F1 mice. A reduction of splenic parasite burdens occurs thereafter in both strains but is comparatively retarded in susceptible mice. Splenic microarchitecture is progressively disrupted with loss of follicles and B lymphocytes in B6 mice, but not in F1 mice. By genotyping of additional backcross offspring we corroborate our earlier findings that susceptibility maps to three loci on Chromosomes 5, 13 and 17. Analysis of gene expression of spleen cells from infected B6 and F1 mice with microarrays identifies about 0.3% of transcripts that are differentially expressed. Assuming that differential susceptibility is mediated by altered gene expression, we propose that the following differentially expressed transcripts from these loci are strong candidates for the observed phenotypic variation: H2-Eα, H2-D1, Ng23, Msh5 and Tubb5 from Chromosome 17; and Cxcl11, Bmp2k and Spp1 from Chromosome 5. Our results indicate that innate mechanisms are not of primary relevance to resistance of F1 mice to T. cruzi infection, and that differential susceptibility to experimental infection with this protozoan pathogen is not paralleled by extensive variation of the transcriptome