DRD1-DRD5 Expression Profiles in Arthritis Rheumatoid

Objectives The cause of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease is still unknown. It appears that both genetic and environmental factors play a role in its pathogenesis. Recent studies reveal that in addition to the CNS, immune cells synthesis neurotransmitters so that these catecholamines can regulate immune functions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the dopamine receptor gene expression profiles on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of rheumatoid arthritis patients in comparison with normal individuals. Material & Methods In the present study, we investigated dopamine receptor gene expression in PBMCs of 40 RA patients and 40 healthy individuals using Real Time-PCR.The specificities of the obtained Real time PCR products for the respective dopamine receptors fragments were confirmed by sequenced analysis capillary system Results We found that DRD1-DRD5 types of dopamine receptors genes expression profiles of rheumatoid arthritis patients differ compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, a significant difference of DR2 and DR4 gene expression was seen in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Conclusion This study showed that some types of dopamine receptors genes expression profiles alter in rheumatoid arthritis patients with comparison to healthy individuals Moreover, this alteration possibly could result in dysfunction of dopaminergic system in immune cells and finally lead to rheumatoid arthritis

Морфогенез структуры клеток и сосудов миокарда у экспериментальных животных с моделированным ЮРА

В статье проанализированы морфологические изменения сердечно-сосудистой системы при моделировании ювенильного ревматоидного артрита на 24 белых чистопородных крысах «Wistar». Проведено морфологическое исследование миокарда у животных с экспериментально вызванным ЮРА в зависимости от методов лечения - гормональная терапия и метаболическая коррекция. Дистрофические и деструктивные процессы миокарда в условиях данного эксперимента свидетельствуют о необходимости метаболической коррекции.In the article morphological cardiovascular system analyzed the experimentally caused juvinal rheumatoid arthritis on the 24 white breed «Wistar» rats. It was carried out morphological research of hearts of animals with rheumatoid arthritis depending on the methods of treatments – hormonal therapy and metabolic correction. Dystrophy and disturbance of cardiovascular system of this experiment testifies to necessity of metabolic correction

Caps captioning: a modern image captioning approach based on improved capsule network

In image captioning models, the main challenge in describing an image is identifying all the objects by precisely considering the relationships between the objects and producing various captions. Over the past few years, many methods have been proposed, from an attribute-to-attribute comparison approach to handling issues related to semantics and their relationships. Despite the improvements, the existing techniques suffer from inadequate positional and geometrical attributes concepts. The reason is that most of the abovementioned approaches depend on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for object detection. CNN is notorious for failing to detect equivariance and rotational invariance in objects. Moreover, the pooling layers in CNNs cause valuable information to be lost. Inspired by the recent successful approaches, this paper introduces a novel framework for extracting meaningful descriptions based on a parallelized capsule network that describes the content of images through a high level of understanding of the semantic contents of an image. The main contribution of this paper is proposing a new method that not only overrides the limitations of CNNs but also generates descriptions with a wide variety of words by using Wikipedia. In our framework, capsules focus on the generation of meaningful descriptions with more detailed spatial and geometrical attributes for a given set of images by considering the position of the entities as well as their relationships. Qualitative experiments on the benchmark dataset MS-COCO show that our framework outperforms state-of-the-art image captioning models when describing the semantic content of the images.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Low-Energy Universality in Atomic and Nuclear Physics

An effective field theory developed for systems interacting through short-range interactions can be applied to systems of cold atoms with a large scattering length and to nucleons at low energies. It is therefore the ideal tool to analyze the universal properties associated with the Efimov effect in three- and four-body systems. In this "progress report", we will discuss recent results obtained within this framework and report on progress regarding the inclusion of higher order corrections associated with the finite range of the underlying interaction.Comment: Commissioned article for Few-Body Systems, 47 pp, 16 fig

Jet-quenching of the rotating heavy meson in a N{\mathcal{N}}=4 SYM plasma in presence of a constant electric field

In this paper, we consider a rotating heavy quark-antiquark ($q\bar{q}$) pair in a ${\mathcal{N}}$=4 SYM thermal plasma. We assume that $q\bar{q}$ center of mass moves at the speed $v$ and furthermore they rotate around the center of mass. We use the AdS/CFT correspondence and consider the effect of external electromagnetic field on the motion of the rotating meson. Then we calculate the jet-quenching parameter corresponding to the rotating meson in the constant electric field

Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), one in ten deaths in children younger than 5 years is attributable to diarrhoea. The substantial between-country variation in both diarrhoea incidence and mortality is attributable to interventions that protect children, prevent infection, and treat disease. Identifying subnational regions with the highest burden and mapping associated risk factors can aid in reducing preventable childhood diarrhoea. Methods We used Bayesian model-based geostatistics and a geolocated dataset comprising 15 072 746 children younger than 5 years from 466 surveys in 94 LMICs, in combination with findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to estimate posterior distributions of diarrhoea prevalence, incidence, and mortality from 2000 to 2017. From these data, we estimated the burden of diarrhoea at varying subnational levels (termed units) by spatially aggregating draws, and we investigated the drivers of subnational patterns by creating aggregated risk factor estimates. Findings The greatest declines in diarrhoeal mortality were seen in south and southeast Asia and South America, where 54·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 38·1–65·8), 17·4% (7·7–28·4), and 59·5% (34·2–86·9) of units, respectively, recorded decreases in deaths from diarrhoea greater than 10%. Although children in much of Africa remain at high risk of death due to diarrhoea, regions with the most deaths were outside Africa, with the highest mortality units located in Pakistan. Indonesia showed the greatest within-country geographical inequality; some regions had mortality rates nearly four times the average country rate. Reductions in mortality were correlated to improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or reductions in child growth failure (CGF). Similarly, most high-risk areas had poor WASH, high CGF, or low oral rehydration therapy coverage. Interpretation By co-analysing geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden and its key risk factors, we could assess candidate drivers of subnational death reduction. Further, by doing a counterfactual analysis of the remaining disease burden using key risk factors, we identified potential intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. In view of the demands for limited resources in LMICs, accurately quantifying the burden of diarrhoea and its drivers is important for precision public health

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4 (62.3 (55.1�70.8) million) to 6.4 (58.3 (47.6�70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization�s Global Nutrition Target of <5 in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2 (30 (22.8�38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0 (55.5 (44.8�67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic. © 2020, The Author(s)

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. Methods: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model—a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates—with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality—which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. Findings: The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2–100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1–290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1–211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4–48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3–37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7–9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. Interpretation: Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation