Marked mitigation of transplant vascular sclerosis in FasL(gld) (CD95L) mutant recipients. I. The role of alloantibodies in the development of chronic rejection

Background. In the acute rejection of allografts, the interaction between Fas (CD95) and its ligand (FasL; CD95L) has been shown to be involved in mediating apoptotic cell death. The role, however, of these molecules in the pathogenesis of transplant vascular sclerosis is as yet undetermined. The present study was therefore designed to address this issue. Material. C3H/HEJ FasL(gld) (FasL-; H2(k)) spontaneously mutant mice were used either as donors or recipients of aortic allografts; wild-type C57BI/6 (B6; H2b) were used as corresponding recipients or donors (n=6/group), respectively. Controls included aortas transplanted across appropriate allogeneic and syngeneic strain combinations. For histopathological evaluations, the grafts were harvested at day 40 after transplantation, at which time, splenocytes and sera were also obtained for mixed leukocyte reaction and complement- mediated microcytotoxicity assays, respectively. Results. Similar to aortas obtained from allogeneic controls, allografts harvested from FasL-→B6 recipients had morphological evidence of chronic rejection characterized by circumferential intimal thickening with partial disruption of the elastic membranes. Correspondingly, heightened antidonor cellular reactivity was also witnessed in these recipients. On the contrary, B6 allografts harvested from the majority of C3H→FasL- recipients exhibited marked preservation of aortic morphology. Although these recipients had diminished antidonor cellular proliferation, the titers of alloantibodies were markedly elevated. Conclusion. The presence of FasL-expressing functional cytotoxic T cells is required for the pathogenesis of transplant vascular sclerosis. The significant reduction and/or absence of chronic rejection with the concomitant retention of antidonor humoral response in C3H FasL- recipients of B6 aortas prompt us to suggest that perhaps posttransplantation vasculopathy is initiated by cell-mediated cytotoxicity with its perpetuation facilitated by alloantibodies

PERILAKU MASYARKAT JAHILIYYAH DALAM AL-QUR’AN DAN RELEVANSINYA DENGAN SEKULARISME

ABSTRAK Skripsi ini membahas mengenai perilaku masyarkat jahiliyyah dalam al-Qur‟an dan relevansinya dengan sekularisme. Perilaku masyarakat jahiliyyah merupakan perilaku yang diliputi kebodohan tentang Allah SWT, Rasul-Nya, syariat agama, berbangga-bangga dengan nasab, kesombongan dan sejumlah penyimpangan lainnya. Perilaku masyarkat jahiliyyah menggambarkan seluruh perkara yang bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam, baik pelanggaran besar yang berakibat kekafiran atau pelanggaran kecil yang tidak berakibat kekafiran. Namun seiring berkembangnya sejarah kehidupan, manusia selalu diisukan oleh perubahanperubahan, ingin tampil beda dan lebih baik dari kehidupan sebelumnya dengan membandingkan antara kehidupan masa lalu dan sekarang, anehnya perilaku jahiliyyah yang dahulu ditinggalkan, namun era saat ini muncul kembali dengan nama sekularisme, yaitu pemahaman yang memisahkan antara urusan manusia dengan urusan Tuhan. Terdapat enam ayat al-Qur‟an dalam skripsi ini sebagai objek pengkajian mengenai perilaku masyarkat jahiliyyah menurut tinjauan al- Qur‟an dan relevansinya dengan faham sekularisme yaitu dalam surah Ali Imran ayat 154, al-Jatsiyah ayat 24, al-Haqqah Ayat 27, al-Maidah ayat 49 dan 50, al- Ahzab ayat 33, dan al-Fath ayat 26. Maka skripsi ini mengkaji pandangan para ulama tafsir mengenai perilaku masyarakat jahiliyyah menurut tinjauan al-Qur‟an dan relevansinya dengan sekularisme. Penelitian ini bersifat penelitian kepustakaan (library research) dan metodologi yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi tematik (maudhu’i). Data-data yang terkait dengan studi ini dikumpulkan melalui studi pustaka dengan pendekatan analisis data kualitatif. Penelitian ini disajikan dengan teknis analisis deskriptif, yaitu dengan menjelaskan ayat perayat yang berhubungan, dengan merujuk pada al-Qur‟an sebagai data primer dan buku-buku literatur yang berkaitan sebagai data sekunder. Adapun hasil penelitian ini, bahwa relevansi perilaku masyarkat jahiliyyah dengan faham sekularisme yaitu diantaranya penafian tentang adanya akhirat, berlebihan dalam berhias dengan sebebas-bebasnya, pemisahan antara agama dan nilai kerohanian dengan pemerintahan dan kehidupan keduniaan. Kata Kunci : Perilaku, Jahiliyyah, Relevansi, Sekularism

STUDI PELAKSANAAN PROGRAM MP-ASI DI PUSKESMAS JONGAYA KECAMATAN TAMALATE

ABSTRAK\ud Program pemberian MP-ASI merupakan alternatif terbaik untuk mencegah terjadinya gizi kurang sekaligus mempertahankan gizi baik pada keluarga miskin. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran pelaksanan program MP-ASI mulai dari tahap input, proses, dan output. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif. Informan penelitian ini berjumlah sembilan orang. Teknik pengumpulan data dengan wawancara mendalam, telaah dokumen serta observasi. Alat pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah pedoman wawancara, handphone, dan alat tulis. Data yang di peroleh dianalisis menggunakan content analysis. Hasil penelitian terhadap tahap input meliputi buku pedoman yang hanya dimiliki oleh petugas gizi, sasaran MP-ASI adalah anak umur 12-24 bulan yang berasal dari keluarga miskin dan menderita gizi kurang. Tahap proses meliputi pemantauan yang dilakukan hanya berupa monitoring berat badan sekali dalam sebulan di hari posyandu. Pemberian MP-ASI diberikan kepada sasaran untuk dikonsumsi selama seminggu karena kader khawatir MP-ASI dikonsumsi oleh anggota keluarga lain. Tahap output meliputi keberhasilan program tergantung pada kenaikan berat badan dapat dikatakan berhasil sebab terjadi peningkatan secara signifikan. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa program MP-ASI belum mencapai target sebab masih banyak bayi/baduta yang tidak menerima MP-ASI

Signals in the Soil: Underground Antennas

Antenna is a major design component of Internet of Underground Things (IOUT) communication system. The use of antenna, in IOUT, differs from traditional communication in that it is buried in the soil. Therefore, one of the main challenges, in IOUT applications, is to establish a reliable communication. To that end, there is a need of designing an underground-specific antenna. Three major factors that can impact the performance of a buried antenna are: (1) effect of high soil permittivity changes the wavelength of EM waves, (2) variations in soil moisture with time affecting the permittivity of the soil, and (3) difference in how EM waves propagate during aboveground (AG) and underground (UG) communications. For the third challenge above, it is to be noted that lateral waves are dominant component in EM during UG2UG communication and suffer lowest attenuation as compared to other, direct and reflected, components. Therefore, antennas used for over-the-air (OTA) communication will not be suitable for UG communication because of impedance mismatch. This chapter focuses on developing a theoretical model for understanding the impact of soil on antenna by conducting experiments in different soil types (silty clay loam, sandy, and silt loam soil) and indoor testbed. The purpose of the model is to predict UG antenna resonance for designing efficient communication system for IOUT. Based on the model a wideband planar antenna is designed considering soil dispersion and soil–air interface reflection effect which improves the communication range five times from the antennas designed only for the wavelength change in soil. Furthermore, it also focuses on developing an impedance model to study the effect of changing wavelength in underground communication. It is also discussed how soil–air interface and soil properties effect the return loss of dipole antenna

Unilateral ischemic central retinal vein occlusion in a young healthy adult: a case report

Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is an obstruction of central retinal vein due to the impingement from the fellow central retinal artery. It is the second most common retinal vascular disease after diabetic retinopathy. Risk factor of CRVO includes diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, male gender and age above 50 years; with 90% of the cases occurred in individual aged 55 years and above. We report a rare case of left eye ischemic CRVO in a 24-year-old healthy gentleman who later on found out to have hypercholesterolemia. He presented with a sudden onset of reduced vision of his left eye. Examination revealed visual acuity (VA) of the left eye was 6/120. Fundus examination showed marked papilloedema with dilated and tortuous blood vessels and extensive flame-shaped hemorrhages with cotton wool spots in all four retinal quadrants. There was a presence of macular edema as well. The ancillary tests confirmed the diagnosis of left eye ischemic CRVO with significant macular edema. The blood investigation revealed elevated cholesterol levels. For treatment, 6 times of monthly intravitreal Ranibizumab injections were planned for the macular edema and oral Atorvastatin 40 milligrams daily was started. Following the intravitreal Ranibizumab injection, his VA has significantly improved with a reduction of macular edema. This report highlights the importance of prompt diagnosis and investigation of CRVO, especially in the younger age group. Early treatment of macular edema secondary to CRVO is able to reduce the edema thus leads to VA improvement

The outcome of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) with different tamponade material.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of different tamponade material in Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). METHODS: Retrospective, interventional case series that includes 8 patients underwent DMEK performed by a single surgeon within Covid-19 pandemic period. All donor tissues were stripped by the operating surgeon with endothelial cell density of > 2400 cells/mm2. The tamponade material used were air in 2 patients, 20% sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas in 3 patients and 12% perfluoropropane (C3F8) gas in 3 patients. The main outcomes were graft detachment rate, rebubbling rate and graft survival rate. RESULTS: The overall graft detachment rate was 25% (2 patients). The graft detachment rate was 0% in 20% SF6 gas group compared to 50% (1 patient) from air tamponade group and 33.3% (1 patient) from 12% C3F8 gas group (p<0.05). The patient from air group underwent rebubbling twice while another patient from 12% C3F8 gas group underwent once. The overall survival rate was 75% (6 patients). All of them did not have graft detachment. CONCLUSION: 20% SF6 gas provides superior tamponade effect compared to both air and 12% C3F8 gas. The detachment rate influenced graft survival. Air tamponade showed higher rebubbling rate

Sigma-model for Generalized Composite p-branes

A multidimensional gravitational model containing several dilatonic scalar fields and antisymmetric forms is considered. The manifold is chosen in the form M = M_0 x M_1 x ... x M_n, where M_i are Einstein spaces (i > 0). The block-diagonal metric is chosen and all fields and scale factors of the metric are functions on M_0. For the forms composite (electro-magnetic) p-brane ansatz is adopted. The model is reduced to gravitating self-interacting sigma-model with certain constraints. In pure electric and magnetic cases the number of these constraints is m(m - 1)/2 where m is number of 1-dimensional manifolds among M_i. In the "electro-magnetic" case for dim M_0 = 1, 3 additional m constraints appear. A family of "Majumdar-Papapetrou type" solutions governed by a set of harmonic functions is obtained, when all factor-spaces M_k are Ricci-flat. These solutions are generalized to the case of non-Ricci-flat M_0 when also some additional "internal" Einstein spaces of non-zero curvature are added to M. As an example exact solutions for D = 11 supergravity and related 12-dimensional theory are presented.Comment: 33 pages, Latex. Some corrections and rearrangements are mad

Signals in the Soil: An Introduction to Wireless Underground Communications

In this chapter, wireless underground (UG) communications are introduced. A detailed overview of WUC is given. A comprehensive review of research challenges in WUC is presented. The evolution of underground wireless is also discussed. Moreover, different component of UG communications is wireless. The WUC system architecture is explained with a detailed discussion of the anatomy of an underground mote. The examples of UG wireless communication systems are explored. Furthermore, the differences of UG wireless and over-the-air wireless are debated. Different types of wireless underground channel (e.g., In-Soil, Soil-to-Air, and Air-to-Soil) are reported as well

Modulation of Sn concentration in ZnO nanorod array: intensification on the conductivity and humidity sensing properties

Tin (Sn)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays (TZO) were synthesized onto aluminum-doped ZnO-coated glass substrate via a facile sonicated sol–gel immersion method for humidity sensor applications. These nanorod arrays were grown at different Sn concentrations ranging from 0.6 to 3 at.%. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the deposited TZO arrays exhibited a wurtzite structure. The stress/strain condition of the ZnO film metamorphosed from tensile strain/compressive stress to compressive strain/tensile stress when the Sn concentrations increased. Results indicated that 1 at.% Sn doping of TZO, which has the lowest tensile stress of 0.14 GPa, generated the highest conductivity of 1.31 S cm− 1. In addition, 1 at.% Sn doping of TZO possessed superior sensitivity to a humidity of 3.36. These results revealed that the optimum performance of a humidity-sensing device can be obtained mainly by controlling the amount of extrinsic element in a ZnO film