Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

Discovery and Verification of Extracellular miRNA Biomarkers for Non-invasive Prediction of Pre-eclampsia in Asymptomatic Women.

Development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for pre-eclampsia is limited by the lack of accurate methods for identification of at-risk pregnancies. We performed small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of maternal serum extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) to discover and verify microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in patients who later developed pre-eclampsia. Sera collected from 73 pre-eclampsia cases and 139 controls between 17 and 28 weeks gestational age (GA), divided into separate discovery and verification cohorts, are analyzed by small RNA-seq. Discovery and verification of univariate and bivariate miRNA biomarkers reveal that bivariate biomarkers verify at a markedly higher rate than univariate biomarkers. The majority of verified biomarkers contain miR-155-5p, which has been reported to mediate the pre-eclampsia-associated repression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Deconvolution analysis reveals that several verified miRNA biomarkers come from the placenta and are likely carried by placenta-specific extracellular vesicles

Discovery and Verification of Extracellular miRNA Biomarkers for Non-invasive Prediction of Pre-eclampsia in Asymptomatic Women.

Development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for pre-eclampsia is limited by the lack of accurate methods for identification of at-risk pregnancies. We performed small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of maternal serum extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) to discover and verify microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in patients who later developed pre-eclampsia. Sera collected from 73 pre-eclampsia cases and 139 controls between 17 and 28 weeks gestational age (GA), divided into separate discovery and verification cohorts, are analyzed by small RNA-seq. Discovery and verification of univariate and bivariate miRNA biomarkers reveal that bivariate biomarkers verify at a markedly higher rate than univariate biomarkers. The majority of verified biomarkers contain miR-155-5p, which has been reported to mediate the pre-eclampsia-associated repression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Deconvolution analysis reveals that several verified miRNA biomarkers come from the placenta and are likely carried by placenta-specific extracellular vesicles

The Principle of Democratic Teleology in International Law

In the early 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin wall, legal scholars initiated a debate on the existence of a right to democratic governance in international law. Many of the adherents to the democratic entitlement school seem to assume that democratization is a simple shift in the political status, a change from one form of government to another. This contribution seeks to analyze this underlying assumption by taking a look at the current discussion on democratization theory in the political sciences. Through this lens, it will reconsider the international practice and the corresponding legal documents related to the existence of a possible democracy principle. In this respect, a special emphasis will be put on three areas of potential precedents resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the practice of regional organizations such as the Organization of American States or the African Union, and military interventions in the name of democracy. The analysis will show that the legitimacy principle of international law is, at the same time, more modest and more demanding than the claim of the democratic entitlement school. It will be argued that democracy is no strict obligation, but rather a teleological principle. States are obliged to develop towards democracy and to consolidate and to optimize democracy, once electoral institutions have been established