395 research outputs found
Microwave burst with fine spectral structures in a solar flare on 2011 August 9
On August 9, 2011, there was an X6.9 flare event occurred near the west limb
of solar disk. From the observation obtained by the spectrometer of the Chinese
Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer in Huairou (SBRS/Huairou) around the flare,
we find that this powerful flare has only a short-duration microwave burst of
about only 5 minutes, and during the short-duration microwave burst, there are
several kinds of fine structures on the spectrogram. These fine structures
include very short-period pulsations, millisecond spike bursts, and type III
bursts. The most interesting is that almost all of the pulses of very
short-period pulsation (VSP) are structured by clusters of millisecond
timescales of spike bursts or type III bursts. And there exists three different
kinds of frequency drift rates in the VSP: the frequency drift rates with
absolute value of about 55 - 130 MHz s^{-1} in the pulse groups, the frequency
drift rates with absolute value of about 2.91 - 16.9 GHz s^{-1} on each
individual pulse, and the frequency drift rates with absolute value of about 15
- 25 GHz s) at each individual spike burst or type III burst.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Patterns of Linkage Disequilibrium of LRRK2 across Different Races: Implications for Genetic Association Studies
10.1371/journal.pone.0075041PLoS ONE89-POLN
Overnutrition is a risk factor for iron, but not for zinc or vitamin A deficiency in children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Introduction Traditionally associated with undernutrition, increasing evidence suggests micronutrient deficiencies can coexist with overnutrition. Therefore, this work aimed to systematically review the associations between iron, zinc and vitamin A (VA) status and weight status (both underweight and overweight) in children and young people.
Methods Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, Scopus and Cochrane databases were systematically searched for observational studies assessing micronutrient status (blood, serum or plasma levels of iron, zinc or VA biomarkers) and weight status (body mass index or other anthropometric measurement) in humans under 25 years of any ethnicity and gender. Risk of bias assessment was conducted using the American Dietetic Association Quality Criteria Checklist. Where possible, random effects restricted maximum likelihood meta-analyses were performed.
Results After screening, 83 observational studies involving 190 443 participants from 44 countries were identified, with many studies having reported on more than one micronutrient and/or weight status indicator. Iron was the most investigated micronutrient, with 46, 28 and 27 studies reporting data for iron, zinc and VA status, respectively. Synthesising 16 records of OR from seven eligible studies, overnutrition (overweight and obesity) increased odds of iron deficiency (ID) (OR (95% CI): 1.51 (1.20 to 1.82), p<0.0001, I2=40.7%). Odds appeared to be higher for children living with obesity (1.88 (1.33 to 2.43), p<0.0001, I2=20.6%) in comparison to those with overweight (1.31 (0.98 to 1.64), p<0.0001, I2=40.5%), although between group differences were not significant (p=0.08).
Conclusions Overnutrition is associated with increased risk of ID, but not zinc or VA deficiencies, with an inverted U-shaped relationship observed between iron status and bodyweight. Our results highlight significant heterogeneity in the reporting of micronutrient biomarkers and how deficiencies were defined. Inflammation status was rarely adequately accounted for, and the burden of ID may well be under-recognised, particularly in children and young people living with overnutrition
Sharp constants in weighted trace inequalities on Riemannian manifolds
We establish some sharp weighted trace inequalities
W^{1,2}(\rho^{1-2\sigma}, M)\hookrightarrow L^{\frac{2n}{n-2\sigma}}(\pa M)
on dimensional compact smooth manifolds with smooth boundaries, where
is a defining function of and . This is stimulated
by some recent work on fractional (conformal) Laplacians and related problems
in conformal geometry, and also motivated by a conjecture of Aubin.Comment: 34 page
Angiopoietin-like 4: a decade of research
The past decade has seen a rapid development and increasing recognition of ANGPTL4 (angiopoietin-like 4) as a remarkably multifaceted protein that is involved in many metabolic and non-metabolic conditions. ANGPTL4 has been recognised as a central player in various aspects of energy homoeostasis, at least in part, via the inhibitory interaction between the coiled-coil domain of ANGPTL4 and LPL (lipoprotein lipase). The fibrinogen-like domain of ANGPTL4 interacts and activates specific integrins to facilitate wound healing, modulates vascular permeability, and regulates ROS (reactive oxygen species) level to promote tumorigenesis. The present review summarizes these landmark findings about ANGPTL4 and highlights several important implications for future clinical practice. Importantly, these implications have also raised many questions that are in urgent need of further investigations, particularly the transcription regulation of ANGPTL4 expression, and the post-translation cleavage and modifications of ANGPTL4. The research findings over the past decade have laid the foundation for a better mechanistic understanding of the new scientific discoveries on the diverse roles of ANGPTL4
Using a whole genome co-expression network to inform the functional characterisation of predicted genomic elements from Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcriptomic data
A whole genome co-expression network was created using Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcriptomic data from publicly available RNA-sequencing experiments covering a wide variety of experimental conditions. The network includes expressed regions with no formal annotation, including putative short RNAs and untranslated regions of expressed transcripts, along with the protein-coding genes. These unannotated expressed transcripts were among the best-connected members of the module sub-networks, making up more than half of the ‘hub’ elements in modules that include protein-coding genes known to be part of regulatory systems involved in stress response and host adaptation. This dataset provides a valuable resource for investigating the role of non-coding RNA, and conserved hypothetical proteins, in transcriptomic remodelling. Based on their connections to genes with known functional groupings and correlations with replicated host conditions, predicted expressed transcripts can be screened as suitable candidates for further experimental validation
ND5 gene marker reveals recent population expansion of wild Pearse’s mudskipper (Periophthalmus novemradiatus Hamilton) inhabits Setiu Wetlands in East Peninsular Malaysia
Genetic variation and differences in wild Pearse’s mudskipper Periophthalmus novemradiatus populations from Setiu Wetlands
in East Peninsular Malaysia were analysed using the partial mitochondrial DNA ND5 gene sequences. Among the 91 individuals
sampled from six different localities, 35 novel putative haplotypes of P. novemradiatus were detected. 77% (27) of the
haplotypes were unique sequences, with high level of haplotype diversity (H = 0.875) and low nucleotide diversity (π =
0.0037), contributing to the overall highly diversified gene pool of the P. novemradiatus. This reflects a large effective
population size with current population expansion, which allows the retention of new alleles in populations. However, due to
insufficient time, the accumulation of deeper divergent groups among haplotypes was not possible. Hap05 is the most dominant
(33%) and widespread haplotype, followed by Hap11 and 31. Low genetic differentiation with high gene flow was detected
between sampling sites, and no pattern for isolation by distance was observed despite being territorial creatures. All sites are
at the top priority for conservation because they possess unique haplotypes that are only present at the respective location.
Further samples collection from other native regions are required to provide full understanding of its genetic distribution and
phylogeographical study over larger scale of geographic regions. Heuristic approach to study other species in this area prior
to gazetting the Setiu Wetlands as state park is required in order to conserve the biodiversity in-situ
Prevalence and antibiotic profile of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli and Escherichia coli O157: H7 in beef and buffalo
Thirty-Day Clinical Outcome of Primary Percutaneous Intervention Versus Fibrinolysis Followed by Coronary Angiography in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Background: Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)is the preferred reperfusion strategy in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, timely PCI cannot be offered to many patients.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the 30-day clinical outcome of primary PCI strategy and fibrinolysis followed by coronary angiography strategy in STEMI patients.
Methods: This was a prospective, observational, single center study. All patients admitted for STEMI from 1 January 2016 to 30 November 2016 were screened for the study. Patients were divided into 2 reperfusion strategies: primary PCI or fibrinolysis followed by coronary angiography. Primary outcome was composite of all-cause mortality at 30 days.
Results: A total of 178 patients were identified: 33 (18.5%) underwent primary PCI and 145 (81.5%) underwent fibrinolysis first. The median door-to-balloon time in the primary PCI group was 161.0 minutes (IQR 84.5). The median time from fibrinolysis-to-arrival at catheterization lab was 1738 minutes (IQR 901). The median total ischaemic time was 369 min (IQR 524) and 210 (IQR 247) for the primary PCI and fibrinolysis first group respectively (p=0.002). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for 30-day all-cause mortality was 24.2% vs 9.7%
respectively in primary PCI and fibrinolysis group
p=0.018). Multivariate Linear Regression showed that Killip Class and LVEF were independent predictors of 30-day all-cause mortality. Reperfusion strategy was not associated with 30-day all-cause mortality (p=0.216).
Conclusions: The clinical outcome of primary PCI strategy in STEMI is not better than fibrinolysis followed by coronary angiography strategy when timely PCI cannot be performed
Comparison of Resting PD/PA with Fractional Flow Reserve Using a Monorail Pressure Catheter
Background: The RXi™ system (ACIST Medical Systems, MN, USA) is a new Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) technology utilising an ultrathinmonorail microcatheter (Navvus®; ACIST Medical Systems) with an optical pressure sensor located close to the distal catheter tip. FFR measurement using monorail microcatheter is comparable to the
conventional pressure wires. However, the predictive value of resting distal coronary artery pressure/aortic pressure (Pd/Pa) on hyperemic FFR value in the real world practice is unknown.
Objective: To explore the diagnostic accuracy of resting Pd/Pa in relation to hyperemic FFR using the monorail pressure catheter.
Methods: Resting Pd/Pa and FFR were measured using monorail pressure catheter in 67 consecutive patients with intermediate coronary artery lesions (30% to 80% diameter stenoses) between 01-03-2016 to 17-01-2017. Of 121 studied lesions, 29 (23.97%) were excluded because of no hyperemic FFR due to postive resting Pd/Pa (n=17), severe or non-critical stenosis (n=11) and suboptimal
acquisition (n=1), leaving 92 lesions for final analysis. Hyperemic FFR was induced with intracoronary adenosine. The selection of coronary wire and the dose of intracoronary nitroglycerine were at the operators’ discretions.
Results: Bland-Altman plots showed a moderate degree of scatter between Pd/Pa and FFR value. On average, Pd/Pa exceeded FFR by 0.066 (-0.09 to +0.22). Receiver-operating characteristic curves of the resting Pd/Pa with FFR≤0.80 as the reference variable showed an area under the curve of 0.78 (95% confidence intervals 0.680 to
0.881, pb0.001), with a diagnostic accuracy of 79.3% when the resting Pd/Pa was ≤0.86. Certain cutoff values of Pd/Pa can reliably predict whether hyperemic FFR was positive or negative (FFR cutoff≤0.80). Resting Pd/Pa value of N0.96 had a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% and sensitivity of 100%; the resting Pd/Pa value
of ≤0.82 had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 100% and specificity of 98.3%. These were consistent regardless of coronary vessel, location of lesion or degree of diameter stenosis.
Conclusions: Certain range of resting Pd/Pa measured by monorail pressure catheter had excellent NPV and sensitivity or excellent PPV and specificity to predict hyperemic FFR. Clinical outcome studies are required to determine whether the results might obviate the need for
hyperemia in selected patients
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