Finite size effects in cooperative molecular motors

We have studied the ballistic and damped dynamics of finite size cooperative molecular motors. We study the effect of finite size on average quantities such as sliding velocity, as well as the statistics of fluctuations in these quantities. We observed stalling for the over damped case. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Random Walk with Shrinking Steps: First Passage Characteristics

We study the mean first passage time of a one-dimensional random walker with step sizes decaying exponentially in discrete time. That is step sizes go like $\lambda^{n}$ with $\lambda\leq1$ . We also present, for pedagogical purposes, a continuum system with a diffusion constant decaying exponentially in continuous time. Qualitatively both systems are alike in their global properties. However, the discrete case shows very rich mathematical structure, depending on the value of the shrinking parameter, such as self-repetitive and fractal-like structure for the first passage characteristics. The results we present show that the most important quantitative behavior of the discrete case is that the support of the distribution function evolves in time in a rather complicated way in contrast to the time independent lattice structure of the ordinary random walker. We also show that there are critical values of $\lambda$ defined by the equation $\lambda^{K}+2\lambda^{P}-2=0$ with $\{K,N\}\in{\mathcal N}$ where the mean first passage time undergo transitions.Comment: Major Re-Editing of the article. Conclusions unaltere

The efficiency of US elastography in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules

Aim: To evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound elastography (USE) in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Methods: One hundred thyroid nodules in 100 patients (79 females, 21 males, age range 18-78; mean age = 45.6 years) were evaluated with real-time freehand USE, using Hitachi EUB 7500 equipment and elasticity scores were obtained. The elasticity was scored as follows: Score 1, elasticity in the entire nodule; Score 2, mainly elastic nodule with the presence of inelastic areas not constant during real time examination; Score 3, constant inelastic areas prevalently arranged at the periphery of the nodule; Score 4, constant inelastic areas prevalently arranged at the center of the nodule; Score 5, no elasticity in the nodule. Also mean strain ratio values were calculated for all nodules. Results: Eighty-four (86%) of cases were benign and sixteen (16%) were malignant. Elasticity score 3 and higher and strain ratio higher than 2.485 had statistically significant relation with malignancy (p < 0.05). Conclusions: USE including strain ratio calculations besides subjective evaluation of elasticity scores is an efficient imaging method which may contribute to the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules

The Relativistic Electrodynamics Least Action Principles Revisited: New Charged Point Particle and Hadronic String Models Analysis

The classical relativistic least action principle is revisited from the vacuum field theory approach. New physically motivated versions of relativistic Lorentz type forces are derived, a new relativistic hadronic string model is proposed and analyzed in detail.Comment: n/

Characteristics of patients operated for primary hyperparathyroidism at university hospitals in Türkiye: Differences among Türkiye's geographical regions

Purpose: The aim of this study was to define the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients operated on for primary hyperpatathyroidism (PHPT) at university hospitals in Türkiye, and to investigate the differences in the clinical presentations of the disease between different geographical regions. Methods: Patients operated on for PHPT in the university hospitals of Türkiye were included in the study. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings and the operational data of the patients were investigated according to the whole country and to different geographical regions. Comparisons were performed according to whole country and regions. Results: A total of 1,162 cases were included in the study from different regions and 20 university hospitals. The mean age of patients was 52.4 ± 0.38 (mean ± standard error) in the general population of Türkiye. The rates of hypertension, urolithiasis, bone disease and 25-hydroxyvitamin D insufficiency were 35%, 18.6%, 67.6%, and 63%, respectively. The median parathormone (PTH), serum total calcium (Ca+2) and phosphorus value were 220 pg/mL (range, 70-2,500 pg/mL), 11.2 mg/dL (range, 9.5-11.2 mg/dL), and 2.4 mg/dL (range, 1-4.7 mg/dL), respectively. The median size of the adenomas resected was 16 mm (range, 4-70 mm). Significant differences were observed in the clinical and laboratory findings of the patients operated on due to PHPT between different geographical regions of Türkiye (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: The clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients with PHPT in different geographical regions of Türkiye differ. Furthermore, the general findings of the cases in Türkiye give us a hint that the severity of the disease here is somewhere between Eastern and Western countries. Copyright © 2016, the Korean Surgical Society

Cyprus women's health research (COHERE) initiative: determining the relative burden of women's health conditions and related co-morbidities in an Eastern Mediterranean population

Background: There is lack of population level data on prevalence and distribution of common benign women's health conditions such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome from the Eastern Mediterranean region despite their significant consequences on quality of life. In particular, there is complete absence of any health statistics from Northern Cyprus, which is an emerging region in Europe. The Cyprus Women's Health Research (COHERE) Initiative is the first large-scale cross-sectional study in the region, aiming to determine the relative burden of benign women's health conditions and related co-morbidities in women living in Northern Cyprus. Methods: The COHERE Initiative is a cross-sectional study aiming to recruit 8000 women aged 18 55 years and residing for at least the past 5 years in Northern Cyprus. The study is composed of two main steps: (1) Baseline recruitment, including (i) completion of a detailed health questionnaire, which is an expanded version of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF) Endometriosis Phenome Harmonisation Project (EPHect) standardised questionnaire, including questions on demographics, menstrual history, hormone use, pregnancy, pain (pelvic pain, bladder and bowel pain, migraine), medical history, family history of illnesses, medication use, life-style factors in relation to a wide range of reproductive and endocrine conditions, resource use (ii) measurement of weight, height, waist/hip circumference and blood pressure, (iii) collection of saliva samples for genotyping. (2) Gynaecology clinic follow up, including a pelvic ultrasound scan (USS). There is also a follow-up food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) targeted to all women taking part in the baseline recruitment with an aim to collect more detailed data on dietary habits. Discussion: The COHERE Initiative will generate prevalence rates for conditions, define the clinical profiles for women's health conditions, and estimate the economic burden of these conditions in Northern Cyprus. The results will also provide insights into the current status of health-care among women living in a currently under-investigated region. The genetic findings will inform future gene mapping studies for investigation of the heritable component of conditions in this population/region. Moreover, the results will be compared with other centres collecting data using EPHect tools globally and will help determine population differences and similarities in disease patterns and clinical profiles. The COHERE Initiative will serve as a resource to conduct hypothesis-driven follow-up studies investigating effect of the Mediterranean life-style' as well as genetic factors on common benign women's health conditions that maybe specific to Eastern Mediterranean populations

Alternative Splicing in the Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Cardiac Precursors

The role of alternative splicing in self-renewal, pluripotency and tissue lineage specification of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is largely unknown. To better define these regulatory cues, we modified the H9 hESC line to allow selection of pluripotent hESCs by neomycin resistance and cardiac progenitors by puromycin resistance. Exon-level microarray expression data from undifferentiated hESCs and cardiac and neural precursors were used to identify splice isoforms with cardiac-restricted or common cardiac/neural differentiation expression patterns. Splice events for these groups corresponded to the pathways of cytoskeletal remodeling, RNA splicing, muscle specification, and cell cycle checkpoint control as well as genes with serine/threonine kinase and helicase activity. Using a new program named AltAnalyze (http://www.AltAnalyze.org), we identified novel changes in protein domain and microRNA binding site architecture that were predicted to affect protein function and expression. These included an enrichment of splice isoforms that oppose cell-cycle arrest in hESCs and that promote calcium signaling and cardiac development in cardiac precursors. By combining genome-wide predictions of alternative splicing with new functional annotations, our data suggest potential mechanisms that may influence lineage commitment and hESC maintenance at the level of specific splice isoforms and microRNA regulation