Lung aeration on post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging is a useful marker of live birth versus stillbirth.

Aim of this study was to investigate whether lung assessment on post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMR) can reliably differentiate between live birth and stillbirth

Evidence for ecosystem state shifts in Alaskan continuous permafrost peatlands in response to recent warming

Peatlands in continuous permafrost regions represent a globally-important store of organic carbon, the stability of which is thought to be at risk under future climatic warming. To better understand how these ecosystems may change in a warmer future, we use a palaeoenvironmental approach to reconstruct changes in two peatlands near Toolik Lake on Alaska's North Slope (TFS1 and TFS2). We present the first testate amoeba-based reconstructions from peatlands in continuous permafrost, which we use to infer changes in water-table depth and porewater electrical conductivity during the past two millennia. TFS1 likely initiated during a warm period between 0 and 300 CE. Throughout the late-Holocene, both peatlands were minerotrophic fens with low carbon accumulation rates (means of 18.4 and 14.2 g C m−2 yr−1 for cores TFS1 and TFS2 respectively). However, since the end of the Little Ice Age, both fens have undergone a rapid transition towards oligotrophic peatlands, with deeper water tables and increased carbon accumulation rates (means of 59.5 and 48.2 g C m−2 yr−1 for TFS1 and TFS2 respectively). We identify that recent warming has led to these two Alaskan rich fens to transition into poor fens, with greatly enhanced carbon accumulation rates. Our work demonstrates that some Arctic peatlands may become more productive with future regional warming, subsequently increasing their ability to sequester carbon

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling after subcutaneous, intravenous and buccal administration of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine in conscious cats

The aim of this study was to describe the joint pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model and evaluate thermal antinociception of a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine (Simbadol™) in cats

IFN-gamma is associated with risk of Schistosoma japonicum infection in China.

Before the start of the schistosomiasis transmission season, 129 villagers resident on a Schistosoma japonicum-endemic island in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province, 64 of whom were stool-positive for S. japonicum eggs by the Kato method and 65 negative, were treated with praziquantel. Forty-five days later the 93 subjects who presented for follow-up were all stool-negative. Blood samples were collected from all 93 individuals. S. japonicum soluble worm antigen (SWAP) and soluble egg antigen (SEA) stimulated IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma production in whole-blood cultures were measured by ELISA. All the subjects were interviewed nine times during the subsequent transmission season to estimate the intensity of their contact with potentially infective snail habitats, and the subjects were all re-screened for S. japonicum by the Kato method at the end of the transmission season. Fourteen subjects were found to be infected at that time. There was some indication that the risk of infection might be associated with gender (with females being at higher risk) and with the intensity of water contact, and there was evidence that levels of SEA-induced IFN-gamma production were associated with reduced risk of infection

Regulation of multiple angiogenic pathways by Dll4 and Notch in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

The Notch ligand, Dll4, is essential for angiogenesis during embryonic vascular development and is involved in tumour angiogenesis. Several recent publications demonstrated that blockade of Dll4 signalling inhibits tumour growth, suggesting that it may constitute a good candidate for anti-cancer therapy. In order to understand the role of Dll4 at the cellular level, we performed an analysis of Dll4-regulated genes in HUVECs. The genes identified included several angiogenic signalling pathways, such as VEGF, FGF and HGF. In particular we identified downregulation (VEGFR2, placenta growth factor PlGF) of VEGF pathway components resulting in the overall effect of limiting the response of HUVEC to VEGF. However extensive upregulation of VEGFR1 was observed allowing continued response to its ligand PlGF but the soluble form of the VEGFR1, sVEGFR1 was also upregulated. PlGF enhanced tubulogenesis of HUVEC suggesting that downregulation of PlGF and upregulation of VEGFR1 including sVEGFR1 are important mechanisms by which Dll4 attenuates PlGF and VEGF signalling. Dll4-stimulated HUVECs had impaired ERK activation in response to VEGF and HGF indicating that Dll4 signalling negatively regulates these pathways. Dll4 expression reduced vessel sprout length in a 3D tubulogenesis assay confirming that Dll4 signalling inhibits angiogenesis. Altogether, our data suggest that Dll4 expression acts as a switch from the proliferative phase of angiogenesis to the maturation and stabilisation phase by blocking endothelial cell proliferation and allowing induction of a more mature, differentiated phenotype. The regulation of sVEGFR1 provides a novel mechanism for Dll4 signalling to regulate cells at distance, not just in adjacent cells

A probabilistic unified approach for power indices in simple games

The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60555-4_11Many power indices on simple games have been defined trying to measure, under different points of view, the “a priori” importance of a voter in a collective binary voting scenario. A unified probabilistic way to define some of these power indices is considered in this paper. We show that six well-known power indices are obtained under such a probabilistic approach. Moreover, some new power indices can naturally be obtained in this way.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft