Minireview and case report: Duplication of the portal vein and combinations

This is a minireview and case report on a concurrent duplication of the portal vein and a duplication of the left renal vein. The portal vein system supplies about seventy five percent of the blood for the liver and is involved in the manifestation of several liver diseases such as portal hypertension and portosystemic shunts. The vitelline veins and their anastomoses are involved in this anatomical variation during development. Similar to that also variations or malformations of the renal veins resulted from early primitive structures and their obliteration or non obliteration, respectively. Two rather rare anomalies of two venous systems might have been a coincidence or a common cause

Testing the Design of a Library Information Gateway

In autumn of 1999, librarians at Appalachian State University and Georgia Southern University had decided to revise their Web sites. Each institution’s site had been in place for more than a year, and experience with library users had shown that there were certain aspects of the sites’ designs that were confusing. Previous efforts to improve these library sites had involved the pooling of criticisms from the librarians and users, and then a small group of library faculty and staff would attempt to create new designs that avoided the weaknesses of the old designs

Exploring Cluster Ellipticals as Cosmological Standard Rods

We explore the possibility to calibrate massive cluster ellipticals as cosmological standard rods using the Fundamental Plane relation combined with a correction for luminosity evolution. Though cluster ellipticals certainly formed in a complex way, their passive evolution out to redshifts of about 1 indicates that basically all major merging and accretion events took place at higher redshifts. Therefore, a calibration of their luminosity evolution can be attempted. We propose to use the Mg$-\sigma$ relation for that purpose because it is independent of distance and cosmology. We discuss a variety of possible caveats, ranging from dynamical evolution to uncertainties in stellar population models and evolution corrections to the presence of age spread. Sources of major random and systematic errors are analysed as well. We apply the described procedure to nine elliptical galaxies in two clusters at $z=0.375$ and derive constraints on the cosmological model. For the best fitting $\Lambda$-free cosmological model we obtain: $q_o \approx 0.1$, with 90% confidence limits being $0 < q_o < 0.7$ (the lower limit being due to the presence of matter in the Universe). If the inflationary scenario applies (i.e. the Universe has flat geometry), then, for the best fitting model, matter and $\Lambda$ contribute about equally to the critical cosmic density (i.e. $\Omega_m \approx \Omega_\Lambda \approx 0.5$). With 90% confidence $\Omega_\Lambda$ should be smaller than 0.9.Comment: 21 pages, including 5 eps-figures, Latex, uses aasms4.sty, accepted by ApJ main journa

Gamifizierte Ansätze zur Gewinnung von Smart Data: wie Liebe, Matching und Tinder Einzug in die Stadtforschung erhalten

Wie kann man Menschen dazu bewegen an Umfragen teilzunehmen? Am Beispiel der Partizipationsplattform MatchMyCity.org wird exemplarisch aufgezeigt, wie gamifizierte Elemente in der Stadtforschung Einzug halten. Dabei wird der Effekt dieses Vorgehens auf die Teilnehmendenzahlen und die Datenerhebung, die wissenschaftlichen und methodischen Standards sowie die Chancen und Herausforderungen besprochen. Anhand der Ergebnisse in Form einer urbanen Lebensstiltypologie von MatchMyCity.org wird ein Ausblick auf die Möglichkeiten der Integration spielerischer Elemente in die alltägliche Arbeit von Kommunen und Städten gegeben und das Potenzial von digitalen Bürgerbeteiligungsprozessen diskutiert. Dieser Beitrag ist in Auszügen der Forschungsarbeit "Wem gefällt was in der Stadt? Eine Typisierung von Präferenzen an das urbane Lebensumfeld in der stadtsoziologischen Lebensstilforschung" (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, April bis September 2017, Professur für sozialwissenschaftliche Stadtforschung) entnommen. Die vollständige Arbeit kann hier eingesehen werden: http://bit.ly/Matchmycit

Supernova constraints on dark flavored sectors

Proto-neutron stars forming a few seconds after core-collapse supernovae are hot and dense environments where hyperons can be efficiently produced by weak processes. By making use of various state-of-the-art supernova simulations combined with the proper extensions of the equations of state including Λ hyperons, we calculate the cooling of the star induced by the emission of dark particles X0 through the decay Λ → nX0. Comparing this novel energy-loss process to the neutrino cooling of SN 1987A allows us to set a stringent upper limit on the branching fraction, BR(Λ → nX0 ) ≤ 8 × 10−9, that we apply to massless dark photons and axions with flavor-violating couplings to quarks. We find that the new supernova bound can be orders of magnitude stronger than other limits in dark-sector models.publishedVersio

SHERPA Position Paper - Empowering rural areas in multi-level governance processes

This SHERPA Position Paper builds on the contributions of all 41 SHERPA Multi-Actor Platforms (MAPs) involved in the fourth (and final) cycle of the SHERPA project. During this final cycle, MAPs were asked to reflect on how to empower regional and local institutions and actors in multi-level decision-making processes in rural areas, and propose recommendations for policy and future research on this topic. Each MAP discussed the elements they found most relevant for their geographical area in relation to multi-level governance in rural areas, and used this as their MAP input for the development of this Position Paper. More information on this topic from each individual MAP can be found in the MAP Fiches

Evolution of WIfI: Expansion of WIfI Notation After Intervention

Nearly a decade ago, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS)'s wound, ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI) classification was first developed to help assess overall limb threat. However, managing conditions such as diabetic foot ulcer and chronic limb-threatening ischemia can be complex. For instance, certain investigative findings might initially be pending such as the level of ischemia or extent of infection before the final classification is established. In addition, wounds evolve rapidly, and the current classification does not allow for tracking their progression over time during treatment. Therefore, we propose a supplemental consistent notation for scoring WifI re-assessment during treatment of a threatened limb inspired by the cancer staging before and after neoadjuvant treatment classification system. Thus, we describe the re-scoring system and how to use it. Our suggestion supports a coherent method to longitudinally communicate characteristics of a threatened limb. This has potential to support high quality interdisciplinary, patient-centered care and enhance the use of this classification in research. Further work is required to validate this modification of a common language of risk

The parasite cytokine mimic <i>Hp</i>-TGM potently replicates the regulatory effects of TGF-β on murine CD4+ T cells

Transforming growth factor‐beta (TGF‐β) family proteins mediate many vital biological functions in growth, development and regulation of the immune system. TGF‐β itself controls immune homeostasis and inflammation, including conversion of naïve CD4+ T cells into Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the presence of IL‐2 and T cell receptor ligands. The helminth parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus exploits this pathway through a structurally novel TGF‐β mimic (Hp‐TGM), which binds to mammalian TGF‐β receptors and induces Tregs. Here, we performed detailed comparisons of Hp‐TGM with mammalian TGF‐β. Compared to TGF‐β, Hp‐TGM induced greater numbers of Foxp3+ Tregs (iTregs), with more intense Foxp3 expression. Both ligands upregulated Treg functional markers CD73, CD103 and PD‐L1, but Hp‐TGM induced significantly higher CD39 expression than did TGF‐β. Interestingly, in contrast to canonical TGF‐β signalling through Smad2/3, Hp‐TGM stimulation was slower and more sustained. Gene expression profiles induced by TGF‐β and Hp‐TGM were remarkably similar, and both types of iTregs suppressed T cell responses in vitro and EAE‐driven inflammation in vivo. In vitro, both types of iTregs were equally stable under inflammatory conditions, but Hp‐TGM‐induced iTregs were more stable in vivo during DSS‐induced colitis, with greater retention of Foxp3 expression and lower conversion to a ROR‐γt+ phenotype. Altogether, results from this study suggest that the parasite cytokine mimic, Hp‐TGM, may deliver a qualitatively different signal to CD4+ T cells with downstream consequences for the long‐term stability of iTregs. These data highlight the potential of Hp‐TGM as a new modulator of T cell responses in vitro and in vivo