Dominant Design or Multiple Designs: The Flash Memory Card Case

Literature suggests that in battles between competing designs, ultimately one design will emerge as dominant to the detriment of the others. Various factors and forces have been identified to explain this phenomenon. Yet, sometimes no dominant design emerges at all and multiple competing designs coexist in the market.. The Flash Memory Card Industry provides an example of this. In this study, we use this example as a case to investigate the circumstances under which an industry has a tendency toward multiple designs. The case shows that a combination of factors may result in multiple designs and we argue that such a combination of factors will increasingly also apply in other cases

Control and possible applications of a novel carrot-spoilage basidiomycete, Fibulorhizoctonia psychrophila

A novel cold-tolerant fungus, Fibulorhizoctonia psychrophila, was isolated from a refrigerated carrot storage facility and identified as an anamorph of Athelia, often classified in Rhizoctonia s.l. Growth of this fungus was observed between 0 and 20°C with an optimum at 9–12°C, while incubation of mycelium grown at 15–32°C resulted in absence of growth even after the fungus was transferred back to 15°C. Growth was inhibited in the presence of the antifungals sorbic acid or natamycin, in particular when the fungus was incubated at 18°C. F. psychrophila produces polysaccharide degrading enzymes that, when compared to enzymes from the ascomycete fungus Aspergillus niger, retain a larger proportion of their activity at lower temperatures. This indicates that F. psychrophila could be used as a source for novel industrial enzymes that are active at 4–15°C

Self-expanding stents and aortoiliac occlusive disease: A review of the literature

The treatment of symptomatic aortoiliac occlusive disease has shifted from open to endovascular repair. Both short- and long-term outcomes after percutaneous angioplasty and stenting rival those after open repair and justify an endovascular-first approach. In this article, we review the current endovascular treatment strategies in patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease, indications for primary and selective stenting in the iliac artery, and physical properties and future perspectives of self-expanding stents

The Ebola Virus VP35 Protein Is a Suppressor of RNA Silencing

RNA silencing or interference (RNAi) is a gene regulation mechanism in eukaryotes that controls cell differentiation and developmental processes via expression of microRNAs. RNAi also serves as an innate antiviral defence response in plants, nematodes, and insects. This antiviral response is triggered by virus-specific double-stranded RNA molecules (dsRNAs) that are produced during infection. To overcome antiviral RNAi responses, many plant and insect viruses encode RNA silencing suppressors (RSSs) that enable them to replicate at higher titers. Recently, several human viruses were shown to encode RSSs, suggesting that RNAi also serves as an innate defence response in mammals. Here, we demonstrate that the Ebola virus VP35 protein is a suppressor of RNAi in mammalian cells and that its RSS activity is functionally equivalent to that of the HIV-1 Tat protein. We show that VP35 can replace HIV-1 Tat and thereby support the replication of a Tat-minus HIV-1 variant. The VP35 dsRNA-binding domain is required for this RSS activity. Vaccinia virus E3L protein and influenza A virus NS1 protein are also capable of replacing the HIV-1 Tat RSS function. These findings support the hypothesis that RNAi is part of the innate antiviral response in mammalian cells. Moreover, the results indicate that RSSs play a critical role in mammalian virus replication

Endovascular Neurosurgery in the Netherlands: Historical Developments and Achievements

The historical developments of endovascular neurosurgery in the Netherlands are described

Covered Stents vs. Angioplasty for Common Iliac Artery In Stent Restenosis:A Retrospective Comparison

Objective: The optimal endovascular treatment for common iliac artery in stent re-stenosis has yet to be assessed. Treatment options include, among others, angioplasty alone and repeated stenting with covered stents. Methods: This study retrospectively compared patency and target lesion revascularisation of these treatments. All patients who underwent endovascular treatment of common iliac artery in stent re-stenosis between 2007 and 2017 were included retrospectively. The primary end point was freedom from re-stenosis. Secondary endpoints were target lesion revascularisation rate (TLR) and freedom from occlusion during follow up. Results: Seventy-four interventions were included, consisting of 37 angioplasties and 37 covered stent placements in 57 patients. Freedom from re-stenosis at four years was 72.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 51.8% – 88.7%) in the covered stent group vs. 43.5% (95% CI 25.9% – 59.8%) in the percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) group (p = .003). The target lesion revascularisation (TLR) rate was 16.4% (95% CI 7.1% – 35.6%) and 43.6% (95% CI 28.0% – 63.2%) respectively (p = .020). There was no difference in freedom from occlusion; this was 90.8% (95% CI 73.9% – 97.0%) in the covered stent group and 79.1% (95% CI 58.4% – 90.3%) in the PTA group (p = .49). The difference in freedom from re-stenosis and TLR remained significant after sensitivity and multivariable analyses. Conclusion: Covered stents offer better outcomes for common iliac artery in stent re-stenosis than angioplasty alone