Cognitive processing of spatial relations in Euclidean diagrams

The cognitive processing of spatial relations in Euclidean diagrams is central to the diagram-based geometric practice of Euclid's Elements. In this study, we investigate this processing through two dichotomies among spatial relations—metric vs topological and exact vs co-exact—introduced by Manders in his seminal epistemological analysis of Euclid's geometric practice. To this end, we carried out a two-part experiment where participants were asked to judge spatial relations in Euclidean diagrams in a visual half field task design. In the first part, we tested whether the processing of metric vs topological relations yielded the same hemispheric specialization as the processing of coordinate vs categorical relations. In the second part, we investigated the specific performance patterns for the processing of five pairs of exact/co-exact relations, where stimuli for the co-exact relations were divided into three categories depending on their distance from the exact case. Regarding the processing of metric vs topological relations, hemispheric differences were found for only a few of the stimuli used, which may indicate that other processing mechanisms might be at play. Regarding the processing of exact vs co-exact relations, results show that the level of agreement among participants in judging co-exact relations decreases with the distance from the exact case, and this for the five pairs of exact/co-exact relations tested. The philosophical implications of these empirical findings for the epistemological analysis of Euclid's diagram-based geometric practice are spelled out and discussed

Sources of Dietary Protein in Relation to Blood Pressure in a General Dutch Population

Background - Little is known about the relation of different dietary protein types with blood pressure (BP). We examined whether intake of total, plant, animal, dairy, meat, and grain protein was related to BP in a cross sectional cohort of 20,820 Dutch adults, aged 20–65 y and not using antihypertensive medication. Design - Mean BP levels were calculated in quintiles of energy-adjusted protein with adjustment for age, sex, BMI, education, smoking, and intake of energy, alcohol, and other nutrients including protein from other sources. In addition, mean BP difference after substitution of 3 en% carbohydrates or MUFA with protein was calculated. Results - Total protein and animal protein were not associated with BP (ptrend = 0.62 and 0.71 respectively), both at the expense of carbohydrates and MUFA. Systolic BP was 1.8 mmHg lower (ptrend36 g/d) than in the lowest

Colony-Stimulating Factor 1 Receptor (CSF1R) Regulates Microglia Density and Distribution, but Not Microglia Differentiation In Vivo

Microglia are brain-resident macrophages with trophic and phagocytic functions. Dominant loss-of-function mutations in a key microglia regulator, colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), cause adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP), a progressive white matter disorder. Because it remains unclear precisely how CSF1R mutations affect microglia, we generated an allelic series of csf1r mutants in zebrafish to identify csf1r-dependent microglia changes. We found that csf1r mutations led to aberrant microglia density and distribution and regional loss of microglia. The remaining microglia still had a microglia-specific gene expression signature, indicating that they had differentiated normally. Strikingly, we also observed lower microglia numbers and widespread microglia depletion in postmortem brain tissue of ALSP patients. Both in zebrafish and in human disease, local microglia loss also presented in regions without obvious pathology. Together, this implies that CSF1R mainly regulates microglia density and that early loss of microglia may contribute to ALSP pathogenesis. Oosterhof et al. show that colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) primarily regulates microglia density and not their normal differentiation. In addition, they find widespread depletion of microglia in CSF1R-haploinsufficient zebrafish and leukodystrophy patients, also in the absence of pathology, indicating that microglia depletion may contribute to loss of white matter

Επισκόπηση ζιζανίων σε αμπελώνες Επαρχίας Λεμεσού

Από τα πιο σημαντικά, αν όχι το πιο σημαντικό πρόβλημα στη γεωργία σήμερα αποτελεί η παρουσία των ζιζανίων στις καλλιέργειες. Η εμφάνιση τους σε γεωργικές καλλιέργειες τα καθιστά ένα από τα πιο δυσεπίλυτα προβλήματα για τους παραγωγούς σήμερα. Η παρουσία τους οδηγεί σε άνισο ανταγωνισμό με τα καλλιεργούμενα φυτά σε θρεπτικά στοιχεία, φως, χώρο και νερό. Σ όλες τις χώρες τα ζιζάνια αποτελούν βασικό πρόβλημα στη γεωργία, έτσι και στη μικρή αλλά γεωργική Κύπρο, τα ζιζάνια δεν μπορούσαν να μην προκαλούν σοβαρές ζημιές. Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν η επιτόπια επισκόπηση καθώς και η καταγραφή σε αντιπροσωπευτικά εδαφοδείγματα από κάθε περιοχή των ζιζανίων σε αμπελώνες της επαρχίας Λεμεσού, σε πεδινές και ημιορεινές περιοχές. Πραγματοποιήθηκε επιτόπια επισκόπηση σε 4 διαφορετικές περιοχές ( δύο πεδινές και δύο ημιορεινές) σε δύο ή τρεις διαφορετικές εποχές. Από κάθε περιοχή, πάρθηκαν τυχαία δείγματα εδάφους, από 4-5 αγρούς της κάθε περιοχής, βάθους 0-30 οπι, σε 5 σημεία σε κάθε αγρό, σε απόσταση περίπου 100 πι μεταξύ τους. Τα μικτά δείγματα από κάθε αγρό μεταφέρθηκαν στο εργαστήριο, τοποθετήθηκαν σε φυτοδοχεία (30 χ 5 οπι) όπου έγινε βλάστηση και καταγραφή ζιζανίων για τρεις διαδοχικές περιόδους, διάρκειας ενός μήνα η κάθε μια. Μεταξύ των καταγραφών μεσολαβούσε διάστημα 15 ημερών και αναμόχλευση του εδάφους. Στην επιτόπια επισκόπηση των ζιζανίων στους πιο πάνω αμπελώνες καταγράφηκαν συνολικά 24 διαφορετικά είδη ζιζανίων από τα οποία τα 20 ήταν πλατύφυλλα και τα 4 αγρωστώδη. Στα εδαφοδείγματα στο εργαστήριο παρατηρήθηκαν συνολικά 22 είδη ζιζανίων εκ των οποίων τα 20 ήταν πλατύφυλλα και τα 2 αγρωστώδη. Τα ζιζάνια με τη μεγαλύτερη συχνότητα από τα πλατύφυλλα ήταν το πορφυρό λάμιο, η στελλάρια και η τσουκνίδα με συχνότητα 3/4 (αριθμός χωριών με παρουσία του ζιζανίου). Από τα αγρωστώδη τα ζιζάνια με την μεγαλύτερη συχνότητα ήταν η ήρα 4/4

National laboratory-based surveillance system for antimicrobial resistance: a successful tool to support the control of antimicrobial resistance in the Netherlands

An important cornerstone in the control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a well-designed quantitative system for the surveillance of spread and temporal trends in AMR. Since 2008, the Dutch national AMR surveillance system, based on routine data from medical microbiological laboratories (MMLs), has developed into a successful tool to support the control of AMR in the Netherlands. It provides background information for policy making in public health and healthcare services, supports development of empirical antibiotic therapy guidelines and facilitates in-depth research. In addition, participation of the MMLs in the national AMR surveillance network has contributed to sharing of knowledge and quality improvement. A future improvement will be the implementation of a new semantic standard together with standardised data transfer, which will reduce errors in data handling and enable a more real-time surveillance. Furthermore, the

Dietary Protein and Blood Pressure: A Systematic Review

Background - Elevated blood pressure (BP), which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, is highly prevalent worldwide. Recently, interest has grown in the role of dietary protein in human BP. We performed a systematic review of all published scientific literature on dietary protein, including protein from various sources, in relation to human BP. Methodology/Principal Findings - We performed a MEDLINE search and a manual search to identify English language studies on the association between protein and blood pressure, published before June 2010. A total of 46 papers met the inclusion criteria. Most observational studies showed no association or an inverse association between total dietary protein and BP or incident hypertension. Results of biomarker studies and randomized controlled trials indicated a beneficial effect of protein on BP. This beneficial effect may be mainly driven by plant protein, according to results in observational studies. Data on protein from specific sources (e.g. from fish, dairy, grain, soy, and nut) were scarce. There was some evidence that BP in people with elevated BP and/or older age could be more sensitive to dietary protein. Conclusions/Significance - In conclusion, evidence suggests a small beneficial effect of protein on BP, especially for plant protein. A blood pressure lowering effect of protein may have important public health implications. However, this warrants further investigation in randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, more data are needed on protein from specific sources in relation to BP, and on the protein-BP relation in population subgroup

Dual-Labeling Strategies for Nuclear and Fluorescence Molecular Imaging: A Review and Analysis

Molecular imaging is used for the detection of biochemical processes through the development of target-specific contrast agents. Separately, modalities such as nuclear and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging have been shown to non-invasively monitor disease. More recently, merging of these modalities has shown promise owing to their comparable detection sensitivity and benefited from the development of dual-labeled imaging agents. Dual-labeled agents hold promise for whole-body and intraoperative imaging and could bridge the gap between surgical planning and image-guided resection with a single, molecularly targeted agent. In this review, we summarized the literature for dual-labeled antibodies and peptides that have been developed and have highlighted key considerations for incorporating NIRF dyes into nuclear labeling strategies. We also summarized our findings on several commercially available NIRF dyes and offer perspectives for developing a toolkit to select the optimal NIRF dye and radiometal combination for multimodality imaging

A 28-day oral dose toxicity study enhanced to detect endocrine effects of hexabromocyclododecane in wistar rats

A 28-day repeated dose study in rats (OECD407) enhanced for endocrine and immune parameters was performed with hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). Rats were exposed by daily gavage to HBCD dissolved in corn oil in 8 dose groups with doses ranging between 0 and 200 mg/kg bw per day (mkd). Evaluation consisted of dose-response analysis with calculation of a benchmark dose at the lower 95% one-sided confidence bound (BMDL) at predefined critical effect sizes (CESs) of 10-20%. The most remarkable findings were dose-related effects on the thyroid hormone axis, that is, decreased total thyroxin (TT4, BMDL 55.5 mkd at CES--10%), increased pituitary weight (29 mkd at 10%) and increased immunostaining of TSH in the pituitary, increased thyroid weight (1.6 mkd at 10%), and thyroid follicle cell activation. These effects were restricted to females. Female rats also showed increased absolute liver weights (22.9 mkd at 20%) and induction of T4-glucuronyl transferase (4.1 mkd at 10%), suggesting that aberrant metabolization of T4 triggers feedback activation of the thyroid hormone system. These effects were accompanied by possibly secondary effects, including increased cholesterol (7.4 mkd at 10%), increased tibial bone mineral density (> 49 mkd at 10%), both in females, and decreased splenocyte counts (0.3-6.3 mkd at 20%; only evaluated in males). Overall, female rats appeared to be more sensitive to HBCD than male rats, and an overall BMDL is proposed at 1.6 mkd, based on a 10% increase of the thyroid weight, which was the most sensitive parameter in the sequence of events

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat