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6 hrs ago


This experiment proposed to investigate the efficiency of omega 3 fatty acids from fish that improves autoimmune against myocarditis in the rat. Fish oil was extracted from fresh Tuna fish and performed FAME analysis and mice bioassay. The autoimmune myocarditis was induced by subcutaneous injection of porcine cardiac myosin (PCM) into the footpads of rats on the first and seventh day. Rats were dissected on the 21st day to analyze the histopathological, hemodynamic, echocardiographic factors, and immunohistochemistry expressions. In the study, 73.90% of total fatty acids were recorded. Histological analysis revealed that omega 3 fatty acids administrated groups showed tremendous development in the multifocal myocardia hyaline degeneration and necrosis with inflammatory changes. Moreover, omega 3 fatty acids inhabited the expressions of inflammatory cells (CD4, CD8 and CD11b) and suppressed the level of NF-κB. The echocardiographic factors such as heartbeat, SBP, DBP, levels of LVDs, LVDd, LVPW percentage of LVFS, EF, expression levels of inflammatory cytokines (TNF, IL-1β, IFN-ɤ, IL-2, and IL-6) also significantly suppressed by omega 3 fatty acids. Hence, the present study proved that consuming fatty acid-enriched fish might be a successful therapy for improving the inflammatory profile, regenerates the heart tissues, and controlled the production of inflammatory cells.
Woman with a history of a previous cesarean section (CS) can choose between an elective repeat CS (ERCS) and a trial of labor (TOL), which can end in a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) or an unplanned CS. Guidelines describe women's rights to make an informed decision between an ERCS or a TOL. However, the rates of TOL and vaginal birth after CS varies greatly between and within countries. The objective of this study is to asses nation-wide implementation of counselling with a decision aid (DA) including a prediction model, on intended delivery compared to care as usual. We hypothesize that this may result in a reduction in practice variation without an increase in cesarean rates or complications.

In a multicenter controlled before and after cohort study we evaluate the effect of nation-wide implementation of a DA. Practice variation was defined as the standard deviation (SD) of TOL percentages.

A total of 27 hospitals and 1,364 women were included. A significant decrease was found in practice variation (SD TOL rates 0.17 control group vs. 0.10 intervention group following decision aid implementation, p=0.011). There was no significant difference in the ERCS rate or overall CS rates. A 21% reduction in the combined maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes was seen.

Nationwide implementation of the DA showed a significant reduction in practice variation without an increase in the rate of cesarean section or complications, suggesting an improvement in equality of care.
Nationwide implementation of the DA showed a significant reduction in practice variation without an increase in the rate of cesarean section or complications, suggesting an improvement in equality of care.Biological variation (BV) data have many important applications in laboratory medicine. Concerns about quality of published BV data led the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) 1st Strategic Conference to indicate need for new studies to generate BV estimates of required quality. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/TG100-115.html In response, the EFLM Working Group on BV delivered the multicenter European Biological Variation Study (EuBIVAS). This review summarises the EuBIVAS and its outcomes. Serum/plasma samples were taken from 91 ostensibly healthy individuals for 10 consecutive weeks at 6 European centres. Analysis was performed by Siemens ADVIA 2400 (clinical chemistry), Cobas Roche 8000, c702 and e801 (proteins and tumor markers/hormones respectively), ACL Top 750 (coagulation parameters), and IDS iSYS or DiaSorin Liaison (bone biomarkers). A strict preanalytical and analytical protocol was applied. To determine BV estimates with 95% CI, CV-ANOVA after analysis of outliers, homogeneity and trend analysis or a Bayesian model was applied. EuBIVAS has so far delivered BV estimates for 80 different measurands. Estimates for 10 measurands (Non-HDL Cholesterol, S100-β protein, neuron-specific enolase, soluble transferrin receptor, intact fibroblast growth-factor-23, uncarboxylated-unphosphorylated matrix-Gla protein, human epididymis protein-4, free, conjugated and %free prostate-specific antigen), prior to EuBIVAS, have not been available. BV data for creatinine and troponin I were obtained using two analytical methods in each case. The EuBIVAS has delivered high-quality BV data for a wide range of measurands. The BV estimates are for many measurands lower than those previously reported, having an impact on the derived analytical performance specifications and reference change values.Previous studies have confirmed that poor living conditions can lead to a wide range of health problems. However, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups in unstable housing are more susceptible to disease. This study aims to systematically examine the housing and health problems of vulnerable groups using a bibliometric approach to explore how housing causes health problems, types of health illnesses, and coping strategies. It is found that the poor housing mechanism, persistent inequalities, and poor housing environments have a significant impact on the health of vulnerable groups. Therefore, the government must make concerted efforts across all sectors to ensure that the housing and health care needs of vulnerable groups are improved, and that housing security standards and related policies are improved; targeted safety plans are formulated with community as the carrier, taking into account the characteristics of vulnerable groups; and new information technology is widely used to provide medical convenience for vulnerable groups. It is hoped that the research in this paper can arouse social attention to the health of vulnerable groups and improve their health from the perspective of housing, so as to point out the direction for solving the housing health problems of vulnerable groups in the future.

8 hrs ago


COVID-19 undermines food security both directly, by disrupting food systems, and indirectly, through the impacts of lockdowns on household incomes and physical access to food. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/wnt-c59-c59.html COVID-19 and responses to the pandemic could undermine food production, processing and marketing, but the most concerning impacts are on the demand-side - economic and physical access to food. This paper identifies three complementary frameworks that can contribute to understanding these effects, which are expected to persist into the post-pandemic phase, after lockdowns are lifted. FAO's 'four pillars'- availability, access, stability and utilisation - and the 'food systems' approach both provide holistic frameworks for analysing food security. Sen's 'entitlement' approach is useful for disaggregating demand-side effects on household production-, labour-, trade- and transfer-based entitlements to food. Drawing on the strengths of each of these frameworks can enhance the understanding of the pandemic's impacts on food security, while also pinpointing areas for governments and other actors to intervene in the food system, to protect the food security of households left vulnerable by COVID-19 and public responses.Disruption to food systems and impacts on livelihoods and diets have been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate effects of this multi-layered shock on production, sales, prices, incomes and diets for vegetable farmers in India as both producers and consumers of nutrient-dense foods. We undertook a rapid telephone survey with 448 farmers in 4 states, in one of the first studies to document the early impacts of the pandemic and policy responses on farming households. We find that a majority of farmers report negative impacts on production, sales, prices and incomes. Over 80% of farms reported some decline in sales, and over 20% of farms reported devastating declines (sold almost nothing). Price reductions were reported by over 80% of farmers, and reductions by more than half for 50% of farmers. Similarly, farm income reportedly dropped for 90% of farms, and by more than half for 60%. Of surveyed households, 62% reported disruptions to their diets. A majority of farm householn horticultural households risk rolling back the impressive economic and nutrition gains India has seen over the past decade. Food systems, and particularly those making available the most nutrient-dense foods, must be considered in ongoing and future government responses.Agriculture and the food sector are critical to food and nutrition security because they not only produce food but also contribute to economic empowerment by employing a large share of female and male workers, especially in developing countries. Food systems at all levels-globally, domestically, locally, and in the home- are expected to be highly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Women and men work as food producers, processors, and traders and will likely be impacted differently. Shocks or crises can exacerbate or reduce gender gaps, and so can policy responses to mitigate the impact of these crises or shocks. We offer some perspectives and available country examples on how the COVID-19 crisis and responses to the crisis could be a setback or offer opportunities for gender equality in the food system.The lockdown in Britain has rendered a large proportion of the population economically vulnerable and has at least quadrupled demand for emergency food relief. This paper looks critically at response to the crisis from the government and the voluntary sector with respect to provision of emergency food. In doing so, it has exposed gaps in understanding of the vagaries of the food supply for certain population groups and systemic weaknesses in the current system of emergency food aid. We make recommendations for healthier governmental capacity to react to a food security crisis, better relationships between the government and the voluntary sector, and further research into the dietary constraints of the precariate. Importantly, the social system needs to be responsive to short-term changes in people's income if people are not to fall into food insecurity.In this paper we submit some thoughts on the possible implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for rural people in the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). We base our observations and conclusions on our long-term research experience in the region. The paper focuses on the economics of rural households during this crisis period and its aftermath. We conclude that country differences clearly exist due to their different stages of development. However, while rural households belong to the Corona risk groups, they are also resilient to such a shock. We submit that Governments in the GMS should strengthen policies that conserve the safety-net function of rural villages.The objective of this review is to explore and discuss the concept of local food system resilience in light of the disruptions brought to those systems by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion, which focuses on low and middle income countries, considers also the other shocks and stressors that generally affect local food systems and their actors in those countries (weather-related, economic, political or social disturbances). The review of existing (mainly grey or media-based) accounts on COVID-19 suggests that, with the exception of those who lost members of their family to the virus, as per June 2020 the main impact of the pandemic derives mainly from the lockdown and mobility restrictions imposed by national/local governments, and the consequence that the subsequent loss of income and purchasing power has on people's food security, in particular the poor. The paper then uses the most prominent advances made recently in the literature on household resilience in the context of food security and humanitarian crises to identify a series of lessons that can be used to improve our understanding of food system resilience and its link to food security in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and other shocks. Those lessons include principles about the measurement of food system resilience and suggestions about the types of interventions that could potentially strengthen the abilities of actors (including policy makers) to respond more appropriately to adverse events affecting food systems in the future.

12 hrs ago


© 2020 The Authors. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.For patients who have chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), one of the primary treatment options is administration of nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (BID). In previous studies which compared outcomes associated with nilotinib or imatinib treatment, nilotinib achieved a higher rate of deep molecular response (MR). We conducted a phase II, open-label, multicenter study to investigate an intrapatient nilotinib dose-escalation strategy for patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase (CP) CML based on early MR4.5 achievement. The primary study endpoint was achievement of MR4.5 by 24 months following the initiation of nilotinib 300 mg BID. Fifty-three patients were enrolled, 51 received nilotinib, and 37 completed the treatment. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pyridostatin-trifluoroacetate-salt.html An increase in the nilotinib dose (to 400 mg BID) was allowed when patients satisfied our criteria for no optimal response at any time point. The median (range) dose intensity was 600 (207-736) mg/day. Of 46 evaluable patients, 18 achieved an optimal response and 28 did not. Of the latter, nine patients underwent dose escalation to 400 mg BID, and none achieved MR4.5 . The remaining 19 patients could not undergo dose escalation, 12 (63%) because of adverse events (AEs), and 7 (37%) for non-AE related reasons. Four of these patients achieved MR4.5 . The MR4.5 rate by 24 months was 45.7%. The progression-free, overall and event-free survival were each 97.6%. No new safety concerns were observed. Our findings support the use of continuous nilotinib at a dose of 300 mg BID for newly diagnosed patients with CML-CP. © 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.AIMS Although serum uric acid (SUA) level is correlated with oxidative stress and serves as a marker of poor prognosis in heart failure patients, its possible association with subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction has not been evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the association between SUA and subclinical LV dysfunction in a sample of a general population without overt cardiac disease. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined 1175 participants who underwent extensive cardiovascular health check-up including laboratory tests and speckle-tracking echocardiography to assess LV global longitudinal strain (GLS). The association of SUA concentration, as a continuous variable and a categorical variable using quartiles, with the presence of abnormal LVGLS was assessed. Mean age was 62 ± 12 years, and 656 (56%) were male participants. Mean SUA was 5.6 ± 1.3 mg/dL (25th-75th percentile, 4.6-6.5 mg/dL). The prevalence of abnormal LVGLS (greater than -18.6%) was greatest in the upper quartile of SUA. In multivariable analysis, SUA as a continuous variable was significantly associated with abnormal LVGLS [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 1.26 per 1 mg/dL; P = 0.008] independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, pertinent laboratory parameters and echocardiographic measures, and medications. In the categorical analysis, the upper quartile of SUA was independently associated with abnormal LVGLS in a fully adjusted model (adjusted OR, 2.28 vs. lowest quartile; P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS In a sample of the general population, an elevated SUA was independently associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Assessment of LVGLS may add important prognostic information in individuals with elevated SUA, even in the absence of overt cardiac disease. © 2020 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.BACKGROUND Polysyndactyly (PSD) is an autosomal dominant genetic limb malformation caused by mutations. METHODS Whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were used to determine the mutations in PSD patients. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to determine the effect of GLI3 mutation on its transcriptional activity. RESULTS In this study, we investigated the gene mutations of three affected individuals across three generations. The frameshift mutations of GLI3 (NM_000168c.4659del, NP_000159.3 p.Ser1553del), ANKUB1 (NM_001144960c.1385del, NP_001138432.1 p.Pro462del), and TAS2R3 (NM_016943c.128_131del, NP_058639.1 p.Leu43del) were identified in the three affected individuals, but not in three unaffected members by whole exome sequencing and sanger sequencing. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that GLI3 mutation reduced the transcriptional activity of GLI3. The results from SMART analysis showed that the frameshift mutation of TAS2R3 altered most protein sequence, which probably destroyed protein function. Although the frameshift mutation of ANKUB1 did not locate in ankyrin repeat domain and ubiquitin domain, it might influence the interaction between ANKUB1 and other proteins, and further affected the ubiquitinylation. CONCLUSION These results indicated that the frameshift mutations of GLI3, ANKUB1, and TAS2R3 might alter the functions of these proteins, and accelerated PSD progression. © 2020 The Authors. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.PURPOSE The behavior of implant-crowns fabricated from recently introduced CAD-CAM zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic (ZLS) or a hybrid ceramic containing resin-reinforced glass network (HC) for strains around the implant platform is not well-known. A force absorption capacity of the latter has been claimed by the manufacturer. The aim of this study was to measure and compare recently introduced ZLS and HC with commonly used CAD-CAM implant crown materials for strain distribution around the implant platform. METHODS Four implants (Legacy 1; Implant Direct) were placed into a resin block. Zirconia abutments (Straight contoured stock abutment; Implant Direct) were torqued into the implant fixtures to support crowns that were milled from a virtual design using four different CAD-CAM materials (Vita Suprinity PC (ZLS), Vita Enamix (HC), IPS Emax, ZirCAD Zirkonzahn) (N = 20). The crowns were cemented with a resin cement, loaded and strain values were recorded. Three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) was used to measure compressive and tensile strains around the implant platforms. The tensile and compressive strains were recorded for each test and first analyzed for equality of variance using Levene's test, and further tested using a 2-way ANOVA repeated measures analysis of variance (α = .05). RESULTS The data analysis showed no statistically significant effect of crown material on the generated strains (P > .05). Compressive strains were significantly higher than the tensile strains (P  less then  .05). One of the HC crowns fractured during loading. CONCLUSIONS Strains generated around implant platform when new generation CAD-CAM crown materials were used was similar to strains observed when CAD-CAM zirconia and lithium disilicate crowns were used. New generation crown materials did not have a significant load absorption effect to change or minimize the strains generated around the implant platform. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Videos

In today’s world, some names and titles no longer fit, and Delia Gray, a Texas-based community activist, is leading the charge to address this issue. Her current focus is on updating the outdated name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While the NAACP has been a pivotal force in advancing civil rights, racial equality, and equal opportunity in the US, its name is seen by many as outdated and offensive. Delia Gray is dedicated to changing it and bringing the organization’s name into alignment with contemporary values. She joins John Kiriakou on this episode of The Whistleblowers to talk about her case.

04/17/2023

Recent events surrounding the World Cup have shown a possible inequality in the application of disdain for countries who do not express equality for homosexuals, what many call the "GloboHomo Agenda". On this edition of 360 View we are going to examine if the West is exploiting "homosexual rights" in countries as a way to disrupt them and level complaints of human rights abuses against them. We discuss with Tim Gordon, Catholic philosopher and podcast host of "Rule for Retrogrades", why this only happens in countries which are considered to be adversarial.

Few today know James Otis, Jr. - born Feb 5, 1725 - whose 5 hour oration against the Writs of Assistance in 1761 sparked the flames of liberty, “American Independence was then & there born.” Learn some of the highlights of his most important works: In support of natural rights, equality, property rights, resistance and more.

Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: February 4, 2022

Circles

Sorry, no results were found.

Videos

In today’s world, some names and titles no longer fit, and Delia Gray, a Texas-based community activist, is leading the charge to address this issue. Her current focus is on updating the outdated name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). While the NAACP has been a pivotal force in advancing civil rights, racial equality, and equal opportunity in the US, its name is seen by many as outdated and offensive. Delia Gray is dedicated to changing it and bringing the organization’s name into alignment with contemporary values. She joins John Kiriakou on this episode of The Whistleblowers to talk about her case.

04/17/2023

Recent events surrounding the World Cup have shown a possible inequality in the application of disdain for countries who do not express equality for homosexuals, what many call the "GloboHomo Agenda". On this edition of 360 View we are going to examine if the West is exploiting "homosexual rights" in countries as a way to disrupt them and level complaints of human rights abuses against them. We discuss with Tim Gordon, Catholic philosopher and podcast host of "Rule for Retrogrades", why this only happens in countries which are considered to be adversarial.

Few today know James Otis, Jr. - born Feb 5, 1725 - whose 5 hour oration against the Writs of Assistance in 1761 sparked the flames of liberty, “American Independence was then & there born.” Learn some of the highlights of his most important works: In support of natural rights, equality, property rights, resistance and more.

Path to Liberty, Fast Friday Edition: February 4, 2022

Posts

6 hrs ago


This experiment proposed to investigate the efficiency of omega 3 fatty acids from fish that improves autoimmune against myocarditis in the rat. Fish oil was extracted from fresh Tuna fish and performed FAME analysis and mice bioassay. The autoimmune myocarditis was induced by subcutaneous injection of porcine cardiac myosin (PCM) into the footpads of rats on the first and seventh day. Rats were dissected on the 21st day to analyze the histopathological, hemodynamic, echocardiographic factors, and immunohistochemistry expressions. In the study, 73.90% of total fatty acids were recorded. Histological analysis revealed that omega 3 fatty acids administrated groups showed tremendous development in the multifocal myocardia hyaline degeneration and necrosis with inflammatory changes. Moreover, omega 3 fatty acids inhabited the expressions of inflammatory cells (CD4, CD8 and CD11b) and suppressed the level of NF-κB. The echocardiographic factors such as heartbeat, SBP, DBP, levels of LVDs, LVDd, LVPW percentage of LVFS, EF, expression levels of inflammatory cytokines (TNF, IL-1β, IFN-ɤ, IL-2, and IL-6) also significantly suppressed by omega 3 fatty acids. Hence, the present study proved that consuming fatty acid-enriched fish might be a successful therapy for improving the inflammatory profile, regenerates the heart tissues, and controlled the production of inflammatory cells.
Woman with a history of a previous cesarean section (CS) can choose between an elective repeat CS (ERCS) and a trial of labor (TOL), which can end in a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) or an unplanned CS. Guidelines describe women's rights to make an informed decision between an ERCS or a TOL. However, the rates of TOL and vaginal birth after CS varies greatly between and within countries. The objective of this study is to asses nation-wide implementation of counselling with a decision aid (DA) including a prediction model, on intended delivery compared to care as usual. We hypothesize that this may result in a reduction in practice variation without an increase in cesarean rates or complications.

In a multicenter controlled before and after cohort study we evaluate the effect of nation-wide implementation of a DA. Practice variation was defined as the standard deviation (SD) of TOL percentages.

A total of 27 hospitals and 1,364 women were included. A significant decrease was found in practice variation (SD TOL rates 0.17 control group vs. 0.10 intervention group following decision aid implementation, p=0.011). There was no significant difference in the ERCS rate or overall CS rates. A 21% reduction in the combined maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes was seen.

Nationwide implementation of the DA showed a significant reduction in practice variation without an increase in the rate of cesarean section or complications, suggesting an improvement in equality of care.
Nationwide implementation of the DA showed a significant reduction in practice variation without an increase in the rate of cesarean section or complications, suggesting an improvement in equality of care.Biological variation (BV) data have many important applications in laboratory medicine. Concerns about quality of published BV data led the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) 1st Strategic Conference to indicate need for new studies to generate BV estimates of required quality. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/TG100-115.html In response, the EFLM Working Group on BV delivered the multicenter European Biological Variation Study (EuBIVAS). This review summarises the EuBIVAS and its outcomes. Serum/plasma samples were taken from 91 ostensibly healthy individuals for 10 consecutive weeks at 6 European centres. Analysis was performed by Siemens ADVIA 2400 (clinical chemistry), Cobas Roche 8000, c702 and e801 (proteins and tumor markers/hormones respectively), ACL Top 750 (coagulation parameters), and IDS iSYS or DiaSorin Liaison (bone biomarkers). A strict preanalytical and analytical protocol was applied. To determine BV estimates with 95% CI, CV-ANOVA after analysis of outliers, homogeneity and trend analysis or a Bayesian model was applied. EuBIVAS has so far delivered BV estimates for 80 different measurands. Estimates for 10 measurands (Non-HDL Cholesterol, S100-β protein, neuron-specific enolase, soluble transferrin receptor, intact fibroblast growth-factor-23, uncarboxylated-unphosphorylated matrix-Gla protein, human epididymis protein-4, free, conjugated and %free prostate-specific antigen), prior to EuBIVAS, have not been available. BV data for creatinine and troponin I were obtained using two analytical methods in each case. The EuBIVAS has delivered high-quality BV data for a wide range of measurands. The BV estimates are for many measurands lower than those previously reported, having an impact on the derived analytical performance specifications and reference change values.Previous studies have confirmed that poor living conditions can lead to a wide range of health problems. However, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups in unstable housing are more susceptible to disease. This study aims to systematically examine the housing and health problems of vulnerable groups using a bibliometric approach to explore how housing causes health problems, types of health illnesses, and coping strategies. It is found that the poor housing mechanism, persistent inequalities, and poor housing environments have a significant impact on the health of vulnerable groups. Therefore, the government must make concerted efforts across all sectors to ensure that the housing and health care needs of vulnerable groups are improved, and that housing security standards and related policies are improved; targeted safety plans are formulated with community as the carrier, taking into account the characteristics of vulnerable groups; and new information technology is widely used to provide medical convenience for vulnerable groups. It is hoped that the research in this paper can arouse social attention to the health of vulnerable groups and improve their health from the perspective of housing, so as to point out the direction for solving the housing health problems of vulnerable groups in the future.

8 hrs ago


COVID-19 undermines food security both directly, by disrupting food systems, and indirectly, through the impacts of lockdowns on household incomes and physical access to food. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/wnt-c59-c59.html COVID-19 and responses to the pandemic could undermine food production, processing and marketing, but the most concerning impacts are on the demand-side - economic and physical access to food. This paper identifies three complementary frameworks that can contribute to understanding these effects, which are expected to persist into the post-pandemic phase, after lockdowns are lifted. FAO's 'four pillars'- availability, access, stability and utilisation - and the 'food systems' approach both provide holistic frameworks for analysing food security. Sen's 'entitlement' approach is useful for disaggregating demand-side effects on household production-, labour-, trade- and transfer-based entitlements to food. Drawing on the strengths of each of these frameworks can enhance the understanding of the pandemic's impacts on food security, while also pinpointing areas for governments and other actors to intervene in the food system, to protect the food security of households left vulnerable by COVID-19 and public responses.Disruption to food systems and impacts on livelihoods and diets have been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate effects of this multi-layered shock on production, sales, prices, incomes and diets for vegetable farmers in India as both producers and consumers of nutrient-dense foods. We undertook a rapid telephone survey with 448 farmers in 4 states, in one of the first studies to document the early impacts of the pandemic and policy responses on farming households. We find that a majority of farmers report negative impacts on production, sales, prices and incomes. Over 80% of farms reported some decline in sales, and over 20% of farms reported devastating declines (sold almost nothing). Price reductions were reported by over 80% of farmers, and reductions by more than half for 50% of farmers. Similarly, farm income reportedly dropped for 90% of farms, and by more than half for 60%. Of surveyed households, 62% reported disruptions to their diets. A majority of farm householn horticultural households risk rolling back the impressive economic and nutrition gains India has seen over the past decade. Food systems, and particularly those making available the most nutrient-dense foods, must be considered in ongoing and future government responses.Agriculture and the food sector are critical to food and nutrition security because they not only produce food but also contribute to economic empowerment by employing a large share of female and male workers, especially in developing countries. Food systems at all levels-globally, domestically, locally, and in the home- are expected to be highly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Women and men work as food producers, processors, and traders and will likely be impacted differently. Shocks or crises can exacerbate or reduce gender gaps, and so can policy responses to mitigate the impact of these crises or shocks. We offer some perspectives and available country examples on how the COVID-19 crisis and responses to the crisis could be a setback or offer opportunities for gender equality in the food system.The lockdown in Britain has rendered a large proportion of the population economically vulnerable and has at least quadrupled demand for emergency food relief. This paper looks critically at response to the crisis from the government and the voluntary sector with respect to provision of emergency food. In doing so, it has exposed gaps in understanding of the vagaries of the food supply for certain population groups and systemic weaknesses in the current system of emergency food aid. We make recommendations for healthier governmental capacity to react to a food security crisis, better relationships between the government and the voluntary sector, and further research into the dietary constraints of the precariate. Importantly, the social system needs to be responsive to short-term changes in people's income if people are not to fall into food insecurity.In this paper we submit some thoughts on the possible implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for rural people in the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). We base our observations and conclusions on our long-term research experience in the region. The paper focuses on the economics of rural households during this crisis period and its aftermath. We conclude that country differences clearly exist due to their different stages of development. However, while rural households belong to the Corona risk groups, they are also resilient to such a shock. We submit that Governments in the GMS should strengthen policies that conserve the safety-net function of rural villages.The objective of this review is to explore and discuss the concept of local food system resilience in light of the disruptions brought to those systems by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion, which focuses on low and middle income countries, considers also the other shocks and stressors that generally affect local food systems and their actors in those countries (weather-related, economic, political or social disturbances). The review of existing (mainly grey or media-based) accounts on COVID-19 suggests that, with the exception of those who lost members of their family to the virus, as per June 2020 the main impact of the pandemic derives mainly from the lockdown and mobility restrictions imposed by national/local governments, and the consequence that the subsequent loss of income and purchasing power has on people's food security, in particular the poor. The paper then uses the most prominent advances made recently in the literature on household resilience in the context of food security and humanitarian crises to identify a series of lessons that can be used to improve our understanding of food system resilience and its link to food security in the context of the COVID-19 crisis and other shocks. Those lessons include principles about the measurement of food system resilience and suggestions about the types of interventions that could potentially strengthen the abilities of actors (including policy makers) to respond more appropriately to adverse events affecting food systems in the future.

12 hrs ago


© 2020 The Authors. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.For patients who have chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), one of the primary treatment options is administration of nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (BID). In previous studies which compared outcomes associated with nilotinib or imatinib treatment, nilotinib achieved a higher rate of deep molecular response (MR). We conducted a phase II, open-label, multicenter study to investigate an intrapatient nilotinib dose-escalation strategy for patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase (CP) CML based on early MR4.5 achievement. The primary study endpoint was achievement of MR4.5 by 24 months following the initiation of nilotinib 300 mg BID. Fifty-three patients were enrolled, 51 received nilotinib, and 37 completed the treatment. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pyridostatin-trifluoroacetate-salt.html An increase in the nilotinib dose (to 400 mg BID) was allowed when patients satisfied our criteria for no optimal response at any time point. The median (range) dose intensity was 600 (207-736) mg/day. Of 46 evaluable patients, 18 achieved an optimal response and 28 did not. Of the latter, nine patients underwent dose escalation to 400 mg BID, and none achieved MR4.5 . The remaining 19 patients could not undergo dose escalation, 12 (63%) because of adverse events (AEs), and 7 (37%) for non-AE related reasons. Four of these patients achieved MR4.5 . The MR4.5 rate by 24 months was 45.7%. The progression-free, overall and event-free survival were each 97.6%. No new safety concerns were observed. Our findings support the use of continuous nilotinib at a dose of 300 mg BID for newly diagnosed patients with CML-CP. © 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.AIMS Although serum uric acid (SUA) level is correlated with oxidative stress and serves as a marker of poor prognosis in heart failure patients, its possible association with subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction has not been evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the association between SUA and subclinical LV dysfunction in a sample of a general population without overt cardiac disease. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined 1175 participants who underwent extensive cardiovascular health check-up including laboratory tests and speckle-tracking echocardiography to assess LV global longitudinal strain (GLS). The association of SUA concentration, as a continuous variable and a categorical variable using quartiles, with the presence of abnormal LVGLS was assessed. Mean age was 62 ± 12 years, and 656 (56%) were male participants. Mean SUA was 5.6 ± 1.3 mg/dL (25th-75th percentile, 4.6-6.5 mg/dL). The prevalence of abnormal LVGLS (greater than -18.6%) was greatest in the upper quartile of SUA. In multivariable analysis, SUA as a continuous variable was significantly associated with abnormal LVGLS [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 1.26 per 1 mg/dL; P = 0.008] independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, pertinent laboratory parameters and echocardiographic measures, and medications. In the categorical analysis, the upper quartile of SUA was independently associated with abnormal LVGLS in a fully adjusted model (adjusted OR, 2.28 vs. lowest quartile; P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS In a sample of the general population, an elevated SUA was independently associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Assessment of LVGLS may add important prognostic information in individuals with elevated SUA, even in the absence of overt cardiac disease. © 2020 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.BACKGROUND Polysyndactyly (PSD) is an autosomal dominant genetic limb malformation caused by mutations. METHODS Whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were used to determine the mutations in PSD patients. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to determine the effect of GLI3 mutation on its transcriptional activity. RESULTS In this study, we investigated the gene mutations of three affected individuals across three generations. The frameshift mutations of GLI3 (NM_000168c.4659del, NP_000159.3 p.Ser1553del), ANKUB1 (NM_001144960c.1385del, NP_001138432.1 p.Pro462del), and TAS2R3 (NM_016943c.128_131del, NP_058639.1 p.Leu43del) were identified in the three affected individuals, but not in three unaffected members by whole exome sequencing and sanger sequencing. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that GLI3 mutation reduced the transcriptional activity of GLI3. The results from SMART analysis showed that the frameshift mutation of TAS2R3 altered most protein sequence, which probably destroyed protein function. Although the frameshift mutation of ANKUB1 did not locate in ankyrin repeat domain and ubiquitin domain, it might influence the interaction between ANKUB1 and other proteins, and further affected the ubiquitinylation. CONCLUSION These results indicated that the frameshift mutations of GLI3, ANKUB1, and TAS2R3 might alter the functions of these proteins, and accelerated PSD progression. © 2020 The Authors. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.PURPOSE The behavior of implant-crowns fabricated from recently introduced CAD-CAM zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic (ZLS) or a hybrid ceramic containing resin-reinforced glass network (HC) for strains around the implant platform is not well-known. A force absorption capacity of the latter has been claimed by the manufacturer. The aim of this study was to measure and compare recently introduced ZLS and HC with commonly used CAD-CAM implant crown materials for strain distribution around the implant platform. METHODS Four implants (Legacy 1; Implant Direct) were placed into a resin block. Zirconia abutments (Straight contoured stock abutment; Implant Direct) were torqued into the implant fixtures to support crowns that were milled from a virtual design using four different CAD-CAM materials (Vita Suprinity PC (ZLS), Vita Enamix (HC), IPS Emax, ZirCAD Zirkonzahn) (N = 20). The crowns were cemented with a resin cement, loaded and strain values were recorded. Three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) was used to measure compressive and tensile strains around the implant platforms. The tensile and compressive strains were recorded for each test and first analyzed for equality of variance using Levene's test, and further tested using a 2-way ANOVA repeated measures analysis of variance (α = .05). RESULTS The data analysis showed no statistically significant effect of crown material on the generated strains (P > .05). Compressive strains were significantly higher than the tensile strains (P  less then  .05). One of the HC crowns fractured during loading. CONCLUSIONS Strains generated around implant platform when new generation CAD-CAM crown materials were used was similar to strains observed when CAD-CAM zirconia and lithium disilicate crowns were used. New generation crown materials did not have a significant load absorption effect to change or minimize the strains generated around the implant platform. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.

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We have previously reported that multiple Team-Based Learning (TBL™) exercises in a 4-week pre-clinical medical school course improved final exam performance and significantly reduced the number of course failures. Here, we conducted a long-term study, with eight cohorts of first-year medical students, to determine whether the implementation of a single TBL individual readiness assessment test (iRAT) exercise in a 4-week medical school pharmacology course produces similar effects in overall course performance. We implemented a single TBL iRAT exercise that covered the subjects addressed during one week of the medical pharmacology course, with the four most recent cohorts of students matriculating at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (n = 403). The first four cohorts matriculating at CMSRU did not participate in the TBL exercises (n = 266). Correlation of individual student TBL iRAT and final examination scores in the medical pharmacology course was compared to a second, unrelated first-year course (physiology) to control for variation in student performance between cohorts. We found that there was a significant moderate correlation between final examination and TBL iRAT scores (r = 0.49, p  0.05). Implementation of the single TBL exercise also significantly reduced variance or range of student final examination performance compared to the group of the first four cohorts. These results suggest that implementation of a single TBL exercise, which covers only one week of content delivered in a 1-month medical pharmacology course, benefits first-year medical students by reducing the disparity in knowledge acquisition among them and providing a means to identify students who may struggle with course content.Prevention of oxidative stress and inflammation in chronic kidney disease patients (CKD) on dialysis may reduce dialysis-associated complications. Administration of powerful antioxidants may improve the consequences of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD). This narrative review aimed to show the potential therapeutic effects of melatonin (MLT) on the consequences of CKD patients receiving HD or PD. The results of preclinical and clinical studies have proven that CKD and dialysis are accompanied by reduced endogenous MLT levels and related complications such as sleep disorders. Enhanced oxidative stress, inflammation, cellular damages, and renal fibrosis, along with dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), have been observed in CKD and patients on dialysis. Results of studies have revealed that the restoration of MLT via the exogenous source may regulate oxidative stress, inflammation, and RAS functions, inhibit fibrosis, and improve complications in patients with long-term dialysis patients. In summary, treatment of patients with CKD and dialysis with exogenous MLT is suggested as a practical approach in reducing the outcomes and improving the quality of life in patients via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic signaling pathways. Therefore, this hormone can be considered in clinical practice to manage dialysis-related complications.
Severe mental illnesses (SMI) are characterized by high psychosocial impairment as well as by increased somatic morbidity and mortality. The term SMI commonly includes psychotic, bipolar and severe unipolar depressive disorders but borderline personality disorder (BPD) also shows severe sequelae of the disease.

Published reviews and studies since 2010 examining disease burden of BPD, in terms of direct and indirect costs of illness, somatic comorbidity, and mortality were included. Furthermore, administrative data (clinically recorded billing data in Germany), comorbidity and mortality from acomprehensive analysis (n > 59million, age ≥ 18years) are reported.

International studies reveal an increased disease burden, comorbidity, and mortality for BPD. In Germany BPD (administrative 1‑year prevalence 0.34%) is associated with increased rates of somatic sequelae of trauma, hepatitis, HIV, COPD, asthma, and obesity. The estimated reduced life expectancy is 5.0-9.3years of life lost (depending on age and to provide not only psychotherapeutic and psychiatric but also adequate somatic prevention and treatment. Individual improvement of everyday care as well as establishing new interdisciplinary and multiprofessional services could enhance health equality for people with BPD.Studies suggested that long noncoding HAR1A RNA may be a tumor suppressor, but its association with oral cancer remains unclear. Here, we show the functional role and mechanisms of HAR1A in oral cancer progression. Microarray analysis was performed to screen the related candidates of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) in human monocytes. Following lncRNA HAR1A, the regulation of HAR1A, ALPK1, myosin IIA, and BRD7 was tested using reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in oral cancer cells. The inflammatory and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition marker expressions were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blot. Phenotypic experiments were verified by colony formation assay, transwell migration assay, and Annexin V-apoptotic assay. In the nuclei of cancer cells, HAR1A functions upstream of signaling pathways and knockdown of HAR1A promoted ALPK1 expression and downregulated BRD7 resulting in inflammation and oral cancer progression. In monocytes, the expressionf signaling pathways to inhibit ALPK1 expression and then upregulated BRD7. lncRNA HAR1A and ALPK1 are involved in cancer progression via epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition regulations. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/td139.html ALPK1 inhibitors are potential kinase-targeted therapeutic agents for patients with advanced oral cancer.Although crickets move their front wings for sound production, the abdominal ganglia house the network of the singing central pattern generator. We compared the effects of specific lesions to the connectives of the abdominal ganglion chain on calling song activity in four different species of crickets, generating very different pulse patterns in their calling songs. In all species, singing activity was abolished after the connectives between the metathoracic ganglion complex and the first abdominal ganglion A3 were severed. The song structure was lost and males generated only single sound pulses when connectives between A3 and A4 were cut. Severing connectives between A4 and A5 had no effect in the trilling species, it led to an extension of chirps in a chirping species and to a loss of the phrase structure in two Teleogryllus species. Cutting the connectives between A5 and A6 caused no or minor changes in singing activity. In spite of the species-specific pulse patterns of calling songs, our data indicate a conserved organisation of the calling song motor pattern generating network.

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Entering the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on supply chains. Reacting to the pandemic and adaptation in the "new normal" have been challenging tasks. Exiting the pandemic can lead to some after-shock effects such as "disruption tails." While the research community has undertaken considerable efforts to predict the pandemic's impacts and examine supply chain adaptive behaviors during the pandemic, little is known about supply chain management in the course of pandemic elimination and post-disruption recovery. If capacity and inventory management are unaware of the after-shock risks, this can result in highly destabilized production-inventory dynamics and decreased performance in the post-disruption period causing product deficits in the markets and high inventory costs in the supply chains. In this paper, we use a discrete-event simulation model to investigate some exit strategies for a supply chain in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our model can inform managers about the existence and risk of disruption tails in their supply chains and guide the selection of post-pandemic recovery strategies. Our results show that supply chains with postponed demand and shutdown capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic are particularly prone to disruption tails. We then developed and examined two strategies to avoid these disruption tails. First, we observed a conjunction of recovery and supply chain coordination which mitigates the impact of disruption tails by demand smoothing over time in the post-disruption period. Second, we found a gradual capacity ramp-up prior to expected peaks of postponed demand to be an effective strategy for disruption tail control.In 2001, Indonesia established the Consumer Dispute Resolution Body (CDRB) based on the instruction of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) in 1999 to provide consumers protection in exercising their rights and to settle disputes quickly, simply, affordably, and professionally. Compared to the systems established by several countries that submit common law systems in which dispute-solving cases are terminated by the special courts called Small Claims Courts or Small Claims Tribunals, CDRB construction in Indonesia was quite vague. Although it uses arbitration terminology, the CDRB lacks an arbitration mechanism because, in practice, the body examines consumer disputes, working formally as a court. The root of this problem arose from the inconsistent regulation in the CPA. This article aims to review the CDRB construction problem compared to systems in other countries, to find recommendations for CPA amendments and discuss the future prospects. This study suggests two solutions The first is the strict separation of litigation and non-litigation dispute resolution. The second is the formation of both online litigation and non-litigation systems. With these systems, the CDRB becomes a substitute institution, meaning that this body is the only system for small claim resolution for disputing parties.Posthuman affirmative ethics relies upon a fluid, nomadic conception of the ethical subject who develops affective, material and immaterial connections to multiple others. Our purpose in this paper is to consider what posthuman affirmative business ethics would look like, and to reflect on the shift in thinking and practice this would involve. The need for a revised understanding of human-animal relations in business ethics is amplified by crises such as climate change and pandemics that are related to ecologically destructive business practices such as factory farming. In this analysis, we use feminist speculative fiction as a resource for reimagination and posthuman ethical thinking. By focusing on three ethical movements experienced by a central character named Toby in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, we show how she is continually becoming through affective, embodied encounters with human and nonhuman others. In the discussion, we consider the vulnerability that arises from openness to affect which engenders heightened response-ability to and with, rather than for, multiple others. This expanded concept of subjectivity enables a more relational understanding of equality that is urgently needed in order to respond affirmatively to posthuman futures.The text aims at opening a space for discussion on the problems of governance under the strain of uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic is a testing experience for contemporary liberal democracies and their underlying governance paradigm. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Rapamycin.html The article concentrates on three main issues. First, it explores how the crisis challenged authorities and their ability to sustain an overarching societal agenda, a normative horizon of governance, in view of an uncertain future. Second, it focuses on the driving logic of governance mechanisms and problematizes the preoccupation with the management of effects when dealing with social problems. Last but not least, it points to two particular dangers for democracy that emerge from the failures of the current governance paradigm in the face of the pandemic legitimizing the imbalance of powers and normalizing social distance as the new crystal lattice of public and social interaction.Preliminary results of a qualitative study of the lived experience of teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic are presented. An instructor, a program director and five doctoral students in different stages of their coursework and dissertation proposal development, wrote a reflective journal. Participants varied in their levels of familiarity with technology-assisted education, personal backgrounds and circumstances including work and family responsibilities. Participants' journals documenting their reactions, struggles and coping since the abrupt move of the university from face to face to online classes were content analyzed. The analysis was co-conducted by five participants to identify themes and generate understanding of the experience. Two main themes emerged from the analysis a developmental process of participants' reactions, perceptions and meaning making of the experience and factors that shaped it. Lessons learned are discussed and recommendations for professional education and directions for future research are suggested.