microRNA expression in peripheral blood cells following acute ischemic stroke and their predicted gene targets.

BackgroundmicroRNA (miRNA) are important regulators of gene expression. In patients with ischemic stroke we have previously shown that differences in immune cell gene expression are present. In this study we sought to determine the miRNA that are differentially expressed in peripheral blood cells of patients with acute ischemic stroke and thus may regulate immune cell gene expression.MethodsmiRNA from peripheral blood cells of forty-eight patients with ischemic stroke and vascular risk factor controls were compared. Differentially expressed miRNA in patients with ischemic stroke were determined by microarray with qRT-PCR confirmation. The gene targets and pathways associated with ischemic stroke that may be regulated by the identified miRNA were characterized.ResultsIn patients with acute ischemic stroke, miR-122, miR-148a, let-7i, miR-19a, miR-320d, miR-4429 were decreased and miR-363, miR-487b were increased compared to vascular risk factor controls. These miRNA are predicted to regulate several genes in pathways previously identified by gene expression analyses, including toll-like receptor signaling, NF-κβ signaling, leukocyte extravasation signaling, and the prothrombin activation pathway.ConclusionsSeveral miRNA are differentially expressed in blood cells of patients with acute ischemic stroke. These miRNA may regulate leukocyte gene expression in ischemic stroke including pathways involved in immune activation, leukocyte extravasation and thrombosis

DIP-2 suppresses ectopic neurite sprouting and axonal regeneration in mature neurons.

Neuronal morphology and circuitry established during early development must often be maintained over the entirety of animal lifespans. Compared with neuronal development, the mechanisms that maintain mature neuronal structures and architecture are little understood. The conserved disco-interacting protein 2 (DIP2) consists of a DMAP1-binding domain and two adenylate-forming domains (AFDs). We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans DIP-2 maintains morphology of mature neurons. dip-2 loss-of-function mutants display a progressive increase in ectopic neurite sprouting and branching during late larval and adult life. In adults, dip-2 also inhibits initial stages of axon regeneration cell autonomously and acts in parallel to DLK-1 MAP kinase and EFA-6 pathways. The function of DIP-2 in maintenance of neuron morphology and in axon regrowth requires its AFD domains and is independent of its DMAP1-binding domain. Our findings reveal a new conserved regulator of neuronal morphology maintenance and axon regrowth after injury

Louis XIV: Art as Persuasion Supporting the Dominance of France in 17th Century Europe

In 17th century France there was national funding combined with strict controls placed on the arts and all areas of the administration of Louis XIV. This was imperative to present the country as one of the greatest European powers of its time. It was done by creating personas of Louis as the Sun King, sole administrator of France or “\u27L\u27etat c\u27 est moi” (I am the State) and conqueror. All were reinforced and often invented in rigid confines through state funded propaganda. His name has become synonymous with the French arts of the 17th century through significant investments in all forms of media, from poetry, music and theatre to painting, sculpture and architecture. In this essay we will take a look at select works done during Louis XIV reign to reinforce this position. The goal is to shine a light on the strategic approach Louis took starting with the earliest days of his coming of age and how he reinforced his role as protector of the arts in France that led to his dominance in the 17th century

Prison staff perceptions of their role in the rehabilitation & desistance support of prisoners

Date on title page (2019) is incorrect. Date of award is 2020.The principle objective of my ethnographical investigation was to interrogate prison staff perceptions in a Scottish prison to their role in affecting positive change, how this integrates into regular regimes of security and care and how they are trained to be positive agents of change. Research literature concludes that prison officers are the mainstay of the prison system, but rehabilitation and desistance support for prisoners is secondary to their primary role of security and care. In response to the Scottish Government's expectation that prisons reduce recidivism, the Scottish Prison Service introduced two strategies: (i) to positively transform the provision for prisoners internally and with community reintegration externally; (ii) to professionalise prison officer's service to transform how they facilitate positive change and desistance support for prisoners. I believe my empirical research has added to the knowledge of rehabilitation and desistance support in a penal environment through the lens of prison officers using a unique combination of video recordings of training and focus groups and audio recordings of one-to-one interviews which augment my observations, notes and interview responses, and provide an ontological perspective of a prison officer's occupation. My findings identify perspectival dichotomies and suggest that: training only provides new recruits with the bare essentials to undertake their primary function of security and care, positively conditions them to violence, but also conditions them to view prisoners negatively; poor intra- and inter-communication between different teams and groups of prison officers limits and impedes support of a prisoner's desistance journey; the architectural design of the prison has created a divide metaphorically and physically, so much so that rehabilitative support is seen as a formal process operating in specific areas of the prison away from the residential wings where a prisoner is likely to spend the majority of time incarcerated. What is claimed to be an holistic approach across the whole of the prison is unattainable due to the centralisation and concentration of 'support' in areas separated from the residential wings, and where prison staff have to make stark choices on who they can protect and support. Thus, strategies for the facilitation of rehabilitation, I contend, are not fundamentally meeting the needs of prisoners but the strategic goals of the Government, courts and prison service, where what is processed can be tangibly accountable through KPIs, contractual obligations and be fiscally affordable.The principle objective of my ethnographical investigation was to interrogate prison staff perceptions in a Scottish prison to their role in affecting positive change, how this integrates into regular regimes of security and care and how they are trained to be positive agents of change. Research literature concludes that prison officers are the mainstay of the prison system, but rehabilitation and desistance support for prisoners is secondary to their primary role of security and care. In response to the Scottish Government's expectation that prisons reduce recidivism, the Scottish Prison Service introduced two strategies: (i) to positively transform the provision for prisoners internally and with community reintegration externally; (ii) to professionalise prison officer's service to transform how they facilitate positive change and desistance support for prisoners. I believe my empirical research has added to the knowledge of rehabilitation and desistance support in a penal environment through the lens of prison officers using a unique combination of video recordings of training and focus groups and audio recordings of one-to-one interviews which augment my observations, notes and interview responses, and provide an ontological perspective of a prison officer's occupation. My findings identify perspectival dichotomies and suggest that: training only provides new recruits with the bare essentials to undertake their primary function of security and care, positively conditions them to violence, but also conditions them to view prisoners negatively; poor intra- and inter-communication between different teams and groups of prison officers limits and impedes support of a prisoner's desistance journey; the architectural design of the prison has created a divide metaphorically and physically, so much so that rehabilitative support is seen as a formal process operating in specific areas of the prison away from the residential wings where a prisoner is likely to spend the majority of time incarcerated. What is claimed to be an holistic approach across the whole of the prison is unattainable due to the centralisation and concentration of 'support' in areas separated from the residential wings, and where prison staff have to make stark choices on who they can protect and support. Thus, strategies for the facilitation of rehabilitation, I contend, are not fundamentally meeting the needs of prisoners but the strategic goals of the Government, courts and prison service, where what is processed can be tangibly accountable through KPIs, contractual obligations and be fiscally affordable

Osteoblast Precursors Respond to Cyclic Mechanical Compressive and Tensile Strains at the Bone-Implant Interface

Stromals cells, W-20-17, were subjected to daily 30 minute doses of 800microstrain at 1Hz for six consecutive days on a commercially pure titanium substrate with a custom 4-point-bend cell strain system to simulate the bone-implant interface in vivo. The loading schemes include continuous and intermittent (15minutes of strain, 15 minutes of rest, 15 minutes of strain) dosing in both compresssive and tensile strain. Cell lysates and media were collected after 12hrs on the plate and after 1, 3, and 6 days of straining. DNA, total protein, and ALP concentrations were assayed to assess the results of the different strains. Overall the strained cells proliferated similiarly to the unstrained control but produced increased concentrations of ALP, when compared to the unstrained control, suggersting that the cells are undergoing differentiation. Compressive strains had little effect on cell proliferation and only a small impact on ALP activity. Interestingly, tensile strains resulted in the largest normalized ALP activities, 68% increased response to continuous tension over unstrained control, with the leaste amount of proliferation. These data suggest that the relationship between tensile and compressive responses may be complicated and depend on the other straining parameters. Also the W-20-17 cells under the strain conditions of this study chose to differentiate rather than proliferate in response to the tensile strain following the tendency for bones to remodel to minimize tensile strains. Intermittently straining the cells did not appear to cause an increased response when compared to continuous strain

Randomized controlled trial of intraoperative goal-directed fluid therapy in aerobically fit and unfit patients having major colorectal surgery.

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative fluid therapy regimens using oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM) to optimize stroke volume (SV) (goal-directed fluid therapy, GDT) have been associated with a reduction in length of stay (LOS) and complication rates after major surgery. We hypothesized that intraoperative GDT would reduce the time to surgical readiness for discharge (RfD) of patients having major elective colorectal surgery but that this effect might be less marked in aerobically fit patients. METHODS: In this double-blinded controlled trial, 179 patients undergoing major open or laparoscopic colorectal surgery were characterized as aerobically 'fit' (n=123) or 'unfit' (n=56) on the basis of their performance during a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Within these fitness strata, patients were randomized to receive a standard fluid regimen with or without ODM-guided intraoperative GDT. RESULTS: GDT patients received an average of 1360 ml of additional intraoperative colloid. The mean cardiac index and SV at skin closure were significantly higher in the GDT group than in controls. Times to RfD and LOS were longer in GDT than control patients but did not reach statistical significance (median 6.8 vs 4.9 days, P=0.09, and median 8.8 vs 6.7 days, P=0.09, respectively). Fit GDT patients had an increased RfD (median 7.0 vs 4.7 days; P=0.01) and LOS (median 8.8 vs 6.0 days; P=0.01) compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative SV optimization conferred no additional benefit over standard fluid therapy. In an aerobically fit subgroup of patients, GDT was associated with detrimental effects on the primary outcome. TRIAL REGISTRY: UK NIHR CRN 7285, ISRCTN 14680495. http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/Search/StudyDetail.aspx?StudyID=7285

Chinese porcelain and other orientalia and exotica in Spain during the Habsburg dynasty

The reception of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain in Europe and the Americas has been the subject of much research, many publications and a number of exhibitions. The scholars and researchers involved could base themselves on a solid corpus of data, gathered in the past from a miscellany of sources. Although Spain was one of the most important commercial and colonial powers in the East during the 16th and 17th centuries, its role in the porcelain trade was far from clear, mainly due to the lack of research in the relevant primary sources. In fact, Spain was more or less a blank spot on the Western map relating to imports of Oriental porcelain.1 This thesis aims to make a modest start to rectify this situation, offering an eclectic survey of hitherto unknown or unused sources, as well as a large collection of new data.Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Brazilian Consensus on perioperative hemodynamic therapy goal guided in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery: fluid management strategy – produced by the São Paulo State Society of Anesthesiology (Sociedade de Anestesiologia do Estado de São Paulo – SAESP)

Febles, Dolor