A combination of nifedipine and octreotide treatment in an hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic infant.

PublishedResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThis is the final version of the article. Available from Galenos Publishing via the DOI in this record.Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HH) is the commonest cause of persistent hypoglycemia in the neonatal and infancy periods. Mutations in the ABCC8 and KCNJ11 genes, which encode subunits of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel in the pancreatic beta cell, are identified in approximately 50% of these patients. The first-line drug in the treatment of HH is diazoxide. Octreotide and glucagon can be used in patients who show no response to diazoxide. Nifedipine, a calcium-channel blocker, has been shown to be an effective treatment in a small number of patients with diazoxide-unresponsive HH. We report a HH patient with a homozygous ABCC8 mutation (p.W1339X) who underwent a near-total pancreatectomy at 2 months of age due to a lack of response to diazoxide and octreotide treatment. Severe hypoglycemic attacks continued following surgery, while the patient was being treated with octreotide. These attacks resolved when nifedipine was introduced. Whilst our patient responded well to nifedipine, the dosage could not be increased to 0.75 mg/kg/day due to development of hypotension, a reported side effect of this drug. Currently, our patient, now aged 4 years, is receiving a combination of nifedipine and octreotide treatment. He is under good control and shows no side effects. In conclusion, nifedipine treatment can be started in patients with HH who show a poor response to diazoxide and octreotide treatment.Sian Ellard is employed by the Exeter Clinical Research Facility and is a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator. The genetic testing was funded by a research grant from the Medical Research Council

Review of the Palaearctic species of Ismaridae Thomson, 1858 (Hymenoptera: Diaprioidea)

This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. The attached file is the published version of the article

Determination of vitamin B9 levels in the milk of Brown Swiss and Simmental cows using the ELISA method

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of folic acid in Brown Swiss and Simmental cows’ milk by the competitive ELISA method. Brown Swiss and Simmental cows’ milk samples were collected from two dairies between  February and August 2017 (20 samples from Brown Swiss and 22 samples  from Simmental). The average level of vitamin B9 in Brown Swiss milk was approximately 3.27 ± 1.23 μg/100 g, while for Simmental it was around 2.99 ± 0.88 μg/100 g. In the milk mixture, the mean folic acid level was 3.13 ± 1.07 μg/100 g. There was no statistical difference between breeds in terms of folic acid levels in cow's milk. It was concluded that milk is not a sufficient source to meet the daily folic acid needs of adults in Turkey.Keywords: Dairy cattle breeds, folic acid, raw mil

Estimation and analysis of multi-GNSS differential code biases using a hardware signal simulator

In ionospheric modeling, the differential code biases (DCBs) are a non-negligible error source, which are routinely estimated by the different analysis centers of the International GNSS Service (IGS) as a by-product of their global ionospheric analysis. These are, however, estimated only for the IGS station receivers and for all the satellites of the different GNSS constellations. A technique is proposed for estimating the receiver and satellites DCBs in a global or regional network by first estimating the DCB of one receiver set as reference. This receiver DCB is then used as a ‘known’ parameter to constrain the global ionospheric solution, where the receiver and satellite DCBs are estimated for the entire network. This is in contrast to the constraint used by the IGS, which assumes that the involved satellites DCBs have a zero mean. The ‘known’ receiver DCB is obtained by simulating signals that are free of the ionospheric, tropospheric and other group delays using a hardware signal simulator. When applying the proposed technique for Global Positioning System legacy signals, mean offsets in the order of 3 ns for satellites and receivers were found to exist between the estimated DCBs and the IGS published DCBs. It was shown that these estimated DCBs are fairly stable in time, especially for the legacy signals. When the proposed technique is applied for the DCBs estimation using the newer Galileo signals, an agreement at the level of 1–2 ns was found between the estimated DCBs and the manufacturer’s measured DCBs, as published by the European Space Agency, for the three still operational Galileo in-orbit validation satellites

Combined transcriptomic-(1)H NMR metabonomic study reveals yhat monoethylhexyl phthalate stimulates adipogenesis and glyceroneogenesis in human adipocytes

Adipose tissue is a major storage site for lipophilic environmental contaminants. The environmental metabolic disruptor hypothesis postulates that some pollutants can promote obesity or metabolic disorders by activating nuclear receptors involved in the control of energetic homeostasis. In this context, monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) is of particular concern since it was shown to activate the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) in 3T3-L1 murine preadipocytes. In the present work, we used an untargeted, combined transcriptomic-(1)H NMR-based metabonomic approach to describe the overall effect of MEHP on primary cultures of human subcutaneous adipocytes differentiated in vitro. MEHP stimulated rapidly and selectively the expression of genes involved in glyceroneogenesis, enhanced the expression of the cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and reduced fatty acid release. These results demonstrate that MEHP increased glyceroneogenesis and fatty acid reesterification in human adipocytes. A longer treatment with MEHP induced the expression of genes involved in triglycerides uptake, synthesis, and storage; decreased intracellular lactate, glutamine, and other amino acids; increased aspartate and NAD, and resulted in a global increase in triglycerides. Altogether, these results indicate that MEHP promoted the differentiation of human preadipocytes to adipocytes. These mechanisms might contribute to the suspected obesogenic effect of MEHP

Folic acid, cobalamin, and biotin concentrations in milk samples of sheep, goats, and cows

Milk is an important food obtained from mammals, containing almost all of the nutrients needed for metabolism. The vitamin composition of milk, the first food of mammals, is valuable data for the food industry and public health. This study aimed to determine the levels of folic acid (vitamin B9), cobalamin (vitamin B12), and biotin (vitamin B7) in different milk samples (cow, sheep, goat) using the ELISA method. For this purpose, milk samples from Holstein Cows (n:50), Awassi Sheep (n:50), and Kilis Goats (n:50) available for retail in the Şanlıurfa province of Turkey were collected and analyzed. In this study, the average folic acid content of sheep, goat, and cow milk was found to be 3.45 µg/100 mL, 7.23 µg/100 ml, and 6.64 µg/100 mL, respectively. The average cobalamin content of sheep, goat, and cow milk was 0.70 µg/100 ml, 7.43 µg/100 ml, and 0.58 µg/100 mL, respectively, while the average biotin content of sheep, goat, and cow milk was 2.21 µg/100 mL, 2.21 µg/100 mL, and 2.09 µg/100 mL, respectively. It was noted that the average biotin levels in sheep, goat, and cow milk did not differ significantly. However, significant differences were observed in the quantities of folic acid and cobalamin (P<0.05). Different levels of folic acid were found in milk samples from these three species. Cobalamin levels in goat milk samples were significantly higher, while biotin levels were similar in each milk sample of the species. This study underscores the importance of understanding and considering the diverse vitamin compositions of milk from different mammalian species to ensure comprehensive nutritional intake. &nbsp

Creative clusters and place-making: analysing the quality of place in Soho and Beyoglu

During the last decade creativity has become one of the buzz concepts of urban practice and research, and new concepts such as the creative city, creative economy, the creative class, creative industries and creative clusters have emerged (Florida, 2002; Landry, 2000). There are studies in economics and cultural geography, sociology and, to some extent in urban planning, exploring the creative city phenomenon. To date, however, there have only been a limited number of studies on understanding the dynamics and factors of the spatial conditions of the creativity debate in the discipline of urban design. The growing body of literature in these disciplines emphasises the need to identify and define the preferences and tendencies of creative industries, and also clustering activities. Hence, the characteristics of cities that attract and retain the creative industries and creative types have become important; this concept is termed quality of place (Florida, 2002). In this context this research focuses on the morphological analyses of film industry-based inner-city creative clusters and explores the dynamics between creative clusters, quality of place and place-making processes. It aims to understand the spatial conditions and factors relating to the emergence, sustainability and growth of creative clusters, focusing on the location decisions of creative types (i.e. companies and people involved in creative production). This exploratory, cross-national case study is conducted in Soho-London and Beyoglu-Istanbul. They are the inner-city locations where creative industries, in particular the film industry, and creative people cluster. The study applies qualitative and quantitative research techniques such as interviews, questionnaires, observations, and cognitive and cluster mapping. The research concludes that there are three main factors contributing to the emergence, growth and sustainability of creative clusters; these are economics of clustering, location and quality of place, and face to face interactions. The research suggests a tentative analytical framework for understanding the quality of place for the film industry-based inner-city creative clusters and for mapping the creativity potential of places. The overall quality of place involves the process of place-making of a particular location, not just the product it represents. Walkability and permeability are identified as the key performance criteria of urban place, providing the movement and interaction which are the necessary conditions for clustering. Permeability of urban form enhanced with interactive micro urban public places plays a major role in facilitating the social interactions which collectively comprise the key aspect of urban and individual creativity, as people are inspired by each other. In addition, these complex layers, juxtaposed with urban form and land-use activities, are also interlinked with the socio-cultural setting and hence café culture, sense of community, and image also appear to be other factors contributing to clustering. Participatory planning enhanced by community leadership and the involvement of landowners, creative entrepreneur-led initiatives and other informal processes related to the organic spatial dynamics of the place contributes to clustering; particularly the small-scale interventions. In addition to these organic approaches, research suggests that urban design and planning could contribute to sustainability of these clusters through ensuring the right scale of intervention, through controlling mechanisms and place-management strategies. Key words: Creative clusters, quality of place, place-making, the film industry, Soho, Beyogl

Creative clusters and place-making: analysing the quality of place in Soho and Beyoglu

During the last decade creativity has become one of the buzz concepts of urban practice and research, and new concepts such as the creative city, creative economy, the creative class, creative industries and creative clusters have emerged (Florida, 2002; Landry, 2000). There are studies in economics and cultural geography, sociology and, to some extent in urban planning, exploring the creative city phenomenon. To date, however, there have only been a limited number of studies on understanding the dynamics and factors of the spatial conditions of the creativity debate in the discipline of urban design. The growing body of literature in these disciplines emphasises the need to identify and define the preferences and tendencies of creative industries, and also clustering activities. Hence, the characteristics of cities that attract and retain the creative industries and creative types have become important; this concept is termed quality of place (Florida, 2002). In this context this research focuses on the morphological analyses of film industry-based inner-city creative clusters and explores the dynamics between creative clusters, quality of place and place-making processes. It aims to understand the spatial conditions and factors relating to the emergence, sustainability and growth of creative clusters, focusing on the location decisions of creative types (i.e. companies and people involved in creative production). This exploratory, cross-national case study is conducted in Soho-London and Beyoglu-Istanbul. They are the inner-city locations where creative industries, in particular the film industry, and creative people cluster. The study applies qualitative and quantitative research techniques such as interviews, questionnaires, observations, and cognitive and cluster mapping. The research concludes that there are three main factors contributing to the emergence, growth and sustainability of creative clusters; these are economics of clustering, location and quality of place, and face to face interactions. The research suggests a tentative analytical framework for understanding the quality of place for the film industry-based inner-city creative clusters and for mapping the creativity potential of places. The overall quality of place involves the process of place-making of a particular location, not just the product it represents. Walkability and permeability are identified as the key performance criteria of urban place, providing the movement and interaction which are the necessary conditions for clustering. Permeability of urban form enhanced with interactive micro urban public places plays a major role in facilitating the social interactions which collectively comprise the key aspect of urban and individual creativity, as people are inspired by each other. In addition, these complex layers, juxtaposed with urban form and land-use activities, are also interlinked with the socio-cultural setting and hence café culture, sense of community, and image also appear to be other factors contributing to clustering. Participatory planning enhanced by community leadership and the involvement of landowners, creative entrepreneur-led initiatives and other informal processes related to the organic spatial dynamics of the place contributes to clustering; particularly the small-scale interventions. In addition to these organic approaches, research suggests that urban design and planning could contribute to sustainability of these clusters through ensuring the right scale of intervention, through controlling mechanisms and place-management strategies. Key words: Creative clusters, quality of place, place-making, the film industry, Soho, Beyogl

Micromechanical fatigue experiments for validation of microstructure-sensitive fatigue simulation models

Crack initiation governs high cycle fatigue life and is sensitive to microstructural details. While corresponding microstructure-sensitive models are available, their validation is difficult. We propose a validation framework where a fatigue test is mimicked in a sub-modeling simulation by embedding the measured microstructure into the specimen geometry and adopting an approximation of the experimental boundary conditions. Exemplary, a phenomenological crystal plasticity model was applied to predict deformation in ferritic steel (EN1.4003). Hotspots in commonly used fatigue indicator parameter maps are compared with damage segmented from micrographs. Along with the data, the framework is published for benchmarking future micromechanical fatigue models

Micromechanical fatigue experiments for validation of microstructure-sensitive fatigue simulation models

Crack initiation governs high cycle fatigue life and is sensitive to microstructural details. While corresponding microstructure-sensitive models are available, their validation is difficult. We propose a validation framework where a fatigue test is mimicked in a sub-modeling simulation by embedding the measured microstructure into the specimen geometry and adopting an approximation of the experimental boundary conditions. Exemplary, a phenomenological crystal plasticity model was applied to predict deformation in ferritic steel (EN1.4003). Hotspots in commonly used fatigue indicator parameter maps are compared with damage segmented from micrographs. Along with the data, the framework is published for benchmarking future micromechanical fatigue models