Initial Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Response in Young Marfan Patients Decreases After 3 Years of Treatment

Marfan syndrome is caused by mutations of the fibrillin-1 gene, which weakens the connective tissue integrity. Since 2003, bioavailability regulations of TGF-ß through fibrillin alterations have been presumed of being the culprit mechanisms for aortic aneurysm development. We present the analysis of our single-center Marfan children and adolescents cohort to assess the influence of age, sex, degree of cardiovascular involvement and dosage on losartan effectivity. This prospective longitudinal registered echocardiographical investigation (EudraCT 2009-016139-36) of 49 patients with an average follow-up of 72 months focused on aortic root z-scores, elasticity, and yearly progression rates. The 33 patients under medication with losartan showed an aortic root z-score reduction during the first 36 months compared to 22 patients without medication presenting constant mild progression. Yet, results diminished under losartan thereafter, adding up to similar progressions over 72 months in both groups (0.07 ± 0.10/year versus 0.04 ± 0.11/year). Although male patients exhibited higher root z-scores, progression with and without medication was comparable to females and not age-dependent. In conclusion, losartan evoked a significant aortic root z-score regression in young Marfan patients over the first 3 years, but this effect mitigated thereafter. The initial improvement concurred with ameliorated elasticity; lower stiffness levels predicted better clinical outcome, but likewise only up to 36 months. Sex differences in dilatation severity were observed but neither age nor sex had significant influence on progression rates. Losartan dosages were gradually increased in more severely affected patients and provided an equal rate of root progression over 72 months in comparison to patients under losartan treatment with lesser baseline dilatation severity.

Transverse Growth of the Maxillo-Mandibular Complex in Untreated Children: A Longitudinal Cone Beam Computed Tomography Study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the longitudinal transverse growth of the maxillo-mandibular complex in untreated children using the Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). Two sets of scans on 12 males (mean 8.75 years at T1 and 11.52 years at T2) and 18 females (mean 9.09 years at T1 and 10.80 years at T2) were analyzed using Dolphin 3D imaging. The transverse widths of various maxillary and mandibular skeletal landmarks and the dentoalveolar and dental landmarks at the level of first molars were measured. Overall, there were greater increases in the transverse dimension in the posterior than anterior portions of the maxilla and mandible. The increase in intergonial width of the mandible seems to be primarily due to the lengthening of the mandibular body. The dentoalveolar process at the first molar level increases at an equal rate corono-apically and is independent to the changes in molar inclination. When comparing maxillary dentoalveolar changes with that of the mandible, greater increases were noticed in the maxilla, which might be explained by the presence of sutural growth in the maxilla. Moreover, the first molars maintain their coordination with each other despite the differential increase in the maxillary and mandibular dentoalveolar processes.

Changes of hematological indices in patients with diffuse toxic goiter

Objective. To reveal the incidence of various morphological types and degrees of the anemia severity in patients with diffuse toxic goiter. Materials and methods. Data of medical histories of 157 patients, operated for diffuse toxic goiter in 2012 yr were analyzed. In accordance to hematological indices estimated there were outlined two Groups of patients: Group I – 98 patients with diffuse toxic goiter and mild anemia, average age (39.4 ± 1.4) yrs old, 57 (58.2%) women and 41 (41.8%) men, and Group II – 59 patients with diffuse toxic goiter and middle degree of the anemia severity, average age (41.1 ± 1.7) yrs old, 48 (81.4%) women and 11 (18.6%) men. Levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, quantity and average volume of erythrocytes, average content of hemoglobin in one erythrocyte, average concentration of hemoglobin in the erythrocytes were determined in the blood analysis. Results. Microcytic type of anemia was noted in 89.8% of patients with anemia of middle degree of severity, while a normocytic one – in 10.2%; in mild anemia – in 87.8 and 12.2% patients, accordingly. Hypochromic and normochromic types of anemia with equal rate were revealed in mild anemia and anemia of middle degree of severity: hypochromic – in 94.9%, normochromic – in 5.1% patients. Conclusion. Diffuse toxic goiter is characterized by more frequent development of mild (62.4%), microcytic (88.5%), hyperchromic (94.9%) anemia, caused by iron deficiency.

Turbulence properties in coupled and decoupled stratocumulus-topped boundary layers

<p>In marine atmospheric boundary layer (MBL), turbulence plays an important role in vertical transport of mass, heat and moisture, which is crucial for the emergence and evolution of stratocumulus clouds. We use high resolution in situ measurements of flow velocity, temperature, humidity and liquid water content performed from the helicopter-borne platform ACTOS in the region of Eastern North Atlantic in the course of  ACORES campaign to compare turbulence properties in coupled and decoupled stratocumulus-topped boundary layer. Derived parameters include turbulence kinetic energy, its production and dissipation rates, anisotropy of the inertial range, turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat as well as characteristic lengthscales.</p><p>Inside the observed coupled MBL, turbulence is intensively produced by buoyancy at the cloud top and at the surface, and dissipated with equal rate across the entire layer depth. Turbulence is close to isotropic and inertial range exhibits scaling relatively close to that predicted by Kolmogorov theory. Inside the decoupled MBL properties of turbulence in the bottom sub-layer (BSL) vary from those in the cloud and sub-cloud layers, which together form upper sub-layer (USL). Transition in between the BSL and the USL is most pronounced in the gradient of specific humidity. The USL is characterized by weak buoyancy production in the cloud, strong anisotropy of turbulence and the scaling deviating from that predicted by Kolmogorov theory. In BSL, fluxes of buoyancy and latent heat decrease with height from the maximum at the surface down to about zero at the transition.</p><p>In general, results are consistent with the conceptual explanation of decoupling mechanism involving two separated zones of circulation and mixing: surface driven and cloud top driven. Our observations suggest that contrasting turbulence parameters need to be considered together with convection organization in order to properly quantify the vertical transport between ocean surface and stratocumulus cloud.</p>

The Coronavirus Theme Coverage Contexts on the Television News Agenda Following the Announcement of the Emergency

The paper presents the results of a study that examined the contexts of the coronavirus theme coverage on Russian TV news. In addition, the article considers the thematic diversity of the agenda for the period from February 1 to February 29, 2020. The study focuses on TV channels Russia 24, Moscow 24, OTR, Mir, and Euronews. Thus, the paper processed in all 4,930 original news stories, 869 of which were devoted to the topic of coronavirus. The aim of the study was to find out how TV journalists constructed the agenda at that time and how they were dealing with the topic of coronavirus. The collected data demonstrated that the television channels covered the themes at an equal rate. Moreover, the topic of coronavirus often constructed as the news of public interest, with more attention being paid to its coverage from an economic and political point of view, while a scientific explanation is the least common.

Estimation of the incidence of university students studying in various courses

Using the example of a higher military educational institution, we conducted an analysis of the prevalence of diseases according to ICD-10 by years of study (n = 3381). Features among local students and visitors were: in long-term trends, an increase in ear diseases (more significant among visitors) and an equal rate of decrease in skin diseases and subcutaneous tissue, injuries; in the first year, significant differences in three, 2–4 courses — in two classes of diseases, in the pathogenesis of which the state of resistance of the organism is significant (some infectious and parasitic diseases, diseases of the respiratory system, skin and subcutaneous tissue); excess incidence of local first-year students and newcomers over rates in other courses, respectively, for classes 5 and 8 of diseases; differences in the incidence rate for adjacent years of study, which is important for determining the period of adaptation to the conditions of training and adaptation against the background of acclimatization. In local students, the prevalence of diseases in the first two courses was significantly higher than by 4–5 (data from the third to fifth courses did not differ), but for disease classes XI, XIII, XIX, prevalence persisted from 1–2 years, X, XII — up to 2–3 years For visiting students, the prevalence of diseases from the first to the fourth year exceeded that in the next year. For classes I, VII, VIII, XIII and XIX, the excess persisted for 1–2 years, XI — at least 3 years, X — 4 years. Research in an initially healthy team allows us to judge the process of students' adaptation to the learning environment, as well as adaptation against the background of acclimatization. Research is promising in other regions of the country; among students studying at universities of other departments. This will provide the basis for planning preventive measures in youth groups to preserve their health and improve professional training.

Fitness dependence preserves selection for recombination across diverse mixed mating systems

Meiotic recombination and the factors affecting its rate and fate in nature have inspired many theoretical studies in evolutionary biology. Classical theoretical models have inferred that non-zero recombination can be favoured under a rather restricted parameter range. Thus, the ubiquity of recombination in nature remains an open question. However, these models assumed constant (uniform) recombination with an equal rate across all individuals within the population. Models of fitness-dependent recombination, with the rate varying among genotypes according to their fitness have shown that such a strategy can often be favoured over the best constant recombination. Here we use simulations to show that across a range of mating systems with varying frequencies of selfing and clonality, fitness-dependent recombination is often favoured even when any non-zero constant recombination is disfavoured. This recombination-protecting effect of fitness dependence is strongest under intermediate rates of selfing or high rates of clonality.

The Alert Stethoscope

The main idea of this alert stethoscope is that during this pandemic, effected by the deadly virus has got the most of patients and the whole of doctors into the emergency needs of this virus. But there’s an equal rate of other general diseases and patients who cannot be ignored surely, this is a chaotic situation for the doctors but can make it little easier for the doctors to know their emergencies simply through their stethoscope. Without any structural modifications this system can be embedded inside the stethoscope. This can also be applicable in many fields like Using digital jewelry and Alert systems at other public places etc

Gender gaps in political participation in Asia

Recent scholarship shows that the gender gap in political activity has diminished, particularly in Western societies. Still unknown is how gender matters for political participation in Asia. Using the 2010 Asian Barometer Survey, this article analyzes the gender gap in multiple forms of political participation in 13 countries. It also investigates how individual-level characteristics mediate the differences in men’s and women’s political participation. The article shows that Asian men and women overwhelmingly vote at an equal rate in elections, but gender gaps persist in other types of political action. This study shows that gender remains the strongest predictor of political participation and suggests that Asian women remain marginalized in the political arena. The results have important implications for how to progress gender equality in the region.

Presentation of Binning-Based Inter-Click Interval Data from Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Free-Ranging Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena)

C-PODs are used for Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) at an offshore open sea location in the German North Sea. Diel patterns of echolocation click trains are extracted from minimum inter-click interval (minICI) data by binning. The aim of this study is to reassess and refine minICI ranges of click train data with particular consideration to the binning widths. Emphasis is also placed on choosing an appropriate visualisation of these binned data. Key ecological results include presence of higher train rates during the day with intermediate minICI values defined by the range 6-28 ms and a higher train rate with short minICI values 1.25-2.00 ms at night. This indicates an increase in porpoise feeding behaviour, or change of style, at night. Click trains with long minICI values > 35 ms occur at an equal rate throughout both diel phases, suggesting a more routine behaviour, such as navigation. Results could be revealed only by judicious choice of binning widths, e.g. previously overlooked patterns within historical echolocation data. The classification methodology can be used to analyse echolocation trains from a variety of species and can be applied to any PAM data with the relevant click parameters.