Because of its usefulness in treating facial rosacea, metronidazole may also be an effective treatment for ocular rosacea. The toxicity of metronidazole on the corneal epithelium has not previously ...been reported. In this study, the effects of metronidazole on rabbit corneal epithelium in vitro were evaluated. Epithelial cell cultures were exposed to various concentrations of metronidazole to determine its effect on cell morphology, viability, and wound healing. Both morphological changes and cell loss were seen after 1 day of incubation in media containing metronidazole at concentrations of > or = 3.0 mg/ml. In media with metronidazole at 1.0 mg/ml, these toxic effects were not seen. The effects of metronidazole on wound healing were determined by comparing the area of wounds in the epithelial cell layer for time periods of up to 44 h. There was no statistically significant delay in wound closure when cells were incubated in media containing metronidazole at a concentration of 2.0 mg/ml as compared with cultures incubated in media without metronidazole. However, a significant delay in wound closure occurred at concentrations of > or = 3.0 mg/ml. The results at these drug concentrations suggest that metronidazole has low corneal epithelial toxicity. Allowing for the dilutional effects of tears in patients with normal tear function, concentrations of 4.0-5.0 mg/ml (0.4-0.5%) would probably be tolerated by the corneal epithelium. Clinical safety and efficacy studies are necessary to determine if topical metronidazole will prove useful for the treatment of ocular rosacea.
Background N-terminal-pro–B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin T (TnT) predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in a variety of populations. Whether their predictive value ...varies by ethnicity is unknown. We sought to determine whether NT-proBNP and TnT improve prediction of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and CVD, independent of CVD risk factors, in a multiethnic population; whether NT-proBNP improves prediction compared with the Framingham Risk Score or the Pooled Cohort Risk Equation; and whether a second NT-proBNP further improves prediction. Methods Both NT-proBNP and TnT were measured in 5,592 MESA white, black, Hispanic, and Chinese participants (60% nonwhite; mean age 62.3 ± 10.3 years) in 2000 to 2002 and 2004 to 2005. We evaluated adjusted risk of incident CHD and CVD based on baseline and change in biomarker concentration. Results Participants were followed up through 2011 and incurred 370 CVD events (232 CHD). Concentrations of NT-proBNP and TnT varied by ethnicity. Both NT-proBNP and TnT were associated with an increased risk of events (adjusted hazard ratio HR for CHD 95% CI for fifth quintile vs other 4 quintiles of NT-proBNP, 2.03 1.50-2.76; HR for CHD for detectable vs undetectable TnT, 3.95 2.29-6.81). N-terminal-pro–B-type natriuretic peptide improved risk prediction and classification compared with the Framingham Risk Score and the Pooled Cohort Risk Equation. Change in NT-proBNP was independently associated with events (HR for CHD per unit increase in ΔlogNT-proBNP, 1.95 1.16-3.26). None of the observed associations varied by ethnicity. Conclusions Both NT-proBNP and TnT are predictors of incident CHD, independent of established risk factors and ethnicity, in a multiethnic population without known CVD. Change in NT-proBNP may add additional prognostic information.
•CeO2100-x-S8x nanohybrids are prepared by a simple and rapid synthetic approach.•The CeO270-S830 nanohybrid presents a capacity of 600 mA h g–1 over 160 cycles.•CeO270-S830 promotes fast redox ...reactions, making the shuttle effect negligible.•DFT results reveal strong interactions between the CeO2 surface and sulfur species.
An in-depth investigation of the physical and chemical parameters that affect Li-sulfur batteries is imperative to optimize their performances. Here, we report promising CeO2100-x-S8x nanohybrids for anchoring lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) that are generated during cycling. The composition of CeO2100- x-S8x (x = 30, 50 and 70%) could be simply controlled by varying the CeO2/S8 mass ratio added in each reaction. Our results indicated that the CeO2100- x-S8x nanohybrids displayed a crystalline structure composed of both phases (CeO2 and S8), indicating an efficient impregnation process of S8 on the CeO2 nanowire surface. The surface area of CeO2 nanowires decreased as the amount of S8 was increased, and the CeO270-S830 nanohybrid maintained a uniform distribution of S8 over the entire CeO2 nanowires. Remarkably, the CeO270-S830 nanohybrid showed the best Li-storage performance, leading to specific capacities of approximately 600 mA h g–1 over 160 cycles and a Coulombic efficiency of approximately 100%. Moreover, this sample showed excellent rate capability performance (even discharging at 10 A g–1). Additionally, the chemical interaction of CeO2 with LiPS was demonstrated by a visual experiment through the addition of pure CeO2 in a solution of Li2S6. The solution containing CeO2 nanowires became completely colorless after 30 min. To further investigate these improvements, density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the formation of strong interactions between the CeO2 nanowire surface and different sulfur species. For instance, the adsorption energies between the CeO2 nanowires and S8, Li2S4, and Li4S8 were –3.95, –5.84 and –7.31 eV, respectively, suggesting that the CeO270-S830 nanohybrid provided an appropriate surface to anchor LiPS by electrostatic interactions, leading to faster redox kinetics in Li-sulfur battery applications.
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Abstract Simultaneous analysis studies of several agronomic traits in cultivated plants make it possible to identify phenotypic and genotypic differences due to environmental variations, such as ...altitude. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate, through multivariate analysis of agronomic, physicochemical and physiological characters, passion fruit hybrids cultivated in different environments. The hybrids used were Gigante Amarelo, Rubi do Cerrado and Sol do Cerrado, cultivated in the southern region of Espírito Santo in four municipalities/environments: Marataízes (41 m), Jerônimo Monteiro (104 m), Alegre (711 m), and Ibitirama (1016 m). The agronomic characters of the plants, the physical-chemical characteristics of the fruits and the physical, biochemical and physiological qualities of the seeds were analyzed. The Singh method was used to determine the most important differentiating characters between hybrids growing in different environments. Based on these characters, a dissimilarity matrix was generated and a principal coordinate analysis was performed. It was observed that the pulp yield was influenced by altitude. The three hybrids showed greater performance in terms of agronomic characters at altitude (41 m) than at altitude (104 m). The Sol do Cerrado hybrid showed high performance in the physical-chemical characteristics of the fruits at altitude (104 m).
Resumo Estudos de análise simultânea de diversos caracteres agronômicos em plantas cultivadas permitem identificar diferenças fenotípicas e genotípicas devido a variações ambientais, como a altitude. Diante disso, objetivou-se avaliar através da análise multivariada de caracteres agronômicos, fisico-químicos e fisiológicos, híbridos de maracujazeiros cultivados em diferentes ambientes. Os híbridos utilizados foram Gigante Amarelo, Rubi do Cerrado e Sol do Cerrado, cultivados na região sul do Espírito Santo em quatro municípios/ambientes: Marataízes (41 m), Jerônimo Monteiro (104 m), Alegre (711 m), e Ibitirama (1016 m). Foram analisados os caracteres agronômicos das plantas, as características físico-químicas dos frutos e as qualidades físicas, bioquímicas e fisiológicas das sementes. O método Singh foi usado para determinar os caracteres diferenciadores mais importantes entre híbridos crescendo em diferentes ambientes. Com base nesses caracteres, uma matriz de dissimilaridade foi gerada e uma análise de coordenadas principais foi realizada. Observou-se que o rendimento de polpa foi influenciado pela altitude. Os três híbridos apresentaram maior desempenho em termos de caracteres agronômicos na altitude (41 m) do que na altitude (104 m). O híbrido Sol do Cerrado apresentou alto desempenho nas características físico-químicas dos frutos na altitude (104 m).
Diabetic-metabolic syndrome (MetS-D) has a high prevalence worldwide, in which an association with the rupture of the intestinal epithelium barrier function (IEBF) has been pointed out, but the ...functional and morphological properties are still not well understood. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of acute hyperglycemia diabetes on intestinal tight junction proteins, metabolic failure, intestinal ion and water transports, and IEBF parameters. Diabetes was induced in male Rattus norvegicus (200-310 g) with 0.5 mL of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg). Glycemic and clinical parameters were evaluated every 7 days, and intestinal parameters were evaluated on the 14th day. The MetS-D animals showed a clinical pattern of hyperglycemia, with increases in the area of villi and crypts, lactulose:mannitol ratio, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and intestinal tissue concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), but showed a reduction in reduced glutathione (GSH) when these parameters were compared to the control. The MetS-D group had increased secretion of Na+, K+, Cl-, and water compared to the control group in ileal tissue. Furthermore, we observed a reduction in mRNA transcript of claudin-2, claudin-15, and NHE3 and increases of SGLT-1 and ZO-1 in the MetS-D group. These results showed that MetS-D triggered intestinal tissue inflammation, oxidative stress, complex alterations in gene regulatory protein transcriptions of intestinal transporters and tight junctions, damaging the IEBF and causing hydroelectrolyte secretion.
Various project management approaches do not consider the impact that uncertainties have on the project. The identified threats by uncertainty in a projec day-to-day are real and immediate and the ...expectations in a project are often high. The project manager faces a dilemma: decisions must be made in the present about future situations which are inherently uncertain. The use of uncertainty management in project can be a determining factor for the project success. This paper presents a systematic review about uncertainties management in software projects and a guide is proposed based on the review. It aims to present the best practices to manage uncertainties in software projects in a structured way including techniques and strategies to uncertainties containment.
The objectives were to compare the effects of 2 methods of presynchronization and 2 lengths of proestrus on fertility of grazing dairy cows subjected to a 5-d timed artificial insemination (AI) ...protocol at initiation of breeding season. Lactating dairy cows (n=1,754) from 3 seasonal grazing farms were blocked within farm by breed, parity, and days in milk (DIM). Study d 0 was considered the day of AI of cows in COS72 (72h of proestrus). Within each block, cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 presynchronization treatments: a PGF2α-based program, Presynch, consisting of 2 injections of PGF2α administered on d −32 and −18, or a PGF2α-GnRH–based program, Double-Ovsynch (DO), consisting of GnRH on d −25, PGF2α on d −18, and GnRH on d −15. Within each of the 2 presynchronization treatments, cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 lengths of proestrus within the 5-d timed AI protocol, consisting of GnRH on d −8, PGF2α on d −3 and −2, and GnRH+AI at either 58h (COS58) or 72h (COS72) after the d −3 PGF2α injection. Ovaries were scanned by ultrasonography twice, on d −42 and −32, to determine estrous cyclicity before enrollment in the study. Blood was sampled and analyzed for concentrations of estradiol on the day of AI. Pregnancies per AI (P/AI) were determined 30 and 65 d after AI. Presynchronization did not affect the concentration of estradiol at AI (DO=6.4 vs. Presynch=5.8pg/mL), detection of estrus at AI (20.8 vs. 25.9%), or P/AI on d 30 (56.8 vs. 59.1%) and 65 (52.5 vs. 52.4%) after the first AI. Cows receiving COS72 had increased concentration of estradiol (6.6 vs. 5.5pg/mL) and detection of estrus at AI (28.5 vs. 10.8%) compared with cows receiving COS58. Length of proestrus did not affect P/AI on d 30 (COS72=58.7 vs. COS58=56.1%) but, in Presynch cows, COS58 was detrimental to fertility on d 65 after AI (54.9 vs. 46.5%). Pregnancy loss between gestational d 30 and 65 was greater for Presynch than for DO (7.6 vs. 11.3%), but it was not affected by length of proestrus. Estrous cyclic cows had greater P/AI than anovular cows on d 30 (61.7 vs. 35.1%) and 65 (56.1 vs. 30.7%), but no interaction between estrous cyclic status and treatments was detected. Crossbred Holstein/Jersey cows had superior fertility than their purebred counterparts during the breeding season. The Presynch and DO protocols resulted in similar fertility with no overall difference between the presynchronization methods; however, limiting the length of proestrus to 58h reduced P/AI in the 5-d timed AI protocol when cows had their estrous cycle presynchronized with Presynch but not with DO.
Land cover in sub-polar and alpine regions of northern and eastern
Europe have already begun changing due to natural and anthropogenic changes
such as afforestation. This will impact the regional ...climate and hydrology
upon which societies in these regions are highly reliant. This study aims to
identify the impacts of afforestation/reforestation (hereafter
afforestation) on snow and the snow-albedo effect and highlight potential
improvements for future model development. The study uses an ensemble of
nine regional climate models for two different idealised experiments
covering a 30-year period; one experiment replaces most land cover in Europe
with forest, while the other experiment replaces all forested areas with
grass. The ensemble consists of nine regional climate models composed of
different combinations of five regional atmospheric models and six land
surface models. Results show that afforestation reduces the snow-albedo
sensitivity index and enhances snowmelt. While the direction of change is
robustly modelled, there is still uncertainty in the magnitude of change.
The greatest differences between models emerge in the snowmelt season. One
regional climate model uses different land surface models which shows
consistent changes between the three simulations during the accumulation
period but differs in the snowmelt season. Together these results point to
the need for further model development in representing both grass–snow and
forest–snow interactions during the snowmelt season. Pathways to
accomplishing this include (1) a more sophisticated representation of forest
structure, (2) kilometre-scale simulations, and (3) more observational studies
on vegetation–snow interactions in northern Europe.
During the commissioning of the first of the two detectors of the Double Chooz experiment, an unexpected and dominant background caused by the emission of light inside the optical volume has been ...observed. A specific study of the ensemble of phenomena called "Light Noise" has been carried out in-situ, and in an external laboratory, in order to characterize the signals and to identify the possible processes underlying the effect. Some mechanisms of instrumental noise originating from the PMTs were identified and it has been found that the leading one arises from the light emission localized on the photomultiplier base and produced by the combined effect of heat and high voltage across the transparent epoxy resin covering the electric components. The correlation of the rate and the amplitude of the signal with the temperature has been observed. For the first detector in operation the induced background has been mitigated using online and offline analysis selections based on timing and light pattern of the signals, while a modification of the photomultiplier assembly has been implemented for the second detector in order to blacken the PMT bases.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with brain development abnormalities such as primary microcephaly, a severe reduction in brain growth. Here we demonstrated in vivo the impact of congenital ZIKV ...infection in blood vessel development, a crucial step in organogenesis. ZIKV was injected intravenously in the pregnant type 2 interferon (IFN)-deficient mouse at embryonic day (E) 12.5. The embryos were collected at E15.5 and postnatal day (P)2. Immunohistochemistry for cortical progenitors and neuronal markers at E15.5 showed the reduction of both populations as a result of ZIKV infection. Using confocal 3D imaging, we found that ZIKV infected brain sections displayed a reduction in the vasculature density and vessel branching compared to mocks at E15.5; altogether, cortical vessels presented a comparatively immature pattern in the infected tissue. These impaired vascular patterns were also apparent in the placenta and retina. Moreover, proteomic analysis has shown that angiogenesis proteins are deregulated in the infected brains compared to controls. At P2, the cortical size and brain weight were reduced in comparison to mock-infected animals. In sum, our results indicate that ZIKV impairs angiogenesis in addition to neurogenesis during development. The vasculature defects represent a limitation for general brain growth but also could regulate neurogenesis directly.
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