A cardiogenic embolus could reach the posterior circulation through the right vertebral artery because of a relatively larger diameter in cases of left vertebral artery hypoplasia. Hence, we ...investigated whether left vertebral artery hypoplasia is associated with cardiac embolisms with atrial fibrillation in the posterior circulation and its functional outcomes.
In this monocentric retrospective study, patients with acute cardioembolic stroke with atrial fibrillation were enrolled and underwent CT or neck MRA, which visualized the aortic arch and subclavian arteries. The laterality and size of vertebral artery hypoplasia were recorded. Posterior circulation stroke, basilar artery occlusion, and the functional outcomes after 3 months were investigated.
This study included 407 patients; the patients with left vertebral artery hypoplasia experienced a higher rate of posterior circulation stroke (19 versus 73; 42.2% versus 20.2%;
= .001) and basilar artery occlusion (5 versus 10; 11.1% versus 2.8%;
= .005) than the patients without left vertebral artery hypoplasia. Multivariate analysis revealed that left vertebral artery hypoplasia showed an association with lower odds of achieving a good functional outcome 3 months after the stroke (OR = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2-0.9;
= .027).
Patients with cardioembolic stroke and left vertebral artery hypoplasia had posterior circulation stroke, basilar artery occlusion, and poor functional outcomes after 3 months.
In the past 4 years, incidences of endemic or epidemic respiratory diseases associated with canine influenza H3N2 virus in Asian dogs have been reported in countries such as South Korea and China. ...Canine species were considered to be the new natural hosts for this virus. However, at the beginning of 2010, influenza-like respiratory signs, such as dyspnoea, were also observed among cats as well as in dogs in an animal shelter located in Seoul, South Korea. The affected cats showed 100 % morbidity and 40 % mortality. We were able to isolate a virus from a lung specimen of a dead cat, which had suffered from the respiratory disease, in embryonated-chicken eggs. The eight viral genes isolated were almost identical to those of the canine influenza H3N2 virus, suggesting interspecies transmission of canine influenza H3N2 virus to the cat. Moreover, three domestic cats infected with intranasal canine/Korea/GCVP01/07 (H3N2) all showed elevated rectal temperatures, nasal virus shedding and severe pulmonary lesions, such as suppurative bronchopneumonia. Our study shows, for the first time, that cats are susceptible to canine influenza H3N2 infection, suggesting that cats may play an intermediate host role in transmitting the H3N2 virus among feline and canine species, which could lead to the endemic establishment of the virus in companion animals. Such a scenario raises a public health concern, as the possibility of the emergence of new recombinant feline or canine influenza viruses in companion animals with the potential to act as a zoonotic infection cannot be excluded.
The Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems (KIAPS) has been developing a new global numerical weather prediction model and an advanced data assimilation system. As part of the KIAPS ...package for observation processing (KPOP) system for data assimilation, preprocessing, and quality control modules for bending-angle measurements of global positioning system radio occultation (GPS-RO) data have been implemented and examined. The GPS-RO data processing system is composed of several steps for checking observation locations, missing values, physical values for Earth radius of curvature, and geoid undulation. An observation-minus-background check is implemented by use of a one-dimensional observational bending-angle operator, and tangent point drift is also considered in the quality control process. We have tested GPS-RO observations utilized by the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) within KPOP, based on both the KMA global model and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Atmosphere Model with Spectral Element dynamical core (CAM-SE) as a model background. Background fields from the CAM-SE model are incorporated for the preparation of assimilation experiments with the KIAPS local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF) data assimilation system, which has been successfully implemented to a cubed-sphere model with unstructured quadrilateral meshes. As a result of data processing, the bending-angle departure statistics between observation and background show significant improvement. Also, the first experiment in assimilating GPS-RO bending angle from KPOP within KIAPS-LETKF shows encouraging results.
XIAP-associated factor 1 (XAF1) is a new candidate tumor suppressor, which has been known to exert proapoptotic effects by interfering with the caspase-inhibiting activity of XIAP. To explore the ...XAF1's candidacy for a suppressor in urogenital tumorigenesis, we investigated the XAF1 status in a series of cancer cell lines and primary tumors derived from the bladder, kidney and prostate. Expression of XAF1 transcript was undetectable or extremely low in 60% (3/5) of bladder, 66% (10/15) of kidney, and 100% (3/3) prostate cancer cell lines. Abnormal reduction of XAF1 was also found in 33% (18/55) of primary bladder and 40% (8/20) of primary kidney tumors, and showed a correlation with advanced stage and high grade of bladder tumor. Hypermethylation at 14 CpG sites in the 5' proximal region of the XAF1 promoter was highly prevalent in cancers versus adjacent normal or benign tissues and tightly associated with reduced gene expression. XAF1 expression enhanced the apoptotic response of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents, such as etoposide or 5-FU. While XAF1 expression did not influence the subcellular distribution or expression of XIAP, it elevated the protein stability of p53 and its target gene expression. Moreover, the apoptosis-sensitizing and growth suppression function of XAF1 was markedly impeded by blockade of p53 function. Collectively, our study demonstrates that epigenetic alteration of XAF1 is frequent in human urogenital cancers and may contribute to the malignant progression of tumors by rendering tumor cells a survival advantage partially through the attenuated p53 response to apoptotic stresses.
Abstract
We rederive the possible dependence of the redshift with a very-high-energy (VHE)
γ
-ray photon index. The results suggest that the universe to VHE
γ
-rays is becoming more transparent than ...expected. We introduce the extragalactic background light (EBL) and photon to axion-like particle (ALP) oscillations to explain this phenomenon. We concentrate our analysis on 70 blazars up to redshift
z
≃ 1. Assuming this correlation is solely the result of photon-photon absorption of VHE photons with the EBL, with deviations between the predictions and observations, especially at redshifts 0.2 <
z
< 1. We then discuss the implications of photon-ALP oscillations for the VHE
γ
-ray spectra of blazars. Strong evidence shows that (1) the results of the EBL attenuation show that the VHE
γ
-ray photon index increases nonlinearly at the ranges of redshift 0.03 <
z
< 0.2 and (2) the photon-ALP oscillation results in an attractive characteristic in the VHE
γ
-ray photon index at the ranges of redshift 0.2 <
z
< 1. We suggest that both EBL absorption and photon-ALP oscillation can influence the propagation of VHE
γ
-rays from distant blazars.
Background and purpose
The patterns of head‐shaking nystagmus (HSN) aid in differentiation between central and peripheral vestibular disorders, and perverted HSN (pHSN) has been considered a central ...sign. The aim was to determine the characteristics of HSN in a large number of patients with either peripheral or central vestibular disorders in a dizziness clinic of a university hospital.
Methods
The medical records of 7544 dizzy patients were reviewed during a year and 822 patients with a clinical diagnosis of vestibular disorders were recruited. The findings of spontaneous nystagmus (SN) and HSN in these patients were compared with those of healthy controls (n = 48).
Results
A total of 217 of the 822 patients (26.4%) were classified as having a central vestibular disorder, whilst 397 (48.3%) had a peripheral vestibular disorder. In the peripheral vestibular disorder group, SN was observed in 14.1% and HSN in 40.8%, amongst whom 24.1% were the pHSN form. In the central group, SN was observed in 17.5% and HSN in 24.0% of whom 57.7% was pHSN. HSN was more frequently observed in the peripheral vestibular disorder group than in the central group (40.8% vs. 24.0%, P < 0.01). However, the proportion of pHSN was significantly increased in the central group compared to the peripheral vestibular patient group (57.7% vs. 24.1%, P < 0.01).
Conclusions
Since pHSN is not specific for central vestibular disorders, other clinical features should be considered in pursuing a central lesion in patients with pHSN.
The COSINE-100 dark matter search experiment is an array of NaI(Tl) crystal detectors located in the Yangyang Underground Laboratory (Y2L). To understand measured backgrounds in the NaI(Tl) crystals ...we have performed Monte Carlo simulations using the Geant4 toolkit and developed background models for each crystal that consider contributions from both internal and external sources, including cosmogenic nuclides. The background models are based on comparisons of measurement data with Monte Carlo simulations that are guided by a campaign of material assays and are used to evaluate backgrounds and identify their sources. The average background level for the six crystals (70 kg total mass) that are studied is 3.5 counts/day/keV/kg in the (2–6) keV energy interval. The dominant contributors in this energy region are found to be
210
Pb and
3
H.
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