Definite Information Research Articles

The new, direct, target-specific oral anticoagulants

In recent years, numerous alternatives to VKAs have been developed, the first competitors to warfarin are the novel oral anticoagulants (NOAC) or better referred to as Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant (DOAC) or Target Specific Oral Anti-coagulant (TSOAC): These drugs have definite advantages and disadvantages that should be clear to the physicians before prescribing any of them for patients. Many clinical trials, which involved thousands of patients provided definite information about the efficacy and the safety of DOACs, yet, many physicians remain reluctant to prescribe these drugs due to lack of answers to real world questions. The concerns are directed towards appropriate patient selection (The choice should be made according to age, renal function, compliance, cost, clinical condition, intake of other drugs), the mechanism of switching between agents. How to manage regarding any procedural measurement? How these drugs affect routine laboratory tests and when do we need monitoring? Knowledge of other drugs that interact with the DOAC and management of severe bleeding will be reviewed and recommendations will be given to all these concerns.

FOLK DOLL OF LATGALE AND PRIDVINYE: THE ORIGINS OF JOINT TRADITIONS

FOLK DOLL OF LATGALE AND PRIDVINYE: THE ORIGINS OF JOINT TRADITIONS

Evaluation of microbiological and physicochemical profile of some herbal preparations manufactured by pharmaceutical and herbal manufacturers in Bangladesh

The aim of this study was to scrutinize the physicochemical and qualitative microbial examination of 30 different (of various dosage forms) herbal medicinal products marketed by pharmaceutical and herbal manufacturers in Bangladesh. The microbial evaluation included total viable aerobic bacteria, Escherichia coli, fungi and Staphylococcus aureus count; physicochemical properties like weight variation, hardness, disintegration time, friability and density. The IMViC (indole, methyl red, Voges–Proskauer and citrate utilization) tests were frequently employed for identification of E. coli and S. aureus. Total viable aerobic bacterial counts in the samples analyzed were ranged from 3.8 × 104 to 3.2 × 108 CFU/ml or CFU/g and 36.67 % were within BP standard limit. S. aureus was detected in 53.33 % (16) of the samples, ranged from an estimated 3 × 102 to 9.2 × 106 CFU/ml or CFU/g which were above the USP standard. E. coli was detected in 40 % (12) of the samples, ranging from 1 × 102 to 4.8 × 104 CFU/ml or CFU/g that were above the USP standard. The ranges of the fungi counts were 3.4 × 103–3.1 × 106 CFU/ml or CFU/g and 46.67 % of which were within BP standard. Physicochemical properties of herbal products manufactured by pharmaceutical manufacturers were found better than that of the herbal manufacturers. From the label and pack insert of herbal products, definite release pattern information weren’t obtained and the majority of herbal products showed scattered disintegration time. In order to reduce the potential health related complications, there is necessity of constant monitoring and control of the standards of herbal medicine products available in the Bangladeshi market.

Tagging Communication and Information Technology Issues in Developing Countries

It is important for developing countries to enact IT policies that enable them to take advantage of the new technologies and any consequent economic development. This paper attempts to gain an understanding of how developing countries, in particular Venezuela and Nepal, could incorporate information technology in the overall socio-economic development through a definite information technology strategy.

Effect of ambient temperature storage on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) as a free radical for the evaluation of antioxidant activity

Antioxidants are molecules involved in defense mechanisms against the deleterious effects of free radicals in most organisms. A number of methods are currently being used for the evaluation of the antioxidantand free-radical scavenging properties of natural and synthetic antioxidants, including the DPPH method. Numerous speculations about the stability of DPPH solution over a long period of time, at normal ambient temperature have been observed in previous studies but no definite information exists in literature in this regard. Using established protocols, the free-radical capability of DPPH methanolic solution (stored in dark at ambient temperature) was assessed using ascorbic acid as the antioxidant. Results revealed that DPPH methanolic solution gave comparable free-radical activity 24 hours post preparation compared with the freshly prepared solution. After 24 hours, activity was greatly reduced. We therefore recommend that freshly prepared DPPH solution should be used at all times; however for prolonged experimental schedules, the DPPH solution should be used within 24 hours post preparation, so as to give comparable results with the freshly prepared solution and avoid ambiguity in results interpretation.Keywords: Ascorbic acid, methanolic, oxygen species, phytochemicals, stability.

The mitochondrial genome sequence of a diabetes disease Rattus norvegicus Wistar strain

We sequenced a diabetic Rattus norvegicus Wistar strain mitochondrial genome for the first time (GenBank Accession No. KM114608). Its mitogenome was 16,311 bp and coding 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes. This mitogenome sequence will provide definite genetic information for diabetes disease.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Rattus norvegicus C57CE strain

We sequenced a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Rattus norvegicus C57CE strain mitochondrial genome for the first time (GenBank Accession No. KM114607). Its mitogenome was 16,307 bp and coding 13 protein–coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes. This genome will provide definite information for genetic perspective into this disease.

β2-glycoprotein I, lipopolysaccharide and endothelial TLR4: Three players in the two hit theory for anti-phospholipid-mediated thrombosis

The thrombogenic effect of β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI)-dependent anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) in animal models was found to be LPS dependent. Since β2GPI behaves as LPS scavenger, LPS/β2GPI complex was suggested to account for in vitro cell activation through LPS/TLR4 involvement being LPS the actual bridge ligand between β2GPI and TLR4 at least in monocytes/macrophages. However, no definite information is available on the interaction among β2GPI, LPS and endothelial TLR4 in spite of the main role of endothelial cells (EC) in clotting. To analyse at the endothelial level the need of LPS, we investigated the in vitro interaction of β2GPI with endothelial TLR4 and we assessed the role of LPS in such an interaction.To do this, we evaluated the direct binding and internalization of β2GPI by confocal microscopy in living TLR4-MD2 transfected CHO cells (CHO/TLR4-MD2) and β2GPI binding to CHO/TLR4-MD2 cells and human umbilical cord vein EC (HUVEC) by flow cytometry and cell-ELISA using anti-β2GPI monoclonal antibodies in the absence or presence of various concentrations of exogenous LPS. To further investigate the role of TLR4, we performed anti-β2GPI antibody binding and adhesion molecule up-regulation in TLR4-silenced HUVEC.Confocal microscopy studies show that β2GPI does interact with TLR4 at the cell membrane and is internalized in cytoplasmic granules in CHO/TLR4-MD2 cells. β2GPI binding to CHO/TLR4-MD2 cells and HUVEC is also confirmed by flow cytometry and cell-ELISA, respectively. The interaction between β2GPI and TLR4 is confirmed by the reduction of anti-β2GPI antibody binding and by the up-regulation of E-selectin or ICAM-1 by TLR4 silencing in HUVEC. β2GPI binding is not affected by LPS at concentrations comparable to those found in both β2GPI and antibody preparations. Only higher amount of LPS that can activate EC and up-regulate TLR4 expression are found to increase the binding.Our findings demonstrate that β2GPI interacts directly with TLR4 expressed on EC, and that such interaction may contribute to β2GPI-dependent aPL-mediated EC activation. At variance of monocytic cells, we also showed a threshold effect for the action of LPS, that is able to enhance anti-β2GPI antibody EC binding only at cell activating concentrations, shown to increase TLR4 expression. This in vitro model may explain why LPS behaves as a second hit increasing the expression of β2GPI in vascular tissues and triggering aPL-mediated thrombosis in experimental animals.

Dynamic estimation and reliability control of quality assurance for bored piles

A systematic method was proposed to estimate the occurrence probability of defective piles (OPDP) from a site according to quality assurance inspection. The OPDP was firstly suggested as the criterion to weight the performance of a pile foundation. Its prior distribution and updating distribution were deduced to follow Beta distributions. To calibrate the OPDP, a dynamic estimation model was established according to the relationships between prior mean and variance and updating mean and variance. Finally, a reliability-control method dealing with uncertainties arising from quality assurance inspection was formalized to judge whether all the bored piles from a site can be accepted. It is exemplified that the OPDP can be substantially improved when more definite prior information and sampling formation become available. For the example studied herein, the Bayesian estimator of updating variance for OPDP is reduced from 0.0037 to 0.0014 for the first inspection, from 0.0014 to 0.0009 for the second inspection, and with less uncertainty by incorporating experience information.

Fragmentation of Hydrocarbon Molecules in Intense Laser Fields Studied by Coincidence Momentum Imaging: A Review

Fragmentation of polyatomic molecules is a fundamental chemical reaction in intense laser fields when the electric field strength of the laser pulse is comparable to or exceeds the intra-molecular Coulomb binding fields. For hydrocarbon molecules, because of the migration of light hydrogen atom (or proton) that can lead to chemical bond rearrangement of molecules, fragmentation of hydrocarbon molecules may result in new fragment species that could not be realized from the initial geometry of molecules by direct bond breaking, making the full characterization of their dynamical fragmentation processes difficult. In this article, we will review recent progress in the study of fragmentation of hydrocarbon molecules induced by intense laser fields using the coincidence momentum imaging method that can provide definite information on the fragmentation channels of molecules. The effect of hydrogen migration on fragmentation of hydrocarbon molecules is reviewed, based on which new possible schemes for controlling chemical bond breaking/formation by controlling the motion of protons within a hydrocarbon molecule is discussed.

Range-wide phylogeography and conservation genetics of a narrowly endemic stream salamander, Pachyhynobius shangchengensis (Caudata, Hynobiidae): implications for conservation

The Shangcheng stout salamander (Pachyhynobius shangchengensis) is an endangered amphibian endemic to the Dabie Mountains, southeast China, and is currently threatened by habitat loss and illegal poaching. Here we used the mitochondrial DNA control region sequence (768 bp) to conduct a comprehensive investigation of genetic diversity, phylogeographic pattern, and demographic history of the species across its geographic distribution to assist its conservation. We concluded that the levels of genetic variation are relatively low in all four populations. Analysis of molecular variance indicated that the most likely phylogeographic pattern is [JGT] [KHJ] [TM, BYM]. Two distinct clades were identified in the phylogenetic tree of 28 haplotypes, corresponding to the two southern populations (TM, BYM) and two northern populations (JGT, KHJ). Significant population differentiation (FST) was detected among all populations. Among the four populations, historical demographic analyses (e.g., the g parameter, the Tajima D test, and the Fu Fs test) did not reveal definite information on population expansion except for the BYM population, which had undergone a strong population expansion event. Based on the analysis of a Bayesian skyline plot, the total population underwent a significant population fluctuation around 20 kya. This may have been triggered by the end of the last glacial maximum. In conclusion, the existence of three evolutionarily significant units (BMY-TM, KHJ, and JGT) and four management units (BMY, TM, KHJ, and JGT) is supported by our study.

Possibility of the Implementation of the Principle of Sustainable Development in the Sphere of Coal Processing

Ludmila Butuzova, Oksana Turchanina, Shwan Shakir, Gennadij Butuzov Donetsk National Technical University, Donetsk, Ukraine Achim Bechtel University of Leoben, Vienna, Austria Antonio Castelbranco Lisbon Technical University, Lisbon, Portugal  High-sulphur coals processing generates a great number of pollutant substances in atmosphere. This study was undertaken to obtain more definite information about the composition of sulphur coal extracts, i.e., on the quality and quantity of dormant Volatile Organic Emissions (VOCs). Analysis of the liquid products was carried out by different protocols of extraction, adsorption chromatography, and GC/MS identification. It should be pointed out that the basic components of coal extracts are polyaromatic hydrocarbons, sulfur-containing compounds and phenols act as a basic factor of environment pollution with carcinogenic products. The complex treatment of these components will permit not only to obtain some valuable chemical products, but also to improve the ecology in the industrial regions.

Gaelic Bards and Norwegian Rigs

Abstract The birlinn or West Highland galley has been used frequently as an image on clan crests, and appears on more than eighty medieval gravestones in the west of Scotland, yet not a single example of the ship itself remains or has been discovered, and definite information on its dimensions and construction is scarce. Some information about the birlinn can be gleaned from Gaelic poetry from the period 1300–1760, from oral tradition, stories, and also from land charters, estate papers, and accounts. The birlinn as seen on gravestone carvings appears to be closely related to the Viking ship, and my intention in this paper is to compare the West Highland vessel with the Norse vessel, using information from the square sail tradition still extant in Norway, to interpret information from the Gaelic bards. As well as increasing our practical knowledge of the birlinn, I hope to increase understanding of its important place in Gaelic heritage and illuminate links between Norse and Gaelic culture during the Midd...

The efficacy and safety of daclizumab and its potential role in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Daclizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody of the immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) isotype that binds to the α-subunit (CD25) of the high-affinity interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor expressed on activated T cells and CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells. Based on the assumption that it would block the activation and expansion of autoreactive T cells that are central to the immune pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), daclizumab was tested in several small open-label clinical trials in MS and demonstrated a profound inhibition of inflammatory disease activity. Surprisingly, accompanying mechanistic studies revealed that the most important biological effect of daclizumab was rather a dramatic expansion and activation of immunoregulatory CD56(bright) natural-killer (NK) cells that correlated with treatment response, while there was no or only minor effect on peripheral T-cell activation and function. These CD56(bright) NK cells were able to gain access to the central nervous system in MS and kill autologous activated T cells. Additional and relatively large phase IIb clinical trials showed that daclizumab, as add-on or monotherapy in relapsing-remitting (RR) MS, was highly effective in reducing relapse rate, disability progression, and the number and volume of gadolinium-enhancing, T1 and T2 lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and reproduced the expansion of CD56(bright) NK cells as a biomarker for daclizumab activity. Daclizumab is generally very well tolerated and has shown a favorable adverse event (AE) profile in transplant recipients. However, several potentially serious and newly emerging AEs (mainly infections, skin reactions, elevated liver function tests and autoimmune phenomena in several body organs) may require strict safety monitoring programs in future clinical practice and place daclizumab together with other new and highly effective MS drugs as a second-line therapy. Ongoing phase III clinical trials in RRMS are expected to provide definite information on the efficacy and safety of daclizumab and to determine its place in the fast-growing armamentarium of MS therapies.

Spectroscopic Studies of Human Hair, Nail, and Saliva Samples Using a Cantilever-Based Photoacoustic Detection

In infrared spectroscopy human hair has normally been studied using attenuated total reflectance or diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, for which the sample preparation methods can lead to problems of reproducibility. Definite information could be obtained by studying intact individual hair fibers, but the small diameter of hair fibers and the lack of sensitivity make such measurement difficult. A highly detailed infrared spectrum of human hair has been measured using a cantilever-based photoacoustic detection. The spectrum can be obtained even if a piece of hair as small as 1 cm is used as a sample. Photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) is a well-established technique in many areas, but very little has been published in the research of proteins. Two simple applications of PAS for human hair, as well as measurements with different types of proteins, are presented in this paper.

Comment on “Improvement of Controlled Bidirectional Quantum Direct Communication Using a GHZ State" [Chin. Phys. Lett. 30 (2013) 040305

The problem of definite information leakage existing in the controlled bidirectional quantum direct communication protocol using GHZ states [Chin. Phys. Lett. 23 (2006) 1680] was pointed out by Ye and Jiang [Chin. Phys. Lett. 30 (2013) 040305]. Then, they proposed two strategies to improve this security bug. However, if the revised versions are analyzed from the viewpoint of information theory, it can be found that they still have the problem of information leakage. That is, three quarters and one half of the information interchanged by the communication parties are leaked out unknowingly in the first and second revised protocols, respectively.

Improvement of Controlled Bidirectional Quantum Direct Communication Using a GHZ State

The security of controlled bidirectional quantum direct communication using a GHZ state [Chin. Phys. Lett. 23 (2006) 1680] is analyzed. It turns out that the MX protocol has the problem of definite information leakage, i.e., the first bit of a secret message from any communication party is always leaked out without any active attack after the controller's announcement of measurement results. We put forward two approaches to improve this. The first is to merely modify the encoding rule of the MX protocol, while the second is to use a Bell state as the quantum resource instead of a GHZ state. Both our approaches can ensure that all the bits of secret messages from two communication parties are not leaked out after the controller's announcement of measurement results. Moreover, the controlled bidirectional quantum secure direct communication protocol based on the second approach is more convenient to implement than the MX protocol, since it merely uses a Bell state as the quantum resource and only needs to perform the Bell-basis measurement.

Experimental Study of the Interaction between Two Lambda Hyperons

The knowledge of \({\Lambda{-}\Lambda}\) interaction is quite limited. At present, only Nagara event gives a definite information for its interaction among nine samples of double hypernucleus in the world. To obtain nuclear mass dependence of the interaction with one thousand double hypernuclei, a system for fully automated scanning of \({\Xi^-}\) hyperons was developed by the success of precise position alignment (1 μm) of nuclear emulsion plates. Production and decay of double hypernuclei have typical topologies with three vertices. The development of a system to search for such topologies in overall emulsion is ongoing.

Effect of alcohol consumption on liver stiffness measured by transient elastography

To determine the evolution of transient elastography (TE) in patients with alcoholic liver disease according to alcohol cessation or continuation. We retrospectively selected in our local database all patients who had two TE between June 2005 and November 2010 with chronic alcohol excessive consumption and excluded those with associated cause of liver disease. TE was performed at least one week apart by senior operator. TE examinations with less than ten successful measures or with an interquartile range above 30% were excluded. We retrospectively reviewed file of all patients to include only patient followed up by trained addictologist and for which definite information on alcohol consumption was available. Concomitant biological parameters [aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)] within 4 wk of initial and final TE were recorded. Putative fibrosis score according to initial and final TE were determined with available cut-off for alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C. Initial and final putative fibrosis score were compared according to alcohol consumption during follow-up. During the study period 572 patients had TE examination for alcoholic liver disease and 79 of them had at least two examinations. Thirty-seven patients met our criteria with a median follow-up of 32.5 wk. At the end of the study, 13 (35%) were abstinent, and 24 (65%) relapsers. Eight patients had liver biopsy during follow-up. TE decreased significantly during follow-up in 85% of abstinent patients [median (range): -4.9 (-6.1,-1.9)], leading to a modification of the putative fibrosis stage in 28%-71% of patient according to different cut-off value. In relapsers TE increased in 45% and decreased in 54% of patient. There was no statistical difference between initial and final TE in relapsers. In the overall population, using 22.6 kPa as cut-off for cirrhosis, 4 patients had cirrhosis at initial TE and 3 patients had cirrhosis at final TE. Using 19.5 kPa as cut-off for cirrhosis, 7 patients had cirrhosis at initial TE and 5 patients had cirrhosis at final TE. Using 12.5 kPa as cut-off for cirrhosis, 16 patients had cirrhosis at initial TE and 15 patients had cirrhosis at final TE. Evolution of biological data was in accordance with the relapse or abstinent status: abstinence ratio (duration of abstinence/duration follow-up) was correlated with AST ratio (r = -0.465, P = 0.007) and GGT ratio (r = -0.662, P < 0.0001). GGT was correlated with initial (r = 0.488, P = 0.002) and final TE (r = 0.49, P < 0.005). Final TE was correlated with AST (r = 0.362, P < 0.05). Correlation between TE ratio and AST ratio (r = 0.44, P = 0.01) revealed that TE varied proportionally to AST for all patients irrespective of their alcohol status. The same relationship was observed between TE ratio and GGT ratio (r = 0.65, P < 0.0001). Evolution of TE was significantly correlated with the ratio of time of abstinence to observation time (r = -0.387, P = 0.016) and the evolution of liver enzymes. TE significantly decreased with abstinence. Results of TE in alcoholic liver disease cannot be interpreted without taking into account alcohol consumption and liver enzymes.

Fisher information matrix: A tool for dimension reduction, projection pursuit, independent component analysis, and more

AbstractHui &amp; Lindsay (2010) proposed a new dimension reduction method for multivariate data. It was based on the so‐called white noise matrices derived from the Fisher information matrix. Their theory and empirical studies demonstrated that this method can detect interesting features from high‐dimensional data even with a moderate sample size. The theoretical emphasis in that paper was the detection of non‐normal projections. In this paper we show how to decompose the information matrix into non‐negative definite information terms in a manner akin to a matrix analysis of variance. Appropriate information matrices will be identified for diagnostics for such important modern modelling techniques as independent component models, Markov dependence models, and spherical symmetry. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 40: 712–730; 2012 © 2012 Statistical Society of Canada