Different Degrees Of Progress Research Articles

Anpassung von Skleral-Kontaktlinsen bei Terrien‘s marginaler Hornhautdegeneration

Purpose. This case report describes the possible visual rehabilitation with scleral lenses of a patient with Terrien’s marginal degeneration with different degrees of progression between the right and left eye. Material and Methods. Scleral contact lenses were fitted with the help of corneal tomography and by observing and assessing the fit of measuring lenses. A slit lamp with a corresponding camera helped to modify the diagnostic lenses. Results. In this case, the fitting of scleral contact lenses resulted in an improvement in distance vision in both the right and left eye. Near vision could not be evaluated at the time of writing. Conclusion. Scleral contact lenses can be a good alternative to glasses for complex corneas to improve visual performance. It is recommended to use a slit lamp with a camera to make it easier to discuss scleral contact lenses modifications with the manufacturer of the lenses. Keywords: TERRIEN’S MARGINAL CORNEAL DEGENERATION, PELLUCIDE MARGINAL CORNEAL DEGENERATION, SCLERAL LENSES

Clinical application of serum seven tumour-associated autoantibodies in patients with pulmonary nodules

BackgroundThe incidence of pulmonary nodules is increasing because of the promotion and popularisation of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for populations with suspected lung cancer. However, a high rate of false positives and concerns regarding the radiation-related cancer risk of repeated CT scanning remain major obstacles to its wide application. This study aimed to investigate the clinical value of seven tumour-associated autoantibodies (7-TAAbs) in the differentiation of malignant pulmonary tumours from benign ones and the early detection of lung cancer in routine clinical practice. MethodsWe included 377 patients who underwent both the 7-TAAbs panel test and LDCT screening, and were diagnosed with pulmonary nodules using LDCT. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum levels antibodies for P53, PGP9.5, SOX2, GAGE7, GBU4-5, CAGE, and MAGE-A1. The relationships between the positive rates of the 7-TAAbs and the patient sex, and age, and the number, size, and composition of pulmonary nodules were analysed. We then statistically evaluated the clinical application value. ResultsThe positive rates of the 7-TAAbs did not correlate with sex, age, number, size, or composition of pulmonary nodules. The serum antibody level of GBU4-5 in patients with pulmonary nodules tended to increase with age; the serum antibody level of SOX2 tended to increase with nodule size and was the highest among patients with mixed ground-glass opacity (mGGO) nodules. The antibody positive rate for CAGE in female patients with pulmonary nodules was significantly higher than that in male patients (P < 0.05). The positive rate of GBU4-5 antibody in patients aged 60 years and above was higher than that in younger patients (P < 0.05). The positive rate of GAGE7 antibody in patients with pulmonary nodules sized 8–20 mm was also significantly higher than that in patients with pulmonary nodules sized less than 8 mm (P < 0.01). Significant differences were observed in the GAGE7 antibody levels of patients with pulmonary nodules of different compositions (P < 0.01). The positive rate of the 7-TAAbs panel test in patients with lung cancer was significantly higher than in patients with pulmonary nodules (P < 0.01). Serum levels of P53, SOX2, GBU4-5, and MAGE-A1 antibodies were significantly higher in patients with lung cancer than in those with pulmonary nodules (P < 0.05). ConclusionThe low positive rates of serum 7-TAAbs in patients with lung cancer and pulmonary nodules may be related to different case selection, population differences, geographical differences, different degrees of progression, and detection methods. The combined detection of 7-TAAbs has some clinical value for screening and early detection of lung cancer.

The mitochondrial calcium signaling, regulation, and cellular functions: A novel target for therapeutic medicine in neurological disorders.

Mitochondrial calcium (Ca2+ ) dynamics play critical roles in regulating vital physiological conditions in the brain. Importantly, Mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes serve different cellular functions including Ca2+ signaling, bioenergetics, phospholipid biosynthesis, cholesterol esterification, programmed cell death, and communication between the two organelles. Several Ca2+ -transport systems specialize at the mitochondria, ER, and their contact sites that provide tight control of mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling at the molecular level. The biological function of Ca2+ channels and transporters as well as the role of mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling in cellular homeostasis can open new perspectives for investigation and molecular intervention. Emerging evidence suggests that abnormalities in ER/mitochondrial brain functions and dysregulation of Ca2+ homeostasis are neuropathological hallmarks of neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease, but little evidence is available to demonstrate their relationship to disease pathogenesis and therapeutic approaches. In recent years, the detection of the molecular mechanism regulating cellular Ca2+ homeostasis and also mitochondrial functions have expanded the number of targeted treatments. The main experimental data identify beneficial effects, whereas some scientific trials did not meet the expectations. Together with an overview of the important function of mitochondria, this review paper introduced the possible tested therapeutic approaches that target mitochondria in the context of neurodegenerative diseases. Since these treatments in neurological disorders have shown different degrees of progress, it is essential to perform a detailed assessment of the significance of mitochondrial deterioration in neurodegenerative diseases and of a pharmacological treatment at this stage.

Randomized-controlled trial examining differing content of ABA therapy delivered to autistic children

The current study examined relative differences of the content of Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) Therapy delivered to autistic children. A randomized trial was conducted using 73 school age children who either received a traditional ABA intervention (i.e., treatment as usual, TAU) that emphasized traditional reinforcement contingencies and Skinner's (1957) approach to language development, or a treatment which focused on derived learning and relational framing based on the PEAK curriculum (i.e., relational training, RT; Dixon, 2016). Results suggest that participants who were exposed to the RT gained more skills and had greater improvements in intelligence scores than those participants in the TAU group. Furthermore, indirect measures of positive change including autism severity also appeared to be affected by the group assignment. These data suggest that different types of ABA therapy can produce different degrees of progress for autistic children and have implications for instructional design and service delivery by behavior analysts.

РОССИЙСКАЯ ПРАКТИКА ПОДДЕРЖКИ И ПРОДВИЖЕНИЯ РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫХ БРЕНДОВ

The article is devoted to the issues of marketing and branding of territories. The goal is to analyze the mechanisms and tools for supporting and promoting local brands. It is concluded that the country has a system of supporting regional brands at three levels. Benchmarking of measures taken at the level of constituent entities of the Federation and municipalities showed different degrees of progress in this issue of territories. Best practices highlighted. The types of synergistic effects according to the place of occurrence are formulated

Advances in T Cells Based on Inflammation in Metabolic Diseases.

With the increasing incidence of metabolic diseases year by year and their impact on the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases have attracted great attention as a major health care problem, but there is still no effective treatment. Oxidative stress and inflammation are the main mechanisms leading to metabolic diseases. T cells are involved in the inflammatory response, which can also regulate the development of metabolic diseases, CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells are mainly responsible for the role. Th1 and Th17 differentiated from CD4+ T promote inflammation, while Th2 and Treg inhibit inflammation. CD8+ T cells also contribute to inflammation. The severity and duration of inflammatory reactions can also lead to different degrees of progression of metabolic diseases. Moreover, mTOR, PI3K-Akt, and AMPK signaling pathways play unique roles in the regulation of T cells, which provide a new direction for the treatment of metabolic diseases in the future. In this review, we will elaborate on the role of T cells in regulating inflammation in various metabolic diseases, the signaling pathways that regulate T cells in metabolic diseases, and the latest research progress.

Sex-specific hypothalamic expression of kisspeptin, gonadotropin releasing hormone, and kisspeptin receptor in progressive demyelination model

Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, decrease the quality of life of patients and can affect reproduction. Assisted reproductive therapies are available, which although effective, aggravate motor symptoms. For this reason, it is important to determine how the control of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis is affected in order to develop better strategies for these patients. One way to determine this is using animal models such as the taiep rat, which shows progressive demyelination of the central nervous system, and was used in the present study to characterize the expression of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), Kisspeptin, and kisspeptin receptor (Kiss1R) and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion. The expression of kisspeptin, GnRH, and Kiss1R was determined at the hypothalamic level by immunofluorescence and serum LH levels were determined by ELISA. The expression of kisspeptin at the hypothalamic level showed sexual dimorphism, where there was an increase in males and a decrease in females during oestrus. There was no change in the expression of GnRH or kisspeptin receptor, regardless of sex. However, a decrease in serum LH concentration was observed in both sexes. The taiep rat showed changes in the expression of kisspeptin at the hypothalamic level. These changes are different from those reported in the literature with the use of animals with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, this is because both animal models represent different degrees of progression of multiple sclerosis. Our results suggest that the effects on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis depend on the differences between the demyelinating processes, their progression, and even individual factors, and it is thus important that fertility treatments are individualized to maximize therapeutic effects.

Multi-layer Trajectory Clustering: a Network Algorithm for Disease Subtyping

Many diseases display heterogeneity in clinical features and their progression, indicative of the existence of disease subtypes. Extracting patterns of disease variable progression for subtypes has tremendous application in medicine, for example, in early prognosis and personalized medical therapy. This work presents a novel, data-driven, network-based Trajectory Clustering (TC) algorithm for identifying Parkinson’s subtypes based on disease trajectory. Modeling patient-variable interactions as a bipartite network, TC first extracts communities of co-expressing disease variables at different stages of progression. Then, it identifies Parkinson’s subtypes by clustering similar patient trajectories that are characterized by severity of disease variables through a multi-layer network. Determination of trajectory similarity accounts for direct overlaps between trajectories as well as second-order similarities, i.e., common overlap with a third set of trajectories. This work clusters trajectories across two types of layers: (a) temporal, and (b) ranges of independent outcome variable (representative of disease severity), both of which yield four distinct subtypes. The former subtypes exhibit differences in progression of disease domains (Cognitive, Mental Health etc.), whereas the latter subtypes exhibit different degrees of progression, i.e., some remain mild, whereas others show significant deterioration after 5 years. The TC approach is validated through statistical analyses and consistency of the identified subtypes with medical literature. This generalizable and robust method can easily be extended to other progressive multi-variate disease datasets, and can effectively assist in targeted subtype-specific treatment in the field of personalized medicine.

Fractal analysis of green roof spatial implementation in European cities

To face the consequences of climate change and unsustainable urbanization, green roofs are currently widely implemented in urban environments. Despite their benefits to restore ecosystem services are quite well established at the roof scale, green roofs need to be widely and appropriately distributed to perform efficiently at larger scales. However for now, this scale-factor is not considered to guide and conduct green roof implementation policies.Here we show that a multi-scale analysis based on fractal theory is helpful in providing information for green roof implementation and in assessing the relevance of these policies.Computed for 9 European cities, green roofs fractal dimensions are sparse, ranging 0.49 to 1.35, and illustrate some different degrees of progress in urban greening. These results demonstrate some significant inconsistencies between political ambition and their in situ realization, and the necessity to better take into account the spatial distribution of green roof implementations in order to optimize their performances.

Land Readjustment as A Technique of Urban Land Management: -A Case of Aya Nagar, New Delhi

Land management reflect the meaning of the nation's assets and this executes the appropriate land policy by means of land organization. Moreover, it in like manner includes not just the standard organization of resources and land, yet in addition a chance to show a long haul system for the future. As respects to this point, land management is an essential action focusing on sustainable land use. Under these conditions, as for appropriate land policy of state, nearby specialists must build up some effective land acquisition methodologies for new developed zones as quickly as time permits in light of the fact that there is a dire requirement for urban land for public purposes, for example, streets, lodging, schools, clinics, parks, markets, and other public facilities as well as their amenities. Land reallocation extremely old which drawing interest in worldwide as a method for accomplishing arranged, impartial and proficient development. Different degrees of progress and degrees of usage have been accounted for just as traps and snags, a portion of the last being basic in as well as experienced by more than one nation alone. This training has been embraced and adjusted by different nations so as to oblige contrasts in both lawful structures and open private connections. This paper will share how to land esteem evaluation joined with property size was utilized as an appropriation driver, together with an all-inclusive and free property valuation device. And reason for selecting the study area because it is an unauthorized colony and the area is needed for readjustment it the locality which is placed with the brownfield as well as a green field. And these fields resolve the problem of an unauthorized colony with the help of Land readjustment.

Mitochondria as Potential Targets in Alzheimer Disease Therapy: An Update.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive and deleterious neurodegenerative disorder that affects mostly the elderly population. At the moment, no effective treatments are available in the market, making the whole situation a compelling challenge for societies worldwide. Recently, novel mechanisms have been proposed to explain the etiology of this disease leading to the new concept that AD is a multifactor pathology. Among others, the function of mitochondria has been considered as one of the intracellular processes severely compromised in AD since the early stages and likely represents a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases. Many mitochondrial parameters decline already during the aging, reaching an extensive functional failure concomitant with the onset of neurodegenerative conditions, although the exact timeline of these events is still unclear. Thereby, it is not surprising that mitochondria have been already considered as therapeutic targets in neurodegenerative diseases including AD. Together with an overview of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction, this review examines the pros and cons of the tested therapeutic approaches targeting mitochondria in the context of AD. Since mitochondrial therapies in AD have shown different degrees of progress, it is imperative to perform a detailed analysis of the significance of mitochondrial deterioration in AD and of a pharmacological treatment at this level. This step would be very important for the field, as an effective drug treatment in AD is still missing and new therapeutic concepts are urgently needed.

Explaining the forces underpinning grammaticalization paths: The progressive-to-imperfective shift in three varieties of Spanish

We provide an account of the synchronic variation between the use of the Simple Present marker [Verb-a] and the Present Progressive marker [estar + Verb-ndo] in the expression of the habitual reading in Modern Spanish. Results from an acceptability judgment task in three distinct dialectal varieties (Rioplatense Spanish, Iberian Spanish, and Mexican Altiplano Spanish) show: (a) the presence of variation across dialects, (b) that this variation is constrained by a grammaticalization path, the Progressive-to-Imperfective shift, and (c) that a generalization process is already underway in all three different dialects but at different degrees of progress: more conservative in the Rioplatense and Iberian varieties, and less so in the Mexican Altiplano one. Specifically, our results show that whereas the Simple Present is the preferred form to express the habitual reading, the Present Progressive marker is already available to convey this reading in the three dialectal varieties. However, in Rioplatense Spanish and Iberian Spanish, this use is restricted to contexts that independently satisfy the presuppositional content of estar –the auxiliary in the Present Progressive periphrasis [estar + Verb-ndo]–, which requires the existence of alternative situations at which the prejacent does not hold. This restriction appears to be eroding in Mexican Altiplano Spanish, which is manifested as a loss in the context-dependence of the Present Progressive marker.

Armenian Myths and Legends and their Impact on Armenian Beliefs and Literature

Objective : Remnants and light sediments and reflections of the beliefs of Animistic and Totemistic ideological systems that have been dominant among clans and tribes residing in Armenian lands during very distant periods, that is Palaeolithic periods are still recognizable in some life habits and behaviours, social norms, popular beliefs, various folkloric fields, tales, mythological narratives, customs and traditions, folk songs, and proverbs of contemporary Armenian people. Methodology: This paper through studying beliefs and legends of Armenian people tries to prove their relationship with folkloric literature. Results: Animisim or spirit worshipping existed before totemism, but the characteristic of inanimate and animate phenomena such as: different animals, stones, rocks, earthquake, lightning, fire, plants, etc. have helped the creation of animism. Nature worship has been a general phenomenon among ancient people that had existed before all religions, such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. Totemism among Armenians has been expressed with different degrees of progress and development in all material and spiritual fields.. Conclusion: In Armenians great celebrations after Christianity there is also a trace of celebrations of infidelity or Pagan times. Of course the extensive and deep role of Assyrians in the religious beliefs of Armenians should be noted too. Armenians of Western regions of Armenia had worshiped gods such as Naneh, Astgic, Barshamina that were Assyrian.

Taxonomic definitions in social science, with firms, markets and institutions as case studies

AbstractDefinitions are crucial for institutional analysis. This article explains the nature of taxonomic definitions, with particular attention to their use in economics and other social sciences. Taxonomic definitions demarcate one species of entity from another. They are vital for the communication of meaning between scientists, who must share some basic conception of what types of entity they are investigating, to establish a division of labour over subsequent theoretical analysis and empirical investigation of the type of entity defined. Generally, taxonomic definitions build on past usage and are parsimonious: they are not meant to be explanations or descriptions. By contrast, overloaded taxonomic definitions can create square-one disagreement about what is being investigated. As illustrative examples, the paper considers different degrees of progress with attempts to definefirms,marketsandinstitutions.

The Conundrum of Solving ‘Too Big to Fail’ in the European Union: Supranationalization at Different Speeds

AbstractIn the aftermath of the international financial crisis, the European Union (EU) adopted a series of regulatory reforms concerning capital adequacy, bank structures and resolution in order to tackle the risks created by financial institutions that were ‘too big to fail’. This article demonstrates different degrees of progress towards a supranational framework in two important areas of reform: Limited harmonization of the rules on bank structures, but robust progress toward the supranationalization of bank resolution, where the euro area dimension is also considered. What accounts for this variation? We draw on a synthesis of neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism to explain the diverging outcomes. We explain the low supranationalization in bank structural reforms with the absence of strong spillovers and availability of domestic options to unilaterally contain financial instability. In bank resolution, we examine the causal mechanisms through which significant spillovers modified the government preferences of key Member States.

Endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation for the treatment of glaucoma

Endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation is laser treatment of the ciliary processes with direct visualization using a small video camera for the purpose of lowering intraocular pressure. It was traditionally reserved for management of refractory glaucoma, but is now increasingly used as an adjunct to cataract surgery in less-advanced glaucoma. Here we present a review of the literature evaluating endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation's safety and efficacy in different forms of glaucoma with different degrees of progression.

Impacts of Left Atrium Size and AF Duration upon Predictive Value of Procedural AF Elimination for Freedom from Post-Ablation Recurrences in Persistent AF Ablation

Introduction: There are controversies regarding predictors of freedom from post-ablation recurrences in persistent AF with different degrees of progression of anatomical atrial remodeling. Methods and Results: Consecutive 254 patients with persistent AF (AF duration (AFD): 68±77 months, LA diameter (LAD): 46±5 mm) underwent initial ablation session for anatomical linear ablation in LA and RA after circumferential PV isolation with procedural endpoint of AF elimination. AF termination (n=23) or conversion to AT (n=63) or flutter (n=22) was achieved in 108 patients (42.5%), while AF persisted after completion of ablation protocol in the remaining 146 patients (57.5%). One hundred ninety-eight patients were followed beyond blanking period (2 months) for 289±226 days after initial procedure and 104 patients (53%) were free from AF/AT recurrences. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed recurrence-free survival rate after initial procedure was significantly higher in those with procedural AF elimination than in those without [54/85 (64%) vs. 50/113 (44%); P=0.01]. Multivariate analysis showed that AF duration and procedural AF elimination were independent predictors of freedom from post-ablation recurrence (P 51 mm or AFD =/> 5 years, while it remained significant among those with LAD 5 years and/or LAD =/> 51 mm.

Climate change adaptation strategies in the Mekong and Orange-Senqu basins: What determines the state-of-play?

Abstract The challenge of governing transboundary water resources is expected to increase with climate change and the resulting need to adapt to its impacts such as temperature increase, more precipitation in the wet season and less in the dry season. In a number of transboundary basins, international regimes, and in particular river basin commissions, are emerging to account for this and other challenges. Some basins are, however, rather advanced in terms of developing climate change adaptation strategies, while others are in a more nascent stage. For the two case studies of the Orange-Senqu and Mekong river basins, this paper attempts to explain the different degrees of progress towards climate change adaptation by applying regime effectiveness analysis. First, we analyze, using the Activity Diagram (AD) of the Management and Transition Framework (MTF), at which stage in the climate change adaptation policy formation process each of the two basins is. Then we attempt to explain the different degrees of progress towards adaptation by means of regime effectiveness theory. Variables indicating regime effectiveness are taken from the literature and further developed to suit the context of climate change adaptation. We find that the different degrees of progress can partially be explained by some variables of regime effectiveness such as the characteristics of rules and procedures, organizational structure, the role of riparian countries as well as international context. At the same time, the analysis points to the need for an analysis of additional factors that potentially shape decision-making and policy processes for climate change adaptation in international river basins such as (a) the hydrological, political and socio-economic setting, (b) underlying principles of regional cooperation (or conflict), (c) interests and values of the various actors in the negotiation process and (d) the possible linkages and trade-offs with other policy fields.

Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy in Asians: clinical, angiographic and electrophysiological characteristics

This article describes nine Chinese patients with Bietti's crystalline dystrophy, including two families, one consisting of three siblings and the other a pair of sisters. All patients had the classic refractile deposits located in all layers of the retina, with varying degrees of pigment epithelium atrophy. However, paralimbal crystals were not seen in the anterior corneal stroma. We describe clinical, angiographical and electrophysiological characteristics, and also review the literature on Bietti's crystalline dystrophy. All patients had full eye examination, including best corrected visual acuity, biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry and dilated funduscopy. Fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography were performed, together with visual fields and electrophysiologic studies. All nine of our patients were phenotypically heterogeneous, with varying age and symptoms at presentation, as well as different degrees of progression. Age was not found to be a predictor of severity. The differences in disease severity, even within sibling groups, suggested that perhaps other factors were at play in phenotypic expression. We found that in early ICGA, all stages of BCD had delayed choroidal filling, which has not been previously described. We also observed a relative derangement of inner choroidal circulation as evidenced by late hypofluorescence on the ICGA. However, it is as yet unclear whether this circulatory disturbance is due to primary involvement of the posterior ciliary arteries, or secondary to choroidal and/or retinal pigment epithelial atrophy. While the FA and ICGA findings were similar, we found that the true extent of the atrophic areas was better delineated by ICGA. ICGA was also superior in outlining the degree and extent of choroidal vascular compromise.

Models of restructuring banking systems in economies in transition

In view of the still underdeveloped capital market in Central and Eastern Europe, modernizing enterprises particularly depends on a functioning banking sector. Due to the interdependence enterprises and banks the insolvency of individual enterprises set off chain reactions which resulted in the collapse of banks and shook the banking systems in some countries. Commercial banks were particularly susceptible to these developments since the ratio between their own fluids and enough experience in reorganizing enterprises nor business perspectives for the enterprises depending on them. In the past years the individual states have made different degrees of progress in reorganizing their commercial banks. Two policy patterns become manifest: Estonia very consistently closed insolvent banks and opened markets for foreign banks and newly developing private banks. Thus the Estonia state considerably reduced its own share in the banks. Latvia also tried to increase its banks orientation towards profitability by opening the market and reducing state shares. The other countries, by contrast, primarily improved capital endowment of the existing banks. Between 1992 and 1995 Polish, Hungarian and Slovene governments realized extensive recapitalisation. While Poland increased the registered capital of important commercial banks, the Slovene and the Hungarian governments also bought nonperforming loans from the banks for state bonds. Hungary then increased the registered capital of the big state-owned banks. In 1994. and 1995. respectively partial recapitalisation took place in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. Neither Latvia nor Bulgaria nor Lithuania have until now succeeded in stabilizing their banking systems. In the Czech Republic which similar to Estonia opened the market, leading to the emergence of about 60 banks, the central bank has hitherto intervened in 12 banks facing liquidity problems or insolvency. In the Slovak Republic a far-reaching consolidation of banks is also still due. The governments in Bulgaria and Lithuania presently intend to increase the banks capital by state bonds, while the Latvian central bank refrained from direct intervention after the collapse of Banks Baltija and only intensified control of the banks activities.