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Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common cause of acute vision loss in older people, and there is no effective therapy. The effect of the systemic or local application of steroids for NAION patients remains controversial. Oroxylin A (OA) (5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxyflavone) is a bioactive flavonoid extracted from Scutellariae baicalensis Georgi. with various beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. A previous study showed that OA promotes retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival after optic nerve (ON) crush injury. The purpose of this research was to further explore the potential actions of OA in ischemic injury in an experimental anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (rAION) rat model induced by photothrombosis. Our results show that OA efficiently attenuated ischemic injury in rats by reducing optic disc edema, the apoptotic death of retinal ganglion cells, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells. Moreover, OA significantly ameliorated the pathologic changes of demyelination, modulated microglial polarization, and preserved visual function after rAION induction. OA activated nuclear factor E2 related factor (Nrf2) signaling and its downstream antioxidant enzymes NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO-1) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in the retina. We demonstrated that OA activates Nrf2 signaling, protecting retinal ganglion cells from ischemic injury, in the rAION model and could potentially be used as a therapeutic approach in ischemic optic neuropathy.

To investigate the effect of oroxylin A on the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and the activation of microglial cells in a rat optic nerve (ON) crush model.Oroxylin A (15mg/Kg in 0.2ml phosphate-buffered saline) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS control) was immediately administered after ON crush once by subcutaneous injection. Rats were euthanized at 2 weeks after the crush injury. The density of RGC was counted by retrograde labeling with FluoroGold and immunostaining of retina flat mounts for Brn3a. Electrophysiological visual function was assessed by flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP). TUNEL assay, immunoblotting analysis of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the retinas, and immunohistochemistry of GFAP in the retinas and ED1 in the ON were evaluated.Two weeks after the insult, the oroxylin A-treated group had significantly higher FG labeled cells and Brn3a+ cells suggesting preserved RGC density in the central and mid-peripheral retinas compared with those of the PBS-treated group. FVEP measurements showed a significantly better preserved latency of the P1 wave in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated rats than the ON-crushed, PBS treated rats. TUNEL assays showed fewer TUNEL positive cells in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated rats. The number of ED1 positive cells was reduced at the lesion site of the optic nerve in the ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated group. Increased GFAP expression in the retina was reduced greatly in ON-crushed, oroxylin A-treated group. Furthermore, administration of oroxylin A significantly attenuated ON crush insult-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression in the retinas.These results demonstrated that oroxylin A hasss neuroprotective effects on RGC survival with preserved visual function and a decrease in microglial infiltration in the ONs after ON crush injury.

A 66-year-old Taiwanese aboriginal male had complained of right-side blurred vision for 2 months, especially when reading. He had a 10-year history of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. His best-corrected visual acuity was 20/25 in each eye. Ophthalmoscopy revealed asymmetrical cupping, but a normal disc. Humphrey perimetry showed an upper homonymous para-central quadrantanopic defect. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed an infarction in the left lower calcarine area over the extrastriate (V2/V3) cortical area and a narrowing of the left middle and posterior cerebral arteries due to severe arteriosclerosis.

Cardiopulmonary arrest during and proximate to hemodialysis is rare but highly fatal. Studies have examined peridialytic sudden cardiac event risk factors, but no study has considered associates of cardiopulmonary arrests (fatal and nonfatal events including cardiac and respiratory causes). This study was designed to elucidate patient and procedural factors associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Data for this case-control study were taken from the hemodialysis population at Fresenius Medical Care, North America. 924 in-center cardiopulmonary events (cases) and 75,538 controls were identified. Cases and controls were 1 : 5 matched on age, sex, race, and diabetes. Predictors of cardiopulmonary arrest were considered for logistic model inclusion. Missed treatments due to hospitalization, lower body mass, coronary artery disease, heart failure, lower albumin and hemoglobin, lower dialysate potassium, higher serum calcium, greater erythropoietin stimulating agent dose, and normalized protein catabolic rate (J-shaped) were associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Of these, lower albumin, hemoglobin, and body mass index; higher erythropoietin stimulating agent dose; and greater missed sessions had the strongest associations with outcome. Patient health markers and procedural factors are associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. In addition to optimizing nutritional status, it may be prudent to limit exposure to low dialysate potassium (

Paecilomyces hepiali is a species of fungus isolated from a field collection of natural Cordyceps sinensis insect-fungi complex from the Baima Snow Mountains, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. A dried culture of living strain 82-2 was designated as the holotype and deposited in the Herbarium of the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica (HICMM), China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing. In 2015 a neotype was designated for P. hepiali based on the presumption that the holotype was unavailable for study. We show that the holotype is extant and available, and thus the neotypification is overturned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiopulmonary arrest during and proximate to hemodialysis is rare but highly fatal. Studies have examined peridialytic sudden cardiac event risk factors, but no study has considered associates of cardiopulmonary arrests (fatal and nonfatal events including cardiac and respiratory causes). This study was designed to elucidate patient and procedural factors associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Data for this case-control study were taken from the hemodialysis population at Fresenius Medical Care, North America. 924 in-center cardiopulmonary events (cases) and 75,538 controls were identified. Cases and controls were 1: 5 matched on age, sex, race, and diabetes. Predictors of cardiopulmonary arrest were considered for logistic model inclusion. Missed treatments due to hospitalization, lower body mass, coronary artery disease, heart failure, lower albumin and hemoglobin, lower dialysate potassium, higher serum calcium, greater erythropoietin stimulating agent dose, and normalized protein catabolic rate (J-shaped) were associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. Of these, lower albumin, hemoglobin, and body mass index; higher erythropoietin stimulating agent dose; and greater missed sessions had the strongest associations with outcome. Patient health markers and procedural factors are associated with peridialytic cardiopulmonary arrest. In addition to optimizing nutritional status, it may be prudent to limit exposure to low dialysate potassium (<2 K bath) and to use the lowest effective erythropoietin stimulating agent dose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the effect of gender and contextual features on emotional reactions, identification toward game characters, and game enjoyment. Two aspects of contextual features are specifically examined: the moral justification of game characters and violence. An experiment was conducted by allowing participants to play either a morally justified character of a non-violent game, a morally justified character of a violent game, or a morally unjustified character of a violent game. The results show that participants felt less guilty and identified with the characters more when playing the morally justified characters of the non-violent game. Furthermore, males and females demonstrate different patterns of enjoyment to different contextual features of video games. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of a multi-case study on three service-based companies. It intends to highlight the difficulties that the customer service centers of these companies had in their attempt to implement IT infrastructure library to improve organizational efficiency. The study was designed to collect data related to the barriers to investment in information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) across service and process. The main research method involved interviews in the organizational settings. The framework of balanced scorecard (BSC) was used to collect the data. Results of the multi-case study showed that the ITIL downsides were: 1) incongruence between quality improvement and customer's expectation, 2) inefficiency in meeting customer's needs, 3) conflicts between standardized processes and unanticipated requests, 5) lack of autonomy and calcified learning scope, and 6) people lacking integrative capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study on the management of intellectual capital in Fortune Motors. It intends to highlight how an automobile service firm apply dynamic knowledge management concept to create new service processes which resulted in breaking through the bottleneck of profit loss. Design/methodology/approach - The study is based on an in-depth case study, semi-structured interviews and extensive access to the secondary data on the firm. A qualitative approach was used to analyze the data due to the complexity of contextual content. Findings - The proposed model has been validated and found that dynamic capabilities could. enhance knowledge management by linking external resources or stimuli and internal knowledge management practices. Empirical evidence has also been provided on how a firm can apply dynamic capabilities to its knowledge management to substantiate service innovation. Research limitations/implications - Further studies verifying the linkage between knowledge management and specific capabilities can be extended from this study. Practical implications - The proposed model provides a guideline for practitioners in managing their valuable knowledge and enhancing the existing knowledge management practices. Originality/value - This paper identifies a gap in the linkage between knowledge management and constant environmental changes that has been overlooked. To narrow down this research gap, a model of a cyclical flow has been proposed containing processes of integration/coordination, learning/experimentation and innovation and transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of niche proposes that a new medium competes with older, more established media to fulfill users' needs. This study uses niche theory, a macrolevel theory, as well as social information processing theory and the theory of electronic propinquity, both microlevel theories, to examine the niche of instant messaging (TM) in providing general gratifications. Results indicate that TM is characterized by a broad niche, surpassed only by that of the cell phone. lM had substantial niche overlap with e-mail and the cell phone, indicating a degree of substitutability between them; the least overlap was with the landline telephone (LLP). The hierarchy that emerged indicated that the cell phone was superior to TM, which was superior to e-mail, followed by the LLP for providing general gratifications. Finally, displacement tests indicated that TM use displaced e-mail and LLP but not cell phone use. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship among personal network characteristics, gratification-utilities and the frequency of use of three interactive communication technologies (landline telephone, email and instant messaging). A conceptual framework is presented, providing a rationale for three hypotheses predicting positive relationships between personal network characteristics (size, intimacy and physical proximity), gratification-utilities and frequency of use. The participants were 286 college students, whom research shows are primary users of interactive media. Hypotheses 1 and 2, proposing a link between network characteristics and gratification-utilities with frequency of use, were supported, while Hypothesis 3, predicting a link between the prior two variables, was only partially supported. Frequency of use was associated more strongly with network characteristics than with gratification-utilities across the three technologies. Of the network characteristics, network size was significantly associated with gratification-utilities. Directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the area of mass communication, issues of programming, ownership, economics, and competition have all been linked to the concept of diversity and its counterpart, diversification. This article reviews the method and use of statistically significant differences in diversity. The idea of dual concept and Simpson's D, considered as a very strong candidate for a general measure of diversity, are examined. The conditions in which D or its variants might be applied are explained. The U.S. network television data is used to illustrate the utility of powerful diversity measures.

Examines the factors associated with deaths resulting from the great Chi-Chi Earthquake that occurred on September 21, 1999 in Taiwan. Consideration of the vertical peak ground acceleration of ground motion intenjsity as the most appropriate index for the evaluation of building collapse and mortality; Relation between increase in mortality and increase in earthquake intensity; Occurrence of the greatest number of collapsed buildings and human deaths between the Chelungpu Fault and Shuantun Fault.

Studies the effectiveness of Internet as a medium of communication in the U.S. Concentration of Internet users on popular Web sites; Description on the literature of audience size and duplication as features of mass behavior associated with the sites; Benefits offered by the Internet through e-mail system; electronic commerce and surfing activities.