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Background\ud \ud Reliable and validated biomarkers for osteoarthritis (OA) are currently lacking.\ud \ud \ud Objective\ud \ud To develop an accurate and minimally invasive method to assess OA‐affected horses and provide potential spectral markers indicative of disease.\ud \ud \ud Study design\ud \ud Observational, cross‐sectional study.\ud \ud \ud Methods\ud \ud Our cohort consisted of 15 horses with OA and 48 without clinical signs of the disease, which were used as controls. Attenuated total reflection Fourier‐transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy was used to investigate serum samples (50 μL) collected from these horses. Spectral processing and multivariate analysis revealed differences and similarities, allowing for detection of spectral biomarkers that discriminated between the two cohorts. A supervised classification algorithm, namely principal component analysis coupled with quadratic discriminant analysis (PCA‐QDA), was applied to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud \ud Segregation between the two different cohorts, OA‐affected and controls, was achieved with 100% sensitivity and specificity. The six most discriminatory peaks were attributed to proteins and lipids. Four of the spectral peaks were elevated in OA horses, which could be potentially due to an increase in lipids, protein expression levels and collagen, all of which have been previously reported in OA. Two peaks were found decreased and were tentatively assigned to the reduction of proteoglycan content that is observed during OA.\ud \ud \ud Main limitations\ud \ud The control group had a wide range of ages and breeds. Pre‐symptomatic OA cases were not included. Therefore, it remains unknown whether this test could be also used as an early diagnostic tool.\ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud \ud This spectrochemical approach could provide an accurate and cost‐effective blood test, facilitating point‐of‐care diagnosis of equine OA.

Background and purpose Care coordination and specialized knowledge of prescriptive authority are fundamental to advanced nursing practice. Little research documents patient clinical outcomes in primary care when nurse practitioners are members of an interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) team. This cross-sectional study examined differences in glycemic control among Texas patients who received care by a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and an IPECP team in one calendar year. Methods A convenience sample of 120 adult volunteers with diabetes was followed in a community-based clinic by an FNP; of these, 34 received additional care by an IPECP team. Data on selected demographic indices and HgbA1c were derived from the health center's Electronic Medical Record using a retrospective review, and linkage with the federally funded IPECP Project database. Conclusions Patients with two or more FNP visits and two or more visits with the IPECP team had statistically significant reductions in HgbA1c levels at the end of 1 year. Implications for practice Actualizing point-of-care treatment adjustments is a particular strength of advanced practice nurses but potentially a missed opportunity on interprofessional teams. Further study is needed on clinical outcomes of nurse practitioner contributions to IPECP team care.

This special issue on excavating the power of memory in Japan explores how memory is contested in a number of divergent fields of research. Its temporal focus is on narrating the past and memory fr...

This article on contested memory and the ‘unfinished war’ in Okinawa explores the link between the memories of the battle of Okinawa and US military accidents in the prefecture, on the one hand, and the calls to reduce US installations, on the other. National government policy-makers and security managers view Okinawa's outposts of American power as an essential ingredient in a security policy aimed at deterring potential enemies, whether these are identified as the Soviet Union during the Cold War, or a rising China and a nuclear-armed North Korea today. But the unequal distribution and concentration of US bases in the prefecture and the military accidents associated with their operation mean the memories of the battle of Okinawa and of US military accidents have become a political resource for opponents of the bases. The article demonstrates how these memories serve to embed Okinawans as victims of the national government as well as of the United States, manifest as a contestation between collec...

This chapter explores the transition from demilitarization to remilitarization following Japan's defeat in war and foreign occupation from 1945 to 1952. It focuses on the external and internal pressures on security policy at crucial historical junctures in the process of remilitarization. By revisiting the early postwar period, the chapter looks at two contested views of security policy. These views revolved around the option of a security treaty with the United States, on the one hand, and unarmed neutrality, on the other. The chapter then addresses the external pressures on Japanese policy makers arising from the major historical juncture represented by the end of the Cold War. Meanwhile, the internal pressures involve the costs to Okinawans arising from the concrete manifestation of the alliance with the United States: the basing of US military facilities.

This chapter analyses political discourses within media in an attempt to reveal Australia's understanding of its role in producing atmospheric pollution, and in taking or attributing responsibility for its impacts. It focuses on qualitative and quantitative computer-assisted textual analysis to identify and analyse media discourses of risk, responsibility and blame. The chapter examines mediated events that have occurred in relation to the Great Barrier Reef within the context of the transnational environmental, industrial and political pressures. Culturally, the reef is part of Australia's national identity, with Australians defining themselves as coastal dwellers 'living on the edge'. Both the spectacular nature of the Great Barrier Reef and the stresses under frame media texts that attribute responsibility across various institutional, political and geographic arenas. The chapter presents the results of the application of automatic semantic analytical tools to media reporting of environmental issues facing the Great Barrier Reef.

This chapter provides an overview on how the three countries - Australia, China and Japan - have faced a range of environmental issues and the risks posed to society by pollution and other manifestations of environmental degradation, including climate change. It identifies how these issues have emerged within the domestic context. The chapter clarifies locus of responsibility in tackling pollution and other environmental risks, as illustrated by the actions taken by a range of different stakeholders, including governments, media, non-governmental organisations and local citizens. The environmental risks faced by the Australian government and people are largely a result of the environmental challenges resulting from the exploitation of natural resources for not only Australia's own growth, but also to support economic development elsewhere, including in China and Japan. Unlike in the cases of Japan and Australia, where international pressure and media have been integral to the way climate change has been addressed, China continues as a major source of environmental risks.

This paper introduces a new set of certified reference materials designed to aid scientists and conservators working in cultural heritage fields with quantitative X-ray fluorescence analysis of historical and prehistoric copper alloys. This set has been designated as the Copper CHARM Set (Cultural Heritage Alloy Reference Material Set). The Copper CHARM Set is designed to be used by a wide range of museum-, art- and archaeology-oriented scientists and conservators to help improve the accuracy and range of their calibrations for quantitative ED–XRF spectrometry of copper alloys, and also increase the number of elements that can routinely be quantified. In addition, the common use of a single core set of the reference materials is designed to significantly improve inter-laboratory reproducibility, allowing greater data sharing between researchers and thus furthering possibilities for collaborative study.

Hydrogen (H2) has been found to be generated in very small proportions when diphenyl oxide/ biphenyl heat transfer fluid (HTF) is operated at temperatures close to 400°C. At such temperatures, H2 can permeate through steel walls to the vacuum space of parabolic trough (PT) solar receivers, where it increases heat losses that can significantly impact the economics of PT concentrated solar power plants. A novel process for the reduction of the H2 concentration in HTF via stripping and gas separation has been simulated for the operation in PT CSP plants. Applying the proposed process, the concentration of H2 in HTF can be reduced down to 1 ppb. A cost comparison between the H2 separation process and frequent PT receivers replacement was conducted and found that proposed H2 removal process is more economic.

This article aims to illustrate the trajectory of Japan's security identity transposition. As one of the catalysts in identity transposition, it focuses on the constitutive roles of norms regulating Japan's overseas dispatches of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Whilst keeping the identities of ‘a peace state’ and ‘a civilian power’, the authors argue that Japan has crafted a new security identity after the end of the cold war and the 9/11 terrorist attacks—namely, ‘an international humanitarian power’. As evidence of this transposition, the authors illustrate a dramatic increase in the number of overseas SDF dispatches on humanitarian missions, and the shift of domestic and foreign responses to it. The authors note that Japan has been on the road to remilitarisation and internationalisation during the past four decades through the enactments of laws for overseas SDF dispatches, the general public's shift of attitude on the SDF's roles, the evolution of the alliance in a more operational direction, and the ...

In cement kiln lines, significant amounts of NOx emissions can be formed both in the rotary kiln and in the precalciner. To reduce NOx formation, low NOx techniques can be applied to the burner and to the combustion systems used in the rotary kilns and precalciners, respectively. These low NOx techniques have the dual advantage of (i) low CAPEX cost and (ii) no additional operating cost. When, and if, these combustion techniques cannot adequately reduce the NOx emissions to the levels mandated by increasingly stringent Local Pollution Control Boards, SNCR systems can be implemented to meet the most stringent NOx emissions, however, it is always best to first lower the 'baseline NOx levels' using low NOx combustion techniques since such techniques are able to be implemented at a fraction of the operating costs compared to the high costs of chemical reagents (aqueous ammonia or urea) for SNCR systems. This article deals with Low NOx combustion burners, low NOx techniques for precalciners, and the SNCR systems that suppliers can provide for NOx reduction in cement lines, with some examples and case studies.

This article examines how the Japanese state recalibrates the risks Japanese nationals face when traveling outside of Japan's sovereign territorial boundaries. The author elucidates the measures the state takes to assist its nationals deal with the range of risks they are likely to encounter when traveling to another sovereign state or territory. The article focuses on how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicates travel advice and warnings on “risky” destinations and how the state's recalibration of risk aims to inculcate “self-responsibility” as a norm in governing the Japanese population.

The aim of this review is to collect various data on different functions of interleukin-11 (IL-11), a member of a family of IL-6-like cytokines. Numerous in vitro experiments have suggested a long list of IL-11 properties including support and control of proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic progenitors, as well as participation in osteoclastogenensis, neurogenesis, and development of some other tissues. However, a great number of in vitro effects of IL-11 have not been confirmed in experiments using murine models, hampering an understanding of the physiological role of this cytokine. We discuss possible reasons for the divergence between in vitro and in vivo data as well as the perspectives of using conditional gene targeting to assess the role of IL-11 in ontogenesis and immune response.

Levels of environmental protection vary among watersheds, and assessing how well conservation efforts protect threatened faunal groups is a critical need for management. Almost the entire 114 km of the Chagrin River is designated as scenic by the state of Ohio, which implies good water quality and community efforts to maintain and improve water resource integrity. We examined mussel diversity and abundance across 30 sites. The mussels present remained largely restricted to the upper reaches. One species, Lampsilis radiata luteola, dominated the assemblage of the upper Chagrin, which now includes only six additional species, none of which are very abundant: Lasmigona costata, Lasmigona compressa, Pyganodon grandis, Strophitus undulatus, Utterbackia imbecillis, and Anodontoides ferussacianus. One additional species, Lampsilis cardium, was the only species found living in the lower Chagrin. Applying the Shannon index of diversity indicated that the Chagrin River has a more depauperate fauna than nei...

There is minimal data in the literature on the impact of pre-formed HLA DPB1 Donor Specific Antibodies in heart transplant patients. Accurately assessing these antibodies and the risk they pose would hopefully broaden the donor pool available to this group of patients. We have reviewed a case of heart transplantation across strong C1q binding donor specific antibody (DSA) to the HLA DP epitopes 84DEAV and 96K2. A 64y/o female with a history of breast cancer (1997), coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia (2002), presented with congestive heart failure. Sensitization history includes two children but no transfusions prior to transplant evaluation. Her initial HLA antibody results were reported as 0% cPRA for Class I and Class II (Luminex Single Antigen). There were HLA-DP antibodies present below the reporting cutoff ( 10,000 MFI). Antibody testing was done 10 days post LVAD implantation. Unfortunately, her cPRA levels increased dramatically (to 70% Class I and 48% Class II). The Class II antibodies were largely HLA-DP, likely to the 84DEAV and 96 K epitopes. Epitope analysis was initially performed using the HLA-DPB Compatability Wizard. The patient received a heart offer. Virtual crossmatch revealed a single DSA (Anti-DP10 > 20,000 MFI). A prospective CDC crossmatch was performed and was negative. The patient’s auto crossmatch was also negative. The patient was transplanted with this donor. A retrospective flow crossmatch was performed with pronase treated cells. It was T-cell negative, B-cell positive. Due to the positive flow crossmatch, the heart team performed one session of PP/IVIG on POD 1. This case provides insight to the role of high level C1q binding pre-formed donor specific HLA-DPB antibody, where the antibody is not confounded by additional DSA to other loci. It supports the concept that pre-existing HLA-DP antibodies may not represent a significant barrier to transplantation.

This article investigates the internal risks posed by US military installations to the inhabitants of Okinawa as a result of the security policy adopted by the Japanese government to deal with the external risks and specific threats faced by Japan. Although these outposts of US power are viewed by supporters of the alliance as beneficial to the security of Japan, their existence and operation pose risks to the population, with the overwhelming burden imposed on the inhabitants of Okinawa, whether in terms of crimes, noise and environmental pollution or the erosion of solidarity among the population due to the divisive role foreign bases play. The article thus does not focus on the external risks posed to Japan by the hypothetical enemy of the day, as with the Soviet Union during the Cold War or North Korea today, but rather on the internal risks to the everyday lives and peace of Okinawans posed by the American presence. A key concern is how the risks of the bases are articulated by the inhabitan...

The rationale for this special issue of the Japan Forum is twofold: first, to help to fill the lacunae in the literature on risk in Japan by examining the Koizumi Junichirō administration and beyon...

Arsenic (As) contamination of the available domestic drinking water from shallow aquifers to villagers in Bangladesh often exceeds the newest WHO standard of

The academic knowledge of politics, including the study of Japanese politics, is mobilized by a range of actors in order to articulate the nature of political boundaries. How these boundaries are set is important for our understanding of the politics of political knowledge in Japan. The purpose of this article thus is to analyze how academics engaged in inquiry into Japanese politics have sought to define the scope of their studies by separating the study of politics from other activities by drawing boundaries in a way meant to settle the tension between academic inquiry and the act of politics. By exploring the boundaries set through these different academic endeavors, the article seeks to illuminate the distinguishing features of the academic inquiry into Japanese politics up to the 1960s.

This article examines the relationship between the postwar Japanese state and the citizen by focusing on how the state has deployed the discourse of "self-responsibility" in recalibrating the citizen's exposure to external and inter nal risks. In the context of a more pro-active military role and the pressures of globalization, the citizen is increasingly being required to mediate a range of risks. The article develops this argument by analyzing the Japanese state's re sponse to the exposure of citizens to external risks in the war in Iraq and internal risks in the employment market following the bursting of the "bubble economy."

Japan’s unusual position in the realm of international politics encapsulates a three-fold juxtaposition: both in and out of Asia, both occupied by and a close ally of the United States, and both a key trade partner and a strategic rival of China. Whilst international relations theory offers a number of ways to analyse these relations, this book instead utilizes the concept of risk to provide an innovative perspective on Japan’s relations with China, North Korea and the US. The book elucidates how risk, potential harm and harm are faced disproportionately by certain groups in society. This is demonstrated by providing an empirically rich analysis of the domestic implications of security relations with China, North Korea and the United States through the presence of US troops in Okinawa. Beginning with a theoretical discussion of risk, it goes on to demonstrate how the concept of risk adds value to the study of international relations in three senses. First, the concept helps to break down the boundaries between the international and domestic. Second, the focus on risk and the everyday directs us to ask basic questions about the costs and benefits of a security policy meant to secure the national population. Third, what implications do these two points have for governance? The question is one of governance as Japan’s externally oriented security policy produces domestic insecurity shared disproportionately, not equally, as this volume makes clear.

Elevated expression of chemokine receptors in tumors has been reported in many instances and is related to a number of survival advantages for tumor cells including abnormal activation of prosurvival intracellular pathways. In this work we demonstrated an inverse correlation between expression levels of p53 tumor suppressor and CXCR5 chemokine receptor in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line. Lentiviral transduction of MCF-7 cells with p53 shRNA led to elevated CXCR5 at both mRNA and protein levels. Functional activity of CXCR5 in p53-knockdown MCF-7 cells was also increased as shown by activation of target gene expression and chemotaxis in response to B-lymphocyte chemoattractant CXCL13. Using deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of the cxcr5 gene promoter and enhancer elements, we demonstrated that p53 appears to act upon cxcr5 promoter indirectly, by repressing the activity of NFκB transcription factors. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and reporter gene analysis, we further demonstrated that p65/RelA was able to bind the cxcr5 promoter in p53-dependent manner and to directly transactivate it when overexpressed. Through the described mechanism, elevated CXCR5 expression may contribute to abnormal cell survival and migration in breast tumors that lack functional p53.

A dissertation on the essentially easy nature of the English language and in praise of learning tougher tongues.THROUGHOUT my now rather long life I have frequently heard said, seen written, and even myself somewhat seriously contended, that English is the world's most difficult language. Let me now go on record as saying quite the opposite: English is the world's easiest known [major] language.

Taxi's stop here says a sign – Bus' across the street says another. – Joes hamburger's says a third: a descriptive/prescriptive look at a troublesome symbol

Ytterbium(III) triflate has been found to catalyze anionic additions of functionalized lithium (α-carbalkoxyvinyl)cuprates to chiral p-toluenesulfinimines (thiooxime S-oxides) in a cosolvent system (Et2OCH2Cl2). This new system has made it possible to utilize those p-toluenesulfinimines of low solubility in Et2O as the electrophiles to react with anionic (α-carbalkoxyvinyl)cuprates for the asymmetric synthesis of the corresponding β-mono and β,β-disubstituted Baylis-Hillman adducts. Modest yields (51.0–64.4% yield) and good to excellent diastereoselectivities (> 90% de) were obtained.