South Africa is a complex and dynamic society, with overwhelming and increasing problems with disaster risk in the vulnerable urban communities in and around its rapidly growing metropolitan centres. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the challenges for disaster risk reduction in such communities. It focuses on the case of Imizamo Yethu, in the Western Cape, in order to b

Background: It has been well documented that apolipoprotein M (apoM) is principally expressed in the liver and kidney. However we found that there was weak apoM expression in other tissues or organs too, which could not be ignored. In the present study, we therefore examined apoM expression in human colorectal tissues including cancer tissues, cancer adjacent normal tissues, polyp tissues and norm

During the past few years, mobile phones and other handheld devices have gone from only handling dull text-based menu systems to, on an increasing number of models, being able to render high-quality three-dimensional graphics at high frame rates. This paper is a survey of the special considerations that must be taken when designing graphics processing units (GPUs) on such devices. Starting off by

HAMLET (Human alphalactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells), a complex between the partially unfolded alphalactalbumin and oleic acid, was discovered by serendipity when anti-adhesive properties of human milk were examined. HAMLET kills tumor cells but not healthy differentiated cells. Native alphalactalbumin (HLA) can be conveted to HAMLET by a two-step process including: 1) calcium ion removal in

Background/Objectives:Considering the importance of glucose as a brain substrate, the postprandial rate of glucose delivery to the blood could be expected to affect cognitive functions. The purpose was to evaluate to what extent the rate of glucose absorption affected measures of cognitive performance in the postprandial period. In addition, cognitive performance was evaluated in relation to indiv

Adaptive reservation is a real-time scheduling technique in which each application is associated a fraction of the computational resource (a reservation) that can be dynamically adapted to the varying requirements of the application by using appropriate feedback control algorithms. An adaptive reservation is typically implemented by using an aperiodic server (e.g. sporadic server) algorithm with f

Introduction: Messenger RNA (mRNA) changes in the small intestine in response to acute mesenteric ischaemia (AMI) could offer novel diagnostic possibilities, but have not been described. The aim was to characterize the mRNA response to experimental AMI. Materials and methods: Twelve pigs underwent catheterisation of the superior mesenteric artery with injection of polivinylalcohol embolisation par

Translocation of peptides through cellular membranes is a fundamental problem in developing antimicrobial peptides and in drug delivery. There is a class of peptides, known as cell-penetrating peptides, that are able to penetrate membranes without disrupting them. They can carry pharmacological compounds, thus a promising strategy for drug delivery. The physical mechanisms that facilitate transloc

A parametrized model in addition to the control and state-space variables depends on time-independent design parameters, which essentially define a family of models. The goal of parametrized model reduction is to approximate this family of models. In this paper, a reduction method for linear time-invariant (LTI) parametrized models is presented, which constitutes the development of a recently prop

The Brain-Expressed X-linked (BEX) family proteins are comprised of five human proteins including BEX1, BEX2, BEX3, BEX4 and BEX5. BEX family proteins are expressed in a wide range of tissues and are known to play a role in neuronal development. Recent studies suggest a role of BEX family proteins in cancers. BEX1 expression is lost in a subgroup of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and c

Long-term mallard capture-recapture data from Sweden and Finland were analyzed to describe temporal mortality patterns and reasons. We used program MARK and Seber models to estimate annual survival (S) and recovery (r) rates. Survival rates were used in a Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the correspondence between observed and predicted annual population sizes of a Finnish sub-population. About

Hairdressing work is classified as carcinogenic based on excess risk for bladder cancer. We aimed at evaluating if current hairdressers are exposed to established/suspected bladder carcinogens (aromatic amines) and indicate possible sources of exposure.

Tasquinimod is an orally active antiangiogenic drug that is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, the target of this drug has remained unclear. In this study, we applied diverse strategies to identify the histone deacetylase HDAC4 as a target for the antiangiogenic activity of tasquinimod. Our comprehensive analysis revealed allo

ABSTRACT: Courses of Parkinson's disease (PD) that are complicated by weight loss result in poorer overall treatment outcome and lower quality of life. To determine the contribution of depression, which has not yet been specified in the etiology of weight loss in PD, symptomatology and anamnesis from 215 outpatients diagnosed with PD were assessed using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychiatric

Background. The acronym ESSENCE (Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations) highlights that children seeking clinical treatment are often multiply impaired, thus requiring treatment from several specialties. The aim was to map and relate, on a population level, ESSENCE to two salient predictors of health and adaptation to adversities, namely, Self-Directedness