The past two decades of microRNA (miRNA) research has solidified the role of these small non-coding RNAs as key regulators of many biological processes and promising biomarkers for disease. The concurrent development in high-throughput profiling technology has further advanced our understanding of the impact of their dysregulation on a global scale. Currently, next-generation sequencing is the ...

In this paper we examine the percentage of type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) which require the inclusion of a soft excess component and/or significant cold absorption in the modelling of their X-ray spectra obtained by XMM–Newton. We do this by simulating spectra which mimic typical spectral shapes in order to find the maximum detectability expected at different count levels. We then apply a ...

We describe a case of a 64-year-old man with a history of ITP which had required several treatments including splenectomy, and with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection untreated due to severe thrombocytopenia. In March 2011, platelet count was 14,000/mmc and a thrombopoietic therapy with romiplostim was initiated at the dose of 2 mcg/kg/week that was increased to 8 mcg/kg/week. At week 32...

OBJECTIVE Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations and white blood cell (WBC) count are commonly used to identify postoperative wound infections. We investigated whether changes in serum CRP levels and WBC counts actually differed between patients undergoing revision spinal fusion surgery and those undergoing a primary fusion. METHODS Patients who underwent posterolateral fusion (PLF) su...

Results of analysis of XRCF ACIS pileup tests H-IAI-CR-1.001, 1.003 and 1.005 are presented. In this series of tests with monotically increasing Al Kα source flux (ranging from ∼ 0.3 to ∼ 3.0 ACIS counts/frame in the absence of pileup) incident on a frontside-illuminated CCD, various symptoms of pileup — image degradation, grade migration, count rate non-linearity, and event pulse height confus...

We prospectively studied presentation biological differences and the response to therapy in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) associated with, or unrelated to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. TTP patients underwent standard evaluations and were treated with prednisone 1 mg/kg in addition to infusions of fresh frozen plasma (FFP; 30 ml/kg/d) until normalization...

BACKGROUND Eculizumab is approved for atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Guidelines discuss the importance of prompt treatment. We report a post hoc analysis investigating the effect of baseline factors, including patient characteristics and time from the latest aHUS manifestation to eculizumab initiation, on change from baseline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and other ...

as an assessment method of the water resources, water poverty index (wpi) has become an available tool in water resources management. in particular, agricultural water poverty index (awpi) is an assessment tool for agricultural water in rural areas. during the past decades, mahidasht basin in kermanshah province has been declared by water policy makers as “forbidden” basin in terms of water exp...