The interleukin-33 (IL-33)/ST2 pathway has emerged as an intercellular signaling system that participates in antigen-allergen response, autoimmunity and fibrosis. It has been suggested that IL-33/ST2 signaling has been involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), because IL-33 and its receptor have been specifically mapped to RA synovium. The aim of this study was to determine the...

Ogilvie syndrome, or acute colonic pseudo-obstruction, is a severe distension of the colon caused by decreased large bowel motility in the absence of a mechanical obstruction. It can be a consequence of medical treatment such as with clozapine. An 82-year-old male with Alzheimer disease under treatment with antipsychotics (clozapine) was admitted with abdominal distension and constipation. On e...

The non-clock model is the standard model used in phylogenetic inference. As mentioned in one of the previous lectures, it can be considered as a branch-breaking model which allows the evolutionary rate to be different for each branch in the tree. Because of this, the non-clock tree model has a large number of free parameters, one for each branch in the tree. If there are n tips in the tree, th...

Monte Carlo techniques are often the only practical way to evaluate difficult integrals or to sample random variables governed by complicated probability density functions. Here we describe an assortment of methods for sampling some commonly occurring probability density functions. Most Monte Carlo sampling or integration techniques assume a " random number generator, " which generates uniform ...

This paper presents a new step-up DC/DC converter topology to be used for distributed energy systems. The topology contains a voltage-fed quasiZ-source inverter with continuous input current, a high-frequency step-up isolation transformer and a voltage doubler rectifier. Main operating modes of the converter are explained and steady state analysis of the voltage-fed quasi-Z-source inverter is p...

Objective. The relationship between sleep quality and pain has been studied in populations with chronic pain and in nonclinical populations using experimental paradigms. Little is known about the familial contributions to this relationship. This study examines self-reported sleep quality and pain in a nonclinical sample and to explore familial (i.e., shared genetic and common family environment...