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Introduction:Alcohol abuse is one of the main health problems in the modern world.One of the consequences of alcoholism is chronic pancreatitis (CP).The pathogenesis of CP is not fully explained, but during CP, metabolic changes occur in the connective tissue of the pancreas.Our goal was to evaluate the fluctuations of selected extracellular enzymes in the course of alcoholic CP.Material and methods: Fifty-seven patients with alcoholic CP diagnosed according to M-ANNHEIM criteria were enrolled in the study.Twenty sex-and age-matched healthy individuals were enrolled as controls.MMP-2 and MMP-9, along with the concentrations of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in patients with CP and hyaluronic acid (HA) level were evaluated in serum using commercially available ELISA kits.Results: A significant increase in TIMP-1 level and a decrease in MMP-2/TIMP-1 ratio were noted in patients with alcoholic CP compared to controls (282.8ng/ml vs. 247.2ng/ml and 0.65 vs. 0.73; median values of TIMP-1 and MMP-2/TIMP-1 ratio in study and control patients respectively, p < 0.05).The observed increase in HA level did not reach statistical significance.The negative correlation between combined MMP/TIMP ratio vs. HA level was statistically insignificant.Conclusions: The elevation of TIMP-1 and decrease in MMP-2/TIMP-1 ratio in CP patients indicate the reduced gelatinolytic activity of serum during CP.

Due to immense population growth and economic development, the use of crude oil for various energy applications has escalated in the past few decades. This has led to the large-scale exploitation of oil reserves which has further resulted in the accidental release of large amounts of oil into our oceans. In recent years, significant emphasis has been placed on processes involving oil sorption by various natural and synthetic sorbents. Several sorbent materials based on synthetic polymers such as polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene, etc., possessing three-dimensional porous structure, large surface area, high mechanical strength, and exhibiting good oil recoverability and reusability, have been employed for oil-water separation processes. Conversely, many of these materials in their native or pristine form are amphipathic, which prevents their large-scale use in oil spill clean-up. This has led to researchers exploring surface modifications of commercially available sorbent polymeric materials to enhance their oleophilicity and hydrophobicity. This review article summarizes and discusses recent advances in the strategies for the fabrication of newer surface-modified synthetic polymeric materials and natural bio-based sorbents, and further highlights their effectiveness in dealing with the oil/water separation challenges.

No AccessPolicy Research Working Papers16 Jun 2021Robots and Export QualityAuthors/Editors: Timothy DeStefano, Jonathan TimmisTimothy DeStefano, Jonathan Timmishttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-9678SectionsAboutPDF (1.8 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract: Robots are rapidly becoming a key part of manufacturing in developed and emerging economies. This paper examines a new channel for how automation can affect international trade: quality upgrading. Automation can reduce production errors, particularly of repetitive processes, leading to higher quality products. The effects of robot use on export quality are estimated, by combining cross-country and cross-industry data on industrial robots with detailed Harmonized System 10-digit trade data. Robot diffusion in (preexisting) foreign customers is used as an instrumental variable to predict robot adoption in the home country-industry. The findings show that robot diffusion leads to increases in the quality of exported products. Quality improvements are predominantly driven by the upgrading of developing country exports; and within countries, quality improvements are driven by upgrading of (initially) lower-quality exports of developed and developing countries. The paper also finds some differences in the type of robots—sophisticated or more basic—associated with quality gains in developing and developed economies. Previous bookNext book FiguresreferencesRecommendeddetails View Published: May 2021 Copyright & Permissions KeywordsROBOTSAUTOMATIONPRODUCT QUALITYTRADEGLOBAL VALUE CHAINTECHNOLOGY ADOPTION PDF DownloadLoading ...

This guide supports the Gender and Inclusion in Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) e-learning course. The course aims to build the capacities and understanding of diverse stakeholders on the gender and FLR nexus and address inequalities for more equitable and sustainable FLR.

African Americans face challenges in accessing services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). From 2012-2016, the EBAN II intervention was funded by the NIH to test the effectiveness of implementing a culturally congruent, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention program in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. This study examined the impact of personal characteristics and experiences of discrimination on the likelihood of being tested for STIs. Participants (N=91) completed a baseline survey. Descriptive statistics were used to test for differences between those who did and did not obtain STI testing. Factors included HIV serostatus, sociodemographic variables, STI history, the presence of outside partners, and discrimination experiences. Multiple logistic regressions were conducted for men and women separately. Participants with no recent experiences of discrimination were more than 3 (3.4) times more likely to obtain a baseline STI test than those who reported discrimination experiences. HIV-positive women with no recent experiences of discrimination were 11 times more likely than those with reports of recent discrimination to obtain STI tests. It is often women who are the gatekeepers for health seeking in families and the same may be for these couples. Experiences of discrimination may impede STI testing, and heighten several health risks, particularly among HIV-positive African American women in HIV-serodiscordant relationships. Addressing the impact of discrimination experiences may be important for STI prevention and treatment efforts in interventions promoting health care utilization.

In South Korea, surveillance of antimicrobial drug resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is extremely limited. We describe the emergence and subsequent national spread of N. gonorrhoeae strains with mosaic penA alleles associated with decreased susceptibility and resistance to extended-spectrum cephalosporins. From 2012 through 2017, the proportion of mosaic penA alleles in gonococcal-positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) specimens across South Korea increased from 1.1% to 23.9%. Gonococcal strains with mosaic penA alleles emerged in the international hubs of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province and Busan in South Gyeongsang Province and subsequently spread across South Korea. Most common was mosaic penA-10.001 (n = 572 isolates; 94.7%), which is associated with cefixime resistance. We also identified mosaic penA-34.001 and penA-60.001, both of which are associated with multidrug-resistant gonococcal strains and spread of cefixime and ceftriaxone resistance. Implementation of molecular resistance prediction from N. gonorrhoeae–positive nucleic acid amplification test specimens is imperative in South Korea and internationally.

First-generation pulsatile ventricular assist devices (VADs) have demonstrated successful use of an implanted electromechanical system for long-term circulatory support. However, these systems have some limitations: their relatively large size restricts the range of potential recipients, and the use of bearings, with their associated wear, ultimately limits device longevity. To address these limitations, the Novacor II LVAS, a next-generation miniaturized, bearingless VAD, was developed. Like its predecessor, the Novacor® LVAS, the Novacor II couples a reciprocating energy convertor to a pulsatile pump, precluding the need for a motion conversion mechanism. Incorporating a unique direct magnetic drive system, a magnetic field acts directly on the drive armature and pusherplate, providing pump actuation without any bearings or wearing elements. Driver linearity (pressure is proportional to current) facilitates system control. In the past year, the design has undergone a number of enhancements. The blood flow path has been refined to reduce pressure drop. The driver topology has been modified to remove the non-productive lateral pole gaps, enhancing efficiency and eliminating lateral forces. The asymmetry of the load between the eject and return strokes has been exploited to achieve additional gains in driver efficiency. Coil geometry has been modified to reduce size and component count, while armature and stator pole geometry has been refined to optimize system packaging. The system design model has been validated through static and dynamic testing of prototypes. The refined Novacor II VAD has been evaluated in vitro and in vivo.

&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;International competitive aerobatic flight requires a highly skilled and determined pilot combined with an aircraft capable of high maneuverability, high thrust-to-weight and low mass moment of inertia. The competitors are limited to aircraft having conventional propellers and internal combustion engines. Scoring is based on a complex Olympic style system, with maneuvers confined to 1000 meter square by 900 meter high flight envelope. Maximum accelerations experienced during a sequence of 24 maneuvers might typically include +10g and −7g. The current state of the art in aircraft design and construction limits the pilot to attempt only those maneuvers that have a reasonable chance of successful completion, particularly those in the vertical flight regime. This paper describes a personal attempt by the authors to extend the current state-of-the-art in aerobatic aircraft design and construction by the use of advanced composite materials.&lt;/div&gt;