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Aim. To determine the dynamics of clinical changes and indicators of local immunity in integrating the diode laser into the treatment of the endo-periodontal lesion. Methods. We performed a prospective study of 110 patients of both sexes aged 2555 years with endo-periodontal lesions. The patients were randomized into two groups the main group (n=54), whose received root canal treatment and periodontal pockets with a diode laser in addition to standard therapy, which included endodontic and periodontal treatment, and control group (n=56), whose patients received only standard treatment. The GreenVermillion oral hygiene index and Russells periodontal index, as well as the levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) A, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the mixed saliva of patients, were determined during the study. Quantitative data were described using median, lower and upper quartiles. These data were visualized using boxplots. The MannWhitney U test was used to compare differences between an independent set of quantitative data. Differences were considered significant at a confidence level of p 0.05. Results. The median oral hygiene index decreased from 2.9 to 1.0 (p 0.001) in the main group and from 2.9 to 1.6 (p 0.001) in the control group. The median Russell's periodontal index decreased from 3.38 to 1.3 (p 0.001) in the main group and from 3.95 to 2.0 (p 0.001) in the control group. The median immunoglobulin A content decreased from 5.25 to 3.13 mg/L (p 0.001) in the main group and from 5.23 to 4.21 mg/L (p 0.001) in the control group. The tumor necrosis factor-alpha level decreased from 16.65 pg/ml in the main group and 18.28 pg/ml in the control group to 3.96 and 8.44 pg/ml (p 0.001), respectively. The median cytokine interleukin-10 levels increased from 0.83 to 2.94 pg/ml (p 0.001) in the main group and from 1.29 to 2.13 pg/ml (p 0.001) in the control group. Conclusion. The use of a diode laser in the treatment of endo-periodontal lesions has a positive effect on the dynamics of clinical and immunological parameters, as evidenced by a statistically significant decrease in clinical indices, as well as the normalization of the immunoglobulin A and cytokine levels in mixed saliva.

The intestinal microbiota (IM) plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis in the human organism. Changes in the IM are associated with many diseases, for example, IM is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammation during acute intestinal infections (AIIs). Medications have different effects on the quantitative and qualitative composition of the microbial community and can therefore indirectly affect the course of recovery. Objective. To evaluate the IM composition in the acute period of infectious diarrhea in children and to assess the effect of therapy with nifuroxazide and cephalosporins on it. Patients and methods. This study included 21 children with invasive AIIs. Twelve patients received nifuroxazide (IN group), whereas 9 patients were treated with third-generation cephalosporins (IC group). There was also a control group comprised of 10 healthy children (group C). The duration of the course of antibacterial therapy was 5–7 days. We analyzed the microbial composition of fecal specimens from all study participants using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. Data analysis was performed using the Knomics-Biota platform and the R Programming Environment. Results. We observed reduced alpha diversity (an integral characteristic of a microbial community which estimates the number of species in it and their proportion) already in the early period of invasive AII in children. We also found an increased total proportion of opportunistic bacteria in children with AIIs compared to controls, particularly species of Fusobacteriacea. Restoration of alpha diversity was achieved only in patients receiving nifuroxazide. Differences in the dynamics of the proportion of opportunistic microflora in the intervention groups were associated with the initial differences in the microbiome composition between the groups due to small number of patients in them. In the IN group, the proportion of Fusobacteriaceae species before treatment was higher than that in healthy controls; however, immediately after treatment completion and one month later, there were no differences in the IM composition between the IN group and controls. Patients from the IC group had higher proportion of opportunistic bacteria than healthy children; by the end of the treatment course, this parameter was normalized and was similar to that in the control group. Conclusion. The use of nifuroxazide in children with invasive AIIs was associated with restoration of alpha diversity and the reduction in the proportion of opportunistic species (in particular, Fusobacteriaceae). Children receiving cephalosporins also demonstrated the reduction in this proportion, but their alpha diversity was not restored. Keywords: acute intestinal infections, children, antibacterial therapy, nifuroxazide, cephalosporins, intestinal microbiota, 16S rRNA gene sequencing

The article is about company’s income shaping by applying customer’s loyalty programs. As it reveals by the practice, companies widely applying loyalty programs, as an institutional form of communication for wide range of market participants. Loyalty programs, as a rule, contains instruments for increasing sales and selling additional products and services for existing customers. Performance of the company depends on its ability to generate enough inflows to payback operating costs and calculating profit. Our analysis shows that customer’s loyalty issues studying, as a rule, in the way to improve business competitiveness. Additionally, there is a necessity to negotiate all and any business decisions and also necessity of estimation its impact on company’s financial condition. The same time there are informational needs in the external analytics to proceed financial condition estimation and its dynamic. In that case company faces with the lack of transparency and objectivity of the information provided by financial reports. Company’s income shaping is a multifactorial process. The key value for the company’s financial reports belongs to income’s size and its dynamic. Withal, the size and dynamic of company’s income depends on the accepted accounting policy. The article studying issues about Russian companies accounting policy features linked to company’s income shaping by applying customer’s loyalty programs and its accounting and disclosure in the financial reports. In the current article we also paid attention to issues linked to the inflows information disclosure under International financial reports standards (IFRS). Defined, that customer’s policy development should be comprehensive, namely directed and to generate enough inflows, and defining its impact on financial reports and liabilities structure.

To improve the quality and effectiveness of medical care for patients with inflammatory periodontal diseases, it is necessary to search for new approaches in both diagnosis and treatment. The aim of our study is to determine the effect of the diode laser on the pathogenic microflora of periodontal pockets and root canals in patients with endo-periodontal lesions (EPL). We carried out a comparative assessment of the bacterial contents of the root canals and periodontal pockets by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) before and after treatment with a diode laser (Doctor Smile Simpler, wavelength 980 nm) for 54 patients with EPL. The control group consisted of 56 patients who were treated according to the generally accepted method, including professional oral hygiene, endodontic treatment, and curettage of periodontal pockets. Evaluation criteria were a qualitative assessment of the content of periodontopathogens in the root canal and periodontal pocket before and after and treatment. As a result of our study, we found a statistically significant (p

The operation of any company implies in practice the solution of a large number of issues, including the organization of the financing process. In the theory of corporate finance, there are different methods that significantly facilitate the work of financial managers in this part. At the same time, it is important and significant that in some cases, practitioners face a number of problems that are not prescribed by classical methods. The situation is exacerbated by the solution of financing issues within the complex structured companies, which have become a special result of the capital structuring. Their complex structure often combines the signs of formal and informal holdings. A large number of participants in these structures (such as subsidiaries and affiliates, affiliates, structural units), organization of relations with customers, suppliers and contractors significantly complicate most financial processes, including the financing process. In such cases, there is an urgency to clarify the qualitative characteristics of financing, necessity in determining the role and extent of the influence of "hidden" financing sources on the result and efficiency of capital use. Actually, microlending is the one of these sources.This type of financing is used by companies, being contractors of large businesses, use this resource for financial security purposes

Free to read on publisher website This project is an international collaboration between music industry educators at higher education institutions in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The main goal of the project was to provide a case study and guidelines for collaborative pedagogical practices in higher education music programs in order to promote intercultural understanding, creativity, and social entrepreneurship. After the educators completed their initial planning work, the project was conducted in three phases. During the first phase, groups of songwriting students collaboratively wrote a set of songs that commented on a range of contemporary social issues. The second phase addressed the challenges encountered in successfully realizing international collaborations. In the final phase of the project, entrepreneurship and music industry students evaluated the original songs and incorporated a selection of these songs into student-driven collaborative social entrepreneurship projects. Finally, music industry students came up with promotional strategies to move the final successful project forward. The following identifies and discusses the social, cultural, educational, and logistical issues we encountered during the project, and concludes with our recommendations on how to mitigate and avoid these difficulties in similar projects.

The review presents the possibilities and experience of using diode lasers for treatment of oral inflammatory diseases. Earlier, low-intensity laser was used in dentistry only as a physiotherapeutic device. The laser applications range has expanded significantly with the advent of new technologies. Diode laser has a high level of safety, so it can be used in periodontics and endodontics without fear of tooth tissue structure damaging. In surgical dentistry, high-intensity laser radiation is used as an alternative to cutting and rotational instruments. Features of diode laser for surgical interventions are sterile conditions during the intervention and avoidance of bleeding during and after surgery, predicted depth of injury, high incision accuracy. Accumulated experience of using a diode laser shows good hemostatic effect, which leads to minimal recession of gingival margin. Many authors emphasize that postoperative scars are absent or are more tender and elastic, not constricting tissues. In comparison with traditional methods, use of laser scalpel can reduce epithelialization time of a wound by half. Also, a number of authors claim that the diode laser stimulates immune system, reduces pathogenicity of microflora, increases its sensitivity to antibiotics, positively regulates the function of dental cement in vitro. Use of laser technology improves the quality and effectiveness of ongoing treatment, reduces repeated paient visits, shortens treatment time, avoids relapses and complications. Due to this, the question of expanding the indications for diode lasers use in dentistry and improving the methods remains of current interest.

We propose a simple solution to use a single Neural Machine Translation (NMT) model to translate between multiple languages. Our solution requires no changes to the model architecture from a standard NMT system but instead introduces an artificial token at the beginning of the input sentence to specify the required target language. Using a shared wordpiece vocabulary, our approach enables Multilingual NMT systems using a single model. On the WMT’14 benchmarks, a single multilingual model achieves comparable performance for English→French and surpasses state-of-theart results for English→German. Similarly, a single multilingual model surpasses state-of-the-art results for French→English and German→English on WMT’14 and WMT’15 benchmarks, respectively. On production corpora, multilingual models of up to twelve language pairs allow for better translation of many individual pairs. Our models can also learn to perform implicit bridging between language pairs never seen explicitly during training, showing that transfer learning and zero-shot translation is possible for neural translation. Finally, we show analyses that hints at a universal interlingua representation in our models and also show some interesting examples when mixing languages.

Aim The aim of this study was to examine the role of hereditary thrombophilia in the development of fetal growth retardation (FGR) in the population of Central Russia. Methods The case–control study sample included 497 women in the third trimester of pregnancy recruited during 2009–2013. The participants were enrolled into two groups: patients with FGR (n = 250) and controls without FGR (n = 247). The participants were genotyped for four genetic markers of hereditary thrombophilia: factor V Leiden (G > A FV, rs6025), prothrombin (G > A FII, rs1799963), factor VII (G > A FVII, rs6046), and fibrinogen (G > A FI, rs1800790). Results The genetic factors for an increased risk of FGR were allele G of rs6046 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.34) and genotype GG of rs6046 (OR = 2.64), whereas genotype GA of rs6046 had the protective value (OR = 0.42). A combination of alleles G of rs1799963, A of rs6046, and G of rs1800790 (OR = 0.31) reduces the risk of FGR. Conclusion Polymorphism rs6046 of the FVII gene is associated with the development of FGR.

Backgraund: The prevalence of essential hypertension (ЕH) is increasing every year, both in Russia and around the world. Genetic and environmental risk factors are involved in the development of hypertension, and obesity plays an important role. Therefore, the study of gene-ecological interactions in the development of hypertension seems to be relevant. Aims: to study the gene-environment interactions between polymorphic loci of MMP and obesity in essential hypertension in women. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in a case-control design. The sample included 584 subjects: 375 patients with EH and 209 women in the control group. All individuals included in the study were genotyped for eight polymorphic loci of MMPs. Statistical data processing was performed using the software "STATISTICA". The study of the gene-environmental interactions during the formation of hypertension was performed using the GMDR method (Generalized Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction, http://www.ssg.uab.edu/gmdr). Results: rs11568818 MMР7 and rs11225395 MMР8 polymorphic loci were found to be involved in the development of arterial hypertension in women without obesity (p0,050). Fifteen three-, four-, and five-factor models of gene-environmental interactions of 8 MMPs with obesity, associated with EH (p=0,001), were found. It is shown that the analyzed SNPs are located in the DNA regions that bind to histones, marking promoters and enhancers, in the region of hypersensitivity to DNAse-1, in the binding sites of regulatory proteins and transcription factors. The loci of MMPs rs17577, rs11568818, rs1320632 and rs11225395 have cis-eQTL-value. They affecting the expression of the genes of MMP7, SNX21, SLC12A5 and RP11-817J15.3. Conclusions: SNP rs11568818 MMP7 and rs11225395 MMP8 and gene-environmental interactions of MMPs rs1799750, rs243865, rs3025058, rs11568818, rs1320632, rs11225395, rs17577, rs652438 with obesity are involved in the development of essential hypertension in women.

We consider the problem of making efficient use of heterogeneous training data in neural machine translation (NMT). Specifically, given a training dataset with a sentence-level feature such as noise, we seek an optimal curriculum, or order for presenting examples to the system during training. Our curriculum framework allows examples to appear an arbitrary number of times, and thus generalizes data weighting, filtering, and fine-tuning schemes. Rather than relying on prior knowledge to design a curriculum, we use reinforcement learning to learn one automatically, jointly with the NMT system, in the course of a single training run. We show that this approach can beat uniform and filtering baselines on Paracrawl and WMT English-to-French datasets by up to +3.4 BLEU, and match the performance of a hand-designed, state-of-the-art curriculum., Comment: NAACL 2019 short paper. Reviewer comments not yet addressed

This article is intended to substantiate the role of innovations in the development of agriculture in Russia. The authors of the article focused on identifying the importance of innovative techniques and technologies in the modern development of the agricultural industry. The current directions of innovative developments in the agricultural sector in Russia have been identified and investigated. The conditions for achieving effective implementation of digital land use projects are presented; “Smart field”; “Smart garden; Smart farm. The experience and level of development of innovative techniques and technologies in foreign countries are considered. An up-to-date list of both Russian and foreign manufacturers of innovative developments, the buyers of which are domestic agricultural organizations, is presented. The factors that hinder the active implementation of innovations in the activities of agricultural entities in Russia have been identified. A diagram of the relationship between the components of the process of creating and applying innovative technologies has been developed. Also the author’s schematic position of the role and place of innovations in the process of creating and applying innovative technologies is presented. As a result of the research, there were given recommendations for eliminating the identified problems in the field of introducing innovative techniques and technologies in agricultural production.

The factors affecting the efficiency and reliability of technical systems. Set stages of development and modernization of production lines that correspond to specific stages of evaluating the effectiveness and reliability. Considered several methods of definition of indicators of indicators of efficiency and reliability of the equipment in technological lines of fisheries sector: forecasting methods, structural methods, physical methods, logical-probability method (method by I.A. Ryabinin) and topological method. Advantages and disadvantages, allowing you to work out the most suitable method, process lines preparation of sea water for the cultivation of aquatic organisms, connected in series. Modernized technological line of preparation of sea water for the cultivation of aquatic organisms differing from the typical line of seawater in hatcheries (Far East), as the presence of a large number of instrumentation: sensors, salinity and temperature; motomeru that continuously monitor turbidity in the range of 50÷100 EMF (30÷60 mg/1 by kaolin); signaling the flow sensors volume level of the filtrate and the backfill layer; analyzers of chemical composition of sea water; analyzers of suspended mechanical impurities; signaling sensors of acidity and oxygen content and replacement filters coarse, fine cleaning and auxiliary equipment. A program of comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness and reliability of production lines, revealed that conducted the modernization of production line preparation of sea water for the cultivation of aquatic organisms has improved its efficiency by an average of 1.71% to reduce the amount of manual labor by 15.1%; control the process; provide the most rapid, efficient purification of sea water; reduce the cost of replacement filter media.

The mechanisms that lead to the altered uterine gene expression in women with endometriosis are poorly understood. Are these changes in gene expression mediated by proximity to endometriotic lesions or is endometriosis a systemic disease where the effect is independent of proximity to the uterus? To answer this question, we created endometriosis in a murine model either in the peritoneal cavity (proximal) or at a subcutaneous remote site (distal). The expression of several genes that are involved in endometrial receptivity (homeobox A10 [Hoxa10], homeobox A11 [Hoxa11], insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 [Igfbp1], Kruppel-like factor 9 [Klf9], and progesterone receptor [Pgr]) was measured in the eutopic endometrium of mice transplanted with either proximal or distal endometriosis lesions. Decreased expression of Hoxa10, Igfbp1, Klf9, and total Pgr genes was observed in the eutopic endometrium of mice with peritoneal endometriosis. In the mice with distal lesions, overall expression of these genes was not as severely affected, however, Igfbp1 expression was similarly decreased and the effect on Pgr was more pronounced. Endometriosis does have a systemic effect that varies with distance to the end organ. However, even remote disease selectively and profoundly alters the expression of genes such as Pgr. This is the first controlled experiment demonstrating that endometriosis is not simply a local peritoneal disease. Selective alteration of genes critical for endometrial receptivity and endometriosis propagation may be systemic. Similarly, systemic effects of endometriosis on other organs may also be responsible for the widespread manifestations of the disease.

As an Ob & Gyn, member of National Breast Cancer Foundation and a woman I find it very important to raise awareness about the importance of early detection of Breast Cancer. Make a difference! Spread the word about mammograms and encourage communities, organizations, your friends and family members to get involved! Your help matters. Breast cancer is the most common type of tumors among the female population of the United States. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

Initial studies on the chemokine stromal derived factor 1 (now referred to as CXCL12) were proposed to be enhanced in several diseases including those which affect the female reproductive tract. These include endometriosis, Asherman's syndrome, endometrial cancers, and ovarian cancers. Additionally, recent studies from our laboratory suggest that CXCL12 signaling is involved in leiomyomas (fibroids). These diseases present an inflammatory/hypoxic environment which further promotes pathology. At first, studies focused on signaling by CXCL12 via its well-known receptor, CXCR4. However, the discovery of CXCR7 as another receptor for CXCL12 with rather high binding affinity and recent reports about its involvement in endometrial disease and cancer progression has questioned the potential of "selective blockade"' of CXCR4 to treat these ailments. This review will focus on the signaling and effects of the potent chemokine CXCL12, and its long-known G protein-coupled receptor CXCR4, as well as the alternate receptor CXCR7 on the female reproductive tract and related diseases such as endometriosis, Asherman's syndrome, leiomyomas, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer. Although several other mechanisms are inherent to these diseases such as gene mutations, differential expression of miRNAs and epigenetics, for this review, we will focus on the CXCL12/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis as a novel target.

The paper aims to analyse application trends of intelligent multi-agent systems to personalise learning. First of all, systematic literature review was performed. Based on the systematic review analysis, the main trends on applying multi-agent systems to personalise learning were identified. Second, main requirements and components for an educational multi-agent system were formulated. Third, based on these components a model of intelligent personalized system is proposed. The system employs five intelligent agents: (1) learning styles identification software agent, (2) learner profile creation software agent, (3) pedagogical suitability software agent, (4) optimal learning units/scenarios creation software agent, and (5) learning analytics/educational data mining software agent.

In the paper, methodology to personalise learning according to the needs of individual students using educational data mining (EDM) to create intelligent multi-agent learning system is presented. First, systematic review on application of EDM to create intelligent learning systems is performed in Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database. Systematic review had shown that, currently, there is an increasing interest in EDM. After that, methods to personalise learning applying intelligent technologies to create optimised learning units for individual students are presented in the paper. Created students' profiles and personalised learning units should be further corrected applying EDM methods and tools. The model of intelligent multi-agent learning system based on application of intelligent technologies such as ontologies, recommender system, intelligent software agents and EDM is also presented in the paper. The principal success factors of the proposed methodology are pedagogically sound vocabularies of learning components, expert evaluation of the learning components in terms of its suitability to particular students, as well as application of ontologies, recommender system, intelligent software agents and EDM.

Endometriosis is a common condition in reproductive-aged women characterized by ectopic endometrial lesions of varied appearance, including red, white, blue, black or powder burn coloration, which contribute to chronic pain and infertility. The immunoconjugate molecule (Icon) targets Tissue Factor, a transmembrane receptor for Factor VII/VIIa that is aberrantly expressed in the endothelium supporting ectopic endometrial tissue. Icon has been shown to cause regression of endometriosis in a murine model of disease but prior to this study had not been tested in non-human primates. This study evaluated Icon as a novel treatment for endometriosis in non-human primates (Papio anubis) using an adenoviral vector (AdIcon) delivery system. Female baboons (n = 15) underwent surgical induction of endometriosis. After laparoscopic confirmation of endometriosis lesions 6-weeks post-surgery, the treatment group (n = 7) received weekly intraperitoneal injections of viral particles carrying the sequence for Icon, resulting in expression of the protein, while the control group (n = 8) received no treatment. Icon preferentially reduced the number and volume of red vascularized lesions. Icon may present a novel treatment for endometriosis by degrading red vascularized lesions, likely by targeting tissue factor aberrantly expressed in the lesion vasculature.

// Elham N. Samani 1 , Ramanaiah Mamillapalli 1 , Fei Li 1 , Levent Mutlu 1 , Demetra Hufnagel 1 , Graciela Krikun 1 , Hugh S. Taylor 1 1 Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut 06510, New Haven Correspondence to: Ramanaiah Mamillapalli, email: ramana.mamillapalli@yale.edu Keywords: endometriosis, micrometastasis, DsRed cells, metastasis, mice Received: January 13, 2017 Accepted: March 30, 2017 Published: April 06, 2017 ABSTRACT Endometriosis is an inflammatory gynecological disorder among reproductive-aged women caused by the engraftment and proliferation of endometrial cells outside the uterus, most commonly in the pelvis. It is thought that the disease arises primarily from retrograde menstruation where cells from the endometrium travel through the fallopian tubes to the peritoneal cavity. However, migration of endometriosis-derived cells to distant organs outside of the peritoneal cavity have not been explored. In the present study, we developed and validated a mouse model of disseminated endometriosis using syngeneic DsRed endometrial tissue introduced into the peritoneum of immunocompetent mice. Flow cytometry and immunofluorescence analysis, demonstrated the presence of endometriosis-derived cells in multiple organs (including lung, spleen, liver and brain) in the murine endometriosis model. Immunostaining revealed the presence of DsRed + /CD45 − cells in brain, liver and lung. Engraftment occurred in all experimental animals examined. Cells from endometriotic lesions are capable of migration to and engraftment of multiple organs outside of the peritoneal cavity. Micrometastasis of endometriosis is a novel and frequent phenomenon. These data suggest that widespread dissemination of endometriosis may be common, clinically unrecognized and contribute to the diffuse clinical manifestations of this disease.

Excess heat in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that is produced during their operation may accelerate their degradation and may cause an inhomogeneous brightness distribution, in particular in large area OLEDs. Assessing the quantitative impact of heat excess is difficult, because all decisive processes related to charge transport and emission via charge recombination are thermally activated. For example, electric currents that are elevated due to larger temperatures cause additional Joule heating and, hence, increase the device temperature even further. Here, we establish how parameters responsible for heat transport, i.e., the thermal conductivity of the organic layers and the heat transfer coefficient between the device surface and the environment, govern the temperature inside the OLED. Relying on three-dimensional drift-diffusion simulations that self-consistently couple thermally-activated charge transport and heat transport, we establish that the thermal conductivity of organic layers is not a bottleneck for heat transport, because the encountered layer thicknesses in realistic device geometries prevent heat accumulation. The heat transfer to the ambient environment is the key parameter to dissipate excess heat from the device. Intentionally elevated operating temperatures, which may improve the OLEDs’ electric performance, are not necessarily beneficial, as any increase in operating temperature reduces the device stability. The thermal effects, being decisive for the OLED temperature, occur in device layers beyond the electrically active region. We propose analytical expressions that relate the temperature in the device for a given point of operation to the heat transfer to the environment and the substrate.

Purpose Endometriosis is an invasive gynecologic disease characterized by diminished apoptosis, sustained ectopic survival of dysfunctional endometrial cells and implantation of endometriotic lesions outside of the uterus. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the expression pattern of apoptotic and steroidogenic genes in the progenitor stem cell population of eutopic tissues from women with endometriosis and compare them to controls. The expression of these genes was determined in a subpopulation of endometrial cells that displayed CD90 positivity (CD+ve90) and colony forming capacity. Methods We obtained endometrial samples from women with or without endometriosis. Endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) were isolated and cultured for 15 days. Purified ESCs were sorted by using a multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell multi-color flow cytometry kit. Single cell cloning was performed by serial dilution in 96-micro well plates. Fifteen days later, colonies were identified (CFUs). The colonies were chosen and cultured. mRNA expression of apoptotic genes, mitogen activated kinase 14 (MAPK14), nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB), steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), aromatase (CYP19A1) and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) were determined by qRT-PCR. Protein levels of StAR, CYP19A1 and COX-2 were determined by western blotting. Results A subset of stromal cells derived from women with endometriosis were isolated and identified as progenitor stem cells based on their CD90 positivity and colony forming ability. The cells displayed increased levels of MAPK14, NFkB, COX-2, StAR and CYP19A1 both at the mRNA and protein level compared to stromal cells derived from controls. Similarly, pro-apoptotic molecules such as Bax were decreased whereas anti-apoptotic molecules such as Bcl2 were decreased at the mRNA level compared to stromal cells derived from controls. Conclusions CD90+ve ESCs derived from women with endometriosis displayed markers suggesting stem cell-like properties and aberrant expression of apoptotic and steroidogenic enzymes which may contribute to sustained survival of these cells.

Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) technique is widely used to study the properties of organic matter in seawater. Additional variations of the exciting radiation parameters (in addition to the wavelengths), such as duration and intensity, allow to get more spectral information about the object of research, and allow to identify some individual components or to study the dynamics of the molecular changes in the sample of analyzed liquid. One of the main limitations of the EEM is that usually necessary to carry out research in the laboratory on the specialized equipment. The paper describes the hardware system allowing carry out measurements in the field studies. The hardware system includes a set of light-emitted diodes (LEDs) working in the range from 245 to 600 nm, which produce sequential excitation fluorescence of the sample liquid, which is detected using a 32-channel photomultiplier tube (PMT). Number of LEDs can vary from 7 to 16. Through the use of multi-channel photomultiplier reached the required measurement sensitivity and efficiency measurement is less than 1 minute for full cycle. Minimum 4 channel in excitation range of 350-600 nm support the work of variable duration excitation pulses from microseconds to seconds. It makes possible to measure the fluorescence of the chlorophyll-a with closed or open reaction centers of phytoplankton cells. The use of multiple excitation radiation allows to activate various mechanisms of energy transfer in the photosynthetic apparatus of phytoplankton cells, improves measurement accuracy, reduces dependence on the variation in species composition and functional state of phytoplankton.

The variation of the different parameters of the exciting radiation and the registration of the fluorescence of the investigated object allows to obtain multidimensional spectral images: from three-dimensional (length of the exciting radiation, the wavelength of the emitted radiation, the fluorescence intensity) to eight and more dimensions (in addition to three of these dimensions: spatial coordinates x, y, z; time of measurements; the duration and the intensity of the exciting radiation and etc.). In the case of measurements in natural conditions is highly desirable that the result of the processing performed during a single measurement for the operation in real time. In this paper we consider the approach described for the treatment of fluorescence measurements of dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll-a in seawater. Joint analysis of the various pairs of wavelengths of excitation / emission fluorescence, fluorescence analysis at different durations of the exciting radiation and the time-spatial analysis of the received signal allow identifying different types of fluorescent dissolved organic matter and estimate their stage of biodegradation, to study the functional state of phytoplankton cells. So it is possible to provide real-time investigation of environmental indicators of seawater.

We propose the description of algorithms and computational techniques accelerating the calculation of orientation, stabilization, approximate estimate of the wind velocity with the use of the software as applied to the designed mini unmanned aerial vehicle of the combined scheme, namely, the convertiplane, that is capable to takeoff and land vertically, hover, and fly as an airplane.

Tissue factor (TF), is a cellular receptor that binds the factor VII/VIIa to initiate the blood coagulation cascade. In addition to its role as the initiator of the hemostatic cascade, TF is known to be involved in angiogenesis via intracellular signaling that utilizes the protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2). We now review the physiologic expression of TF in the endometrium and its altered expression in multiple cell types derived from eutopic and ectopic endometrium from women with endometriosis compared with normal endometrium. Our findings suggest that TF might be an ideal target for therapeutic intervention in endometriosis. We have employed a novel immunoconjugate molecule known as Icon and were able to eradicate endometrial lesions in a mouse model of endometriosis without affecting fertility. These findings have major implications for potential treatment in humans.

Reductions in uteroplacental flow initiate a cascade of molecular effects leading to hypoxia, thrombosis, inflammation, and endothelial cell dysfunction resulting in untoward pregnancy outcomes. In this review, we detail these effects and their relationship to preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

Abnormal uterine bleeding is the leading indication for discontinuation of long-term progestin-only contraceptives. Histological sections of endometria from long-term progestin-treated patients display abnormally enlarged blood vessels that are prone to bleed in a nonuniform manner. Because it has been complex to attain patients willing to complete long-term studies, and good quality endometrial tissues have proven difficult to obtain, animal models have been used to obviate this problem. In this review, we describe these models including the guinea pig, an animal model we have previously investigated, to assess the mechanisms involved in abnormal uterine bleeding following long-term progestin-only contraception.

Background: Uterine serous papillary adenocarcinoma (USPC) is a highly aggressive variant of endometrial cancer. Human immuno-conjugate molecule (hI-con1) is an antibody-like molecule targeted against tissue factor (TF), composed of two human Factor VII (fVII) as the targeting domain, fused to human immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 Fc as an effector domain. We evaluated hI-con1 potential activity against primary chemotherapy-resistant USPC cell lines expressing different levels of TF. Methods: A total of 16 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded USPC samples were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for TF expression. Six primary USPC cell lines, half of which overexpress the epidermal growth factor type II (HER2/neu) receptor at 3+ levels, were assessed by flow cytometry and real-time PCR for TF expression. Sensitivity to hI-con1-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (IDCC) was evaluated in 5-hour-chromium release assays. Finally, to investigate the effect of interleukin-2 (IL-2) on IDCC, 5-h 51Cr assays were also conducted in the presence of low doses of IL-2 (i.e., 50–100 IU ml−1). Results: Cytoplasmic and/or membrane TF expression was observed in all 16 (100%) USPC samples tested by IHC, but not in normal endometrium. High expression of TF was found in 50% (three out of six) of the USPC cell lines tested by real-time PCR and flow cytometry when compared with normal endometrial cells (NECs; P

In this paper, we present a methodology for personalizing learning in accordance with the needs of individual students by using an intelligent, multi-agent learning system and data mining. Learning personalization is implemented on the basis of several methods. The Felder and Silverman Learning Styles model is used to create student profiles, and the probabilistic suitability indexes are identified to interlink learning components (i.e., learning objects, learning activities and learning environments) with the learning styles of individual students. Other technologies, which were proposed for creating the learning system, are ontologies, recommender system, intelligent software agents and educational data mining/learning analytics. Personalized learning units are referred to here as learning units composed of the learning components that have the highest probabilistic suitability indexes for particular students. In the paper, first, a systematic review on the application of intelligent software agents in learning is performed using the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database. Second, we present the methods for personalizing the intelligent technologies of learning application, which are used to create optimized learning units for individual students. The developed student profiles and personalized learning units are further corrected by applying the methods and tools of data mining. The model of an intelligent, multi-agent learning system, based on the application of the aforementioned technologies, is presented in more detail. The principal success factors of the proposed methodology are the pedagogically sound vocabularies of learning components, an expert evaluation of the learning components in terms of their suitability for particular students as well as the application of ontologies, recommender systems, intelligent software agents and data mining.

Factor VII binds trans-membrane tissue factor to initiate hemostasis by forming thrombin. Tissue factor expression is enhanced in decidualized human endometrial stromal cells during the luteal phase. Long-term progestin only contraceptives elicit: 1) abnormal uterine bleeding from fragile vessels at focal bleeding sites, 2) paradoxically high tissue factor expression at bleeding sites; 3) reduced endometrial blood flow promoting local hypoxia and enhancing reactive oxygen species levels; and 4) aberrant angiogenesis reflecting increased stromal cell-expressed vascular endothelial growth factor, decreased Angiopoietin-1 and increased endothelial cell-expressed Angiopoietin-2. Aberrantly high local vascular permeability enhances circulating factor VII to decidualized stromal cell-expressed tissue factor to generate excess thrombin. Hypoxia-thrombin interactions augment expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-8 by stromal cells. Thrombin, vascular endothelial growth factor and interlerukin-8 synergis-tically augment angiogenesis in a milieu of reactive oxygen species-induced endothelial cell activation. The resulting enhanced vessel fragility promotes abnormal uterine bleeding.

Introduction Using popular music and jazz in formal music education is controversial for music educators and to some extent, the greater popular music community. Many musical styles historically categorized as "popular," such as jazz, blues, country, musical theater, rhythm and blues, gospel, rock, and hip hop were created in the United States. But American educational institutions have been slow to accept these indigenous musical practices as worthy of study in the higher education music curriculum. Nonetheless, as the twentieth century progressed, a small number of college music programs began to add popular music to the curriculum. In this article, I will present preliminary research on how junior colleges included popular music and jazz in their curriculum during the Swing Era, spanning from 1935-1945. American Popular Music in Higher Education In an address to the MENC Society for Research in Music Education in 2000, Jere Humphreys observed, "We American music educators have been trying to bend the American public's musical knowledge, tastes, and practices to our collective will since before our nation became a nation. Beginning in colonial days and extending to the present day, music educators and others have been trying to tell Americans what kind of music they should perform, listen to, and even appreciate." (1) The "kind of music" that Humphreys mentions is Western European art music, as it is known in the academy, or classical music, as it is more commonly known by the general public. Although the music curriculum began to diversify during the second half of the twentieth century, Western European art music still provides the foundation for academic musical studies in higher education. In his ethnographic study of Midwestern university schools of music, Heartland Excursions, ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl concludes, "... the 'music' in schools of music always means, exclusively or overwhelmingly, Western classical music (also called 'art music,' 'canonic music,' 'cultivated music,' 'serious music,' and even--wryly--'real music' and 'normal music')." (2) Reviewing the course catalogs of college and university music programs in 1998, Sammie Ann Wicks arrives at a similar conclusion. She writes, "The rigid 'classical-music-only' orientation has dominated American universities' music department curricula for so long, in fact, that this cultural style is now considered universal and is assumed to be the model for all others. We do not have Theory of Music in the Elite Western-European Tradition in the curriculum, we have 'Music Theory;' not 'Appreciation ofMusic in the Elite Western-European Tradition, but 'Music Appreciation.'" (3) In an address to his American colleagues at MENC, British musicologist Christopher Small comments on the lack of value placed on indigenous American musical styles in all areas of music education. He writes, "to this outsider it seems strange that in the very heartland of this powerful and endlessly varied musical culture he should find that those who are charged with developing the musicality of young people should place so little value on it, and should cling instead, with a tenacity that looks a little like desperation, to the great works of the European past." (4) These scholars are informed by the contemporary concepts of multiculturalism, which arose during the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 1960s. Its apogee can be seen in the pronouncements of the Tanglewood Declaration in 1968, when a group of music educators agreed that "Music of all periods, styles, forms, and cultures belongs in the curriculum. The musical repertory should be expanded to involve music of our time in its rich variety, including currently popular teenage music and avant-garde music, American folk music, and the music of other cultures." (5) It is unclear whether the authors of this statement were addressing the entire spectrum of formal music education including college and university music programs, but nevertheless these sentiments had a significant effect in the years following the declaration. …

This paper describes an apparatus and operation of automated flow-through dual-channel fluorometer for studying the fluorescence of dissolved organic matter, and the fluorescence of phytoplankton cells with open and closed reaction centers in sea areas with oligotrophic and eutrophic water type. The step-by step excitation by two semiconductor lasers or two light-emitting diodes is realized in the current device. The excitation wavelengths are 405nm and 532nm in the default configuration. Excitation radiation of each light source can be changed with different durations, intensities and repetition rate. Registration of the fluorescence signal carried out by two photo-multipliers with different optical filters of 580-600 nm and 680-700 nm band pass diapasons. The configuration of excitation sources and spectral diapasons of registered radiation can be changed due to decided tasks.

This paper presents the mobile complex to perform continuous measurements of chlorophyll-A concentrations and dissolved organic matter by the laser induced fluorescence method. The obtained data allow evaluating the state of the photosynthetic system of phytoplankton cells. In addition, the complex allows recording the CO 2 gas analyzer data, the sea water saltiness sensors, pH, temperature, and solar illumination meter. The mobility this complex ensures a possibility working on different ships and under stationary conditions. The configuration of the complex can be promptly changed for solving the current problem by promptly adding or replacing various devices and sensors. The developed software integrates all devices into the complex. The enclosure of system allows use of conventional laboratory equipment, which is resistant to vibration, but not protected from the effects of the marine environment. Results of in situ measurements performed in Sea of Japan (Peter the Great Bay) by experimental setup are given.

Context: Because of their safety and efficacy, long-term progestin-only contraceptives (LTPOCs) are well-suited for women with restricted access to health care. However, abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) causes half of all users to discontinue therapy within 12 months. Endometria of LTPOC-treated patients display aberrant angiogenesis with abnormally enlarged, thin-walled, fragile blood vessels, inflammation, and focal hemorrhage. In this study, similar effects were observed with a new third-generation implantable LTPOC.Objective: We hypothesized that LTPOC reduces uterine and endometrial blood flow, leading to hypoxia/reperfusion, which triggers the generation of reactive oxygen species. The latter induce aberrant angiogenesis, causing AUB.Design: Endometrial perfusion was measured by laser-Doppler fluxmetry in women requesting LTPOCs. Endometrial biopsies were obtained for in vivo and in vitro experiments.Setting: The study was conducted in the Yale University School of Medicine and Family-Planning Center in Western Australia.Patients: Seven women 18 yr or older requesting implantable LTPOCs were recruited in Western Australia.Intervention: Women received etonorgestrel implants.Main Outcome: LTPOC treatment resulted in reduced endometrial perfusion and increased endometrial oxidative damage.Conclusions: We propose that LTPOCs result in hypoxia reperfusion, which leads to aberrant angiogenesis resulting in AUB.

Mono-crystalline uniaxial anisotropy high-coercive garnet films are used for thermo-magnetic recording by laser beams or contact printing. High-coercive properties of garnet films are due to a significant mismatch between the lattice parameters of the film and the substrate. The mismatch leads to appearance of facet crystal structure in these films. In the work, the facet crystal and domain structures of high-coercive garnet films were established by methods of scanning probe microscopy.

Problem Microbial-driven responses in placenta are linked with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The role of Toll-like receptor (TLR) function in Hofbauer cells (HBCs) and fetal macrophages of the placental villous core remains understudied. Method of Study Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to establish the phenotype of HBCs. Regulation of cytokine secretion in response to treatment with TLR agonists and expression levels of TLRs and co-activators were compared in HBCs, placental fibroblasts (FIBs), and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) using ELISA and qPCR. Results Although flow cytometry and IHC revealed HBCs to be M2 (anti-inflammatory) macrophages, LPS and polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid [poly (I:C)] treatments markedly enhanced IL-6 secretion by HBCs, and expression of TLR-2, TLR-3, TLR-4, CD14, and MD-2 was the highest in HBCs. Conclusion These results indicate that although HBCs are M2 macrophages, inflammatory responses are induced through TLR-3 and TLR-4 in this cell type, suggesting a role in microbial-driven placental/fetal inflammation.