The Egyptian Cardiothoracic Surgeon (ECTS - E-Journal)
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Provision of Differentiated Power Quality Using Network Based Mitigating Solutions
No full textWith the increased acknowledgement of quality of supply around the world in the recent years, this paper investigates effective, network-based mitigation schemes to ensure the effective management of PQ, while considering the temporal and spatial mapping of power quality zones in distribution networks. In the study, isolated transformers, phase shifting transformers, undergrounding techniques and series reactors are investigated to mitigate PQ phenomena on a 295-bus generic distribution network. The mitigation effect of these techniques is presented statistically at system level and at zonal level. The results have shown that the variation of system level and zonal PQ performance is pronounced when different mitigation techniques are applied. Differentiated PQ performance can be provided by selecting appropriate mitigation techniques and proper zones to implement these mitigation techniques
Prevalence, associated factors and management of insomnia in prison populations: an integrative review
No full textPrisoners have many potential risk factors for insomnia including mental ill health and substance misuse. However, literature on prevalence, associated factors and management of insomnia in prison has yet to be systematically examined in this group. The paper objective was to synthesise and appraise the research that examines insomnia in a prison environment. An integrative literature review using thematic analysis was conducted to critically reflect on the current evidence base and outline a prospective research agenda. From the original 384 sourced papers, 33 met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently included for review. Definitions of insomnia and assessment tools used in studies varied considerably making the overall validity of findings uncertain. Notably, no studies used a recommended measure to assess insomnia disorder (ID). Thematic analysis yielded five themes: 1) the varied prevalence of insomnia; 2) the comorbidity of insomnia, psychiatric disorder and substance misuse; 3) the negative influence of prison-related situational and environmental factors on insomnia; 4) the role of hypnotic medication, and, 5) preliminary indications that non-pharmacological treatment can improve sleep. The methodological heterogeneity and variable quality across studies in the assessment of insomnia means conclusive data on prevalence, associated factors and management is lacking. Nonetheless, sleep problems are common and impairing in prison, are linked to comorbid conditions and negatively influenced by the prison environment, which routinely provides limited scope for effective management. Future research in prison populations is needed to reliably identify insomnia prevalence and determine how it can be managed effectively
Maze of resistance: crowd, space and the politics of resisting subjectivity
No full textIn 1968 the streets around the world saw a rise of a mass political movements. Nowadays, 46 years later, a nostalgic revolutionary aura surrounds that time; as since, such is the impression, the street is yet to emerge as a strong political actor or an effective practice of resistance is yet to take form. It seems as if the old ways of resistance have met their end, and new ways have not quite come in place. However, the most recent protests, as this paper aims to show, might have started a new path of resistance at the centre of which is a particular political subjectivity gaining its power from a space of resistance and appearing in a form of a ‘crowd’. By looking at the power of the crowd as a particular embodiment or a cross between a political subject and a multitude this paper explores the constituent power of political gatherings by rejecting race, ethnicity, religion, class or gender as their mobilizing force and instead focusing on the power of coming-together (common) in a particular space. The political capacity of such ‘common’ mobilising force was fully exposed in the recent protests across Europe and the Arab world (the two examples on which this paper draws). The paper opens with a discussion of the distinct relationship between the sovereign (or state) and political subjectivity. The constitutive moment of subjectivity (the self-other relation) is placed in a political context and by drawing on the examples of sans papiers and Bouazizi's act of self-immolation the difficulties of the act of resistance and their inherent and unavoidable violence are highlighted. These two recent acts of resistance expose the need to think political subjectivity otherwise, and point to vistas (the crowd), which can facilitate such a different thinking. By drawing on the constitutive idea of the common as logic of subjectivation the intricate relationship between the body and the political space as manifested in the most recent against austerity and oppressive political regimes protests is interrogated. In the hope of placing the political subject closer to the driving seat of politics a case is made for a rather distinct relationship between political subjectivity of the crowd and the emerging space of resistance. This is a relationship that amounts to a new ‘resisting political subjectivity’ and that can bring about a new way of engaging with the politics of oppression and begins to think political contestations otherwise
Role of stress-activated OCT4A in the cell fate decisions of embryonal carcinoma cells treated with etoposide.
No full textTumor cellular senescence induced by genotoxic treatments has recently been found to be paradoxically linked to the induction of "stemness." This observation is critical as it directly impinges upon the response of tumors to current chemo-radio-therapy treatment regimens. Previously, we showed that following etoposide (ETO) treatment embryonal carcinoma PA-1 cells undergo a p53-dependent upregulation of OCT4A and p21Cip1 (governing self-renewal and regulating cell cycle inhibition and senescence, respectively). Here we report further detail on the relationship between these and other critical cell-fate regulators. PA-1 cells treated with ETO display highly heterogeneous increases in OCT4A and p21Cip1 indicative of dis-adaptation catastrophe. Silencing OCT4A suppresses p21Cip1, changes cell cycle regulation and subsequently suppresses terminal senescence; p21Cip1-silencing did not affect OCT4A expression or cellular phenotype. SOX2 and NANOG expression did not change following ETO treatment suggesting a dissociation of OCT4A from its pluripotency function. Instead, ETO-induced OCT4A was concomitant with activation of AMPK, a key component of metabolic stress and autophagy regulation. p16ink4a, the inducer of terminal senescence, underwent autophagic sequestration in the cytoplasm of ETO-treated cells, allowing alternative cell fates. Accordingly, failure of autophagy was accompanied by an accumulation of p16ink4a, nuclear disintegration, and loss of cell recovery. Together, these findings imply that OCT4A induction following DNA damage in PA-1 cells, performs a cell stress, rather than self-renewal, function by moderating the expression of p21Cip1, which alongside AMPK helps to then regulate autophagy. Moreover, this data indicates that exhaustion of autophagy, through persistent DNA damage, is the cause of terminal cellular senescence
Exploring Service Failure in a Business-to-Business Context
No full textPurpose – This study aims to explore how business-to-business service failures manifest in a manufacturing context. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical research involved two case studies: case study one included 20 interviews in the metal finishing industry; case study two included 20 interviews in the paint and coatings industry. In both case studies, suppliers and customers’ perceptions were obtained to facilitate a dyadic understanding of the phenomena. Findings – Business-to-business service failure is a complex, dynamic and interactive process. It varies according to type of service, services supporting the products and services supporting the customers, service quality dimensions and the source of the failure. It can have a more profound impact than service failure in a consumer context because it may cause disruption to customers’ production and have a negative influence of failure on their clients in the network. Research limitations/implications – Business customers may play a role in value co-destruction rather than value co-creation by causing service failures due to errors on their part. The consequences of the domino effects revealed in this study need to be given careful consideration by managers. The research is exploratory, and the findings may be influenced by the manufacturing sector in which the case study firms are based. Originality/value – Business-to-business service failure has its own distinct characteristics, as it may impact widely in the business-to-business network. Domino effects implicitly dominate business-to-business service failure episodes where negative outcomes cascade downstream and affect service recipients’ customers
Poor utility of grading scales in acute intracerebral hemorrhage: results from the INTERACT2 trial
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Discrete alterations of brain network structural covariance in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis
No full textBanking spatially on the future: capital switching, infrastructure and the ecological fix
No full textSince the 2007-8 global economic crisis, financiers and the institutions regulating their behavior have been subject to far-reaching criticism. At the same time, leading climate scientists have been telling politicians and publics that future environmental change may be far more profound than previously anticipated. Finance capital has long been a crucial mechanism for melting present solidities into air so as to create different futures. This paper asks what the prospects are for the switching of credit money into green infrastructures that is increasingly recognized to be necessary for climate change mitigation and (especially) adaptation purposes. Most research into geographies of finance has ignored ecological questions while few contemporary society-nature researchers examine major fixed capital investments. Unlike those economic geographers content to criticize capitalism without offering feasible alternatives, we take a pragmatic view underpinned by strong social-democratic and environmental values and attempt to identify leverage points for meaningful change. This programmatic paper identifies reasons and examples to be somewhat hopeful that current liquidity can be fixed in future infrastructures that might channel capital in less ecologically harmful directions, thereby addressing crucial extra-economic challenges for the century ahead
Idiopathic Juvenile Osteoporosis: Clinical Experience from a Single Centre and Screening of LRP5 and LRP6 Genes.
No full textWe report clinical findings, bone mineral density (BMD) and bone biopsy data in ten children with features of classic idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis (IJO). We also screened the patients for mutations in LRP5 and LRP6. We found low BMD in the lumbar spine, the hip and distal radius. In the spine and distal radius, the reduction in BMD was more marked in the trabecular compartment. Biopsy confirmed that the trabecular compartment is more severely involved with reduction in bone formation and increase in bone resorption. No mutations in LRP5 and LRP6 could be identified. IJO is likely to be a heterogeneous bone disorder, and next-generation genomic sequencing studies may help reveal causative genes