1,228 research outputs found
Unravelling the complexity of primary aldosteronism: new approaches to study the pathophysiology of aldosterone-producing adenoma
No full textPrimary aldosteronism (PA) is one of the most common forms of secondary hypertension characterized by an excessive aldosterone production independent of the renin-angiotensin system and other physiological regulators. Despite its high estimated prevalence, PA is often underdiagnosed, with testing typically occurring after the development of cardiovascular, renal and metabolic complications. It is well-established that high aldosterone circulating levels promote tissue inflammation, fibrosis and injury in multiple organs through inappropriate mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) stimulation. Early detection and targeted therapy with MR antagonist administration and/or adrenalectomy could potentially mitigate the end organ damage typical of PA. This project aimed to provide useful insights into the pathophysiology of PA that could help to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic processes. To achieve this goal, patients with aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA), before and after treatment, and subjects with essential hypertension (EH) were selected for a comparative study divided into two parts. The first section was focused on the transcriptomic analysis of the RNA content of urinary extracellular vesicles, which could reflect specific cellular processes occurring in kidneys and the urogenital tract. The analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed enriched gene ontology terms referring to ion channels and extracellular matrix remodeling, which are potentially linked to well-established hallmarks of PA, namely the dysregulation of ion transport and fibrosis. The second section of this thesis regards the analysis of plasma long- and very-long-chain fatty acids. Compared to subjects with EH, APA patients displayed lower circulating levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and higher levels of ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This difference in the fatty acid distribution was likely related to aldosterone excess, and it could reflect a higher inflammation state of individuals with PA. Moreover, a longitudinal analysis of APA patients undergoing pharmacological and surgical therapy revealed a shift towards a more favorable lipid profile after the treatments, which is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and improved metabolic health. Taken together, the results obtained by these two approaches highlighted a more prominent inflammatory state of APA, which is consistent with the information present in the literature. Integrating the outcomes of two different approaches allowed to investigate the pathophysiological processes of PA from different angles, providing new useful elements for risk stratification of this complex condition
Z-score vs minimum variance preselection methods for constructing small portfolios
No full textSeveral contributions in the literature argue that a significant in-sample risk reduction can be obtained by investing in a relatively small number of assets in an investment universe. Furthermore, selecting small portfolios seems to yield good out-of-sample performances in practice. This analysis provides further evidence that an appropriate preselection of the assets in a market can lead to an improvement in portfolio performance. For preselection, this paper investigates the effectiveness of a minimum variance approach and that of an innovative index (the new Altman Z-score) based on the creditworthiness of the companies. Different classes of portfolio models are examined on real-world data by applying both the minimum variance and the Z-score preselection methods. Preliminary results indicate that the new Altman Z-score preselection provides encouraging out-of-sample performances with respect to those obtained with the minimum variance approach
About twin primes and distribution of primes
No full textThis paper give us a demonstration of twin primes conjecture using approximation of function �(iupsilon) that we introduce in section 6. Section 1-5 give us introduction to terminology and a clarification on (iupsilon) terms. In particular section
5 is really important because of its Lemma. Section 7 reassume foregoing explanations and it give us two theorems and one corollary;the theorem 7.2 give us exact approximation of twin primes counting function
Urinary extracellular vesicles carry valuable hints through mRNA for the understanding of endocrine hypertension
No full textUrinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs), released from cells of the urogenital tract organs, carry precious information about originating tissues. The study of molecules transported through uEVs such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids provides a deeper understanding of the function of the kidney, an organ involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension and a target of hypertension-mediated organ damage. Molecules derived from uEVs are often proposed for the study of disease pathophysiology or as possible disease diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Analysis of mRNA loading within uEVs may be a unique and readily obtainable way to assess gene expression patterns of renal cells, otherwise achievable only by an invasive biopsy procedure. Interestingly, the only few studies investigating transcriptomics of hypertension-related genes through the analysis of mRNA from uEVs are inherent to mineralocorticoid hypertension. More specifically, it has been observed that perturbation in human endocrine signalling through mineralcorticoid receptors (MR) activation parallels changes of mRNA transcripts in urine supernatant. Furthermore, an increased copy number of uEVs-extracted mRNA transcripts of the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD11B2) gene were detected among subjects affected by apparent mineralocorticoid excess (AME), a hypertension-inducing autosomal recessive disorder due to a defective enzyme function. Moreover, by studying uEVs mRNA, it was observed that the renal sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC) gene expression is modulated under different conditions related to hypertension. Following this perspective, we illustrate here the state of the art and the possible future of uEVs transcriptomics towards a deeper knowledge of hypertension pathophysiology and ultimately more tailored investigational, diagnostic-prognostic approaches
Z-score vs Markowitz preselection for constructing small portfolios
No full textSeveral contributions in the literature argue that a significant in-sample risk reduction can be obtained by investing in a relatively small number of assets in an investment universe. Furthermore, selecting small portfolios seems to yield good out-of-sample performances in practice. This analysis provides further evidence that an appropriate preselection of the assets in a market can lead to an improvement in the portfolio performance. For preselection this paper investigates the effectiveness of a minimum variance approach and that of an innovative index (the new Altman Z-score) based on the creditworthiness of the companies. Different classes of portfolio models are examined on real-world data by applying both the minimum variance and the Z-score preselection methods. Preliminary results indicate that the new Altman Z-score preselection provides encouraging out-of-sample performances with respect to those obtained with the minimum variance approach
Established and Outsiders at the Same Time - Self-Images and We-Images of Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israel
No full textPalestinians frequently present a harmonizing and homogenizing we-image of their own national we-group, as a way of counteracting Israeli attempts to sow divisions among them, whether through Israeli politics or through the dominant public discourse in Israel. However, a closer look reveals the fragility of this homogenizing we-image which masks a variety of internal tensions and conflicts. By applying methods and concepts from biographical research and figurational sociology, the articles in this volume offer an analysis of the Middle East conflict that goes beyond the polar opposition between “Israelis” and “Palestinians”. On the basis of case studies from five urban regions in Palestine and Israel (Bethlehem, Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa), the authors explore the importance of belonging, collective self-images and different forms of social differentiation within Palestinian communities. For each region this is bound up with an analysis of the relevant social and socio-political contexts, and family and life histories. The analysis of (locally) different figurations means focusing on the perspective of Palestinians as members of different religious, socio-economic, political or generational groupings and local group constellations – for instance between Christians and Muslims or between long-time residents and refugees. The following scholars have contributed to this volume: Ahmed Albaba, Johannes Becker, Hendrik Hinrichsen, Gabriele Rosenthal, Nicole Witte, Arne Worm and Rixta Wundrak. Gabriele Rosenthal is a sociologist and professor of Qualitative Methodology at the Center of Methods in Social Sciences, University of Göttingen. Her major research focus is the intergenerational impact of collective and familial history on biographical structures and actional patterns of individuals and family systems. Her current research deals with ethnicity, ethno-political conflicts and the social construction of borders. She is the author and editor of numerous books, including The Holocaust in Three Generations (2009), Interpretative Sozialforschung (2011) and, together with Artur Bogner, Ethnicity, Belonging and Biography (2009)
Sodium Chloride Cotransporter in Hypertension
No full textThe sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC) is essential for electrolyte balance, blood pressure regulation, and pathophysiology of hypertension as it mediates the reabsorption of ultrafiltered sodium in the renal distal convoluted tubule. Given its pivotal role in the maintenance of extracellular fluid volume, the NCC is regulated by a complex network of cellular pathways, which eventually results in either its phosphorylation, enhancing sodium and chloride ion absorption from urines, or dephosphorylation and ubiquitination, which conversely decrease NCC activity. Several factors could influence NCC function, including genetic alterations, hormonal stimuli, and pharmacological treatments. The NCC’s central role is also highlighted by several abnormalities resulting from genetic mutations in its gene and consequently in its structure, leading to dysregulation of blood pressure control. In the last decade, among other improvements, the acquisition of knowledge on the NCC and other renal ion channels has been favored by studies on extracellular vesicles (EVs). Dietary sodium and potassium intake are also implicated in the tuning of NCC activity. In this narrative review, we present the main cornerstones and recent evidence related to NCC control, focusing on the context of blood pressure pathophysiology, and promising new therapeutical approaches
Gendered Adaptations: Canadian Rewritings of Classical Texts. Author-Translator Conference 2010, University of Swansea, Wales
No full textQuantum many-body scars : realizations and applications
No full textauthor: Gabriele Calliari, BScMasterarbeit Universität Innsbruck 202
The Last Bastion of Architecture
No full textThe essay is a critical interpretation of Rem Koolhaas' theory of Bigness. In fact, of the theories that have best marked the development of architectural culture since World War II – from those of the Smithsons to Rossi, from Eisenman to Venturi and Scott Brown – Rem Koolhaas’s theory of Bigness has probably, more than any other, investigated the intrinsic possibilities of architecture at the end of the 20th century. In light of the number of pseudotheories that have largely characterized the last decade, Bigness is the last constituent fact of recent history: an extremely lucid attempt to draw to a conclusion a history that goes back to the very invention of the modern city, comparing it with architecture’s own immutable core, its physicality, even exposing the theory of Bigness itself to the risk of total failure. The essay investigates the development of the theory of Bigness from its incubation in Koolhaas’s book Delirious New York in 1978, to the "official" presentation in S,M,L,XL in december 1995. The essay presents some parts of the PhD research "L'architettura dei libri. Progetto, scrittura, editoria nella ricerca architettonica contemporanea", developed by the author at Università degli studi G. D'Annunzio, Chieti, Facoltà di Architettura di Pescara, in 2001-2004.
Log 7 Winter/Spring 2006 includes essays of Richard Anderson, Marie J. Aquilino, Amos Gitai, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Manuel Orazi, Jean-Louis Cohen, William Drenttel, Peter Eisenman, Luis Fernandez-Galiano, John Kaliski, Sabir Khan, Reinhold Martin, Gabriele Mastrigli, Deborah Richmond, Julie Rose, Paul Virilio, Eyal Weizman, Mirko Zardini.
Log 7
Winter/Spring 2006
Co-edited by Denise Bratton
Saggi di Richard Anderson, Marie J. Aquilino, Amos Gitai,
Pier Vittorio Aureli, Manuel Orazi, Jean-Louis Cohen, William Drenttel, Peter Eisenman, Luis Fernandez-Galiano, John Kaliski, Sabir Khan, Reinhold Martin, Gabriele Mastrigli, Deborah Richmond, Julie Rose, Paul Virilio, Eyal Weizman, Mirko Zardini
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