Most Viewed Articles

Dynamics of Siberian fir stands in forest ecosystems of the Eastern Sayan spurs were studied before and during the period of polygraph infestation.

Pine honey represents the major type of honey produced in Greece. In that sense, the aim of the present study was to investigate if specific physicochemical and bioactive properties could serve as markers of its geographical origin. For this purpose, forty pine honey samples were collected during harvesting years 2011 and 2012 from Halkidiki and Thassos, the well-known pine honey producing areas in Greece. Physicochemical parameters taken into account, using conventional and literature cited methods, were: pH, CIE colour parameters L*,a*,b*, and browning index. Furthermore, colour intensity and the in vitro radical scavenging activity were estimated by the application of spectrometric assays. Results showed that, pine honeys exhibited statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in pH, colour intensity, and radical scavenging activity, depending on geographical origin. On the basis of radical scavenging activity results obtained, pine honeys proved to have a high in vitro antioxidant “character’’. Finally, perfect Pearson’s correlations (r=1) at the confidence level p<0.01 were obtained for the sets: pH-browning index, pH-radical scavenging activity, and browning index -radical scavenging activity, with respect to geographical origin.

The Sit-to-Stand test (STST) involves comparing the change in a person’s non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing foot posture to quickly classify a person’s overall foot mobility. Despite the simplicity of the test, its reliability and validity has not been established. The purpose of this study is to determine the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the STST as well as its validity. Ninety-seven subjects with a mean age of 25 years (±3.7) participated in the study. Each subject’s foot posture from non-weight-bearing to weight-bearing was evaluated by two different raters. Each rater classified each subject’s change in foot posture as “Hypomobile”, “Normal” or “Hypermobile”. This same procedure was repeated approximately one week later without the raters being able to review what their original classification for that subject had been. The subjects also had their foot mobility quantified by measuring the height and width of their dorsal arch in both non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing. These quantitative measures of foot mobility were then classified as “Hypomobile”, “Normal”, or “Hypermobile” using quartiles. A series of Cohen’s Kappa coefficients were used to assess the amount of agreement between the visual classifications by each rater as well as the classification between the observational and objective classifications. The between-day Kappa coefficients ranged from 0.613 to 0.719 and the inter-rater Kappa coefficients ranged from 0.473 to 0.531. The Kappa coefficients between the visual and quantitative classifications ranged from 0.281 to 0.436. The STST should therefore be used with caution because of its moderate between-rater reliability and validity.

The inflationary epoch, occurring shortly after the Big Bang, initiated an extraordinarily rapid exponential expansion of the universe. Following this period, the rate of cosmic expansion decelerated for approximately 9.8 billion years, until observations indicated a transition to an accelerated expansion of space-time. This paper aims to estimate the minimum possible deceleration of cosmic expansion during the post-inflationary epoch, addressing an unresolved aspect of cosmological studies. The observable universe is modeled as a spherical region defined by the particle horizon in the FLRW metric. The model operates on the principle that the speed of light cannot exceed the speed of space-time expansion, given that photons are bound by space-time constraints. This paper hypothesizes that at the end of the 9.8 billion years of deceleration, the expansion speed was at its lowest, nearly equating to the speed of light. Subsequently, this speed has increased, correlating with the current accelerated expansion. Through a graphical representation assuming a uniform rate of change in expansion speed (for minimum possible values), we apply concepts of onedimensional motion to derive our estimates. This novel approach provides a foundational calculation of the minimum deceleration, significantly contributing to the understanding of the dynamics of cosmic expansion and offering a basis for future research and observational refinement.

We reviewed our outcomes of patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma treated with autologous stem cell transplant over a 30-year period, 1992 to 2022 and are reporting 15-year Disease-Free Survival (DFS) and Overall Survival (OS) of the 36 patients treated (19 men, 17 women, median age 41). Over the years there were different preparative regimens employed (carmustine, etoposide, melphalan and BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan) as well as post-transplant consolidation therapy (brentuximab). With a median follow-up of 15 years, the DFS is 52% and OS is 64%. Long-term complications include cardiomyopathy and second malignancies.The use of better salvage regimens and post-transplant consolidation therapy should lead to better outcomes.

High blood pressure under medical palance is associated with a variety of circulatory diseases, and it has been estimated that over 12% of all deaths in the world is directly or remotely connected with hypertension. It is said that one out of every five persons, can expect to have high blood pressure at one time or the other, during one’s life time. Based on hemodynamic equation, the mean arterial pressure is equal to cardiac out-put, times resistance (p means=Q x R). Hence hypertension is usually as a result of either an increased cardiac output and/or an increased resistance. The most common form of high blood pressure in humans is called “essential hypertension”, while is said to have no known cause. However this research aims at showing how a 12-week moderate exercise with bicycle egometer (i.e., use of non-pharmacologic approach to reduce the resting heart rate and blood pressure of 6 volunteer retired civil servants from Anambra state civil service and 6 retired academic staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe university in Awka. The paired T-test analysis of data obtained revealed a statistical significant effect of the moderate 12-week exercise on bicycle egometer, on the resting heart rate and blood pressure of the experimental group of the respondents. Hence it could be concluded that the administration of moderate exercise on bicycle egometer could be an effective use of non-pharmacologic intervention in the control and prevention of high blood pressure or hypertension among the elderly.

Quantum fluctuations, usually arising from the inherent uncertainty in the quantum fields, are pivotal in understanding the universe at both the small and large scales. Even though fluctuations are usually unobservable and rather small, they give significant observable effects during specific epochs under specific conditions. During the early epochs of the universe, the fluctuations were scaled, resulting in the primordial density perturbations that gave rise to the large-scale structure of the universe and the observed inhomogenities. In this paper, we study the basic origin, structure, evolution, and imprints of fluctuations during the inflationary period resulting in large-scale structure formation. We use the Mukhanov-sasaki formalism to model scalar perturbations, embedding the theoretical results into observations. Theoretical predictions show an almost scale-invariant power spectrum with stringent constraints on the inflationary parameters. It further states that in the very early universe, the inflatons that are quanta of the primordial field were highly filled in the degenerate quantum state. This carries large potential energy that results in an exponential expansion of the universe. During post post-inflationary period the inflaton dominated the Universe’s energy density; they interact among themselves and due to non-linear effects, these inhomogeneities grow which amalgamate into spatially distinguishable patches in our observable universe. Our understanding projects us towards the fact that fluctuations play a pivotal role in understanding the structure formation at micro, macro, and far-macro scales. This study also addresses the significance of quantum fluctuations in cosmic evolution and manifests the enduring relevance in addressing some of the profound mysteries of our universe.

We present a case of hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitic syndrome (HUVS) who developed severe renal failure requiring ICU-level care. Our patient is a 66-year-old man who presented with abdominal pain, rash, confusion, oliguria, and shortness of breath. He was found to be in acute renal failure with leukocytosis and elevated lactate. Work-up for infectious, autoimmune, and hematologic malignant diseases was negative. The presence of chronic urticaria, abdominal pain, hypocomplementemia, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis on skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of HUVS. He required hemodialysis for renal failure as well as gastrostomy tube placement for nutritional support secondary to the development of mucosal ulcers, a rare finding in HUVS. He recovered with several months of high-dose steroids and hemodialysis. This case highlights the effectiveness of steroids for initial treatment of HUVS, and the relapsing and remitting nature of the disease. Providers should also be aware of the broad range of presenting symptoms such as mucosal lesions that may require nutritional support. Interestingly, unlike many previously reported cases of HUVS, our patient had not yet developed signs and symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus, which often overlaps with HUVS.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection that is endemic in some Mediterranean countries, North Africa and the Middle East. Brucella is a rare cause of peritonitis in Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) population and in non-dialysis patients alike. We report here a challenging case of PD-related Brucella peritonitis in a 45-year-old Saudi male with late peritonitis that delivered some key learning throughout its course from presentation, diagnosis and treatment to catheter salvage attempts so as to circumvent PD failure. We provide an in-depth review of limited published literature on PD-related Brucella peritonitis (seven cases, and present case) and summarized the data on key clinical characteristics, management and PD technique outcome to benefit nephrologists when encountered with this rare presentation.