Overall, 2·4% of the study population was at high risk of CKD. Significant hot spots and cold spots of CKD risk were identified within the study region. Hot spots were associated with lower socioeconomic status. Conclusions This study demonstrated a new approach to explore the spatial variation of CKD risk at a community level and implementation of a risk prediction model into a clinical setting may aid in early detection and increase disease awareness in regions of unmet CKD care.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/LBH-589.html  This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Background The present study aimed to examine the levels of circulating LOXL1-AS1 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and to analyze its diagnostic and prognostic value. Methods The levels of LOXL1-AS1 in 185 EOC patients and 43 healthy volunteers were evaluated by a quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The potential of LOXL1-AS1 as a biomarker for EOC diagnosis was determined by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve assays. The associations between clinicopathological parameters and LOXL1-AS1 expression were analyzed using a chi-squared test. The influence of LOXL1-AS1 on overall survival was analyzed by the use of Kaplan-Meier. A Cox proportional hazards assays were conducted for the determination of the prognostic value of LOXL1-AS1. Results The expression of LOXL1-AS1 was dramatically higher in EOC patients compared to healthy controls (p less then 0.01). LOXL1-AS1 yielded an area under the ROC curve of 0.843 with 65.3% sensitivity and 68.2% specificity in discriminating high-grade EOC from healthy controls. It was also shown that LOXL1-AS1 expression was associated with advanced FIGO stage (p = 0.004) and positively distant metastasis (p = 0.013). Kaplan-Meier assays revealed that patients with high LOXL1-AS1 expression had a shorter overall survival than those with low expression (p = 0.0006). By performing multivariate assays, LOXL1-AS1 was confirmed to be an independent prognostic factor for predicting the prognosis of EOC patients. Conclusions We provide evidence indicating that LOXL1-AS1 expression is correlated with a poor clinical outcome in EOC patients and may act as an independent prognostic indicator, as well as a new diagnostic biomarker.Zintl anions are excellent examples of the application of isoelectronic considerations, also referred to as the pseudo -element concept. In its most general formulation, this concept states that isoelectronic atoms tend to form equal numbers of bonds. Hence, clusters such as Zintl ions usually retain their structure upon isoelectronic replacement of some or all atoms. Herein, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study on a deviation from this common observation. We report the formation of (Sn 5 Sb 3 ) 3- ( 1 ), which is a rare example of an eight-vertex Zintl ion. Furthermore, it is an unprecedented example of a Zintl ion synthesized by solution means that has an arachno -type structure according to the Wade-Mingos rules, and thus fills a gap in the series of known compounds. Three structure-types of interest for (Sn 5 Sb 3 ) 3- were identified by means of quantum chemical calculations, one that matched the X-ray diffraction data, and two that that were reminiscent of fragments of known clusters. A comprehensive study on the isoelectronic series of clusters, (Sn x Sb 8-x ) 2-x (x = 0 - 8), showed that the relative energies of these three isomers vary significantly with composition - independent of electron count - and that each is the global minimum at least once within the series. These results alter our understanding of the factors that determine the structures of multi-element clusters.Background Altered innate immune function plays an important role in the initiation of inflammatory response in Behcet's disease (BD). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the master regulators of the innate immune system. Because the role of TLRs remains unknown in the pathogenesis of BD, the present study aimed to evaluate the expression levels and methylation status of the TLR2 and TLR4 promoters in patients with BD. Methods In the present study, Iranian Azeri BD patients (n = 47) with an active (n = 22) and inactive (n = 25) period, and healthy controls (n = 61), were matched according to age, sex and ethnicity. TLR2 and TLR4 genes promoter CpG islands were predicted with the Eukaryotic Promoter Database (https//epd.vital-it.ch). Methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) was conducted. Results The results showed that mRNA of TLR4 was significantly increased in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of BD patients with an active phase compared to the control group. Differences in mRNA of TLR4 between the inactive BD and control groups were not significant. Differences in TLR2 mRNA levels in the PBMCs of the active and inactive phase BD and control groups were not significant. The methylation rate of TLR4 gene promoter was significantly lower in the active and inactive BD groups compared to the control group. The difference between the active and inactive BD groups was not significant. There was no significant difference in the methylation rates of the TLR2 gene between studied groups. Conclusions Our preliminary findings suggest that the hypomethylation of TLR4 gene may be involved in the pathogenesis of BD via increasing TLR4 expression.Objective To perform a bibliometric analysis on the top-cited articles over the last three decades from 1989 to 2018, using a longitudinal set-up, in order to analyse how articles' features have evolved over time. Setting and sample population A sample of 312 articles divided into three subgroups of 104 top-cited articles for each decade were included. The h-index value was used to determine the sample size. Materials and methods The articles were identified through a search in the category "dentistry oral surgery and medicine" of the Web of Science database. The information relative to the articles was collected. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the articles and the journals; selected parameters were analysed with the Kruskal-Wallis and the Mann-Whitney U test at the 0.05 level of significance. Results The top-cited articles were published mainly by orthodontic journals. Along the last two decades, the scientific contribution of Asian and South American countries rose significantly. The trending topics varied in each decade.