Cardiac levels of the signal transducer and activator of transcription factor-3 (STAT3) decline with age, and male but not female mice with a cardiomyocyte-specific STAT3 deficiency conditional knockout (CKO) display premature age-related heart failure associated with reduced cardiac capillary density. In the present study, isolated male and female CKO-cardiomyocytes exhibit increased prostaglandin (PG)-generating cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. The PG-degrading hydroxyprostaglandin-dehydrogenase-15 (HPGD) expression is only reduced in male cardiomyocytes, which is associated with increased prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) secretion from isolated male but not female CKO-cardiomyocytes. Reduced HPGD expression in male cardiomyocytes derive from impaired androgen receptor (AR)-signaling due to loss of its cofactor STAT3. Elevated PGD2 secretion in males is associated with increased white adipocyte accumulation in aged male but not female hearts. Adipocyte differentiation is enhanced in isolated stem cell antigen-1 dipocyte differentiation. The treatment of young male CKO mice with the COX inhibitor Ibuprofen or the PGD2 receptor (DP)2 receptor antagonist BAY-u 3405 in vivo increased EZH2 expression and reduced ZFP423 expression and adipocyte differentiation in CKO-CPC. Thus, cardiomyocyte STAT3 deficiency leads to age-related and sex-specific cardiac remodeling and failure in part due to sex-specific alterations in PGD2 secretion and subsequent epigenetic impairment of the differentiation potential of CPC. Causally involved is the impaired AR signaling in absence of STAT3, which reduces the expression of the PG-degrading enzyme HPGD.Rabies remains a public health challenge of unknown magnitude in Liberia in spite of the goal of ensuring that no human in the country dies of rabies by 2030. The annual prevalence of Dog Bite Victims (DBVs) and true load of Annual Human Deaths (AHDs) due to rabies were not known. We investigated three selected cities of Liberia for annual prevalence of DBVs and true load of AHD due to suspected rabies, using 10-year retrospective record, 2008-2017 obtained from Buchanan, Gbarnga, and Voinjama, three socio-economically important cities in post-conflict Liberia. Data were sourced at County Reference Hospitals and at the Liberia National Institute of Health for these cities and their local environs. In addition, household questionnaire survey was used to identify and audit data quality for unreported DBVs, and treatment received from traditional caregivers. The proportion was used to audit the 10-year data on unreported DBVs in the cities. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize annual DBVs over the 10-year period in the three cities, respectively. Selleckchem PLX8394 A standardized clinical decision tree model was used to estimate AHDs due to suspected rabies. Based on questionnaire survey, 140/365, 148/375 and 146/350 DBVs did not visit any orthodox health facility in Buchanan, Gbarnga and Voinjama cities, respectively in 2014. An estimated total of 559 DBVs died of suspected rabies in the three cities and their environs during the 10-year period. Mean yearly prevalence of DBVs was 179±106.82, 393±257.85 and 76.9±38.11 per 100,000 population, while mean AHDs due to suspected rabies was 14.3±8.47, 35.5±23.25, and 6.1±3.21 per 100,000 population in Buchanan, Gbarnga, and Voinjama cities, respectively. The present findings provide annual prevalence of suspected rabies cases, corrected for under-reporting in three selected cities of Liberia. The findings would be useful in planning for stepwise actions towards rabies elimination, ensuring that no human dies of rabies in Liberia by 2030.Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are endemic in Indonesia. However, prevalence data for many parts of the country are incomplete. The aim of this study was to determine human STH prevalence and knowledge and practices relating to STH risk behaviour, to provide a current view of the status of STH infection in rural communities in Central Java. A cross-sectional survey of 16 villages was conducted in Semarang, Central Java in 2015. Demographic and household data together with information about knowledge and practices relating to STH and hygiene were elicited through face-to-face interviews. Stool samples were collected and examined using the flotation method. Children (aged 2-12 years) also had their haemoglobin (Hb) levels, height and weight data collected, and BMI estimated. Data were analysed using univariate logistic regression analysis. A total of 6,466 individuals with a mean age of 33.5 years (range 2-93) from 2,195 households were interviewed. The overall prevalence of STH was 33.8% with Ascarne a more effective way forward.Characterizing the relation between weight structure and input/output statistics is fundamental for understanding the computational capabilities of neural circuits. In this work, I study the problem of storing associations between analog signals in the presence of correlations, using methods from statistical mechanics. I characterize the typical learning performance in terms of the power spectrum of random input and output processes. I show that optimal synaptic weight configurations reach a capacity of 0.5 for any fraction of excitatory to inhibitory weights and have a peculiar synaptic distribution with a finite fraction of silent synapses. I further provide a link between typical learning performance and principal components analysis in single cases. These results may shed light on the synaptic profile of brain circuits, such as cerebellar structures, that are thought to engage in processing time-dependent signals and performing on-line prediction.Which suggestions for behavioral modifications, based on mathematical models, are most likely to be followed in the real world? We address this question in the context of human circadian rhythms. Jet lag is a consequence of the misalignment of the body’s internal circadian (~24-hour) clock during an adjustment to a new schedule. Light is the clock’s primary synchronizer. Previous research has used mathematical models to compute light schedules that shift the circadian clock to a new time zone as quickly as possible. How users adjust their behavior when provided with these optimal schedules remains an open question. Here, we report data collected by wearables from more than 100 travelers as they cross time zones using a smartphone app, Entrain. We find that people rarely follow the optimal schedules generated through mathematical modeling entirely, but travelers who better followed the optimal schedules reported more positive moods after their trips. Using the data collected, we improve the optimal schedule predictions to accommodate real-world constraints.