Our patient had very effective drainage with marked clinical improvement. What was does Everolimus supplier the CT scan show? There is a pleural collection of fluid and gas with pleural enhancement in keeping with presumed infection in the pleural space (empyema). There is a pleural collection of fluid in the lower right thorax (low attenuation indicates fluid). There is pleural enhancement and haziness of the extra-pleural fat indicating

inflammation. There are several bubbles of gas within the fluid that have not risen to the top as expected with gravity, indicating loculations within the fluid. This appearance is in keeping with presumed infection in the pleural space (empyema). The right sided percutaneous drain is present within the collection, but the tip was located anteriorly with the fluid predominantly postero-lateral. Slight reduction in volume of right lung is in keeping with secondary atelectasis of the lung adjacent to

the pleural collection. The drain was removed and the patient sent home to finish a 6 week course of this website antibiotics. No organisms were grown from the pleural fluid and she has made a complete clinical and radiological recovery. “
“Pneumonia and secondary complications such as pleural effusion or empyema cause considerable morbidity and even mortality in the general population. The first-line therapy for complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema is drainage via chest tube or catheter combined with antibiotic therapy. Atezolizumab in vitro In patients with empyema, if the fluid and pus material becomes multiloculated through the formation of fibrin strands, tube drainage may be inadequate and surgical treatment may be necessary. Enzymatic debridement of the pleural cavity with fibrinolytic agents is a noninvasive option that can facilitate drainage and prevent the need for surgery. Parapneumonic empyema during pregnancy is diagnostically and therapeutically challenging. We describe the cases of 2 pregnant women who developed pneumonia with secondary pleural empyema and

were successfully managed with intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy. Case 1. A 22-year-old woman in her 24th week of pregnancy presented with a 15-day history of fever, pain in the lateral left thorax, dyspnea, and productive cough. Physical examination revealed diminished breath sounds and dullness on percussion of the left chest. Obstetric sonography demonstrated a normal uterus and fetus according to the gestational week. Chest x-ray showed generalized opacity of the left hemithorax (Fig. 1). Computed tomography of the chest revealed pneumothorax, fluid collection, and collapsed left lung (Fig. 2). The patient was hospitalized. A chest tube was placed and 2000 mL of purulent fluid were drained. The status of the fetus was monitored daily by an obstetrician. After chest tube drainage, repeat chest radiography revealed residual fluid but drainage through the thoracostomy tube had stopped.

Contrary to the current expectations, the standard addition method was found to be strongly influenced by matrix effects. The proposed system for sulphite analyses, constituted by a gas diffusion unit in line with a wall-jet amperometric FIA detector modified with a supramolecular porphyrin film, was shown to be an attractive alternative to the time-consuming Monier-Williams method, allowing IOX1 chemical structure fast, reproducible and accurate analyses of free sulphite species in fruit juices.

In fact, a linear response between 0.64 and 6.4 ppm of sodium sulphite, LOD = 0.043 ppm, relative standard deviation of ±1.5% and analytical frequency of 85 analyses/h (or even more) can be obtained using the optimised conditions. In addition, the new FIA system uses small amounts of sample, consumes minute amounts of reagents, has low cost, and is suitable for online production control and monitoring. The applications will be limited in the case of too viscous samples or samples containing solid particles that may obstruct the channels and will cause fluctuations of the laminar flow of the donor and acceptor solutions. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Instituto

do Milênio de Materiais Complexos (IM2C). “
“Chlorine is applied to drinking water in order to deactivate microorganisms and/or to ensure the residual concentrations in drinking water distribution systems, thus protecting water from microorganism regrowth. A multiplicity Lumacaftor ic50 of viral, bacterial, protozoan, and parasitic diseases can be transmitted via contaminated drinking Parvulin water. Infections can range from asymptomatic to mild discomfort, debilitation and even death (Rodriguez & Serodes, 2001). In the chlorination process, chlorine can react with natural organic matter including humic and fulvic substances. The trihalomethanes (THMs) are formed in this process, and the formation of halogenated compounds depends on the type and concentration

of natural organic matter, bromide ion concentration, chlorine form and dose, pH, temperature and organic nitrogen concentration (Aboul and Wells, 2006 and Rodriguez et al., 2004). The THMs formed are chloroform (CHCl3), dichlorobromomethane (CHCl2Br), chlorodi-bromomethane (CHClBr2) and bromoform (CHBr3) (Uyak, Ozdemir, & Toroz, 2007). In 1974, for the first time studies in the United States showed a positive correlation between water supply and cancer. There was a study conducted by EPA in 113 water treatment plants. THMs were found in all the stations that used chlorine as a disinfection process (Melnick, 1989). EPA and the European Union (EU) have set the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for THMs in drinking water at 80 and 100 μg L−1, respectively (The council of the European Union, 1998 and United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2001).

As previously reported for all baseline rhythms 12 and 13, there were significant differences in race and hypertension history between β1389 Arg/Arg and Gly carriers groups, as well as between the 2 β1389 Gly carrier/α2c322–325 groups that were related to the β1389 Gly and α2c322–325, deletion alleles being more prevalent in blacks 11, 12, 13 and 14. There were 190 new-onset AF events in the entire 2,392 patient cohort, for an overall event rate of 7.9%. In the 925 DNA substudy patients,

there were 80 new-onset AF events (rate, 8.6%). In the entire BEST cohort, there was a lower incidence of new-onset AF in the bucindolol group than in the placebo group (n = 75 [6.2%] vs. n = 115 [9.7%] HR: 0.59 [95% CI: 0.44 to 0.79]), corresponding to a 41% risk reduction (Table 2). There was a similar decrease in the incidence of new-onset AF in the DNA substudy in the bucindolol group compared to the www.selleckchem.com/products/sch-900776.html placebo group (n = 31 [6.7%] vs. n = 49 [10.7%]; HR: 0.57 [95% CI: 0.36 to 0.90]) (Table 2). Data presented in Table 2 indicate that 85% of events were detected

from adverse event forms as opposed to routine ECGs only; thus, most of the events were symptomatic. Time to first event curves for the entire cohort and DNA substudy are given in Figure 1. Table 3 gives the reduction in new-onset AF analyzed by event duration. AF events were classified as short duration paroxysmal (<24 h), longer duration paroxysmal (between 24 h and 7 days), CAL 101 or persistent (longer than 7 days). Greater than two-thirds (67.9%) of the events were persistent AF, with 23.2% of events longer paroxysmal and only 8.9% of events being short paroxysmal. By HR, bucindolol treatment effects were similar for the 3 AF durations, with HR of 0.51 (p = 0.183), 0.57 (p = 0.066), Thiamet G and 0.62 (p = 0.007) for shorter paroxysmal, longer paroxysmal, and persistent AF, respectively (Table 3). However, event rates were low in the paroxysmal groups, and the persistent AF group was the only one that attained statistical

significance. Table 4 gives HR data by genotype group. In the 441 β1389 Arg/Arg patients, bucindolol was associated with a marked decrease in the incidence of new-onset AF (HR: 0.26 [95% CI: 0.12 to 0.57], p = 0.0003). In contrast, bucindolol had no impact on the incidence of new-onset AF in the 484 β1389 Gly carriers (HR: 1.01 [95% CI: 0.56 to 1.84], p = 0.97). In the time to first event curves shown in Figure 2, the 74% risk reduction by bucindolol in β1389 Arg/Arg patients was associated with an early divergence of curves. There was no reduction in new-onset AF in the β1389 Gly carriers who received bucindolol compared to placebo. These results yielded a significant statistical interaction (p = 0.008) between treatment and β1389 Arg/Gly genotypes. For both heart failure endpoints (12) and serious ventricular arrhythmias (13), when HFREF patients are β1389 Gly carriers, the type of associated α2c322–325 Wt/Del polymorphism can alter bucindolol treatment effects.

Piñeiro check details et al. (2006) contend that this phenomenon argues against using whole-soil C:N ratios. This begs the question, however, as to how finely we must divide up our soil organic matter pools to avoid such problems both in terms of age and depth, and the practicalities of doing so on a routine basis. Studies where N inputs to N saturated systems have been reduced have shown that N once retained

in forest ecosystems is not easily released by leaching. Reduced N inputs were applied experimentally in NITREX studies in Europe, where roofs were constructed over N-saturated forests and clean rain was sprinkled underneath (Bredemeier et al., 1998 and Quist et al., 1999), and another where high rates of N fixation and nitrate leaching in red alder (Alnus rubra) were truncated by clearcutting ( Van Miegroet et al., 1992a and Van Miegroet et al., 1992b). In the

NITREX studies, reduced N inputs in N-saturated sites Screening Library in Germany and the Netherlands resulted in rapid decreases in nitrate leaching ( Bredemeier et al., 1998). Increased N inputs to N-limited sites in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Wales caused varying responses in nitrate leaching, with very small increases inthe sites that had low initial nitrate leaching rates (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), but large increases in the site which had high initial nitrate leaching rate (Wales). Similarly, in the case of the red alder harvesting study, nitrate leaching rates declined precipitously after clearcutting, apparently a result of greatly reduced inputs via fixation (vegetation regrowth

was too low to attribute the observed decline to post-harvest uptake). Most of the excess N stored in the red alder soil (judging by comparing it to N stores in an adjacent Douglas-fir ecosystem) remained in it ( Van Miegroet et al., 1992a and Van Miegroet et al., 1992b). Other authors have also found reduced nitrate leaching after harvesting, but for different reasons. Parfitt et al. (2002) also found reduced nitrate leaching after clearcutting mafosfamide in an N-rich Pinus radiata plantation, which they attributed to post-harvest uptake by weeds and microbial biomass. Ranger et al. (2007) found reduced nitrate leaching after clearcutting in zero tension lysimeter solutions and only weak increases in nitrate leaching with tension lysimeters. They attributed these responses to reduced N mineralization and nitrification (which is found to be quite high in these ecosystems) and reduced N inputs via dry deposition in the absence of scavenging by the forest canopy. Finally, some studies of clearcutting forests previously fertilized at high rates have shown that these systems do not display particularly high rates of nitrate leaching ( Ring, 1995 and Johannisson et al., 1999). Collectively, the studies cited above suggest that N once retained in forest ecosystems – even those systems formerly “saturated” with N – it is not readily released back into soil solution.

The scarcity of primary oak forest in the whole of northern China suggests that some specialist species in these forests might have been lost before detailed recordings of ground beetles began (Yu et al., 2006). In our study area, two different ground beetle communities appear to be associated with high canopy density, which we assume might represent remnants of woodland specialist communities once existing in the area. One of these communities is linked to the native oak woodland, the second buy Regorafenib to pine plantations. This differentiation has also been recorded in previous studies comparing oak and pine forests (Day et al., 1993) and is further supported by the comparison of these two

forest types in the same geographical area (Yu et

al., 2010). It also corroborates studies in Europe Doxorubicin concentration that show the existence of closed canopy specialists which are restricted to forests dominated by particular tree species (Elek et al., 2001). Our results indicate that C.vladimirskyi could represent such a specialist, showing a distribution chiefly limited to dense native oak forests. Further species appear to be widely restricted to either, pine or oak forests, but their overall low abundances do not provide sufficient proof how close these links are. Our results nonetheless suggest that these closed canopy specialists contribute significantly towards the carabid diversity in both pine and secondary oak forests. On the other side of the specialization spectrum, C.smaragdinus (Fischer-Waldheim, 1823), H.bungii (Chaudoir, 1844) and A.semilucidum (Motschulsky, 1862) represent habitat generalists, Ribonucleotide reductase since they are also commonly encountered in agricultural fields, orchards and lawns in the agricultural landscape

( Liu et al., 2010). P.acutidens, the most dominant species in our samples, was highly abundant in birch and larch forests, and substantially rarer in oak and pine forests. Yu et al., 2006 and Yu et al., 2010 also found few individuals of this species in pine forest, but recorded it in a wide range of forest types and under a wide variety of environmental conditions. However, P. acutidens has not been reported from nearby agricultural landscapes ( Liu et al., 2010), suggesting that this is a forest generalist species with a potential preference for open forest canopy conditions. Some species appear to undergo very high inter-annual variations in population sizes, leading to substantial shifts in resulting α- and β-diversity patterns. C.crassesculptus for example was one of the most dominant species in our samples, whereas Yu et al., 2004 and Yu et al., 2006 recorded high abundances of this species in only a single year during a three-year sampling period. Similar patterns emerge for C.manifestus, which was highly abundant only in birch forest during our study period, while Yu et al. (2004) found a high abundance of this species in larch forests. Finally, C.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. “
“This paper describes the delivery of parent-focused interventions for children with externalizing problems seen in integrated primary care settings. Integrated primary care settings Ku-0059436 manufacturer provide families greater and more cost-efficient access to mental health care services, which creates opportunities to identify and treat child-related problems before these problems become entrenched and before parents grow frustrated and discouraged about possible solutions. Behavioral health consultants (BHCs) who work in primary care settings must be

competent in providing such care if families are to fully capitalize on the improved access to services. Adapting evidence-based interventions to primary care settings is enhanced when practitioners Cyclopamine clinical trial are able to fit robust principles of change to the practice setting and to the populations served. In this paper, we describe efforts to fit the basic principles of parent management training to the families seen in an integrated care Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Children and their caregivers present to their primary care providers for a variety of problems, mostly medical in nature; however, research

indicates that 12% to 16% of children present to their pediatrician with unaddressed emotional or externalizing behavioral concerns (Briggs-Gowan et al., 2003, Costello et al., 1988 and Polaha et al., 2011). One study, conducted in pediatric primary care, surveyed families using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist and found that 16.2% of children met clinical cutoff scores for externalizing problems (Polaha et al., 2011). Another study found that 15.5% of children ages 4 to 8 met diagnostic threshold for externalizing problems aminophylline as assessed by the Parent Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, while 9.6% exhibited externalizing symptoms but did not meet threshold (Briggs-Gowan

et al., 2003). Similarly, primary care pediatricians have estimated that approximately 15% of children seen in their practice have diagnosable behavioral health disorders (Williams, Klinepeter, Palmes, Pulley, & Foy, 2004). Primary care may then be an ideal setting for addressing many of these concerns, as estimates suggest as many as 80% of children needing mental health services do not receive them (Kataoka, Zhang, & Wells, 2002). A large portion of pediatric mental health issues are disruptive or externalizing in nature (Bagner, Sheinkopf, Vohr, & Lester, 2010). As many as 20% to 30% of parents report significant behavioral concerns about their toddlers (O’Brien, 1996 and Qi and Kaiser, 2003). Lavigne et al. (1996) conducted a large survey in which they reviewed rates of psychiatric disorders in primary care settings. Childhood disruptive disorders were seen in 16.8% of children 2 to 5 years old, the largest occurrence of diagnosed disorders in that age group.

Adrian S. Ray, Gilead Sciences Inc., Foster City, CA, USA (Fig. 7). Adrian started his lecture with photos of William (Bill) Prusoff and reminisced of his days with Bill, Raymond Schinazi and Yung-Chi (Tommy) Cheng. Adrian presented examples to illustrate two models of how a prodrug strategy

can transform a potential drug into a much improved clinical candidate. In the first, the prodrug alters the distribution of the pharmacologically active nucleotide analog to tissues where viral infection is taking place (on-target) and away from tissues resulting in adverse events (off-target). In the second, the prodrug enables one to select a drug candidate based more directly on the intrinsic properties this website of the active nucleotide-triphosphate analog via by-passing an inefficient activation (phosphorylation) of the corresponding nucleoside analog. Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi®),

a prodrug of 2′-F-2′-C-MeUMP, was approved in the USA on 6th December, 2013 for treatment of patients with hepatitis C. This is a fine example of a prodrug enhancing the activity of the parent compound. The nucleoside analogue, 2′-F-2′-C-MeU, is poorly active due to restricted phosphorylation to the monophosphate. Sofosbuvir, a nucleotide analogue prodrug of 2′-F-2′-C-MeU, delivers the monophosphate into the cell and this is then further phosphorylated efficiently selleck inhibitor to give high levels of the triphosphate which inhibits HCV RNA polymerase. Adrian recalled being much impressed by a result reported at the meeting in 2007 of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). In a Phase II monotherapy trial in patients with HCV, at day 3, the viral loads were reduced by log103.2 and log101.1 for VX-950 (1250 mg bid, n=10) and RG-7128 (1500 mg bid, n=8), respectively. However, from day 4 to 13, the polymerase inhibitor (RG-7128) had continued to reduce the viral load,

reaching a reduction of log102.7. On the other hand, the protease inhibitor (VX-950) did not give a sustained reduction, with the viral load starting to increase from day 6. At day 13, the viral load was only log102.2 less than baseline. Nucleotide analogues have two advantages over other classes of inhibitors. There is a high genetic barrier to resistance selection, due to the HCV RNA polymerase being FER highly specific for its natural substrates and template. This specificity can be altered but only under extreme evolutionary pressure (see Section 3). Also, nucleotide analogs often have pan-genotype activity because the active site of the HCV NS5B polymerase is so highly conserved. As an example of how prodrugs can impact a discovery program, allowing for more targeted delivery and for the optimization of the intrinsic properties of the triphosphate, Adrian presented the history of the GS-6620 program. The C-adenine analogue (2′-C-Me-4-aza-7,9-dideazaA, C-Nuc1) was compared to the corresponding N-nucleoside, MK608.

PYC efficacy was much stronger than procyanidin or taxifolin; therefore, a combination of components or unknown factor(s) in PYC may contribute to inhibition of viral replication. Constitutive activation of NF-kappa B and STAT-3 by HCV is implicated in acute and chronic liver disease (Gong et al., 2001, Waris et al., 2003 and Waris et al., 2005). Consistent with these data, a previous study showed that PYC inhibits NF-kappa B and activator protein-1, and abolishes the degradation of I-kappa B alpha (Cho et al.,

2000). Moreover, a recent study showed that PYC also inhibits expression and secretion of tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 6, reducing calcium uptake and suppressing NF-kappa B activation (Choi and Yan, 2009). We Olaparib solubility dmso observed PYC free radical scavenging activity against ROS in HCV replicon cell lines. These data support our finding that PYC exerts its antioxidant

effects directly by scavenging of ROS and indirectly by enhancing cellular antioxidant enzymes (Packer et al., 1999). Our study shows that the natural product PYC inhibits HCV replication both in vitro and in vivo. Our results indicate that in vitro combinations of PYC/IFN-alpha/RBV and PYC/telaprevir lead to a much stronger antiviral response than with either agent alone and that PYC suppresses replication in telaprevir-resistant replicon cells. Future clinical trials are necessary to assess which patients, for example, naïves, non-responders, or those click here with severe liver disease, could benefit from co-administration of PYC with PEG-IFN-alpha, RBV, or DAAs. Addition of PYC may be a viable strategy to improve the efficacy of HCV therapies using the recently licensed antiviral molecules. The authors declare that they have nothing

to disclose regarding funding or conflicts of interest relating to this manuscript. This research was supported Astemizole by a grant from the Adaptable and Seamless Technology Transfer Program through Target-driven R&D (Japan Science and Technology Agency), grants from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Japan, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. Sayeh Ezzikouri is supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship for Foreign Researchers. The authors thank Drs Yuko Tokunaga and Makoto Ozawa for their support during experiments, Dr Lin Li for combination index calculation and Horphag Research Co., Geneva, Switzerland, for their generous gift of Pycnogenol® powder. “
“Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health problem, affecting approximately 170 million, and results in a chronic degenerative liver disease that is characterised by hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and in 10% of cases hepatocellular carcinoma. Therapeutic regimens of pegylated-interferon and the nucleoside analogue ribavirin are only active in about 50% of cases with varying efficacy across different genotypes.

A flow-direction model is based on surface elevations

and their spatial relationships (Fig. 3); a flow-accumulation model calculates the number of cells in the spatial flow-direction grid that connect (i.e. contribute flow) to a given cell (Fig. 4C). Higher numbers reflect larger drainage contributions from upstream/up-gradient regions. Channels are recognized as having extremely high pixel PARP signaling values as they are a point of cumulative surface flow convergence. Fig. 4C shows the locations of rills and gullies across the watershed (highlighted in dark blue with pixel values close or at 50). A cap of 50 was created for the flow-accumulation raster as this pixel value in the grid coincides with gully occurrence based on field reconnaissance. The original flow-accumulation raster contained values up to 100. All pixels affixed with values exceeding 50 are re-coded to have values of 50 so that processes dealing with gullying are unaccounted for in the model. Since gully processes are not accounted for, gully volume is calculated to offer insight into the amount of material potentially provided by gully formation. The final modified flow-accumulation raster accounting for the presence of gullies (Fig. 4C) and a slope raster (Fig. 4B) created from the USGS DEM (i.e. elevation grid; Fig. 4A) were combined to generate

the LS-factor for the Lily Pond watershed (Fig. 4D), which shows the inferred total topographic control on soil Apoptosis inhibitor erosion due to rill and inter-rill processes. Direct observations and sedimentologic evidence suggest that little to no material is stored within the gullies and that sediment derived from overland flow is washed into them during rain events and funneled directly Cobimetinib purchase into the pond (Fig. 3). Published information from USDA soil surveys and literature sources provide K-factors based on the spatial distribution of soils in the Lily Pond watershed. The Mahoning County Soil Survey ( Lessig et al., 1971) provides detailed

information on these soil types, whose spatial extents are shown in Fig. 4E. Soils of the Dekalb Series are recognized as light-colored, stony soils along valley walls that formed in loamy material derived from loosely bonded, medium- to coarse-grained sandstone. These soils comprise the steep hillslopes surrounding Lily Pond and are assigned a K-factor of 0.24 based on Hood et al. (2002). The hilltop to the NW of the pond and its steep surrounding slopes as well as a shallow-gradient area to the SW of the pond contain soils of the Loudonville Series, which are light-colored and occur where only a thin mantle of soil overlies till or bedrock ( Fig. 4E). The series members in the study area are classified as disturbed soils that have been affected by construction and development to some degree such as digging, logging, and grading operations ( Lessig et al.

In addition, long-known written histories of China are explicit about the progressive establishment of successively fewer but larger polities through repeated military conquests and the absorption of losers. Chang (1986) offers a brief summary from the work of master historian Ku Tsu-yu (AD 1624–1680), which relates how many small independent polities coalesced over time into fewer but larger entities, referring to sequent episodes when there existed in China “ten thousand states”, “three thousand states”, “eighteen hundred states”, “more than

three hundred states,” and “one hundred and thirteen states.” Chang suggests that this history buy BMS-777607 describes the gradual conquest and absorption of originally independent Late Neolithic

fortified towns into fewer and larger sociopolitical AZD5363 ic50 hegemonies that were controlled by progressively fewer and more powerful despots. By the Shang/Zhou period (3600–2200 cal BP) along the Wei and middle Yellow Rivers near modern Xi’an, regional elite rulers directed and controlled agricultural production, fostered advanced engineering and military capabilities, and increasingly employed the powerful administrative and intellectual tool of writing. Substantial cities grew as central nodes within a more and more densely settled landscape of farming villages and smaller towns, and major anthropogenic effects on the natural landscape ensued (Elvin, 2004, Keightley, 2000, Liu, 2004 and Liu and Chen, 2012). Historical texts record that a contentious period of warring among

localized states during Shang/Zhou times was transformed into an era of centrally controlled imperial rule after 221 BC, when a comparatively small region around the Wei/Yellow River nexus was politically and economically unified through the military successes of Qin Shihuangdi. Beginning his political career as the king of a small Zhou state north of modern Xi’an, he dominated six major rivals to become the first recognized Emperor to reign in China, ruling over the lesser kings of his region as head of the Qin State (221–206 BC). He is generally identified as Liothyronine Sodium China’s first emperor, though he, in fact, ruled only a very small part of what we know as China today. As the greatly empowered and royally wealthy sovereign of a rich and densely populated region around modern Xi’an, Qin Shihuangdi fostered large-scale modifications of its natural landscape during his reign. The best-known of these projects is the Great Wall of China, which was not built all at once in Qin times, but initiated during that period by an imperial order for new construction that would knit together, into one continuous wall, a series of fortifications previously built in more localized situations by preceding Zhou rulers.