Pancreas transplantation. An immunohistologic and histopathologic examination of 100 grafts.
The authors examined tissues obtained by biopsy, pancreatectomy, and autopsy from 100 pancreas grafts to determine the cause of dysfunction or failure of the graft. Immunohistologic examination of 42 tissues to determine the mononuclear cell phenotypes and Class I and II antigen expression was performed as well. Technical factors--infections, thrombosis, obstruction--accounted for a large number of graft losses, but immunologic-mediated mechanisms resulted in graft dysfunction and failure as well. Pleomorphic inflammatory infiltrates were present in grafts with acute rejection, as well as Silastic and Prolamine duct-obstructed grafts. Criteria useful in the identification of acute rejection from pancreatitis included a more intense, predominantly mononuclear cell infiltration of transformed lymphocytes in the exocrine pancreas and evidence of vascular rejection--endovasculitis or fibrinoid necrosis. Increased expression and/or induction of Class I and II antigens on pancreatic constituents occurred in grafts with evidence of acute rejection, but also with Silastic and prolamine duct-obstructed pancreatitis. An isletitis occurred in 25% of the grafts. Nine of the 25 grafts (36%) with isletitis also had selective loss of beta cells from the islets. Recurrent diabetes mellitus appeared to have developed in these cases, which accounted for loss of graft function.


The prognostic value of MRI in determining reinjury risk following acute hamstring injury: a systematic review.
A challenge for sports physicians is to estimate the risk of a hamstring re-injury, but the current evidence for MRI variables as a risk factor is unknown. To systematically review the literature on the prognostic value of MRI findings at index injury and/or return to play for acute hamstring re-injuries. Databases of PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, SPORTDiscus and Cochrane Library were searched until 20 June 2016. Studies evaluating MRI as a prognostic tool for determining the risk of re-injury for athletes with acute hamstring injuries were eligible for inclusion. Two authors independently screened the search results and assessed risk of bias using standardised criteria from a consensus statement. A best-evidence synthesis was used to identify the level of evidence. Post hoc analysis included correction for insufficient sample size. Of the 11 studies included, 7 had a low and 4 had a high risk of bias. No strong evidence for any MRI finding as a risk factor for hamstring re-injury was found. There was moderate evidence that intratendinous injuries were associated with increased re-injury risk. Post hoc analysis showed moderate evidence that injury to the biceps femoris was a moderate to strong risk factor for re-injury. There is currently no strong evidence for any MRI finding in predicting hamstring re-injury risk. Intratendinous injuries and biceps femoris injuries showed moderate evidence for association with a higher re-injury risk. Registration in the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews was performed prior to study initiation (registration number CRD42015024620).


Extracting Genes Involved in Disease from a Connected Network of Perturbed Biological Processes.
Metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes are nowadays regarded as diseases affecting majority of population. These diseases develop gradually over time in an individual. Recently, systematic experiments tracking disease progression are conducted giving a high-throughput complex data. There is a pressing need for developing methods to analyze this complex data to capture the disease mechanism at molecular level. Diseases usually develop through perturbations of biological processes in an organism. In this study, we have tried to capture the interlinking between different biological processes that work together to regulate the disease phenotype. Here, we have considered a temporal microarray data from an experiment conducted to study obesity and diabetes in mice. We have analyzed the data to obtain perturbed biological processes and developed methods to establish link between these perturbed biological processes. We have derived a mathematical formula to score genes and identified a significant set of genes regulating such a complex process network. The methods developed in our study are also applicable to a broad array of data types.


Maturational changes in brain contents of salmon GnRH in rainbow trout as measured by a newly developed time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay.
A newly developed time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) for salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone (sGnRH) was applied to investigate changes in sGnRH content in discrete brain areas at three different gonadal stages in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. The sensitivity (6.8 pg/well), specificity, intraassay coefficients of variation (<7.4%), and interassay coefficients of variation (<10.3%) of the assay system were almost the same as those for the radioimmunoassay. Displacement curves of serially diluted brain extracts of nine teleost fish (freshwater fish and seawater fish) including rainbow trout paralleled that of the sGnRH standard, indicating that the sGnRH TR-FIA is widely applicable to the measurement of the brain sGnRH contents of various fishes. The sGnRH content in female hypothalamus decreased during final gonad maturation, whereas the sGnRH levels in pituitary were highest at the time of spermiating in males or ovulating in females, decreasing significantly thereafter. In contrast, there were no changes in the sGnRH contents of olfactory bulbs, telencephalon, optic tectum + thalamus, and cerebellum + medulla oblongata during final maturation, except for olfactory bulbs of males. Changes in sGnRH contents in the hypothalamus and the pituitary indicate that sGnRH is involved in final maturation (ovulation or spermiation) in the rainbow trout.


Histone H3G34R mutation causes replication stress, homologous recombination defects and genomic instability in S. pombe.
Recurrent somatic mutations of H3F3A in aggressive pediatric high-grade gliomas generate K27M or G34R/V mutant histone H3.3. H3.3-G34R/V mutants are common in tumors with mutations in p53 and ATRX, an H3.3-specific chromatin remodeler. To gain insight into the role of H3-G34R, we generated fission yeast that express only the mutant histone H3. H3-G34R specifically reduces H3K36 tri-methylation and H3K36 acetylation, and mutants show partial transcriptional overlap with set2 deletions. H3-G34R mutants exhibit genomic instability and increased replication stress, including slowed replication fork restart, although DNA replication checkpoints are functional. H3-G34R mutants are defective for DNA damage repair by homologous recombination (HR), and have altered HR protein dynamics in both damaged and untreated cells. These data suggest H3-G34R slows resolution of HR-mediated repair and that unresolved replication intermediates impair chromosome segregation. This analysis of H3-G34R mutant fission yeast provides mechanistic insight into how G34R mutation may promote genomic instability in glioma.


Production of S-adenosyl-L-methionine by Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells carrying a gene for ethionine resistance.
A gene for ethionine resistance isolated from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae DKD-5D-H conferred on the yeast cells resistance to seleno-L-methionine and capability to produce S-adenosyl-L-methionine in the cells. An enzymatic study of the L-methionine synthetic pathway of L-methionine proto- and auxotrophs and in dried yeast cells with or without the gene suggested that the cloned gene for ethionine resistance is responsible for the activity of S-adenosyl-L-methionine synthase. To produce S-adenosyl-L-methionine by yeast cells transformed with the ethionine resistance gene, some culturing conditions were determined.


Clustering threshold gradient descent regularization: with applications to microarray studies.
An important goal of microarray studies is to discover genes that are associated with clinical outcomes, such as disease status and patient survival. While a typical experiment surveys gene expressions on a global scale, there may be only a small number of genes that have significant influence on a clinical outcome. Moreover, expression data have cluster structures and the genes within a cluster have correlated expressions and coordinated functions, but the effects of individual genes in the same cluster may be different. Accordingly, we seek to build statistical models with the following properties. First, the model is sparse in the sense that only a subset of the parameter vector is non-zero. Second, the cluster structures of gene expressions are properly accounted for. For gene expression data without pathway information, we divide genes into clusters using commonly used methods, such as K-means or hierarchical approaches. The optimal number of clusters is determined using the Gap statistic. We propose a clustering threshold gradient descent regularization (CTGDR) method, for simultaneous cluster selection and within cluster gene selection. We apply this method to binary classification and censored survival analysis. Compared to the standard TGDR and other regularization methods, the CTGDR takes into account the cluster structure and carries out feature selection at both the cluster level and within-cluster gene level. We demonstrate the CTGDR on two studies of cancer classification and two studies correlating survival of lymphoma patients with microarray expressions. R code is available upon request. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Salvage radiotherapy after high intensity focused ultrasound for prostate cancer.
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a technique that has been used to treat localised prostate cancer. There is no standard treatment for patients who relapse with prostate cancer following primary treatment with HIFU; here we report the case of a patient who was successfully treated with external beam radiotherapy for disease relapse following HIFU. To date, our patient remains disease free with no toxicity from his treatment.


[Granuloma by Foreign Body Reaction to the Stapler Used for Partial Resection of the Lung].
A 66-year-old woman underwent right lower lobectomy and partial resection of the middle lobe for Stage I A double lung cancer. Five years after the operation, a routine computed tomography (CT) scan showed a mass on the staple line at the middle lobe. The mass was enlarged on CT scan after 6 months. A definitive diagnosis could not be made by bronchoscopic examination and fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose(FDG)/positron emission tomography( PET)-CT showed FDG uptake in the mass( early phase:SUVmax=3.24, late phase:SUVmax=4.31). Local recurrence of lung cancer was not completely denied, and right middle lobectomy was performed. Histopathologically, the resected specimen revealed granuloma with foreign body reaction. We should keep in mind the possibility of granuloma as differential diagnosis of lung cancer when using stapler.


A meta-analysis of the utility of transabdominal ultrasound for evaluation of gastric cancer.
Clinical discovery/staging of gastric cancer (GC) is crucial in designing the treatment strategies and largely decides GC patients' survival. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and computed tomography (CT) are 2 useful GC diagnosis tools. High doses of radiation associated with CT make its use limited, while the process of EUS is stressful, time-consuming, and challenging. Transabdominal ultrasound (TAUS) is a promising candidate to address these shortcomings. This study aimed to meta-analyze the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of TAUS in discriminating between advanced and early GCs, as well as compare its utility with other imaging techniques.Methods: Literature searches were conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to 2019. Data were analyzed using RevMan software (Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK), and pooled estimates of accuracy, sensitivity, and other features were acquired. Seven papers were eventually selected for meta-analysis. TAUS had distinct diagnostic efficacies for early and advanced GC patients. The accuracy and sensitivity were significantly higher in the advanced group. A high color Doppler vascularity index and a lesion larger than 1 cm were 2 features of advanced GC. Moreover, TAUS had a comparable (but slightly higher) accuracy than CT and EUS. TAUS is more accurate and sensitive in diagnosing advanced GC compared to early GC. More features of advanced GC are required to improve the recognition ability. At least, TAUS can be considered as a complementary imaging diagnostic tool to CT and EUS.


High-content screening of human primary muscle satellite cells for new therapies for muscular atrophy/dystrophy.
Myoblast proliferation and differentiation are essential for normal skeletal muscle growth and repair. Muscle recovery is dependent on the quiescent population of muscle stem cells - satellite cells. During muscle injury, satellite cells become mitotically active and begin the repair process by fusing with each other and/or with myofibers. Aging, prolonged inactivity, obesity, cachexia and other muscle wasting diseases are associated with a decreased number of quiescent and proliferating satellite cells, which impedes the repair process. A high-content/high-throughput platform was developed and utilized for robust phenotypic evaluation of human primary satellite cells in vitro for the discovery of chemical probes that may improve muscle recovery. A 1600 compound pilot screen was developed using two highly annotated small molecule libraries. This screen yielded 15 dose responsive compounds that increased proliferation rate in satellite cells derived from a single obese human donor. Two of these compounds remained dose responsive when counter-screened in 3-donor obese superlot. The Alk-5 inhibitor LY364947, was used as a positive control for assessing satellite cell proliferation/delayed differentiation. A multivariate approach was utilized for exploratory data analysis to discover proliferation vs. differentiation-dependent changes in cellular phenotype. Initial screening efforts successfully identified a number of phenotypic outcomes that are associated with desired effect of stimulation of proliferation and delayed differentiation.


Development of the charge exchange recombination spectroscopy and the beam emission spectroscopy on the EAST tokamak.
Charge eXchange Recombination Spectroscopy (CXRS) and Beam Emission Spectroscopy (BES) diagnostics based on a heating neutral beam have recently been installed on EAST to provide local measurements of ion temperature, velocity, and density. The system design features common light collection optics for CXRS and BES, background channels for the toroidal views, multi-chord viewing sightlines, and high throughput lens-based spectrometers with good signal to noise ratio for high time resolution measurements. Additionally, two spectrometers each has a tunable grating to observe any wavelength of interest are used for the CXRS and one utilizes a fixed-wavelength grating to achieve higher diffraction efficiency for the BES system. A real-time wavelength correction is implemented to achieve a high-accuracy wavelength calibration. Alignment and calibration are performed. Initial performance test results are presented.


Calculation of nonadiabatic couplings with restricted open-shell Kohn-Sham density-functional theory.
This paper generalizes the recently proposed approaches for calculating the derivative couplings between adiabatic states in density-functional theory (DFT) based on a Slater transition-state density to transitions such as singlet-singlet excitations, where a single-determinant ansatz is insufficient. The proposed approach is based on restricted open-shell Frank et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 108, 4060 (1998)] theory used to describe a spin-adapted Slater transition state. To treat the dependence of electron-electron interactions on the nuclear positions, variational linear-response density-functional perturbation theory is generalized to reference states with an orbital-dependent Kohn-Sham Hamiltonian and nontrivial occupation patterns. The methods proposed in this paper are not limited to the calculation of derivative coupling vectors, but can also be used for the calculation of other transition matrix elements. Moreover, they can be used to calculate the linear response of open-shell systems to arbitrary external perturbations in DFT.


[Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on recovery of neural functions and changes of synaptic interface and dendritic structure in the contralateral brain area after cerebral infarction: experiment with rats].
To evaluate the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the brain plasticity and its role in functional outcome in cerebral infarction. Twenty male SD rats underwent suture of the unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) so as to establish focal cerebral infarction models and then were randomly divided into 2 equal groups: model group, to be reared in the original living state, and TMS group, given in addition TMS treatment 1 day after infarction 2 times per day and 30 pulses per time for 4 weeks. Twenty-eight days after the rats were killed. Four rats from each group underwent microscopy of the brain to measure the dendritic structure of the pyramidal cells quantitatively. Other 4 rats from each group underwent electron microscopy of the brain to measure the parameters of synaptic interface in the sensorimotor cortex. Neural function scoring was conducted 24 hours after the establishment of model and before being killed. There was no significant difference in the neural function 24 h after the establishment of models, however, 28 days after the score of neural function of the TMA group was 0.58 +/- 0.49, significantly lower than that of the model group (0.92 +/- 0.28, P < 0.05). The total dendritic length, number of dendritic branching points, and dendritic density in layer V pyramidal cells within the undamaged motor cortex of the TMS group were 898 microm +/- 127 microm, 6.6 +/- 1.5, and 0.75/microm +/- 0.19/microm, all significantly higher than those of the model group (788 microm +/- 112 microm, 5.8 +/- 1.5, and 0.60/microm +/- 0.16/microm, P < 0.05 or < 0.01). Electron microscopy showed that the synaptic curvatures and post-synaptic density of the TMS group were 1.06 +/- 0.08 and 64 +/- 13 respectively, both significantly higher than those of the model group (1.02 +/- 0.06 and 54 +/- 12 nm respectively, P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), and the synapse cleft width of the TMS group was 19.5 +/- 2.1, significantly narrower than that of the model group (23.3 +/- 2.3, P < 0.01). TMS promotes the improvement of neural functions of the rats with cerebral ischemia by the potential mechanism that TMS strengthen the compensatory roles of the synaptic interface and dendritic structure in the undamaged sensorimotor cortex area and increase synaptic plasticity.


Lack of ClC-2 Alleviates High Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease. This study aims to investigate whether chloride channel 2 (ClC-2) is involved in high fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD and possible molecular mechanisms. ClC-2 expression was liver-specifically downregulated using adeno-associated virus in C57BL/6 mice treated with a chow diet or HFD for 12 weeks. Peripheral blood and liver tissues were collected for biochemical and pathological estimation respectively. Western blotting was applied to detect the protein expressions of lipid synthesis-related enzymes and the phosphorylated level of IRS-1, Akt and mTOR. ClC-2 mRNA level was significantly increased in patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, which positively correlated with the plasma levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and insulin. Knockdown of ClC-2 in liver attenuated HFD-induced weight gain, obesity, hepatocellular ballooning, and liver lipid accumulation and fibrosis, accompanied by reduced plasma free fatty acid (FFA), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), ALT, AST, glucose and insulin levels and homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) value. Moreover, HFD-treated mice lacking ClC-2 showed inhibited hepatic lipid accumulation via regulating lipid metabolism through decreasing sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-1c expression and its downstream targeting enzymes such as fatty acid synthase (FAS), HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR) and acetyl-Coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCα). In addition, in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated that ClC-2 downregulation in HFD-treated mice or HepG2 cells increased the sensitivity to insulin via activation of IRS-1/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Our present study reveals a critical role of ClC-2 in regulating metabolic diseases. Mice lacking ClC-2 are associated with a remarkably beneficial metabolic phenotype, suggesting that decreasing ClC-2 may be an attractive therapeutic strategy for the treatment of NAFLD.


Orbital tumor dissector and retractor.
An orbital dissector and tumor retractor are described. The instruments significantly decrease the amount of trauma to the orbital structures and improve visualization because of the suction that is connected to both the dissector and the tumor retractor.


An investigation into the ameliorating effect of black soybean extract on learning and memory impairment with assessment of neuroprotective effects.
The physiological effects of the non-anthocyanin fraction (NAF) in a black soybean seed coat extract on Aβ-induced oxidative stress were investigated to confirm neuroprotection. In addition, we examined the preventive effect of NAF on cognitive defects induced by the intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Aβ. Levels of cellular oxidative stress were measured using 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA). Neuronal cell viability was investigated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. To investigate in vivo anti-amnesic effects of NAF by using Y-maze and passive avoidance tests, the learning and memory impairment in mice was induced by Aβ. After in vivo assays, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the mouse brain were determined to confirm the cognitive effect. Individual phenolics of NAF were qualitatively analyzed by using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) Accurate-Mass Quadrupole Time of-Flight (Q-TOF) UPLC/MS. A NAF showed cell protective effects against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity. Intracellular ROS accumulated through Aβ1-40 treatment was significantly reduced in comparison to cells only treated with Aβ1-40. In MTT and LDH assay, the NAF also presented neuroprotective effects on Aβ1-40-treated cytotoxicity. Finally, the administration of this NAF in mice significantly reversed the Aβ1-40-induced cognitive defects in in vivo behavioral tests. After behavioral tests, the mice brains were collected in order to examine lipid peroxidation and AChE activity. AChE, preparation was inhibited by NAF in a dose-dependent manner. MDA generation in the brain homogenate of mice treated with the NAF was decreased. Q-TOF UPLC/MS analyses revealed three major phenolics from the non-anthocyanin fraction; epicatechin, procyanidin B1, and procyanidin B2. The results suggest that the NAF in black soybean seed coat extracts may improve the cytotoxicity of Aβ in PC12 cells, possibly by reducing oxidative stress, and also have an anti-amnesic effect on the in vivo learning and memory deficits caused by Aβ. Q-TOF UPLC/MS analyses showed three major phenolics; (-)-epicatechin, procyanidin B1, and procyanidin B2. Above results suggest that (-)-epicatechins are the major components, and contributors to the anti-amnesic effect of the NAF from black soybean seed coat.


DRD4 rare variants in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): further evidence from a birth cohort study.
The dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) is one of the most studied candidate genes for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). An excess of rare variants and non-synonymous mutations in the VNTR region of 7R allele in ADHD subjects was observed in previous studies with clinical samples. We hypothesize that genetic heterogeneity in the VNTR is an important factor in the pathophysiology of ADHD. The subjects included in the present study are members of the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study (N=5,249). We conducted an association study with the 4,101 subjects who had DNA samples collected. The hyperactivity-inattention scores were assessed through the parent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 11 and 15 years of age. The contribution of allele's length and rare variants to high hyperactivity/inattention scores predisposition was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression. No effect of allele length was observed on high scores of hyperactivity-inattention. By contrast, when resequencing/haplotyping was conducted in a subsample, all 7R rare variants as well as non-synonymous 7R rare variants were associated with high hyperactivity/inattention scores (OR=2.561; P=0.024 and OR=3.216; P=0.008 respectively). A trend for association was observed with 4R rare variants. New coding mutations covered 10 novel motifs and many of them are previously unreported deletions leading to different stop codons. Our findings suggest a contribution of DRD4 7R rare variants to high hyperactivity-inattention scores in a population-based sample from a large birth cohort. These findings provide further evidence for an effect of DRD4 7R rare variants and allelic heterogeneity in ADHD genetic susceptibility.


Cloning and expression of the cDNA for canine tumor necrosis factor-alpha in E. coli.
We have utilized the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to clone the protein coding region of canine tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) cDNA. The gene displays 90% sequence homology to the corresponding human TNF-alpha cDNA. The predicted initial translation product is 233 amino acids and shows 88% homology to the human counterpart, and 92% homology with the human putative mature TNF-alpha protein. The canine TNF-alpha clone was used to engineer bacteria to express large amounts of the mature form of recombinant protein. A monoclonal antibody against human TNF-alpha cross-reacted with canine rTNF-alpha using Western blot and ELISA analysis. The purified canine rTNF-alpha had a cytotoxic effect on WEHI 164 clone 13 cells as well as increasing the cell surface expression of major histocompatibility class II antigens on canine kidney cortical cell line (MDCK) in vitro. The availability of canine rTNF-alpha will allow further studies on its role in immunoregulatory mechanisms in the canine transplantation model, both by itself and in conjunction with the already available canine specific recombinant interferon-gamma.


Does ranitidine affect blood alcohol concentrations?
No interaction occurs between ranitidine and alcohol when alcohol 0.3 g/kg or more is taken by either fed or fasted subjects. Ranitidine is associated with small increases (2-4 mg/dl) in blood alcohol concentrations in subjects given alcohol 0.15 g/kg under specific experimental conditions. Mean peak blood alcohol concentrations nevertheless remain low (< 20 mg/dl) after the amount, which is equivalent to about 3 oz of wine or 1 oz of 80-proof liquor. Such changes also occur when alcohol is ingested after different types of foods, and are smaller than the increases when it is drunk on an empty compared with a full stomach. The pharmacokinetic effect seen with ranitidine is without apparent clinical or social significance.


Wave-driven butterfly distribution of Van Allen belt relativistic electrons.
Van Allen radiation belts consist of relativistic electrons trapped by Earth's magnetic field. Trapped electrons often drift azimuthally around Earth and display a butterfly pitch angle distribution of a minimum at 90° further out than geostationary orbit. This is usually attributed to drift shell splitting resulting from day-night asymmetry in Earth's magnetic field. However, direct observation of a butterfly distribution well inside of geostationary orbit and the origin of this phenomenon have not been provided so far. Here we report high-resolution observation that a unusual butterfly pitch angle distribution of relativistic electrons occurred within 5 Earth radii during the 28 June 2013 geomagnetic storm. Simulation results show that combined acceleration by chorus and magnetosonic waves can successfully explain the electron flux evolution both in the energy and butterfly pitch angle distribution. The current provides a great support for the mechanism of wave-driven butterfly distribution of relativistic electrons.


Early Childhood Caries and Its Associated Factors among 9- to 18-Month Old Exclusively Breastfed Children in Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the early childhood caries (ECC) status and its risk factors in 9- to 18-month-old exclusively breastfed children in Thailand. Methods: Generally healthy 9- to 18-month-old children who had been exclusively breastfed were recruited. Information on children's oral hygiene practices and breastfeeding behaviors was collected through parental interviews using a questionnaire. Children's oral health status was assessed following the WHO caries diagnostic criteria, modified to record the noncavitated lesions. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was adopted to investigate its association with feeding and oral hygiene practices. Results: In total, 513 mother and child dyads (47% boys) were recruited. The prevalence of ECC was 42.5%. The mean (SD) d1mft and d1mfs scores (d1 included noncavitated and cavitated carious teeth/tooth surfaces) were 1.1 (1.4) and 1.3 (2.0), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older children with higher plaque scores (OR = 75.60; 95% CI: 40.19-142.20) who were breastfed to sleep (OR = 2.85; 95% CI: 1.48-5.49) and never had their teeth cleaned (OR = 8.51; 95% CI: 1.53-47.14), had a significantly higher chance of having ECC (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of ECC is high among exclusively breastfed children aged 9-18 months in Thailand. ECC prevalence is significantly associated with the age of children, the level of dental plaque, breastfeeding to sleep, and oral cleaning. Among all factors, the level of dental plaque is the most significant factor associated with ECC among breastfed children.


Ultrastructural picture of blood vessels in muscle and skin biopsy in CADASIL.
CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leucoencephalopathy) is an inherited systemic vascular disorder affecting mainly the central nervous system. We performed detailed ultrastructural examination of the small vessels in the skin and skeletal muscle of a 51-year-old patient with bilateral cerebral white matter lesions, who had a history of two ischaemic strokes. The arterioles were characterized by degeneration and loss of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). GOM deposits, varied in size and shape, were located in the neighbourhood of the smooth muscle cells, often within an infolding of the cell membrane. No apparent correlations between presence, size or number of GOM deposits and damage severity of vascular smooth muscle cells were seen. Moreover, in some capillaries there were GOM deposits which were seen in the basement membrane near pericytes and endothelial cells. On the other hand, lesions of VMSCs and/or endothelial cells were also visible on the sections of blood vessels devoid of GOM deposits. Genetic tests detected a mutation in exon 4 of the Notch3 gene. It confirmed the initial diagnosis which had been suggested on the basis of the clinical and MRI findings.


Research on the Frequency-Dependent Halfwave Voltage of a Multifunction Integrated Optical Chip in an Interferometric Fiber Optic Gyroscope.
The multifunction integrated optical chip (MIOC) is one of the most critical parts of the interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (IFOG), and research on the halfwave voltage of the MIOC is meaningful for a high-precision IFOG. In this paper, the correlation between the frequency and halfwave voltage, which affects the interference light intensity of IFOG, is presented theoretically. A widespread measurement method for frequency dependence of the halfwave voltage, based on lock-in amplification and sinusoidal modulation, is proposed. Further, the measurement result and the oscillation of interference light intensity in the Sagnac interferometer are presented, which are in great agreement with the theory. This paper proposes the frequency dependence of the halfwave voltage and provides a new error research direction for the improvement of the MIOC in a high-precision IFOG.


Principles of GABAergic signaling in developing cortical network dynamics.
GABAergic signaling provides inhibitory stabilization and spatiotemporally coordinates the firing of recurrently connected excitatory neurons in mature cortical circuits. Inhibition thus enables self-generated neuronal activity patterns that underlie various aspects of sensation and cognition. In this review, we aim to provide a conceptual framework describing how and when GABA-releasing interneurons acquire their network functions during development. Focusing on the developing visual neocortex and hippocampus in mice and rats in vivo, we hypothesize that at the onset of patterned activity, glutamatergic neurons are stable by themselves and inhibitory stabilization is not yet functional. We review important milestones in the development of GABAergic signaling and illustrate how the cell-type-specific strengthening of synaptic inhibition toward eye opening shapes cortical network dynamics and allows the developing cortex to progressively disengage from extra-cortical synaptic drive. We translate this framework to human cortical development and discuss clinical implications for the treatment of neonatal seizures.


Alterations in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism attributable to cyclosporin A in renal transplant recipients.
Thirteen non-diabetic renal transplant recipients had various aspects of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism studied before and after conversion from cyclosporin A to azathioprine. No patient had a glucose tolerance test result diagnostic of diabetes mellitus before conversion, and there was no change in fasting glucose or immunoreactive insulin values after conversion. There was, however, a fall in the area under the curve of the glucose tolerance test values after conversion. Furthermore, fasting serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations fell significantly after conversion. No change in the concentration of high density lipoprotein cholesterol was detected. These findings suggest that cyclosporin A is associated with an inferior lipid profile as compared with azathioprine, which may be important in patients with transplants given the drug long term.


Caution using data from triaxial accelerometers housed in player tracking units during running.
Usage of accelerometers within player tracking devices in sport to quantify load, vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) or energy expenditure is contrary to placement guidelines. This study aimed to determine whether trunk-mounted accelerometers were a valid and reliable method to estimate thoracic segment or centre of gravity (COG) acceleration or vGRF, and the whether the elasticised harness contributes to the overestimation of acceleration. Ten male amateur rugby players performed five linear running tasks per lower limb at three speeds, twice, each with a different player tracking unit. Three-dimensional data were recorded and triaxial accelerometers were attached lateral to the device on the harness and skin and both shanks. Accelerometers demonstrated poor reliability (ICC:0.0-0.67), high variability (CV%:14-33%) and change in mean (41-160%), and were not valid to estimate vertical acceleration of the COG and thoracic segment nor vGRF. Caution is advised when utilising trunk-mounted triaxial accelerometer data as it is not a valid or reliable means to estimate peak vertical acceleration for its thoracic location nor whole-body COG acceleration or vGRF during running. To improve player tracking instrument validity and reliability, a new attachment method and/or harness material(s), that reduce or eliminate extraneous acceleration during running, are urgently required.


Provision of enteral nutrition during vasopressor therapy for hemodynamic instability: an evidence-based review.
Critical illness is associated with many complications that affect both medical and nutrition aspects of patient outcomes. Early enteral feeding is the preferred method of nutrition for patients in the intensive care unit due to apparent benefits in this patient population. However, these patients are also at risk for complications related to enteral nutrition (EN), which may be potentiated with the addition of vasopressors often used in the setting of hemodynamic instability. The clinician is often confronted with the decision of when to proceed with EN in critically ill patients who require vasopressors for hemodynamic support. This article reviews the effects of vasopressors on gastrointestinal blood flow, discusses complications associated with vasopressor use during EN, and proposes important considerations to determine the safety of EN in hemodynamically unstable patients requiring vasopressor support.


Cu-MOFs with Rich Open Metal and F Sites for Separation of C2H2 from CO2 and CH4.
Herein, we used the 4-fluoro-[1,1'-biphenyl]-3,4',5-tricarboxylic acid (H3fbptc) ligand to design and construct a new metal-organic framework (MOF), [Cu3(fbptc)2(H2O)3]·3NMP (1), which possesses rich accessible metal sites and F functional groups in the porous walls and shows high uptake for C2H2 (119.3 cm3 g-1) and significant adsorption selectivity for C2H2 over CH4 (14.4) and CO2 (3.6) at 298 K and 100 kPa. In particular, for the gas mixtures of C2H2-CH4 and C2H2-CO2, the MOF reveals large breakthrough time ratios (C2H2/CH4 = 13, C2H2/CO2 = 5.9), which are particularly prominent in dynamic breakthrough experiments, also confirming the excellent potential for the practical separation of C2H2 from two-component mixtures (C2H2-CH4 and C2H2-CO2) and even three-component mixtures (C2H2-CO2-CH4).


Digital video image capture in establishing positive identification.
Positive identification of skeletonized, decomposed, or disfigured victims lacking clinical records is a difficult endeavor. However, videotapes of family and social activities can be analyzed using the frame isolating technique of video image capture by inexpensive means. A rare skeletal Class III malocclusion and dental peculiarities in a decomposing 3-year old lacking a clinical history were compared to videotapes taken of a suspected victim shortly prior to her disappearance. Overlaying transparent dental tracings from digitized skeletal remains onto selected frames of the videotape (and reversing this process) produced the identification and hastened the entire investigation.


A musculoskeletal model of the equine forelimb for determining surface stresses and strains in the humerus--part I. Mathematical modeling.
Knowledge of the forces that act upon the equine humerus while the horse is standing and the resulting strains experienced by the bone is useful for the prevention and treatment of fractures and for assessing the proximolateral aspect of the bone as a site for obtaining autogenous bone graft material. The first objective was to develop a mathematical model to predict the loads on the proximal half of the humerus created by the surrounding musculature and ground reaction forces while the horse is standing. The second objective was to calculate surface bone stresses and strains at three cross sections on the humerus corresponding to the donor site for bone grafts, a site predisposed to stress fracture, and the middle of the diaphysis. A three-dimensional mathematical model employing optimization techniques and asymmetrical beam analysis was used to calculate shoulder muscle forces and surface strains on the proximal and mid-diaphyseal aspects of the humerus. The active shoulder muscles, which included the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and short head of the deltoid, produced small forces while the horse is standing; all of which were limited to 4.3% of their corresponding maximum voluntary contraction. As a result, the strains calculated at the proximal cross sections of the humerus were small, with maximum compressive strains of -104microepsilon at the cranial aspect of the bone graft donor cross section. The middle of the diaphysis experienced larger strain magnitudes with compressive strains at the lateral and the caudal aspects and tensile strains at the medial and cranial aspects (-377microepsilon and 258microepsilon maximum values, respectively) while the horse is standing. Small strains at the donor bone graft site do not rule out using this location to harvest bone graft tissue, although strains while rising to a standing position during recovery from anesthesia are unknown. At the site common to stress fractures, small strains imply that the stresses seen by this region while the horse is standing, although applied for long periods of time, are not a cause of fracture in this location. Knowing the specific regions of the middle of the diaphysis of the humerus that experience tensile and compressive strains is valuable in determining optimum placement of internal fixation devices for the treatment of complete fractures.


Bond strength of novel CAD/CAM restorative materials to self-adhesive resin cement: the effect of surface treatments.
To evaluate the effect of different surface treatments on the microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of novel CAD/CAM restorative materials to self-adhesive resin cement. Two types of CAD/CAM restorative materials (Vita Enamic [VE] and Lava Ultimate [LU]) were used. The specimens were divided into five groups in each test according to the surface treatment performed; Gr 1 (control; no treatment), Gr 2 (sandblasted [SB]), Gr 3 (SB+silane [S]), Gr 4 (hydrofluoric acid [HF]), and Gr 5 (HF+S). A dual-curing self-adhesive resin cement (Bifix SE [BF]) was applied to each group for testing the adhesion after 24 h of storage in distilled water or after 30 days using the μTBS test. Following fracture testing, specimens were examined with a stereomicroscope and SEM. Surface roughness and morphology of the CAD/CAM restorative materials were characterized after treatment. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test. The surface treatment, type of CAD/CAM restorative material, and water storage periods showed a significant effect on the μTBS (p<0.001). For the LU/BF system, there was no significant difference in the bond strength values between different surface treatments (p>0.05). On the other hand, for the VE/BF system, surface treatment with HF+S showed higher bond strength values compared with SB and HF surface treatments (p<0.05). Surface roughness and SEM analyses showed that the surface topography of CAD/CAM restorative materials was modified after treatments. The effect of surface treatments on the bond strength of novel CAD/CAM restorative materials to resin cement is material dependent. The VE/BF CAD/CAM material provided higher bond strength values compared with the LU/BF CAD/CAM material.


Bacterial Surface-Displayed GII.4 Human Norovirus Capsid Proteins Bound to HBGA-Like Molecules in Romaine Lettuce.
Human Noroviruses (HuNoVs) are the main cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis. Contaminated produce is a main vehicle for dissemination of HuNoVs. In this study, we used an ice nucleation protein mediated surface display system to present the protruding domain of GII.4 HuNoV capsid protein on bacterial surface and used it as a new strategy to explore interaction between HuNoV protein and receptor candidates from romaine lettuce. The surface-displayed HuNoV proteins were confirmed on the surface of the transformed bacteria by an immunofluorescence assay. The distribution patterns of the surface-displayed HuNoV proteins in romaine lettuce were identified through a confocal immunofluorescence assay. The surface-displayed HuNoV proteins could be found in the stomata, and the surfaces of vein and leaf of romaine lettuce. The surface-displayed HuNoV proteins could be captured by an ELISA assay utilizing extract from leaf (LE) or vein (VE). The binding of the surface-displayed HuNoV proteins to LE or VE could be competitively blocked by histo-blood group antigens from human saliva. In addition, the binding of the surface-displayed HuNoV proteins to LE or VE could also be attenuated by heat denaturation of lettuce proteins, and abolished by oxidation of lettuce carbohydrates. The results indicated that histo-blood group antigen-like molecules in LE or VE were involved in the binding of the surface-displayed HuNoV proteins to romaine lettuce. All data demonstrated that the surface-displayed HuNoV proteins could be utilized in a new and simple system for investigation of the interaction between the HuNoVs and their candidate ligands.


Panaceas and diversification of environmental policy.
We consider panacea formation in the framework of adaptive learning and decision for social-ecological systems (SESs). Institutions for managing such systems must address multiple timescales of ecological change, as well as features of the social community in which the ecosystem policy problem is embedded. Response of the SES to each candidate institution must be modeled and treated as a stochastic process with unknown parameters to be estimated. A fundamental challenge is to design institutions that are not vulnerable to capture by subsets of the community that self-organize to direct the institution against the overall social interest. In a world of episodic structural change, such as SESs, adaptive learning can lock in to a single institution, model, or parameter estimate. Policy diversification, leading to escape from panacea traps, can come from monitoring indicators of episodic change on slow timescales, minimax regret decision making, active experimentation to accelerate model identification, mechanisms for broadening the set of models or institutions under consideration, and processes for discovery of new institutions and technologies for ecosystem management. It is difficult to take all of these factors into account, but the discipline that comes with the attempt to model the coupled social-ecological dynamics forces policy makers to confront all conceivable responses. This process helps induce the modesty needed to avoid panacea traps while supporting systematic effort to improve resource management in the public interest.


Efficient pathway enrichment and network analysis of GWAS summary data using GSA-SNP2.
Pathway-based analysis in genome-wide association study (GWAS) is being widely used to uncover novel multi-genic functional associations. Many of these pathway-based methods have been used to test the enrichment of the associated genes in the pathways, but exhibited low powers and were highly affected by free parameters. We present the novel method and software GSA-SNP2 for pathway enrichment analysis of GWAS P-value data. GSA-SNP2 provides high power, decent type I error control and fast computation by incorporating the random set model and SNP-count adjusted gene score. In a comparative study using simulated and real GWAS data, GSA-SNP2 exhibited high power and best prioritized gold standard positive pathways compared with six existing enrichment-based methods and two self-contained methods (alternative pathway analysis approach). Based on these results, the difference between pathway analysis approaches was investigated and the effects of the gene correlation structures on the pathway enrichment analysis were also discussed. In addition, GSA-SNP2 is able to visualize protein interaction networks within and across the significant pathways so that the user can prioritize the core subnetworks for further studies. GSA-SNP2 is freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/gsasnp2.


Clinical and genetic analysis of 29 Brazilian patients with Huntington's disease-like phenotype.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by chorea, behavioral disturbances and dementia, caused by a pathological expansion of the CAG trinucleotide in the HTT gene. Several patients have been recognized with the typical HD phenotype without the expected mutation. The objective of this study was to assess the occurrence of diseases such as Huntington's disease-like 2 (HDL2), spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) 1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA7, dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) and chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) among 29 Brazilian patients with a HD-like phenotype. In the group analyzed, we found 3 patients with HDL2 and 2 patients with ChAc. The diagnosis was not reached in 79.3% of the patients. HDL2 was the main cause of the HD-like phenotype in the group analyzed, and is attributable to the African ancestry of this population. However, the etiology of the disease remains undetermined in the majority of the HD negative patients with HD-like phenotype.


Overcoming the Straw Man Effect in Oncology: Visualization and Ranking of Chemotherapy Regimens Using an Information Theoretic Approach.
Despite the plethora of randomized controlled trial (RCT) data, most cancer treatment recommendations are formulated by experts. Alternatively, network meta-analysis (NMA) is one method of analyzing multiple indirect treatment comparisons. However, NMA does not account for mixed end points or temporality. Previously, we described a prototype information theoretical approach for the construction of ranked chemotherapy treatment regimen networks. Here, we propose modifications to overcome an apparent straw man effect, where the most studied regimens were the most negatively valued. RCTs from two scenarios-upfront treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma-were assembled into ranked networks using an automated algorithm based on effect sizes, statistical significance, surrogacy of end points, and time since RCT publication. Vertex and edge color, transparency, and size were used to visually analyze the network. This analysis led to the additional incorporation of value propagation. A total of 18 regimens with 42 connections (chronic myelogenous leukemia) and 28 regimens with 25 connections (relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma) were analyzed. An initial negative correlation between vertex value and size was ameliorated after value propagation, although not eliminated. Updated rankings were in close agreement with published guidelines and NMAs. Straw man effects can distort the comparative efficacy of newer regimens at the expense of older regimens, which are often cheaper or less toxic. Using an automated method, we ameliorated this effect and produced rankings consistent with common practice and published guidelines in two distinct cancer settings. These findings are likely to be generalizable and suggest a new means of ranking efficacy in cancer trials.


Physical activity behavior change interventions based on the transtheoretical model: a systematic review.
This review critically examines Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-based interventions for physical activity (PA) behavior change. It has been suggested that the TTM may not be the most appropriate theoretical model for applications to PA behavior change. However, previous reviews have paid little or no attention to how accurately each intervention represents the TTM. Findings comprise two sections: sample characteristics of each intervention reviewed and a summary outlining the use of the TTM to develop the interventions. Results reveal numerous inconsistencies regarding the development and implementation/application of TTM-based interventions. Specifically, the majority of interventions reported to be based on the TTM fail to accurately represent all dimensions of the model. Therefore, until interventions are developed to accurately represent the TTM, the efficacy of these approaches and the appropriateness of the underpinning theoretical model cannot be determined.


Patterns of host-parasite coinvasion promote enemy release and specialist parasite spillover.
Species invasion and redistribution, driven by climate change and other anthropogenic influences, alter global biodiversity patterns and disrupt ecosystems. As host species move, they can bring their associated parasites with them, potentially infecting resident species, or leave their parasites behind, enhancing their competitive ability in their new ranges. General rules to predict why invading hosts will retain some parasites but not others are relatively unexplored, and the potential predictors are numerous, ranging from parasite life history to host community composition. In this study, we focus on the parasite retention process during host invasion. We used the Global Mammal Parasite Database to identify terrestrial mammal hosts sampled for parasites in both native and non-native ranges. We then selected predictors likely to play a role in parasite retention, such as parasite type, parasite specialism, species composition of the invaded community, and the invading host's phylogenetic or trait-based similarity to the new community. We modelled parasite retention using boosted regression trees, with a suite of 25 predictors describing parasite and host community traits. We further tested the generality of our predictions by cross-validating models on data for other hosts and invasion locations. Our results show that parasite retention is nonrandom and predictable across hosts and invasions. It is broadly shaped by parasite type and parasite specialism, with more specialist parasites that infect many closely related hosts more likely to be retained. This trend is pronounced across parasite types; helminths, however, show a more uniform likelihood of retention regardless of specificity. Overall, we see that most parasites are not retained (11% retained), meaning many invasive species may benefit from enemy release. However, species redistribution does have the potential to spread parasites, and this also has great relevance to understanding conservation implications of species invasions. We see that specialist parasites are most likely to coinvade with their hosts, which suggests that species closely related to the invasive hosts are most likely to be affected by parasite spillover.


The impact of the composition of the bone marrow graft on engraftment and graft-versus-host disease.
To study the impact of the composition of the bone-marrow graft on engraftment and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), we analyzed the data on 29 patients with acute leukemia in remission and 11 patients with aplastic anemia. All of them received bone-marrow grafts from HLA matched, MLC nonreactive, sibling donors, were nursed in laminar down-flow isolators with selective gut decontamination, and received GvHD prophylaxis with methotrexate. The number of nucleated cells in the marrow graft/kg body weight of the recipient had no relation with the rapidity of engraftment or with the occurrence and severity of GvHD. The number of hematopoietic progenitor cells (CFUc)/kg had a weak, but significant, correlation with both the number of neutrophils at day 30 post BMT and with the day at which the reticulocytes passed the 10% level. The number of T cells/kg did not show any correlation with either the occurrence or the severity of GvHD. Our data show that the concentration of hematopoietic progenitor cells in the graft correlates with the rapidity of engraftment. However, within the range of numbers of T cells infused in this study, no correlation is present between T cells in the graft and GvHD. Therefore, nearly complete depletion of marrow grafts of T cells is probably necessary to effectively decrease the incidence of GvHD.


Selection of European Union standard reference sera for use in the serological diagnosis of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis.
A study, consisting of three trials, was undertaken in order to find standard reference sera for use in serological diagnostic procedures for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in the European Union (EU). A total of forty-nine laboratories participated in the trials, in which panels of positive, weak positive, and negative candidate sera were tested blind by neutralisation, indirect and blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, indirect immunofluorescence and passive haemagglutination. A serum which scored positive in all tests in all laboratories was selected as a strong positive standard serum. The chosen negative standard serum gave negative results in virtually all tests. A 1/36 dilution of a positive serum was chosen as the weak positive standard serum and only very sensitive techniques were able to score it positive. Three EU reference sera are now available for the standardisation of serological tests for IBR.


[Evaluation of the contralateral breast with magnetic resonance in patients with newly diagnosed unilateral breast cancer].
Breast Magnetic Resonance (BMR) imaging is a useful tool in the evaluation of breast cancer before surgical treatment. BMR imaging plays an important role in the evaluation of the extension of the malignant lesions, and the study of multifocality and multicentricity. BMR may have a role in the detection of synchronous contralateral breast cancer that is occult to conventional imaging methods (mammography and ultrasonography). In this study we review 13 series of different authors in which they have used BMR in the evaluation of the contralateral breast in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Two thousand five hundred and eleven patients were evaluated with BMR and 123 contralateral cancers, that were occult to conventional methods, were detected with this technique (4,9 %). Therefore, BMR imaging of the breast is useful as a complementary tool because of its high sensitivity in local staging of a breast cancer and its ability in the detection of synchronous contralateral breast cancer in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer.


Patterns of distress in parents of children undergoing stem cell transplantation.
Parents (N = 151) of children undergoing bone marrow or stem cell transplantation (BMT) were assessed in a prospective, longitudinal design with repeated measures of distress (mood disturbance, perceived stress, caregiver burden). Parents were assessed weekly from admission for BMT (week-1) through week +6 post-BMT, followed by monthly assessments through month +6. Concurrent measures of child distress (somatic distress, mood disturbance) were also obtained by parent and child report. Parents demonstrate modest, but significant elevations in distress, particularly during the early period from admission through week +3. Elevations in parental distress are transient, and appear to be largely resolved by 4-6 months post-BMT. Parental distress was unrelated to child age, gender, diagnosis, or type of transplant, but was significantly related to parental socioeconomic status (SES). Parents from lower SES backgrounds reported greater levels of distress throughout the BMT process. Moderate correlations were observed between measures of parent and child distress, and level of child distress at the time of admission for BMT was predictive parental distress trajectories across the acute phase of BMT. These findings point to appropriate targets for intervention to reduce transplant-related distress.


Study on Serum Pentraxin-3 Levels in Vasculitis with Hypertension.
Pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) is derived from the secretion of macrophages, neutrophils, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells, which can regulate the immune activity of macrophages. The objectives of our study were to investigate the serum PTX-3 levels and analyze this correlation with vasculitis (Vas), with hypertension. A total of 155 cases consisting 51 patients with Vas [including 7 cases of takayasu arteritis (TA), 24 cases of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), and 20 cases of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated Vas (AAV)] were screened by angiography and/or biopsy; 46 patients with essential hypertensions (PH) and 58 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled in this study from January 2013 to December 2016. Serum PTX-3 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with the HC and PH, the serum PTX-3 levels in systemic Vas were significantly higher (both P < 0.001, 4.42 ± 0.95 vs. 2.67 ± 0.92 and 4.42 ± 0.95 vs. 2.95 ± 0.60), and there was no significant difference between HC and essential hypertension (P = 0.886, 2.67 ± 0.92 vs. 2.95 ± 0.60). There was no significant difference of PTX-3 levels among TA, PAN, and AAV, as well as active and inactive groups, and renal and nonrenal groups even if they had a significant difference from EH and HC, respectively. There was no significant correlation between PTX-3 levels and blood pressure, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score. Receiver operating characteristic analysis has shown that the best cutoff point was at 3.618 ng/μL; the sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 84.3% and 93.5% for the diagnosis of Vas from heath control, and the best cutoff point was at 3.425 ng/μL, The sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 88.2% and 82.6% for the diagnosis of Vas from essential hypertension. Serum PTX-3 levels were significantly higher in patients with Vas than essential hypertension or health control, and elevated PTX-3 levels can help identify Vas patients from healthy or essential hypertensive populations.


[The clinical characteristics of adult hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis treated with haploidentical donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation].
Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics of adult patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) receiving haploidentical donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HID HSCT). Method: We retrospectively reviewed 20 adult patients with HLH from August 2009 to August 2014.The clinical features and outcome were analyzed. Results: Conditioning regimens consisted of total body irradiation/etoposide/cyclophosphamide (TBI/VP-16/CTX) and busulfan (Bu)/VP-16/CTX in HLH with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) 8 mg/kg.The stem cells were mobilized from donors' peripheral blood.Median time to white blood cell engraftment was 13 (9-27) days.Median time to platelet engraftment was 14 (10-28) days.Mixed chimerism after transplantation developed in 4 patients and no patient presented graft failure.Eight patients developed grade Ⅱ to Ⅲ acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), while as chronic GVHD occurred in 9 patients.Among 12 patients with EB virus(EBV) reactivation, 2 patients developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), 7 were suspected as PTLD and 3 were considered as relapse of primary disease.With a median follow-up of 20 months (range: 0.5-108 months) after transplantation, the estimated 2-year overall survival (OS) rate was (60.0±11.0)% in all patients.During the follow-up, 12 patients survived, 8 died including 5 within 100 days after HSCT.Among 5 non-remission patients before HSCT, 4 patients died within 100 days after HCT. Conclusions: HID HSCT is an effective treatment for adult patients with HLH to achieve remission and long-term survival. High proportion of mixed chimerism has been seen at early stage after transplantation.EBV reactivation and early transplant-related mortality are common.


[Study on the removal of arsenic from drinking water by coagulants].
The coagulation method for removing arsenic in drinking water from dispersed water supply was tested. The results showed that the remained arsenic [As(V)] in decanted water could be lower than 0.05 mg/L by directly putting 50 mg/L ferric sulfate into water samples without adjusting pH value (pH 7.82) and settling for 12 hours in room temperature while the original As(V) concentration was 1.0 mg/L. The same removal efficacy could be achieved by putting 30 mg/L ferric sulfate or 40 mg/L aluminum sulfate and filtering after 30-40 min settlement. The removal rates were raised with the increased concentration of coagulants in water. The remained As(V) in filtered water could meet the valid health standard of drinking water (< 0.05 mg/L) when the original concentrations of As(V) were 1.0 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L by using 30 mg/L ferric sulfate and aluminum sulfate respectively. Furthermore, ferric sulfate was more efficient than aluminum sulfate at varied of pH value, water temperature, turbidity and hardness of water, etc. Generally, arsenic in coagulated sludge would not release into water again.


Naturally long-lived animal models for the study of slow aging and longevity.
Judicious selection of new animal models for the study of basic aging processes must combine feasibility and good use of the comparative method with evidence of antiaging adaptations, like the ability to combat oxidative damage to cells and tissues. A number of vertebrate species already in use or being developed as new biomedical models lend themselves very well to laboratory studies of aging, including small birds, bats, and mole-rats.


Antiviral Agents in Development for Zika Virus Infections.
In 1947, Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus was identified in Uganda and subsequently spread to Asia and the Pacific regions. In 2015, it was introduced in Brazil causing an important social and sanitary alarm due to its increased virulence and rapid dissemination. Importantly, ZIKV infections have been associated with severe neurological complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly in fetuses and newborns. Although enormous efforts were made by investigators in the development of effective countermeasures against ZIKV, there is still no approved specific antiviral drug for the treatment of ZIKV infections. Herein, we review several anti ZIKV candidates including drugs targeting both the virus (structural proteins and enzymes) and cellular elements.


Dietary protein and lactose increase translation initiation factor activation and tissue protein synthesis in neonatal pigs.
Protein synthesis and eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) activation are increased in muscle and liver of pigs parenterally infused with amino acids and insulin. To examine the effects of enteral protein and carbohydrate on protein synthesis, pigs (n = 42, 1.7 kg body wt) were fed isocaloric milk diets containing three levels of protein (5, 15, and 25 g x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1)) and two levels of lactose (low = 11 and high = 23 g x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1)) from 1 to 6 days of age. On day 7, pigs were gavage fed after 4-h food deprivation, and tissue protein synthesis rates and biomarkers of mRNA translation were assessed. Piglet growth and protein synthesis rates in muscle and liver increased with dietary protein and plateaued at 15 g x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1) (P < 0.001). Growth tended to be greater in high-lactose-fed pigs (P = 0.07). Plasma insulin was lowest in pigs fed 5 g x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1) protein (P < 0.0001). Plasma branched-chain amino acids increased as protein intake increased (P < 0.0001). Muscle (P < 0.001) and liver (P < or = 0.001) ribosomal protein S6 kinase-1 and eIF4E-binding protein phosphorylation increased with protein intake and plateaued at 15 g x kg body wt(-1) x day(-1). The results indicate that growth and protein synthesis rates in neonatal pigs are influenced by dietary protein and lactose intake and might be mediated by plasma amino acids and insulin levels. However, feeding protein well above the piglet's requirement does not further stimulate the activation of translation initiation or protein synthesis in skeletal muscle and liver.


Chagas disease is not associated with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction at baseline of Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).
Chagas disease (ChD) affects millions of people worldwide, being endemic in Latin America and emerging in the United States and Europe. Classically described as targeting the heart and gastrointestinal tract, Trypanosoma cruzi parasitism leads to structural and pro-inflammatory changes in the adipose tissue and pancreas. The effects of these changes on insulin resistance (IR), beta cell dysfunction, diabetes mellitus (DM),and metabolic syndrome (MS) are unclear. We aim to evaluate the association of ChD with DM, IR, beta cell dysfunction and MS in the baseline of multi-centric cohort study 'Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health' (ELSA-Brasil). This cross-sectional analysis included 14,922 (98%) participants of ELSA-Brasil at baseline. To investigate the associations of ChD with DM, IR (assessed by HOMA-IR) and beta cell dysfunction (assessed by HOMA beta), and MS we fitted logistic regression models including socio-demographic and anthropometric variables, health-related conditions and laboratory results. ChD, defined by positive serology, was prevalent in 1.9% (n = 283) of the sample, 17.3% (n = 49) of whom had cardiomyopathy. DM prevalence was 17.25% (n = 2574) and was not different among those with and without ChD (20.5% vs 17.2%; p = 0.28). Fasting and 2 h-blood glucose after a 75 g anhydrous glucose were slightly higher among participants positive for ChD, when compared with those with negative serology (102 mg/dL versus 100 mg/dL, respectively; and 127 mg/dL versus 124 mg/dL, respectively), only in univariate analysis. There was no significant association between these variables and ChD after adjustments. In addition, there was no significant association between DM, IR, beta cell dysfunction or MS and ChD (without and with cardiomyopathy). Our results showed that ChD, regardless of the presence of cardiomyopathy, is not associated with DM, IR, beta cell dysfunction or MS. These findings suggest the parasitism of the adipose tissue and pancreas in Chagas disease do not translate into clinically relevant glucose abnormalities.


The histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA simultaneously reactivates HIV-1 from latency and up-regulates NKG2D ligands sensitizing for natural killer cell cytotoxicity.
In pilot HIV-1 eradication studies, patients' immune responses were ineffective at killing viral reservoirs reactivated through latency reversing agents (LRAs) like suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA). We hypothesized that T cells harboring reactivated HIV-1 express MIC and ULBP ligands for the activating NKG2D receptor of natural killer (NK) cells. Here, we demonstrated that MICA/B and ULBP2 are induced by SAHA on primary T cells harboring reactivated virus. Using latently HIV-1-infected J-Lat 6.3/8.4/9.2 and J1.1 cell lines, we showed that SAHA reverts latency and, simultaneously, up-regulates MICA/B and ULBP2 acting at the transcriptional level and through ATR activation, thus sensitizing T cells with reactivated virus to NKG2D-mediated killing by NK cells. Moreover, IL-2 and IL-15 potently boosted NKG2D expression and cytotoxicity of NK cells against SAHA-reactivated p24+ target cells. Therefore, immunotherapy with cytokines enhancing NKG2D-mediated NK-cell cytotoxicity combined with administration of LRAs up-modulating NKG2D ligands, represents a promising approach towards HIV-1 eradication.


BCG and Kawasaki disease in Mexico and Japan.
Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki was the first to describe BCG reactivation in Kawasaki Disease (KD), and this sign is present in about 30-50% of KD patients. It is a very specific early sign of the disease and although it has been recognized for decades, its pathophysiology continues to be an enigma. Recently, Yamada et al. reported a severe BCG reaction with tuberculid in 2 Japanese KD patients. We present 2 cases with KD and severe BCG reaction, one from Japan and the other from Mexico and review the policies of administration of BCG in both countries. The BCG vaccine has a worldwide coverage of 88%. Differences in BCG strains and methods of administration may influence BCG reactions in KD. The BCG reaction in the inoculation site may represent the most useful sign in KD.


Expression of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by bipolar, amacrine, and ganglion cells of the rabbit retina.
Cholinergic agents affect the light responses of many ganglion cells (GCs) in the mammalian retina by activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Whereas retinal neurons that express beta2 subunit-containing nAChRs have been characterized in the rabbit retina, expression patterns of other nAChR subtypes remain unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the expression of alpha7 nAChRs in retinal neurons by means of single-, double-, and triple-label immunohistochemistry. Our data demonstrate that, in the rabbit retina, several types of bipolar cells, amacrine cells, and cells in the GC layer express alpha7 nAChRs. At least three different populations of cone bipolar cells exhibited alpha7 labeling, whereas glycine-immunoreactive amacrine cells comprised the majority of alpha7-positive amacrine cells. Some GABAergic amacrine cells also displayed alpha7 immunoreactivity; alpha7 labeling was never detected in rod bipolar cells or rod amacrine cells (AII amacrine cells). Our data suggest that activation of alpha7 nAChRs by acetylcholine (ACh) or choline may affect glutamate release from several types of cone bipolar cells, modulating GC responses. ACh-induced excitation of inhibitory amacrine cells might cause either inhibition or disinhibition of other amacrine and GC circuits. Finally, ACh may act on alpha7 nAChRs expressed by GCs themselves.


Socio-economic re-structuring and employment: the case of minority ethnic groups.
The consequences of major changes in employment, due to the decline of manufacturing and the growth of the service sector, have not been well-documented, nor theorized, in the sociology of ethnic relations, even in recent studies. For example, Blumer's classic argument that economic development adapts to 'race relations', rather than the reverse as predicted by the modernization school, has not been either empirically resolved or conceptually applied to the UK. By adapting data from the Labour Force Survey and the Census, the paper begins to fill this gap with a detailed account of three main minority ethnic groups, and a separate analysis of male and female employment. It is demonstrated that, contrary to assumptions that members of the minority ethnic groups suffered most from de-industrialization, they actually did rather well, and in some cases did better than the majority population. These findings are re-conceptualized as collective social mobility, as part of a review of a number of conceptual frameworks in the light of the data.


Immediate-Early (IE) gene regulation of cytomegalovirus: IE1- and pp71-mediated viral strategies against cellular defenses.
Three crucial hurdles hinder studies on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV): strict species specificity, differences between in vivo and in vitro infection, and the complexity of gene regulation. Ever since the sequencing of the whole genome was first accomplished, functional studies on individual genes have been the mainstream in the CMV field. Gene regulation has therefore been elucidated in a more detailed fashion. However, viral gene regulation is largely controlled by both cellular and viral components. In other words, viral gene expression is determined by the virus-host interaction. Generally, cells respond to viral infection in a defensive pattern; at the same time, viruses try to counteract the cellular defense or else hide in the host (latency). Viruses evolve effective strategies against cellular defense in order to achieve replicative success. Whether or not they are successful, cellular defenses remain in the whole viral replication cycle: entry, immediate-early (IE) gene expression, early gene expression, DNA replication, late gene expression, and viral egress. Many viral strategies against cellular defense, and which occur in the immediate-early time of viral infection, have been documented. In this review, we will summarize the documented biological functions of IE1 and pp71 proteins, especially with regard to how they counteract cellular intrinsic defenses.


Fixing the skin barrier: past, present and future--man and dog compared.
Skin barrier dysfunction exists in both human and canine atopic dermatitis, leading to increased water loss and potentially facilitating allergen penetration and sensitization. Both lipid (e.g. ceramides) and protein (e.g. filaggrin) abnormalities have been described. Some are genetically inherited (e.g. filaggrin mutations are one of the major risk factors in humans) and some are secondary and linked to inflammation. In humans, numerous studies have shown efficacy of emollients and moisturizers in barrier restoration, and this approach has been for years the mainstay of therapy. Recently, this strategy has shown promise as a preventative function. In veterinary medicine, evidence regarding skin barrier impairment is rapidly building. Decreased ceramides and filaggrin (in some subsets of dogs) have been described. Altered metabolism of ceramides has also been proposed. Despite these preliminary data and the availability of products marketed to improve the skin barrier, evidence regarding the clinical benefit of skin repair intervention is still limited. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that topical application of fatty acids and ceramides and systemic administration of fatty acids improve lipid deficiencies in the skin of dogs with atopic dermatitis, but limited clinical evidence exists. Disease remission in humans is paralleled by an improved skin barrier, both with calcineurin inhibitors and glucocorticoids. In veterinary medicine, a preliminary study on ciclosporin and prednisone failed to detect significant improvement of water loss, while successful immunotherapy correlated with an improved skin barrier. Controlled, large studies are needed to address the question of which skin repair approach is clinically most effective and whether this can be used as a preventative strategy.


High-performance liquid chromatography method development and validation for simultaneous determination of five model compounds, antipyrine, metoprolol, ketoprofen, furosemide and phenol red, as a tool for the standardization of rat in situ intestinal permeability studies using timed wavelength detection.
A simple, precise, accurate and rugged reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of five permeability model compounds, viz. antipyrine, metoprolol, ketoprofen, furosemide and phenol red. The method was intended to standardize rat in situ single-pass intestinal perfusion studies to assess the intestinal permeability of drugs in the market as well as new chemical entities. Optimum resolution was achieved by gradient elution on a Symmetry Shield C-18 analytical column with the mobile phase consisting of a mixture of aqueous potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (pH 5.5; 0.01 m) and methanol at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. The retention times of antipyrine, metoprolol, ketoprofen, phenol red and furosemide were about 9, 12, 13, 16 and 17 min, respectively. Data acquisition was carried out using a photo diode array detector in the wavelength range 210-600 nm. Extraction of chromatograms was carried out by timed wavelength. Data obtained in all studies indicated that the method was suitable for the intended purpose. The validated method was found to be linear and precise in the working range. Suitability of storage under various conditions and freeze/thaw impact at cold temperature were established to ensure complete sample recovery without any stability issues. Recovery very close to the spiked amounts indicated that the method was highly accurate and suitable for use on routine basis.


Dominant and nondominant leg press training induce similar contralateral and ipsilateral limb training adaptations with children.
Cross-education has been extensively investigated with adults. Adult studies report asymmetrical cross-education adaptations predominately after dominant limb training. The objective of the study was to examine unilateral leg press (LP) training of the dominant or nondominant leg on contralateral and ipsilateral strength and balance measures. Forty-two youth (10-13 years) were placed (random allocation) into a dominant (n = 15) or nondominant (n = 14) leg press training group or nontraining control (n = 13). Experimental groups trained 3 times per week for 8 weeks and were tested pre-/post-training for ipsilateral and contralateral 1-repetition maximum (RM) horizontal LP, maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of knee extensors (KE) and flexors (KF), countermovement jump (CMJ), triple hop test (THT), MVIC strength of elbow flexors (EF) and handgrip, as well as the stork and Y balance tests. Both dominant and nondominant LP training significantly (p < 0.05) increased both ipsilateral and contralateral lower body strength (LP 1RM (dominant: 59.6%-81.8%; nondominant: 59.5%-96.3%), KE MVIC (dominant: 12.4%-18.3%; nondominant: 8.6%-18.6%), KF MVIC (dominant: 7.9%-22.3%; nondominant: nonsignificant-3.8%), and power (CMJ: dominant: 11.1%-18.1%; nondominant: 7.7%-16.6%)). The exception was that nondominant LP training demonstrated a nonsignificant change with the contralateral KF MVIC. Other significant improvements were with nondominant LP training on ipsilateral EF 1RM (6.2%) and THT (9.6%). There were no significant changes with EF and handgrip MVIC. The contralateral leg stork balance test was impaired following dominant LP training. KF MVIC exhibited the only significant relative post-training to pretraining (post-test/pre-test) ratio differences between dominant versus nondominant LP cross-education training effects. In conclusion, children exhibit symmetrical cross-education or global training adaptations with unilateral training of dominant or nondominant upper leg.


[The topography of the skull and brain of the goat].
This study, based on three goats, provides a radiographic projection of a median section of the brain and the skull. The method allows a topographic correlation of brain structures with the skull and surrounding osseous structures. A standard skull position, with the basic horizontal plane passing through the external acoustic meatus, and parallel to the floor of the skull, results in a method of localizing brain structures in specific transverse planes. This stereotaxic method allows investigators to account for variability in topography between animals in the localization of brain structures through external morphology.


Medications for Multiple Sclerosis and Risk of Malignancy: What Next?
Many autoimmune diseases confer a higher risk of cancer on patients compared to the general population. A controversial factor tying autoimmune diseases to malignancy is harm from immunosuppressive treatment. Nonetheless, multiple sclerosis is different from other autoimmune diseases, and findings from other disease populations may not apply. In this issue of Neurotherapeutics, Dolladile and colleagues from France present new evidence about the risks of cancers in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with disease-modifying therapies based on analyses of spontaneous reporting data. This commentary discusses the context, limitations, and implications of these findings.


An exploration of health beliefs, lifestyle behaviours, and health needs of the London-based Greek Cypriot community.
This article reports selected results of the qualitative phase of a multimethod study into an investigation of the health beliefs, lifestyle behaviours, and health status of Greek Cypriots living in London. Data for this phase, which involved 79 informants, were collected through group and individual semistructured interviews. Six major themes were identified. These detail the informants' health and illness beliefs and use of folk remedies. The importance of the family as both a force for health and a cause for health problems is discussed. The informants' experiences as health users are also reported. The article concludes that culture is an important mediator for the health of this ethnic group. Culturally competent care depends on the nurses' understanding of the cultural background of their patients. The article recommends that nurses must be aware of the importance of societal and institutional structures that may discriminate against people from minority ethnic groups.


Daurisoline Inhibiting Tumor Angiogenesis and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Bladder Cancer by Mediating HAKAI Protein Stability.
Daurisoline can suppress the development of liver and lung cancers, but its effect on bladder cancer has not been investigated. This study probed into the mechanism underlying the effects of daurisoline on angiogenesis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in bladder cancer. Tissue samples were taken from 40 patients with bladder cancer to analyze the expression of HAKAI and the relationship between HAKAI expression and patient survival. After the gain of function of HAKAI and/or treatment with daurisoline or heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor geldanamycin, bladder cancer cells were collected for western blot detection of EMT-related proteins and transwell invasion assay. Tube formation assay assessed the angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cultured in a conditioned medium of bladder cancer cells. The relationships between daurisoline, HSP90, HAKAI, and E-cadherin (E-cad) were analyzed using drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) assay and co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) method. The effect and action mechanism of daurisoline were validated in nude mice. HAKAI was up-regulated 1.26-fold in bladder cancer tissues (P = 0.004) and correlated with poor prognosis. Daurisoline or geldanamycin inhibited EMT of bladder cancer cells and HUVEC angiogenesis. HAKAI overexpression reversed the suppression by daurisoline or geldanamycin. HAKAI was a client protein of HSP90, which could be directly targeted by daurisoline. HAKAI could target E-cad. Daurisoline also counteracted the promotive effects of overexpressed HAKAI on bladder carcinoma growth in nude mice. Daurisoline suppresses EMT and angiogenesis in bladder cancer by targeting HSP90 and disrupting the stability of HAKAI protein to up-regulate the expression of E-cad.


[Genotyping of spotted tick fever rickettsiae, detected in Russia and Kazakhstan].
R. slovaca was first detected in the ticks D. marginatus gathered in the Stavropol Territory and the Voronezh Region (European Russia). The recently discovered rickettsial genotype DnS14 was first found in the ticks D. silvarum from Buryatia and D. niveus from the Karaganda Region (Central Kazakhstan). The rickettsial genotype RpA4 was most common in the ticks of the genus Dermacentor in Russia and Central Kazakhstan. An analysis of the spread of rickettsias of the STF group shows their close ecological relation to definite types of Ixodes. The rickettsias R. slovaca and RpA4 co-exist in the ticks D. marginatus and D. reticulatus (the western part of a Dermacentor area in Eurasia) and DnS14 and R. sibirica do in D. nuttalli and D. silvarum (the eastern part of the area). D. marginatus and D. reticulatus in the areas characterized by the most specific saturation of a Dermacentor area (the south of West Siberia) are carriers and reservoir of R. sibirica. The rickettsial genotype DnS28 may be now considered to be environmentally associated with one species of ticks--D. nuttalli. At least 6 genotypes of STF rickettsias--R. sibirica, R. astrahan fever (R. conorii), R. slovaca, RpA4, DnS14, DnS28--has been currently identified in Russia and Kazakhstan.


The relationship between reading beauty and fashion magazines and the use of pathogenic dieting methods among adolescent females.
This study examined the relationship between reading women's beauty and fashion magazines and the use of pathogenic dieting methods (laxatives, appetite suppressants/diet pills, skipping two meals a day, intentional vomiting, and restricting calories to 1,200 or less each day) among 502 high school females. Weak to moderate positive associations were found between reading frequency and each of these unhealthful practices except the use of laxatives. When controlling for anxiety about weight and frequency of regular exercise, however, the original bivariate relations between reading frequency and skipping two meals a day, and reading and intentional vomiting, disappeared. Replication and weak specification effects were found when examining the relationships between reading and taking appetite suppressant/weight control pills, and reading and restricting calories, under the control conditions. These findings suggest that two of the most common adolescent dieting methods--restricting calories and taking diet pills--appear to be influenced by the reading of women's beauty and fashion magazines.


Efficacy Evaluation of an Inactivated Duck Tembusu Virus Vaccine.
To evaluate the potential use of an inactivated virus-based vaccine for the control and prevention of the newly emerged duck Tembusu virus infection in China, a duck Tembusu virus isolate, Tembusu-HB, was propagated in 12-day-old duck embryos and inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde. The inactivated viral antigen was emulsified with mineral oil, and five batches of the vaccine were manufactured. The immunogenicity and protection efficacy of the vaccine were evaluated in Beijing ducks and Beijing white geese. Results showed that more than 80% of immunized ducks were protected against virulent virus challenge after two intramuscular or subcutaneous injections of the inactivated vaccine, as evidenced by the negative virus isolation results. The protection is also correlated with a positive virus-specific antibody response as detected by ELISA. In contrast, none of the control ducks and geese had any detectable antibody response. Virus was isolated from all control ducks and geese after virulent virus challenge. Interestingly, a variable level of protection (20%-80%) was observed in Beijing white geese immunized twice with the same batches of vaccine, suggesting a species-specific effect of the vaccine. Overall, the results clearly suggest that the inactivated duck Tembusu virus vaccine is immunogenic and provides protection against virulent virus challenge.


Tanshinones and mental diseases: from chemistry to medicine.
The prevalence of mental diseases, especially neurodegenerative disorders, is ever-increasing, while treatment options for such disorders are limited and insufficient. In this scarcity of available medication, it is a feasible strategy to search for potential drugs among natural compounds, such as those found in plants. One such plant source is the root of Chinese sage, Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Labiatae), which contains several compounds reported to possess neuroprotective activities. The most important of these compounds are tanshinones, which have been reported to possess ameliorative activity against a myriad of mental diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, and glioma, along with promoting neuronal differentiation and manifesting antinociceptive and anticonvulsant outcomes. This review offers a critical evaluation of the utility of tanshinones to treat mental illnesses, and sheds light on the underlying mechanisms through which these naturally occurring compounds confer neuroprotection.


Creation of two-dimensional layered Zintl phase by dimensional manipulation of crystal structure.
The discovery of new families, beyond graphene, of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials has always attracted great attention. However, it has been challenging to artificially develop layered materials with honeycomb atomic lattice structure composed of multicomponents such as hexagonal boron nitride. Here, through the dimensional manipulation of a crystal structure from sp3-hybridized 3D-ZnSb, we create an unprecedented layered structure of Zintl phase, which is constructed by the staking of sp2-hybridized honeycomb ZnSb layers. Using structural analysis combined with theoretical calculation, it is found that the 2D-ZnSb has a stable and robust layered structure. The bidimensional polymorphism is a previously unobserved phenomenon at ambient pressure in Zintl families and can be a common feature of transition metal pnictides. This dimensional manipulation of a crystal structure thus provides a rational design strategy to search for new 2D layered materials in various compounds, enabling unlimited expansion of 2D libraries and corresponding physical properties.


Correlation of prefrontal cortical activation with changing vehicle speeds in actual driving: a vector-based functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.
Traffic accidents occur more frequently during deceleration than during acceleration. However, little is known about the relationship between brain activation and vehicle acceleration because it has been difficult to measure the brain activation of drivers while they drive. In this study, we measured brain activation during actual driving using vector-based functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Subjects decelerated from 100 to 50 km/h (speed reduction task) and accelerated from 50 to 100 km/h (speed increase task) while driving on an expressway, in the daytime and at night. We examined correlations between average vehicle acceleration in each task and five hemodynamic indices: changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (ΔoxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (ΔdeoxyHb), cerebral blood volume (ΔCBV), and cerebral oxygen exchange (ΔCOE); and the phase angle k (degrees) derived from the other hemoglobin (Hb) indices. ΔoxyHb and ΔCBV reflect changes in cerebral blood flow, whereas ΔdeoxyHb, ΔCOE, and k are related to variations in cerebral oxygen metabolism. Most of the resulting correlations with specific brain sites, for all the indices, appeared during deceleration rather than during acceleration. Faster deceleration resulted in greater increases in ΔdeoxyHb, ΔCOE, and k in the prefrontal cortex (r < -0.5, p < 0.01), in particular, in the frontal eye field, and at night, it also resulted in greater decreases in ΔoxyHb and ΔCBV in the prefrontal cortex and in the parietal lobe (r > 0.4, p < 0.01), suggesting oxygen metabolism associated with transient ischemic changes. Our results suggest that vehicle deceleration requires more brain activation, focused in the prefrontal cortex, than does acceleration. From the standpoint of the indices used, we found that simultaneous analysis of multiple hemodynamic indices was able to detect not only the blood flow components of hemodynamic responses, but also more localized frontal lobe activation involving oxygen metabolism.


Sonographic features of atypical and initially missed parathyroid adenomas: Lessons learned from a single center cohort.
Awareness of typical and atypical ultrasonographic (US) features of parathyroid adenomas (PAs) is crucial since it is most widely used first line imaging modality. The purpose of this study was to describe the atypical features of PAs on US and other possible factors leading a false negative exam in a large single center cohort. The US records of 457 PAs in 445 patients with biochemically proven primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) were evaluated in a prospectively maintained database. Atypical size, composition, shape, echogenicity, location, and vascular pattern on US were noted. For patients who has at least one negative US exam in referring centers previously, main possible reason was defined accordingly. The study group included 359 female and 86 male with PHPT. Typical sonographic features were observed together in 231 PAs (51%), whereas 226 (49%) had at least one atypical US feature. The most common atypical features were atypical size (29%), followed by atypical echogenicity (19%), shape (8%), location (7%) and composition (7%), respectively. There were 122 initially missed PAs in all group. The most frequent main atypical US features leading false negative exam were atypical size (22.1%) and, atypical location (18.8%). Inexperience was third most common reason (16.3%) for false negative US exams. Almost half of PAs have at least one atypical feature on US. Awareness of high prevalence of atypical US features could increase the accuracy of US exam and potentially decrease demand for more expensive second line imaging modalities.


Erratum.
The last sentence of the report "Crassulacean acid metabolism in the strangler Clusia rosea Jacq." (6 Sept., p. 969) was incorrectly printed. It should have read, "The 1985 expedition was led by I. P. Ting and J. Hann, with L. Blose, R. E. Bonning, J. C. Broyles, D. W. Stewart, and J. A. Zabilski as participants."


Clinical proof-of-concept study with MSDC-0160, a prototype mTOT-modulating insulin sensitizer.
It may be possible to achieve insulin sensitivity through the recently identified mitochondrial target of thiazolidinediones (mTOT), thereby avoiding peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ)-dependent side effects. In this phase IIb clinical trial, 258 patients with type 2 diabetes completed a 12-week protocol with 50, 100, or 150 mg of MSDC-0160 (an mTOT modulator), 45 mg pioglitazone HCl (a PPAR-γ agonist), or a placebo. The two active treatments lowered fasting glucose levels to the same extent. The decreases in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) observed with the two higher doses of MSDC-0160 were not different from those associated with pioglitazone. By contrast, fluid retention as evidenced by reduction in hematocrit, red blood cells, and total hemoglobin was 50% less in the MSDC-0160-treated groups. There was also a smaller increase in high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin with MSDC-0160 than with pioglitazone (P < 0.0001), suggesting that MSDC-0160 produces less expansion of white adipose tissue. Thus, mTOT modulators may have glucose-lowering effects similar to those of pioglitazone but without the adverse effects associated with PPAR-γ agonists.