Association of mitofusin 2 methylation and essential hypertension: a case-control study in a Chinese population.

PubMed

Jin, Fei; Li, Xiao; Wang, Zuoguang; Liu, Ya; Liu, Jielin; Sun, Dongdong; Jin, Yongxin; Wang, Shiqi; Wen, Shaojun; Wei, Yongxiang

2018-06-07

Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2), a gene that negatively regulates the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), is expressed at low levels in the VSMCs of hypertensive patients. DNA methylation can inhibit gene expression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Mfn2 methylation and essential hypertension (EH). After bioinformatics analysis, five EH patients and five normal control (NC) subjects were selected for methylation chip screening. Then, bisulfite DNA sequencing was used to analyze the methylation status of differentially methylated fragments of Mfn2 in 40 EH patients and 36 NC subjects. Mfn2 mRNA expression in the blood was detected by RT-qPCR. There were three CpG islands in the full length Mfn2 DNA sequence and some transcription factor binding sites in these regions, including Sp1, Ap2, GATA box, NF-κB, etc. The chip screening showed that only the third CpG island had a significantly high degree of methylation. Subsequent verification experiments found that the EH group had a significantly lower C base rate of methylation than the NC group (2.5% vs. 44.44%, P < 0.0001), but a similar CpG methylation rate (P > 0.05). RT-qPCR detection showed that the level of Mfn2 mRNA expression was significantly lower in the EH group than in the NC group (P = 0.013). Further association analysis showed that the level of Mfn2 methylation was associated with systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.902, r = -0.713, respectively) but not the other indexes. The DNA methylation level of Mfn2 was significantly lower in hypertensive patients than in control subjects, which may be an independent risk factor for EH.

Polysomnographic study of nocturnal sleep in idiopathic hypersomnia without long sleep time.

PubMed

Pizza, Fabio; Ferri, Raffaele; Poli, Francesca; Vandi, Stefano; Cosentino, Filomena I I; Plazzi, Giuseppe

2013-04-01

We investigated nocturnal sleep abnormalities in 19 patients with idiopathic hypersomnia without long sleep time (IH) in comparison with two age- and sex- matched control groups of 13 normal subjects (C) and of 17 patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC), the latter considered as the extreme of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Sleep macro- and micro- (i.e. cyclic alternating pattern, CAP) structure as well as quantitative analysis of EEG, of periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), and of muscle tone during REM sleep were compared across groups. IH and NC patients slept more than C subjects, but IH showed the highest levels of sleep fragmentation (e.g. awakenings), associated with a CAP rate higher than NC during lighter sleep stages and lower than C during slow wave sleep respectively, and with the highest relative amount of A3 and the lowest of A1 subtypes. IH showed a delta power in between C and NC groups, whereas muscle tone and PLMS had normal characteristics. A peculiar profile of microstructural sleep abnormalities may contribute to sleep fragmentation and, possibly, EDS in IH. © 2012 European Sleep Research Society.

Delayed audiovisual integration of patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease compared with normal aged controls.

PubMed

Wu, Jinglong; Yang, Jiajia; Yu, Yinghua; Li, Qi; Nakamura, Naoya; Shen, Yong; Ohta, Yasuyuki; Yu, Shengyuan; Abe, Koji

2012-01-01

The human brain can anatomically combine task-relevant information from different sensory pathways to form a unified perception; this process is called multisensory integration. The aim of the present study was to test whether the multisensory integration abilities of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) differed from those of normal aged controls (NC). A total of 64 subjects were divided into three groups: NC individuals (n = 24), MCI patients (n = 19), and probable AD patients (n = 21). All of the subjects were asked to perform three separate audiovisual integration tasks and were instructed to press the response key associated with the auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli in the three tasks. The accuracy and response time (RT) of each task were measured, and the RTs were analyzed using cumulative distribution functions to observe the audiovisual integration. Our results suggest that the mean RT of patients with AD was significantly longer than those of patients with MCI and NC individuals. Interestingly, we found that patients with both MCI and AD exhibited adequate audiovisual integration, and a greater peak (time bin with the highest percentage of benefit) and broader temporal window (time duration of benefit) of multisensory enhancement were observed. However, the onset time and peak benefit of audiovisual integration in MCI and AD patients occurred significantly later than did those of the NC. This finding indicates that the cognitive functional deficits of patients with MCI and AD contribute to the differences in performance enhancements of audiovisual integration compared with NC.

Delayed Audiovisual Integration of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease Compared with Normal Aged Controls

PubMed Central

Wu, Jinglong; Yang, Jiajia; Yu, Yinghua; Li, Qi; Nakamura, Naoya; Shen, Yong; Ohta, Yasuyuki; Yu, Shengyuan; Abe, Koji

2013-01-01

The human brain can anatomically combine task-relevant information from different sensory pathways to form a unified perception; this process is called multisensory integration. The aim of the present study was to test whether the multisensory integration abilities of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) differed from those of normal aged controls (NC). A total of 64 subjects were divided into three groups: NC individuals (n = 24), MCI patients (n = 19), and probable AD patients (n = 21). All of the subjects were asked to perform three separate audiovisual integration tasks and were instructed to press the response key associated with the auditory, visual, or audiovisual stimuli in the three tasks. The accuracy and response time (RT) of each task were measured, and the RTs were analyzed using cumulative distribution functions to observe the audiovisual integration. Our results suggest that the mean RT of patients with AD was significantly longer than those of patients with MCI and NC individuals. Interestingly, we found that patients with both MCI and AD exhibited adequate audiovisual integration, and a greater peak (time bin with the highest percentage of benefit) and broader temporal window (time duration of benefit) of multisensory enhancement were observed. However, the onset time and peak benefit of audiovisual integration in MCI and AD patients occurred significantly later than did those of the NC. This finding indicates that the cognitive functional deficits of patients with MCI and AD contribute to the differences in performance enhancements of audiovisual integration compared with NC. PMID:22810093

Momentum-based morphometric analysis with application to Parkinson's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jingyun; Khan, Ali R.; McKeown, Martin J.; Beg, Mirza F.

2011-03-01

We apply the initial momentum shape representation of diffeomorphic metric mapping from a template region of interest (ROI) to a given ROI as a morphometic marker in Parkinson's disease. We used a three-step segmentation-registrationmomentum process to derive feature vectors from ROIs in a group of 42 subjects consisting of 19 Parkinson's Disease (PD) subjects and 23 normal control (NC) subjects. Significant group differences between PD and NC subjects were detected in four basal ganglia structures including the caudate, putamen, thalamus and globus pallidus. The magnitude of regionally significant between-group differences detected ranged between 34-75%. Visualization of the different structural deformation pattern between-groups revealed that some parts of basal ganglia structure actually hypertrophy, presumably as a compensatory response to more widespread atrophy. Our results of both hypertrophy and atrophy in the same structures further demonstrate the importance of morphological measures as opposed to overall volume in the assessment of neurodegenerative disease.

Alteration of Cyclic-AMP Response Element Binding Protein in the Postmortem Brain of Subjects with Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Ren, Xinguo; Rizavi, Hooriyah S.; Khan, Mansoor A.; Bhaumik, Runa; Dwivedi, Yogesh; Pandey, Ghanshyam N.

2013-01-01

Background Abnormalities of cyclic-AMP (cAMP) response element binding protein (CREB) function has been suggested in bipolar (BP) illness and schizophrenia (SZ), based on both indirect and direct evidence. To further elucidate the role of CREB in these disorders, we studied CREB expression and function in two brain areas implicated in these disorders, i.e., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and cingulate gyrus (CG). Methods We determined CREB protein expression using Western blot technique, CRE-DNA binding using gel shift assay, and mRNA expression using real-time RT-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in DLPFC and CG of the postmortem brain of BP (n = 19), SZ (n = 20), and normal control (NC, n = 20) subjects. Results We observed that CREB protein and mRNA expression and CRE-DNA binding activity were significantly decreased in the nuclear fraction of DLPFC and CG obtained from BP subjects compared with NC subjects. However, the protein and mRNA expression and CRE-DNA binding in SZ subjects was significantly decreased in CG, but not in DLPFC, compared with NC. Conclusion These studies thus indicate region-specific abnormalities of CREB expression and function in both BP and SZ. They suggest that abnormalities of CREB in CG may be associated with both BP and SZ, but its abnormality in DLPFC is specific to BP illness. PMID:24148789

Neck Circumference in Overweight/Obese Subjects who Visited the Binjai Supermall in Indonesia

PubMed Central

Lindarto, Dharma; Shierly; Syafril, Santi

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Neck circumference (NC) is a simple screening measure for identifying overweight and obesity, it reflects upper-body fat distribution and central obesity. AIM: To determine whether a single measure of NC might be used to identify overweight/obesity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, analytical, cross-sectional study was done. The subjects consisted of all consecutive subjects who visited Binjai Supermall (North Sumatera Province, Indonesia) between 23rd and 29th September 2015 and agreed to participate in the study. NC, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Overweight and obesity were defined as BMIs of 23.0–24.9 and ≥ 25 kg/m2, respectively. RESULTS: In total, 1554 subjects participated. Of these, 1238 (79.7%) were overweight/obese. NC correlated significantly with weight, height, BMI, and WC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that for all men and women, the area under the curve of overweight/obesity for NC was 0.83 and 0.79, respectively. The best NC cutoff points for males and females that indicated overweight/obesity were ≥ 37 cm (sensitivity, 78.3% and specificity, 75.5%) and ≥ 33.5 cm (sensitivity, 76.6% and specificity, 66.7%), respectively. CONCLUSION: The NC cutoffs that were identified may be useful for screening for overweight/obesity and related co-morbidities. PMID:27703549

Adult psychosocial outcome of prepubertal major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Geller, B; Zimerman, B; Williams, M; Bolhofner, K; Craney, J L

2001-06-01

To compare adult psychosocial functioning (PSF) of subjects with prepubertal major depressive disorder (PMDD) to a normal comparison (NC) group. PSF of subjects with PMDD (n = 72) and of NC subjects (n = 28) was compared after prospective follow-up to adulthood. These 100 subjects were 90.9% of the baseline 110 subjects who participated in the "Nortriptyline in Childhood Depression: Follow-up Study." Research nurses who were blind to group status conducted telephone interviews using the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation (LIFE) to obtain PSF data. At follow-up, the PMDD group was 20.7+/-2.0 and the NC subjects were 20.9+/-2.2 years old. The PMDD subjects were 10.3+/-1.5 years old at baseline. Time between baseline and follow-up was 9.9+/-1.5 years. In the PMDD group, subjects with MDD, bipolar disorder, or substance use disorders during the previous 5 years had significantly worse PSF than NC subjects. These PSF impairments included significantly worse relationships with parents, siblings, and friends; significantly worse functioning in household, school, and work settings; and worse overall quality of life and global social adjustment. Although combined treatments for PMDD have little scientific basis, multimodality regimens seem prudent until definitive treatment data become available.

Multiple sleep latency measures in narcolepsy and behaviourally induced insufficient sleep syndrome.

PubMed

Marti, Isabelle; Valko, Philipp O; Khatami, Ramin; Bassetti, Claudio L; Baumann, Christian R

2009-12-01

Short mean latencies to the first epoch of non-rapid eye movement sleep stage 1 (NREM1) and the presence of >or= 2 sleep onset REM (SOREM) periods on multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) occur in both narcolepsy-cataplexy (NC) and behaviourally induced insufficient sleep syndrome (BIISS). It is not known whether specific MSLT findings help differentiate the two disorders. We analyzed MSLT data including sleep latencies to and between different sleep stages of 60 age-, gender- and body mass index (BMI)-matched subjects (hypocretin-deficient NC, actigraphy-confirmed BIISS, healthy controls: each 20). Mean latency (in minutes) to NREM1 sleep was significantly shorter in NC (1.8+/-1.5) than in BIISS (4.7+/-2.1, p<0.001) and controls (11.4+/-3.3, p<0.001). Mean latency to NREM2 sleep was similar in NC (8.6+/-4.7) and BIISS (8.1+/-2.7, p=0.64); latency to either NREM2 or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (i.e., the sum of the sleep latency to NREM1 and the duration of the first NREM1 sleep sequence), however, was shorter in NC (4.4+/-2.9) than in BIISS (7.9+/-3.5, p<0.001). Referring to all naps with SOREM periods, the sequence NREM1-REM-NREM2 was more common (71%) in NC than in BIISS (15%, p<0.001), reflecting the shorter latency from NREM1 to NREM2 in BIISS (3.7+/-2.5) than in NC (6.1+/-5.9, p<0.001). Our findings show that both sleepiness (as measured by NREM1 sleep latency) and REM sleep propensity are higher in NC than in BIISS. Furthermore, our finding of frequent REM sleep prior to NREM2 sleep in NC is in line with the recent assumption of an insufficient NREM sleep intensity in NC. Together with detailed clinical interviews, sleep logs, actigraphy, and nocturnal polysomnography, mean sleep latencies to NREM1

Comparison of Feature Selection Techniques in Machine Learning for Anatomical Brain MRI in Dementia.

PubMed

Tohka, Jussi; Moradi, Elaheh; Huttunen, Heikki

2016-07-01

We present a comparative split-half resampling analysis of various data driven feature selection and classification methods for the whole brain voxel-based classification analysis of anatomical magnetic resonance images. We compared support vector machines (SVMs), with or without filter based feature selection, several embedded feature selection methods and stability selection. While comparisons of the accuracy of various classification methods have been reported previously, the variability of the out-of-training sample classification accuracy and the set of selected features due to independent training and test sets have not been previously addressed in a brain imaging context. We studied two classification problems: 1) Alzheimer's disease (AD) vs. normal control (NC) and 2) mild cognitive impairment (MCI) vs. NC classification. In AD vs. NC classification, the variability in the test accuracy due to the subject sample did not vary between different methods and exceeded the variability due to different classifiers. In MCI vs. NC classification, particularly with a large training set, embedded feature selection methods outperformed SVM-based ones with the difference in the test accuracy exceeding the test accuracy variability due to the subject sample. The filter and embedded methods produced divergent feature patterns for MCI vs. NC classification that suggests the utility of the embedded feature selection for this problem when linked with the good generalization performance. The stability of the feature sets was strongly correlated with the number of features selected, weakly correlated with the stability of classification accuracy, and uncorrelated with the average classification accuracy.

Childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy: comparison between post-H1N1 vaccination and sporadic cases.

PubMed

Pizza, Fabio; Peltola, Hanna; Sarkanen, Tomi; Moghadam, Keivan K; Plazzi, Giuseppe; Partinen, Markku

2014-02-01

We aimed to compare post-Pandemrix vaccination (postvaccine) childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) vs. sporadic pre-H1N1 pandemic (pre-H1N1) cases. Clinical, anthropometric, polysomnographic, and cerebrospinal hypocretin 1 (hcrt-1) measurements were collected together with the video recordings of cataplexy in 27 Finnish patients with NC onset after H1N1 Pandemrix vaccination (mean age, 12±4 years; 52% boys) and 42 Italian NC patients with NC onset before the H1N1 pandemic (mean age, 11±3 years; 48% boys). All subjects carried the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele. Postvaccine subjects were older at NC onset (12±3 vs. 9±3 years; P=.008) and displayed a shorter mean sleep latency in multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT) (2.3±2.2 vs. 3.7±2.9 min; P=.026) compared to pre-H1N1 cases. Anthropometric, clinical (core NC symptoms), hcrt-1 deficiency, and polysomnographic data did not differ among groups, but higher disrupted nocturnal sleep was observed in postvaccine subjects. Comparison of cataplexy features at video assessment showed an overlapping picture with the exception for hyperkinetic movements which appeared to be more evident in pre-H1N1 subjects. The clinical picture of childhood NC was similar in postvaccine and pre-H1N1 children. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Expression of Mas-related gene X2 on mast cells is upregulated in the skin of patients with severe chronic urticaria.

PubMed

Fujisawa, Daisuke; Kashiwakura, Jun-Ichi; Kita, Hirohito; Kikukawa, Yusuke; Fujitani, Yasushi; Sasaki-Sakamoto, Tomomi; Kuroda, Kazumichi; Nunomura, Satoshi; Hayama, Koremasa; Terui, Tadashi; Ra, Chisei; Okayama, Yoshimichi

2014-09-01

Wheal reactions to intradermally injected neuropeptides, such as substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide, are significantly larger and longer lasting in patients with chronic urticaria (CU) than in nonatopic control (NC) subjects. Mas-related gene X2 (MrgX2) has been identified as a receptor for basic neuropeptides, such as SP and vasoactive intestinal peptide. Mast cell (MC) responsiveness to eosinophil mediators contributes to the late-phase reaction of allergy. We sought to compare the frequency of MrgX2 expression in skin MCs from patients with CU and NC subjects and to identify the receptor for basic eosinophil granule proteins on human skin MCs. MrgX2 expression was investigated by using immunofluorescence in skin tissues from NC subjects and patients with severe CU and on skin-derived cultured MCs. MrgX2 expression in human MCs was reduced by using a lentiviral small hairpin RNA silencing technique. Ca(2+) influx was measured in CHO cells transfected with MrgX2 in response to eosinophil granule proteins. Histamine and prostaglandin D2 levels were measured by using enzyme immunoassays. The number of MrgX2(+) skin MCs and the percentage of MrgX2(+) MCs in all MCs in patients with CU were significantly greater than those in NC subjects. Eosinophil infiltration in urticarial lesions was observed in 7 of 9 patients with CU. SP, major basic protein, and eosinophil peroxidase, but not eosinophil-derived neurotoxin, induced histamine release from human skin MCs through MrgX2. MrgX2 might be a new target molecule for the treatment of wheal reactions in patients with severe CU. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detection of respiratory allergies caused by environmental chemical allergen via measures of hyper-activation and degranulation of mast cells in lungs of NC/Nga mice.

PubMed

Nishino, Risako; Fukuyama, Tomoki; Watanabe, Yuko; Kurosawa, Yoshimi; Koasaka, Tadashi; Harada, Takanori

2016-09-01

Respiratory allergy triggered by exposure to environmental chemical allergen is a serious problem in many Asian countries and has the potential to cause severe health problems. Here, we aimed to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms of this disease and develop an in vivo detection method for respiratory allergy induced by environmental chemical allergen. Both BALB/c and NC/Nga mice were sensitized topically for 3 weeks and were then subjected to inhalation challenge with pulverized trimellitic anhydride into particles measuring 2-μm in diameter. On the day after the final challenge, all mice were sacrificed, and IgE levels, immunocyte counts, and cytokine levels in the serum, hilar lymph nodes, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured. We also monitored the expression of genes encoding pro-inflammatory cytokines in the lung. We found that all endpoints were significantly increased in mice of both strains subjected to trimellitic anhydride inhalation as compared with the respective control groups. However, worsening of respiratory status was noted only in NC/Nga mice. Interestingly, type 2 helper T-cell reactions were significantly increased in BALB/c mice compared with that in NC/Nga mice. In contrast, the number of mast cells, levels of mast cell-related cytokine/chemokines, and production of histamine in NC/Nga mice were significantly higher than those in BALB/c mice. Thus, environmental chemical allergen induced respiratory allergy in NC/Nga mice in terms of functional and inflammatory symptoms. Furthermore, mast cells may be involved in the aggravation of airway allergic symptoms induced by environmental chemical allergens.

Plasma melatonin circadian rhythms during the menstrual cycle and after light therapy in premenstrual dysphoric disorder and normal control subjects.

PubMed

Parry, B L; Berga, S L; Mostofi, N; Klauber, M R; Resnick, A

1997-02-01

The aim of this study was to replicate and extend previous work in which the authors observed lower, shorter, and advanced nocturnal melatonin secretion patterns in premenstrually depressed patients compared to those in healthy control women. The authors also sought to test the hypothesis that the therapeutic effect of bright light in patients was associated with corrective effects on the phase, duration, and amplitude of melatonin rhythms. In 21 subjects with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and 11 normal control (NC) subjects, the authors measured the circadian profile of melatonin during follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases and after 1 week of light therapy administered daily, in a randomized crossover design. During three separate luteal phases, the treatments were either (1) bright (> 2,500 lux) white morning (AM; 06:30 to 08:30 h), (2) bright white evening (PM; 19:00 to 21:00 h), or (3) dim (< 10 lux) red evening light (RED). In PMDD subjects, during the luteal phase compared to the follicular menstrual cycle phase, melatonin onset time was delayed, duration was compressed, and area under the curve, amplitude, and mean levels were decreased. In NC subjects, melatonin rhythms did not change significantly during the menstrual cycle. After AM light in PMDD subjects, onset and offset times were advanced and both duration and midpoint concentration were decreased as compared to RED light. After PM light in PMDD subjects, onset and offset times were delayed, midpoint concentration was increased, and duration was decreased as compared to RED light. By contrast, after light therapy in NC subjects, duration did not change; onset, offset, and midpoint concentration changed as they did in PMDD subjects. When the magnitude of advance and delay phase shifts in onset versus offset time with AM, PM, or RED light were compared, the authors found that in PMDD subjects light shifted offset time more than onset time and that AM light had a greater effect on shifting melatonin offset time (measured the following night in RED light), whereas PM light had a greater effect in shifting melatonin onset time. These findings replicate the authors' previous observation that nocturnal melatonin concentrations are decreased in women with PMDD and suggest specific effects of light therapy on melatonin circadian rhythms that are associated with mood changes in patient versus control groups. The differential changes in onset and offset times during the menstrual cycle, and in response to AM and PM bright light compared with RED light, support a two-oscillator (complex) model of melatonin regulation in humans.

Characterizing and Differentiating Brain State Dynamics via Hidden Markov Models

PubMed Central

Ou, Jinli; Xie, Li; Jin, Changfeng; Li, Xiang; Zhu, Dajiang; Jiang, Rongxin; Chen, Yaowu

2014-01-01

Functional connectivity measured from resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) data has been widely used to examine the brain’s functional activities and has been recently used to characterize and differentiate brain conditions. However, the dynamical transition patterns of the brain’s functional states have been less explored. In this work, we propose a novel computational framework to quantitatively characterize the brain state dynamics via hidden Markov models (HMMs) learned from the observations of temporally dynamic functional connectomics, denoted as functional connectome states. The framework has been applied to the R-fMRI dataset including 44 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients and 51 normal control (NC) subjects. Experimental results show that both PTSD and NC brains were undergoing remarkable changes in resting state and mainly transiting amongst a few brain states. Interestingly, further prediction with the best-matched HMM demonstrates that PTSD would enter into, but could not disengage from, a negative mood state. Importantly, 84 % of PTSD patients and 86 % of NC subjects are successfully classified via multiple HMMs using majority voting. PMID:25331991

Distance-informed metric learning for Alzheimer's disease staging.

PubMed

Shi, Bibo; Wang, Zhewei; Liu, Jundong

2014-01-01

Identifying intermediate biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is of great importance for diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. In this study, we develop a new AD staging method to classify patients into Normal Controls (NC), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and AD groups. Our solution employs a novel metric learning technique that improves classification rates through the guidance of some weak supervisory information in AD progression. More specifically, those information are in the form of pairwise constraints that specify the relative Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score disparity of two subjects, depending on whether they are in the same group or not. With the imposed constraints, the common knowledge that MCI generally sits in between of NC and AD can be integrated into the classification distance metric. Subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative cohort (ADNI; 56 AD, 104 MCI, 161 controls) were used to demonstrate the improvements made comparing with two state-of-the-art metric learning solutions: large margin nearest neighbors (LMNN) and relevant component analysis (RCA).

Brain Morphology and Cerebrovascular Risk in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: SCOBHI-P study

PubMed Central

He, Jing; Iosif, Ana-Maria; Lee, Dong Young; Martinez, Oliver; Ding, Ding; Carmichael, Owen; Mortimer, James A.; Zhao, Qianhua; Chu, Shugang; Guo, Qihao; Galasko, Douglas; Salmon, David; Dai, Qi; Wu, Yougui; Petersen, Ron; Hong, Zhen; Borenstein, Amy R.; DeCarli, Charles

2010-01-01

Objective To investigate associations between MRI brain morphology, cerebrovascular risk (VR), clinical diagnosis and cognition among elders living in urban Shanghai. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Memory Disorders Clinic and community normal control (NC) subject recruitment. Participants Ninety-six older subjects, 32 with normal cognition, 30 with amnestic MCI (aMCI) and 34 with dementia. Main outcome measures Each subject received medical history, neurological/physical exams, neuropsychological evaluations, brain MRI and apolipoprotein E-ε4 (APOE -ε4) genotype test. MRI volumes were assessed using a semi-automatic method. Results Brain volume (BV) was significantly smaller in the demented compared with NC (p < 0.001) or aMCI (p = 0.043). Hippocampal volume (HV) was lower, and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMH) was higher, in aMCI (HV: p = 0.028; WMH: p = 0.041) and dementia (HV: p < 0.001; WMH: p = 0.002) compared with NC. APOE -ε4 presence was significantly associated with reduced HV (p = 0.02). Systolic blood pressure was positively associated with VR score (p = 0.037); diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.021) and VR score (p = 0.036) were both positively associated with WMH. WMH (p = 0.029) and VR (p = 0.031) were both higher among the demented than NC. Conclusion MRI brain morphology changes were significantly associated clinical diagnosis, in addition, blood pressure was highly associated with VR score and WMH. These results suggest that MRI is a valuable measure of brain injury in a Chinese cohort and can serve to assess the effects of various degenerative and cerebrovascular pathologies. PMID:20937951

Response perseveration and sensitivity to reward and punishment in boys with oppositional defiant disorder.

PubMed

Matthys, Walter; van Goozen, Stephanie H M; Snoek, Heddeke; van Engeland, Herman

2004-12-01

Response perseveration is the tendency to continue a response set for reward despite punishment. In the present study, response perseveration and sensitivity to reward and punishment were assessed in boys with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The study also examined the relation between punishment sensitivity and autonomic arousal. Nineteen ODD boys (mean age 9.8 years) and 20 normal control boys (NC) (mean age 9.7 years) were administered the door-opening task. In this task, the subject chooses either to open the next door or to stop playing; the opening of doors is initially rewarded and then increasingly punished. ODD boys opened more doors than NC boys. Following punishment, ODD boys took less time than NC boys before opening the next door, but did not differ from NC boys in time after reward. Mean skin conductance level was lower in ODD boys than in NC boys. The correlation coefficient between time after punishment and skin conductance level was moderately positive in the total sample. These results suggest that response perseveration in ODD boys is related to low punishment sensitivity and that skin conductance level is a marker of punishment sensitivity.

Enhancement of in vitro interleukin-2 production in normal subjects following a single spinal manipulative treatment

PubMed Central

Teodorczyk-Injeyan, Julita A; Injeyan, H Stephen; McGregor, Marion; Harris, Glen M; Ruegg, Richard

2008-01-01

Background Increasing evidence supports somato-visceral effects of manual therapies. We have previously demonstrated that a single spinal manipulative treatment (SMT) accompanied by audible release has an inhibitory effect on the production of proinflammatory cytokines in asymptomatic subjects. The purpose of this study is to report on SMT-related changes in the production of the immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin 2 (IL-2) and to investigate whether such changes might differ with respect to the treatment approach related to the presence or absence of an audible release (joint cavitation). Methods Of 76 asymptomatic subjects, 29 received SMT with cavitation (SMT-C), 23 were treated with SMT without cavitation (SMT-NC) and 24 comprised the venipuncture control (VC) group. The SMT-C and SMT-NC subjects received a single, similar force high velocity low amplitude manipulation, in the upper thoracic spine. However, in SMT-NC subjects, positioning and line of drive were not conducive to cavitation. Blood and serum samples were obtained before and then at 20 and 120 min post-intervention. The production of IL-2 in peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures was induced by activation for 48 hr with Staphylococcal protein A (SPA) and, in parallel preparations, with the combination of phorbol ester (TPA) and calcium ionophore. The levels of IL-2 in culture supernatants and serum were assessed by specific immunoassays. Results Compared with VC and their respective baselines, SPA-induced secretion of IL-2 increased significantly in cultures established from both SMT-C and SMT-NC subjects at 20 min post-intervention. At 2 hr post-treatment, significant elevation of IL-2 synthesis was still apparent in preparations from SMT-treated groups though it became somewhat attenuated in SMT-NC subjects. Conversely, IL-2 synthesis induced by TPA and calcium ionophore was unaltered by either type of SMT and was comparable to that in VC group at all time points. No significant alterations in serum-associated IL-2 levels were observed in any of the study groups. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that, the in vitro T lymphocyte response to a conventional mitogen (SPA), as measured by IL-2 synthesis, can become enhanced following SMT. Furthermore, within a period of time following the manipulative intervention, this effect may be independent of joint cavitation. Thus the results of this study suggest that, under certain physiological conditions, SMT might influence IL-2-regulated biological responses. PMID:18507834

Overnight fluid shifts in subjects with and without obstructive sleep apnea

PubMed Central

Ding, Ning; Lin, Wei; Zhang, Xi-Long; Ding, Wen-Xiao; Gu, Bing; Ni, Bu-Qing; Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Shi-Jiang

2014-01-01

Objective To investigate the characteristics of baseline body fluid content and overnight fluid shifts between non-obstructive sleep apnea (non-OSA) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) subjects. Methods A case-controlled study was performed between February 2013 and January 2014, with 36 (18 OSA and 18 non-OSA) outpatients enrolled in this study. Polysomnographic parameters and results of body fluid were compared between the two groups. Results There were no differences in age, weight, and body mass index (BMI) between groups. Compared with the non-OSA group, OSA group had significantly higher neck circumference (NC) and fluid volume shift in the legs. OSA patients had higher left and right leg fluid indices than non-OSA subjects. There were significant correlations between apnoea-hypopnoea index and baseline fluid indices in both legs as well as the reduction in overnight change in both legs fluid volume. The increase in NC was also significantly correlated with the reduction in overnight change in both legs fluid volume, but not with the change in head and neck fluid volume. There were significant correlations between change in NC and increased fluid shifts in head and neck volume. Conclusions OSA patients had a higher baseline fluid content in both legs as compared with non-OSA subjects, which may be the basic factor with regards to fluid shifts in OSA patients. The increase in head and neck fluid shift volume did not directly correlate with the severity of OSA. PMID:25589967

Neuropsychological Assessment of Adult Offenders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marceau, Roger; Meghani, Rehana; Reddon, John R.

2008-01-01

This report is primarily concerned with reporting on the normative results obtained on a large sample of serious adult offenders. An expanded Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery was administered to 584 adult offenders (OF), 132 normal controls (NC), and 494 acute psychiatric patients (PP). Subjects were between 18 and 44 years of age.…

Correlation of TLR4 and KLF7 in Inflammation Induced by Obesity.

PubMed

Wang, Cuizhe; Ha, Xiaodan; Li, Wei; Xu, Peng; Gu, Yajuan; Wang, Tingting; Wang, Yan; Xie, Jianxin; Zhang, Jun

2017-02-01

Objective Recent studies have revealed a link between toll-like receptors (TLRs), Kruppel-like factors (KLFs), and the adipose tissue inflammation associated with obesity. TLR4 is associated with chronic inflammation in obesity. KLF7 is known to play an important role in the differentiation of adipocytes, but its role in visceral adipose tissue inflammation has not yet been investigated. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the correlation of TLR4 and KLF7 in inflammation induced by obesity. Methods A total of 32 Wistar male rat subjects were fed in the center for experimental animals of Shihezi University. The rats were divided into normal control (NC) and high-fat diet (HFD) group. Surgical instruments were used to collect rats' visceral adipose tissue samples in the 10th week after HFD feeding. Ninety-five Uygur subjects between 20 and 90 years old were enrolled in the present study. The subjects were divided into two groups: the normal control group (NC, 18.0 kg/m 2  ≤ BMI ≤ 23.9 kg/m 2 , n = 50) and the obesity group (OB, BMI ≥ 28 kg/m 2 , n = 45), and visceral adipose tissue was collected from the subjects. Anthropometric and clinical parameters were measured using standard procedures; biochemical indices were detected using the glucose oxidase-peroxidase method and a standardized automatic biochemistry analyzer; the plasma levels of inflammatory factors and adipocytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); the mRNA and protein expression levels of key genes involved in the inflammatory signaling pathway were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot. Results In rats, compared with the NC group, the weight, Lee's index, waist circumference, visceral fat mass, and the plasma level of Glu, TG, FFA, and TNF-α were higher in the HFD group, while the plasma levels of LPT and APN were significantly lower in the HFD group in the 10th week. Furthermore, compared with the NC group, visceral adipose tissue's mRNA expression levels of TLR4, KLF7, and SRC were higher in the HFD group, and KLF7 was significantly positively correlated with LDL, TLR4, SRC, and IL-6 (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, in the Uygur population, the plasma levels of TG, LDL, and TNF-α in the OB group were significantly higher than those in the NC group (P < 0.05). Moreover, compared with the NC group, visceral adipose tissue's mRNA expression levels of TLR4, KLF7, and SRC were significantly higher in the OB group (P < 0.05), and KLF7 was significantly positively correlated with TC, TLR4, MYD88, SRC, and IL-6 (P < 0.05); the protein expression levels of TLR4 and KLF7 were significantly higher than those in the NC group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Higher expression of TLR4 and KLF7 may play a vital role in the process of inflammation induced by obesity in visceral adipose tissue.

Morphological hippocampal markers for automated detection of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment converters in magnetic resonance images.

PubMed

Ferrarini, Luca; Frisoni, Giovanni B; Pievani, Michela; Reiber, Johan H C; Ganzola, Rossana; Milles, Julien

2009-01-01

In this study, we investigated the use of hippocampal shape-based markers for automatic detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment converters (MCI-c). Three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of 50 AD subjects, 50 age-matched controls, 15 MCI-c, and 15 MCI-non-converters (MCI-nc) were taken. Manual delineations of both hippocampi were obtained from normalized images. Fully automatic shape modeling was used to generate comparable meshes for both structures. Repeated permutation tests, run over a randomly sub-sampled training set (25 controls and 25 ADs), highlighted shape-based markers, mostly located in the CA1 sector, which consistently discriminated ADs and controls. Support vector machines (SVMs) were trained, using markers from either one or both hippocampi, to automatically classify control and AD subjects. Leave-1-out cross-validations over the remaining 25 ADs and 25 controls resulted in an optimal accuracy of 90% (sensitivity 92%), for markers in the left hippocampus. The same morphological markers were used to train SVMs for MCI-c versus MCI-nc classification: markers in the right hippocampus reached an accuracy (and sensitivity) of 80%. Due to the pattern recognition framework, our results statistically represent the expected performances of clinical set-ups, and compare favorably to analyses based on hippocampal volumes.

Effects of cat exposure and cat odors on subsequent amphetamine-induced stereotypy.

PubMed

Williams, J L; Barber, R G

1990-06-01

The effect of exposure to a cat, as a predatory stressor, was examined in male and female rats during subsequent tests of amphetamine-induced stereotypy in which cat odors were present or absent. Rats in Group C/O were given a 15-min exposure session to a male cat while they were protected in a wire cage. They were then given an IP injection of d-amphetamine (1 mg/kg) and tested 30 min later for stereotypy in the presence of cat odors (soiled cat litter). Rats in Group NC/O were given a no-cat-exposure control session, and amphetamine tested with cat odors. Groups C/NO and NC/NO were both tested without cat odors (fresh litter), with the former group having been previously exposed to a cat. During the 90-min test sessions, female rats showed significantly more stereotypy than males. More importantly, the male subjects in group C/O exhibited significantly more stereotypy than the males in the other groups, and group NC/NO males showed the least amount of stereotypy. These findings clearly indicate that amphetamine reactivity is influenced by prior exposure to a predator, the presence of predatory odors during testing, and the subject's sex.

Correlating brain blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fractal dimension mapping with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Warsi, Mohammed A; Molloy, William; Noseworthy, Michael D

2012-10-01

To correlate temporal fractal structure of resting state blood oxygen level dependent (rsBOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS), in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy age-matched normal controls (NC). High temporal resolution (4 Hz) rsBOLD signal and single voxel (left putamen) magnetic resonance spectroscopy data was acquired in 33 AD patients and 13 NC. The rsBOLD data was analyzed using two types of fractal dimension (FD) analysis based on relative dispersion and frequency power spectrum. Comparisons in FD were performed between AD and NC, and FD measures were correlated with (1)H-MRS findings. Temporal fractal analysis of rsBOLD, was able to differentiate AD from NC subjects (P = 0.03). Low FD correlated with markers of AD severity including decreased concentrations of N-acetyl aspartate (R = 0.44, P = 0.015) and increased myoinositol (mI) (R = -0.45, P = 0.012). Based on these results we suggest fractal analysis of rsBOLD could provide an early marker of AD.

The nasal cycle during wakefulness and sleep and its relation to body position.

PubMed

Rohrmeier, Christian; Schittek, Silke; Ettl, Tobias; Herzog, Michael; Kuehnel, Thomas S

2014-06-01

To compare the occurrence, duration, and relative amplitudes of the nasal cycle (NC) during wakefulness and sleep, and to investigate the relationship of the NC to body position. In 20 healthy subjects, the NC was measured by long-term rhinoflowmetry for an average 23.1 hours during wakefulness and sleep. Head and body position were also recorded during the night. A classic NC was displayed by 50% of subjects during wakefulness and by 75% of the subjects during sleep. Cycle duration during wakefulness was 91.1 minutes (± 65.2; 20-337), increasing significantly during sleep to 178 minutes (± 92.8; 21-498) (P < 0.01). The relative mean flow of the working phase during wakefulness was 67.6% (± 8.0; 58-90), and it was significantly higher during sleep at 82.0% (± 6.8; 63-93) (P < 0.01). On recumbency, there was a significant correlation between body position and resting phase side (r = 0.67; P = 0.024). To a significant extent, positional shifts led to subsequent NC laterality changes (22%; P < 0.01). Conversely, to a significant extent, positional shifts preceded NC laterality changes (57.6%; P < 0.01). Body position changed in a nonsignificant number of cases (30.3%; P = 0.16) due to reversal of the congestion side of the inferior turbinates. The results of our study show that the NC during sleep is characterized by longer cycle durations and greater amplitudes than during wakefulness on normal physical activity. Shifts in body position during sleep alter the NC in a specific direction to a significant extent, but the opposite is not the case. 4. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Comparative study of protective activities of Neospora caninum bradyzoite antigens, NcBAG1, NcBSR4, NcMAG1, and NcSAG4, in a mouse model of acute parasitic infection.

PubMed

Uchida, Masaki; Nagashima, Kotomi; Akatsuka, Yui; Murakami, Takashi; Ito, Akira; Imai, Soichi; Ike, Kazunori

2013-02-01

Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that causes severe neuromuscular diseases, repeated abortion, stillbirth, and congenital infection in livestock and companion animals. The development of an effective vaccine against neosporosis in cattle is an important issue due to the significant worldwide economic impact of this disease. We evaluated the immunogenicity of four bradyzoite antigens, NcBAG1 (first described in this study), NcBSR4, NcMAG1, and NcSAG4, using an acute infection mouse model to determine synergistic effects with the tachyzoite antigen as a candidate for vaccine production. Mice were inoculated with the recombinant vaccines (r-)NcBAG1, rNcBSR4, rNcMAG1, rNcSAG4, or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (adjuvant control group) in an oil-in-water emulsion with bitter gourd extract, a Th1 immune stimulator, or PBS alone as the infection control group. Mice inoculated with each vaccine developed antigen-specific IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies and isolated splenocytes from mice produced high levels of interferon-γ when infected with the N. caninum tachyzoite. The mice inoculated with rNcBAG1, rNcMAG1, or rNcSAG4 developed slight to moderate clinical symptoms but did not succumb to infection. In contrast, rNcBSR4 and both control groups developed severe disease and some mice required euthanasia. The parasitic burden in the brain tissues of vaccinated mice was assessed by N. caninum-specific real-time PCR at 5 weeks after infection. The parasite load in rNcBAG1-, rNcMAG1-, and rNcSAG4-inoculated mice was significantly lower than that in adjuvant and infection control mice. Therefore, these antigens may be useful for the production of a N. caninum-specific vaccination protocol.

Neck Circumference as a Predictor of Adiposity among Healthy and Obese Children

PubMed Central

Hassan, Nayera E.; Atef, Abeer; El-Masry, Sahar A.; Ibrahim, Amany; Shady, Mones M. Abu; Al-Tohamy, Muhammad; Kamel, Iman H.; Elashry, Galal Ismail Ahmed

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Obesity, particularly in the upper part of body, is a major health problem. Because body mass index (BMI) does not adequately describe regional adiposity, other indices of body fatness are being explored. OBJECTIVES: To determine if neck circumference is a valid measure of adiposity (fat distribution) among group of Egyptian children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This is a cross sectional study, included 50 obese subjects, aged 7 - 12 years recruited from Endocrine, obesity and Metabolism Pediatric Unit at Children Hospital, Cairo University and 50 healthy children, age and sex matched. All children were subjected to blood pressure assessment (systolic SBP and diastolic DBP), and anthropometric assessment (body weight, height, neck circumference (NC), waist (WC) and hip (HC) circumferences, and skin fold thicknesses at three sites: biceps, triceps and sub scapular. BMI [weight (kg)/height (m2)] was calculated. RESULTS: In healthy females, significant associations were detected between NC and SBP, DBP and all anthropometric measurements. However, in healthy males NC was not significantly associated with BMI, SBP and DBP. In the obese group; both sexes; insignificant association was found between NC and SBP, DBP, BMI and skinfold thickness. CONCLUSION: NC is related to fat distribution among normal healthy female children. However, this relation disappears with increasing adiposity. The results do not support the use of NC as a useful screening tool for childhood obesity. PMID:27275287

The MoCA-Memory Index Score: An Efficient Alternative to Paragraph Recall for the Detection of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Kaur, Antarpreet; Edland, Steven D; Peavy, Guerry M

2018-01-01

To compare ability of 2 measures of delayed memory (word list, story paragraph) to discriminate Normal Control (NC) subjects from those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Demographic, neuropsychological, and diagnostic data contributed by 34 Alzheimer's Disease Centers to the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center characterized 2717 individuals with a diagnosis of either NC (n=2205) or aMCI (n=512). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Memory Index Score (MoCA-MIS) assessed delayed word recall, and the Craft Story 21, delayed story recall. Logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic curves controlling for age, sex, and education assessed the ability of each test to differentiate NCs from subjects with aMCI. The MoCA-MIS had significantly better sensitivity and specificity (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve 0.83 vs. 0.80, P=0.004). At sensitivity 80%, the specificity of the MoCA-MIS was 69.1%, compared with 62.8% for the Craft Story. These data suggest that the MoCA-MIS, a recall score from items within the MoCA, is better at discriminating NCs from subjects with aMCI than the Craft Story. Word recall may be an efficient alternative to paragraph recall for diagnostic screening within clinical practice and research settings.

Executive functions, information sampling, and decision making in narcolepsy with cataplexy.

PubMed

Delazer, Margarete; Högl, Birgit; Zamarian, Laura; Wenter, Johanna; Gschliesser, Viola; Ehrmann, Laura; Brandauer, Elisabeth; Cevikkol, Zehra; Frauscher, Birgit

2011-07-01

Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) affects neurotransmitter systems regulating emotions and cognitive functions. This study aimed to assess executive functions, information sampling, reward processing, and decision making in NC. Twenty-one NC patients and 58 healthy participants performed an extensive neuropsychological test battery. NC patients scored as controls in executive function tasks assessing set shifting, reversal learning, working memory, and planning. Group differences appeared in a task measuring information sampling and reward sensitivity. NC patients gathered less information, tolerated a higher level of uncertainty, and were less influenced by reward contingencies than controls. NC patients also showed reduced learning in decision making and had significantly lower scores than controls in the fifth block of the IOWA gambling task. No correlations were found with measures of sleepiness. NC patients may achieve high performance in several neuropsychological domains, including executive functions. Specific differences between NC patients and controls highlight the importance of the hypocretin system in reward processing and decision making and are in line with previous neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

A Study of Correlation of Neck Circumference with Framingham Risk Score as a Predictor of Coronary Artery Disease.

PubMed

Koppad, Anand K; Kaulgud, Ram S; Arun, B S

2017-09-01

It has been observed that metabolic syndrome is risk factor for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and exerts its effects through fat deposition and vascular aging. CAD has been acknowledged as a leading cause of death. In earlier studies, the metabolic risk has been estimated by Framingham risk score. Recent studies have shown that Neck Circumference (NC) has a good correlation with other traditional anthropometric measurements and can be used as marker of obesity. It also correlates with Framingham risk score, which is slightly more sophisticated measure of CAD risk. To assess the risk of CAD in a subject based on NC and to correlate the NC to Framingham risk score. The present cross-sectional study, done at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli, Karnataka, India, includes 100 subjects. The study duration was of one year from 1 st January 2015 to 31 st December 2015. Anthropometric indices Body Mass Index (BMI) and NC were correlated with 10 year CAD risk as calculated by Framingham risk score. The correlation between BMI, NC, vascular age and Framingham risk score was calculated using Karl Pearson's correlation method. NC has a strong correlation with 10 year CAD risk (p≤0.001). NC was significantly greater in males as compared to females (p≤0.001). Males had greater risk of cardiovascular disease as reflected by higher 10 year Framingham risk score (p≤0.0035). NC gives simple and easy prediction of CAD risk and is more reliable than traditional risk markers like BMI. NC correlates positively with 10 year Framingham risk score.

Noncontrast-enhanced magnetic resonance renal angiography using a repetitive artery and venous labelling technique at 3 T: comparison with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in subjects with normal renal function.

PubMed

Park, Sung Yoon; Kim, Chan Kyo; Kim, EunJu; Park, Byung Kwan

2015-02-01

To investigate the feasibility of noncontrast-enhanced MR angiography (NC-MRA) using the repetitive artery and venous labelling (RAVEL) technique to evaluate renal arteries compared to contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA). Twenty-five subjects with normal renal function underwent NC-MRA using a RAVEL technique and CE-MRA at 3 T. Two independent readers analysed the MRA images. Image quality, number of renal arteries, presence or absence of an early branching vessel, and diameter of the main renal arteries were evaluated. The overall image quality of NC-MRA was fair or greater in 88% of right and 92% of left renal arteries, while it was 96% in both sides with CE-MRA. On NC-MRA, the number of renal arteries in all subjects was perfectly predicted by both readers. Sensitivity and specificity for predicting early branching vessels were 82% and 100% for reader 1 and 82% and 95% for reader 2. Inter-modality agreement for comparing the diameters of main renal arteries was good or excellent at all segments for both readers. Inter-reader agreement was moderate or good at all segments except at the right distal segment on NC-MRA. NC-MRA with the RAVEL technique at 3 T may have comparable diagnostic feasibility for evaluating renal arteries compared to CE-MRA. • Accurate pre-treatment evaluation of renal artery anatomy helps clinical decision-making. • NC-MRA using RAVEL offers acceptable imaging quality for renal artery evaluation. • The 3 T RAVEL technique provides excellent diagnostic performance for renal artery evaluation. • The 3 T RAVEL technique may be an alternative to contrast-enhanced MRA.

Computerized visuo-spatial memory test as a supplementary screening test for dementia.

PubMed

Maki, Yohko; Yoshida, Hiroshi; Yamaguchi, Haruyasu

2010-06-01

To prepare for a super-aging society, effective dementia screening tests are required. The most salient deficit appearing from the early stages of dementia/Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a deterioration in memory. The Hasegawa Dementia Scale-revised (HDS-R) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) are widely used in Japan to screen for dementia. Both place an emphasis on memory function, but neither examines visuo-spatial memory (VSM) function, even though VSM deficits are a sensitive marker for the detection of conversion to dementia. Furthermore, brief tests of VSM that are appropriate for screening have not been standardized. Thus, in the present study, we devised a brief, computer-aided short-term VSM test. Sixty-six aged people were evaluated. Using the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), it was found that 29 could be considered normal controls (NC; CDR 0), 10 had mild cognitive impairment (MCI; CDR 0.5), 15 had mild dementia (CDR 1), and 12 had moderate to severe dementia (CDR 2-3). The VSM test estimated how many locations each subject could memorize. Several numbered circles were shown on a monitor and subjects were required to memorize the location of these circles sequentially. After the numbers on the circles on the screen had disappeared, the subjects were required to indicate the circles in ascending order. A touch panel screen was used for this test to make it easier. The HDS-R was applied to subjects with MCI and dementia. The mean (+/-SD) VSM score in subjects with MCI (5.70 +/- 0.96) was significantly lower than that in NC subjects (6.69 +/- 0.82), but significantly higher than that in subjects classified as CDR 1 (4.67 +/- 0.87). There was no significant difference in VSM scores between subjects classified as CDR 1 and CDR 2-3 (3.80 +/- 0.80). There was a moderate significant correlation between VSM and HDS-R scores. In the present study, the VSM test detected differences in VSM function among NC subjects and subjects with MCI and mild dementia. The software program for the VSM test is distributed for free so that it can be widely used.

Slow Temporal Summation of Pain for Assessment of Central Pain Sensitivity and Clinical Pain of Fibromyalgia Patients

PubMed Central

Staud, Roland; Weyl, Elizabeth E.; Riley, Joseph L.; Fillingim, Roger B.

2014-01-01

Background In healthy individuals slow temporal summation of pain or wind-up (WU) can be evoked by repetitive heat-pulses at frequencies of ≥.33 Hz. Previous WU studies have used various stimulus frequencies and intensities to characterize central sensitization of human subjects including fibromyalgia (FM) patients. However, many trials demonstrated considerable WU-variability including zero WU or even wind-down (WD) at stimulus intensities sufficient for activating C-nociceptors. Additionally, few WU-protocols have controlled for contributions of individual pain sensitivity to WU-magnitude, which is critical for WU-comparisons. We hypothesized that integration of 3 different WU-trains into a single WU-response function (WU-RF) would not only control for individuals’ pain sensitivity but also better characterize their central pain responding including WU and WD. Methods 33 normal controls (NC) and 38 FM patients participated in a study of heat-WU. We systematically varied stimulus intensities of.4 Hz heat-pulse trains applied to the hands. Pain summation was calculated as difference scores of 1st and 5th heat-pulse ratings. WU-difference (WU-Δ) scores related to 3 heat-pulse trains (44°C, 46°C, 48°C) were integrated into WU-response functions whose slopes were used to assess group differences in central pain sensitivity. WU-aftersensations (WU-AS) at 15 s and 30 s were used to predict clinical FM pain intensity. Results WU-Δ scores linearly accelerated with increasing stimulus intensity (p<.001) in both groups of subjects (FM>NC) from WD to WU. Slope of WU-RF, which is representative of central pain sensitivity, was significantly steeper in FM patients than NC (p<.003). WU-AS predicted clinical FM pain intensity (Pearson’s r = .4; p<.04). Conclusions Compared to single WU series, WU-RFs integrate individuals’ pain sensitivity as well as WU and WD. Slope of WU-RFs was significantly different between FM patients and NC. Therefore WU-RF may be useful for assessing central sensitization of chronic pain patients in research and clinical practice. PMID:24558475

A Pilot Study of Quantitative MRI Measurements of Ventricular Volume and Cortical Atrophy for the Differential Diagnosis of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

PubMed Central

Moore, Dana W.; Kovanlikaya, Ilhami; Heier, Linda A.; Raj, Ashish; Huang, Chaorui; Chu, King-Wai; Relkin, Norman R.

2012-01-01

Current radiologic diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) requires a subjective judgment of whether lateral ventricular enlargement is disproportionate to cerebral atrophy based on visual inspection of brain images. We investigated whether quantitative measurements of lateral ventricular volume and total cortical thickness (a correlate of cerebral atrophy) could be used to more objectively distinguish NPH from normal controls (NC), Alzheimer's (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD). Volumetric MRIs were obtained prospectively from patients with NPH (n = 5), PD (n = 5), and NC (5). Additional NC (n = 5) and AD patients (n = 10) from the ADNI cohort were examined. Although mean ventricular volume was significantly greater in the NPH group than all others, the range of values overlapped those of the AD group. Individuals with NPH could be better distinguished when ventricular volume and total cortical thickness were considered in combination. This pilot study suggests that volumetric MRI measurements hold promise for improving NPH differential diagnosis. PMID:21860791

Assessment of functional defecation disorders using anorectal manometry.

PubMed

Seong, Moo-Kyung

2018-06-01

The aim was to evaluate the discriminating accuracy of anorectal manometry (ARM) between nonconstipated (NC) subjects and functionally constipated (FC) subjects, and between FC subjects with and without functional defecation disorder (FDD). Among female patients who visited anorectal physiology unit, those who could be grouped to following categories were included; FC group with FDD (+FDD subgroup), or without FDD (-FDD subgroup) and NC group. ARM was performed and interpreted not only with absolute pressure values, but also pattern classification and quantification of pressure changes in the rectum and anus during attempted defecation. There were 76 subjects in NC group and 75 in FC group. Among FC group, 63 subjects were in -FDD subgroup and 12 in +FDD subgroup. In pattern classification of pressure changes, type 0, as 'normal' response, was only slightly more prevalent in NC group than in FC group. When all 'abnormal' types (types 1-5) were considered together as positive findings, the sensitivity and specificity of pattern classification in diagnosing FC among all subjects were 89.3% and 22.7%. Those values in diagnosing FDD among FC group were 91.7% and 11.1%. Manometric defecation index (MDI) as a quantification parameter was significantly different between -FDD and +FDD subgroups. Other conventional absolute pressures were mostly comparable between the groups. Among all parameters of ARM, MDI was useful to diagnose FDD in FC patients. Other parameters including the pattern classification were questionable in their ability to diagnose FDD.

Assessment of functional defecation disorders using anorectal manometry

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Purpose The aim was to evaluate the discriminating accuracy of anorectal manometry (ARM) between nonconstipated (NC) subjects and functionally constipated (FC) subjects, and between FC subjects with and without functional defecation disorder (FDD). Methods Among female patients who visited anorectal physiology unit, those who could be grouped to following categories were included; FC group with FDD (+FDD subgroup), or without FDD (−FDD subgroup) and NC group. ARM was performed and interpreted not only with absolute pressure values, but also pattern classification and quantification of pressure changes in the rectum and anus during attempted defecation. Results There were 76 subjects in NC group and 75 in FC group. Among FC group, 63 subjects were in −FDD subgroup and 12 in +FDD subgroup. In pattern classification of pressure changes, type 0, as ‘normal’ response, was only slightly more prevalent in NC group than in FC group. When all ‘abnormal’ types (types 1–5) were considered together as positive findings, the sensitivity and specificity of pattern classification in diagnosing FC among all subjects were 89.3% and 22.7%. Those values in diagnosing FDD among FC group were 91.7% and 11.1%. Manometric defecation index (MDI) as a quantification parameter was significantly different between −FDD and +FDD subgroups. Other conventional absolute pressures were mostly comparable between the groups. Conclusion Among all parameters of ARM, MDI was useful to diagnose FDD in FC patients. Other parameters including the pattern classification were questionable in their ability to diagnose FDD. PMID:29854711

The CERAD Neuropsychologic Battery Total Score and the progression of Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Rossetti, Heidi C; Munro Cullum, C; Hynan, Linda S; Lacritz, Laura H

2010-01-01

To establish the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychologic battery as a valid measure of cognitive progression in Alzheimer disease (AD) by deriving annualized CERAD Total Change Scores and corresponding confidence intervals in AD and controls from which to define clinically meaningful change. Subjects included 383 normal control (NC) and 655 AD subjects with serial data from the CERAD registry database. Annualized CERAD Total Change Scores were derived and Reliable Change Indexes (RCIs) calculated to establish statistically reliable change values. CERAD Change Scores were compared with annualized change scores from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) Sum of Boxes, and Blessed Dementia Rating Scale (BDRS). For the CERAD Total Score, the AD sample showed significantly greater decline than the NC sample over the 4-year interval, with AD subjects declining an average of 22.2 points compared with the NCs' improving an average 2.8 points from baseline to last visit [Group x Time interaction [F(4,1031)=246.08, P<0.001)]. By Visit 3, the majority of AD subjects (65.2%) showed a degree of cognitive decline that fell outside the RCI. CERAD Change Scores significantly correlated (P<0.001) with MMSE (r=-0.66), CDR (r=-0.42), and BDRS (r=-0.38) change scores. Results support the utility of the CERAD Total Score as a measure of AD progression and provide comparative data for annualized change in CERAD Total Score and other summary measures.

Estimating the cost of informal caregiving for elderly patients with cancer.

PubMed

Hayman, J A; Langa, K M; Kabeto, M U; Katz, S J; DeMonner, S M; Chernew, M E; Slavin, M B; Fendrick, A M

2001-07-01

As the United States population ages, the increasing prevalence of cancer is likely to result in higher direct medical and nonmedical costs. Although estimates of the associated direct medical costs exist, very little information is available regarding the prevalence, time, and cost associated with informal caregiving for elderly cancer patients. To estimate these costs, we used data from the first wave (1993) of the Asset and Health Dynamics (AHEAD) Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of people aged 70 or older. Using a multivariable, two-part regression model to control for differences in health and functional status, social support, and sociodemographics, we estimated the probability of receiving informal care, the average weekly number of caregiving hours, and the average annual caregiving cost per case (assuming an average hourly wage of $8.17) for subjects who reported no history of cancer (NC), having a diagnosis of cancer but not receiving treatment for their cancer in the last year (CNT), and having a diagnosis of cancer and receiving treatment in the last year (CT). Of the 7,443 subjects surveyed, 6,422 (86%) reported NC, 718 (10%) reported CNT, and 303 (4%) reported CT. Whereas the adjusted probability of informal caregiving for those respondents reporting NC and CNT was 26%, it was 34% for those reporting CT (P <.05). Those subjects reporting CT received an average of 10.0 hours of informal caregiving per week, as compared with 6.9 and 6.8 hours for those who reported NC and CNT, respectively (P <.05). Accordingly, cancer treatment was associated with an incremental increase of 3.1 hours per week, which translates into an additional average yearly cost of $1,200 per patient and just over $1 billion nationally. Informal caregiving costs are substantial and should be considered when estimating the cost of cancer treatment in the elderly.

Industrial Technology Modernization Program. Project 32. Factory Vision. Phase 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

instructions for the PWA’s, generating the numerical control (NC) program instructions for factory assembly equipment, controlling the process... generating the numerical control (NC) program instructions for factory assembly equipment, controlling the production process instructions and NC... Assembly Operations the "Create Production Process Program" will automatically generate a sequence of graphics pages (in paper mode), or graphics screens

Environmental and biological monitoring of PAHs exposure in coke-oven workers at the Taranto plant compared to two groups from the general population of Apulia, Italy.

PubMed

Campo, Laura; Vimercati, L; Carrus, A; Bisceglia, Lucia; Pesatori, Angela Cecilia; Bertazzi, P A; Assennato, G; Fustinoni, Silvia

2012-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure in the coke industry poses a risk for workers' health as well as for subjects living in the plant vicinity. To assess PAHs exposure in coke-oven workers (CW) at the Taranto plant, Apulia, and in subjects from the general population living near (NC) and far away (FC) from the plant. Exposure was assessed by personal air sampling and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) measured in 100 CW 18 NC and 15 FC. Median airborne benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) levels were 152, 1.5, and 3.6 ng/m3 in CW NC, and FC, respectively. In CW, median 1-OHP increased from 1.45 to 1.96 microg/g creatinine (crt) during the work shift (p > 0.05); in NC and FC, 1-OHP levels were 0.56 and 0.53 microg/g crt. No significant differences between NC and FC for both air and urinary indices were found. BaP exposure in CW exceeded the recently proposed German acceptable (70 ng/m3) and tolerable (700 ng/m3) risk-based limit values in 82 and 11% of subjects, respectively. In NC and FC, BaP exposure exceeded the European target value for ambient air (1 ng/m3) in 67 and 60% of subjects, respectively. Biomonitoring showed that 21% of CW had 1-OHP levels higher than the proposed biological limit value for the coke-oven industry (4.4 microg/g crt), while 93% of FC, and 88% of NC, had 1-OHP levels exceeding the Italian reference value (0.3 microg/g crt). Among non-smokers, a linear regression between 1-OHP and BaP (Pearson value r = 0.65, p < 0.05) allowed us to estimate levels of 1.2 and 1.9 microg/g crt for 1-OHP end-of-shift corresponding to acceptable and tolerable limit values. Although lower than in the past, PAHs exposure in the coke plant still poses a health risk for workers and the general population and requires further efforts to improve workplace conditions.

Application of probabilistically weighted graphs to image-based diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using diffusion MRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryam, Syeda; McCrackin, Laura; Crowley, Mark; Rathi, Yogesh; Michailovich, Oleg

2017-03-01

The world's aging population has given rise to an increasing awareness towards neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimers Disease (AD). Treatment options for AD are currently limited, but it is believed that future success depends on our ability to detect the onset of the disease in its early stages. The most frequently used tools for this include neuropsychological assessments, along with genetic, proteomic, and image-based diagnosis. Recently, the applicability of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) analysis for early diagnosis of AD has also been reported. The sensitivity of dMRI to the microstructural organization of cerebral tissue makes it particularly well-suited to detecting changes which are known to occur in the early stages of AD. Existing dMRI approaches can be divided into two broad categories: region-based and tract-based. In this work, we propose a new approach, which extends region-based approaches to the simultaneous characterization of multiple brain regions. Given a predefined set of features derived from dMRI data, we compute the probabilistic distances between different brain regions and treat the resulting connectivity pattern as an undirected, fully-connected graph. The characteristics of this graph are then used as markers to discriminate between AD subjects and normal controls (NC). Although in this preliminary work we omit subjects in the prodromal stage of AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), our method demonstrates perfect separability between AD and NC subject groups with substantial margin, and thus holds promise for fine-grained stratification of NC, MCI and AD populations.

Validity of a PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis.

PubMed

Carpio, Arturo; Campoverde, Alfredo; Romo, Matthew L; García, Lorena; Piedra, Luis M; Pacurucu, Mónica; López, Nelson; Aguilar, Jenner; López, Sebastian; Vintimilla, Luis C; Toral, Ana M; Peña-Tapia, Pablo

2017-03-01

To prospectively evaluate the validity of a PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NC). We conducted a multicenter, prospective case-control study, recruiting participants from 5 hospitals in Cuenca, Ecuador, from January 2015 to February 2016. Cases fulfilled validated diagnostic criteria for NC. For each case, a neurosurgical patient who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for NC was selected as a control. CT and MRI, as well as a CSF sample, were collected from both cases and controls. The diagnostic criteria to identify cases were used as a reference standard. Overall, 36 case and 36 control participants were enrolled. PCR had a sensitivity of 72.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 54.8%-85.8%) and a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI 90.3%-100.0%). For parenchymal NC, PCR had a sensitivity of 42.9% (95% CI 17.7%-71.1%), and for extraparenchymal NC, PCR had a sensitivity of 90.9% (95% CI 70.8%-98.9%). This study demonstrated the usefulness of this PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of NC. PCR may be particularly helpful for diagnosing extraparenchymal NC when neuroimaging techniques have failed. This study provides Class III evidence that CSF PCR can accurately identify patients with extraparenchymal NC.

An overview on STEP-NC compliant controller development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Othman, M. A.; Minhat, M.; Jamaludin, Z.

2017-10-01

The capabilities of conventional Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools as termination organiser to fabricate high-quality parts promptly, economically and precisely are undeniable. To date, most CNCs follow the programming standard of ISO 6983, also called G & M code. However, in fluctuating shop floor environment, flexibility and interoperability of current CNC system to react dynamically and adaptively are believed still limited. This outdated programming language does not explicitly relate to each other to have control of arbitrary locations other than the motion of the block-by-block. To address this limitation, new standard known as STEP-NC was developed in late 1990s and is formalized as an ISO 14649. It adds intelligence to the CNC in term of interoperability, flexibility, adaptability and openness. This paper presents an overview of the research work that have been done in developing a STEP-NC controller standard and the capabilities of STEP-NC to overcome modern manufacturing demands. Reviews stated that most existing STEP-NC controller prototypes are based on type 1 and type 2 implementation levels. There are still lack of effort being done to develop type 3 and type 4 STEP-NC compliant controller.

Validity of a PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis

PubMed Central

Campoverde, Alfredo; Romo, Matthew L.; García, Lorena; Piedra, Luis M.; Pacurucu, Mónica; López, Nelson; Aguilar, Jenner; López, Sebastian; Vintimilla, Luis C.; Toral, Ana M.; Peña-Tapia, Pablo

2017-01-01

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the validity of a PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NC). Methods: We conducted a multicenter, prospective case-control study, recruiting participants from 5 hospitals in Cuenca, Ecuador, from January 2015 to February 2016. Cases fulfilled validated diagnostic criteria for NC. For each case, a neurosurgical patient who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for NC was selected as a control. CT and MRI, as well as a CSF sample, were collected from both cases and controls. The diagnostic criteria to identify cases were used as a reference standard. Results: Overall, 36 case and 36 control participants were enrolled. PCR had a sensitivity of 72.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 54.8%–85.8%) and a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI 90.3%–100.0%). For parenchymal NC, PCR had a sensitivity of 42.9% (95% CI 17.7%–71.1%), and for extraparenchymal NC, PCR had a sensitivity of 90.9% (95% CI 70.8%–98.9%). Conclusions: This study demonstrated the usefulness of this PCR assay in CSF for the diagnosis of NC. PCR may be particularly helpful for diagnosing extraparenchymal NC when neuroimaging techniques have failed. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that CSF PCR can accurately identify patients with extraparenchymal NC. PMID:28105460

Solidification drug nanosuspensions into nanocrystals by freeze-drying: a case study with ursodeoxycholic acid.

PubMed

Ma, Yue-Qin; Zhang, Zeng-Zhu; Li, Gang; Zhang, Jing; Xiao, Han-Yang; Li, Xian-Fei

2016-03-01

To elucidate the effect of solidification processes on the redispersibility of drug nanocrystals (NC) during freeze-drying, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) nanosuspensions were transformed into UDCA-NC via different solidification process included freezing and lyophilization. The effect of different concentrations of stabilizers and cryoprotectants on redispersibility of UDCA-NC was investigated, respectively. The results showed that the redispersibility of UDCA-NC was RDI-20 °C < RDI-80 °C < RDI-196 °C during freezing, which indicated the redispersibility of UDCA-NC at the conventional temperature was better more than those at moderate and rigorous condition. Compared to the drying strengthen, the employed amount and type of stabilizers more dramatically affected the redispersibility of UDCA-NC during lyophilization. The hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and PVPK30 were effective to protect UDCA-NC from damage during lyophilization, which could homogeneously adsorb into the surface of NC to prevent from agglomerates. The sucrose and glucose achieved excellent performance that protected UDCA-NC from crystal growth during lyophilization, respectively. It was concluded that UDCA-NC was subjected to agglomeration during solidification transformation, and the degree of agglomeration suffered varied with the type and the amounts of stabilizers used, as well as different solidification conditions. The PVPK30-sucrose system was more effective to protect UDCA-NC from the damage during solidification process.

Distributed numerical controllers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orban, Peter E.

2001-12-01

While the basic principles of Numerical Controllers (NC) have not changed much during the years, the implementation of NCs' has changed tremendously. NC equipment has evolved from yesterday's hard-wired specialty control apparatus to today's graphics intensive, networked, increasingly PC based open systems, controlling a wide variety of industrial equipment with positioning needs. One of the newest trends in NC technology is the distributed implementation of the controllers. Distributed implementation promises to offer robustness, lower implementation costs, and a scalable architecture. Historically partitioning has been done along the hierarchical levels, moving individual modules into self contained units. The paper discusses various NC architectures, the underlying technology for distributed implementation, and relevant design issues. First the functional requirements of individual NC modules are analyzed. Module functionality, cycle times, and data requirements are examined. Next the infrastructure for distributed node implementation is reviewed. Various communication protocols and distributed real-time operating system issues are investigated and compared. Finally, a different, vertical system partitioning, offering true scalability and reconfigurability is presented.

Increased working memory-related brain activity in middle-aged women with cognitive complaints.

PubMed

Dumas, Julie A; Kutz, Amanda M; McDonald, Brenna C; Naylor, Magdalena R; Pfaff, Ashley C; Saykin, Andrew J; Newhouse, Paul A

2013-04-01

Individuals who report subjective cognitive complaints but perform normally on neuropsychological tests might be at increased risk for pathological cognitive aging. The current study examined the effects of the presence of subjective cognitive complaints on functional brain activity during a working memory task in a sample of middle-aged postmenopausal women. Twenty-three postmenopausal women aged 50-60 completed a cognitive complaint battery of questionnaires. Using 20% of items endorsed as the threshold, 12 women were categorized as cognitive complainers (CC) and 11 were noncomplainers (NC). All subjects then took part in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning session during which they completed a visual-verbal N-back test of working memory. Results showed no difference in working memory performance between CC and NC groups. However, the CC group showed greater activation relative to the NC group in a broad network involved in working memory including the middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area [BA] 9 and 10), the precuneus (BA 7), and the cingulate gyrus (BA 24 and 32). The CC group recruited additional regions of the working memory network compared with the NC group as the working memory load and difficulty of the task increased. This study showed brain activation differences during working memory performance in a middle-aged group of postmenopausal women with subjective cognitive complaints but without objective cognitive deficit. These findings suggest that subjective cognitive complaints in postmenopausal women might be associated with increased cortical activity during effort-demanding cognitive tasks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Controlled levels of canonical Wnt signaling are required for neural crest migration.

PubMed

Maj, Ewa; Künneke, Lutz; Loresch, Elisabeth; Grund, Anita; Melchert, Juliane; Pieler, Tomas; Aspelmeier, Timo; Borchers, Annette

2016-09-01

Canonical Wnt signaling plays a dominant role in the development of the neural crest (NC), a highly migratory cell population that generates a vast array of cell types. Canonical Wnt signaling is required for NC induction as well as differentiation, however its role in NC migration remains largely unknown. Analyzing nuclear localization of β-catenin as readout for canonical Wnt activity, we detect nuclear β-catenin in premigratory but not migratory Xenopus NC cells suggesting that canonical Wnt activity has to decrease to basal levels to enable NC migration. To define a possible function of canonical Wnt signaling in Xenopus NC migration, canonical Wnt signaling was modulated at different time points after NC induction. This was accomplished using either chemical modulators affecting β-catenin stability or inducible glucocorticoid fusion constructs of Lef/Tcf transcription factors. In vivo analysis of NC migration by whole mount in situ hybridization demonstrates that ectopic activation of canonical Wnt signaling inhibits cranial NC migration. Further, NC transplantation experiments confirm that this effect is tissue-autonomous. In addition, live-cell imaging in combination with biophysical data analysis of explanted NC cells confirms the in vivo findings and demonstrates that modulation of canonical Wnt signaling affects the ability of NC cells to perform single cell migration. Thus, our data support the hypothesis that canonical Wnt signaling needs to be tightly controlled to enable migration of NC cells. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plant Biofilm Inhibitors to Discover Biofilm Genes

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-08

REPORT Final Report for Plant Biofilm Inhibitors to Discover Biofilm Genes 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: To control biofilms , we have...synthesized the natural biofilm inhibitor (5Z)-4-bromo-5-(bromomethylene) -3-butyl-2(5H)-furanone from the red alga Delisea pulchra and determined that...Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS biofilms , biofilm inhibitors Thomas K. Wood Texas Engineering

Advanced Physiological Estimation of Cognitive Status

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-24

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS fatigue mental workload cognitive status EEG machine learning algorithms Leonard J. Trejo...Information Transfer (NOIT)” • ARO Proposal No. 56469-LS • Three-year basic research with UCLA team 2. “ EEG -guided Input Lateralization and Hemispheric...Activation with Neurofeedback for Display Data Control and Apprehension.” • ARO Proposal No. 59502-LS • One-year Infrastructure technology transfer to

Selected aspects of microelectronics technology and applications: Numerically controlled machine tools. Technology trends series no. 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigurdson, J.; Tagerud, J.

1986-05-01

A UNIDO publication about machine tools with automatic control discusses the following: (1) numerical control (NC) machine tool perspectives, definition of NC, flexible manufacturing systems, robots and their industrial application, research and development, and sensors; (2) experience in developing a capability in NC machine tools; (3) policy issues; (4) procedures for retrieval of relevant documentation from data bases. Diagrams, statistics, bibliography are included.

Neural Crest Migration and Survival Are Susceptible to Morpholino-Induced Artifacts

PubMed Central

Jette, Cicely A.

2016-01-01

The neural crest (NC) is a stem cell-like embryonic population that is essential for generating and patterning the vertebrate body, including the craniofacial skeleton and peripheral nervous system. Defects in NC development underlie many birth defects and contribute to formation of some of the most malignant cancers in humans, such as melanoma and neuroblastoma. For these reasons, significant research efforts have been expended to identify genes that control NC development, as it is expected to lead to a deeper understanding of the genetic mechanisms controlling vertebrate development and identify new treatments for NC-derived diseases and cancers. However, a number of inconsistencies regarding gene function during NC development have emerged from comparative analyses of gene function between mammalian and non-mammalian systems (chick, frog, zebrafish). This poses a significant barrier to identification of single genes and/or redundant pathways to target in NC diseases. Here, we determine whether technical differences, namely morpholino-based approaches used in non-mammalian systems, could contribute to these discrepancies, by examining the extent to which NC phenotypes in fascin1a (fscn1a) morphant embryos are similar to or different from fscn1a null mutants in zebrafish. Analysis of fscn1a morphants showed that they mimicked early NC phenotypes observed in fscn1a null mutants; however, these embryos also displayed NC migration and derivative phenotypes not observed in null mutants, including accumulation of p53-independent cell death. These data demonstrate that morpholinos can cause seemingly specific NC migration and derivative phenotypes, and thus have likely contributed to the inconsistencies surrounding NC gene function between species. We suggest that comparison of genetic mutants between different species is the most rigorous method for identifying conserved genetic mechanisms controlling NC development and is critical to identify new treatments for NC diseases. PMID:28005909

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk, Asthma Burden and Lower Airway Inflammation in Adults in the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) II

PubMed Central

Teodorescu, Mihaela; Broytman, Oleg; Curran-Everett, Douglas; Sorkness, Ronald L.; Crisafi, Gina; Bleecker, Eugene R.; Erzurum, Serpil; Gaston, Benjamin M.; Wenzel, Sally E.; Jarjour, Nizar N.

2015-01-01

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may worsen asthma, but large studies are lacking and the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Objective Determine the prevalence of OSA risk among patients with asthma of different severity compared to normal controls (NC), and among asthmatics, test the relationship of OSA risk with asthma burden and airway inflammation. Methods Subjects with severe (SA, n=94) and non-severe asthma (NSA, n=161), and NC (n=146) were recruited in an add-on sub-study, to the observational Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) II; subjects completed sleep quality, sleepiness and OSA risk (Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire [SA-SDQ]) questionnaires and clinical assessments. Sputum was induced in a subset of asthmatics. Results Relative to NC, despite similar sleep duration, the SA and NSA subjects had worse sleep quality, were sleepier and had higher SA-SDQ scores. Among asthmatics, higher SA-SDQ was associated with increased asthma symptoms, β-agonist use, health care utilization, and worse asthma quality of life. Significant association of SA-SDQ with sputum polymorphonuclear cells% was noted: each increase in SA-SDQ by its standard deviation (6.85 units) was associated with a rise in % sputum neutrophils of 7.78 (95 % CI 2.33-13.22, p = 0.0006), independent of obesity and other confounders. Conclusions OSA symptoms are more prevalent among asthmatics, in whom they are associated with higher disease burden. OSA risk is associated with a neutrophilic airway inflammation in asthma, suggesting that OSA may be an important contributor to the neutrophilic asthma. Further studies are necessary to confirm these findings and better understand the mechanistic underpinnings of this relationship. PMID:26004304

The impact of subjective memory complaints on quality of life in community-dwelling older adults.

PubMed

Maki, Yohko; Yamaguchi, Tomoharu; Yamagami, Tetsuya; Murai, Tatsuhiko; Hachisuka, Kenji; Miyamae, Fumiko; Ito, Kae; Awata, Shuichi; Ura, Chiaki; Takahashi, Ryutaro; Yamaguchi, Haruyasu

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of memory complaints on quality of life (QOL) in elderly community dwellers with or without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Participants included 120 normal controls (NC) and 37 with MCI aged 65 and over. QOL was measured using the Japanese version of Satisfaction in Daily Life, and memory complaints were measured using a questionnaire consisting of four items. The relevance of QOL was evaluated with psychological factors of personality traits, sense of self-efficacy, depressive mood, self-evaluation of daily functioning, range of social activities (Life-Space Assessment), social network size, and cognitive functions including memory. The predictors of QOL were analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. QOL was not significantly different between the NC and MCI groups. In both groups, QOL was positively correlated with self-efficacy, daily functioning, social network size, Life-Space Assessment, and the personality traits of extraversion and agreeableness; QOL was negatively correlated with memory complaints, depressive mood, and the personality trait of neuroticism. In regression analysis, memory complaints were a negative predictor of QOL in the MCI group, but not in the NC group. The partial correlation coefficient between QOL and memory complaints was -0.623 (P < 0.05), after scores of depressive mood and self-efficacy were controlled. Depressive mood was a common negative predictor in both groups. Positive predictors were Life-Space Assessment in the NC group and sense of self-efficacy in the MCI group. Memory complaints exerted a negative impact on self-rated QOL in the MCI group, whereas a negative correlation was weak in the NC group. Memory training has been widely practised in individuals with MCI to prevent the development of dementia. However, such approaches inevitably identify their memory deficits and could aggravate their awareness of memory decline. Thus, it is critical to give sufficient consideration not to reduce QOL in the intervention for those with MCI. © 2014 The Authors. Psychogeriatrics © 2014 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Visual event-related potential changes in two subtypes of multiple system atrophy, MSA-C and MSA-P.

PubMed

Kamitani, Toshiaki; Kuroiwa, Yoshiyuki; Wang, Lihong; Li, Mei; Suzuki, Yume; Takahashi, Tatsuya; Ikegami, Tadashi; Matsubara, Sho

2002-08-01

We investigated the visual event-related potentials (ERPs) in two subtypes of multisystem atrophy (MSA) in 15 MSA-C patients, 12 MSA-P patients, and 21 normal control (NC) subjects. We used a visual oddball task to elicit ERPs. No significant changes were seen in N1 or N2 latency, in either MSA-C or MSA-P, compared with the NC group. An early stage of visual information process related to N1 and a visual discrimination process related to N2 might be preserved in both MSA-C and MSA-P. The P3a peak was more frequently undetectable in MSA than in the NC group. Significant P3a amplitude reduction in both MSA-C and MSA-P suggests impairment of the automatic cognitive processing in both MSA-C and MSA-P. Significant difference was found in P3b latency and P3b amplitude only in MSA-C, compared with the NC group. The result suggests the impairment of the controlled cognitive processing after the visual discrimination process in the MSA-C group. We further investigated the correlation between visual ERP changes and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Quantitative MRI measurements showed reduced size of the pons, cerebellum, perisylvian cerebral area, and deep cerebral gray matter in both MSA-C and MSA-P, and of the corpus callosum only in MSA-P, as compared to NC group. In both MSA-C and MSA-P, P3b latency was significantly correlated with the size on MRI of the pons and the cerebellum. P3b latency in the whole MSA group was also significantly correlated with the size of the pons and the cerebellum. These results indicate that P3b latency changes in parallel with the volume of the pons and the cerebellum in both MSA-C and MSA-P.

RNAcentral: A comprehensive database of non-coding RNA sequences

DOE PAGES

Williams, Kelly Porter; Lau, Britney Yan

2016-10-28

RNAcentral is a database of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) sequences that aggregates data from specialised ncRNA resources and provides a single entry point for accessing ncRNA sequences of all ncRNA types from all organisms. Since its launch in 2014, RNAcentral has integrated twelve new resources, taking the total number of collaborating database to 22, and began importing new types of data, such as modified nucleotides from MODOMICS and PDB. We created new species-specific identifiers that refer to unique RNA sequences within a context of single species. Furthermore, the website has been subject to continuous improvements focusing on text and sequence similaritymore » searches as well as genome browsing functionality.« less

RNAcentral: A comprehensive database of non-coding RNA sequences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, Kelly Porter; Lau, Britney Yan

RNAcentral is a database of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) sequences that aggregates data from specialised ncRNA resources and provides a single entry point for accessing ncRNA sequences of all ncRNA types from all organisms. Since its launch in 2014, RNAcentral has integrated twelve new resources, taking the total number of collaborating database to 22, and began importing new types of data, such as modified nucleotides from MODOMICS and PDB. We created new species-specific identifiers that refer to unique RNA sequences within a context of single species. Furthermore, the website has been subject to continuous improvements focusing on text and sequence similaritymore » searches as well as genome browsing functionality.« less

MNDR v2.0: an updated resource of ncRNA–disease associations in mammals

PubMed Central

Cui, Tianyu; Zhang, Lin; Huang, Yan; Yi, Ying; Tan, Puwen; Zhao, Yue; Hu, Yongfei

2018-01-01

Abstract Accumulating evidence suggests that diverse non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are involved in the progression of a wide variety of diseases. In recent years, abundant ncRNA–disease associations have been found and predicted according to experiments and prediction algorithms. Diverse ncRNA–disease associations are scattered over many resources and mammals, whereas a global view of diverse ncRNA–disease associations is not available for any mammals. Hence, we have updated the MNDR v2.0 database (www.rna-society.org/mndr/) by integrating experimental and prediction associations from manual literature curation and other resources under one common framework. The new developments in MNDR v2.0 include (i) an over 220-fold increase in ncRNA–disease associations enhancement compared with the previous version (including lncRNA, miRNA, piRNA, snoRNA and more than 1400 diseases); (ii) integrating experimental and prediction evidence from 14 resources and prediction algorithms for each ncRNA–disease association; (iii) mapping disease names to the Disease Ontology and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH); (iv) providing a confidence score for each ncRNA–disease association and (v) an increase of species coverage to six mammals. Finally, MNDR v2.0 intends to provide the scientific community with a resource for efficient browsing and extraction of the associations between diverse ncRNAs and diseases, including >260 000 ncRNA–disease associations. PMID:29106639

78 FR 54413 - Proposed Establishment of Class E Airspace; Star, NC

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-04

...-0440; Airspace Docket No. 13-ASO-10] Proposed Establishment of Class E Airspace; Star, NC AGENCY... action proposes to establish Class E Airspace at Star, NC, to accommodate a new Area Navigation (RNAV... establish Class E airspace at Star, NC, providing the controlled airspace required to support the new RNAV...

Individual Morphological Brain Network Construction Based on Multivariate Euclidean Distances Between Brain Regions.

PubMed

Yu, Kaixin; Wang, Xuetong; Li, Qiongling; Zhang, Xiaohui; Li, Xinwei; Li, Shuyu

2018-01-01

Morphological brain network plays a key role in investigating abnormalities in neurological diseases such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, most of the morphological brain network construction methods only considered a single morphological feature. Each type of morphological feature has specific neurological and genetic underpinnings. A combination of morphological features has been proven to have better diagnostic performance compared with a single feature, which suggests that an individual morphological brain network based on multiple morphological features would be beneficial in disease diagnosis. Here, we proposed a novel method to construct individual morphological brain networks for two datasets by calculating the exponential function of multivariate Euclidean distance as the evaluation of similarity between two regions. The first dataset included 24 healthy subjects who were scanned twice within a 3-month period. The topological properties of these brain networks were analyzed and compared with previous studies that used different methods and modalities. Small world property was observed in all of the subjects, and the high reproducibility indicated the robustness of our method. The second dataset included 170 patients with MCI (86 stable MCI and 84 progressive MCI cases) and 169 normal controls (NC). The edge features extracted from the individual morphological brain networks were used to distinguish MCI from NC and separate MCI subgroups (progressive vs. stable) through the support vector machine in order to validate our method. The results showed that our method achieved an accuracy of 79.65% (MCI vs. NC) and 70.59% (stable MCI vs. progressive MCI) in a one-dimension situation. In a multiple-dimension situation, our method improved the classification performance with an accuracy of 80.53% (MCI vs. NC) and 77.06% (stable MCI vs. progressive MCI) compared with the method using a single feature. The results indicated that our method could effectively construct an individual morphological brain network based on multiple morphological features and could accurately discriminate MCI from NC and stable MCI from progressive MCI, and may provide a valuable tool for the investigation of individual morphological brain networks.

75 FR 7044 - T&S Hardwoods, Inc., Sylva, NC; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-16

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-70,783] T&S Hardwoods, Inc., Sylva, NC; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration By application... production of hardwood lumber from the subject facility to a foreign country. T&S Hardwoods, Inc. did not...

PDGF controls contact inhibition of locomotion by regulating N-cadherin during neural crest migration.

PubMed

Bahm, Isabel; Barriga, Elias H; Frolov, Antonina; Theveneau, Eric; Frankel, Paul; Mayor, Roberto

2017-07-01

A fundamental property of neural crest (NC) migration is contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL), a process by which cells change their direction of migration upon cell contact. CIL has been proven to be essential for NC migration in amphibians and zebrafish by controlling cell polarity in a cell contact-dependent manner. Cell contact during CIL requires the participation of the cell adhesion molecule N-cadherin, which starts to be expressed by NC cells as a consequence of the switch between E- and N-cadherins during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, the mechanism that controls the upregulation of N-cadherin remains unknown. Here, we show that platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) and its ligand platelet-derived growth factor A (PDGF-A) are co-expressed in migrating cranial NC. Inhibition of PDGF-A/PDGFRα blocks NC migration by inhibiting N-cadherin and, consequently, impairing CIL. Moreover, we identify phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT as a downstream effector of the PDGFRα cellular response during CIL. Our results lead us to propose PDGF-A/PDGFRα signalling as a tissue-autonomous regulator of CIL by controlling N-cadherin upregulation during EMT. Finally, we show that once NC cells have undergone EMT, the same PDGF-A/PDGFRα works as an NC chemoattractant, guiding their directional migration. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Cortical thickness in de novo patients with Parkinson disease and mild cognitive impairment with consideration of clinical phenotype and motor laterality.

PubMed

Danti, S; Toschi, N; Diciotti, S; Tessa, C; Poletti, M; Del Dotto, P; Lucetti, C

2015-12-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with motor and non-motor symptoms, including cognitive deficits. Several magnetic resonance imaging approaches have been applied to investigate brain atrophy in PD. The aim of this study was to detect early structural cortical and subcortical changes in de novo PD whilst distinguishing cognitive status, clinical phenotype and motor laterality. Eighteen de novo PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), 18 de novo PD without MCI (PD-NC) and 18 healthy control subjects were evaluated. In the PD-MCI group, nine were tremor dominant and nine were postural instability gait disorder (PIGD) phenotype; 11 had right-sided symptom dominance and seven had left-sided symptom dominance. FreeSurfer was used to measure cortical thickness/folding, subcortical structures and to study group differences as well as the association with clinical and neuropsychological data. Parkinson's disease with MCI showed regional thinning in the right frontal, right middle temporal areas and left insula compared to PD-NC. A reduction of the volume of the left and right thalamus and left hippocampus was found in PD-MCI compared to PD-NC. PD-MCI PIGD showed regional thinning in the right inferior parietal area compared to healthy controls. A decreased volume of the left thalamus was reported in PD-MCI with right-sided symptom dominance compared to PD-NC and PD-MCI with left-sided symptom dominance. When MCI was present, PD patients showed a fronto-temporo-parietal pattern of cortical thinning. This cortical pattern does not appear to be influenced by motor laterality, although one-sided symptom dominance may contribute to volumetric reduction of specific subcortical structures. © 2015 EAN.

Crystal shape controlled H2 storage rate in nanoporous carbon composite with ultra-fine Pt nanoparticle

PubMed Central

Chen, Tsan-Yao; Zhang, Yanhui; Hsu, Liang-Ching; Hu, Alice; Zhuang, Yu; Fan, Chia-Ming; Wang, Cheng-Yu; Chung, Tsui-Yun; Tsao, Cheng-Si; Chuang, Haw-Yeu

2017-01-01

This study demonstrates that the hydrogen storage rate (HSR) of nanoporous carbon supported platinum nanocatalysts (NC) is determined by their heterojunction and geometric configurations. The present NC is synthesized in an average particle size of ~1.5 nm by incipient wetness impregnation of Pt4+ at carbon support followed by annealing in H2 ambient at 102–105 °C. Among the steps in hydrogen storage, decomposition of H2 molecule into 2 H atoms on Pt NC surface is the deciding factor in HSR that is controlled by the thickness of Pt NC. For the best condition, HSR of Pt NC in 1~2 atomic layers thick (4.7 μg/g min) is 2.6 times faster than that (1.3 μg/g min) of Pt NC with higher than 3 atomic layers thick. PMID:28195224

Crystal shape controlled H2 storage rate in nanoporous carbon composite with ultra-fine Pt nanoparticle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Tsan-Yao; Zhang, Yanhui; Hsu, Liang-Ching; Hu, Alice; Zhuang, Yu; Fan, Chia-Ming; Wang, Cheng-Yu; Chung, Tsui-Yun; Tsao, Cheng-Si; Chuang, Haw-Yeu

2017-02-01

This study demonstrates that the hydrogen storage rate (HSR) of nanoporous carbon supported platinum nanocatalysts (NC) is determined by their heterojunction and geometric configurations. The present NC is synthesized in an average particle size of ~1.5 nm by incipient wetness impregnation of Pt4+ at carbon support followed by annealing in H2 ambient at 102-105 °C. Among the steps in hydrogen storage, decomposition of H2 molecule into 2 H atoms on Pt NC surface is the deciding factor in HSR that is controlled by the thickness of Pt NC. For the best condition, HSR of Pt NC in 1~2 atomic layers thick (4.7 μg/g min) is 2.6 times faster than that (1.3 μg/g min) of Pt NC with higher than 3 atomic layers thick.

Numerical Control/Computer Aided Manufacturing (NC/CAM), A Descom Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-07-01

CAM machines operate directly from computers, but most get instructions in the form of punched tape. The applications of NC/CAM are virtually...Although most NC/CAM equipment is metal working, its applications include electronics manufacturing, glass making, food processing, materiel handling...drafting, woodworking, plastics and inspection, just to name a few. Numerical control, like most technologies, is an advancing and evolutionary process

Vascular endothelial growth factor in systemic lupus erythematosus - correlations with disease activity and nailfold capillaroscopy changes.

PubMed

Bărbulescu, Andreea Lili; Vreju, Ananu Florentin; Bugă, Ana Maria; Sandu, Raluca Elena; Criveanu, Cristina; Tudoraşcu, Diana Rodica; Gheonea, Ioana Andreea; Ciurea, Paulina Lucia

2015-01-01

Our study aimed to quantify serum VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and its inter-relation with the severity of microvascular damage, assessed by nailfold capillaroscopy (NC), and to establish the possible relationship with disease activity score. We included 18 patients, diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 17 gender and age-matched control subjects. For determining serum VEGF, we used a Human VEGF Assay kit-IBL. NC was performed, according to the standard method, using a video-capillaroscope Videocap 3.0, DS Medica, by the same examiner, blinded to clinical and laboratory data. Serum VEGF registered a mean value of 68.99±71.06 pg/mL for SLE patients and 31.84±11.74 pg/mL for controls, differences statistically significant; depending on disease activity, we found a mean value of 60.11±57.74 pg/mL, for patients with moderate disease activity vs. 30.96±11.51 pg/mL for the ones with a low activity (p=0.014). We found a moderately positive correlation, statistically significant (p=0.015), between serum level of VEGF and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Performing NC, we found changes in 88.88% of the patients; the most frequent were increased tortuosity, dilated capillaries, an increased length and a prominent subpapillary plexus. The presence of nailfold capillaroscopy changes and serum level of VEGF, correlated moderately, positive. Since serum levels of VEGF are higher in SLE patients, compared to controls, significantly different according to disease activity degree, and directly inter-related to abnormal NC patterns and a more active disease, we can include these accessible parameters in the routine evaluation, in order to better quantify the systemic damage, individualize the treatment, improve the outcome and life quality for these patients.

Executive Control of Attention in Narcolepsy

PubMed Central

Bayard, Sophie; Croisier Langenier, Muriel; Cochen De Cock, Valérie; Scholz, Sabine; Dauvilliers, Yves

2012-01-01

Background Narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) is a disabling sleep disorder characterized by early loss of hypocretin neurons that project to areas involved in the attention network. We characterized the executive control of attention in drug-free patients with NC to determine whether the executive deficits observed in patients with NC are specific to the disease itself or whether they reflect performance changes due to the severity of excessive daytime sleepiness. Methodology Twenty-two patients with NC compared to 22 patients with narcolepsy without cataplexy (NwC) matched for age, gender, intellectual level, objective daytime sleepiness and number of sleep onset REM periods (SOREMPs) were studied. Thirty-two matched healthy controls were included. All participants underwent a standardized interview, completed questionnaires, and neuropsychological tests. All patients underwent a polysomnography followed by multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT), with neuropsychological evaluation performed the same day between MSLT sessions. Principal Findings Irrespective of diagnosis, patients reported higher self-reported attentional complaints associated with the intensity of depressive symptoms. Patients with NC performed slower and more variably on simple reaction time tasks than patients with NwC, who did not differ from controls. Patients with NC and NwC generally performed slower, reacted more variably, and made more errors than controls on executive functioning tests. Individual profile analyses showed a clear heterogeneity of the severity of executive deficit. This severity was related to objective sleepiness, higher number of SOREMPs on the MSLT, and lower intelligence quotient. The nature and severity of the executive deficits were unrelated to NC and NwC diagnosis. Conclusions We demonstrated that drug-free patients with NC and NwC complained of attention deficit, with altered executive control of attention being explained by the severity of objective sleepiness and global intellectual level. Further studies are needed to explore whether medications that promote wakefulness can improve the executive functions in narcolepsy. PMID:22558075

ApoE4 effects on automated diagnostic classifiers for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

PubMed Central

Apostolova, Liana G.; Hwang, Kristy S.; Kohannim, Omid; Avila, David; Elashoff, David; Jack, Clifford R.; Shaw, Leslie; Trojanowski, John Q.; Weiner, Michael W.; Thompson, Paul M.

2014-01-01

Biomarkers are the only feasible way to detect and monitor presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD). No single biomarker can predict future cognitive decline with an acceptable level of accuracy. In addition to designing powerful multimodal diagnostic platforms, a careful investigation of the major sources of disease heterogeneity and their influence on biomarker changes is needed. Here we investigated the accuracy of a novel multimodal biomarker classifier for differentiating cognitively normal (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD subjects with and without stratification by ApoE4 genotype. 111 NC, 182 MCI and 95 AD ADNI participants provided both structural MRI and CSF data at baseline. We used an automated machine-learning classifier to test the ability of hippocampal volume and CSF Aβ, t-tau and p-tau levels, both separately and in combination, to differentiate NC, MCI and AD subjects, and predict conversion. We hypothesized that the combined hippocampal/CSF biomarker classifier model would achieve the highest accuracy in differentiating between the three diagnostic groups and that ApoE4 genotype will affect both diagnostic accuracy and biomarker selection. The combined hippocampal/CSF classifier performed better than hippocampus-only classifier in differentiating NC from MCI and NC from AD. It also outperformed the CSF-only classifier in differentiating NC vs. AD. Our amyloid marker played a role in discriminating NC from MCI or AD but not for MCI vs. AD. Neurodegenerative markers contributed to accurate discrimination of AD from NC and MCI but not NC from MCI. Classifiers predicting MCI conversion performed well only after ApoE4 stratification. Hippocampal volume and sex achieved AUC = 0.68 for predicting conversion in the ApoE4-positive MCI, while CSF p-tau, education and sex achieved AUC = 0.89 for predicting conversion in ApoE4-negative MCI. These observations support the proposed biomarker trajectory in AD, which postulates that amyloid markers become abnormal early in the disease course while markers of neurodegeneration become abnormal later in the disease course and suggests that ApoE4 could be at least partially responsible for some of the observed disease heterogeneity. PMID:24634832

The effects of feedback lighting on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity and the reproductive maturation of the male Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferraro, J. S.

1988-01-01

The non-parametric model of entrainment suggests that brief pulses of light, delivered between dusk and dawn can simulate the phasing effects of full photoperiods or even constant light (LL). Feedback lighting (LDFB) is a lighting condition where individual animals, otherwise in constant darkness (DD), are exposed to light in response to a monitored behavior. The specific purpose of this type of illumination is to expose the circadian cycle to light only during the subjective night. LDFB has been used to support this hypothesis in several species of nocturnal rodents and one species of diurnal primate by producing similar free-running periods in LDFB as in LL. This lighting condition has also been used to test the hypothesis that exposing the subjective night to even short duration light pulses will maintain reproductive function in long day breeders. In the Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), however, LDFB is not as photostimulatory as LL despite extensive light exposure during the subjective night. In the experiments presented here, a group of immature male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were placed in individual light-tight sound attenuated chambers where they had free access to food, water and an activity wheel. The animals were exposed to one of four lighting conditions [DD, LL, LDFB or a neighbor control of feedback lighting (LDFB NC)] for approximately 30 days shortly after weaning. LDFB NC is a lighting condition where a neighbor control hamster receives the identical lighting regime as a paired animal exposing itself to LDFB, yet the neighbor has no control over it. A fifth group was exposed to a light-dark cycle of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark (LD16:8). This group was housed in cages in a colony room and did not have access to a running wheel. The free-running periods of the locomotor activity rhythms for hamsters exposed to LDFB and LL were not similar, unlike the results for rats, Syrian hamsters, mice, monkeys and even mature Djungarian hamsters. Immature hamsters exposed to DD and LDFB NC developed more slowly than animals exposed to LL or LD16:8, while hamsters in LDFB developed at an intermediate rate. Thus, it appears that LDFB, although capable of inducing reproductive function in immature Djungarian hamsters, is not as photostimulatory as may have been expected from current photoperiodic models, despite substantial light exposure during the subjective night. Furthermore, this data may suggest that the circadian system of 18-48 day old Djungarian hamsters are still undergoing organizational maturation.

Tuning Confinement in Colloidal Silicon Nanocrystals with Saturated Surface Ligands.

PubMed

Carroll, Gerard M; Limpens, Rens; Neale, Nathan R

2018-05-09

The optical properties of silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) are a subject of intense study and continued debate. In particular, Si NC photoluminescence (PL) properties are known to depend strongly on the surface chemistry, resulting in electron-hole recombination pathways derived from the Si NC band-edge, surface-state defects, or combined NC-conjugated ligand hybrid states. In this Letter, we perform a comparison of three different saturated surface functional groups-alkyls, amides, and alkoxides-on nonthermal plasma-synthesized Si NCs. We find a systematic and size-dependent high-energy (blue) shift in the PL spectrum of Si NCs with amide and alkoxy functionalization relative to alkyl. Time-resolved photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopies reveal no change in the excited-state dynamics between Si NCs functionalized with alkyl, amide, or alkoxide ligands, showing for the first time that saturated ligands-not only surface-derived charge-transfer states or hybridization between NC and low-lying ligand orbitals-are responsible for tuning the Si NC optical properties. To explain these PL shifts we propose that the atom bound to the Si NC surface strongly interacts with the Si NC electronic wave function and modulates the Si NC quantum confinement. These results reveal a potentially broadly applicable correlation between the optoelectronic properties of Si NCs and related quantum-confined structures based on the interaction between NC surfaces and the ligand binding group.

Tuning Confinement in Colloidal Silicon Nanocrystals with Saturated Surface Ligands

DOE PAGES

Carroll, Gerard M.; Limpens, Rens; Neale, Nathan R.

2018-04-16

The optical properties of silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) are a subject of intense study and continued debate. In particular, Si NC photoluminescence (PL) properties are known to depend strongly on the surface chemistry, resulting in electron-hole recombination pathways derived from the Si NC band-edge, surface-state defects, or combined NC-conjugated ligand hybrid states. In this Letter, we perform a comparison of three different saturated surface functional groups - alkyls, amides, and alkoxides - on nonthermal plasma-synthesized Si NCs. We find a systematic and size-dependent high-energy (blue) shift in the PL spectrum of Si NCs with amide and alkoxy functionalization relative tomore » alkyl. Time-resolved photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopies reveal no change in the excited-state dynamics between Si NCs functionalized with alkyl, amide, or alkoxide ligands, showing for the first time that saturated ligands - not only surface-derived charge-transfer states or hybridization between NC and low-lying ligand orbitals - are responsible for tuning the Si NC optical properties. To explain these PL shifts we propose that the atom bound to the Si NC surface strongly interacts with the Si NC electronic wave function and modulates the Si NC quantum confinement. Furthermore, these results reveal a potentially broadly applicable correlation between the optoelectronic properties of Si NCs and related quantum-confined structures based on the interaction between NC surfaces and the ligand binding group.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neale, Nathan R; Carroll, Gerard; Limpens, Rens

The optical properties of silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) are a subject of intense study and continued debate. In particular, Si NC photoluminescence (PL) properties are known to depend strongly on the surface chemistry, resulting in electron-hole recombination pathways derived from the Si NC band-edge, surface-state defects, or combined NC-conjugated ligand hybrid states. In this Letter, we perform a comparison of three different saturated surface functional groups - alkyls, amides, and alkoxides - on nonthermal plasma-synthesized Si NCs. We find a systematic and size-dependent high-energy (blue) shift in the PL spectrum of Si NCs with amide and alkoxy functionalization relative tomore » alkyl. Time-resolved photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopies reveal no change in the excited-state dynamics between Si NCs functionalized with alkyl, amide, or alkoxide ligands, showing for the first time that saturated ligands - not only surface-derived charge-transfer states or hybridization between NC and low-lying ligand orbitals - are responsible for tuning the Si NC optical properties. To explain these PL shifts we propose that the atom bound to the Si NC surface strongly interacts with the Si NC electronic wave function and modulates the Si NC quantum confinement. These results reveal a potentially broadly applicable correlation between the optoelectronic properties of Si NCs and related quantum-confined structures based on the interaction between NC surfaces and the ligand binding group.« less

Phytoaccumulation of sodium and chloride into leaf, woody, and root tissue of Populus irrigated with landfill leachate

Treesearch

Jill A. Zalesny; Ronald S., Jr. Zalesny; Adam H. Wiese; Bart T. Sexton; Richard B. Hall

2007-01-01

Information is limited about the response of Populus to elevated levels of sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-). We irrigated eight Populus clones (NC13460, NC14018, NC14104, NC14106, DM115, DN5, NM2, NM6) with fertilized well water (control) (N, P, K) or municipal solid waste landfill leachate weekly during...

Using Individualized Brain Network for Analyzing Structural Covariance of the Cerebral Cortex in Alzheimer's Patients.

PubMed

Kim, Hee-Jong; Shin, Jeong-Hyeon; Han, Cheol E; Kim, Hee Jin; Na, Duk L; Seo, Sang Won; Seong, Joon-Kyung

2016-01-01

Cortical thinning patterns in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been widely reported through conventional regional analysis. In addition, the coordinated variance of cortical thickness in different brain regions has been investigated both at the individual and group network levels. In this study, we aim to investigate network architectural characteristics of a structural covariance network (SCN) in AD, and further to show that the structural covariance connectivity becomes disorganized across the brain regions in AD, while the normal control (NC) subjects maintain more clustered and consistent coordination in cortical atrophy variations. We generated SCNs directly from T1-weighted MR images of individual patients using surface-based cortical thickness data, with structural connectivity defined as similarity in cortical thickness within different brain regions. Individual SCNs were constructed using morphometric data from the Samsung Medical Center (SMC) dataset. The structural covariance connectivity showed higher clustering than randomly generated networks, as well as similar minimum path lengths, indicating that the SCNs are "small world." There were significant difference between NC and AD group in characteristic path lengths (z = -2.97, p < 0.01) and small-worldness values (z = 4.05, p < 0.01). Clustering coefficients in AD was smaller than that of NC but there was no significant difference (z = 1.81, not significant). We further observed that the AD patients had significantly disrupted structural connectivity. We also show that the coordinated variance of cortical thickness is distributed more randomly from one region to other regions in AD patients when compared to NC subjects. Our proposed SCN may provide surface-based measures for understanding interaction between two brain regions with co-atrophy of the cerebral cortex due to normal aging or AD. We applied our method to the AD Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) data to show consistency in results with the SMC dataset.

Effect of high ovarian response on the expression of endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) in peri-implantation endometrium in IVF women

PubMed Central

Xu, Li-Zhen; Gao, Min-Zhi; Yao, Li-Hua; Liang, A-Juan; Zhao, Xiao-Ming; Sun, Zhao-Gui

2015-01-01

Objective: To investigate the effect of ovarian stimulation on the expression of EG-VEGF mRNA and protein in peri-implantation endometrium in women undergoing IVF and its relation with endometrial receptivity (ER). Design: Prospective laboratory study. Setting: University hospital. Patients: Eighteen women in stimulated cycles (SC) as study subjects and 18 women in natural cycles (NC) as controls. Women in SC group were classified with two subgroups, high ovarian response (SC1, n=9) with peak serum E2>5,000 pg/mL and moderate ovarian response (SC2, n=9) with peak serum E2 1,000-5,000 pg/mL. Intervention(s): Endometrial biopsies were collected 6 days after ovulation in NC or after oocyte retrieval in SC. Main outcome measure(s): Endometrium histological dating was observed with HE staining. EG-VEGF mRNA expression levels determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and protein levels by immunohistochemistry. Results: All endometrial samples were in the secretory phase. The endometrial development in SC1 was 1 to 2 days advanced to NC, and with dyssynchrony between glandular and stromal tissue. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that EG-VEGF protein was predominantly expressed in the glandular epithelial cells and endothelial cells of vessels, and also presented in the stroma. The image analysis confirmed that both the gland and stroma of endometrium in SC1 had a significantly lower EG-VEGF protein expression than that in SC2 and NC endometrium. Moreover, EG-VEGF mRNA levels were significantly lower in SC1 than in NC. Both EG-VEGF protein and mRNA levels had no significant difference between SC2 and NC. Conclusion: Decreased expression of EG-VEGF in the peri-implantation is associated with high ovarian response, which may account for the impaired ER and lower implantation rate in IVF cycles. PMID:26464631

Effect of high ovarian response on the expression of endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) in peri-implantation endometrium in IVF women.

PubMed

Xu, Li-Zhen; Gao, Min-Zhi; Yao, Li-Hua; Liang, A-Juan; Zhao, Xiao-Ming; Sun, Zhao-Gui

2015-01-01

To investigate the effect of ovarian stimulation on the expression of EG-VEGF mRNA and protein in peri-implantation endometrium in women undergoing IVF and its relation with endometrial receptivity (ER). Prospective laboratory study. University hospital. Eighteen women in stimulated cycles (SC) as study subjects and 18 women in natural cycles (NC) as controls. Women in SC group were classified with two subgroups, high ovarian response (SC1, n=9) with peak serum E2>5,000 pg/mL and moderate ovarian response (SC2, n=9) with peak serum E2 1,000-5,000 pg/mL. Endometrial biopsies were collected 6 days after ovulation in NC or after oocyte retrieval in SC. Endometrium histological dating was observed with HE staining. EG-VEGF mRNA expression levels determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and protein levels by immunohistochemistry. All endometrial samples were in the secretory phase. The endometrial development in SC1 was 1 to 2 days advanced to NC, and with dyssynchrony between glandular and stromal tissue. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that EG-VEGF protein was predominantly expressed in the glandular epithelial cells and endothelial cells of vessels, and also presented in the stroma. The image analysis confirmed that both the gland and stroma of endometrium in SC1 had a significantly lower EG-VEGF protein expression than that in SC2 and NC endometrium. Moreover, EG-VEGF mRNA levels were significantly lower in SC1 than in NC. Both EG-VEGF protein and mRNA levels had no significant difference between SC2 and NC. Decreased expression of EG-VEGF in the peri-implantation is associated with high ovarian response, which may account for the impaired ER and lower implantation rate in IVF cycles.

A CONCISE PANEL OF BIOMARKERS IDENTIFIES NEUROCOGNITIVE FUNCTIONING CHANGES IN HIV-INFECTED INDIVIDUALS

PubMed Central

Marcotte, Thomas D.; Deutsch, Reena; Michael, Benedict Daniel; Franklin, Donald; Cookson, Debra Rosario; Bharti, Ajay R.; Grant, Igor; Letendre, Scott L.

2013-01-01

Background Neurocognitive (NC) impairment (NCI) occurs commonly in people living with HIV. Despite substantial effort, no biomarkers have been sufficiently validated for diagnosis and prognosis of NCI in the clinic. The goal of this project was to identify diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for NCI in a comprehensively characterized HIV cohort. Methods Multidisciplinary case review selected 98 HIV-infected individuals and categorized them into four NC groups using normative data: stably normal (SN), stably impaired (SI), worsening (Wo), or improving (Im). All subjects underwent comprehensive NC testing, phlebotomy, and lumbar puncture at two timepoints separated by a median of 6.2 months. Eight biomarkers were measured in CSF and blood by immunoassay. Results were analyzed using mixed model linear regression and staged recursive partitioning. Results At the first visit, subjects were mostly middle-aged (median 45) white (58%) men (84%) who had AIDS (70%). Of the 73% who took antiretroviral therapy (ART), 54% had HIV RNA levels below 50 c/mL in plasma. Mixed model linear regression identified that only MCP-1 in CSF was associated with neurocognitive change group. Recursive partitioning models aimed at diagnosis (i.e., correctly classifying neurocognitive status at the first visit) were complex and required most biomarkers to achieve misclassification limits. In contrast, prognostic models were more efficient. A combination of three biomarkers (sCD14, MCP-1, SDF-1α) correctly classified 82% of Wo and SN subjects, including 88% of SN subjects. A combination of two biomarkers (MCP-1, TNF-α) correctly classified 81% of Im and SI subjects, including 100% of SI subjects. Conclusions This analysis of well-characterized individuals identified concise panels of biomarkers associated with NC change. Across all analyses, the two most frequently identified biomarkers were sCD14 and MCP-1, indicators of monocyte/macrophage activation. While the panels differed depending on the outcome and on the degree of misclassification, nearly all stable patients were correctly classified. PMID:24101401

The Role of Noncriterial Recollection in Estimating Recollection and Familiarity

PubMed Central

Parks, Colleen M.

2007-01-01

Noncriterial recollection (ncR) is recollection of details that are irrelevant to task demands. It has been shown to elevate familiarity estimates and to be functionally equivalent to familiarity in the process dissociation procedure (Yonelinas & Jacoby, 1996). However, Toth and Parks (2006) found no ncR in older adults, and hypothesized that this absence was related to older adults’ criterial recollection deficit. To test this hypothesis, as well as whether ncR is functionally equivalent to familiarity and increases the subjective experience of familiarity, remember-know and confidence-rating methods were used to estimate recollection and familiarity with young adults, young adults in a divided-attention condition (Experiment 1), and older adults. Supporting Toth and Parks’ hypothesis, ncR was found in all groups, but was consistently larger for groups with higher criterial recollection. Response distributions and receiver-operating characteristics revealed further similarities to criterial recollection and suggested that neither the experience nor usefulness of familiarity was enhanced by ncR. Overall, the results suggest that ncR does not differ fundamentally from criterial recollection. PMID:18591986

Editing of EIA coded, numerically controlled, machine tool tapes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weiner, J. M.

1975-01-01

Editing of numerically controlled (N/C) machine tool tapes (8-level paper tape) using an interactive graphic display processor is described. A rapid technique required for correcting production errors in N/C tapes was developed using the interactive text editor on the IMLAC PDS-ID graphic display system and two special programs resident on disk. The correction technique and special programs for processing N/C tapes coded to EIA specifications are discussed.

Microscale architecture in biomaterial scaffolds for spatial control of neural cell behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meco, Edi; Lampe, Kyle J.

2018-02-01

Biomaterial scaffolds mimic aspects of the native central nervous system (CNS) extracellular matrix (ECM) and have been extensively utilized to influence neural cell (NC) behavior in in vitro and in vivo settings. These biomimetic scaffolds support NC cultures, can direct the differentiation of NCs, and have recapitulated some native NC behavior in an in vitro setting. However, NC transplant therapies and treatments used in animal models of CNS disease and injury have not fully restored functionality. The observed lack of functional recovery occurs despite improvements in transplanted NC viability when incorporating biomaterial scaffolds and the potential of NC to replace damaged native cells. The behavior of NCs within biomaterial scaffolds must be directed in order to improve the efficacy of transplant therapies and treatments. Biomaterial scaffold topography and imbedded bioactive cues, designed at the microscale level, can alter NC phenotype, direct migration, and differentiation. Microscale patterning in biomaterial scaffolds for spatial control of NC behavior has enhanced the capabilities of in vitro models to capture properties of the native CNS tissue ECM. Patterning techniques such as lithography, electrospinning and 3D bioprinting can be employed to design the microscale architecture of biomaterial scaffolds. Here, the progress and challenges of the prevalent biomaterial patterning techniques of lithography, electrospinning, and 3D bioprinting are reported. This review analyzes NC behavioral response to specific microscale topographical patterns and spatially organized bioactive cues.

Integration of Multilocus Genetic Risk into the Default Mode Network Longitudinal Trajectory during the Alzheimer's Disease Process.

PubMed

Su, Fan; Shu, Hao; Ye, Qing; Xie, Chunming; Yuan, Baoyu; Zhang, Zhijun; Bai, Feng

2017-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the cognitive significance of the changes in default mode network (DMN) during the process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the genetic basis that drives the alteration. Eighty-seven subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 131 healthy controls (HC) were employed at baseline, and they had the genetic risk scores (GRS) based on the GWAS-validated AD-related top loci. Eleven MCIs who converted to AD (c-MCIs), 32 subjects who remained stable (nc-MCIs), and 56 HCs participated in the follow-up analyses after an average of 35 months. Decreased functional connectivity (FC) within temporal cortex was identified for MCIs at baseline, which was partially determined by the GRS; moreover, compensations may occur within the frontal-parietal brain to maintain relatively intact cognition. During the follow-ups, c-MCIs exhibited more FC declines within the prefrontal-parietal lobes and parahippocampal gyrus/hippocampus than the HCs and nc-MCIs. The GRS did not significantly vary among the three groups, whereas associations were identified at risky alleles and FC declines in all AD spectra. Interestingly, the influence of APOEɛ4 varied as the disease progressed; APOEɛ4 was associated with longitudinal FC decreases only for HCs in the single variance-based analyses and deteriorated DMN integration in nc-MCIs by combining the effects of other loci. However, the GRS without APOEɛ4 predicted FC decline for converters. It is suggested that the integration of multilocus genetic risk predicted the longitudinal trajectory of DMN and may be used as a clinical strategy to track AD progression.

Polysomnographic evaluation of sleep quality and quantitative variables in women as a function of mood, reproductive status, and age

PubMed Central

Orff, Henry J.; Meliska, Charles J.; Lopez, Ana; Martinez, Fernando; Sorenson, Diane; Parry, Barbara L.

2012-01-01

This archival cross-sectional investigation examined the impact of mood, reproductive status (RS), and age on polysomnographic (PSG) measures in women. PSG was performed on 73 normal controls (NC) and 64 depressed patients (DP), in the course of studies in menstruating, pregnant, postpartum, and peri- and postmenopausal women. A two-factor, between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the main effects of reproductive status (RS: menstrual vs pregnant vs postpartum vs menopausal) and diagnosis (NC vs DP), and their interaction, on PSG measures. To further refine the analyses, a two-factor, between subjects MANOVA was used to test the main effects of age (19 to 27 vs 28 to 36 vs 37 to 45 vs 46+ years) and diagnosis on the PSG data. Analyses revealed that in DP women, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep percentage was significantly elevated relative to NC across both RS and age. Significant differences in sleep efficiency, Stage 1%, and REM density were associated with RS; differences in total sleep time, Stage 2 percentage, and Stage 4 percentage were associated with differences in age. Both RS and age were related to differences in sleep latency, Stage 3 percentage, and Delta percentage. Finally, wake after sleep onset time, REM percentage, and REM latency did not vary with respect to RS or age. Overall, this investigation examined three major variables (mood, RS, and age) that are known to impact sleep in women. Of the variables, age appeared to have the greatest impact on PSG sleep measures, reflecting changes occurring across the lifespan. PMID:23393417

Formation of size controlled Ge nanocrystals in Er-doped ZnO matrix and their enhancement effect in 1.54 μm photoluminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Ranran; Lu, Fei; Li, Kaikai; Liu, Kaijing

2018-06-01

This paper investigated the controllable growth of Ge nanocrystal (nc-Ge) in (Ge, Er) co-doped ZnO film, and the relationship between the size of nc-Ge and the enhancement of Er3+ related 1.54 μm photoluminescence (PL). It was found that nc-Ge with size of ∼5 nm was formed by annealing treatment at 600 °C. The intensity of 1.54 μm was significantly enhanced due to the existence of nc-Ge and showed an obvious dependence on nanocrystal size. The size of nc-Ge increased with the increase of the annealing temperature, and the nanocrystal with size of ∼5 nm made the most obvious contribution to PL enhancement. Prolonging annealing time could improve the crystalline structure of ZnO matrix but had no effect on PL intensity. The experimental results showed that the PL enhancement was mainly achieved by transferring the energy to Er through the resonance absorption of nc-Ge.

Neural crest stem cell multipotency requires Foxd3 to maintain neural potential and repress mesenchymal fates.

PubMed

Mundell, Nathan A; Labosky, Patricia A

2011-02-01

Neural crest (NC) progenitors generate a wide array of cell types, yet molecules controlling NC multipotency and self-renewal and factors mediating cell-intrinsic distinctions between multipotent versus fate-restricted progenitors are poorly understood. Our earlier work demonstrated that Foxd3 is required for maintenance of NC progenitors in the embryo. Here, we show that Foxd3 mediates a fate restriction choice for multipotent NC progenitors with loss of Foxd3 biasing NC toward a mesenchymal fate. Neural derivatives of NC were lost in Foxd3 mutant mouse embryos, whereas abnormally fated NC-derived vascular smooth muscle cells were ectopically located in the aorta. Cranial NC defects were associated with precocious differentiation towards osteoblast and chondrocyte cell fates, and individual mutant NC from different anteroposterior regions underwent fate changes, losing neural and increasing myofibroblast potential. Our results demonstrate that neural potential can be separated from NC multipotency by the action of a single gene, and establish novel parallels between NC and other progenitor populations that depend on this functionally conserved stem cell protein to regulate self-renewal and multipotency.

Regulatory RNAs and control of epigenetic mechanisms: expectations for cognition and cognitive dysfunction.

PubMed

Butler, Anderson A; Webb, William M; Lubin, Farah D

2016-01-01

The diverse functions of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) can influence virtually every aspect of the transcriptional process including epigenetic regulation of genes. In the CNS, regulatory RNA networks and epigenetic mechanisms have broad relevance to gene transcription changes involved in long-term memory formation and cognition. Thus, it is becoming increasingly clear that multiple classes of ncRNAs impact neuronal development, neuroplasticity, and cognition. Currently, a large gap exists in our knowledge of how ncRNAs facilitate epigenetic processes, and how this phenomenon affects cognitive function. In this review, we discuss recent findings highlighting a provocative role for ncRNAs including lncRNAs and piRNAs in the control of epigenetic mechanisms involved in cognitive function. Furthermore, we discuss the putative roles for these ncRNAs in cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.

High normal fasting blood glucose is associated with dementia in Chinese elders

PubMed Central

Mortimer, J.A.; Borenstein, A.R.; Ding, D.; DeCarli, C.; Zhao, Q.; Copenhaver, C.; Guo, Q.; Chu, S.; Galasko, D.; Salmon, D.P.; Dai, Q.; Wu, Y.; Petersen, R.; Hong, Z.

2010-01-01

Background Diabetes is a risk factor for MCI and dementia. However, the association between high normal fasting blood glucose (FBG) and dementia has not been studied. Methods Polytomous logistic regression was used to assess the association of dementia and MCI with FBG in an age- and sex-matched sample of 32 dementia patients, 27 amnestic MCI (aMCI) patients and 31 normal controls (NC). Analyses were repeated for those with normal FBG. Correlations between FBG and cognitive test scores were obtained. Results Controlling for age, sex, education, body mass index, Hachinski Ischemic Score, MRI stroke, and normalized brain, hippocampal and white matter hyperintensity MRI volumes; higher FBG was associated with dementia vs. aMCI status (OR= 3.13; 95% CI:1.28–7.69). This association remained (OR= 7.75; 95% CI:1.10–55.56) when analyses were restricted to subjects with normal FBG. When dementia patients were compared with NC adjusting for age, sex and education a significant association with FBG also was seen (OR=1.83; 95%CI:1.09–3.08), but the association was lost when vascular covariates were added to the model. FBG was not associated with aMCI status vs. NC. Higher FBG was correlated with poorer performance on the Trailmaking Test Part B (p=0.003). The percentage of dementia patients with high normal FBG (90%) was significantly higher than that of aMCI patients with high normal FBG (32.9%) (χ2=13.9, p<0.001). Conclusions Higher FBG was associated with dementia (vs. aMCI) independent of vascular risk factors and MRI indicators of vascular disease, and remained a significant risk factor when analyses were restricted to subjects with normal FBG. The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that a high normal level of FBG may be a risk factor for dementia. PMID:21044774

Effect of Visual Cues on the Resolution of Perceptual Ambiguity in Parkinson’s Disease and Normal Aging

PubMed Central

Díaz-Santos, Mirella; Cao, Bo; Mauro, Samantha A.; Yazdanbakhsh, Arash; Neargarder, Sandy; Cronin-Golomb, Alice

2017-01-01

Parkinson’s disease (PD) and normal aging have been associated with changes in visual perception, including reliance on external cues to guide behavior. This raises the question of the extent to which these groups use visual cues when disambiguating information. Twenty-seven individuals with PD, 23 normal control adults (NC), and 20 younger adults (YA) were presented a Necker cube in which one face was highlighted by thickening the lines defining the face. The hypothesis was that the visual cues would help PD and NC to exert better control over bistable perception. There were three conditions, including passive viewing and two volitional-control conditions (hold one percept in front; and switch: speed up the alternation between the two). In the Hold condition, the cue was either consistent or inconsistent with task instructions. Mean dominance durations (time spent on each percept) under passive viewing were comparable in PD and NC, and shorter in YA. PD and YA increased dominance durations in the Hold cue-consistent condition relative to NC, meaning that appropriate cues helped PD but not NC hold one perceptual interpretation. By contrast, in the Switch condition, NC and YA decreased dominance durations relative to PD, meaning that the use of cues helped NC but not PD in expediting the switch between percepts. Provision of low-level cues has effects on volitional control in PD that are different from in normal aging, and only under task-specific conditions does the use of such cues facilitate the resolution of perceptual ambiguity. PMID:25765890

Effect of high-dose phytase supplementation in broilers from 22 to 42 days post-hatch given diets severely limited in available phosphorus.

PubMed

Taheri, H R; Heidari, A; Shahir, M H

2015-01-01

1. Two trials were conducted from 22 to 42 d post-hatch to evaluate the effectiveness of high concentrations of supplemental phytase in maize-soya bean meal-based diets severely limited in available phosphorus (P). Growth performance, plasma P and tibia ash (TA) were measured. 2. Each trial used 220 21-d-old male broilers in 20 pens with 11 birds per pen. Dietary treatments included a positive control [PC, 4.3 g/kg nonphytate P (NPP)], negative control [NC, 2.3 g/kg NPP (Trial 1) or 1.4 g/kg NPP (Trial 2)] and NC plus 1000, 2000 or 4000 phytase U/kg of the diet. 3. Birds fed on the PC diet had higher average daily gain (ADG), gain to feed ratio (G:F), plasma P (Trials 1 and 2) and TA (Trial 2) than those fed on the NC. 4. In Trial 1, ADG and G:F values of the NC plus 1000, 2000 or 4000 phytase U/kg reached those of the PC. Plasma P values of the NC plus 2000 or 4000 phytase U/kg reached that of the PC. Although TA values of the NC, NC + 1000 or NC + 2000 reached that of the PC, TA of the NC + 4000 was more than that of the PC. 5. In Trial 2, ADG and G:F values of the NC plus 4000 phytase U/kg reached those of the PC; nevertheless, plasma P values of the NC diets did not come up to that of the PC. While TA values of the NC, NC + 1000 or NC + 2000 did not reach that of the PC, TA of the NC + 4000 was greater than that of the PC. 6. Results of this study showed that, in the diets with 2.3 and 1.4 g/kg NPP, respectively, 1000 and 4000 phytase U/kg can be sufficient to obtain a comparable performance in broilers to those given diets adequate in available P.

Different sleep onset criteria at the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT): an additional marker to differentiate central nervous system (CNS) hypersomnias.

PubMed

Pizza, Fabio; Vandi, Stefano; Detto, Stefania; Poli, Francesca; Franceschini, Christian; Montagna, Pasquale; Plazzi, Giuseppe

2011-03-01

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) has different correlates in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) [idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) without long sleep time] and REM sleep [narcolepsy without cataplexy (NwoC) and narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC)]-related hypersomnias of central origin. We analysed sleep onset characteristics at the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) applying simultaneously two sleep onset criteria in 44 NC, seven NwoC and 16 IH consecutive patients referred for subjective EDS complaint. Sleep latency (SL) at MSLT was assessed both as the time elapsed to the occurrence of a single epoch of sleep Stage 1 NREM (SL) and of unequivocal sleep [three sleep Stage 1 NREM epochs or any other sleep stage epoch, sustained SL (SusSL)]. Idiopathic hypersomnia patients showed significantly (P<0.0001) longer SusSL than SL (7.7±2.5 versus 5.6±1.3 min, respectively) compared to NwoC (5.8±2.5 versus 5.3±2.2 min) and NC patients (4.1±3 versus 3.9±3 min). A mean difference threshold between SusSL and SL ≥27 s reached a diagnostic value to discriminate IH versus NC and NwoC sufferers (sensitivity 88%; specificity 82%). Moreover, NC patients showed better subjective sleepiness perception than NwoC and IH cases in the comparison between naps with or without sleep occurrence. Simultaneous application of the two widely used sleep onset criteria differentiates IH further from NC and NwoC patients: IH fluctuate through a wake-Stage 1 NREM sleep state before the onset of sustained sleep, while NC and NwoC shift abruptly into a sustained sleep. The combination of SusSL and SL determination at MSLT should be tested as an additional objective differential criterion for EDS disorders. © 2010 European Sleep Research Society.

Effects of cooling portions of the head on human thermoregulatory response.

PubMed

Katsuura, T; Tomioka, K; Harada, H; Iwanaga, K; Kikuchi, Y

1996-03-01

Seven healthy young male students participated in this study. Each subject sat on a chair in an anteroom at 25 degrees C for 30 min and then entered a climatic chamber, controlled at 40 degrees C and R.H. 50%, and sat on a chair for 90 min. Cooling of frontal portion including the region around the eyes (FC), occipital portion (OC), and temporal portion (TC) began after 50 min of entering. An experiment without head cooling (NC) was also made for the control measurement. Thermal comfort and thermal sensation were improved by head cooling, but response was the same regardless of portion cooled. Although rectal temperature, mean skin temperature and heart rate showed no significant effect due to head cooling, forearm skin blood flow (FBF), sweat rate (SR), and body weight loss (delta Wt) had a tendency to be depressed. FBF in FC and TC decreased during head cooling, but that in OC and NC did not change significantly, while SR in FC was depressed. delta Wt showed total sweating to decrease by FC and TC, and FC to have greater inhibitory effect on sweating than OC. Thermal strain was evaluated by the modified Craig Index (I(s)). I(s) in FC decreased significantly more than in NC. Cooling of other portions of the head had no significant effect on I(s). Cooling of the frontal portion of the head may thus be concluded to have the most effect on thermoregulatory response in a hot environment.

A metabolomics-driven approach to predict cocoa product consumption by designing a multimetabolite biomarker model in free-living subjects from the PREDIMED study.

PubMed

Garcia-Aloy, Mar; Llorach, Rafael; Urpi-Sarda, Mireia; Jáuregui, Olga; Corella, Dolores; Ruiz-Canela, Miguel; Salas-Salvadó, Jordi; Fitó, Montserrat; Ros, Emilio; Estruch, Ramon; Andres-Lacueva, Cristina

2015-02-01

The aim of the current study was to apply an untargeted metabolomics strategy to characterize a model of cocoa intake biomarkers in a free-living population. An untargeted HPLC-q-ToF-MS based metabolomics approach was applied to human urine from 32 consumers of cocoa or derived products (CC) and 32 matched control subjects with no consumption of cocoa products (NC). The multivariate statistical analysis (OSC-PLS-DA) showed clear differences between CC and NC groups. The discriminant biomarkers identified were mainly related to the metabolic pathways of theobromine and polyphenols, as well as to cocoa processing. Consumption of cocoa products was also associated with reduced urinary excretions of methylglutarylcarnitine, which could be related to effects of cocoa exposure on insulin resistance. To improve the prediction of cocoa consumption, a combined urinary metabolite model was constructed. ROC curves were performed to evaluate the model and individual metabolites. The AUC values (95% CI) for the model were 95.7% (89.8-100%) and 92.6% (81.9-100%) in training and validation sets, respectively, whereas the AUCs for individual metabolites were <90%. The metabolic signature of cocoa consumption in free-living subjects reveals that combining different metabolites as biomarker models improves prediction of dietary exposure to cocoa. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Structure and Magnetism of Nanocrystalline and Epitaxial (Mn,Zn,Fe)3O4

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. a ...Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS structure, magnetism, nanocrystalline, films F. J. Wong, A . J. Grutter, J. M. Iwata-Harms, V. V. Mehta, U. S...shifted by 200虠 Oe at low temperatures. No such effect is observed in the epitaxial films. We hypothesize that the presence of a more structurally

Evaluation of a possible association between a history of dentoalveolar injury and the shape and size of the nasopalatine canal.

PubMed

Suter, Valerie G A; Jacobs, Reinhilde; Brücker, Marcia R; Furher, Alberto; Frank, Jim; von Arx, Thomas; Bornstein, Michael M

2016-04-01

Maxillary incisors (MI) are often affected by dentoalveolar injury resulting in tooth devitalization and apical periodontitis. The aim of the present study was to analyze any association between a history of dentoalveolar injury and the shape and size of the nasopalatine canal (NC) using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Patients were allocated to the trauma group if they had a history of dentoalveolar injury and a root filling in at least one MI and/or one missing MI. As controls, 100 matched-controlled (age and gender) patients were selected. NC dimensions including length, width at midway, and diameter of incisal and nasal foramen were measured in sagittal and axial CBCT planes. Furthermore, an evaluation of NC bulging signs, apical osteolysis of MI, and its fusion with NC was performed. In the trauma group (n = 96), 31.3 % had at least one missing MI, and 95.8 % had a root filling in a MI. The antero-posterior dimension of the incisive foramen (p = 0.02) and of the NC at midway (p = 0.04) was significantly larger in the trauma group. Significantly more cases with a bulging sign were found in the trauma (n = 19) than in the control group (n = 3, p = 0.001). An apical osteolysis was identified in 5.1 % of MI, and 12/38 did show a fusion with the NC. Wider dimensions of the NC and a bulging sign may suggest a former dentoalveolar injury to the anterior maxilla. Periapical osteolysis of central MI over 5 mm in diameter tends to fuse with the NC. In patients with a history of dentoalveolar injury and/or apical periodontitis, the NC should be evaluated on available CBCT images. Any inflammatory processes in the neighboring teeth should be recognized and eliminated as they may initiate bulging of the NC and/or the formation of a nasopalatine duct cyst (NPDC). NC with bulging signs should be monitored clinically and radiographically to diagnose a NPDC in an early stage.

Characteristic time scales of coalescence of silver nanocomposite and nanoparticle films induced by continuous wave laser irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paeng, Dongwoo; Grigoropoulos, Costas P., E-mail: cgrigoro@berkeley.edu; Lee, Daeho

2014-08-18

In-situ optical probing has been performed to analyze and compare the characteristic coalescence time scales of silver ion-doped polyvinylalcohol nanocomposite (Ag-PVA NC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone-capped silver nanoparticle (Ag-PVP NP) films subjected to continuous wave laser irradiation. The Ag-PVA NC yielded conductive metallic patterns by photothermal reduction of PVA, formation of nanoparticles from silver ions and their subsequent coalescence. On the other hand, Ag-PVP NP thin films produced conductive patterns through only coalescence of nanoparticles. Upon laser irradiation, Ag-PVA NC and Ag-PVP NP films exhibited different coalescence characteristics.

Increasing in the wear resistance of injection molds made of 1.2343 steel using Ti/TiN/TiCN/nc-TiCN:a-C/nc-TiC:a-C/a-C nanocomposite coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rupetsov, Velko; Mishev, Georgi; Dishliev, Stefan; Kopanov, Viktor; Chitanov, Vassiliy; Kolaklieva, Lilyana; Pashinski, Chavdar

2017-02-01

Injection molds used in production of plastic components are subject of heavy abrasion wear. The increase of their wear resistance significantly reduces the production cost. In the current work are presented research results of the wear resistance of injection molds made of steel 1.2343, coated with Ti/TiN/TiCN/nc-TiCN: a-C/nc-TiC:a -C/a-C. The study of the wear rate was done using the volumetric method and the influence of the trace length was investigated. The coating thickness, nanohardness, elastic modulus and adhesion were also tested. The coating was applied on unhardened ground specimens, hardened ground specimens and hardened polished specimens.

The influence of void and porosity on deformation behaviour of nanocrystalline Ni under tensile followed by compressive loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meraj, Md.; Nayak, Shradha; Krishanjeet, Kumar; Pal, Snehanshu

2018-03-01

In this paper, we present a lucid understanding about the deformation behaviour of nanocrystalline (NC) Ni with and without defects subjected to tensile followed by compressive loading using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The embedded atom method (EAM) potential have been incorporated in the simulation for three kinds of samples-i.e. for NC Ni (without any defect), porous NC Ni and NC Ni containing a centrally located void. All the three samples, which have been prepared by implementing the Voronoi method and using Atom Eye software, consist of 16 uniform grains. The total number of atoms present in NC Ni, porous NC Ni and NC Ni containing a void are 107021, 105968 and 107012 respectively. The stress-strain response of NC Ni under tensile followed by compressive loading are simulated at a high strain rate of 107 s-1 and at a constant temperature of 300K. The stress-strain curves for the NC Ni with and without defects have been plotted for three different types of loading: (a) tensile loading (b) compressive loading (c) forward tensile loading followed by reverse compressive loading. Prominent change in yield strength of the NC Ni is observed due to the introduction of defects. For tensile followed by compressive loading (during forward loading), the yield point for NC Ni with void is lesser than the yield point of NC Ni and porous NC Ni. The saw tooth shape or serration portion of the stress-strain curve is mainly due to three characteristic phenomena, dislocation generation and its movement, dislocation pile-up at the junctions, and dislocation annihilation. Both twins and stacking faults are observed due to plastic deformation as the deformation mechanism progresses. The dislocation density, number of clusters and number of vacancy of the NC sample with and without defects are plotted against the strain developed in the sample. It is seen that introduction of defects brings about change in mechanical properties of the NC Ni. The crystalline nature of NC Ni is found to decrease with introduction of defects. The findings of this work can thus be extended in bringing a whole new insight related to the deformation behaviour and properties of Nano- materials during cyclic deformation at various temperatures.

Apparatus and Methods Using Highly Optically Dispersive Media

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-08-02

University ; Sep. 24, 2001. * cited by examiner Primary Examiner- Michael A Lyons (74) Attorney , Agent, or Firm- William J. Greener; Bond...NY (US); Daniel J. Gauthier, Durham, NC (US); Zhimin Shi, Rochester, NY (US) (73) Assignees: University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (US); Duke... University , Durham, NC (US) ( *) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 250

Asian sand dust aggregate causes atopic dermatitis-like symptoms in Nc/Nga mice.

PubMed

Takeshita, Sayaka; Tokunaga, Takahiro; Tanabe, Yoshiko; Arinami, Tadao; Ichinose, Takamichi; Noguchi, Emiko

2015-01-01

Asian sand dust (ASD) originates from the arid and semiarid areas of China, and epidemiologic studies have shown that ASD exposure is associated with various allergic and respiratory symptoms. However, few studies have been performed to assess the relationship between skin inflammation and ASD exposure. Twelve-week-old NC/Nga mice were divided into 6 groups (n = 8 for each group): hydrophilic petrolatum only (control); hydrophilic petrolatum plus ASD (ASD); hydrophilic petrolatum and heat inactivated-ASD (H-ASD); Dermatophagoides farinae extract (Df); Df and ASD (Df + ASD), and; Df and H-ASD (Df + H-ASD). The NC/Nga mice in each group were subjected to treatment twice a week for 4 weeks. We evaluated skin lesions by symptoms, pathologic changes, and serum IgE levels. ASD alone did not induce atopic dermatitis (AD)-like skin symptoms. However, Df alone, Df + H-ASD and Df + ASD all induced AD-like symptoms, and dermatitis scores in the group of Df + ASD group were significantly greater than that of the Df group (P = 0.0011 at day 21; and P = 0.017 at day 28). Mean serum IgE was markedly increased in the Df and Df + ASD groups, compared to the ASD and control groups (P < 0.0001), and serum IgE levels in the Df + ASD group were significantly higher compared to the Df group (P = 0.003). ASD alone did not cause AD-like symptoms in NC/Nga mice. However, AD-like symptoms induced by Df, a major allergen, were enhanced by adding ASD. Although no epidemiological studies have been conducted for the association between ASD and symptoms of dermatitis, our data suggest that it is likely that ASD may contribute to the exacerbation of not only respiratory symptoms, but also skin diseases, in susceptible individuals.

Empathy in boys with gender identity disorder: a comparison to externalizing clinical control boys and community control boys and girls.

PubMed

Owen-Anderson, Allison F H; Jenkins, Jennifer M; Bradley, Susan J; Zucker, Kenneth J

2008-03-01

The construct of empathy was examined in 20 boys with gender identity disorder (GID), 20 clinical control boys with externalizing disorders (ECC), 20 community control boys (NCB), and 20 community control girls (NCG). The mean age of the children was 6.86 years (range = 4-8 years). It was hypothesized that boys with GID would show similar levels of empathy to those shown by NC girls and higher levels of empathy than the NC and ECC boys. Three measures of empathy were administered: a maternal-report questionnaire, a self-report questionnaire, and an in vivo evaluation in which children's reactions to pain simulations to two adult actors (mother, experimenter) were coded for empathy levels. On the maternal report and in-vivo measures, the NC girls had significantly higher empathy levels than the NC boys, but not on the self-report measure. By maternal report, the NC girls were rated as significantly more empathic than were the GID boys, with a "large" effect size. There were no significant differences between the GID boys and the NC girls on the self-report and in-vivo measures and the effect size differences were "small." No significant differences were observed between the GID and NC boys; however, there were "medium" and "small" effect size differences with boys with GID showing more empathy on the in-vivo and self-report measures, respectively. On the maternal-report measure, the GID boys were rated as significantly more empathic than the ECC boys and there was a trend for the GID boys to show greater levels of empathy than the ECC boys on both the self-report and in-vivo measures. The effect size differences on all three empathy measures were "medium" to "large," with GID boys showing more empathy than ECC boys. Empathy as a dispositional characteristic in the genesis and perpetuation of GID in boys is discussed.

Molecular characterization of freshwater microalgae and nutritional exploration to enhance their lipid yield.

PubMed

Mandal, Madan Kumar; Chaurasia, Neha

2018-05-01

Biomass and lipid yield under nutrient depleted and supplemented conditions of N and Mg in two freshwater isolates, Chlorella sp. NC-MKM and Scenedesmus acutus NC-M2 from Meghalaya were investigated for biodiesel production. Both the strains, Chlorella sp. NC-MKM and Scenedesmus acutus NC-M2 are oleaginous in nature having lipid content of 40.2 ± 1.4 and 37.3 ± 2.6% DCW, respectively. The significant increase (92.8%) in lipid content was found in N-depleted condition while an increase (46.65%) in biomass yield was observed under Mg-supplemented condition in Chlorella sp. NC-MKM. Studying the interactive effects of nutrient depletion and supplementation, combination of N-depleted and Mg-supplemented condition was selected for further investigation to check enhanced lipid yield in Chlorella sp. NC-MKM. The results showed a significant increase in biomass yield, lipid yield and lipid content (30, 66.8, and 28.66%, respectively). Under this condition, accumulation of neutral lipid was also enhanced (47.17% M2 gated cells) compared to control (21.37% M2 gated cells). Further, FAMEs revealed that the relative percentage of saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids increased (66.16%) in Chlorella sp. NC-MKM compared to control that improves biodiesel properties.

The conserved N-terminal basic residues and zinc-finger motifs of HIV-1 nucleocapsid restrict the viral cDNA synthesis during virus formation and maturation

PubMed Central

Didierlaurent, Ludovic; Houzet, Laurent; Morichaud, Zakia; Darlix, Jean-Luc; Mougel, Marylène

2008-01-01

Reverse transcription of the genomic RNA by reverse transcriptase occurs soon after HIV-1 infection of target cells. The viral nucleocapsid (NC) protein chaperones this process via its nucleic acid annealing activities and its interactions with the reverse transcriptase enzyme. To function, NC needs its two conserved zinc fingers and flanking basic residues. We recently reported a new role for NC, whereby it negatively controls reverse transcription in the course of virus formation. Indeed, deleting its zinc fingers causes reverse transcription activation in virus producer cells. To investigate this new NC function, we used viruses with subtle mutations in the conserved zinc fingers and its flanking domains. We monitored by quantitative PCR the HIV-1 DNA content in producer cells and in produced virions. Results showed that the two intact zinc-finger structures are required for the temporal control of reverse transcription by NC throughout the virus replication cycle. The N-terminal basic residues also contributed to this new role of NC, while Pro-31 residue between the zinc fingers and Lys-59 in the C-terminal region did not. These findings further highlight the importance of NC as a major target for anti-HIV-1 drugs. PMID:18641038

RE-PERG, a new procedure for electrophysiologic diagnosis of glaucoma that may improve PERG specificity.

PubMed

Mavilio, Alberto; Sisto, Dario; Ferreri, Paolo; Cardascia, Nicola; Alessio, Giovanni

2017-01-01

A significant variability of the second harmonic (2ndH) phase of steady-state pattern electroretinogram (SS-PERG) in intrasession retest has been recently described in glaucoma patients (GP), which has not been found in healthy subjects. To evaluate the reliability of phase variability in retest (a procedure called RE-PERG or REPERG) in the presence of cataract, which is known to affect standard PERG, we tested this procedure in GP, normal controls (NC), and cataract patients (CP). The procedure was performed on 50 GP, 35 NC, and 27 CP. All subjects were examined with RE-PERG and SS-PERG and also with spectral domain optical coherence tomography and standard automated perimetry. Standard deviation of phase and amplitude value of 2ndH were correlated by means of one-way analysis of variance and Pearson correlation, with the mean deviation and pattern standard deviation assessed by standard automated perimetry and retinal nerve fiber layer and the ganglion cell complex thickness assessed by spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Receiver operating characteristics were calculated in cohort populations with and without cataract. Standard deviation of phase of 2ndH was significantly higher in GP with respect to NC ( P <0.001) and CP ( P <0.001), and it correlated with retinal nerve fiber layer ( r =-0.5, P <0.001) and ganglion cell complex ( r =-0.6, P <0.001) defects in GP. Receiver operating characteristic evaluation showed higher specificity of RE-PERG (86.4%; area under the curve 0.93) with respect to SS-PERG (54.5%; area under the curve 0.68) in CP. RE-PERG may improve the specificity of SS-PERG in clinical practice in the discrimination of GP.

Glucose Metabolism during Resting State Reveals Abnormal Brain Networks Organization in the Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Martínez-Montes, Eduardo

2013-01-01

This paper aims to study the abnormal patterns of brain glucose metabolism co-variations in Alzheimer disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients compared to Normal healthy controls (NC) using the Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. The local cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRgl) in a set of 90 structures belonging to the AAL atlas was obtained from Fluro-Deoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography data in resting state. It is assumed that brain regions whose CMRgl values are significantly correlated are functionally associated; therefore, when metabolism is altered in a single region, the alteration will affect the metabolism of other brain areas with which it interrelates. The glucose metabolism network (represented by the matrix of the CMRgl co-variations among all pairs of structures) was studied using the graph theory framework. The highest concurrent fluctuations in CMRgl were basically identified between homologous cortical regions in all groups. Significant differences in CMRgl co-variations in AD and MCI groups as compared to NC were found. The AD and MCI patients showed aberrant patterns in comparison to NC subjects, as detected by global and local network properties (global and local efficiency, clustering index, and others). MCI network’s attributes showed an intermediate position between NC and AD, corroborating it as a transitional stage from normal aging to Alzheimer disease. Our study is an attempt at exploring the complex association between glucose metabolism, CMRgl covariations and the attributes of the brain network organization in AD and MCI. PMID:23894356

Altered interhemispheric functional connectivity in patients with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia: a resting-state fMRI study.

PubMed

Liang, Minglong; Xie, Bing; Yang, Hong; Yin, Xuntao; Wang, Hao; Yu, Longhua; He, Sheng; Wang, Jian

2017-05-01

Altered brain functional connectivity has been reported in patients with amblyopia by recent neuroimaging studies. However, relatively little is known about the alterations in interhemispheric functional connectivity in amblyopia. The present study aimed to investigate the functional connectivity patterns between homotopic regions across hemispheres in patients with anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia under resting state. Nineteen monocular anisometropic amblyopia (AA), 18 strabismic amblyopia (SA), and 20 normal-sight controls (NC) were enrolled in this study. After a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination, resting-state fMRI scanning was performed in all participants. The pattern of the interhemispheric functional connectivity was measured with the voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) approach. VMHC values differences within and between three groups were compared, and correlations between VMHC values and each the clinical variable were also analyzed. Altered VMHC was observed in AA and SA patients in lingual gyrus and fusiform gyrus compared with NC subjects. The altered VMHC of lingual gyrus showed a pattern of AA > SA > NC, while the altered VMHC of fusiform gyrus showed a pattern of AA > NC > SA. Moreover, the VMHC values of lingual gyrus were positively correlated with the stereoacuity both in AA and SA patients, and the VMHC values of fusiform gyrus were positively correlated with the amount of anisometropia just in AA patients. These findings suggest that interhemispheric functional coordination between several homotopic visual-related brain regions is impaired both in AA and SA patients under resting state and revealed the similarities and differences in interhemispheric functional connectivity between the anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia.

Size-Tunable Photothermal Germanium Nanocrystals.

PubMed

Sun, Wei; Zhong, Grace; Kübel, Christian; Jelle, Abdinoor A; Qian, Chenxi; Wang, Lu; Ebrahimi, Manuchehr; Reyes, Laura M; Helmy, Amr S; Ozin, Geoffrey A

2017-05-22

Germanium nanocrystals (ncGe) have not received as much attention as silicon nanocrystals (ncSi). However, Ge has demonstrated superiority over Si nanomaterials in some applications. Examples include, high charge-discharge rate lithium-ion batteries, small band-gap opto-electronic devices, and photo-therapeutics. When stabilized in an oxide matrix (ncGe/GeO x ), its high charge-retention has enabled non-volatile memories. It has also found utility as a high-capacity anode material for Li-ion batteries with impressive stability. Herein, we report an organic-free synthesis of size-controlled ncGe in a GeO x matrix as well as freestanding ncGe, via the thermal disproportionation of GeO prepared from thermally induced dehydration of Ge(OH) 2 . The photothermal effect of ncGe, quantified by Raman spectroscopy, is found to be size dependent and superior to ncSi. This advance suggests applications of ncGe in photothermal therapy, desalination, and catalysis. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fibronectin promotes differentiation of neural crest progenitors endowed with smooth muscle cell potential

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Costa-Silva, Bruno; Programa de Pos-graduacao em Neurociencias, Centro de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Universitario - Trindade, 88040-900, Florianopolis, S.C.; Coelho da Costa, Meline

The neural crest (NC) is a model system used to investigate multipotency during vertebrate development. Environmental factors control NC cell fate decisions. Despite the well-known influence of extracellular matrix molecules in NC cell migration, the issue of whether they also influence NC cell differentiation has not been addressed at the single cell level. By analyzing mass and clonal cultures of mouse cephalic and quail trunk NC cells, we show for the first time that fibronectin (FN) promotes differentiation into the smooth muscle cell phenotype without affecting differentiation into glia, neurons, and melanocytes. Time course analysis indicated that the FN-induced effectmore » was not related to massive cell death or proliferation of smooth muscle cells. Finally, by comparing clonal cultures of quail trunk NC cells grown on FN and collagen type IV (CLIV), we found that FN strongly increased both NC cell survival and the proportion of unipotent and oligopotent NC progenitors endowed with smooth muscle potential. In contrast, melanocytic progenitors were prominent in clonogenic NC cells grown on CLIV. Taken together, these results show that FN promotes NC cell differentiation along the smooth muscle lineage, and therefore plays an important role in fate decisions of NC progenitor cells.« less

Growth performance, diet nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization in weaned pigs fed pelleted diets containing thermostable phytase.

PubMed

Yáñez, J L; Landero, J L; Owusu-Asiedu, A; Cervantes, M; Zijlstra, R T

2013-02-01

Traditional supplemental dietary phytase loses activity during steam pelleting. The thermal tolerance and bioefficacy of a phytase product with a thermoprotective coating [coated phytase (C-phytase)] was compared in mash and pelleted diets to a traditional, uncoated phytase (U-phytase) added to a negative control (NC) diet, formulated with reduced dietary Ca and P, and compared with a corn-soybean meal based positive control (POC) diet. Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and third metacarpal bone characteristics were response variables. Weaned pigs (n = 56; 8.20 ± 0.5 kg initial BW; 28 d of age) were individually housed and randomly allotted to 1 of 7 diets for 21 d. The diets were 1) POC mash, 2) NC mash, 3) NC pelleted at 90°C, 4) NC mash + 500 U/kg U-phytase, 5) NC mash + 500 U/kg C-phytase, 6) NC + 500 U/kg C-phytase pelleted at 80°C, and 7) NC + 500 U/kg C-phytase pelleted at 90°C. The POC and NC diets were formulated to be isoenergetic and isolysinic. The content of Ca and available P was 1.01 and 0.40% and 0.83 and 0.22% in the POC and NC diets, respectively. Pig BW and feed intake were measured on d 7, 14, and 21, and feces were collected for 2 d. On d 21, pigs were killed and ileal digesta and the third metacarpal bone collected. Pigs fed POC had greater (P < 0.05) ADG, G:F, P digestibility, and bone mineralization but lower (P < 0.01) energy digestibility than pigs fed NC. Pelleting the NC diet did not improve performance, nutrient digestibility, or P use. Adding the U-phytase to NC mash diet increased (P < 0.05) ADG, G:F, apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of CP and Ile, Leu, Phe, Thr, Val, and Ser, and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P compared with pigs fed NC. Pigs fed C-phytase in NC mash diets had increased (P < 0.05) G:F and an AID of CP and AA and ATTD of P compared with pigs fed NC but not different than pigs fed U-phytase NC mash diets. Pigs fed pelleted NC diet with C-phytase had a greater (P < 0.05) ATTD of P and energy than pigs fed mash NC diet with C-phytase but had similar growth performance, AID of CP and AA, and bone mineralization to pigs fed U-phytase. In conclusion, release and bioefficacy of phytase after pelleting was not affected by the thermal protective coating.

Functional network connectivity analysis based on partial correlation in Alzheimer's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Nan; Guan, Xiaoting; Zhang, Yumei; Li, Jingjing; Chen, Hongyan; Chen, Kewei; Fleisher, Adam; Yao, Li; Wu, Xia

2009-02-01

Functional network connectivity (FNC) measures the temporal dependency among the time courses of functional networks. However, the marginal correlation between two networks used in the classic FNC analysis approach doesn't separate the FNC from the direct/indirect effects of other networks. In this study, we proposed an alternative approach based on partial correlation to evaluate the FNC, since partial correlation based FNC can reveal the direct interaction between a pair of networks, removing dependencies or influences from others. Previous studies have demonstrated less task-specific activation and less rest-state activity in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We applied present approach to contrast FNC differences of resting state network (RSN) between AD and normal controls (NC). The fMRI data under resting condition were collected from 15 AD and 16 NC. FNC was calculated for each pair of six RSNs identified using Group ICA, thus resulting in 15 (2 out of 6) pairs for each subject. Partial correlation based FNC analysis indicated 6 pairs significant differences between groups, while marginal correlation only revealed 2 pairs (involved in the partial correlation results). Additionally, patients showed lower correlation than controls among most of the FNC differences. Our results provide new evidences for the disconnection hypothesis in AD.

The Regulation of Non-Coding RNA Expression in the Liver of Mice Fed DDC

PubMed Central

Oliva, Joan; Bardag-Gorce, Fawzia; French, Barbara A; Li, Jun; French, Samuel W

2010-01-01

Mallory-Denk bodies (MDBs) are found in the liver of patients with alcoholic and chronic nonalcoholic liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Diethyl 1,4-dihydro-2,4,6,-trimethyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylate (DDC) is used as a model to induce the formation of MDBs in mouse liver. Previous studies in this laboratory showed that DDC induced epigenetic modifications in DNA and histones. The combination of these modifications changes the phenotype of the MDB forming hepatocytes, as indicated by the marker FAT10. These epigenetic modifications are partially prevented by adding to the diet S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) or betaine, both methyl donors. The expression of three imprinted ncRNA genes was found to change in MDB forming hepatocytes, which is the subject of this report. NcRNA expression was quantitated by Real-Time PCR and RNA FISH in liver sections. Microarray analysis showed that the expression of three ncRNAs was regulated by DDC: up regulation of H19, antisense Igf2r (AIR), and down regulation of GTL2 (also called MEG3). S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) feeding prevented these changes. Betaine, another methyl group donor, prevented only H19 and AIR up regulation induced by DDC, on microarrays. The results of the SAMe and betaine groups were confirmed by Real-Time PCR, except for AIR expression. After 1 month of drug withdrawal, the expression of the three ncRNAs tended toward control levels of expression. Liver tumors that developed also showed up regulation of H19 and AIR. The RNA FISH approach showed that the MDB forming cells’ phenotype changed the level of expression of AIR, H19 and GTL2, compared to the surrounding cells. Furthermore, over expression of H19 and AIR was demonstrated in tumors formed in mice withdrawn for 9 months. The disregulation of ncRNA in MDB forming liver cells has been observed for the first time in drug primed mice associated with liver preneoplastic foci and tumors. PMID:19362547

The regulation of non-coding RNA expression in the liver of mice fed DDC.

PubMed

Oliva, Joan; Bardag-Gorce, Fawzia; French, Barbara A; Li, Jun; French, Samuel W

2009-08-01

Mallory-Denk bodies (MDBs) are found in the liver of patients with alcoholic and chronic nonalcoholic liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Diethyl 1,4-dihydro-2,4,6,-trimethyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylate (DDC) is used as a model to induce the formation of MDBs in mouse liver. Previous studies in this laboratory showed that DDC induced epigenetic modifications in DNA and histones. The combination of these modifications changes the phenotype of the MDB forming hepatocytes, as indicated by the marker FAT10. These epigenetic modifications are partially prevented by adding to the diet S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) or betaine, both methyl donors. The expression of three imprinted ncRNA genes was found to change in MDB forming hepatocytes, which is the subject of this report. NcRNA expression was quantitated by real-time PCR and RNA FISH in liver sections. Microarray analysis showed that the expression of three ncRNAs was regulated by DDC: up regulation of H19, antisense Igf2r (AIR), and down regulation of GTL2 (also called MEG3). S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) feeding prevented these changes. Betaine, another methyl group donor, prevented only H19 and AIR up regulation induced by DDC, on microarrays. The results of the SAMe and betaine groups were confirmed by real-time PCR, except for AIR expression. After 1 month of drug withdrawal, the expression of the three ncRNAs tended toward control levels of expression. Liver tumors that developed also showed up regulation of H19 and AIR. The RNA FISH approach showed that the MDB forming cells' phenotype changed the level of expression of AIR, H19 and GTL2, compared to the surrounding cells. Furthermore, over expression of H19 and AIR was demonstrated in tumors formed in mice withdrawn for 9 months. The dysregulation of ncRNA in MDB forming liver cells has been observed for the first time in drug-primed mice associated with liver preneoplastic foci and tumors.

The effect of 18F-FDG-PET image reconstruction algorithms on the expression of characteristic metabolic brain network in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Tomše, Petra; Jensterle, Luka; Rep, Sebastijan; Grmek, Marko; Zaletel, Katja; Eidelberg, David; Dhawan, Vijay; Ma, Yilong; Trošt, Maja

2017-09-01

To evaluate the reproducibility of the expression of Parkinson's Disease Related Pattern (PDRP) across multiple sets of 18F-FDG-PET brain images reconstructed with different reconstruction algorithms. 18F-FDG-PET brain imaging was performed in two independent cohorts of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and normal controls (NC). Slovenian cohort (20 PD patients, 20 NC) was scanned with Siemens Biograph mCT camera and reconstructed using FBP, FBP+TOF, OSEM, OSEM+TOF, OSEM+PSF and OSEM+PSF+TOF. American Cohort (20 PD patients, 7 NC) was scanned with GE Advance camera and reconstructed using 3DRP, FORE-FBP and FORE-Iterative. Expressions of two previously-validated PDRP patterns (PDRP-Slovenia and PDRP-USA) were calculated. We compared the ability of PDRP to discriminate PD patients from NC, differences and correlation between the corresponding subject scores and ROC analysis results across the different reconstruction algorithms. The expression of PDRP-Slovenia and PDRP-USA networks was significantly elevated in PD patients compared to NC (p<0.0001), regardless of reconstruction algorithms. PDRP expression strongly correlated between all studied algorithms and the reference algorithm (r⩾0.993, p<0.0001). Average differences in the PDRP expression among different algorithms varied within 0.73 and 0.08 of the reference value for PDRP-Slovenia and PDRP-USA, respectively. ROC analysis confirmed high similarity in sensitivity, specificity and AUC among all studied reconstruction algorithms. These results show that the expression of PDRP is reproducible across a variety of reconstruction algorithms of 18F-FDG-PET brain images. PDRP is capable of providing a robust metabolic biomarker of PD for multicenter 18F-FDG-PET images acquired in the context of differential diagnosis or clinical trials. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Semiconductor Nanocrystal Assemblies as Components of Optoelectronic Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malfavon-Ochoa, Mario

This dissertation presents new insight into the ability of small molecule passivated NCs to achieve intimate approach distances, despite being well passivated, while developing guiding principles in the area of ligand mediated microstructure control and the resulting macroscopic optical and electronic properties that close packing of high quality NCs enables. NC ligand coverage will be characterized quantitatively through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and qualitatively by photoluminescence and electroluminescence, in the case of functional devices; illustrating the importance of practitioner dependent control of ligand coverage through variations in the dispersion precipitation purification procedure. A unique examination of the relative contribution of energy and charge transfer in NC LEDs will demonstrate the ability to achieve charge transfer, at a level competitive with energy transfer, to well passivated NCs at various wt% loading in a polymer matrix. The observation of potential dependent recombination zones within an active layer further suggest novel, NC surface passivation mediated control of blend microstructure during solution processing towards the development of a bi-continuous network. Next, NC self-assembly and resulting microstructure dependent optical and electronic properties will be examined through electroluminescence and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs of functional NC/polymer bulk heterojunction LEDs. The joint characterization of NC optical properties, and self-assembly microstructure provide a deeper understanding of the significant and inseparable effects of minimal changes in NC surface passivation on structure and function, and emphasize the potential to rely on strongly passivating ligands to control physical properties and processing parameters concurrently towards higher efficiency devices via low cost processing. Finally, micro-contact printing of blazed transmission gratings, using stable dispersions of core and core/shell NCs will be shown to produce close packed assemblies of NCs forming near-wavelength luminescent superstructures separated in space. We show the dominant contribution of a two-monolayer thick sharp interface CdS shell to the diffraction efficiency, and necessarily the refractive index, of the NCs, independent of core size. Utilization of these gratings as in-coupling elements at various positions within a device architecture are also examined. These new observations were achieved by unprecedented control of NC architecture during dispersion processing, while maintaining high luminescence, made possible by optimized NC surface passivation. These studies enable the formation of new LED architectures, and new optoelectronic devices based on angle resolved, monochromatic fluorescence from diffraction gratings prepared from simple solution processing approaches. Further, the novel observation of angle amplified interfering fluorescence from these features is argued to be a result of long range radiative coupling and superradiance enabled by the monodispersity and high-quality NC surface passivation described herein.

Conservation of σ28-Dependent Non-Coding RNA Paralogs and Predicted σ54-Dependent Targets in Thermophilic Campylobacter Species

PubMed Central

Le, My Thanh; van Veldhuizen, Mart; Porcelli, Ida; Bongaerts, Roy J.; Gaskin, Duncan J. H.; Pearson, Bruce M.; van Vliet, Arnoud H. M.

2015-01-01

Assembly of flagella requires strict hierarchical and temporal control via flagellar sigma and anti-sigma factors, regulatory proteins and the assembly complex itself, but to date non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have not been described to regulate genes directly involved in flagellar assembly. In this study we have investigated the possible role of two ncRNA paralogs (CjNC1, CjNC4) in flagellar assembly and gene regulation of the diarrhoeal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. CjNC1 and CjNC4 are 37/44 nt identical and predicted to target the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of genes transcribed from the flagellar sigma factor σ54. Orthologs of the σ54-dependent 5' UTRs and ncRNAs are present in the genomes of other thermophilic Campylobacter species, and transcription of CjNC1 and CNC4 is dependent on the flagellar sigma factor σ28. Surprisingly, inactivation and overexpression of CjNC1 and CjNC4 did not affect growth, motility or flagella-associated phenotypes such as autoagglutination. However, CjNC1 and CjNC4 were able to mediate sequence-dependent, but Hfq-independent, partial repression of fluorescence of predicted target 5' UTRs in an Escherichia coli-based GFP reporter gene system. This hints towards a subtle role for the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation in thermophilic Campylobacter species, and suggests that the currently used phenotypic methodologies are insufficiently sensitive to detect such subtle phenotypes. The lack of a role of Hfq in the E. coli GFP-based system indicates that the CjNC1 and CjNC4 ncRNAs may mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation in ways that do not conform to the paradigms obtained from the Enterobacteriaceae. PMID:26512728

A multi-layer MRI description of Parkinson's disease

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Rocca, M.; Amoroso, N.; Lella, E.; Bellotti, R.; Tangaro, S.

2017-09-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) along with complex network is currently one of the most widely adopted techniques for detection of structural changes in neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's Disease (PD). In this paper, we present a digital image processing study, within the multi-layer network framework, combining more classifiers to evaluate the informative power of the MRI features, for the discrimination of normal controls (NC) and PD subjects. We define a network for each MRI scan; the nodes are the sub-volumes (patches) the images are divided into and the links are defined using the Pearson's pairwise correlation between patches. We obtain a multi-layer network whose important network features, obtained with different feature selection methods, are used to feed a supervised multi-level random forest classifier which exploits this base of knowledge for accurate classification. Method evaluation has been carried out using T1 MRI scans of 354 individuals, including 177 PD subjects and 177 NC from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database. The experimental results demonstrate that the features obtained from multiplex networks are able to accurately describe PD patterns. Besides, also if a privileged scale for studying PD disease exists, exploring the informative content of more scales leads to a significant improvement of the performances in the discrimination between disease and healthy subjects. In particular, this method gives a comprehensive overview of brain regions statistically affected by the disease, an additional value to the presented study.

The development of non-coding RNA ontology.

PubMed

Huang, Jingshan; Eilbeck, Karen; Smith, Barry; Blake, Judith A; Dou, Dejing; Huang, Weili; Natale, Darren A; Ruttenberg, Alan; Huan, Jun; Zimmermann, Michael T; Jiang, Guoqian; Lin, Yu; Wu, Bin; Strachan, Harrison J; de Silva, Nisansa; Kasukurthi, Mohan Vamsi; Jha, Vikash Kumar; He, Yongqun; Zhang, Shaojie; Wang, Xiaowei; Liu, Zixing; Borchert, Glen M; Tan, Ming

2016-01-01

Identification of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has been significantly improved over the past decade. On the other hand, semantic annotation of ncRNA data is facing critical challenges due to the lack of a comprehensive ontology to serve as common data elements and data exchange standards in the field. We developed the Non-Coding RNA Ontology (NCRO) to handle this situation. By providing a formally defined ncRNA controlled vocabulary, the NCRO aims to fill a specific and highly needed niche in semantic annotation of large amounts of ncRNA biological and clinical data.

An explorative study of metabolic responses to mental stress and yoga practices in yoga practitioners, non-yoga practitioners and individuals with metabolic syndrome.

PubMed

Tyagi, Anupama; Cohen, Marc; Reece, John; Telles, Shirley

2014-11-15

Stress places a metabolic burden on homeostasis and is linked to heightened sympathetic activity, increased energy expenditure and pathology. The yogic state is a hypometabolic state that corresponds with mind-body coherence and reduced stress. This study aimed to investigate metabolic responses to stress and different yoga practices in regular yoga practitioners (YP), non-yoga practitioners (NY) and metabolic syndrome patients (MS). YP (n = 16), NY (n = 15) and MS (n = 15) subjects underwent an experimental protocol that comprised of different 5-minute interventions including mental arithmetic stress test (MAST), alternate nostril breathing (ANB), Kapabhati breathing (KB) and meditation (Med) interspersed with 5 minutes of quiet resting (neutral condition (NC)). During the intervention periods continuous body weight adjusted oxygen consumption (VO2ml/min/kg) was measured using open circuit indirect calorimetry with a canopy hood. This is the first study to report oxygen consumption (OC) in yoga practitioners during and after MAST and the first to report both within and between different populations. The results were analysed with SPSS 16 using 3X9 mixed factorial ANOVAs. The single between-subject factor was group (YP, NY and MS), the single within-subject factor was made up of the nine intervention phases (NC1, MAST, NC2, ANB, NC3, KB, NC4, Med, NC5). The results demonstrated that the regular YP group had significantly less OC and greater variability in their OC across all phases compared to the MS group (p = .003) and NY group (p = .01). All groups significantly raised their OC during the mental arithmetic stress, however the MS group had a significantly blunted post-stress recovery whereas the YP group rapidly recovered back to baseline levels with post stress recovery being greater than either the NY group or MS group. Yoga practitioners have greater metabolic variability compared to non-yoga practitioners and metabolic syndrome patients with reduced oxygen requirements during resting conditions and more rapid post-stress recovery. OC in metabolic syndrome patients displays significantly blunted post-stress recovery demonstrating reduced metabolic resilience. Our results support the findings of previous randomised trials that suggest regular yoga practice may mitigate against the effects of metabolic syndrome. ACTRN12614001075673; Date of Registration: 07/10/2014.

Iron deficiency in female pattern hair loss, chronic telogen effluvium, and control groups.

PubMed

Olsen, Elise A; Reed, Katherine B; Cacchio, Patrick B; Caudill, Leslie

2010-12-01

The literature suggests that iron deficiency (ID) may play a role in female pattern hair loss (FPHL) or in chronic telogen effluvium (CTE). We sought to determine if ID is more common in women with FPHL and/or CTE than in control subjects without hair loss. This was a controlled study of 381 Caucasian women aged 18 years or older with FPHL or CTE seen in the Duke University Hair Disorders Clinic, Durham, NC, and 76 Caucasian women aged 18 years or older from the university environs who had no history or physical findings of hair loss (control subjects). All participants had to have at least a serum ferritin and hemoglobin reading and history of menopausal status. When ferritin less than or equal to 15 μg/L was used as the definition, ID occurred in 12.4%, 12.1%, and 29.8% of premenopausal women with FPHL (n = 170), CTE (n = 58), and control subjects (n = 47), respectively, and in 1.7%, 10.5%, and 6.9% of postmenopausal women with FPHL (n = 115), CTE (n = 38), and control subjects (n = 29), respectively. When ferritin less than or equal to 40 μg/L was used as the definition, ID occurred in 58.8%, 63.8%, and 72.3% of premenopausal women with FPHL, CTE, and control subjects, respectively, and in 26.1%, 36.8%, and 20.7% of postmenopausal women with FPHL, CTE, and control subjects, respectively. There was no statistically significant increase in the incidence of ID in premenopausal or postmenopausal women with FPHL or CTE versus control subjects. The effect of correction of ID on hair loss is unknown. ID is common in women but not increased in patients with FPHL or CTE compared with control subjects. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

An automated image processing method for classification of diabetic retinopathy stages from conjunctival microvasculature images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khansari, Maziyar M.; O'Neill, William; Penn, Richard; Blair, Norman P.; Chau, Felix; Shahidi, Mahnaz

2017-03-01

The conjunctiva is a densely vascularized tissue of the eye that provides an opportunity for imaging of human microcirculation. In the current study, automated fine structure analysis of conjunctival microvasculature images was performed to discriminate stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR). The study population consisted of one group of nondiabetic control subjects (NC) and 3 groups of diabetic subjects, with no clinical DR (NDR), non-proliferative DR (NPDR), or proliferative DR (PDR). Ordinary least square regression and Fisher linear discriminant analyses were performed to automatically discriminate images between group pairs of subjects. Human observers who were masked to the grouping of subjects performed image discrimination between group pairs. Over 80% and 70% of images of subjects with clinical and non-clinical DR were correctly discriminated by the automated method, respectively. The discrimination rates of the automated method were higher than human observers. The fine structure analysis of conjunctival microvasculature images provided discrimination of DR stages and can be potentially useful for DR screening and monitoring.

Low-frequency electrotherapy for female patients with detrusor underactivity due to neuromuscular deficiency.

PubMed

Xu, Dan-Feng; Zhang, Shen; Wang, Cun-Zhou; Li, Jun; Qu, Chuang-Yu; Cui, Xin-Gang; Zhao, Sheng-Jia

2012-08-01

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of low-frequency electrotherapy (LFE) for female patients with early-stage detrusor underactivity (DUA) due to neuromuscular deficiency. A total of 102 female patients were divided randomly into four groups: LFE-NC (normal compliance), LFE-LC (low compliance), CON (control)-NC and CON-LC. Patients in the LFE-NC and LFE-LC groups received LFE, and those in the CON-NC and CON-LC groups received conservative treatment. Urodynamic evaluation was performed before and after treatment. After treatment, 82 % of the LFE-NC regained detrusor contractility, whereas only 2 (8 %) of the CON-NC had normal detrusor contraction. None of LFE-LC or CON-LC regained detrusor contractility (p < 0.01). The per cent of LFE-NC who relied on catheterization for bladder emptying decreased by 43 % (p < 0.01). Those in the LFE-LC, CON-NC and CON-LC groups decreased by only 4, 12 or 0 % (p > 0.05). LFE was more effective for DUA patients with normal compliance; these patients benefited from LFE, but DUA patients with low compliance did not.

Relationship of Fluid Accumulation in the Neck to Sleep Structure in Men during Daytime Sleep

PubMed Central

Yadollahi, Azadeh; Vena, Daniel; Lyons, Owen D.; Bradley, T. Douglas

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: Induction of fluid overload during sleep in older men causes fluid accumulation in the neck, worsens obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and reduces sleep efficiency and slow wave sleep. However, it is not clear whether disrupted sleep structure was related to age, fluid accumulation, or to OSA severity as assessed by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). We hypothesize that fluid accumulation in the neck is a significant contributor to the sleep structure. Methods: Twenty non-obese men, 46 ± 11 years, underwent a daytime sleep study following a night of sleep deprivation. Before and after sleep, neck circumference (NC), upper airway cross-sectional area, and neck fluid volume (NFV) were assessed. Stepwise regression analyses were used to determine factors that contributed to sleep structure, AHI, and arousal frequency. Independent factors were age, NC, ΔNC, ΔNFV, and AHI (excluded for AHI and arousal). Results: Subjects slept for 145 ± 44 minutes with a mean AHI of 26 ± 25. After sleep, NC and NFV increased and the upper airway narrowed (all: p < 0.001). ΔNC and ΔNFV correlated directly with %N2 and inversely with %N3 sleep. Regression analyses revealed that only ΔNC correlated directly with %N2 sleep (r2 = 0.44, p = 0.001). ΔNC, ΔNFV, and pre-sleep NC correlated inversely with %N3 sleep (r2 = 0.76, p < 0.001). Pre-sleep NC and ΔNC correlated directly with AHI and arousal frequency. Conclusions: Fluid accumulation in the neck and larger neck circumference are related to impaired sleep structure with reduced %N3 sleep. Fluid accumulation in the neck had stronger contribution to sleep structure than AHI or age. Citation: Yadollahi A, Vena D, Lyons OD, Bradley TD. Relationship of fluid accumulation in the neck to sleep structure in men during daytime sleep. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(10):1365–1371. PMID:27397662

The Analysis of a Longitudinal Control System for Underwater Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-10-01

9 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory Panama City, Florida 32401 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK...TfM.PH) VCNC + 1 ) = 0# U(NC >»QP/UCNC*1 -) V(NC)=0. FORM NEW KFOUCEn COFF »- ICIFVTS Aft 00 A9 T=1#NC 000u6fl<*0 00006660 OOGu6S70 000O68M0

Assessment of tenascin-C levels in ventricular noncompaction/hypertrabeculation patients: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Erer, Hatice Betul; Guvenc, Tolga Sinan; Kemik, Ahu Sarbay; Yilmaz, Hale; Kul, Seref; Altay, Servet; Oz, Dilaver; Zeren, Gonul; Ekmekci, Ahmet; Zencirci, Aycan Esen; Sayar, Nurten; Eren, Mehmet

2014-02-01

Ventricular noncompaction/hypertrabeculation (NC/HT) is a rare form of congenital cardiomyopathy. We aimed to investigate the presence of serum tenascin-C (TN-C) in adult patients with NC/HT and evaluate its value. Serum TN-C levels were measured by ELISA in 50 NC/HT patients both with/without systolic dysfunction and in 23 normal controls. Systolic dysfunction was defined as ejection fraction (EF) ≤ 40. Mann-Whitney U-test and ROC curve analysis were done. Of 49 NC/HT patients, 24 (49%) patients had systolic dysfunction (mean age 36 ± 15) and 25 patients (51%) had normal systolic function (mean age 36 ± 17). The ages between groups were not different. The mean levels of serum TN-C in patients with or without systolic dysfunction were 26 ± 10 ng/mL and 26 ± 8 ng/mL respectively, compared to normal controls, 7 ± 2 ng/mL (P < 0.001). No significance was observed between 2 groups of NC/HT patients regarding TN-C levels (P = 0.8). The ROC curve analysis revealed that a TN-C value of 11.7 ng/mL identified patients with NC/HT with 100% sensitivity and specifity. High serum TN-C levels are present in adult NC/HT cardiomyopathy even when left ventricular systolic function remains normal. Also, serum TN-C levels could be regarded as a candidate biomarker in the diagnosis of NC/HT which needs to be tested in larger prospective studies. © 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effects of deoxynivalenol-contaminated corn dried distillers grains with solubles in nursery pig diets and potential for mitigation by commercially available feed additives.

PubMed

Frobose, H L; Fruge, E D; Tokach, M D; Hansen, E L; DeRouchey, J M; Dritz, S S; Goodband, R D; Nelssen, J L

2015-03-01

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of deoxynivalenol (DON) from naturally contaminated dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and the efficacy of feed additives in nursery pig diets. In Exp. 1, 180 pigs (10.3 ± 0.2 kg BW) were fed 1 of 5 diets for 21 d. Diets were 1) Positive Control (PC; < 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) Negative Control (NC; 4 mg/kg DON), 3) NC + 0.10% Biofix (Biomin Inc., Herzogenburg, Austria), 4) NC + 0.15% Cel-can (VAST Inc., Mason City, IA) and 0.50% bentonite clay, and 5) NC + 0.25% Defusion Plus (Cargill Animal Nutrition, Minneapolis, MN). Pigs fed the NC diet had poorer ( < 0.01) ADG than those fed the PC. Pigs fed Defusion Plus had improved ( < 0.03) ADG over those fed NC, whereas pigs fed Biofix or Cel-can with bentonite clay had reduced ADG ( < 0.01) compared with those fed PC. In Exp. 2, 340 pigs (11.7 ± 0.1 kg BW) were fed 1 of 8 diets for 21 d. Diets were 1) PC (< 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) Low NC (1.5 mg/kg DON), 3) Low NC + 0.15% Biofix, 4) Low NC + 0.30% Biofix, 5) High NC (3.0 mg/kg DON), 6) High NC + 0.30% Biofix, 7) High NC + 0.45% Biofix, and 8) Diet 7 with 5% added water. Increasing the DON level reduced (linear; < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and pig BW, and Biofix did not improve performance. In Exp. 3, 1,008 pigs (12.5 ± 0.3 kg BW) were fed 6 treatments for 24 d. Diets were 1) PC ( < 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) NC (3 mg/kg DON), 3) NC + 0.25% Defusion, 4) NC + 0.50% Defusion, 5) Diet 3 with supplemental nutrients, and 6) Diet 5, pelleted. Pigs fed the NC had decreased ( < 0.01) ADG and ADFI, but adding Defusion improved (linear; < 0.04) ADG and ADFI over pigs fed NC. Pelleting improved ( < 0.01) both ADG and G:F, resulting in ADG above PC pigs. In Exp. 4, 980 pigs (12.0 ± 0.3 kg BW) were fed 1 of 7 diets in a 28-d trial in a 2 × 3 + 1 factorial arrangement. The 7 treatments were based on 3 diets fed in meal or pellet form: 1) PC (< 0.5 mg/kg DON), 2) NC (3 mg/kg DON), and 3) NC + 0.25% Defusion. Treatment 7 was Diet 3 with supplemental nutrients in pellet form. No interactions were observed between pelleting and Defusion. Pigs fed the NC had decreased ( < 0.01) ADG and ADFI, and pelleting improved ( < 0.01) ADG to PC levels, driven by improved ( < 0.01) G:F. Adding nutrients or Defusion had no effect. Overall, these studies show that Defusion and pelleting can help overcome some of the negative effects of DON, whereas other feed additives and additional nutrients do not.

Controlled nerve growth factor release from multi-ply alginate/chitosan-based nerve conduits.

PubMed

Pfister, Lukas A; Alther, Eva; Papaloïzos, Michaël; Merkle, Hans P; Gander, Bruno

2008-06-01

The delivery kinetics of growth factors has been suggested to play an important role in the regeneration of peripheral nerves following axotomy. In this context, we designed a nerve conduit (NC) with adjustable release kinetics of nerve growth factor (NGF). A multi-ply system was designed where NC consisting of a polyelectrolyte alginate/chitosan complex was coated with layers of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) to control the release of embedded NGF. Prior to assessing the in vitro NGF release from NC, various release test media, with and without stabilizers for NGF, were evaluated to ensure adequate quantification of NGF by ELISA. Citrate (pH 5.0) and acetate (pH 5.5) buffered saline solutions containing 0.05% Tween 20 yielded the most reliable results for ELISA active NGF. The in vitro release experiments revealed that the best results in terms of reproducibility and release control were achieved when the NGF was embedded between two PLGA layers and the ends of the NC tightly sealed by the PLGA coatings. The release kinetics could be efficiently adjusted by accommodating NGF at different radial locations within the NC. A sustained release of bioactive NGF in the low nanogram per day range was obtained for at least 15days. In conclusion, the developed multi-ply NGF loaded NC is considered a suitable candidate for future implantation studies to gain insight into the relationship between local growth factor availability and nerve regeneration.

Ecophysiological differences in tree carbon gain and water use for two fast growing loblolly pine ideotypes that differ in carbon allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maier, C. A.; Johnsen, K. H.; Dougherty, P.; Albaugh, T.; Patterson, S.

2013-12-01

We examined the ecophysiological basis for differences in growth efficiency and water-use for two contrasting Pinus taeda (L.) ideotypes: a ';broad-crown' (BC) and a ';narrow crown' (NC) clone, which allocate more growth to leaves and wood, respectively. Tree growth, above and belowground biomass production, fine root turnover, light use efficiency (LUE), and transpiration on a ground (Et) and leaf (EL) basis were measured periodically over eight years. Silviculture treatments were a control consisting of shearing and bedding following local commercial operations and a mulch treatment where chipped logging residue (C/N≈700) was incorporated into the soil during bedding at a rate of 25 Mg ha-1. We hypothesized that: 1) the NC and BC clone would display similar aboveground productivity in the control treatment, but because of lower leaf area and thus lower nitrogen demand, the NC would display higher productivity than BC on the mulch treatment, 2) the NC would have higher LUE, and 3) the NC clone would have lower Et and EL. There were no treatment, clone, or interaction effects on stemwood production. At age eight, standing stem biomass was 80.7 and 86.0 Mg ha-1 (p=0.33), for the NC and BC, respectively. However, there were significant clone effects on carbon allocation. The BC had greater foliage (BC: 8.1, NC: 6.6 Mg ha-1, se=0.2, p=0.01) and branch (BC: 15.0, NC: 12.4 Mg ha-1, se=0.4, p<0.001) biomass, while the NC clone had greater taproot (BC: 14.8, NC: 17.1, Mg ha-1, se=0.4, p=0.003) and coarse root (>2mm) (BC: 9.7, NC: 11.23 Mg ha-1, se=0.2, P<0.001) biomass. In addition, the NC clone averaged on a monthly basis 30% more fine root biomass (<2mm) (BC: 42.4, NC: 61.0 g m-2, se=4.0, p=0.011). The BC clone had 16% more LAI (BC: 3.52×0.12, NC: 2.94×0.14 m2 m-2) at peak foliage biomass and had more leaf area to conducting sapwood area (AL/AS) (BC: 0.175 m2 cm-2, NC: 0.150 m2 cm-2) than the NC clone. Growth efficiency, defined as annual stem increment per unit leaf area was 5.36 and 4.70 Mg ha-1 yr-1 LAI-1 in the NC and BC, respectively (p<0.0001). There were no clone differences in LUE (NC: 1.41, BC 1.35 g MJ-1, p=0.48). Et of the BC clone was 22% (403 mm year-1) greater than the NC (315 mm year-1); however, most of this difference was due to greater water use by the BC clone during the winter and spring. There were no differences in Et during the summer months. For example, EL averaged 1.03×0.07 and 0.69×0.04 mm day-1 in March compared to 0.72×.07 and 0.61×0.05 mm day-1in August for the BC and NC, respectively. Our results show that the contrasting ideotypes had similar stem biomass production, but the NC ideotype produced more stemwood per unit leaf area, which confers greater nutrient use efficiency. In addition, the NC had significantly greater belowground carbon allocation, which could have long-term implications for soil carbon sequestration.

DES-ncRNA: A knowledgebase for exploring information about human micro and long noncoding RNAs based on literature-mining.

PubMed

Salhi, Adil; Essack, Magbubah; Alam, Tanvir; Bajic, Vladan P; Ma, Lina; Radovanovic, Aleksandar; Marchand, Benoit; Schmeier, Sebastian; Zhang, Zhang; Bajic, Vladimir B

2017-07-03

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), particularly microRNAs (miRNAs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), are important players in diseases and emerge as novel drug targets. Thus, unraveling the relationships between ncRNAs and other biomedical entities in cells are critical for better understanding ncRNA roles that may eventually help develop their use in medicine. To support ncRNA research and facilitate retrieval of relevant information regarding miRNAs and lncRNAs from the plethora of published ncRNA-related research, we developed DES-ncRNA ( www.cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/des_ncrna ). DES-ncRNA is a knowledgebase containing text- and data-mined information from public scientific literature and other public resources. Exploration of mined information is enabled through terms and pairs of terms from 19 topic-specific dictionaries including, for example, antibiotics, toxins, drugs, enzymes, mutations, pathways, human genes and proteins, drug indications and side effects, mutations, diseases, etc. DES-ncRNA contains approximately 878,000 associations of terms from these dictionaries of which 36,222 (5,373) are with regards to miRNAs (lncRNAs). We provide several ways to explore information regarding ncRNAs to users including controlled generation of association networks as well as hypotheses generation. We show an example how DES-ncRNA can aid research on Alzheimer disease and suggest potential therapeutic role for Fasudil. DES-ncRNA is a powerful tool that can be used on its own or as a complement to the existing resources, to support research in human ncRNA. To our knowledge, this is the only knowledgebase dedicated to human miRNAs and lncRNAs derived primarily through literature-mining enabling exploration of a broad spectrum of associated biomedical entities, not paralleled by any other resource.

DES-ncRNA: A knowledgebase for exploring information about human micro and long noncoding RNAs based on literature-mining

PubMed Central

Salhi, Adil; Essack, Magbubah; Alam, Tanvir; Bajic, Vladan P.; Ma, Lina; Radovanovic, Aleksandar; Marchand, Benoit; Zhang, Zhang; Bajic, Vladimir B.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), particularly microRNAs (miRNAs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), are important players in diseases and emerge as novel drug targets. Thus, unraveling the relationships between ncRNAs and other biomedical entities in cells are critical for better understanding ncRNA roles that may eventually help develop their use in medicine. To support ncRNA research and facilitate retrieval of relevant information regarding miRNAs and lncRNAs from the plethora of published ncRNA-related research, we developed DES-ncRNA (www.cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/des_ncrna). DES-ncRNA is a knowledgebase containing text- and data-mined information from public scientific literature and other public resources. Exploration of mined information is enabled through terms and pairs of terms from 19 topic-specific dictionaries including, for example, antibiotics, toxins, drugs, enzymes, mutations, pathways, human genes and proteins, drug indications and side effects, mutations, diseases, etc. DES-ncRNA contains approximately 878,000 associations of terms from these dictionaries of which 36,222 (5,373) are with regards to miRNAs (lncRNAs). We provide several ways to explore information regarding ncRNAs to users including controlled generation of association networks as well as hypotheses generation. We show an example how DES-ncRNA can aid research on Alzheimer disease and suggest potential therapeutic role for Fasudil. DES-ncRNA is a powerful tool that can be used on its own or as a complement to the existing resources, to support research in human ncRNA. To our knowledge, this is the only knowledgebase dedicated to human miRNAs and lncRNAs derived primarily through literature-mining enabling exploration of a broad spectrum of associated biomedical entities, not paralleled by any other resource. PMID:28387604

A vaccine formulation combining rhoptry proteins NcROP40 and NcROP2 improves pup survival in a pregnant mouse model of neosporosis.

PubMed

Pastor-Fernández, Iván; Arranz-Solís, David; Regidor-Cerrillo, Javier; Álvarez-García, Gema; Hemphill, Andrew; García-Culebras, Alicia; Cuevas-Martín, Carmen; Ortega-Mora, Luis M

2015-01-30

Currently there are no effective vaccines for the control of bovine neosporosis. During the last years several subunit vaccines based on immunodominant antigens and other proteins involved in adhesion, invasion and intracellular proliferation of Neospora caninum have been evaluated as targets for vaccine development in experimental mouse infection models. Among them, the rhoptry antigen NcROP2 and the immunodominant NcGRA7 protein have been assessed with varying results. Recent studies have shown that another rhoptry component, NcROP40, and NcNTPase, a putative dense granule antigen, exhibit higher expression levels in tachyzoites of virulent N. caninum isolates, suggesting that these could be potential vaccine candidates to limit the effects of infection. In the present work, the safety and efficacy of these recombinant antigens formulated in Quil-A adjuvant as monovalent vaccines or pair-wise combinations (rNcROP40+rNcROP2 and rNcGRA7+rNcNTPase) were evaluated in a pregnant mouse model of neosporosis. All the vaccine formulations elicited a specific immune response against their respective native proteins after immunization. Mice vaccinated with rNcROP40 and rNcROP2 alone or in combination produced the highest levels of IFN-γ and exhibited low parasite burdens and low IgG antibody levels after the challenge. In addition, most of the vaccine formulations were able to increase the median survival time in the offspring. However, pup survival only ensued in the groups vaccinated with rNcROP40+rNcROP2 (16.2%) and rNcROP2 (6.3%). Interestingly, vertical transmission was not observed in those survivor pups immunized with rNcROP40+rNcROP2, as shown by PCR analyses. These results show a partial protection against N. caninum infection after vaccination with rNcROP40+rNcROP2, suggesting a synergistic effect of the two recombinant rhoptry antigens. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Narcolepsy with Cataplexy Associated with Nocturnal Compulsive Behaviors: A Case-Control Study

PubMed Central

Palaia, Vincenzo; Poli, Francesca; Pizza, Fabio; Antelmi, Elena; Franceschini, Christian; Moghadam, Keivan Kaveh; Provini, Frederica; Pagotto, Uberto; Montagna, Pasquale; Schenck, Carlos H.; Mignot, Emmanuel; Plazzi, Giuseppe

2011-01-01

Study Objectives: To assess the prevalence of sleep related-eating disorder (SRED) and nocturnal smoking (NS) in patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC). Design: Case-control study. Setting: University hospital. Patients or Participants: 65 consecutive adult NC patients (33 men; mean age 43.9 ± 19.2 years) and 65 age-, sex-, and geographical origin-matched controls. Interventions: Validated questionnaires were used to investigate SRED, NS, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and psychopathological traits (using Eating Disorder Inventory-2 [EDI-2]; Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory [MOCI]; and Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]). Measurements and Results: NC patients showed a higher prevalence of SRED (32% vs 3%, P = 0.00001), NS (21% vs 0%, P = 0.00006), and RLS (18% vs 5%, P = 0.013) than controls. Moreover, NC patients presented more frequently with an eating-related pathological profile on the EDI-2 (80% vs 46%, P = 0.00006) and had a higher prevalence of depressed mood on the BDI (41% vs 18%, P = 0.004). In comparison to patients without SRED, NC patients with SRED were more frequently women (71% vs 39%, P = 0.013), had higher “bulimic” (29% vs 2%, P = 0.004) and “social insecurity” (48% vs 18%, P = 0.013) traits on the EDI-2, had higher obsessive-compulsiveness on the MOCI (29% vs 4%, P = 0.009), and were more depressed on the BDI (67% vs 29%, P = 0.005). NC patients with NS showed more frequent pathological profiles on the EDI-2 (100% vs 75%, P = 0.035), including the “bulimic” (29% vs 6%, P = 0.015), “perfectionism” (43% vs 14%, P = 0.016), and “social insecurity” (50% vs 22, P = 0.035) profiles. Conclusion: Our study shows a strong association of the compulsive nocturnal behaviors SRED and NS with adult NC. Citation: Palaia V; Poli F; Pizza F; Antelmi E; Franceschini C; Moghadam KK; Provini F; Pagotto U; Montagna P; Schenck CH; Mignot E; Plazzi G. Narcolepsy with cataplexy associated with nocturnal compulsive behaviors: a case-control study. SLEEP 2011;34(10):1365-1371. PMID:21966068

Normalization of cortical thickness measurements across different T1 magnetic resonance imaging protocols by novel W-Score standardization.

PubMed

Chung, Jinyong; Yoo, Kwangsun; Lee, Peter; Kim, Chan Mi; Roh, Jee Hoon; Park, Ji Eun; Kim, Sang Joon; Seo, Sang Won; Shin, Jeong-Hyeon; Seong, Joon-Kyung; Jeong, Yong

2017-10-01

The use of different 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance (T1 MR) imaging protocols induces image incompatibility across multicenter studies, negating the many advantages of multicenter studies. A few methods have been developed to address this problem, but significant image incompatibility still remains. Thus, we developed a novel and convenient method to improve image compatibility. W-score standardization creates quality reference values by using a healthy group to obtain normalized disease values. We developed a protocol-specific w-score standardization to control the protocol effect, which is applied to each protocol separately. We used three data sets. In dataset 1, brain T1 MR images of normal controls (NC) and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from two centers, acquired with different T1 MR protocols, were used (Protocol 1 and 2, n = 45/group). In dataset 2, data from six subjects, who underwent MRI with two different protocols (Protocol 1 and 2), were used with different repetition times, echo times, and slice thicknesses. In dataset 3, T1 MR images from a large number of healthy normal controls (Protocol 1: n = 148, Protocol 2: n = 343) were collected for w-score standardization. The protocol effect and disease effect on subjects' cortical thickness were analyzed before and after the application of protocol-specific w-score standardization. As expected, different protocols resulted in differing cortical thickness measurements in both NC and AD subjects. Different measurements were obtained for the same subject when imaged with different protocols. Multivariate pattern difference between measurements was observed between the protocols. Classification accuracy between two protocols was nearly 90%. After applying protocol-specific w-score standardization, the differences between the protocols substantially decreased. Most importantly, protocol-specific w-score standardization reduced both univariate and multivariate differences in the images while maintaining the AD disease effect. Compared to conventional regression methods, our method showed the best performance for in terms of controlling the protocol effect while preserving disease information. Protocol-specific w-score standardization effectively resolved the concerns of conventional regression methods. It showed the best performance for improving the compatibility of a T1 MR post-processed feature, cortical thickness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resting-state EEG coupling analysis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment with type 2 diabetes mellitus by using permutation conditional mutual information.

PubMed

Wen, Dong; Bian, Zhijie; Li, Qiuli; Wang, Lei; Lu, Chengbiao; Li, Xiaoli

2016-01-01

This study was meant to explore whether the coupling strength and direction of resting-state electroencephalogram (rsEEG) could be used as an indicator to distinguish the patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with or without amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Permutation conditional mutual information (PCMI) was used to calculate the coupling strength and direction of rsEEG signals between different brain areas of 19 aMCI and 20 normal control (NC) with T2DM on 7 frequency bands: Delta, Theta, Alpha1, Alpha2, Beta1, Beta2 and Gamma. The difference in coupling strength or direction of rsEEG between two groups was calculated. The correlation between coupling strength or direction of rsEEG and score of different neuropsychology scales were also calculated. We have demonstrated that PCMI can calculate effectively the coupling strength and directionality of EEG signals between different brain regions. The significant difference in coupling strength and directionality of EEG signals was found between the patients of aMCI and NC with T2DM on different brain regions. There also existed significant correlation between sex or age and coupling strength or coupling directionality of EEG signals between a few different brain regions from all subjects. The coupling strength or directionality of EEG signals calculated by PCMI are significantly different between aMCI and NC with T2DM. These results showed that the coupling strength or directionality of EEG signals calculated by PCMI might be used as a biomarker in distinguishing the aMCI from NC with T2DM. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differences in quantitative EEG between frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease as revealed by LORETA.

PubMed

Nishida, K; Yoshimura, M; Isotani, T; Yoshida, T; Kitaura, Y; Saito, A; Mii, H; Kato, M; Takekita, Y; Suwa, A; Morita, S; Kinoshita, T

2011-09-01

To determine the electrophysiological characteristics of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and the distinction with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed analyses of global field power (GFP) which is a measure of whole brain electric field strength, and EEG neuroimaging analyses with sLORETA (standardized low resolution electromagnetic tomography), in the mild stages of FTD (n = 19; mean age = 68.11 ± 7.77) and AD (n = 19; mean age = 69.42 ± 9.57) patients, and normal control (NC) subjects (n = 22; mean age = 66.13 ± 6.02). In the GFP analysis, significant group effects were observed in the delta (1.5-6.0 Hz), alpha1 (8.5-10.0 Hz), and beta1 (12.5-18.0 Hz) bands. In sLORETA analysis, differences in activity were observed in the alpha1 band (NC > FTD) in the orbital frontal and temporal lobe, in the delta band (AD>NC) in widespread areas including the frontal lobe, and in the beta1 band (FTD > AD) in the parietal lobe and sensorimotor area. Differential patterns of brain regions and EEG frequency bands were observed between the FTD and AD groups in terms of pathological activity. FTD and AD patients in the early stages displayed different patterns in the cortical localization of oscillatory activity across different frequency bands. Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simple and robust diagnosis of early, small and AFP-negative primary hepatic carcinomas: an integrative approach of serum fluorescence and conventional blood tests.

PubMed

Wang, Ting; Zhang, Kun-He; Hu, Piao-Ping; Huang, Zeng-Yong; Zhang, Pan; Wan, Qin-Si; Huang, De-Qiang; Lv, Nong-Hua

2016-09-27

The diagnosis of early, small and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-negative primary hepatic carcinomas (PHCs) remains a significant challenge. We developed a simple and robust approach to noninvasively detect these PHCs. A rapid, high-throughput and single-tube method was firstly developed to measure serum autofluorescence and cell-free DNA (cfDNA)-related fluorescence using a real-time PCR system, and both types of serum fluorescence were measured and routine laboratory data were collected in 1229 subjects, including 353 PHC patients, 331 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, 213 chronic hepatitis (CH) patients and 332 normal controls (NC). The results showed that fluorescence indicators of PHC differed from those of NC, CH and LC to various extents, and all of them were not associated with age, gender, or AFP level. The logistic regression models established with the fluorescence indicators alone and combined with AFP, hepatic function tests and blood cell analyses were valuable for distinguishing early, small, AFP-negative and all PHC from LC, CH, NC and all non-PHC, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves 0.857-0.993 and diagnostic accuracies 80.2-97.7%. Conclusively, serum autofluorescence and cfDNA-related fluorescence are able to be rapidly and simultaneously measured by our simple method and valuable for diagnosing early, small and AFP-negative PHCs, especially integrating with AFP and conventional blood tests.

Morphometry Based on Effective and Accurate Correspondences of Localized Patterns (MEACOLP)

PubMed Central

Wang, Hu; Ren, Yanshuang; Bai, Lijun; Zhang, Wensheng; Tian, Jie

2012-01-01

Local features in volumetric images have been used to identify correspondences of localized anatomical structures for brain morphometry. However, the correspondences are often sparse thus ineffective in reflecting the underlying structures, making it unreliable to evaluate specific morphological differences. This paper presents a morphometry method (MEACOLP) based on correspondences with improved effectiveness and accuracy. A novel two-level scale-invariant feature transform is used to enhance the detection repeatability of local features and to recall the correspondences that might be missed in previous studies. Template patterns whose correspondences could be commonly identified in each group are constructed to serve as the basis for morphometric analysis. A matching algorithm is developed to reduce the identification errors by comparing neighboring local features and rejecting unreliable matches. The two-sample t-test is finally adopted to analyze specific properties of the template patterns. Experiments are performed on the public OASIS database to clinically analyze brain images of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and normal controls (NC). MEACOLP automatically identifies known morphological differences between AD and NC brains, and characterizes the differences well as the scaling and translation of underlying structures. Most of the significant differences are identified in only a single hemisphere, indicating that AD-related structures are characterized by strong anatomical asymmetry. In addition, classification trials to differentiate AD subjects from NC confirm that the morphological differences are reliably related to the groups of interest. PMID:22540000

Detection of subjects and brain regions related to Alzheimer's disease using 3D MRI scans based on eigenbrain and machine learning

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yudong; Dong, Zhengchao; Phillips, Preetha; Wang, Shuihua; Ji, Genlin; Yang, Jiquan; Yuan, Ti-Fei

2015-01-01

Purpose: Early diagnosis or detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from the normal elder control (NC) is very important. However, the computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) was not widely used, and the classification performance did not reach the standard of practical use. We proposed a novel CAD system for MR brain images based on eigenbrains and machine learning with two goals: accurate detection of both AD subjects and AD-related brain regions. Method: First, we used maximum inter-class variance (ICV) to select key slices from 3D volumetric data. Second, we generated an eigenbrain set for each subject. Third, the most important eigenbrain (MIE) was obtained by Welch's t-test (WTT). Finally, kernel support-vector-machines with different kernels that were trained by particle swarm optimization, were used to make an accurate prediction of AD subjects. Coefficients of MIE with values higher than 0.98 quantile were highlighted to obtain the discriminant regions that distinguish AD from NC. Results: The experiments showed that the proposed method can predict AD subjects with a competitive performance with existing methods, especially the accuracy of the polynomial kernel (92.36 ± 0.94) was better than the linear kernel of 91.47 ± 1.02 and the radial basis function (RBF) kernel of 86.71 ± 1.93. The proposed eigenbrain-based CAD system detected 30 AD-related brain regions (Anterior Cingulate, Caudate Nucleus, Cerebellum, Cingulate Gyrus, Claustrum, Inferior Frontal Gyrus, Inferior Parietal Lobule, Insula, Lateral Ventricle, Lentiform Nucleus, Lingual Gyrus, Medial Frontal Gyrus, Middle Frontal Gyrus, Middle Occipital Gyrus, Middle Temporal Gyrus, Paracentral Lobule, Parahippocampal Gyrus, Postcentral Gyrus, Posterial Cingulate, Precentral Gyrus, Precuneus, Subcallosal Gyrus, Sub-Gyral, Superior Frontal Gyrus, Superior Parietal Lobule, Superior Temporal Gyrus, Supramarginal Gyrus, Thalamus, Transverse Temporal Gyrus, and Uncus). The results were coherent with existing literatures. Conclusion: The eigenbrain method was effective in AD subject prediction and discriminant brain-region detection in MRI scanning. PMID:26082713

Noise in NC-AFM measurements with significant tip–sample interaction

PubMed Central

Lübbe, Jannis; Temmen, Matthias

2016-01-01

The frequency shift noise in non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) imaging and spectroscopy consists of thermal noise and detection system noise with an additional contribution from amplitude noise if there are significant tip–sample interactions. The total noise power spectral density D Δ f(f m) is, however, not just the sum of these noise contributions. Instead its magnitude and spectral characteristics are determined by the strongly non-linear tip–sample interaction, by the coupling between the amplitude and tip–sample distance control loops of the NC-AFM system as well as by the characteristics of the phase locked loop (PLL) detector used for frequency demodulation. Here, we measure D Δ f(f m) for various NC-AFM parameter settings representing realistic measurement conditions and compare experimental data to simulations based on a model of the NC-AFM system that includes the tip–sample interaction. The good agreement between predicted and measured noise spectra confirms that the model covers the relevant noise contributions and interactions. Results yield a general understanding of noise generation and propagation in the NC-AFM and provide a quantitative prediction of noise for given experimental parameters. We derive strategies for noise-optimised imaging and spectroscopy and outline a full optimisation procedure for the instrumentation and control loops. PMID:28144538

Immunogenicity of recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum NC8 expressing goose parvovirus VP2 gene in BALB/c mice.

PubMed

Liu, Yu-Ying; Yang, Wen-Tao; Shi, Shao-Hua; Li, Ya-Jie; Zhao, Liang; Shi, Chun-Wei; Zhou, Fang-Yu; Jiang, Yan-Long; Hu, Jing-Tao; Gu, Wei; Yang, Gui-Lian; Wang, Chun-Feng

2017-06-30

Goose parvovirus (GPV) continues to be a threat to goose farms and has significant economic effects on the production of geese. Current commercially available vaccines only rarely prevent GPV infection. In our study, Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum NC8 was selected as a vector to express the VP2 gene of GPV, and recombinant L. plantarum pSIP409-VP2/NC8 was successfully constructed. The molecular weight of the expressed recombinant protein was approximately 70 kDa. Mice were immunized with a 2 × 10 9 colony-forming unit/200 μL dose of the recombinant L. plantarum strain, and the ratios and numbers of CD11c + , CD3 + CD4 + , CD3 + CD8 + , and interferon gamma- and tumor necrosis factor alpha-expressing spleen lymphocytes in the pSIP409-VP2/NC8 group were higher than those in the control groups. In addition, we assessed the capacity of L. plantarum SIP409-VP2/NC8 to induce secretory IgA production. We conclude that administered pSIP409-VP2/NC8 leads to relatively extensive cellular responses. This study provides information on GPV infection and offers a clear framework of options available for GPV control strategies.

Immunogenicity of recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum NC8 expressing goose parvovirus VP2 gene in BALB/c mice

PubMed Central

Liu, Yu-Ying; Yang, Wen-Tao; Shi, Shao-Hua; Li, Ya-Jie; Zhao, Liang; Shi, Chun-Wei; Zhou, Fang-Yu; Jiang, Yan-Long; Hu, Jing-Tao; Gu, Wei

2017-01-01

Goose parvovirus (GPV) continues to be a threat to goose farms and has significant economic effects on the production of geese. Current commercially available vaccines only rarely prevent GPV infection. In our study, Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum NC8 was selected as a vector to express the VP2 gene of GPV, and recombinant L. plantarum pSIP409-VP2/NC8 was successfully constructed. The molecular weight of the expressed recombinant protein was approximately 70 kDa. Mice were immunized with a 2 × 109 colony-forming unit/200 µL dose of the recombinant L. plantarum strain, and the ratios and numbers of CD11c+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, and interferon gamma- and tumor necrosis factor alpha-expressing spleen lymphocytes in the pSIP409-VP2/NC8 group were higher than those in the control groups. In addition, we assessed the capacity of L. plantarum SIP409-VP2/NC8 to induce secretory IgA production. We conclude that administered pSIP409-VP2/NC8 leads to relatively extensive cellular responses. This study provides information on GPV infection and offers a clear framework of options available for GPV control strategies. PMID:27456769

Noise in NC-AFM measurements with significant tip-sample interaction.

PubMed

Lübbe, Jannis; Temmen, Matthias; Rahe, Philipp; Reichling, Michael

2016-01-01

The frequency shift noise in non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) imaging and spectroscopy consists of thermal noise and detection system noise with an additional contribution from amplitude noise if there are significant tip-sample interactions. The total noise power spectral density D Δ f ( f m ) is, however, not just the sum of these noise contributions. Instead its magnitude and spectral characteristics are determined by the strongly non-linear tip-sample interaction, by the coupling between the amplitude and tip-sample distance control loops of the NC-AFM system as well as by the characteristics of the phase locked loop (PLL) detector used for frequency demodulation. Here, we measure D Δ f ( f m ) for various NC-AFM parameter settings representing realistic measurement conditions and compare experimental data to simulations based on a model of the NC-AFM system that includes the tip-sample interaction. The good agreement between predicted and measured noise spectra confirms that the model covers the relevant noise contributions and interactions. Results yield a general understanding of noise generation and propagation in the NC-AFM and provide a quantitative prediction of noise for given experimental parameters. We derive strategies for noise-optimised imaging and spectroscopy and outline a full optimisation procedure for the instrumentation and control loops.

Single Breath-Hold Non-Contrast Thoracic MRA Using Highly-Accelerated Parallel Imaging With a 32-element Coil Array

PubMed Central

Xu, Jian; Mcgorty, Kelly Anne; Lim, Ruth. P.; Bruno, Mary; Babb, James S.; Srichai, Monvadi B.; Kim, Daniel; Sodickson, Daniel K.

2011-01-01

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility of performing single breath-hold 3D thoracic non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) using highly-accelerated parallel imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS We developed a single breath-hold NC MRA pulse sequence using balanced steady state free precession (SSFP) readout and highly-accelerated parallel imaging. In 17 subjects, highly-accelerated non-contrast MRA was compared against electrocardiogram (ECG)-triggered contrast-enhanced MRA. Anonymized images were randomized for blinded review by two independent readers for image quality, artifact severity in 8 defined vessel segments and aortic dimensions in 6 standard sites. NC-MRA and CE-MRA were compared in terms of these measures using paired sample t and Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS The overall image quality (3.21±0.68 for NC-MRA vs. 3.12±0.71 for CE-MRA) and artifact (2.87±1.01 for NC-MRA vs. 2.92±0.87 for CE-MRA) scores were not significantly different, but there were significant differences for the great vessel and coronary artery origins. NC-MRA demonstrated significantly lower aortic diameter measurements compared to CE-MRA; however, this difference was not considered clinically relevant (>3 mm difference) for less than 12% of segments, most commonly at the sinotubular junction. Mean total scan time was significantly lower for NC-MRA compared to CE-MRA (18.2 ± 6.0s vs. 28.1 ± 5.4s, respectively; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Single breath-hold NC-MRA is feasible and can be a useful alternative for evaluation and follow-up of thoracic aortic diseases. PMID:22147589

The Role of Grain Size on Neutron Irradiation Response of Nanocrystalline Copper

PubMed Central

Mohamed, Walid; Miller, Brandon; Porter, Douglas; Murty, Korukonda

2016-01-01

The role of grain size on the developed microstructure and mechanical properties of neutron irradiated nanocrystalline copper was investigated by comparing the radiation response of material to the conventional micrograined counterpart. Nanocrystalline (nc) and micrograined (MG) copper samples were subjected to a range of neutron exposure levels from 0.0034 to 2 dpa. At all damage levels, the response of MG-copper was governed by radiation hardening manifested by an increase in strength with accompanying ductility loss. Conversely, the response of nc-copper to neutron irradiation exhibited a dependence on the damage level. At low damage levels, grain growth was the primary response, with radiation hardening and embrittlement becoming the dominant responses with increasing damage levels. Annealing experiments revealed that grain growth in nc-copper is composed of both thermally-activated and irradiation-induced components. Tensile tests revealed minimal change in the source hardening component of the yield stress in MG-copper, while the source hardening component was found to decrease with increasing radiation exposure in nc-copper. PMID:28773270

Feature-based Morphometry

PubMed Central

Toews, Matthew; Wells, William M.; Collins, Louis; Arbel, Tal

2013-01-01

This paper presents feature-based morphometry (FBM), a new, fully data-driven technique for identifying group-related differences in volumetric imagery. In contrast to most morphometry methods which assume one-to-one correspondence between all subjects, FBM models images as a collage of distinct, localized image features which may not be present in all subjects. FBM thus explicitly accounts for the case where the same anatomical tissue cannot be reliably identified in all subjects due to disease or anatomical variability. A probabilistic model describes features in terms of their appearance, geometry, and relationship to sub-groups of a population, and is automatically learned from a set of subject images and group labels. Features identified indicate group-related anatomical structure that can potentially be used as disease biomarkers or as a basis for computer-aided diagnosis. Scale-invariant image features are used, which reflect generic, salient patterns in the image. Experiments validate FBM clinically in the analysis of normal (NC) and Alzheimer’s (AD) brain images using the freely available OASIS database. FBM automatically identifies known structural differences between NC and AD subjects in a fully data-driven fashion, and obtains an equal error classification rate of 0.78 on new subjects. PMID:20426102

PaCO2 measurement in cerebral haemodynamics: face mask or nasal cannulae?

PubMed

Minhas, J S; Robinson, T; Panerai, R

2017-06-22

PaCO 2 affects cerebral blood flow (CBF) and its regulatory mechanisms, but the effects of CO 2 measurement technique on cerebrovascular parameters are unknown. In order to determine if the two most commonly used approaches, face mask (FM) or nasal cannulae (NC), are interchangeable or not, we tested the hypothesis that the use of FM versus NC does not lead to significant differences in CO 2 -related systemic and cerebrovascular parameters. Recordings of CBF velocity (CBFV), blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and end-tidal CO 2 (EtCO 2 ) were performed in 42 subjects during normocapnia (FM or NC) and 5% CO 2 inhalation (FM) or hyperventilation (NC). Dynamic cerebral autoregulation was assessed with the autoregulation index (ARI), derived by transfer function analysis from the CBFV response to a hypothetical step change in BP. Significant differences in physiological parameters were seen between FM and NC: EtCO 2 (37.40 versus 35.26 mmHg, p  =  0.001) and heart rate (69.6 versus 66.7 bpm, p  =  0.001) respectively. No differences were observed for mean BP, CBFV or the ARI index. Use of FM or NC for measurement of EtCO 2 leads to physiological changes and differences in parameter values that need to be taken into consideration when interpreting and/or comparing results in studies of cerebral haemodynamics.

Perchlorate exposure and association with iron homeostasis and other biological functions among NHANES 2005-2008 subjects

EPA Science Inventory

Perchlorate exposure and association with iron homeostasis and other biological functions among NHANES 2005-2008 subjects Schreinemachers DM, Ghio AJ, Cascio WE, Sobus JR. U.S. EPA, RTP, NC, USA Perchlorate (ClO4-), an environmental pollutant, is a known thyroid toxicant and...

Effects of Parkinson’s disease on optic flow perception for heading direction during navigation

PubMed Central

Wagenaar, Robert C.; Young, Daniel; Saltzman, Elliot L.; Ren, Xiaolin; Neargarder, Sandy; Cronin-Golomb, Alice

2015-01-01

Visuoperceptual disorders have been identified in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and may affect the perception of optic flow for heading direction during navigation. Studies in healthy subjects have confirmed that heading direction can be determined by equalizing the optic flow speed (OS) between visual fields. The present study investigated the effects of PD on the use of optic flow for heading direction, walking parameters, and interlimb coordination during navigation, examining the contributions of OS and spatial frequency (dot density). Twelve individuals with PD without dementia, 18 age-matched normal control adults (NC), and 23 young control adults (YC) walked through a virtual hallway at about 0.8 m/s. The hallway was created by random dots on side walls. Three levels of OS (0.8, 1.2, and 1.8 m/s) and dot density (1, 2, and 3 dots/m2) were presented on one wall while on the other wall, OS and dot density were fixed at 0.8 m/s and 3 dots/m2, respectively. Three-dimensional kinematic data were collected, and lateral drift, walking speed, stride frequency and length, and frequency, and phase relations between arms and legs were calculated. A significant linear effect was observed on lateral drift to the wall with lower OS for YC and NC, but not for PD. Compared to YC and NC, PD veered more to the left under OS and dot density conditions. The results suggest that healthy adults perceive optic flow for heading direction. Heading direction in PD may be more affected by the asymmetry of dopamine levels between the hemispheres and by motor lateralization as indexed by handedness. PMID:24510351

Nocturnal illumination maintains reproductive function and simulates the period-lengthening effect of constant light in the mature male Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferraro, J. S.

1990-01-01

Mature male Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were placed in individual light-tight, sound attenuated chambers and exposed to one of four lighting conditions for a duration of approximately seven weeks. The four lighting conditions were: constant light (LL); constant dark (DD); feedback lighting (LDFB; a condition that illuminates the cage in response to locomotor activity); or a feedback lighting neighbor control (LDFB NC; the animal receives the same light pattern as a paired animal in feedback lighting, but has no control over it). Exposure of hamsters to LL or LDFB produced significantly and similarly longer free-running periods of the locomotor activity rhythm than exposure of animals to DD. Hamsters exposed to LDFB NC did not free-run or entrain, but rather displayed "relative coordination". The paired testes and sex accessory glands weights suggest that in the Djungarian hamster, LL and LDFB exposed animals maintained reproductive function, whereas DD exposed animals did not. Animals exposed to LDFB NC had intermediate paired testes weights. Since several previous studies have demonstrated that short pulses of light, which are coincident with the subjective night, are photostimulatory, it is not surprising that LDFB maintained reproductive function in the mature Djungarian hamster. Feedback lighting, however, has been shown to be an insufficient stimulus to maintain reproductive function of mature male and female Syrian hamsters, and to the reproductive maturation of immature Djungarian hamsters. The results suggest that there may be slight, but significant differences in the way these two species interpret photoperiod, as well as a developmental change in the photoperiodic response of Djungarian hamsters.

Photoluminescent silicon nanocrystal-based multifunctional carrier for pH-regulated drug delivery.

PubMed

Xu, Zhigang; Wang, Dongdong; Guan, Min; Liu, Xiaoyan; Yang, Yanjie; Wei, Dongfeng; Zhao, Chunyan; Zhang, Haixia

2012-07-25

A core-shell structured multifunctional carrier with nanocrystalline silicon (ncSi) as the core and a water-soluble block copolymer as the shell based on a poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) inner shell and polyethylene glycol (MPEG) outer shell (ncSi-MPM) was synthesized for drug delivery. The morphology, composition, and properties of the resulting ncSi-MPM were determined by comprehensive multianalytical characterization, including (1)H NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, XPS spectroscopy, TEM, DLS, and fluorescence spectroscopy analyses. The size of the resulting ncSi-MPM nanocarriers ranged from 40 to 110 nm under a simulated physiological environment. The loading efficiency of model drug doxorubicin (DOX) was approximately 6.1-7.4 wt % for ncSi-MPM and the drug release was pH controlled. Cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that DOX-loaded ncSi-MPM showed high anticancer activity against Hela cells. Hemolysis percentages (<2%) of ncSi-MPM were within the scope of safe values. Fluorescent imaging studies showed that the nanocarriers could be used as a tracker at the cellular level. Integration of the above functional components may result in ncSi-MPM becoming a promising multifunctional carrier for drug delivery and biomedical applications.

Local delivery of sirolimus nanoparticles for the treatment of in-stent restenosis.

PubMed

Zago, Alexandre C; Raudales, José C; Attizzani, Guilherme; Matte, Bruno S; Yamamoto, German I; Balvedi, Julise A; Nascimento, Ludmila; Kosachenco, Beatriz G; Centeno, Paulo R; Zago, Alcides J

2013-02-01

To test the local delivery of sirolimus nanoparticles following percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) to treat in-stent restenosis (ISR) in a swine model. Coronary bare-metal stent (BMS) implantation reduces major adverse cardiac events when compared with PTCA; however, ISR rates remain high. Eighteen swine underwent BMS deployment guided by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Of these, 16 developed ISR (1 stent/swine) and underwent angioplasty with a noncompliant balloon (PTCA-NC). The animals were then randomized into four groups for local infusion of sirolimus nanoparticles through a porous balloon catheter, as follows: (1) PTCA-NC alone (control); (2) PTCA-NC + (polylactic acid)-based nanoparticle formulation (anionic 1); (3) PTCA-NC + (polylactic-co-glycolic acid)-based nanoparticle formulation (anionic 2); and (4) PTCA-NC + Eudragit RS nanoparticle formulation (cationic). Coronary angiography and IVUS follow-up were performed 28 days after ISR treatment. There was one episode of acute coronary occlusion with the cationic formulation. Late area loss was similar in all groups at 28 days according to IVUS. However, luminal volume loss (control = 20.7%, anionic 1 = 4.0%, anionic 2 = 6.7%, cationic = 9.6%; P = 0.01) and neointimal volume gain (control = 68.7%, anionic 1 = 17.4%, anionic 2 = 29.5%, cationic = 31.2%; P = 0.019) were significantly reduced in all treatment groups, especially in anionic 1. PTCA-NC followed by local infusion of sirolimus nanoparticles was safe and efficacious to reduce neointima in this model, and this strategy may be a promising treatment for BMS ISR. Further studies are required to validate this method in humans. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Non-coding RNAs in virology: an RNA genomics approach.

PubMed

Isaac, Christopher; Patel, Trushar R; Zovoilis, Athanasios

2018-04-01

Advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatic analysis techniques have greatly improved our understanding of various classes of RNAs and their functions. Despite not coding for proteins, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are emerging as essential biomolecules fundamental for cellular functions and cell survival. Interestingly, ncRNAs produced by viruses not only control the expression of viral genes, but also influence host cell regulation and circumvent host innate immune response. Correspondingly, ncRNAs produced by the host genome can play a key role in host-virus interactions. In this article, we will first discuss a number of types of viral and mammalian ncRNAs associated with viral infections. Subsequently, we also describe the new possibilities and opportunities that RNA genomics and next-generation sequencing technologies provide for studying ncRNAs in virology.

Nitrogen-atom endohedral fullerene synthesis with high efficiency by controlling plasma-ion irradiation energy and C60 internal energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Soon Cheon; Kaneko, Toshiro; Ishida, Hiroyasu; Hatakeyama, Rikizo

2015-03-01

The nitrogen-atom endohedral fullerene (N@C60) has been synthesized by controlling the plasma ion irradiation energy (Ei) and fullerene (C60) behavior in the sublimation phase. We examined the relationship between the synthesis purity of N@C60 [molar concentration ratio of N@C60 to pristine fullerene (C60)] and Ei, which was controlled by changing the substrate bias voltages (Vsub) and gas pressure (PN2) during the plasma irradiation process. High-density nitrogen-molecular ions (N2+) with a suitable Ei near 80 eV are confirmed to be the optimum condition of the nitrogen plasma for the synthesis of high-purity N@C60. In addition, high sublimation of C60 contributes to a higher yield due to the high internal energy of C60 and the related cage defects that are present under these conditions. As a result, a purity of 0.83% is realized for the first time, which is almost two orders of magnitude higher than that using other methods.

Effect of registration on corpus callosum population differences found with DBM analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Zhaoying; Thornton-Wells, Tricia A.; Gore, John C.; Dawant, Benoit M.

2011-03-01

Deformation Based Morphometry (DBM) is a relatively new method used for characterizing anatomical differences among populations. DBM is based on the analysis of the deformation fields generated by non-rigid registration algorithms, which warp the individual volumes to one standard coordinate system. Although several studies have compared non-rigid registration algorithms for segmentation tasks, few studies have compared the effect of the registration algorithm on population differences that may be uncovered through DBM. In this study, we compared DBM results obtained with five well established non-rigid registration algorithms on the corpus callosum (CC) in thirteen subjects with Williams Syndrome (WS) and thirteen Normal Control (NC) subjects. The five non-rigid registration algorithms include: (1) The Adaptive Basis Algorithm (ABA); (2) Image Registration Toolkit (IRTK); (3) FSL Nonlinear Image Registration Tool (FSL); (4) Automatic Registration Tools (ART); and (5) the normalization algorithm available in SPM8. For each algorithm, the 3D deformation fields from all subjects to the atlas were obtained and used to calculate the Jacobian determinant (JAC) at each voxel in the mid-sagittal slice of the CC. The mean JAC maps for each group were compared quantitatively across different nonrigid registration algorithms. An ANOVA test performed on the means of the JAC over the Genu and the Splenium ROIs shows the JAC differences between nonrigid registration algorithms are statistically significant over the Genu for both groups and over the Splenium for the NC group. These results suggest that it is important to consider the effect of registration when using DBM to compute morphological differences in populations.

Impaired inhibition and working memory in response to internet-related words among adolescents with internet addiction: A comparison with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Nie, Jia; Zhang, Wei; Chen, Jia; Li, Wendi

2016-02-28

Impairments in response inhibition and working memory functions have been found to be closely associated with internet addiction (IA) symptoms and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. In this study, we examined response inhibition and working memory processes with two different materials (internet-related and internet-unrelated stimuli) among adolescents with IA, ADHD and co-morbid IA/ADHD. Twenty-four individuals with IA, 28 individuals with ADHD, 17 individuals with IA/ADHD, and 26 matched normal controls (NC) individuals were recruited. All participants were measured with a Stop-Signal Task and 2-Back Task under the same experimental conditions. In comparison to the NC group, subjects with IA, ADHD and IA/ADHD demonstrated impaired inhibition and working memory. In addition, in comparison to internet-unrelated conditions, IA and co-morbid subjects performed worse on the internet-related condition in the Stop trials during the stop-signal task, and they showed better working memory on the internet-related condition in the 2-Back Task. The findings of our study suggest individuals with IA and IA/ADHD may be impaired in inhibition and working memory functions that might be linked to poor inhibition specifically related to internet-related stimuli, which will advance our understanding of IA and contribute to prevention and intervention strategies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low susceptibility of NC/Nga mice to the lipopolysaccharide-mediated lethality with D-galactosamine sensitization and the involvement of fewer natural killer T cells.

PubMed

Koide, Naoki; Morikawa, Akiko; Odkhuu, Erdenezaya; Haque, Abedul; Badamtseren, Battuvshin; Naiki, Yoshikazu; Komatsu, Takayuki; Yoshida, Tomoaki; Yokochi, Takashi

2012-02-01

The LPS-mediated lethality of NC/Nga mice, having fewer NKT cells, was examined by using d-galactosamine (d-GalN)-sensitization. The NC/Nga mice were not killed by a simultaneous administration of d-GalN and LPS whereas all C57BL/6 (B6) control mice were killed. The injection of d-GalN and LPS failed to elevate the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and caspase 3 in the liver tissues of NC/Nga mice. Further, the nitric oxide (NO) level of the d-GalN- and LPS-injected NC/Nga mice was much lower than those of the B6 mice. The expression of an inducible NO synthase (iNOS) was significantly reduced in the livers of NC/Nga mice. However, there was no significant difference in LPS-induced TNF-α production between B6 mice and NC/Nga mice. The NC/Nga mice had an impaired expression of IFN-γ protein and mRNA in response to d-GalN and LPS. The pretreatment with α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), which activates Vα14(+) NKT cells and induces the production of IFN-γ, rendered NC/Nga mice more susceptible to the LPS-mediated lethality. The livers of NC/Nga mice had fewer NKT cells compared to B6 mice. Taken together, it is suggested that the resistance of NC/Nga mice to the LPS-mediated lethality with d-GalN sensitization depended on the impaired IFN-γ production caused by fewer NKT cells and reduced NO production that followed.

A lung cancer risk classifier comprising genome maintenance genes measured in normal bronchial epithelial cells.

PubMed

Yeo, Jiyoun; Crawford, Erin L; Zhang, Xiaolu; Khuder, Sadik; Chen, Tian; Levin, Albert; Blomquist, Thomas M; Willey, James C

2017-05-02

Annual low dose CT (LDCT) screening of individuals at high demographic risk reduces lung cancer mortality by more than 20%. However, subjects selected for screening based on demographic criteria typically have less than a 10% lifetime risk for lung cancer. Thus, there is need for a biomarker that better stratifies subjects for LDCT screening. Toward this goal, we previously reported a lung cancer risk test (LCRT) biomarker comprising 14 genome-maintenance (GM) pathway genes measured in normal bronchial epithelial cells (NBEC) that accurately classified cancer (CA) from non-cancer (NC) subjects. The primary goal of the studies reported here was to optimize the LCRT biomarker for high specificity and ease of clinical implementation. Targeted competitive multiplex PCR amplicon libraries were prepared for next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of transcript abundance at 68 sites among 33 GM target genes in NBEC specimens collected from a retrospective cohort of 120 subjects, including 61 CA cases and 59 NC controls. Genes were selected for analysis based on contribution to the previously reported LCRT biomarker and/or prior evidence for association with lung cancer risk. Linear discriminant analysis was used to identify the most accurate classifier suitable to stratify subjects for screening. After cross-validation, a model comprising expression values from 12 genes (CDKN1A, E2F1, ERCC1, ERCC4, ERCC5, GPX1, GSTP1, KEAP1, RB1, TP53, TP63, and XRCC1) and demographic factors age, gender, and pack-years smoking, had Receiver Operator Characteristic area under the curve (ROC AUC) of 0.975 (95% CI: 0.96-0.99). The overall classification accuracy was 93% (95% CI 88%-98%) with sensitivity 93.1%, specificity 92.9%, positive predictive value 93.1% and negative predictive value 93%. The ROC AUC for this classifier was significantly better (p < 0.0001) than the best model comprising demographic features alone. The LCRT biomarker reported here displayed high accuracy and ease of implementation on a high throughput, quality-controlled targeted NGS platform. As such, it is optimized for clinical validation in specimens from the ongoing LCRT blinded prospective cohort study. Following validation, the biomarker is expected to have clinical utility by better stratifying subjects for annual lung cancer screening compared to current demographic criteria alone.

Research on NC motion controller based on SOPC technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Tingbiao; Meng, Biao

2006-11-01

With the rapid development of the digitization and informationization, the application of numerical control technology in the manufacturing industry becomes more and more important. However, the conventional numerical control system usually has some shortcomings such as the poor in system openness, character of real-time, cutability and reconfiguration. In order to solve these problems, this paper investigates the development prospect and advantage of the application in numerical control area with system-on-a-Programmable-Chip (SOPC) technology, and puts forward to a research program approach to the NC controller based on SOPC technology. Utilizing the characteristic of SOPC technology, we integrate high density logic device FPGA, memory SRAM, and embedded processor ARM into a single programmable logic device. We also combine the 32-bit RISC processor with high computing capability of the complicated algorithm with the FPGA device with strong motivable reconfiguration logic control ability. With these steps, we can greatly resolve the defect described in above existing numerical control systems. For the concrete implementation method, we use FPGA chip embedded with ARM hard nuclear processor to construct the control core of the motion controller. We also design the peripheral circuit of the controller according to the requirements of actual control functions, transplant real-time operating system into ARM, design the driver of the peripheral assisted chip, develop the application program to control and configuration of FPGA, design IP core of logic algorithm for various NC motion control to configured it into FPGA. The whole control system uses the concept of modular and structured design to develop hardware and software system. Thus the NC motion controller with the advantage of easily tailoring, highly opening, reconfigurable, and expandable can be implemented.

Neuropsychological Profiles Differentiate Alzheimer Disease from Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Dementia in an Autopsy-Defined Cohort.

PubMed

Ramirez-Gomez, Liliana; Zheng, Ling; Reed, Bruce; Kramer, Joel; Mungas, Dan; Zarow, Chris; Vinters, Harry; Ringman, John M; Chui, Helena

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of neuropsychological tests to differentiate autopsy-defined Alzheimer disease (AD) from subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (SIVD). From a sample of 175 cases followed longitudinally that underwent autopsy, we selected 23 normal controls (NC), 20 SIVD, 69 AD, and 10 mixed cases of dementia. Baseline neuropsychological tests, including Memory Assessment Scale word list learning test, control oral word association test, and animal fluency, were compared between the three autopsy-defined groups. The NC, SIVD, and AD groups did not differ by age or education. The SIVD and AD groups did not differ by the Global Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. Subjects with AD performed worse on delayed recall (p < 0.01). A receiver operating characteristics analysis comparing the SIVD and AD groups including age, education, difference between categorical (animals) versus phonemic fluency (letter F), and the first recall from the word learning test distinguished the two groups with a sensitivity of 85%, specificity of 67%, and positive likelihood ratio of 2.57 (AUC = 0.789, 95% CI 0.69-0.88, p < 0.0001). In neuropathologically defined subgroups, neuropsychological profiles have modest ability to distinguish patients with AD from those with SIVD. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Neuropsychological Profiles Differentiate Alzheimer Disease from Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Dementia in an Autopsy-Defined Cohort

PubMed Central

Ramirez-Gomez, Liliana; Zheng, Ling; Reed, Bruce; Kramer, Joel; Mungas, Dan; Zarow, Chris; Vinters, Harry; Ringman, John M.; Chui, Helena

2018-01-01

Background/Aims The aim of this study was to assess the ability of neuropsychological tests to differentiate autopsy-defined Alzheimer disease (AD) from subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (SIVD). Methods From a sample of 175 cases followed longitudinally that underwent autopsy, we selected 23 normal controls (NC), 20 SIVD, 69 AD, and 10 mixed cases of dementia. Baseline neuropsychological tests, including Memory Assessment Scale word list learning test, control oral word association test, and animal fluency, were compared between the three autopsy-defined groups. Results The NC, SIVD, and AD groups did not differ by age or education. The SIVD and AD groups did not differ by the Global Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. Subjects with AD performed worse on delayed recall (p < 0.01). A receiver operating characteristics analysis comparing the SIVD and AD groups including age, education, difference between categorical (animals) versus phonemic fluency (letter F), and the first recall from the word learning test distinguished the two groups with a sensitivity of 85%, specificity of 67%, and positive likelihood ratio of 2.57 (AUC = 0.789, 95% CI 0.69–0.88, p < 0.0001). Conclusion In neuropathologically defined subgroups, neuropsychological profiles have modest ability to distinguish patients with AD from those with SIVD. PMID:28595184

The Impact of Numerical Control Technology and Computer Aided Manufacturing on Curriculum Development in Industrial Education and Technology. A Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bauch, Klaus Dieter

The study was designed to investigate the effects of Numerical Control Technology and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (NC/CAM) in American industry on industrial education and engineering technology education. The specific purpose was to identify a data base and rationale for curriculum development in NC/CAM through a comparison of views by…

Effect of chromium supplementation on the glucose homeostasis and anthropometry of type 2 diabetic patients: Double blind, randomized clinical trial: Chromium, glucose homeostasis and anthropometry.

PubMed

Guimarães, Marília Mendonça; Carvalho, Ana Clara Martins Silva; Silva, Maria Sebastiana

2016-07-01

To evaluate the effect of chromium supplementation on the glucose homeostasis and anthropometry of type 2 diabetic patients. Fifty-six individuals with type 2 Diabetes were randomized on a double blind clinical trial into three groups: placebo (NC0), 50μg (NC50) and 200μg (NC200) of chromium nicotinate. Glucose homeostasis, anthropometry and physical activity intensity were evaluated at the beginning, at day 45 and at day 90. Energy intake was evaluated at the beginning, between the beginning and 45 days, and between days 45 and 90 of the study. There were no differences within or between groups for HOMA-IR, waist circumference, body fat percentage, lean body mass percentage and total energy intake during the trial. There was an increase of the HOMA-β in group NC0 (p=0.0349) and a decrease of 1.08kg in group NC50 (p=0.0048) at 90 days. The relation between body mass index, body fat percentage and insulin sensitivity did not change in the placebo and supplemented groups (p>0.05). In the effect of the intervention, for each 1cm increase in waist circumference there was an increase of 1.90±0.63 in HOMA-IR (p=0.0087) and 16.31±5.27% in HOMA-β (p=0.0073) in group NC200. No difference was seen in the intensity of physical activity within the groups and in the comparison between the supplemented groups (NC50 and NC200) and placebo (NC0) at 90 days. There was an increase in energy expenditure in physical activity at 90days (p=0.0371) of intervention in the group subjects NC50. As for total energy intake, there were no differences within or between the groups during the study. 50μg and 200μg supplementation with chromium nicotinate for 90days did not promote improvements in glucose homeostasis and anthropometry in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I) Project Book: Fiscal Year 1992

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-12

PSC-3 is a rugged, lightweight (less than 35 lbs including batteries and whip and mdium gain antennas) portable device capable of being paged while...as Materiel Change (NC) projects. They Include: TACFWR Wpgade NC; Water Entry Resolution NC; FIREFIWER Training Device Upgrade MC; and Backplmn Wiringj... devices consist of a sensor . processor addigital display ibplWsd on an Individual air defense mopon system(FAM and NWWI). Two models are in development

Supplementation of protease, alone and in combination with fructooligosaccharide to low protein diet for finishing pigs.

PubMed

Lei, Xin Jian; Cheong, Jin Young; Park, Jae Hong; Kim, In Ho

2017-12-01

Effects of adding protease with or without fructooligosaccharide (FOS) to low protein diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and fecal noxious gas emission were evaluated in 160 finishing pigs (57.70 ± 1.16 kg) in a 9-week study. Pigs were randomly divided into four dietary treatments, PC: positive control diet (15.97% crude protein (CP)); NC: negative control diet (12.94% CP); PRO: NC supplemented with 0.05% protease; PROFOS: NC supplemented with 0.05% protease and 0.1% FOS. During weeks 4-9 and weeks 0-9, gain : feed ratio was impaired (P < 0.05) in pigs fed NC diet compared with those fed PC, PRO and PROFOS diets. Pigs fed PC, PRO and PROFOS diets had higher (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of CP than pigs fed NC diet. Pigs fed PROFOS diet had reduced (P < 0.05) ammonia emissions compared to pigs fed NC and PRO diets. These data indicate that reducing dietary CP concentrations impaired growth performance, decreased ATTD of CP and reduced ammonia emissions. Supplementation of protease in low CP diet improved growth performance and increased ATTD of CP. Dietary supplementation with protease and FOS in low CP diet improved growth performance, increased ATTD of CP and decreased fecal ammonia emission. © 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Involvement of GTA protein NC2β in Neuroblastoma pathogenesis suggests that it physiologically participates in the regulation of cell proliferation

PubMed Central

Di Pietro, Cinzia; Ragusa, Marco; Barbagallo, Davide; Duro, Laura R; Guglielmino, Maria R; Majorana, Alessandra; Giunta, Veronica; Rapisarda, Antonella; Tricarichi, Elisa; Miceli, Marco; Angelica, Rosario; Grillo, Agata; Banelli, Barbara; Defferari, Isabella; Forte, Stefano; Laganà, Alessandro; Bosco, Camillo; Giugno, Rosalba; Pulvirenti, Alfredo; Ferro, Alfredo; Grzeschik, Karl H; Di Cataldo, Andrea; Tonini, Gian P; Romani, Massimo; Purrello, Michele

2008-01-01

Background The General Transcription Apparatus (GTA) comprises more than one hundred proteins, including RNA Polymerases, GTFs, TAFs, Mediator, and cofactors such as heterodimeric NC2. This complexity contrasts with the simple mechanical role that these proteins are believed to perform and suggests a still uncharacterized participation to important biological functions, such as the control of cell proliferation. Results To verify our hypothesis, we analyzed the involvement in Neuroblastoma (NB) pathogenesis of GTA genes localized at 1p, one of NB critical regions: through RT-PCR of fifty eight NB biopsies, we demonstrated the statistically significant reduction of the mRNA for NC2β (localized at 1p22.1) in 74% of samples (p = 0.0039). Transcripts from TAF13 and TAF12 (mapping at 1p13.3 and 1p35.3, respectively) were also reduced, whereas we didn't detect any quantitative alteration of the mRNAs from GTF2B and NC2α (localized at 1p22-p21 and 11q13.3, respectively). We confirmed these data by comparing tumour and constitutional DNA: most NB samples with diminished levels of NC2β mRNA had also genomic deletions at the corresponding locus. Conclusion Our data show that NC2β is specifically involved in NB pathogenesis and may be considered a new NB biomarker: accordingly, we suggest that NC2β, and possibly other GTA members, are physiologically involved in the control of cell proliferation. Finally, our studies unearth complex selective mechanisms within NB cells. PMID:18538002

The effects of supplementation of a novel bacterial 6-phytase on mineral digestibility and plasma minerals in lactating sows.

PubMed

Nasir, Z; Broz, J; Zijlstra, R T

2012-12-01

Pigs digest P in plant feedstuffs poorly because pigs do not produce sufficient endogenous phytase to hydrolyze P from phytate (inositol hexaphosphate). Supplementation of phytase to diets of piglets and grower-finisher pigs increased digestibility of minerals including P and Ca; however, data on phytase efficacy in lactating sows are scarce. Therefore, effects of adding a bacterial 6-phytase expressed in a strain of Aspergillus oryzae (Ronozyme HiPhos; DSM Nutritional Products, Basel, Switzerland) on apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of P and Ca was assessed in 45 lactating sows. Three diets were prepared: (i) positive control (PC; 0.52% available P), a regular sow diet containing inorganic P, (ii) negative control (NC; 0.20% available P) without inorganic P, and (iii) NC + 500 units of phytase/kg diet. Each diet was fed randomly to 15 sows for 21 d (from 5 d prior to farrowing to 15 d after farrowing). At day 15 after farrowing, ATTD of P did not differ between PC and NC. Phytase supplementation to NC increased (P < 0.05) ATTD of P from 34 to 46% compared to NC but did not affect (P > 0.05) ATTD of CP and Ca. On day 1 after farrowing, plasma P was 0.66 mmol/L lower (P < 0.05) in sows fed NC than PC. Phytase supplementation to NC increased (P < 0.05) plasma P by 0.40 mmol/L on day 1 but not on day 15 after farrowing. In conclusion, phytase supplementation increased P bioavailability in lactating sows.

Involvement of GTA protein NC2beta in neuroblastoma pathogenesis suggests that it physiologically participates in the regulation of cell proliferation.

PubMed

Di Pietro, Cinzia; Ragusa, Marco; Barbagallo, Davide; Duro, Laura R; Guglielmino, Maria R; Majorana, Alessandra; Giunta, Veronica; Rapisarda, Antonella; Tricarichi, Elisa; Miceli, Marco; Angelica, Rosario; Grillo, Agata; Banelli, Barbara; Defferari, Isabella; Forte, Stefano; Laganà, Alessandro; Bosco, Camillo; Giugno, Rosalba; Pulvirenti, Alfredo; Ferro, Alfredo; Grzeschik, Karl H; Di Cataldo, Andrea; Tonini, Gian P; Romani, Massimo; Purrello, Michele

2008-06-06

The General Transcription Apparatus (GTA) comprises more than one hundred proteins, including RNA Polymerases, GTFs, TAFs, Mediator, and cofactors such as heterodimeric NC2. This complexity contrasts with the simple mechanical role that these proteins are believed to perform and suggests a still uncharacterized participation to important biological functions, such as the control of cell proliferation. To verify our hypothesis, we analyzed the involvement in neuroblastoma (NB) pathogenesis of GTA genes localized at 1p, one of NB critical regions: through RT-PCR of fifty eight NB biopsies, we demonstrated the statistically significant reduction of the mRNA for NC2beta (localized at 1p22.1) in 74% of samples (p = 0.0039). Transcripts from TAF13 and TAF12 (mapping at 1p13.3 and 1p35.3, respectively) were also reduced, whereas we didn't detect any quantitative alteration of the mRNAs from GTF2B and NC2alpha (localized at 1p22-p21 and 11q13.3, respectively). We confirmed these data by comparing tumour and constitutional DNA: most NB samples with diminished levels of NC2beta mRNA had also genomic deletions at the corresponding locus. Our data show that NC2beta is specifically involved in NB pathogenesis and may be considered a new NB biomarker: accordingly, we suggest that NC2beta, and possibly other GTA members, are physiologically involved in the control of cell proliferation. Finally, our studies unearth complex selective mechanisms within NB cells.

Identification of cyanobacterial non-coding RNAs by comparative genome analysis.

PubMed

Axmann, Ilka M; Kensche, Philip; Vogel, Jörg; Kohl, Stefan; Herzel, Hanspeter; Hess, Wolfgang R

2005-01-01

Whole genome sequencing of marine cyanobacteria has revealed an unprecedented degree of genomic variation and streamlining. With a size of 1.66 megabase-pairs, Prochlorococcus sp. MED4 has the most compact of these genomes and it is enigmatic how the few identified regulatory proteins efficiently sustain the lifestyle of an ecologically successful marine microorganism. Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) control a plethora of processes in eukaryotes as well as in bacteria; however, systematic searches for ncRNAs are still lacking for most eubacterial phyla outside the enterobacteria. Based on a computational prediction we show the presence of several ncRNAs (cyanobacterial functional RNA or Yfr) in several different cyanobacteria of the Prochlorococcus-Synechococcus lineage. Some ncRNA genes are present only in two or three of the four strains investigated, whereas the RNAs Yfr2 through Yfr5 are structurally highly related and are encoded by a rapidly evolving gene family as their genes exist in different copy numbers and at different sites in the four investigated genomes. One ncRNA, Yfr7, is present in at least seven other cyanobacteria. In addition, control elements for several ribosomal operons were predicted as well as riboswitches for thiamine pyrophosphate and cobalamin. This is the first genome-wide and systematic screen for ncRNAs in cyanobacteria. Several ncRNAs were both computationally predicted and their presence was biochemically verified. These RNAs may have regulatory functions and each shows a distinct phylogenetic distribution. Our approach can be applied to any group of microorganisms for which more than one total genome sequence is available for comparative analysis.

Field validation of experimental challenge models for IPN vaccines.

PubMed

Ramstad, A; Romstad, A B; Knappskog, D H; Midtlyng, P J

2007-12-01

Atlantic salmon S1/2 pre-smolts from the VESO Vikan hatchery were assigned to study groups, i.p. immunized with commercially available, multivalent oil-adjuvanted vaccines with (Norvax Compact 6 - NC-6) or without (Norvax Compact 4 - NC-4) recombinant infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) antigen. A control group received saline solution. When ready for sea, the fish were transported to the VESO Vikan experimental laboratory, where two identical tanks were stocked with 75 fish per group before being transferred to 10 degrees C sea water and exposed by bath to first passage IPNV grown in CHSE-214 cells. The third tank containing 40 fish from each group was challenged by the introduction of 116 fish that had received an i.p injection of IPNV-challenge material. The remaining vaccinated fish were transported to the VESO Vikan marine field trial site and placed in two identical pens, each containing approximately 53 000 fish from the NC-6 group and 9000 fish from the NC-4 group. In the experimental bath challenge trial, the cumulative mortality was 75% and 78% in the control groups, and the relative percentage survival (RPS) of the NC-6-immunized fish vs. the reference vaccine groups was 60% and 82%, respectively. In the cohabitation challenge, the control mortality reached 74% and the IPNV-specific vaccine RPS was 72%. In both models, the reference vaccine lacking IPNV antigen gave a moderate but statistically significant non-specific protection. In the field, a natural outbreak of infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) occurred after 7 weeks lasting for approximately 3.5 months before problems due to winter ulcers became dominating. During this outbreak, mortality in the NC-4 groups were 33.5% and 31.6%, respectively, whereas mortality in the NC-6 groups were 6.9% and 5.3%, respectively, amounting to 81% IPNV-specific protection. In conclusion, the IPN protection estimates obtained by experimental challenges were consistent between tanks, and were confirmed by the field results.

Effects of a high dose of microbial phytase and myo-inositol supplementation on growth performance, tibia mineralization, nutrient digestibility, litter moisture content, and foot problems in broiler chickens fed phosphorus-deficient diets.

PubMed

Farhadi, D; Karimi, A; Sadeghi, Gh; Rostamzadeh, J; Bedford, M R

2017-10-01

A total of 660 one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly distributed into eleven dietary treatments. Treatments included a maize-soybean meal-based diet with recommended calcium (Ca) and non-phytate phosphorus (nPP) (positive control; PC), an nPP-deficient diet (negative control; NC), NC diets supplemented with different levels of phytase (0, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000 FTU/kg), a NC diet plus 0.15% myo-inositol, and a NC diet with reduced Ca level (Ca to nPP ratio same as PC). Feeding the NC diet had no effects on birds' body weight (BW), weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), but decreased (P < 0.05) tibia P contents, crude protein (CP) digestibility, and serum P, but increased (P < 0.05) serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity at 21 d of age. Phytase supplementation at ≥4,000 FTU/kg improved (P < 0.05) BW, WG and digestibility of nutrients. Feeding the NC diet resulted in greater (P < 0.05) litter moisture content (42 d) and poorer gait score (21 d), but 4,000 and 6,000 FTU/kg phytase returned (P < 0.05) these parameters to that of the PC. Supplemental myo-inositol increased (P < 0.05) serum total protein, P retention, and decreased (P < 0.05) litter moisture at 42 d of age. Feeding the low Ca NC diet increased (P < 0.05) serum total protein, ileum Ca, P, and CP digestibility and decreased serum ALP activity, litter moisture and gait score compared to the NC group. In conclusion, phytase in a dose-dependent manner, especially at ≥4,000 FTU/kg levels, was effective in overcoming the negative consequences of NC diets, primarily due to the ability to improve nutrient utilization. In addition, reducing the Ca level or supplementation of inositol of NC diet can correct some the negative effects of feeding a NC diet confirming the negative effect of a wide Ca: P ratio in a P-deficient diet and suggesting that inositol may play a role in the response to phytase addition. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Tuning Nanocrystal Surface Depletion by Controlling Dopant Distribution as a Route Toward Enhanced Film Conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staller, Corey M.; Robinson, Zachary L.; Agrawal, Ankit; Gibbs, Stephen L.; Greenberg, Benjamin L.; Lounis, Sebastien D.; Kortshagen, Uwe R.; Milliron, Delia J.

2018-05-01

Electron conduction through bare metal oxide nanocrystal (NC) films is hindered by surface depletion regions resulting from the presence of surface states. We control the radial dopant distribution in tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) NCs as a means to manipulate the NC depletion width. We find in films of ITO NCs of equal overall dopant concentration that those with dopant-enriched surfaces show decreased depletion width and increased conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity data shows electron localization length increases and associated depletion width decreases monotonically with increased density of dopants near the NC surface. We calculate band profiles for NCs of differing radial dopant distributions and, in agreement with variable temperature conductivity fits, find NCs with dopant-enriched surfaces have narrower depletion widths and longer localization lengths than those with dopant-enriched cores. Following amelioration of NC surface depletion by atomic layer deposition of alumina, all films of equal overall dopant concentration have similar conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity measurements on alumina-capped films indicate all films behave as granular metals. Herein, we conclude that dopant-enriched surfaces decrease the near-surface depletion region, which directly increases the electron localization length and conductivity of NC films.

Tuning Nanocrystal Surface Depletion by Controlling Dopant Distribution as a Route Toward Enhanced Film Conductivity.

PubMed

Staller, Corey M; Robinson, Zachary L; Agrawal, Ankit; Gibbs, Stephen L; Greenberg, Benjamin L; Lounis, Sebastien D; Kortshagen, Uwe R; Milliron, Delia J

2018-05-09

Electron conduction through bare metal oxide nanocrystal (NC) films is hindered by surface depletion regions resulting from the presence of surface states. We control the radial dopant distribution in tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) NCs as a means to manipulate the NC depletion width. We find in films of ITO NCs of equal overall dopant concentration that those with dopant-enriched surfaces show decreased depletion width and increased conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity data show electron localization length increases and associated depletion width decreases monotonically with increased density of dopants near the NC surface. We calculate band profiles for NCs of differing radial dopant distributions and in agreement with variable temperature conductivity fits find NCs with dopant-enriched surfaces have narrower depletion widths and longer localization lengths than those with dopant-enriched cores. Following amelioration of NC surface depletion by atomic layer deposition of alumina, all films of equal overall dopant concentration have similar conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity measurements on alumina-capped films indicate all films behave as granular metals. Herein, we conclude that dopant-enriched surfaces decrease the near-surface depletion region, which directly increases the electron localization length and conductivity of NC films.

Ameliorating effect of Yokukansan on the development of atopic dermatitis-like lesions and scratching behavior in socially isolated NC/Nga mice.

PubMed

Funakushi, Naoko; Yamaguchi, Takuji; Jiang, Ju; Imamura, Sachiko; Kuhara, Takatoshi; Suto, Hajime; Ueki, Rie; Kase, Yoshio; Kobayashi, Hiroyuki; Ogawa, Hideoki; Ikeda, Shigaku

2011-11-01

Yokukansan (YKS) has been used in Japan as a remedy for neurosis, insomnia, and children with night crying. In a previous study, we reported that YKS controls scratching behavior and inhibits the development of atopic dermatitis (AD)-like lesions in NC/Nga mice. In this study, we investigated the effects of YKS on the development of AD-like lesions in socially isolated NC/Nga mice compared with the effects of fexofenadine and elucidated the mechanism of the ameliorating effect of YKS on the skin lesions. Ten-week-old male NC/Nga mice were divided into three groups (n = 5/group): the conventional control, the YKS-treated, and the fexofenadine-treated groups, and were kept isolated under conventional conditions for 6 weeks. Measurements were made of dermatitis scores and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), scratching and grooming behaviors. Immunohistochemistry and mRNA levels were also evaluated. We performed similar experiments under specific pathogen free (SPF) conditions that served as a SPF control. YKS and fexofenadine inhibited the aggravation of skin lesions and decreased TEWL, but only YKS decreased the numbers of scratching and pathologic grooming behaviors. Immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR revealed that N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) receptor expression was increased in the skin of conventional control mice and was decreased in YKS-treated mice. Glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) mRNA levels were decreased in the skin of conventional control mice and were increased in YKS-treated mice. The results indicate that YKS ameliorates AD-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice through a mechanism distinct from that of fexofenadine. Furthermore, the effects of YKS are suggested to be mediated via glutamate signaling in the skin lesions.

75 FR 4384 - Pesticide Products; Registration Applications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-27

... Park, NC 27709. Product name: Indaziflam 500 SC Herbicide. Active ingredient: Herbicide with Indaziflam.... Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Product name: Indaziflam 200 SC Herbicide. Active ingredient: Herbicide with Indaziflam at 19.05%. Proposed use: Preemergent control of annual [[Page 4386...

Active control of multiple resistive wall modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunsell, P. R.; Yadikin, D.; Gregoratto, D.; Paccagnella, R.; Liu, Y. Q.; Bolzonella, T.; Cecconello, M.; Drake, J. R.; Kuldkepp, M.; Manduchi, G.; Marchiori, G.; Marrelli, L.; Martin, P.; Menmuir, S.; Ortolani, S.; Rachlew, E.; Spizzo, G.; Zanca, P.

2005-12-01

A two-dimensional array of saddle coils at Mc poloidal and Nc toroidal positions is used on the EXTRAP T2R reversed-field pinch (Brunsell P R et al 2001 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 43 1457) to study active control of resistive wall modes (RWMs). Spontaneous growth of several RWMs with poloidal mode number m = 1 and different toroidal mode number n is observed experimentally, in agreement with linear MHD modelling. The measured plasma response to a controlled coil field and the plasma response computed using the linear circular cylinder MHD model are in quantitive agreement. Feedback control introduces a linear coupling of modes with toroidal mode numbers n, n' that fulfil the condition |n - n'| = Nc. Pairs of coupled unstable RWMs are present in feedback experiments with an array of Mc × Nc = 4 × 16 coils. Using intelligent shell feedback, the coupled modes are generally not controlled even though the field is suppressed at the active coils. A better suppression of coupled modes may be achieved in the case of rotating modes by using the mode control feedback scheme with individually set complex gains. In feedback with a larger array of Mc × Nc = 4 × 32 coils, the coupling effect largely disappears, and with this array, the main internal RWMs n = -11, -10, +5, +6 are all simultaneously suppressed throughout the discharge (7 8 wall times). With feedback there is a two-fold extension of the pulse length, compared to discharges without feedback.

Development of an animal model of nephrocalcinosis via selective dietary sodium and chloride depletion

PubMed Central

Tuchman, Shamir; Asico, Laureano D.; Escano, Crisanto; Bobb, Daniel A.; Ray, Patricio E.

2013-01-01

Background Nephrocalcinosis (NC) is an important clinical problem seen in critically ill pre-term neonates treated with loop diuretics. No reliable animal models are available to study the pathogenesis of NC in preterm infants. The purpose of this study was to develop a reproducible and clinically relevant animal model of NC for these patients, and to explore the impact of extracellular fluid (ECF) volume contraction induced by sodium and chloride depletion in this process. Methods Three-week old weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets deficient in either chloride or sodium and chloride. A sub-group of rats from each dietary group was injected daily with furosemide (40 mg/kg; i.p.). Results Rats fed a control diet, with or without furosemide, or a chloride depleted diet alone, did not develop NC. In contrast, 50% of the rats injected with furosemide and fed the chloride depleted diet developed NC. Moreover, 94% of the rats fed the combined sodium/chloride depleted diet developed NC, independently of furosemide use. NC was associated with the development of severe ECF volume contraction, hypochloremic, hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis, increased phosphaturia, and growth retardation. Conclusion Severe ECF volume contraction induced by chronic sodium and chloride depletion appears to play an important role in the pathogenesis of NC. PMID:23174703

Experimental RNomics and genomic comparative analysis reveal a large group of species-specific small non-message RNAs in the silkworm Bombyx mori

PubMed Central

Li, Dandan; Wang, Yanhong; Zhang, Kun; Jiao, Zhujin; Zhu, Xiaopeng; Skogerboe, Geir; Guo, Xiangqian; Chinnusamy, Viswanathan; Bi, Lijun; Huang, Yongping; Dong, Shuanglin; Chen, Runsheng; Kan, Yunchao

2011-01-01

Accumulating evidences show that small non-protein coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play important roles in development, stress response and other cellular processes. The silkworm is an important model for studies on insect genetics and control of lepidopterous pests. Here, we have performed the first systematic identification and analysis of intermediate size ncRNAs (50–500 nt) in the silkworm. We identified 189 novel ncRNAs, including 141 snoRNAs, six snRNAs, three tRNAs, one SRP and 38 unclassified ncRNAs. Forty ncRNAs showed significantly altered expression during silkworm development or across specific stage transitions. Genomic comparisons revealed that 123 of these ncRNAs are potentially silkworm-specific. Analysis of the genomic organization of the ncRNA loci showed that 32.62% of the novel snoRNA loci are intergenic, and that all the intronic snoRNAs follow the pattern of one-snoRNA-per-intron. Target site analysis predicted a total of 95 2′-O-methylation and pseudouridylation modification sites of rRNAs, snRNAs and tRNAs. Together, these findings provide new clues for future functional study of ncRNA during insect development and evolution. PMID:21227919

Evaluation of the Effect of Low Dietary Fermentable Carbohydrate Content on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics, and Meat Quality in Finishing Pigs

PubMed Central

Hong, S. M.; Hwang, J. H.; Kim, I. H.

2012-01-01

A total of 96 pigs (49.23±3.20 kg) were used in an 11 wk growth trial to evaluate the effect of fermentable carbohydrate (FC) content on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrient, blood profile, and meat quality. The dietary treatments were: i) negative control (NC), basal diet, ii) positive control (PC), NC+antibiotics (positive control diet with 5 ppm flavomycin), iii) PCL, PC-13% lower FC, and iv) NCL, NC-13% lower FC. The growth performance (average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and gain/feed) didn’t differ among treatments through the whole experiment. These pigs fed the PCL diet had the greater (p<0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter than those from PC and NC treatment at the end of the experiment. No differences were observed in white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), and lymphocyte concentration among different treatments. After the feeding period, meat samples were collected from the pigs at slaughter. The pigs in NCL and PCL treatments had greater (p<0.05) backfat thickness and lower lean percentage. The color value of loin was higher (p<0.05) in NCL treatment compared to PCL treatment. Also, the NCL treatment had higher (p<0.05) marbling value than PC treatment. The drip loss was depressed by PCL and NCL treatment comapared to NC treatments. The water holding capacity (WHC) was higher (p<0.05) in NC and PCL treatment. In conclusion, the low FC can improve digestibility and meat quality of finishing pigs. PMID:25049693

Noninvasive imaging techniques in the assessment of scleroderma spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Murray, Andrea K; Moore, Tonia L; Manning, Joanne B; Taylor, Christopher; Griffiths, Christopher E M; Herrick, Ariane L

2009-08-15

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) affects both microvascular structure and function. Laser Doppler imaging (LDI) and thermal imaging can be used to measure cutaneous blood vessel function. Nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) measures capillary morphology. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between capillary morphology and blood flow, and to determine which combination of techniques allows the best discrimination between patients with SSc, primary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), and healthy controls. NC was performed in 16 patients with SSc, 14 patients with primary RP, and 16 healthy controls. In addition, participants underwent cold stimulus with cold water. Hands were imaged to monitor rewarming and reperfusion. Nailfold morphologic features were measured and baseline images and rewarming curves were analyzed. Significant differences were found between groups (analysis of variance) for capillary morphologic features and rewarming curve characteristics. A correlation (P < 0.001) was found between LDI and thermal imaging at baseline (0.667) and maximum (0.729) blood flow and skin temperature, and for the areas under the rewarming curves (0.684). Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that NC, thermal imaging, and LDI allowed 89%, 74%, and 72%, respectively, of SSc patient data to be correctly classified versus primary RP patients and controls. NC, LDI, and thermal imaging each independently provide good discrimination between patients with SSc and those with primary RP and healthy controls (NC being the most suitable technique for classifying patient groups). However, a combination of all 3 techniques improves classification. LDI and thermal imaging give equivalent information on dynamic changes in the cutaneous microcirculation; however, these only weakly correspond to capillary morphology.

Nc886 is epigenetically repressed in prostate cancer and acts as a tumor suppressor through the inhibition of cell growth.

PubMed

Fort, Rafael Sebastián; Mathó, Cecilia; Geraldo, Murilo Vieira; Ottati, María Carolina; Yamashita, Alex Shimura; Saito, Kelly Cristina; Leite, Katia Ramos Moreira; Méndez, Manuel; Maedo, Noemí; Méndez, Laura; Garat, Beatriz; Kimura, Edna Teruko; Sotelo-Silveira, José Roberto; Duhagon, María Ana

2018-02-02

Nc886 is a 102 bp non-coding RNA transcript initially classified as a microRNA precursor (Pre-miR-886), later as a divergent homologue of the vault RNAs (vtRNA 2-1) and more recently as a novel type of RNA (nc886). Although nc886/vtRNA2-1/Pre-miR-886 identity is still controversial, it was shown to be epigenetically controlled, presenting both tumor suppressor and oncogenic function in different cancers. Here, we study for the first time the role of nc886 in prostate cancer. Nc886 promoter methylation status and its correlation with patient clinical parameters or DNMTs levels were evaluated in TCGA and specific GEO prostate tissue datasets. Nc886 level was measured by RT-qPCR to compare normal/neoplastic prostate cells from radical prostatectomies and cell lines, and to assess nc886 response to demethylating agents. The effect of nc886 recovery in cell proliferation (in vitro and in vivo) and invasion (in vitro) was evaluated using lentiviral transduced DU145 and LNCaP cell lines. The association between the expression of nc886 and selected genes was analyzed in the TCGA-PRAD cohort. Nc886 promoter methylation increases in tumor vs. normal prostate tissue, as well as in metastatic vs. normal prostate tissue. Additionally, nc886 promoter methylation correlates with prostate cancer clinical staging, including biochemical recurrence, Clinical T-value and Gleason score. Nc886 transcript is downregulated in tumor vs. normal tissue -in agreement with its promoter methylation status- and increases upon demethylating treatment. In functional studies, the overexpression of nc886 in the LNCaP and DU145 cell line leads to a decreased in vitro cell proliferation and invasion, as well as a reduced in vivo cell growth in NUDE-mice tumor xenografts. Finally, nc886 expression associates with the prostate cancer cell cycle progression gene signature in TCGA-PRAD. Our data suggest a tumor suppressor role for nc886 in the prostate, whose expression is epigenetically silenced in cancer leading to an increase in cell proliferation and invasion. Nc886 might hold clinical value in prostate cancer due to its association with clinical parameters and with a clinically validated gene signature.

Destruction of white matter integrity in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Sun, Xiaoyan; Salat, David; Upchurch, Kristen; Deason, Rebecca; Kowall, Neil; Budson, Andrew

2014-10-01

Accumulating evidence shows that gradual loss of white matter integrity plays an important role in the development of Alzheimer disease (AD). The aim of this research was to study the microstructural integrity of white matter in AD in vivo. Global fractional anisotropy, global axial diffusivity (AxD), and global radial diffusivity (RD) were analyzed in subjects with normal controls (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD using Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data (total N = 210). We further compared specific white matter tracts among the 3 groups. Compared with the NC group, the MCI group had significantly increased global AxD and global RD. Compared with the NC and MCI groups, the AD group had significantly decreased global fractional anisotropy, increased global AxD, and increased global RD. With regard to specific white matter tracts, in the MCI group, we found increased AxD and increased RD in the external capsule, part of the lateral cholinergic pathway, in addition to the tracts connecting the limbic regions, predominantly in the left hemisphere. In the AD group, white matter abnormalities were widespread, including in the external capsule (cholinergic pathway) and limbic region tracts as well as tracts connecting anterior to posterior regions bilaterally. The radiographic manifestation of damaged white matter microstructural integrity in the cholinergic pathway in MCI patients may provide a rational basis for the use of cholinesterase inhibitor drugs in the MCI stage of AD.

Inhibition of crystallin ascorbylation by nucleophilic compounds in the hSVCT2 mouse model of lenticular aging.

PubMed

Fan, Xingjun; Monnier, Vincent M

2008-11-01

Senile cataracts are associated with oxidation, fragmentation, cross-linking, insolubilization, and yellow pigmentation of lens crystallins. This process is partially explained by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) from ascorbic acid (ASA), as the authors unequivocally demonstrated in an hSVCT2 transgenic mouse. The authors present the first pharmacologic intervention study against ascorbylation in these mice. Five groups of mice from 2 to 9 months of age (10 mice/group) were fed a diet containing 0.1% (wt/wt) aminoguanidine, pyridoxamine, penicillamine, and nucleophilic compounds NC-I and NC-II. AGEs were determined in crystallin digests using high-performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Lens protein extract was incubated in vitro with ASA or dehydroascorbic acid. The ASA level increased approximately 10-fold in all groups and was unaffected by treatment. AGEs were increased several-fold in transgenic compared with control lenses. Body weight, food intake, lenticular glutathione, and glycated lysine level were unaltered. In vitro, all compounds inhibited AGE formation. In vivo, NC-I and NC-II significantly decreased protein fluorescence at lambda(ex)335/(em)385 (P = 0.045, P = 0.017, respectively) and lambda(ex)370/(em)440 (P = 0.029, P = 0.007, respectively). Other inhibitors had no effect. After 7 months, only NC-I and NC-II induced a 50% reduction in pentosidine (P = NS for NC-I; P = 0.035 for NC-II). NC-I also decreased carboxymethyllysine (P = 0.032) and carboxyethyllysine (P = NS). Fluorescent cross-link K2P was decreased by NC-I, NC-II, aminoguanidine, and pyridoxamine (P = NS). Pharmacologically blocking protein ascorbylation with absorbable guanidino compounds is feasible and may represent a new strategy for the delay of age-related nuclear sclerosis of the lens.

Association of nutrition club membership with markers of health: a cross sectional study.

PubMed

Das, Sai Krupa; Vail, Taylor A; Lebrón-Torres, Namibia; Livingston, Kara A; Roberts, Susan B; Rogers, Gail T; Gilhooly, Cheryl H; Urban, Lorien E; Saltzman, Edward; McKeown, Nicola M; Folta, Sara C

2017-04-11

Nutrition clubs (NC) operate in community settings and provide members with nutrition education and meal replacements for weight management. NC are owned and operated by distributors of Herbalife products. There are over 6200 NC in the US, but there has been no independent assessment of the association of these NC with biomarkers of health. We conducted a cross-sectional pilot study to compare the health status of 100 NC members to 100 community-matched controls (CC) in the greater Boston area. Each CC was matched to a NC member for community of residence (zip code), age category, gender, BMI category, race/ethnicity, education level (category), and readiness to make health changes. Measures obtained included cardio-metabolic risk factors, body composition, markers of nutritional status, reported health status, dietary intake, physical activity, sleep and depression. Participants were predominantly female (64%) and Hispanic (73%). NC members had significantly lower fasting insulin (P < 0.001) and lower HbA1c (P = 0.008), higher levels of 25 hydroxy-vitamin D (P = 0.001), and vitamin E:cholesterol ratio (P < 0.001), and lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome (P = 0.02) compared to CC. In addition, most of the NC members (99%) were satisfied with Herbalife NC membership for themselves and their families. A higher percentage of NC members (86%) compared to CC (32%) reported being in much better or somewhat better health compared to a year ago (P < 0.001); and they reported significantly better physical health (P = 0.03), and fewer sleep problems (P = 0.03). Herbalife NC membership was positively associated with perceived health and measured cardiometabolic benefits. However, causality cannot be inferred from these findings.

Normal anti-Klebsiella lymphocytotoxicity in ankylosing spondylitis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kinsella, T.D.; Fritzler, M.J.; Lewkonia, R.M.

1986-03-01

We compared in vitro lymphocytotoxicity (LCT) of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), obtained from patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and normal controls (NC). Assays were performed with antibacterial antisera prepared from AS- and NC-derived Klebsiella and coliforms Escherichia coli. LCT assessed by eosin staining was not significantly different in PBL of 12 AS patients and 28 controls when reacted with 3 Klebsiella and 1 E coli antisera. LCT assessed by /sup 51/Cr release was not significantly different for PBL of 20 age- and sex-matched pairs of AS patients and NC when reacted with 3 Klebsiella and 1 E coli antisera. Similarly,more » LCT-/sup 51/Cr of PBL of 15 matched AS and NC pairs was not significantly different for anti-K21, a serotype putatively implicated in Klebsiella-HLA-B27 antigenic cross-reactivity. Our results do not support the notion of molecular mimicry between Klebsiella and B27 in the pathogenesis of primary AS.« less

Successful transplantation of in vitro expanded human cadaver corneal endothelial precursor cells on to a cadaver bovine's eye using a nanocomposite gel sheet.

PubMed

Parikumar, Periyasamy; Haraguchi, Kazutoshi; Ohbayashi, Akira; Senthilkumar, Rajappa; Abraham, Samuel J K

2014-05-01

In vitro expansion of human corneal endothelial precursor (HCEP) cells has been reported via production of cell aggregated spheres. However, to translate this procedure in human patients warrants maintaining the position of the eyeballs facing down for 36 h, which is not feasible. In this study, we report a method using a nanocomposite (NC) gel sheet to accomplish the integration of HCEP cells to the endothelium of cadaver bovine's eyes. HCEP cells were isolated from the corneal endothelium of a cadaver human eye and then expanded using a thermoreversible gelation polymer (TGP) as reported earlier. For the study, three cadaver bovine eyes were used. The NC gel sheets were inserted into the bovine eyes', aligned and suture-fixed in position under the host endothelium. HCEP cells previously expanded in the TGP were harvested and injected using a 26-gauge syringe between the endothelium and the NC gel sheet. The eyes were left undisturbed for three hours following which the NC gel sheets were gently removed. The corneas were harvested and subjected to histopathological studies. Histopathological studies showed that all the three corneas used for NC gel sheet implantation showed the presence of engrafted HCEP cells, seen as multi-layered cells over the native endothelium of the bovine cornea. Examination of the NC gel sheets used for implantation showed that only very few corneal endothelial cells remained on the sheets amounting to what could be considered negligible. The use of the NC gel sheet makes HCEP cell transplantation feasible for human patients. Further in vitro basic studies followed by translational studies are necessary to bring this method for clinical application in appropriate indications.

The Effect of Intermittent Arm and Shoulder Cooling on Baseball Pitching Velocity.

PubMed

Bishop, Stacy H; Herron, Robert L; Ryan, Gregory A; Katica, Charles P; Bishop, Phillip A

2016-04-01

The throwing arm of a baseball pitcher is subjected to high stress as a result of the repetitive activity of pitching. Intermittent cryotherapy may facilitate recovery from this repeated high stress, but few researchers have investigated cryotherapy's efficacy in an ecologically valid setting. This study investigated the effects of intermittent cryotherapy on pitching velocity and subjective measures of recovery and exertion in a simulated baseball game. Trained college-aged male baseball pitchers (n = 8) threw 12 pitches (1 pitch every 20 seconds) per inning for 5 total innings during a simulated pitching start. Between each inning, pitchers received shoulder and arm cooling (AC) or, on a separate occasion, no cooling (NC). All sessions took place in a temperate environment (18.3 ± 2.8° C; 49 ± 4% relative humidity). Pitch speeds were averaged for each participant each inning and overall for 5 innings. Perceived exertion (rating of perceived exertion [RPE]) was recorded at the end of each simulated inning. Perceived recovery (perceived recovery scale [PRS]) was recorded after treatment between each inning. Mean pitching velocity for all-innings combined was higher (p = 0.04) for shoulder and elbow cooling (AC) (31.2 ± 2.1 m·s) than for no cooling (NC) (30.6 ± 2.1 m·s). Average pitch speed was significantly higher in the fourth (p = <0.01) and fifth (p = 0.02) innings in AC trial (31.3 ± 2 m·s for both innings) compared with NC trial (30.0 ± 2.22 m·s and 30.4 ± 1.99 m·s, for the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. AC resulted in a significantly lower RPE (p ≤ 0.01) and improved PRS (p ≤ 0.01) compared with NC. Intermittent cryotherapy attenuated velocity loss in baseball pitching, decreased RPE, and facilitated subjective recovery during a 5-inning simulated game.

A comprehensive visual rating scale of brain magnetic resonance imaging: application in elderly subjects with Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and normal cognition.

PubMed

Jang, Jae-Won; Park, So Young; Park, Young Ho; Baek, Min Jae; Lim, Jae-Sung; Youn, Young Chul; Kim, SangYun

2015-01-01

Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows cerebral structural changes. However, a unified comprehensive visual rating scale (CVRS) has seldom been studied. Thus, we combined brain atrophy and small vessel disease scales and used an MRI template as a CVRS. The aims of this study were to design a simple and reliable CVRS, validate it by investigating cerebral structural changes in clinical groups, and made comparison to the volumetric measurements. Elderly subjects (n = 260) with normal cognition (NC, n = 65), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 101), or Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 94) were evaluated with brain MRI according to the CVRS of brain atrophy and small vessel disease. Validation of the CVRS with structural changes, neuropsychological tests, and volumetric analyses was performed. The CVRS revealed a high intra-rater and inter-rater agreement and it reflected the structural changes of subjects with NC, MCI, and AD better than volumetric measures (CVRS-coronal: F = 13.5, p < 0.001; CVRS-axial: F = 19.9, p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operation curve (aROC) of the CVRS showed higher accuracy than volumetric analyses. (NC versus MCI aROC: CVRS-coronal, 0.777; CVRS-axial, 0.773; MCI versus AD aROC: CVRS-coronal, 0.680; CVRS-axial, 0.681). The CVRS can be used clinically to conveniently measure structural changes of brain. It reflected cerebral structural changes of clinical groups and correlated with the age better than volumetric measures.

Biological effect of aqueous C60 aggregates on Scenedesmus obliquus revealed by transcriptomics and non-targeted metabolomics.

PubMed

Du, Chunlei; Zhang, Bo; He, Yiliang; Hu, Chaoyang; Ng, Qin Xiang; Zhang, Hui; Ong, Choon Nam; ZhifenLin

2017-02-15

This work evaluated biological effect of nC 60 on Scenedesmus obliquus. The cells were exposed to various concentrations of nC 60 for 7days. Low-dose of nC 60 was found to have a minor growth inhibitory effect. The transcriptomics and metabolomics were integrated to examine intricate molecular and cellular effects of nC 60 on Scenedesmus obliquus. We found that Scenedesmus obliquus cells exposed to nC 60 had several significant alterations in cellular transcription and biochemical processes. During the 7-day exposure to nC 60 , 2234 and 2,448 unigenes were differentially expressed by 0.1mg/L and 1mg/L nC 60 -treated groups compared with the control, including 2085 or 2247 up-regulated genes and 149 or 201 down-regulated genes, respectively. We successfully identified 22 metabolites, including 6 significantly changed metabolites, such as sucrose, d-glucose, and malic acid. The citrate cycle (TCA cycle) (ko00020) was the main target of both differentially expressed genes and metabolic change. However, accumulation of sucrose (end-product) could have induced feedback inhibition of photosynthesis in Scenedesmus obliquus, explaining the slight growth inhibition observed. The results provided a mechanistic understanding of the growth inhibition of nC 60 toxicity. These genes and metabolites are useful biomarkers for future studies and offer new insights into the early detectable changes in Scenedesmus obliquus with nC 60 exposure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Accurate discrimination of Alzheimer's disease from other dementia and/or normal subjects using SPECT specific volume analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyatomi, Hitoshi; Hashimoto, Jun; Yoshii, Fumuhito; Kazama, Toshiki; Kawada, Shuichi; Imai, Yutaka

2014-03-01

Discrimination between Alzheimer's disease and other dementia is clinically significant, however it is often difficult. In this study, we developed classification models among Alzheimer's disease (AD), other dementia (OD) and/or normal subjects (NC) using patient factors and indices obtained by brain perfusion SPECT. SPECT is commonly used to assess cerebral blood flow (CBF) and allows the evaluation of the severity of hypoperfusion by introducing statistical parametric mapping (SPM). We investigated a total of 150 cases (50 cases each for AD, OD, and NC) from Tokai University Hospital, Japan. In each case, we obtained a total of 127 candidate parameters from: (A) 2 patient factors (age and sex), (B) 12 CBF parameters and 113 SPM parameters including (C) 3 from specific volume analysis (SVA), and (D) 110 from voxel-based analysis stereotactic extraction estimation (vbSEE). We built linear classifiers with a statistical stepwise feature selection and evaluated the performance with the leave-one-out cross validation strategy. Our classifiers achieved very high classification performances with reasonable number of selected parameters. In the most significant discrimination in clinical, namely those of AD from OD, our classifier achieved both sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) of 96%. In a similar way, our classifiers achieved a SE of 90% and a SP of 98% in AD from NC, as well as a SE of 88% and a SP of 86% in AD from OD and NC cases. Introducing SPM indices such as SVA and vbSEE, classification performances improved around 7-15%. We confirmed that these SPM factors are quite important for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease.

The effect of dietary fructooligosaccharide supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and immune responses in broiler chickens challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis lipopolysaccharides.

PubMed

Shang, Yue; Regassa, Alemu; Kim, Ji Hyuk; Kim, Woo Kyun

2015-12-01

This study was conducted to examine the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) supplementation on growth performance, lymphoid organ weight, intestinal morphology, and immunological status in broilers (n=180) challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Birds were randomly assigned into a 3×2 factorial arrangement that included 1) 3 dietary treatments from d one to 21: positive control (PC), wheat-corn-soybean meal based diet contained antibiotics (virginiamycin and monensin); negative control (NC), as PC without antibiotics; and NC+FOS, as NC supplemented with 0.5% FOS, and 2) 2 intraperitoneal injections: 2 mg/kg Salmonella Enteritidis LPS or sterile phosphate buffered saline (PBS) on d 21. Growth performance and relative lymphoid organ weight were not significantly different among the treatments. Villus height, crypt depth, and total mucosa thickness were significantly increased (P<0.05) in the ileum of broiler chickens fed NC+FOS when compared to PC and NC. Birds in NC+FOS treatment had reduced heterophil but increased monocyte count when compared to NC (P<0.05). Significant diet×challenge interaction was observed on natural IgY levels (P<0.0001), and a significant dietary effect was observed on specific IgY levels in chickens fed NC+FOS (P=0.003). Supplementation of FOS also increased the expression of interleukin (IL)-1ß, -10, and interferon (IFN)-γ mRNA in the ileum of the birds. In summary, Salmonella Enteritidis LPS challenge established significant differences in the immune responses in broiler chickens. FOS supplementation increased ileal mucosa thickness and elevated the expressions of certain cytokine genes. It also led to the alteration of leukocyte compositions and serum IgY levels in response to LPS challenge, suggesting FOS supplementation may be effective to induce protective outcomes in gut health and immunity of broiler chickens. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Social Studies Fresh Frontier for Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gewertz, Catherine

2011-01-01

Feeling that social studies has been sidelined by a test-driven focus on math and English/language arts, subject-matter specialists from more than a dozen states met last week with representatives of content-area groups to brainstorm ways to improve academic standards in that subject. The two-day gathering in Charlotte, N.C., is the third convened…

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF NECK MUSCULAR SIZE AND RANGE OF MOTION IN RUGBY PLAYERS.

PubMed

Hemelryck, Walter; Calistri, Josselin; Papadopoulou, Virginie; Theunissen, Sigrid; Dugardeyn, Christian; Balestra, Costantino

2018-02-01

World Rugby Union laws are constantly evolving towards stringent injury-prevention, particularly for contested scrums, since front row players are most at risk of cervical spine injuries. Recently, some countries have also introduced tailored training programs and minimum performance requirements for playing in the front row. Nevertheless, these approaches lack an objective assessment of each cervical muscle that would provide protective support. Since front row players are the most at risk for cervical spine injuries due to the specific type of contact during scrums, the purpose of this study was to ascertain whether significant differences exist in neck muscle size and range of motion between front row players and players of other positions, across playing categories. Cross-sectional controlled laboratory study. 129 sub-elite male subjects from various first-team squads of Belgian Rugby clubs were recruited. Subjects were grouped according to age: Junior (J) < 19 years old, Senior (S) 19 to 35 years old and Veteran (V) > 35 years old; as well as playing position: Front row players (J = 10, S = 12, V = 11 subjects), (Rest of the) pack (J = 12, S = 12, V = 10), backs (J = 10, S = 11, V = 11). An age-matched control group of non-rugby players was also recruited (J = 10, S = 10, V = 10).For each subject, the total neck circumference (NC) and the cervical range of motion (CROM) were measured. In addition, the thickness of the trapezius (T), splenius capitis (SCa), semispinalis capitis (SCb), semispinalis cervicis (SPC), sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCOM), and the total thickness of all four structures (TT), were measured using ultrasonography. In each age category, compared to controls, rugby players were found to have decreased CROM, an increase in neck circumference (NC), and increased total thickness (TT), trapezius (T), semispinalis capitis (SCb) and sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCOM) sizes. For junior players, the thickness of the semispinalis cervicis (SPC) was also increased compared to controls. The CROM was decreased in front row players compared to pack and back players for all age categories; Front row seniors also showed an increase in trapezius (T), splenius capitis (SCa), semispinalis capitis (SCb) and total thickness (TT), compared to back players. In regard of the differences in cervical values found between player positions, the implementation of both range of motion and echography muscle thickness assessments could serve to create an additional measurement for all front row players, that could complement current pre-participation screening used by rugby federations by objectively monitoring muscular size and motion amplitude around the cervical spine.

Evaluating the performance of active noise control systems in commercial and industrial applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Depies, C.; Deneen, S.; Lowe, M.

1995-06-01

Active sound cancellation technology is increasingly being used to quiet commercial and industrial air-moving devices. Engineers and designers are implementing active or combination active/passive technology to control sound quality in the workplace and the acoustical environment in residential areas near industrial facilities. Sound level measurements made before and after the installation of active systems have proved that significant improvements in sound quality can be obtained even if there is little or no change in the NC/RC or dBA numbers. Noise produced by centrifugal and vane-axial fans, pumps and blowers, commonly used for ventilation and material movement in industry, are frequentlymore » dominated by high amplitude, tonal noise at low frequencies. And the low-frequency noise produced by commercial air handlers often has less tonal and more broadband characteristics, resulting in audible duct rumble noise and objectionable room spectrums. Because the A-weighting network, which is commonly used for industrial noise measurements, de-emphasizes low frequencies, its single number rating can be misleading in terms of judging the overall subjective sound quality in impacted areas and assessing the effectiveness of noise control measures. Similarly, NC values, traditionally used for commercial HVAC acoustical design criteria, can be governed by noise at any frequency and cannot accurately depict human judgment of the aural comfort level. Analyses of frequency spectrum characteristics provide the most effective means of assessing sound quality and determining mitigative measures for achieving suitable background sound levels.« less

Bi-continuous Multi-component Nanocrystal Superlattices for Solar Energy Conversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kagan, Cherie; Murray, Christopher; Kikkawa, James

2017-06-14

Our SISGR program studied an emerging class of nanomaterials wherein different combinations of semiconductor or semiconductor and plasmonic nanocrystals (NCs) are self-assembled into three-dimensional multi-component superlattices. The NC assemblies were designed to form bicontinuous semiconductor NC sublattices with type-II energy offsets to drive charge separation onto electron and hole transporting sublattices for collection and introduce plasmonic NCs to increase solar absorption and charge separation. Our group is expert in synthesizing and assembling an extraordinary variety of artificial systems by tailoring the NC building blocks and the superlattice unit cell geometry. Under this DOE BES Materials Chemistry program, we introduced chemicalmore » methods to control inter-particle distance and to dope NC assemblies, which enabled our demonstration of strong electronic communication between NCs and the use of NC thin films as electronic materials. We synthesized, assembled and structurally, spectroscopically, and electrically probed NC superlattices to understand and manipulate the flow of energy and charge toward discovering the design rules and optimizing these complex architectures to create materials that efficiently convert solar radiation into electricity.« less

Gut Dysbiosis and Neurobehavioral Alterations in Rats Exposed to Silver Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Javurek, Angela B; Suresh, Dhananjay; Spollen, William G; Hart, Marcia L; Hansen, Sarah A; Ellersieck, Mark R; Bivens, Nathan J; Givan, Scott A; Upendran, Anandhi; Kannan, Raghuraman; Rosenfeld, Cheryl S

2017-06-06

Due to their antimicrobial properties, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are being used in non-edible and edible consumer products. It is not clear though if exposure to these chemicals can exert toxic effects on the host and gut microbiome. Conflicting studies have been reported on whether AgNPs result in gut dysbiosis and other changes within the host. We sought to examine whether exposure of Sprague-Dawley male rats for two weeks to different shapes of AgNPs, cube (AgNC) and sphere (AgNS) affects gut microbiota, select behaviors, and induces histopathological changes in the gastrointestinal system and brain. In the elevated plus maze (EPM), AgNS-exposed rats showed greater number of entries into closed arms and center compared to controls and those exposed to AgNC. AgNS and AgNC treated groups had select reductions in gut microbiota relative to controls. Clostridium spp., Bacteroides uniformis, Christensenellaceae, and Coprococcus eutactus were decreased in AgNC exposed group, whereas, Oscillospira spp., Dehalobacterium spp., Peptococcaeceae, Corynebacterium spp., Aggregatibacter pneumotropica were reduced in AgNS exposed group. Bacterial reductions correlated with select behavioral changes measured in the EPM. No significant histopathological changes were evident in the gastrointestinal system or brain. Findings suggest short-term exposure to AgNS or AgNC can lead to behavioral and gut microbiome changes.

Combined plasma gas-phase synthesis and colloidal processing of InP/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals.

PubMed

Gresback, Ryan; Hue, Ryan; Gladfelter, Wayne L; Kortshagen, Uwe R

2011-01-12

Indium phosphide nanocrystals (InP NCs) with diameters ranging from 2 to 5 nm were synthesized with a scalable, flow-through, nonthermal plasma process at a rate ranging from 10 to 40 mg/h. The NC size is controlled through the plasma operating parameters, with the residence time of the gas in the plasma region strongly influencing the NC size. The NC size distribution is narrow with the standard deviation being less than 20% of the mean NC size. Zinc sulfide (ZnS) shells were grown around the plasma-synthesized InP NCs in a liquid phase reaction. Photoluminescence with quantum yields as high as 15% were observed for the InP/ZnS core-shell NCs.

Combined plasma gas-phase synthesis and colloidal processing of InP/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Indium phosphide nanocrystals (InP NCs) with diameters ranging from 2 to 5 nm were synthesized with a scalable, flow-through, nonthermal plasma process at a rate ranging from 10 to 40 mg/h. The NC size is controlled through the plasma operating parameters, with the residence time of the gas in the plasma region strongly influencing the NC size. The NC size distribution is narrow with the standard deviation being less than 20% of the mean NC size. Zinc sulfide (ZnS) shells were grown around the plasma-synthesized InP NCs in a liquid phase reaction. Photoluminescence with quantum yields as high as 15% were observed for the InP/ZnS core-shell NCs. PMID:21711589

Combined plasma gas-phase synthesis and colloidal processing of InP/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gresback, Ryan; Hue, Ryan; Gladfelter, Wayne L.; Kortshagen, Uwe R.

2011-12-01

Indium phosphide nanocrystals (InP NCs) with diameters ranging from 2 to 5 nm were synthesized with a scalable, flow-through, nonthermal plasma process at a rate ranging from 10 to 40 mg/h. The NC size is controlled through the plasma operating parameters, with the residence time of the gas in the plasma region strongly influencing the NC size. The NC size distribution is narrow with the standard deviation being less than 20% of the mean NC size. Zinc sulfide (ZnS) shells were grown around the plasma-synthesized InP NCs in a liquid phase reaction. Photoluminescence with quantum yields as high as 15% were observed for the InP/ZnS core-shell NCs.

Dynamic Organization of lncRNA and Circular RNA Regulators Collectively Controlled Cardiac Differentiation in Humans.

PubMed

Li, Yongsheng; Zhang, Jinwen; Huo, Caiqin; Ding, Na; Li, Junyi; Xiao, Jun; Lin, Xiaoyu; Cai, Benzhi; Zhang, Yunpeng; Xu, Juan

2017-10-01

Advances in developmental cardiology have increased our understanding of the early aspects of heart differentiation. However, understanding noncoding RNA (ncRNA) transcription and regulation during this process remains elusive. Here, we constructed transcriptomes for both long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in four important developmental stages ranging from early embryonic to cardiomyocyte based on high-throughput sequencing datasets, which indicate the high stage-specific expression patterns of two ncRNA types. Additionally, higher similarities of samples within each stage were found, highlighting the divergence of samples collected from distinct cardiac developmental stages. Next, we developed a method to identify numerous lncRNA and circRNA regulators whose expression was significantly stage-specific and shifted gradually and continuously during heart differentiation. We inferred that these ncRNAs are important for the stages of cardiac differentiation. Moreover, transcriptional regulation analysis revealed that the expression of stage-specific lncRNAs is controlled by known key stage-specific transcription factors (TFs). In addition, circRNAs exhibited dynamic expression patterns independent from their host genes. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that lncRNAs and circRNAs play critical roles in pathways that are activated specifically during heart differentiation. We further identified candidate TF-ncRNA-gene network modules for each differentiation stage, suggesting the dynamic organization of lncRNAs and circRNAs collectively controlled cardiac differentiation, which may cause heart-related diseases when defective. Our study provides a foundation for understanding the dynamic regulation of ncRNA transcriptomes during heart differentiation and identifies the dynamic organization of novel key lncRNAs and circRNAs to collectively control cardiac differentiation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Sleep Misperception in Chronic Insomnia Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Implications for Clinical Assessment.

PubMed

Choi, Su Jung; Suh, Sooyeon; Ong, Jason; Joo, Eun Yeon

2016-11-15

To investigate whether sleep perception (SP), defined by the ratio of subjective and objective total sleep time, and habitual sleep time in various sleep disorders may be based on comorbid insomnia status. We enrolled 420 patients (age 20-79 y) who underwent polysomnography (PSG). They were divided into three groups based on chief complaints: chronic insomnia (CI, n = 69), patients with both obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia (OSA-I, n = 49) or OSA only (OSA, n = 149). Healthy volunteers were also recruited (normal controls [NC], n = 80). We compared differences in PSG parameters and habitual sleep duration and investigated the discrepancy between objective and subjective total sleep time (TST) and sleep latency among four groups. Subjective TST was defined as sleep time perceived by participants the next morning of PSG. SP for TST was highest in the OSA group (median 92.9%), and lowest in the CI group (80.3%). SP of the NC group (91.4%) was higher than the CI, but there was no difference between OSA-I and OSA groups. OSA-I had higher depressive mood compared to the OSA group (p < 0.001). SP was positively associated with the presence of OSA and habitual sleep duration and negatively related to the presence of insomnia and arousal index of PSG. Insomnia patients with (OSA-I) or without OSA (CI) reported the smallest discrepancy between habitual sleep duration and objective TST. Patients with OSA with or without insomnia have different PSG profiles, which suggests that objective measures of sleep are an important consideration for differentiating subtypes of insomnia and tailoring proper treatment. A commentary on this articles appears in this issue on page 1437. © 2016 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Bovine immune response to inoculation with Neospora caninum surface antigen SRS2 lipopeptides mimics immune response to infection with live parasites.

PubMed

Baszler, Timothy V; Shkap, Varda; Mwangi, Waithaka; Davies, Christopher J; Mathison, Bruce A; Mazuz, Monica; Resnikov, Dror; Fish, Lea; Leibovitch, Benjamin; Staska, Lauren M; Savitsky, Igor

2008-04-01

Infection of cattle with Neospora caninum protozoa, the causative agent of bovine protozoal abortion, results in robust cellular and humoral immune responses, particularly CD4(+) T-lymphocyte activation and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) secretion. In the present study, N. caninum SRS2 (NcSRS2) T-lymphocyte-epitope-bearing subunits were incorporated into DNA and peptide preparations to assess CD4(+) cell proliferation and IFN-gamma T-lymphocyte-secretion immune responses in cattle with predetermined major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotypes. In order to optimize dendritic-cell processing, NcSRS2 DNA vaccine was delivered with granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor and Flt3 ligand adjuvant. The synthesized NcSRS2 peptides were coupled with a palmitic acid molecule (lipopeptide) and delivered with Freund's adjuvant. Cattle vaccinated with NcSRS2 DNA vaccine alone did not induce T-lymphocyte activation or IFN-gamma secretion, whereas subsequent booster inoculation with NcSRS2-lipopeptides induced robust NcSRS2-specific immune responses. Compared to the response in control animals, NcSRS2-lipopeptide-immunized cattle had significantly increased NcSRS2-specific T-lymphocyte proliferation, numbers of IFN-gamma-secreting peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgG2a antibody levels. The findings show that N. caninum NcSRS2 subunits bearing T-lymphocyte epitopes induced cell-mediated immune responses similar to the protective immune responses previously described against live parasite infection, namely T-lymphocyte activation and IFN-gamma secretion. The findings support the investigation of NcSRS2 immunogens for protection against N. caninum-induced fetal infection and abortion in cattle.

Suboptimal use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in radical cystectomy patients: A population-based study.

PubMed

Schiffmann, Jonas; Sun, Maxine; Gandaglia, Giorgio; Tian, Zhe; Popa, Ioana; Larcher, Alessandro; Meskawi, Malek; Briganti, Alberto; McCormack, Michael; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Montorsi, Francesco; Graefen, Markus; Saad, Fred; Karakiewicz, Pierre I

2016-01-01

We aimed to assess contemporary rates of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) use. We relied on the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database for non-metastatic, muscle-invasive (T2-T4a) urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (UCUB) patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) between 1991 and 2009. Multivariable logistic regression analyses tested predictors of NC use, such as: T-stage, N-stage, year of diagnosis, age at diagnosis, gender, race, use of radiotherapy (RT), marital status, urban status, socioeconomic status, tumour grade, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Overall, 5207 patients treated with RC were identified. Of those, 332 (6.4%) received NC. The rate of NC increased over time from 6.1% (1991) to 15.0% (2009) (p<0.001). In multivariable analyses, year of diagnosis (odds ratio [OR]: 4.7; p<0.001), lower T-stage (T3 vs. T2: OR: 0.7; p=0.003), married status (OR: 1.5; p=0.006), and younger age at diagnosis (≥80 vs. 66-69: OR: 0.6; p=0.006) were associated with a higher odds of NC; all represented independent predictors of NC use. Neither race nor CCI demonstrated statistical significance. We reported lower than anticipated overall (6.4%) use of NC. Nonetheless, the rate increased from 6.1% (1991) to 15.0% (2009). Older and unmarried individuals were less likely to receive NC. NC rates were higher in T2 UCUB patients. Some of the observed discrepancies, such as lower use in unmarried individuals, may require correction. Better adherence to guidelines should be encouraged and implemented, especially based on the confirmed benefits of NC according to randomized, controlled trials. The study is limited by a retrospective design and limited variables.

The Redox Potentials of n-type Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, Gerard Michael

This thesis presents investigations for two related fields of semiconductor electrochemistry: redox potential determination of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, and mechanistic analysis of photoelectrochemical water oxidation with electrocatalyst modified mesostructured hematite photoanodes. Adapting electrochemical techniques to colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (SC NC) is a long-standing challenge for this class of materials. Subject to a variety of complications, standard voltammetric techniques are not as straight forward for SC NCs as they are for small molecules. As a result, researchers have developed creative ways to side step these complications by coupling electrochemistry with NC spectroscopy. Chapter 1 discusses the fundamental electronic and spectroscopic properties of SC NCs at different redox states. We present a brief review of some of the notable studies employing SC NC spectroelectrochemistry that provide the theoretical and experimental context for the following chapters. Chapter 2 presents an investigation on NC redox potentials of photochemically reduced colloidal ZnO NCs using a solvated redox-indicator method. In the one electron limit, conduction band electrons show evidence of quantum confinement, but at higher electron concentrations, the NC Fermi-level becomes dependent on the electron density across all NC sizes. Chapter 3 outlines a poteniometric method for monitoring the NC redox potentials in situ. NC redox potentials for ZnO and CdSe are measured, and as predicted from these measurements, spontaneous electron transfer from CdSe to ZnO is demonstrated. Chapter 4 details the impact of the surface of CdSe NCs on the NC redox potentials. We find that the ratio of Cd2+:Se2- on the surface of CdSe NCs changes both the NC band edge potentials, as well as the maximum electron density achievable by photochemical reduction. These changes are proposed to arise from interfacial dipoles when CdSe has a Se2-rich surface. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the mechanistic pathways of solar water oxidation on Co-Pi modified alpha-Fe2O3 photoanodes. A rate constant analysis of water oxidation and electron-hole recombination paired with the identification of surface-morphology-dependent current-voltage characteristics reveal new insights into the role of the semiconductor/electrocatalyst interface on the overall solar water oxidation efficiency. These findings reconcile disparate observations from previous studies.

Metabolic effects of low cortisol during exercise in humans.

PubMed

Del Corral, P; Howley, E T; Hartsell, M; Ashraf, M; Younger, M S

1998-03-01

This study examined the physiological effect of reduced plasma cortisol (C) during prolonged exercise in humans. The effects of normal C (NC) were compared with metyrapone-induced low C (LC) on plasma substrate availability and the respiratory exchange ratio during 2 h of exercise at approximately 60% peak O2 consumption in nine subjects. The C responses were compared with preexercise (Pre) levels and with a rest day (Con). At rest, C was attenuated by approximately 70% for LC compared with NC. At rest, plasma glucose, lactate, glycerol, beta-hydroxybutyrate, alanine, branched-chain amino acids, insulin, glucagon, growth hormone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine were similar under LC and NC (P > 0.05). During exercise under NC, plasma C increased compared with Pre, whereas it remained unchanged during LC. During NC, plasma C was elevated at 90 min (compared with Con) and at 120 min (compared with Con and Pre). During exercise, plasma glucose decreased to the same extent and lactate was similar under both conditions, whereas plasma glycerol, beta-hydroxybutyrate, alanine, and branched-chain amino acids were higher (P < 0.01) under NC. Plasma insulin declined (P = 0.01) to a greater extent under LC, whereas growth hormone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine tended to be higher (0.05

Conversion Discriminative Analysis on Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Multiple Cortical Features from MR Images.

PubMed

Guo, Shengwen; Lai, Chunren; Wu, Congling; Cen, Guiyin

2017-01-01

Neuroimaging measurements derived from magnetic resonance imaging provide important information required for detecting changes related to the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Cortical features and changes play a crucial role in revealing unique anatomical patterns of brain regions, and further differentiate MCI patients from normal states. Four cortical features, namely, gray matter volume, cortical thickness, surface area, and mean curvature, were explored for discriminative analysis among three groups including the stable MCI (sMCI), the converted MCI (cMCI), and the normal control (NC) groups. In this study, 158 subjects (72 NC, 46 sMCI, and 40 cMCI) were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. A sparse-constrained regression model based on the l2-1-norm was introduced to reduce the feature dimensionality and retrieve essential features for the discrimination of the three groups by using a support vector machine (SVM). An optimized strategy of feature addition based on the weight of each feature was adopted for the SVM classifier in order to achieve the best classification performance. The baseline cortical features combined with the longitudinal measurements for 2 years of follow-up data yielded prominent classification results. In particular, the cortical thickness produced a classification with 98.84% accuracy, 97.5% sensitivity, and 100% specificity for the sMCI-cMCI comparison; 92.37% accuracy, 84.78% sensitivity, and 97.22% specificity for the cMCI-NC comparison; and 93.75% accuracy, 92.5% sensitivity, and 94.44% specificity for the sMCI-NC comparison. The best performances obtained by the SVM classifier using the essential features were 5-40% more than those using all of the retained features. The feasibility of the cortical features for the recognition of anatomical patterns was certified; thus, the proposed method has the potential to improve the clinical diagnosis of sub-types of MCI and predict the risk of its conversion to Alzheimer's disease.

Oral atorvastatin therapy increases nitric oxide-dependent cutaneous vasodilation in humans by decreasing ascorbate-sensitive oxidants

PubMed Central

Kenney, W. Larry

2011-01-01

Elevated low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are associated with cutaneous microvascular dysfunction partially mediated by increased arginase activity, which is decreased following a systemic atorvastatin therapy. We hypothesized that increased ascorbate-sensitive oxidant stress, partially mediated through uncoupled nitric oxide synthase (NOS) induced by upregulated arginase, contributes to cutaneous microvascular dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic (HC) humans. Four microdialysis fibers were placed in the skin of nine HC (LDL = 177 ± 6 mg/dl) men and women before and after 3 mo of a systemic atorvastatin intervention and at baseline in nine normocholesterolemic (NC) (LDL = 95 ± 4 mg/dl) subjects. Sites served as control, NOS inhibited, L-ascorbate, and arginase-inhibited+L-ascorbate. Skin blood flow was measured while local skin heating (42°C) induced NO-dependent vasodilation. After the established plateau in all sites, 20 mM ≪ngname≫ was infused to quantify NO-dependent vasodilation. Data were normalized to maximum cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) (sodium nitroprusside + 43°C). The plateau in vasodilation during local heating (HC: 78 ± 4 vs. NC: 96 ± 2% CVCmax, P < 0.01) and NO-dependent vasodilation (HC: 40 ± 4 vs. NC: 54 ± 4% CVCmax, P < 0.01) was reduced in the HC group. Acute L-ascorbate alone (91 ± 5% CVCmax, P < 0.001) or combined with arginase inhibition (96 ± 3% CVCmax, P < 0.001) augmented the plateau in vasodilation in the HC group but not the NC group (ascorbate: 96 ± 2; combo: 93 ± 4% CVCmax, both P > 0.05). After the atorvastatin intervention NO-dependent vasodilation was augmented in the HC group (HC postatorvastatin: 64 ± 4% CVCmax, P < 0.01), and there was no further effect of ascorbate alone (58 ± 4% CVCmax, P > 0.05) or combined with arginase inhibition (67 ± 4% CVCmax, P > 0.05). Increased ascorbate-sensitive oxidants contribute to hypercholesteromic associated cutaneous microvascular dysfunction which is partially reversed with atorvastatin therapy. PMID:21715698

What is the optimal means of preparing the endometrium in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Groenewoud, Eva R; Cantineau, Astrid E P; Kollen, Boudewijn J; Macklon, Nick S; Cohlen, Ben J

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND Frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) enables surplus embryos derived from IVF or IVF-ICSI treatment to be stored and transferred at a later date. In recent years the number of FET cycles performed has increased due to transferring fewer embryos per transfer and improved laboratory techniques. Currently, there is little consensus on the most effective method of endometrium preparation prior to FET. METHODS Using both MEDLINE and EMBASE database a systematic review and meta-analysis of literature was performed. Case-series, case-control studies and articles in languages other than English, Dutch or Spanish were excluded. Those studies comparing clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates as well as live birth rates in (i) true natural cycle FET (NC-FET) versus modified NC-FET, (ii) NC-FET versus artificial cycle FET (AC-FET), (iii) AC-FET versus artificial with GnRH agonist cycle FET and (iv) NC-FET versus artificial with GnRH agonist cycle FET were included. Forest plots were constructed and relative risks or odds ratios were calculated. RESULTS A total of 43 publications were selected for critical appraisal and 20 articles were included in the final review. For all comparisons, no differences in the clinical pregnancy rate, ongoing pregnancy rate or live birth rate could be found. Based on information provided in the articles no conclusions could be drawn with regard to cancellation rates. CONCLUSIONS Based on the current literature it is not possible to identify one method of endometrium preparation in FET as being more effective than another. Therefore, all of the current methods of endometrial preparation appear to be equally successful in terms of ongoing pregnancy rate. However, in some comparisons predominantly retrospective studies were included leaving these comparisons subject to selection and publication bias. Also patients' preferences as well as cost-efficiency were not addressed in any of the included studies. Therefore, prospective randomized studies addressing these issues are needed.

Controllable nonlinear refraction characteristics in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, D. Q.; Ye, Q. H.; Shen, W. Z., E-mail: wzshen@sjtu.edu.cn

2014-02-07

Nonlinear refraction (NLR) of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) has been investigated through the close aperture Z-scan method. We demonstrate a significant NLR and a unique feature of controllable NLR characteristics between saturable and Kerr NLR with the incident photon energy. We numerically evaluate the proportion of these two mechanisms in different wavelengths by a modified NLR equation. The band tail of nc-Si:H appears to play a crucial role in such NLR responses.

Accurate ab Initio Quartic Force Fields, Vibrational Frequencies, and Heats of Formation for FCN, FNC, ClCN, and ClNC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Timothy J.; Martin, Jan M. L.; Dateo, Christopher E.; Taylor, Peter R.

1995-01-01

The XCN and XNC (X = F, Cl) isomers have been investigated using the CCSD(T) method in conjunction with correlation consistent basis sets. Equilibrium geometries, harmonic frequencies, anharmonic constants, fundamental frequencies, and heats of formation have been evaluated. Agreement with experiment for the fundamental frequencies is very good, even for nu(sub 2), for CICN, which is subject to a strong Fermi resonance with 2nu(sub 3). It is also shown that a second-order perturbation theory approach to solving the nuclear Schroedinger equation gives results in excellent agreement with essentially exact variational calculations. This is true even for nu(sub 2) of ClCN, provided that near-singular terms are eliminated from the perturbation theory formulas and the appropriate Fermi interaction energy matrix is then diagonalized. A band at 615/cm, tentatively assigned as the Cl-N stretch in ClNC in matrix isolation experiments, is shown not to be due to ClNC. Accurate atomization energies are determined and are used to evaluate accurate heats of formation (3.1 +/- 1.5, 33.2 +/- 1.5, 72.6 +/- 1.5, and 75.9 +/- 1.5 kcal/mol for FCN, ClCN, FNC, and ClNC, respectively). It is expected that the theoretical heats of formation for FCN, FNC, and ClNC are the most accurate available.

A hybrid DNA-templated gold nanocluster for enhanced enzymatic reduction of oxygen

DOE PAGES

Chakraborty, Saumen; Babanova, Sofia; Rocha, Reginaldo C.; ...

2015-08-19

We report the synthesis and characterization of a new DNA-templated gold nanocluster (AuNC) of ~1 nm in diameter and possessing ~7 Au atoms. When integrated with bilirubin oxidase (BOD) and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), the AuNC acts as an enhancer of electron transfer (ET) and lowers the overpotential of electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by ~15 mV as compared to the enzyme alone. In addition, the presence of AuNC causes significant enhancements in the electrocatalytic current densities at the electrode. Control experiments show that such enhancement of ORR by the AuNC is specific to nanoclusters and not to plasmonicmore » gold particles. Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) measurements confirm 4e– reduction of O 2 to H 2O with minimal production of H 2O 2, suggesting that the presence of AuNC does not perturb the mechanism of ORR catalyzed by the enzyme. This unique role of the AuNC as enhancer of ET at the enzyme-electrode interface makes it a potential candidate for the development of cathodes in enzymatic fuel cells, which often suffer from poor electronic communication between the electrode surface and the enzyme active site. In conclusion, the AuNC displays phosphorescence with large Stokes shift and microsecond lifetime.« less

The interplay between noncoding RNAs and insulin in diabetes.

PubMed

Tian, Yan; Xu, Jia; Du, Xiao; Fu, Xianghui

2018-04-10

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs and circular RNAs, regulate various biological processes and are involved in the initiation and progression of human diseases. Insulin, a predominant hormone secreted from pancreatic β cells, is an essential factor in regulation of systemic metabolism through multifunctional insulin signaling. Insulin production and action are tightly controlled. Dysregulations of insulin production and action can impair metabolic homeostasis, and eventually lead to the development of multiple metabolic diseases, especially diabetes. Accumulating data indicates that ncRNAs modulate β cell mass, insulin synthesis, secretion and signaling, and their role in diabetes is dramatically emerging. This review summarizes our current knowledge of ncRNAs as regulators of insulin, with particular emphasis on the implications of this interplay in the development of diabetes. We outline the role of ncRNAs in pancreatic β cell mass and function, which is critical for insulin production and secretion. We also highlight the involvement of ncRNAs in insulin signaling in peripheral tissues including liver, muscle and adipose, and discuss ncRNA-mediated inter-organ crosstalk under diabetic conditions. A more in-depth understanding of the interplay between ncRNAs and insulin may afford valuable insights and novel therapeutic strategies for treatment of diabetes, as well as other human diseases. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of gene expression levels for cytokines in ocular toxoplasmosis.

PubMed

Maia, M M; Meira-Strejevitch, C S; Pereira-Chioccola, V L; de Hippólito, D D C; Silva, V O; Brandão de Mattos, C C; Frederico, F B; Siqueira, R C; de Mattos, L C

2017-10-01

This study evaluated levels for mRNA expression of 7 cytokines in ocular toxoplasmosis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with ocular toxoplasmosis (OT Group, n = 23) and chronic toxoplasmosis individuals (CHR Group, n = 9) were isolated and stimulated in vitro with T. gondii antigen. Negative controls (NC) were constituted of 7 PBMC samples from individuals seronegative for toxoplasmosis. mRNA expression for cytokines was determined by qPCR. Results showed a significant increase in mRNA levels from antigen stimulated PBMCs derived from OT Group for expressing IL-6 (at P < .005 and P < .0005 for CHR and NC groups, respectively), IL-10 (at P < .0005 and P < .005 for CHR and NC groups, respectively) and TGF-β (at P < .005) for NC group. mRNA levels for TNF-α and IL-12 were also upregulated in patients with OT compared to CHR and NC individuals, although without statistical significance. Additionally, mRNA levels for IL-27 and IFN-γ in PBMC of patients with OT were upregulated in comparison with NC individuals. Differences between OT and NC groups were statistically significant at P < .05 and P < .0005, respectively. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Correlation between the physical parameters of the i-nc-Si absorber layer grown by 27.12 MHz plasma with the nc-Si solar cell parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Debajyoti; Mondal, Praloy

2017-09-01

Growth of highly conducting nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) thin films of optimum crystalline volume fraction, involving dominant <220> crystallographic preferred orientation with simultaneous low fraction of microstructures at a low substrate temperature and high growth rate, is a challenging task for its promising utilization in nc-Si solar cells. Utilizing enhanced electron density and superior ion flux densities of the high frequency (∼27.12 MHz) SiH4 plasma, improved nc-Si films have been produced by simple optimization of H2-dilution, controlling the ion damage and enhancing supply of atomic-hydrogen onto the growing surface. Single junction nc-Si p-i-n solar cells have been prepared with i-nc-Si absorber layer and optimized. The physical parameters of the absorber layer have been systematically correlated to variations of the solar cell parameters. The preferred <220> alignment of crystallites, its contribution to the low recombination losses for conduction of charge carriers along the vertical direction, its spectroscopic correlation with the dominant growth of ultra-nanocrystalline silicon (unc-Si) component and corresponding longer wavelength absorption, especially in the neighborhood of i/n-interface region recognize scientific and technological key issues that pave the ground for imminent advancement of multi-junction silicon solar cells.

Synthesis of MOF-525 Derived Nanoporous Carbons with Different Particle Sizes for Supercapacitor Application.

PubMed

Chang, Ting-Hsiang; Young, Christine; Lee, Min-Han; Salunkhe, Rahul R; Alshehri, Saad M; Ahamad, Tansir; Islam, Md Tofazzal; Wu, Kevin C-W; Hossain, Md Shahriar A; Yamauchi, Yusuke; Ho, Kuo-Chuan

2017-11-02

Nanoporous carbon (NC) materials have attracted great research interest for supercapacitor applications, because of their excellent electrochemical and mechanical stability, good electrical conductivity, and high surface area. Although there are many reports on metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon materials, previous synthetic studies have been hindered by imperfect control of particle sizes and shapes. Here, we show precise control of the particle sizes of MOF-525 from 100 nm to 750 nm. After conversion of MOF-525 to NC, the effects of variation of the particle size on the electrochemical performance have been carefully investigated. The results demonstrate that our NC is a potential candidate for practical supercapacitor applications. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

EFFECT OF INHALED ENDOTOXIN ON AIRWAY AND CIRCULATING INFLAMMATORY CELL PHAGOCYTOSIS AND CD11B EXPRESSION IN ATOPIC ASTHMATIC SUBJECTS

EPA Science Inventory

Effect of inhaled endotoxin on airway and circulating inflammatory cell phagocytosis and CD11b expression in atopic asthmatic subjects

Neil E. Alexis, PhD, Marlowe W. Eldridge, MD, David B. Peden, MD, MS

Chapel Hill and Research Triangle Park, NC

Backgrou...

Does nailfold capillaroscopy help predict future outcomes in systemic sclerosis? A systematic literature review.

PubMed

Paxton, Dolcie; Pauling, John D

2018-02-14

Nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) is an important diagnostic tool in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Confirmation of NC as a prognostic factor could facilitate earlier intervention and slow disease progression in SSc. We undertook a systematic literature review to evaluate the prognostic value of NC in predicting SSc disease progression. Standardised searches of EMBASE and MEDLINE were undertaken to identify longitudinal studies of adult subjects with SSc reporting the prognostic value of NC for any aspect of disease progression and/or survival. Non-English, non-original research, animal studies, non-adult studies and non-full length reports were excluded from the analysis (PROSPERO 2017:CRD42017071719). Wide heterogeneity in study design, prognostic factor measurement and study outcomes necessitated a qualitative data synthesis. The "QUality In Prognosis Studies" (QUIPS) risk-of-bias tool was used to assess study quality. Study selection, data extraction and risk-of-bias assessment were each undertaken independently by 2 reviewers and consensus reached where necessary. Of 942 retrieved articles, 18 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies (17/18, 94%) reported positive associations between baseline NC appearances (using a variety of qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative NC endpoints) and clinical outcomes including digital ulcer (DU) occurrence/healing, survival, disease progression (using domains of Medsger disease severity scale), calcinosis, skin progression, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and/or a composite analysis of "cardiovascular events". Application of the QUIPS tool identified a moderate-high risk of potential bias in 6/18 studies for study participation, 3/18 studies for study attrition, 10/18 for prognostic factor measurement, 5/18 for outcome measurement, 13/18 for confounders and 13/18 for statistical analyses. Study quality limited the strength of the conclusions drawn from these studies. The most important source of potential bias across the studies was insufficient adjustment for potential confounders; such as existing DU disease in studies evaluating future DU occurrence. Recent work suggests NC evolution is an important predictor of disease progression in SSc. High levels of potential bias relating to study confounding and statistical analysis make it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the prognostic role of NC in SSc. There is strong evidence supporting an association between NC abnormalities (particularly capillary loss) and disease severity (particularly vascular manifestations such as DU, calcinosis and PAH). Evolution of NC appearances may represent a more important predictor of disease progression which could have important implications for the future use of NC in the routine longitudinal assessment and management of SSc. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 11939 - City Service Cleaners, Lenoir, NC; Notice of Termination of Investigation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-12

... the subject firm who are able to provide the information necessary to reach a determination on worker group eligibility. Consequently, further investigation in this case would serve no purpose, and the...

Partial Planning Reinforcement Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-31

Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Reinforcement Learning, Bayesian Optimization, Active ... Learning , Action Model Learning, Decision Theoretic Assistance Prasad Tadepalli, Alan Fern Oregon State University Office of Sponsored Programs Oregon State

Cross-Cultural Applicability of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): A Systematic Review.

PubMed

O'Driscoll, Ciarán; Shaikh, Madiha

2017-01-01

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is widely used to screen for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). While there are many available versions, the cross-cultural validity of the assessment has not been explored sufficiently. We aimed to interrogate the validity of the MoCA in a cross-cultural context: in differentiating MCI from normal controls (NC); and identifying cut-offs and adjustments for age and education where possible. This review sourced a wide range of studies including case-control studies. In addition, we report findings for differentiating dementias from NC and MCI from dementias, however, these were not considered to be an appropriate use of the MoCA. The subject of the review assumes heterogeneity and therefore meta-analyses was not conducted. Quality ratings, forest plots of validated studies (sensitivity and specificity) with covariates (suggested cut-offs, age, education and country), and summary receiver operating characteristic curve are presented. The results showed a wide range in suggested cutoffs for MCI cross-culturally, with variability in levels of sensitivity and specificity ranging from low to high. Poor methodological rigor appears to have affected reported accuracy and validity of the MoCA. The review highlights the necessity for cross-cultural considerations when using the MoCA, and recognizing it as a screen and not a diagnostic tool. Appropriate cutoffs and point adjustments for education are suggested.

Reheating of soy oil is detrimental to bone metabolism in oestrogen deficient rats.

PubMed

Ima-Nirwana, S; Ahmad, S Nazrun; Yee, L J; Loh, H C; Yew, S F; Norazlina, M; Abdul, M T Gapor; Kamsiah, J

2007-03-01

The short-term and long- term effects of heated soy oil on bone metabolism in ovariectomised Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Three-month-old female rats, were divided into five groups: normal control (NC); ovariectomised control (OVXC); ovariectomised and fed rat chow with added fresh soybean oil (SOF) or once-heated soy oil (SO1) or five-times-heated soy oil (SO5). Short-term parameters measured after one month were serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and osteocalcin. Long-term parameters measured after six months were the structural bone histomorphometrical parameters. Vitamin E content in the soy oil subjected to the different heating treatments were also measured. Rats in the SO5 group had higher levels of IL-6 after one month compared to the other four groups. Osteocalcin levels in the SO1 and SO5 groups remained high after treatment, while those in the NC and SOF groups declined. After six months, bone mass declined in the SO5 group. Vitamin E assay in the oils showed that levels of alpha-tocopherol decreased after heating the oil once and five times, while levels of gamma- and delta-tocopherols only declined after heating five times. Repeated heating of soy oil destroyed the tocopherols causing raised serum IL-6 and osteocalcin levels, leading to increased bone resorption and osteoporosis in the long term.

Effects of an appointment reminder call on patient show rates.

PubMed

Gariti, P; Alterman, A I; Holub-Beyer, E; Volpicelli, J R; Prentice, N; O'Brien, C P

1995-01-01

A pilot study (N = 80) was conducted to determine if (1) prospective substance-dependent patients randomly selected to be reminded (TC) of their scheduled intake evaluation the day before their first appointment would have a higher show rate than those not contacted (NC); and (2) if TC subjects administered a satisfaction questionnaire 1-3 days after intake would exhibit higher treatment retention rates at one week and one month posttreatment entry than NC subjects not exposed to the questionnaire. The findings suggest that reminding prospective patients of their initial scheduled appointments and following up with phone calls to those who fail to show can improve the rate at which patients will initiate treatment, provided initial appointments are scheduled in a timely manner (7 days or less). Similarly, the combination of the reminder call and the satisfaction questionnaire were associated with higher treatment retention rates for those whose initial appointments were scheduled in a timely manner.

Bioengineered Noncoding RNAs Selectively Change Cellular miRNome Profiles for Cancer Therapy.

PubMed

Ho, Pui Yan; Duan, Zhijian; Batra, Neelu; Jilek, Joseph L; Tu, Mei-Juan; Qiu, Jing-Xin; Hu, Zihua; Wun, Theodore; Lara, Primo N; DeVere White, Ralph W; Chen, Hong-Wu; Yu, Ai-Ming

2018-06-01

Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) produced in live cells may better reflect intracellular ncRNAs for research and therapy. Attempts were made to produce biologic ncRNAs, but at low yield or success rate. Here we first report a new ncRNA bioengineering technology using more stable ncRNA carrier (nCAR) containing a pre-miR-34a derivative identified by rational design and experimental validation. This approach offered a remarkable higher level expression (40%-80% of total RNAs) of recombinant ncRNAs in bacteria and gave an 80% success rate (33 of 42 ncRNAs). New FPLC and spin-column based methods were also developed for large- and small-scale purification of milligrams and micrograms of recombinant ncRNAs from half liter and milliliters of bacterial culture, respectively. We then used two bioengineered nCAR/miRNAs to demonstrate the selective release of target miRNAs into human cells, which were revealed to be Dicer dependent (miR-34a-5p) or independent (miR-124a-3p), and subsequent changes of miRNome and transcriptome profiles. miRNA enrichment analyses of altered transcriptome confirmed the specificity of nCAR/miRNAs in target gene regulation. Furthermore, nCAR assembled miR-34a-5p and miR-124-3p were active in suppressing human lung carcinoma cell proliferation through modulation of target gene expression (e.g., cMET and CDK6 for miR-34a-5p; STAT3 and ABCC4 for miR-124-3p). In addition, bioengineered miRNA molecules were effective in controlling metastatic lung xenograft progression, as demonstrated by live animal and ex vivo lung tissue bioluminescent imaging as well as histopathological examination. This novel ncRNA bioengineering platform can be easily adapted to produce various ncRNA molecules, and biologic ncRNAs hold the promise as new cancer therapeutics. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Evaluating Recall and Recognition Memory Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment: Applicability for Alzheimer's and Huntington's Diseases.

PubMed

Van Liew, Charles; Santoro, Maya S; Goldstein, Jody; Gluhm, Shea; Gilbert, Paul E; Corey-Bloom, Jody

2016-12-01

We sought to investigate whether the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) could provide a brief assessment of recall and recognition using Huntington disease (HD) and Alzheimer disease (AD) as disorders characterized by different memory deficits. This study included 80 participants with HD, 64 participants with AD, and 183 community-dwelling control participants. Random-effects hierarchical logistic regressions were performed to assess the relative performance of the normal control (NC), participants with HD, and participants with AD on verbal free recall, cued recall, and multiple-choice recognition on the MoCA. The NC participants performed significantly better than participants with AD at all the 3 levels of assessment. No difference existed between participants with HD and NC for cued recall, but NC participants performed significantly better than participants with HD on free recall and recognition. The participants with HD performed significantly better than participants with AD at all the 3 levels of assessment. The MoCA appears to be a valuable, brief cognitive assessment capable of identifying specific memory deficits consistent with known differences in memory profiles. © The Author(s) 2016.

Effect of Canavalia gladiata Extract Fermented with Aspergillus oryzae on the Development of Atopic Dermatitis in NC/Nga Mice.

PubMed

Kim, Ok-Kyung; Chang, Jee-Yun; Nam, Da-Eun; Park, Yoo Kyoung; Jun, Woojin; Lee, Jeongmin

2015-01-01

Canavalia gladiata has been used as a Chinese traditional folk medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties. However, the use of C. gladiata is limited because it contains antinutritional and allergy-causing proteins. We fermented C. gladiata with Aspergillus oryzae and investigated the effects of fermented C. gladiata (FCG) on the development of atopic dermatitis (AD) in mice. The mice were divided into five groups: untreated Balb/c mice; AD control (NC/Nga mice); FCGH (NC/Nga mice fed a dietary supplement of 300 mg/kg fermented C. gladiata water extract); FCG30 (NC/Nga mice fed a dietary supplement of 300 mg/kg of fermented C. gladiata 30% ethanol extract), and FCG80 (NC/Nga mice fed a dietary supplement of 300 mg/kg of fermented C. gladiata 80% ethanol extract). We found increases in the nonessential amino acids and essential amino acid in the FCG compared with the non-FCG. FCG attenuated macroscopic and histopathological changes in dorsal skin of mice when compared with the AD control group. The FCG30 and FCG80 groups, in particular, showed significant decreases in scratching episodes when compared with the AD control group. FCG improved immune responses, including increases in IgE and histamine for AD, through attenuation of Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance and the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. We suggest that FCG may have benefits for improvement of AD function by improving the balance of Th1/Th2 cytokines and by producing anti-inflammatory effects. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Enzyme complex containing carbohydrases and phytase improves growth performance and bone mineralization of broilers fed reduced nutrient corn-soybean-based diets.

PubMed

Francesch, M; Geraert, P A

2009-09-01

One experiment was conducted to investigate the benefits of a multi-enzyme complex, containing carbohydrases (from Penicillium funiculosum) and phytase (bacterial 6-phytase) activities, on the performance and bone mineralization of broiler chickens fed corn-soybean meal diets. A total of 2,268 male broilers were allocated to 9 treatments, replicated 6 times, in a randomized complete block design from 1 to 43 d. A positive control (PC) diet formulated to be adequate in nutrients and 4 reduced nutrient diets (NC1 to NC4), with gradual decrease on AME, CP, and digestible amino acids (CP-dAA) and available P (avP) and Ca contents, with or without enzyme supplementation, were tested. The nutrient reductions applied were NC1 (-65 kcal/kg, -1.5% CP-dAA) and NC2 (-85 kcal/kg, -3.0% CP-dAA) both with -0.15 percent point avP and -0.12 percent point Ca and NC3 (-65 kcal/kg, -1.5% CP-dAA) and NC4 (-85 kcal/kg, -3.0% CP-dAA) both with -0.20 percent point avP and -0.16 percent point Ca. Supplementation of the NC diets with the enzyme complex increased ADFI (P<0.001), ADG (P<0.001), and reduced feed:gain (P<0.01). The magnitude of the enzyme effect in increasing feed intake and weight gain was greater for the diets with greatest reductions in avP and Ca. Enzyme supplementation increased (P<0.001) feed intake of birds fed on NC diets close to the level of feed consumption of the PC. Enzyme supplementation to NC diets resulted in all cases in lower (P<0.05) feed:gain than the PC. Enzyme supplementation to NC1 and NC3 diets restored bone mineralization to that of the PC, whereas ash and Ca with NC2 and NC4 diets and P with NC4 diet remained lower (P<0.05). These results suggest that the dietary supplementation with a multi-enzyme complex containing nonstarch polysaccharide enzymes and phytase is efficient in reducing the P, energy, protein, and amino acid specifications of corn-soybean meal diets.

Stokes's Cradle: Newton's Cradle with Liquid Coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donahue, C. M.; Hrenya, C. M.; Davis, R. H.

2010-07-01

Granular flows involving liquid-coated solids are ubiquitous in nature (pollen capture, avalanches) and industry (filtration, pharmaceutical mixing). In this Letter, three-body collisions between liquid-coated spheres are investigated experimentally using a “Stokes’s cradle,” which resembles the popular desktop toy Newton’s cradle (NC). Surprisingly, previous work shows that every possible outcome was observed in the Stokes’s cradle except the traditional NC outcome. Here, we experimentally achieve NC via guidance from a theory, which revealed that controlling the liquid-bridge volume connecting two target particles is the key in attaining the NC outcome. These three-body experiments also provide direct evidence that the fluid resistance upon rebound cannot be completely neglected due to presumed cavitation; this resistance also influences two-body systems yet cannot be isolated experimentally in such systems.

Somatic Mutations in NEK9 Cause Nevus Comedonicus

PubMed Central

Levinsohn, Jonathan L.; Sugarman, Jeffrey L.; McNiff, Jennifer M.; Antaya, Richard J.; Choate, Keith A.

2016-01-01

Acne vulgaris (AV) affects most adolescents, and of those affected, moderate to severe disease occurs in 20%. Comedones, follicular plugs consisting of desquamated keratinocytes and sebum, are central to its pathogenesis. Despite high heritability in first-degree relatives, AV genetic determinants remain incompletely understood. We therefore employed whole-exome sequencing (WES) in nevus comedonicus (NC), a rare disorder that features comedones and inflammatory acne cysts in localized, linear configurations. WES identified somatic NEK9 mutations, each affecting highly conserved residues within its kinase or RCC1 domains, in affected tissue of three out of three NC-affected subjects. All mutations are gain of function, resulting in increased phosphorylation at Thr210, a hallmark of NEK9 kinase activation. We found that comedo formation in NC is marked by loss of follicular differentiation markers, expansion of keratin-15-positive cells from localization within the bulge to the entire sub-bulge follicle and cyst, and ectopic expression of keratin 10, a marker of interfollicular differentiation not present in normal follicles. These findings suggest that NEK9 mutations in NC disrupt normal follicular differentiation and identify NEK9 as a potential regulator of follicular homeostasis. PMID:27153399

Early identification of MCI converting to AD: a FDG PET study.

PubMed

Pagani, Marco; Nobili, Flavio; Morbelli, Silvia; Arnaldi, Dario; Giuliani, Alessandro; Öberg, Johanna; Girtler, Nicola; Brugnolo, Andrea; Picco, Agnese; Bauckneht, Matteo; Piva, Roberta; Chincarini, Andrea; Sambuceti, Gianmario; Jonsson, Cathrine; De Carli, Fabrizio

2017-11-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional pathological stage between normal ageing (NA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although subjects with MCI show a decline at different rates, some individuals remain stable or even show an improvement in their cognitive level after some years. We assessed the accuracy of FDG PET in discriminating MCI patients who converted to AD from those who did not. FDG PET was performed in 42 NA subjects, 27 MCI patients who had not converted to AD at 5 years (nc-MCI; mean follow-up time 7.5 ± 1.5 years), and 95 MCI patients who converted to AD within 5 years (MCI-AD; mean conversion time 1.8 ± 1.1 years). Relative FDG uptake values in 26 meta-volumes of interest were submitted to ANCOVA and support vector machine analyses to evaluate regional differences and discrimination accuracy. The MCI-AD group showed significantly lower FDG uptake values in the temporoparietal cortex than the other two groups. FDG uptake values in the nc-MCI group were similar to those in the NA group. Support vector machine analysis discriminated nc-MCI from MCI-AD patients with an accuracy of 89% (AUC 0.91), correctly detecting 93% of the nc-MCI patients. In MCI patients not converting to AD within a minimum follow-up time of 5 years and MCI patients converting within 5 years, baseline FDG PET and volume-based analysis identified those who converted with an accuracy of 89%. However, further analysis is needed in patients with amnestic MCI who convert to a dementia other than AD.

Late Fecal Incontinence After High-Dose Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer: Better Prediction Using Longitudinal Definitions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fiorino, Claudio, E-mail: fiorino.claudio@hsr.it; Rancati, Tiziana; Fellin, Gianni

2012-05-01

Purpose: To model late fecal incontinence after high-dose prostate cancer radiotherapy (RT) in patients accrued in the AIROPROS (prostate working group of the Italian Association of Radiation Oncology) 0102 trial using different endpoint definitions. Methods and Materials: The self-reported questionnaires (before RT, 1 month after RT, and every 6 months for {<=}3 years after RT) of 586 patients were available. The peak incontinence (P{sub I}NC) and two longitudinal definitions (chronic incontinence [C{sub I}NC], defined as the persistence of Grade 1 or greater incontinence after any Grade 2-3 event; and mean incontinence score [M{sub I}NC], defined as the average score duringmore » the 3-year period after RT) were considered. The correlation between the clinical/dosimetric parameters (including rectal dose-volume histograms) and P{sub I}NC (Grade 2 or greater), C{sub I}NC, and M{sub I}NC of {>=}1 were investigated using multivariate logistic analyses. Receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve were used to assess the predictive value of the different multivariate models. Results: Of the 586 patients, 36 with a Grade 1 or greater incontinence score before RT were not included in the present analysis. Of the 550 included patients, 197 (35.8%) had at least one control with a Grade 1 or greater incontinence score (M{sub I}NC >0). Of these 197 patients, 37 (6.7%), 22 (4.0%), and 17 (3.1%) were scored as having P{sub I}NC, M{sub I}NC {>=}1, and C{sub I}NC, respectively. On multivariate analysis, Grade 2 or greater acute incontinence was the only predictor of P{sub I}NC (odds ratio [OR], 5.9; p = .0009). Grade 3 acute incontinence was predictive of C{sub I}NC (OR, 9.4; p = .02), and percentage of the rectal volume receiving >40 Gy of {>=}80% was predictive of a M{sub I}NC of {>=}1 (OR, 3.8; p = .008) and of C{sub I}NC (OR, 3.6; p = .03). Previous bowel disease, previous abdominal/pelvic surgery, and the use of antihypertensive (protective factor) correlated highly with both C{sub I}NC and M{sub I}NC {>=}1. The predictive values of the models for C{sub I}NC (area under the curve, 0.83) and M{sub I}NC {>=}1 (area under the curve, 0.73) were greater than the ones for P{sub I}NC (area under the curve, 0.62) and more reliable (p = .0001-.0003 against p = .02). Nomograms for the two longitudinal definitions were derived. Conclusions: The longitudinal definitions of fecal incontinence (C{sub I}NC and M{sub I}NC {>=}1) were helpful in accounting for both the persistence and the severity of the incontinence. A significant fraction of peak events was consequential to acute incontinence, and a longer duration of symptoms mainly depended on the rectal dose bath (percentage of rectal volume receiving >40 Gy), and pretreatment clinical factors.« less

Alzheimer's disease detection using 11C-PiB with improved partial volume effect correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raniga, Parnesh; Bourgeat, Pierrick; Fripp, Jurgen; Acosta, Oscar; Ourselin, Sebastien; Rowe, Christopher; Villemagne, Victor L.; Salvado, Olivier

2009-02-01

Despite the increasing use of 11C-PiB in research into Alzheimer's disease (AD), there are few standardized analysis procedures that have been reported or published. This is especially true with regards to partial volume effects (PVE) and partial volume correction. Due to the nature of PET physics and acquisition, PET images exhibit relatively low spatial resolution compared to other modalities, resulting in bias of quantitative results. Although previous studies have applied PVE correction techniques on 11C-PiB data, the results have not been quantitatively evaluated and compared against uncorrected data. The aim of this study is threefold. Firstly, a realistic synthetic phantom was created to quantify PVE. Secondly, MRI partial volume estimate segmentations were used to improve voxel-based PVE correction instead of using hard segmentations. Thirdly, quantification of PVE correction was evaluated on 34 subjects (AD=10, Normal Controls (NC)=24), including 12 PiB positive NC. Regional analysis was performed using the Anatomical Automatic Labeling (AAL) template, which was registered to each patient. Regions of interest were restricted to the gray matter (GM) defined by the MR segmentation. Average normalized intensity of the neocortex and selected regions were used to evaluate the discrimination power between AD and NC both with and without PVE correction. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were computed for the binary discrimination task. The phantom study revealed signal losses due to PVE between 10 to 40 % which were mostly recovered to within 5% after correction. Better classification was achieved after PVE correction, resulting in higher areas under ROC curves.

HYC-24L Demonstrates Greater Effectiveness With Less Pain Than CPM-22.5 for Treatment of Perioral Lines in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Butterwick, Kimberly; Marmur, Ellen; Narurkar, Vic; Cox, Sue Ellen; Joseph, John H; Sadick, Neil S; Tedaldi, Ruth; Wheeler, Sarah; Kolodziejczyk, Julia K; Gallagher, Conor J

2015-12-01

This trial compares the effectiveness and safety of HYC-24L (Juvéderm Ultra XC; Allergan plc, Dublin, Ireland) (24 mg/mL of hyaluronic acid, 0.3% lidocaine) and CPM-22.5 (Belotero Balance; Merz Aesthetics, Raleigh, NC) (22.5 mg/mL of hyaluronic acid) for the treatment of perioral lines. Men and women aged 35 years or older with moderate-to-severe perioral lines were recruited for this randomized controlled, rater-blinded, 2-arm trial. The primary endpoint was a comparison of rater-assessed responder rates by the validated 4-point Perioral Lines Severity Scale at Month 6; responders were those who showed a ≥1 point improvement. A secondary endpoint was subject-assessed change in perioral lines measured by the Global Assessment of Change Scale. A total of 136 subjects received treatment and 132 completed the trial (mean age: 58 ± 8 years). Total volume injected was 1.18 mL (HYC-24L) and 1.32 mL (CPM-22.5). At Month 6, a significantly greater proportion of HYC-24L subjects responded to treatment (87%) than CPM-22.5 subjects (72%) (p < .04). At all time points, HYC-24L subjects reported significantly greater improvement in their perioral lines than CPM-22.5 subjects, with the greatest difference at Month 6. No unexpected adverse events occurred. HYC-24L subjects showed a higher response rate and a greater improvement in their perioral lines than CPM-22.5 subjects for up to 6 months.

Sperm quality and DNA integrity of coke oven workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

PubMed

Jeng, Hueiwang Anna; Pan, Chih-Hong; Chao, Mu-Rong; Chiu, Chien-Chih; Zhou, Guodong; Chou, Chon-Kit; Lin, Wen-Yi

2016-11-18

The objective of this study was to assess sperm quality and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) integrity of coke oven workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as compared to control subjects. The coke oven workers (N = 52) and administrative staff (N = 35) of a steel plant served as the exposed and control groups, respectively. Exposure to PAHs was assessed by measuring 1-hydroxypyren. Analysis of sperm quality (concentration, motility, vitality, and morphology) was performed simultaneously with sperm DNA integrity analysis, including DNA fragmentation, denaturation, bulky DNA adducts, and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dGuo). A questionnaire was conducted to collect demographic and potential confounding data. The coke oven workers had lower percentages of sperm motility, vitality and normal morphology than the control group, but the difference was not significant. For DNA integrity, the coke oven workers had significantly higher concentrations of bulky DNA adducts and 8-oxo-dGuo than the control subjects (p = 0.009 and p = 0.048, respectively). However, DNA fragmentation percentages did not significantly increase as compared to those in the subjects from the control group (p = 0.232). There was no correlation between sperm quality parameters and DNA integrity indicators. Occupational exposure of the coke oven workers to PAHs was associated with decreased sperm DNA integrity. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(6):915-926. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Singular spectrum and singular entropy used in signal processing of NC table

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Linhong; He, Yiwen

2011-12-01

NC (numerical control) table is a complex dynamic system. The dynamic characteristics caused by backlash, friction and elastic deformation among each component are so complex that they have become the bottleneck of enhancing the positioning accuracy, tracking accuracy and dynamic behavior of NC table. This paper collects vibration acceleration signals from NC table, analyzes the signals with SVD (singular value decomposition) method, acquires the singular spectrum and calculates the singular entropy of the signals. The signal characteristics and their regulations of NC table are revealed via the characteristic quantities such as singular spectrum, singular entropy etc. The steep degrees of singular spectrums can be used to discriminate complex degrees of signals. The results show that the signals in direction of driving axes are the simplest and the signals in perpendicular direction are the most complex. The singular entropy values can be used to study the indetermination of signals. The results show that the signals of NC table are not simple signal nor white noise, the entropy values in direction of driving axe are lower, the entropy values increase along with the increment of driving speed and the entropy values at the abnormal working conditions such as resonance or creeping etc decrease obviously.

Melatonin inhibits the development of 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene-induced atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice.

PubMed

Kim, Tae-Ho; Jung, Jung-A; Kim, Gun-Dong; Jang, An-Hee; Ahn, Hyun-Jong; Park, Yong Seek; Park, Cheung-Seog

2009-11-01

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common disease in children, and epicutaneous treatment with a chemical hapten such as 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) evokes an AD-like reaction in NC/Nga mice under specific pathogen-free conditions. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is synthesized by the pineal gland, has several different physiologic functions, which include seasonal reproduction control, immune system modulation, free radical scavenging, and inflammatory suppression. In the present study, we investigated whether melatonin suppresses DNFB-induced AD-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice. The topical administration of melatonin to DNFB-treated NC/Nga mice was found to inhibit ear thickness increases and the skin lesions induced by DNFB. Furthermore, interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma secretion by activated CD4(+) T cells from the draining lymph nodes of DNFB-treated NC/Nga mice were significantly inhibited by melatonin, and total IgE levels in serum were reduced. Our findings suggest that melatonin suppresses the development of AD-like dermatitis in DNFB-treated NC/Nga mice by reducing total IgE in serum, and IL-4 and IFN-gamma production by activated CD4(+) T cells.

Neurocysticercosis, a Persisting Health Problem in Mexico

PubMed Central

Fleury, Agnès; Moreno García, Jael; Valdez Aguerrebere, Paulina; de Sayve Durán, María; Becerril Rodríguez, Paola; Larralde, Carlos; Sciutto, Edda

2010-01-01

Background The ongoing epidemiological transition in Mexico minimizes the relative impact of neurocysticercosis (NC) on public health. However, hard data on the disease frequency are not available. Methodology All clinical records from patients admitted in the Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia (INNN) at Mexico City in 1994 and 2004 were revised. The frequencies of hospitalized NC patients in neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry services, as well as NC mortality from 1995 through 2009, were retrieved. Statistical analyses were made to evaluate possible significant differences in frequencies of NC patients' admission between 1994 and 2004, and in yearly frequencies of NC patients' hospitalization and death between 1995 and 2009. Principal Findings NC frequency in INNN is not significantly different in 1994 and 2004. Between these two years, clinical severity of the cases diminished and the proportion of patients living in Mexico City increased. Yearly frequencies of hospitalization in neurology and psychiatry services were stable, while frequencies of hospitalization in neurosurgery service and mortality significantly decreased between 1995 and 2009. Conclusions Our findings show a stable tendency of hospital cases during the last decade that should encourage to redouble efforts to control this ancient disease. PMID:20808759

Effect of prophylactic oral calcium supplementation on postpartum mineral status and markers of energy balance of multiparous Jersey cows.

PubMed

Valldecabres, A; Pires, J A A; Silva-Del-Río, N

2018-05-01

The effects of prophylactic oral Ca supplementation on blood mineral status and markers of energy balance were evaluated on 205 multiparous Jersey cows at a commercial dairy. Postpartum, cows were systematically assigned to control (n = 105) or oral Ca supplementation (CaOS; 50 to 60 g of Ca as boluses; n = 100) at 0 and 1 d in milk (DIM). Blood samples for analysis of serum minerals (Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Zn, and Cu) were collected before and 1 h after treatment at 0 and 1 DIM, and at 2 DIM. Urine pH was measured immediately before and 1 h after treatment administration (n = 96). A subset of 74 cows was evaluated for plasma glucose and fatty acid concentrations at 0, 1, and 2 DIM. Cows were classified according to their initial calcemic status (Ca status) as normocalcemic (NC; serum Ca >2.12 mmol/L) or subclinically hypocalcemic (SCH; serum Ca ≤2.12 mmol/L). Average serum Ca concentration was higher in CaOS than control cows (2.12 vs. 2.06 mmol/L); this treatment effect was higher for SCH [CaOS (2.03 mmol/L); control (1.89 mmol/L)] than NC cows [CaOS (2.22 mmol/L); control (2.22 mmol/L)]. The incidence of subclinical hypocalcemia was lower for CaOS than control cows (53 vs. 65%); however, at 2 DIM the prevalence of subclinical hypocalcemia tended to be higher for CaOS cows, mostly because it was higher for CaOS-NC than control-NC cows (70 vs. 25%). Urine pH was lower for CaOS than control cows (6.10 vs. 7.04). Lower serum Mg concentration was detected for CaOS-SCH (1.06 mmol/L) than for control-SCH (1.10 mmol/L) cows. Cows in the CaOS group had higher serum K (4.68 vs. 4.53 mmol/L), lower plasma glucose (2.97 vs. 3.10 mmol/L), and at 2 DIM higher plasma fatty acid concentrations (0.43 vs. 0.35 mmol/L) than control cows. Our results showed that postpartum serum Ca concentration increases with oral Ca supplementation, but calcemic status influenced treatment response. Future studies should evaluate the long-term implications on production and reproduction of oral Ca supplementation in Jersey cows. The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Quantitative diagnostic performance of myocardial perfusion SPECT with attenuation correction in women.

PubMed

Wolak, Arik; Slomka, Piotr J; Fish, Mathews B; Lorenzo, Santiago; Berman, Daniel S; Germano, Guido

2008-06-01

Attenuation correction (AC) for myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) had not been evaluated separately in women despite specific considerations in this group because of breast photon attenuation. We aimed to evaluate the performance of AC in women by using automated quantitative analysis of MPS to avoid any bias. Consecutive female patients--134 with a low likelihood (LLk) of coronary artery disease (CAD) and 114 with coronary angiography performed within less than 3 mo of MPS--who were referred for rest-stress electrocardiography-gated 99mTc-sestamibi MPS with AC were considered. Imaging data were evaluated for contour quality control. An additional 50 LLk studies in women were used to create equivalent normal limits for studies with AC and with no correction (NC). An experienced technologist unaware of the angiography and other results performed the contour quality control. All other processing was performed in a fully automated manner. Quantitative analysis was performed with the Cedars-Sinai myocardial perfusion analysis package. All automated segmental analyses were performed with the 17-segment, 5-point American Heart Association model. Summed stress scores (SSS) of > or =3 were considered abnormal. CAD (> or =70% stenosis) was present in 69 of 114 patients (60%). The normalcy rates were 93% for both NC and AC studies. The SSS for patients with CAD and without CAD for NC versus AC were 10.0 +/- 9.0 (mean +/- SD) versus 10.2 +/- 8.5 and 1.6 +/- 2.3 versus 1.8 +/- 2.5, respectively; P was not significant (NS) for all comparisons of NC versus AC. The SSS for LLk patients for NC versus AC were 0.51 +/- 1.0 versus 0.6 +/- 1.1, respectively; P was NS. The specificity for both NC and AC was 73%. The sensitivities for NC and AC were 80% and 81%, respectively, and the accuracies for NC and AC were 77% and 78%, respectively; P was NS for both comparisons. There are no significant diagnostic differences between automated quantitative MPS analyses performed in studies processed with and without AC in women.

Enhanced Induction of T Cell Immunity Using Dendritic Cells Pulsed with HIV Tat and HCMV-pp65 Fusion Protein In Vitro

PubMed Central

Park, Jung-Sun; Park, Soo-Young; Cho, Hyun-Il; Sohn, Hyun-Jung

2011-01-01

Background Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) appear to play an important role in the control and prevention of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. The pp65 antigen is a structural protein, which has been defined as a potential target for effective immunity against HCMV infection. Incorporation of an 11 amino acid region of the HIV TAT protein transduction domain (Tat) into protein facilitates rapid, efficient entry into cells. Methods To establish a strategy for the generation of HCMV-specific CTLs in vitro, recombinant truncated N- and C-terminal pp65 protein (pp65 N&C) and N- and C-terminal pp65 protein fused with Tat (Tat/pp65 N&C) was produced in E.coli system. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with pp65 N&C or Tat/pp65 N&C protein and immune responses induced was examined using IFN-γ ELISPOT assay, cytotoxicity assay and tetramer staining. Results DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65N&C protein could induce higher T-cell responses in vitro compared with pp65N&C. Moreover, the DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C could stimulate both of CD8+ and CD4+ T-cell responses. The T cells induced by DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C showed higher cytotoxicity than that of pp65-pulsed DCs against autologous lymphoblastoid B-cell line (LCL) expressing the HCMV-pp65 antigen. Conclusion Our results suggest that DCs pulsed with Tat/pp65 N&C protein effectively induced pp65-specific CTL in vitro. Tat fusion recombinant protein may be useful for the development of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy and DC-based vaccines. PMID:21860612

Secular bathymetric variations of the North Channel in the Changjiang (Yangtze) Estuary, China, 1880-2013: Causes and effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mei, Xuefei; Dai, Zhijun; Wei, Wen; Li, Weihua; Wang, Jie; Sheng, Hao

2018-02-01

As the interface between the fluvial upland system and the open coast, global estuaries are facing serious challenges owing to various anthropogenic activities, especially to the Changjiang Estuary. Since the establishment of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD), currently the world's largest hydraulic structure, and certain other local hydraulic engineering structures, the Changjiang Estuary has experienced severe bathymetric variations. It is urgent to analyze the estuarine morphological response to the basin-wide disturbance to enable a better management of estuarine environments. North Channel (NC), the largest anabranched estuary in the Changjiang Estuary, is the focus of this study. Based on the analysis of bathymetric data between 1880 and 2013 and related hydrological data, we developed the first study on the centennial bathymetric variations of the NC. It is found that the bathymetric changes of NC include two main modes, with the first mode representing 64% of the NC variability, which indicates observable deposition in the mouth bar and its outer side area (lower reach); the second mode representing 11% of the NC variability, which further demonstrates channel deepening along the inner side of the mouth bar (upper reach) during 1970-2013. Further, recent erosion observed along the inner side of the mouth bar is caused by riverine sediment decrease, especially in relation to TGD induced sediment trapping since 2003, while the deposition along the lower reach since 2003 can be explained by the landward sediment transport because of flood-tide force strengthen under the joint action of TGD induced seasonal flood discharge decrease and land reclamation induced lower reach narrowing. Generally, the upper and lower NC reach are respectively dominated by fluvial and tidal discharge, however, episodic extreme floods can completely alter the channel morphology by smoothing the entire channel. The results presented herein for the NC enrich our understanding of bathymetric variations of the Changjiang Estuary in response to human activities, which can be well applied to other estuaries subject to similar interferences.

THE INFLUENCE OF SERUM BINDING PROTEINS AND FEEDBACK CONTROL OF SERUM ESTRADIOL LEVELS ON THE COMPARATIVE POTENCY OF ENDOCRINE ACTIVE COMPOUNDS

EPA Science Inventory

THE INFLUENCE OF SERUM BINDING PROTEINS ON THE COMPARATIVE RECEPTOR BINDING POTENCY OF ENDOCRINE ACTIVE COMPOUNDS. JG Teeguarden1 and HA Barton2. 1ICF Consulting, Research Triangle Park NC; 2US EPA, ORD, NHEERL, ETD, Pharmacokinetics Branch, RTP, NC.

Accurate comparison of...

Auditory/visual Duration Bisection in Patients with Left or Right Medial-Temporal Lobe Resection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melgire, Manuela; Ragot, Richard; Samson, Severine; Penney, Trevor B.; Meck, Warren H.; Pouthas, Viviane

2005-01-01

Patients with unilateral (left or right) medial temporal lobe lesions and normal control (NC) volunteers participated in two experiments, both using a duration bisection procedure. Experiment 1 assessed discrimination of auditory and visual signal durations ranging from 2 to 8 s, in the same test session. Patients and NC participants judged…

Swallowing in patients with Parkinson's disease: a surface electromyography study.

PubMed

Ws Coriolano, Maria das Graças; R Belo, Luciana; Carneiro, Danielle; G Asano, Amdore; Al Oliveira, Paulo José; da Silva, Douglas Monteiro; G Lins, Otávio

2012-12-01

Our goal was to study deglutition of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and normal controls (NC) using surface electromyography (sEMG). The study included 15 patients with idiopathic PD and 15 age-matched normal controls. Surface electromyography was collected over the suprahyoid muscle group. Conditions were the following: swallow at once 10 and 20 ml of water and 5 and 10 ml of yogurt of firm consistency, and freely drink 100 ml of water. During swallowing, durations of sEMG were significantly longer in PD patients than in normal controls but no significant differences of amplitudes were found. Eighty percent of the PD patients and 20 % of the NC needed more than one swallow to consume 20 ml of water, while 70 % of the PD patients and none of the NC needed more than one swallow to consume 5 ml of yogurt. PD patients took significantly more time and needed significantly more swallows to drink 100 ml of water than normal controls. We conclude that sEMG might be a simple and useful tool to study and monitor deglutition in PD patients.

Salivary cortisol levels, but not salivary α-amylase levels, are elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis irrespective of depression.

PubMed

Kim, Hyoun-Ah; Jeon, Ja-Young; Koh, Bo-Ram; Park, Sat-Byul; Suh, Chang-Hee

2016-02-01

Stress is recognized as an important factor in the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, we explored multiple aspects of stress in RA patients. Salivary cortisol and α-amylase levels were measured as markers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and sympatho-adrenomedullary system activity, respectively. Depression was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and short-term analysis of the heart rate variability (HRV) was performed to evaluate the autonomic nervous system. The salivary cortisol levels of the RA patients were significantly higher than those of the normal controls (NC; 0.12 ± 0.162 μg/dL vs. 0.068 ± 0.052 μg/dL, P = 0.006). There was no difference in salivary α-amylase levels between the RA and the NC. The BDI levels of the RA patients were significantly higher than the NC (13.7 ± 8.9 vs. 6.4 ± 6.9, P < 0.001). Depression was more prevalent in RA patients than in the NC. The salivary cortisol levels were still significantly higher in the RA than the NC after controlling BDI by logistic regression analysis (P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the HRV of RA patients and the NC. The evaluation of relationship between stress measures and disease activity markers of RA revealed that only BDI was positively correlated with the visual analogue pain scale. Salivary cortisol levels and the BDI of RA patients were higher than those of the NC, and elevated salivary cortisol levels were independent of depression. However, the level of stress may not be correlated with disease activity in RA. © 2013 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Growth Parameters and Nutrient Adequacy in Children with Picky Eating Behaviors Who Received Nutritional Counseling With or Without an Oral Nutritional Supplement

PubMed Central

Sheng, Xiaoyang; Tong, Meiling; Zhao, Dongmei; Leung, Ting Fan; Zhang, Feng; Hays, Nicholas P; Ge, John; Ho, Wing Man; Northington, Robert; Terry, Donna L; Yao, Manjiang

2014-01-01

In this study, changes in growth parameters and nutrient intake were compared in Chinese children (ages 30–60 months) with picky eating (PE) behaviors and weight-for-height ≤25th percentile, who were randomized to receive nutrition counseling alone (NC; n = 76) or with a nutritional milk supplement (NC + NS; n = 77) for 120 days. Increases in weight-for-height z-scores were significantly greater in the NC + NS group at days 30 and 90 and over the entire study period (all P < 0.05), but not at day 120. Increases in weight-for-age z-scores were significantly greater in the NC + NS group at day 90 (P = 0.025) and over the entire study period (P = 0.046). Mean intakes of energy, protein, carbohydrate, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, calcium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, D, E, and B6 were significantly higher in the NC + NS group at days 60 and 120 (all P < 0.01). Thus, in young children with PE behaviors, nutritional supplementation given as an adjunct to NC resulted in greater improvements in nutrient intake compared with NC alone. Growth parameters differed between groups at several timepoints during the study, but not at day 120. PMID:25342910

Direct and correlated responses to selection for milk yield: results and conclusions of regional project NC-2, "improvement of dairy cattle through breeding, with emphasis on selection". NC-2 Technical Committee.

PubMed

Kelm, S C; Freeman, A E

2000-12-01

Measurement of direct and correlated responses to single-trait selection for milk yield was the major objective of regional project NC-2. The NC-2 Technical Committee included representatives from Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the USDA. All representatives, except Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska, maintained a selection line formed by using AI sires selected for high estimated transmitting abilities for milk and a second line that served as some type of a control. Stations varied in criteria for selection of bulls for control lines. Farms were managed similarly, including feeding and management of selection and control lines as one herd, random mating within line, and restricted culling policies. Selection for milk yield effectively increased milk production. All selection lines increased milk and net income per lactation more than control lines. Realized gains matched or exceeded gains expected from estimates of breeding values. Yields of milk components increased, but component percentages decreased appreciably for selection lines. Reproduction of nulliparous animals was not affected, but days open for lactating selection cows increased in some of the individual projects. Selected cows tended to have larger health costs, specifically for mammary treatment. Udder and conformation traits did not deteriorate for selection lines, although control lines with selection of sires on genetic evaluations for type received higher type scores. There should be few reservations about undesirable responses correlated with selection for milk yield.

Characterizing Radio Emission From Extensive Air Showers with the SLAC-T510 Experiment, with Applications to ANITA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, Felicia Ann

Essential to metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) scaling is the reduction of the supply voltage to mitigate the power consumption and corresponding heat dissipation. Conventional dielectric materials are subject to the thermal limit imposed by the Boltzmann factor in the subthreshold swing, which places an absolute minimum on the supply voltage required to modulate the current. Furthermore, as technology approaches the 5 nm node, electrostatic control of a silicon channel becomes exceedingly difficult, regardless of the gating technique. This notion of "the end of silicon scaling" has rapidly increased research into more scalable channel materials as well as new methods of transistor operation. Among the many promising options are two-dimensional (2D) FETs and negative capacitance (NC) FETs. 2D-FETs make use of atomically thin semiconducting channels that have enabled demonstrated scalability beyond what silicon can offer. NC-FETs demonstrate an effective negative capacitance arising from the integration of a ferroelectric into the transistor gate stack, allowing sub-60 mV/dec switching. While both of these devices provide significant advantages, neither can accomplish the ultimate goal of a FET that is both low-voltage and scalable. However, an appropriate fusion of the 2D-FET and NC-FET into a 2D NC-FET has the potential of enabling a steep-switching device that is dimensionally scalable beyond the 5 nm technology node. In this work, the motivation for and operation of 2D NC-FETs is presented. Experimental realization of 2D NC-FETs using 2D transition metal dichalcogenide molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as the channel is shown with two different ferroelectric materials: 1) a solution-processed, polymeric poly(vinylidene difluoride trifluoroethylene) ferroelectric and 2) an atomic layer deposition (ALD) grown hafnium zirconium oxide (HfZrO2) ferroelectric. Each ferroelectric was integrated into the gate stack of a 2D-FET having either a top-gate (polymeric ferroelectric) or bottom-gate (HfZrO2 ferroelectric) configuration. HfZrO 2 devices with metallic interfacial layers (between ferroelectric and dielectric) and thinner ferroelectric layers were found to reduce both the hysteresis and the threshold voltage. Detailed characterization of the devices was performed and, most significantly, the 2D NC-FETs with HfZrO2 reproducibly yielded subthreshold swings well below the thermal limit with over more than four orders of magnitude in drain current modulation. HfZrO 2 devices without metallic interfacial layers were utilized to explore the impact of ferroelectric thickness, dielectric thickness, and dielectric composition on device performance. The impact of an interfacial metallic layer on the device operation was investigated in devices with HfZrO2 and shown to be crucial at enabling sub-60 mV/dec switching and large internal voltage gains. The significance of dielectric material choice on device performance was explored and found to be a critical factor in 2D NC-FET transistor operation. These successful results pave the way for future integration of this new device structure into existing technology markets.

Monitoring the ecotoxicity of γ-Al2O3 and Ni/γ-Al2O3 nanomaterials by means of a battery of bioassays.

PubMed

Svartz, Gabriela; Papa, Mariana; Gosatti, Marina; Jordán, Marianela; Soldati, Analia; Samter, Paula; Guraya, María M; Pérez Coll, Cristina; Perez Catán, Soledad

2017-10-01

The increasing application of nanoparticles (NPs) to a variety of new technologies has become a matter of concern due to the potential toxicity of these materials. Many questions about the fate of NPs in the environment and the subsequent impact on ecosystems need to be answered. The aim of this work was to evaluate the ecotoxicity of two alumina-based nanoceramics, γ-Al2O3 (NC) and Ni/ γ-Al2O3 (NiNC) by means of three different standardized tests: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), bioassay with luminescent bacteria (Vibrio fischeri; Microtox), and bioassay on amphibian larvae (Rhinella arenarum) (AMPHITOX). BOD5 values of a very biodegradable mixture (glucose/glutamic acid) decreased with the addition of NiNC(43.8%) and NC (31.6%) with respect to control samples (52.9%). Microtox test results indicated that NiNC presents higher toxicity than NC, with EC50s values of 16.1% and 29.9% respectively; a reduced toxicity was observed, however, in presence of organic matter, thus obtaining EC50s of 37.8% and 19.4%. The results of AMPHITOX test showed a significant increase in the toxicity of both substances over time, the NiNC toxicity being greater than that of NC. The values of 96h-LC50 and 504h-LC50 determined for NiNC were 1.58 and 0.83mg/L, respectively, and 14.5 and 10.5mg/L for NC samples. Amphibian larvae exhibited collapsed cavities, edema, axial flexures, and behavioral alterations as hyperkinesia and reduced movements. These results evidence the vulnerability of wildlife to xenobiotics and the need to develop specific standardized ecotoxicity tests in order to help environmental sustainability and natural species conservation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Designing an extended release waxy matrix tablet containing nicardipine–hydroxy propyl β cyclodextrin complex

PubMed Central

Al-Zein, Hind; Sakeer, Khalil; Alanazi, Fars K.

2011-01-01

Aim The current study aimed to prepare a sustained release tablet for a drug which has poor solubility in alkaline medium using complexation with cyclodextrin. Nicardipine hydrochloride (NC) a weak basic drug was chosen as a model drug for this study. Method Firstly the most suitable binary system NC-HPβCD was selected in order to improve drug solubility in the intestinal media and then embedding the complexed drug into a plastic matrix, by fusion method, consists of glycerol monostearate (GMS) as an inert waxy substance and polyethylene glycol 4000 (PEG4000) as a channeling agent, after that the final solid dispersion [(NC:HPβCD):GMS:PEG4000] which was prepared at different ratios was mixed with other excipients, avicel PH101, lactose, and talc, to get a tablet owning dissolution profile complying with the FDA and USP requirements for the extended release solid dosage forms. Results Infrared spectroscopy (IR), differential scanning colorimetry (DSC), polarized microscopy and X-ray diffractometry proved that the coevaporation technique was effective in preparing amorphous cyclodextrin complexes with NC and trapping of NC within the HPβCD cavity by dissolving both in ethanol and evaporate the solvent using a rotavapor at 65 °C. Dissolution profile of NC enhanced significantly in pH 6.8 from NC:HPβCD inclusion complex prepared by the rotavapor (t-test Student p < 0.05). The release of NC from tablet containing [(NC:HPβCD):GMS:PEG4000] [(1):0.75:0.5] (w/w/w) solid dispersion (F8) was complying with the FDA dissolution requirements for extended release dosage forms, and studying the kinetics of the release showed that the diffusional contribution is the major factor controlling the drug release from that formula. Conclusion The prepared waxy matrix tablet containing NC complexes with CD shows promising results as extended release tablets. PMID:23960765

Anthropogenic and biogenic hydrocarbons in soils and vegetation from the South Shetland Islands (Antarctica).

PubMed

Cabrerizo, Ana; Tejedo, Pablo; Dachs, Jordi; Benayas, Javier

2016-11-01

Two Antarctic expeditions (in 2009 and 2011) were carried out to assess the local and remote anthropogenic sources of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as potential biogenic hydrocarbons. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n-alkanes, biomarkers such as phytane (Ph) and pristane (Pr), and the aliphatic unresolved complex mixture (UCM), were analysed in soil and vegetation samples collected at Deception, Livingston, Barrientos and Penguin Islands (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Overall, the patterns of n-alkanes in lichens, mosses and grass were dominated by odd-over-even carbon number alkanes. Mosses and vascular plants showed high abundances of n-C21 to n-C35, while lichens also showed high abundances of n-C17 and n-C19. The lipid content was an important factor controlling the concentrations of n-alkanes in Antarctic vegetation (r(2)=0.28-0.53, p-level<0.05). n-C12 to n-C35 n-alkanes were analysed in soils with a predominance of odd C number n-alkanes (n-C25, n-C27, n-C29, and n-C31), especially in the background soils not influenced by anthropogenic sources. The large values for the carbon predominance index (CPI) and the correlations between odd alkanes and some PAHs suggest the potential biogenic sources of these hydrocarbons in Antarctica. Unresolved complex mixture and CPI values ~1 detected at soils collected at intertidal areas and within the perimeter of Juan Carlos research station, further supported the evidence that even a small settlement (20 persons during the austral summer) can affect the loading of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in nearby soils. Nevertheless, the assessment of Pr/n-C17 and Ph/n-C18 ratios showed that hydrocarbon degradation is occurring in these soils. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oxidative stress controlling agents are effective for small intestinal injuries induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

PubMed

Kono, Yoshiyasu; Kawano, Seiji; Takaki, Akinobu; Shimomura, Yasuyuki; Onji, Masahiro; Ishikawa, Hisashi; Takahashi, Sakuma; Horii, Joichiro; Kobayashi, Sayo; Kawai, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Kazuhide; Okada, Hiroyuki

2017-01-01

Video-capsule endoscopy (VCE) has shown that intestinal ulcers are common in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) users, although the mechanisms and management have not been clearly defined. To explore the contribution of oxidative stress and potential of anti-oxidants for NSAIDs-induced intestinal ulcers, we assessed human serum oxidative stress balance and the effect of anti-oxidants using a mouse model. A total of 30 NSAIDs users (17 aspirin and 13 non-aspirin users) received VCE. Serum reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROM) and antioxidative OXY-adsorbent test (OXY) were measured. The indomethacin (IND)-induced mouse intestinal ulcer model was used to assess the effect of anti-oxidants. Eight-week-old mice were divided into four groups; control diet and diet including IND (N group), IND and L-carnitine (NC group), and IND and vitamin E (NE group). Serum OXY levels among non-aspirin users were lower in the mucosal injuries positive group than the negative group (P < 0.05). In the mouse models, the degree of mucosal injuries was lower in NC and NE than N (P < 0.01). Serum d-ROM levels were lower in NC and NE than N (P < 0.01), and OXY levels were higher in NC than N and NE (P < 0.01). The degeneration of intestinal mitochondria was mild in NC and NE. The serum KC/CXCL-1 level and hepatic expression of the anti-oxidant molecule Gpx4 were lower in NC than N. Non-aspirin NSAID-induced intestinal ulcers are related to decreased anti-oxidative stress function. Anti-oxidants, especially L-carnitine, are good candidates for intestinal ulcers. © 2016 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

A fullerene colloidal suspension stimulates the growth and denitrification ability of wastewater treatment sludge-derived bacteria.

PubMed

Huang, Fei; Ge, Ling; Zhang, Bo; Wang, Yun; Tian, Hao; Zhao, Liping; He, Yiliang; Zhang, Xiaojun

2014-08-01

Fullerene (C60) is a nanoparticle that has been widely studied and applied in numerous commodities. However, there are concerns regarding its potential negative impact on the environment. A fullerene colloidal suspension (nC60) is known for its property of selectively inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. In this study, using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting technology, we found that fullerene altered the structure of a sludge-derived microbial community. Specifically, the bacteria from Bacillus, Acidovorax and Cloacibacterium genera were enriched in abundance when supplemented with nC60 at pH 6.5 under aerobic conditions. The effects of the fullerene colloidal suspension on a strain of Bacillus isolated from the same microbial community were evaluated to further characterize the growth-stimulating effect of nC60. The biomass of cultures of this strain incubated with nC60 concentrations ranging from 3 mg L(-1) to 7 mg L(-1) was approximately twice that of the control during the stationary phase. The fullerene also induced higher superoxide dismutase activity in Bacillus cereus. Furthermore, the nitrate removal rate of B. cereus increased to nearly 55% in the presence of 5 mg L(-1) nC60, compared to 35% for the control. Meanwhile, the cumulative loading amount of nitrite was reduced from 33 μg mL(-1) to 25 μg mL(-1) by the addition of 5 mg L(-1) nC60. Our results demonstrate that the fullerene colloidal suspension is conditionally capable of promoting the growth and denitrification metabolism of certain bacteria, such as B. cereus. Fullerene might have both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on microorganisms in various environments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PEGylated lipid nanocapsules with improved drug encapsulation and controlled release properties.

PubMed

Hervella, Pablo; Alonso-Sande, Maria; Ledo, Francisco; Lucero, Maria L; Alonso, Maria J; Garcia-Fuentes, Marcos

2014-01-01

Drugs with poor lipid and water solubility are some of the most challenging to formulate in nanocarriers, typically resulting in low encapsulation efficiencies and uncontrolled release profiles. PEGylated nanocapsules (PEG-NC) are known for their amenability to diverse modifications that allow the formation of domains with different physicochemical properties, an interesting feature to address a drug encapsulation problem. We explored this problem by encapsulating in PEG-NC the promising anticancer drug candidate F10320GD1, used herein as a model for compounds with such characteristics. The nanocarriers were prepared from Miglyol(®), lecithin and PEG-sterate through a solvent displacement technique. The resulting system was a homogeneous suspension of particles with size around 200 nm. F10320GD1 encapsulation was found to be very poor (<15%) if PEG-NC were prepared using water as continuous phase; but we were able to improve this value to 85% by fixing the pH of the continuous phase to 9. Interestingly, this modification also improved the controlled release properties and the chemical stability of the formulation during storage. These differences in pharmaceutical properties together with physicochemical data suggest that the pH of the continuous phase used for PEG-NC preparation can modify drug allocation, from the external shell towards the inner lipid core of the nanocapsules. Finally, we tested the bioactivity of the drug-loaded PEG-NC in several tumor cell lines, and also in endothelial cells. The results indicated that drug encapsulation led to an improvement on drug cytotoxicity in tumor cells, but not in non-tumor endothelial cells. Altogether, the data confirms that PEG-NC show adequate delivery properties for F10320GD1, and underlines its possible utility as an anticancer therapy.

Feasibility Testing of a Wearable Behavioral Aid for Social Learning in Children with Autism.

PubMed

Daniels, Jena; Haber, Nick; Voss, Catalin; Schwartz, Jessey; Tamura, Serena; Fazel, Azar; Kline, Aaron; Washington, Peter; Phillips, Jennifer; Winograd, Terry; Feinstein, Carl; Wall, Dennis P

2018-01-01

Recent advances in computer vision and wearable technology have created an opportunity to introduce mobile therapy systems for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that can respond to the increasing demand for therapeutic interventions; however, feasibility questions must be answered first. We studied the feasibility of a prototype therapeutic tool for children with ASD using Google Glass, examining whether children with ASD would wear such a device, if providing the emotion classification will improve emotion recognition, and how emotion recognition differs between ASD participants and neurotypical controls (NC). We ran a controlled laboratory experiment with 43 children: 23 with ASD and 20 NC. Children identified static facial images on a computer screen with one of 7 emotions in 3 successive batches: the first with no information about emotion provided to the child, the second with the correct classification from the Glass labeling the emotion, and the third again without emotion information. We then trained a logistic regression classifier on the emotion confusion matrices generated by the two information-free batches to predict ASD versus NC. All 43 children were comfortable wearing the Glass. ASD and NC participants who completed the computer task with Glass providing audible emotion labeling ( n  = 33) showed increased accuracies in emotion labeling, and the logistic regression classifier achieved an accuracy of 72.7%. Further analysis suggests that the ability to recognize surprise, fear, and neutrality may distinguish ASD cases from NC. This feasibility study supports the utility of a wearable device for social affective learning in ASD children and demonstrates subtle differences in how ASD and NC children perform on an emotion recognition task. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

Impact of needleless connector change frequency on central line-associated bloodstream infection rate.

PubMed

Sandora, Thomas J; Graham, Dionne A; Conway, Margaret; Dodson, Brenda; Potter-Bynoe, Gail; Margossian, Steven P

2014-05-01

Bloodstream infection is the most common pediatric health care-associated infection and is strongly associated with catheter use. These infections greatly increase the cost of hospital stay. To assess the association between needleless connector (NC) change frequency and central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rate, we modeled monthly pediatric stem cell transplant (SCT) CLABSI rate in 3 periods: baseline period during which NC were changed every 96 hours regardless of infusate (period 1); trial period in which NC were changed every 24 hours with blood or lipid infusions (period 2); and a return to NC change every 96 hours regardless of infusate (period 3). Data on potential confounders were collected retrospectively. Autocorrelated segmented regression models were used to compare SCT CLABSI rates in each period, adjusting for potential confounders. CLABSI rates were also assessed for a nonequivalent control group (oncology unit) in which NC were changed every 24 hours with blood or lipid use in periods 2 and 3. SCT CLABSI rates were 0.41, 3.56, and 0.03 per 1,000 central line-days in periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In multivariable analysis, the CLABSI rate was significantly higher in period 2 compared with both period 1 (P = .01) and period 3 (P = .003). In contrast, CLABSI rates on the oncology unit were not significantly different among periods. In pediatric SCT patients, changing needleless connectors every 24 hours when blood or lipids are infused is associated with increased CLABSI rates. National recommendations regarding NC change frequency should be clarified. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical Assessment of a Nocardia PCR-Based Assay for Diagnosis of Nocardiosis.

PubMed

Rouzaud, Claire; Rodriguez-Nava, Véronica; Catherinot, Emilie; Méchaï, Frédéric; Bergeron, Emmanuelle; Farfour, Eric; Scemla, Anne; Poirée, Sylvain; Delavaud, Christophe; Mathieu, Daniel; Durupt, Stéphane; Larosa, Fabrice; Lengelé, Jean-Philippe; Christophe, Jean-Louis; Suarez, Felipe; Lortholary, Olivier; Lebeaux, David

2018-06-01

The diagnosis of nocardiosis, a severe opportunistic infection, is challenging. We assessed the specificity and sensitivity of a 16S rRNA Nocardia PCR-based assay performed on clinical samples. In this multicenter study (January 2014 to April 2015), patients who were admitted to three hospitals and had an underlying condition favoring nocardiosis, clinical and radiological signs consistent with nocardiosis, and a Nocardia PCR assay result for a clinical sample were included. Patients were classified as negative control (NC) (negative Nocardia culture results and proven alternative diagnosis or improvement at 6 months without anti- Nocardia treatment), positive control (PC) (positive Nocardia culture results), or probable nocardiosis (positive Nocardia PCR results, negative Nocardia culture results, and no alternative diagnosis). Sixty-eight patients were included; 47 were classified as NC, 8 as PC, and 13 as probable nocardiosis. PCR results were negative for 35/47 NC patients (74%). For the 12 NC patients with positive PCR results, the PCR assay had been performed with respiratory samples. These NC patients had chronic bronchopulmonary disease more frequently than did the NC patients with negative PCR results (8/12 patients [67%] versus 11/35 patients [31%]; P = 0.044). PCR results were positive for 7/8 PC patients (88%). There were 13 cases of probable nocardiosis, diagnosed solely using the PCR results; 9 of those patients (69%) had lung involvement (consolidation or nodule). Nocardia PCR testing had a specificity of 74% and a sensitivity of 88% for the diagnosis of nocardiosis. Nocardia PCR testing may be helpful for the diagnosis of nocardiosis in immunocompromised patients but interpretation of PCR results from respiratory samples is difficult, because the PCR assay may also detect colonization. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Electron and hole relaxation pathways in semiconductor quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klimov, V.I.; McBranch, D.W.; Leatherdale, C.A.

1999-11-01

Femtosecond (fs) broad-band transient absorption (TA) is used to study the intraband relaxation and depopulation dynamics of electron and hole quantized states in CdSe nanocrystals (NC{close_quote}s) with a range of surface properties. Instead of the drastic reduction in the energy relaxation rate expected due to a {open_quotes}phonon bottleneck,{close_quotes} we observe a fast subpicosecond 1P-to-1S electron relaxation, with the rate exceeding that due to phonon emission in bulk semiconductors. The energy relaxation is enhanced with reducing the NC{close_quote}s radius, and does not show any dependence on the NC surface properties (quality of the surface passivation). These data indicate that electron energymore » relaxation occurs by neither multiphonon emission nor by coupling to surface defects, but is likely meditated by Auger-type electron-hole energy transfer. We use fs infrared TA to probe electron and hole intraband transitions, which allows us to distinguish between electron and hole relaxation pathways leading to the depopulation of NC quantized states. In contrast to the electron relaxation, which is controlled by NC surface passivation, the depopulation of hole quantized states is extremely fast (sub-ps-to-ps time scales) in all types of samples, independent of NC surface treatment (including NC{close_quote}s overcoated with a ZnS layer). Our results indicate that ultrafast hole dynamics are not due to trapping at localized surface defects such as a vacancy, but rather arise from relaxation into intrinsic NC states or intrinsically unpassivated interface states. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}« less

Neuroimaging Characteristics of Small-Vessel Disease in Older Adults with Normal Cognition, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer Disease.

PubMed

Mimenza-Alvarado, Alberto; Aguilar-Navarro, Sara G; Yeverino-Castro, Sara; Mendoza-Franco, César; Ávila-Funes, José Alberto; Román, Gustavo C

2018-01-01

Cerebral small-vessel disease (SVD) represents the most frequent type of vascular brain lesions, often coexisting with Alzheimer disease (AD). By quantifying white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and hippocampal and parietal atrophy, we aimed to describe the prevalence and severity of SVD among older adults with normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and probable AD and to describe associated risk factors. This study included 105 older adults evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging and clinical and neuropsychological tests. We used the Fazekas scale (FS) for quantification of WMH, the Scheltens scale (SS) for hippocampal atrophy, and the Koedam scale (KS) for parietal atrophy. Logistic regression models were performed to determine the association between FS, SS, and KS scores and the presence of NC, MCI, or probable AD. Compared to NC subjects, SVD was more prevalent in MCI and probable AD subjects. After adjusting for confounding factors, logistic regression showed a positive association between higher scores on the FS and probable AD (OR = 7.6, 95% CI 2.7-20, p < 0.001). With the use of the SS and KS (OR = 4.5, 95% CI 3.5-58, p = 0.003 and OR = 8.9, 95% CI 1-72, p = 0.04, respectively), the risk also remained significant for probable AD. These results suggest an association between severity of vascular brain lesions and neurodegeneration.

Multi-Modality Cascaded Convolutional Neural Networks for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis.

PubMed

Liu, Manhua; Cheng, Danni; Wang, Kundong; Wang, Yaping

2018-03-23

Accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) plays important role for patient care and development of future treatment. Structural and functional neuroimages, such as magnetic resonance images (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), are providing powerful imaging modalities to help understand the anatomical and functional neural changes related to AD. In recent years, machine learning methods have been widely studied on analysis of multi-modality neuroimages for quantitative evaluation and computer-aided-diagnosis (CAD) of AD. Most existing methods extract the hand-craft imaging features after image preprocessing such as registration and segmentation, and then train a classifier to distinguish AD subjects from other groups. This paper proposes to construct cascaded convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to learn the multi-level and multimodal features of MRI and PET brain images for AD classification. First, multiple deep 3D-CNNs are constructed on different local image patches to transform the local brain image into more compact high-level features. Then, an upper high-level 2D-CNN followed by softmax layer is cascaded to ensemble the high-level features learned from the multi-modality and generate the latent multimodal correlation features of the corresponding image patches for classification task. Finally, these learned features are combined by a fully connected layer followed by softmax layer for AD classification. The proposed method can automatically learn the generic multi-level and multimodal features from multiple imaging modalities for classification, which are robust to the scale and rotation variations to some extent. No image segmentation and rigid registration are required in pre-processing the brain images. Our method is evaluated on the baseline MRI and PET images of 397 subjects including 93 AD patients, 204 mild cognitive impairment (MCI, 76 pMCI +128 sMCI) and 100 normal controls (NC) from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves an accuracy of 93.26% for classification of AD vs. NC and 82.95% for classification pMCI vs. NC, demonstrating the promising classification performance.

Reduced Phase-Advance of Plasma Melatonin after Bright Morning Light in the Luteal, but not Follicular, Menstrual Cycle Phase in Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: An Extended Study

PubMed Central

Parry, Barbara L.; Meliska, Charles J.; Sorenson, Diane L.; Martínez, L. Fernando; López, Ana M.; Elliott, Jeffrey A.; Hauger, Richard L.

2011-01-01

We previously observed blunted phase-shift responses to morning bright light in women with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). The aim of this study was to determine if we could replicate these findings using a higher intensity, shorter duration light pulse and to compare these results with the effects of an evening bright light pulse. In 17 PMDD patients and 14 normal control (NC) subjects, we measured plasma melatonin at 30 minute intervals from 18:00–10:00 h in dim (< 30 lux) or dark conditions the night before (night 1) and after (night 3) a bright light pulse (administered on night 2) in both follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases. The bright light (either 3,000 lux for 6 h or 6,000 lux for 3 h) was given either in the AM, 7 h after the Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) measured the previous month, or in the PM, 3 h after the DLMO. In the luteal, but not in the follicular, phase, AM light advanced melatonin offset between night 1 and night 3 significantly less in PMDD than in NC subjects. The effects of PM light were not significant, nor were there significant effects of the light pulse on melatonin measures of onset, duration, peak or area under the curve. These findings replicated our previous finding of a blunted phase-shift response to morning bright light in the luteal, but not the follicular, menstrual cycle phase in PMDD compared with NC women, using a brighter (6,000 vs. 3,000 lux) light pulse for a shorter duration (3 vs. 6 h). As the effect of PM bright light on melatonin phase-shift responses did not differ between groups or significantly alter other melatonin measures, these results suggest that in PMDD there is a luteal phase subsensitivity or an increased resistance to morning bright light cues which are critical in synchronizing human biological rhythms. The resulting circadian rhythm malsynchonization may contribute to the occurrence of luteal phase depressive symptoms in women with PMDD. PMID:21721857

Paediatric Crohn disease patients with stricturing behaviour exhibit ileal granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) autoantibody production and reduced neutrophil bacterial killing and GM-CSF bioactivity

PubMed Central

Jurickova, I; Collins, M H; Chalk, C; Seese, A; Bezold, R; Lake, K; Allmen, D; Frischer, J S; Falcone, R A; Trapnell, B C; Denson, L A

2013-01-01

Granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) autoantibodies are associated with stricturing behaviour in Crohn disease (CD). We hypothesized that CD ileal lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) would produce GM-CSF autoantibodies and peripheral blood (PB) samples would contain GM-CSF neutralizing capacity (NC). Paediatric CD and control PBMC and ileal biopsies or LPMC were isolated and cultured and GM-CSF, immunoglobulin (Ig)G and GM-CSF autoantibodies production were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Basal and GM-CSF-primed neutrophil bacterial killing and signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) tyrosine phosphorylation (pSTAT5) were measured by flow cytometry. GM-CSF autoantibodies were enriched within total IgG for LPMC isolated from CD ileal strictures and proximal margins compared to control ileum. Neutrophil bacterial killing was reduced in CD patients compared to controls. Within CD, neutrophil GM-CSF-dependent STAT5 activation and bacterial killing were reduced as GM-CSF autoantibodies increased. GM-CSF stimulation of pSTAT5 did not vary between controls and CD patients in washed PB granulocytes in which serum was removed. However, GM-CSF stimulation of pSTAT5 was reduced in whole PB samples from CD patients. These data were used to calculate the GM-CSF NC. CD patients with GM-CSF NC greater than 25% exhibited a fourfold higher rate of stricturing behaviour and surgery. The likelihood ratio (95% confidence interval) for stricturing behaviour for patients with elevation in both GM-CSF autoantibodies and GM-CSF NC was equal to 5 (2, 11). GM-CSF autoantibodies are produced by LPMC isolated from CD ileal resection specimens and are associated with reduced neutrophil bacterial killing. CD peripheral blood contains GM-CSF NC, which is associated with increased rates of stricturing behaviour. PMID:23600834

Monoamine levels in the nucleus accumbens correlate with male sexual behavior in middle-aged rats.

PubMed

Tsai, Houng-Wei; Shui, Hao-Ai; Liu, Hang-Shen; Tai, Mei-Yun; Tsai, Yuan-Feen

2006-02-01

The correlation between monoamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and male sexual behavior was studied in middle-aged rats. Male rats (18-19months) were assigned to three groups: (1) Group MIE consisted of rats showing mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations; (2) Group MI was composed of rats showing mounts and intromissions, but no ejaculation; and (3) Group NC were non-copulators showing no sexual behavior. Young adult rats (4-5months), displaying complete copulatory behavior, were used as the control group. Levels of dopamine (DA), serotonin, and norepinephrine and their metabolites in the NAcc were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. No difference was seen in DA levels between MIE rats and young controls, whereas DA levels in NC rats were significantly lower than those in both MIE and MI rats. Serotonin levels in NC rats were significantly higher than those in MIE and MI rats. Conversely, norepinephrine levels in NC rats were lower than those in MIE rats. These results suggest that monoamine levels in the NAcc correlate with sexual performance in male rats and that changes in NAcc monoamine levels might affect male sexual behavior in middle-aged rats.

Responses triggered in chloroplast of Chlorella variabilis NC64A by long-term association with Paramecium bursaria.

PubMed

Minaeva, Ekaterina; Ermilova, Elena

2017-07-01

The unicellular green alga Chlorella variabilis NC64A is an endosymbiont of the ciliate Paramecium bursaria. The host's control, including the transfer of biochemical substrates from P. bursaria to C. variabilis, is involved in symbiotic relationships. C. variabilis NC64A that had been re-infected to P. bursaria for more than 1 year and isolated from the host showed higher chlorophyll levels compared to those in free-living cells. Unlike the host, the expression of C. variabilis NC64A heat shock 70 kDa protein was independent of establishment of endosymbiosis. In symbiotic cells, the levels of PII signal transduction protein (CvPII) that coordinate the central C/N anabolic metabolism were slightly higher than those in free-living cells. Furthermore, the environmental cues (light and host food bacteria availability) affected the abundance of CvPII, suggesting that synthesis of the protein was influenced by the host. Moreover, arginine concentrations in the symbiotic algae of P. bursaria were also controlled by the host's nutritional conditions. Together, our results imply that signal substrates and/or products of metabolism in host cells might act as messengers mediating the regulation of key events in symbiont cells.

Effects of Chinese Medicine as Adjunct Medication for Adjuvant Chemotherapy Treatments of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

PubMed Central

Jiao, Lijing; Dong, Changsheng; Liu, Jiaxiang; Chen, Zhiwei; Zhang, Lei; Xu, Jianfang; Shen, Xiaoyong; Che, Jiaming; Yang, Yi; Huang, Hai; Li, Hegen; Sun, Jianli; Jiang, Yi; Mao, Zhujun; Chen, Peiqi; Gong, Yabin; Jin, Xiaolin; Xu, Ling

2017-01-01

The aim was to evaluate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a combination medication with adjuvant chemotherapy on postoperative early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The 314 patients with completely resected stage IB, II or IIIA cancers were assigned into vinorelbine plus cisplatin/carboplatin (NP/NC) (control, n = 158) and NP/NC with additional TCM (intervention, n = 156) groups. The primary endpoint was QOL scores; secondary endpoints were the toxicity and safety of the regimens. The NP/NC regimen caused mild (grade 1 or 2) non-hematologic toxic effects in the patients comprising vomiting (43.6%), fatigue (36.9%), pain (23%), dry mouth (27.6%) and diarrhea (7.9%). The incidence of adverse events was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (0.57% vs 4.02%, P = 0.037). Transient severe (grade 3 or 4) hematological toxic effects occurred less often (hemoglobin reduction (11.9 vs 22.5 percent) and total bilirubin increased (to 42.1 vs 46.2%) in the intervention compared to the control group during the 2nd chemotherapy cycle. When combined with adjuvant chemotherapy, TCM led to partial relief of symptoms in addition to a reduction of side-effects and adverse events caused by the NP/NC regimens. PMID:28436479

Role of chemotherapy of taeniasis in prevention of neurocysticercosis.

PubMed

Pawlowski, Zbigniew S

2006-01-01

Neurocysticercosis (NC) is a serious public health problem in Taenia solium endemic areas and in some immigrants and international travelers. A key intervention in preventing NC is elimination of taeniasis by chemotherapy. Currently, two safe and effective taenicides, namely niclosamide and praziquantel, are available. Both are on WHO Essential Drug list, but are often inaccessible in T. solium endemic areas. Natural remedies, still widely used in some endemic areas, are frequently carcinogenic or highly toxic and as such should be discontinued. Chemotherapeutic intervention to control T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis, whilst theoretically feasible, has several practical obstacles. These include poor public awareness, problems with diagnosing Taenia carriers, poor availability of taenicides where needed and low priority afforded to the control of NC. These can be overcome, respectively, by effective health education, wider use of newly developed coproantigen tests, strengthening of health services infrastructure and essential drugs distribution, and increasing the priority given to prevention of NC, as a leading cause of epilepsy in T. solium endemic areas. Information is accumulating on rational approaches to population-based short-term chemotherapeutic control measures. These are: widely available modern diagnostic tools and taenicides, treatment of any case of taeniasis, confirmed or probable, focus-oriented chemotherapy, irrespective of Taenia species implicated, improved sanitation, cooperation of veterinary and medical services, linkage with programs against epilepsy and cooperation of better educated communities. Now, it remains to take an advantage of existing tools and experience.

Standards and Practice for K-12 Physical Education in Singapore: Although Physical Education is Required at All Grade Levels in Singapore, Physical Educators There Still Battle Marginalization of Their Subject

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Steven C.; McNeill, Michael C.; Schempp, Paul G.

2005-01-01

This article discusses the standards and practice for K-12 physical education in Singapore. A national curriculum (NC) guides instruction in all subjects, including physical education. A Physical Education Syllabus Committee has been formed and tasked with reviewing the physical education curriculum and revising the standards for implementation in…

Palm cooling does not reduce heat strain during exercise in a hot, dry environment.

PubMed

Amorim, Fabiano T; Yamada, Paulette M; Robergs, Robert A; Schneider, Suzanne M

2010-08-01

To compare the effectiveness of the rapid thermal exchange device (RTX) in slowing the development of hyperthermia and associated symptoms among hand immersed in water bath (WB), water-perfused vest (WPV), and no cooling condition (NC). Ten subjects performed 4 heat stress trials. The protocol consisted of 2 bouts of treadmill walking, separated by a cooling-rehydration period. The times to reach the predetermined rectal temperature in the first (38.5 degrees C) and second bouts (39 degrees C) were not different among RTX, NC, and WB, but was longer for the WPV in both bouts (p<0.05). Heat storage was significantly lower for WPV only in the first bout vs. the other conditions (p<0.05). Heart rate (HR) was not different at 10, 20, and 30 min during the first bout among RTX, NC, and WB, but was lower for WPV (p<0.05). HR was not different among conditions during the second bout. The RTX was not effective in slowing the development of hyperthermia.

Association of neck circumference and cognitive impairment among Chinese elderly.

PubMed

Chen, Jin-Mei; Li, Qing-Wei; Jiang, Guo-Xin; Zeng, Shu-Jun; Shen, Jun; Sun, Ji; Wu, Dan-Hong; Cheng, Qi

2018-03-01

To investigate the association between neck circumference (NC) and cognitive impairment and interactions between relevant variables to the risk of cognitive impairment. A population-based survey was conducted among elderly inhabitants aged 60 years and over from a community in Shanghai suburb. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations and log likelihood ratio tests to examine interactions. Cognitive impairment was identified in 269 (10.8%) subjects from 2,500 participants. Higher BMI (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.11-2.16), higher WHR (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.07-1.95), and higher total cholesterol (TC) (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.09-2.13) were significantly associated with the increased risk of cognitive impairment. Significant interactions were observed between TC and a few other relevant variables, respectively. NC was associated with the high risk of cognitive impairment. Additive effects of NC with TC on cognitive impairment were observed.

Modeling Interval Temporal Dependencies for Complex Activities Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-11

ORGANIZATION NAMES AND ADDRESSES U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Human activity modeling...computer vision applications: human activity recognition and facial activity recognition. The results demonstrate the superior performance of the

Solution-processed flexible NiO resistive random access memory device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Soo-Jung; Lee, Heon; Hong, Sung-Hoon

2018-04-01

Non-volatile memories (NVMs) using nanocrystals (NCs) as active materials can be applied to soft electronic devices requiring a low-temperature process because NCs do not require a heat treatment process for crystallization. In addition, memory devices can be implemented simply by using a patterning technique using a solution process. In this study, a flexible NiO ReRAM device was fabricated using a simple NC patterning method that controls the capillary force and dewetting of a NiO NC solution at low temperature. The switching behavior of a NiO NC based memory was clearly observed by conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM).

Matched signal detection on graphs: Theory and application to brain imaging data classification.

PubMed

Hu, Chenhui; Sepulcre, Jorge; Johnson, Keith A; Fakhri, Georges E; Lu, Yue M; Li, Quanzheng

2016-01-15

Motivated by recent progress in signal processing on graphs, we have developed a matched signal detection (MSD) theory for signals with intrinsic structures described by weighted graphs. First, we regard graph Laplacian eigenvalues as frequencies of graph-signals and assume that the signal is in a subspace spanned by the first few graph Laplacian eigenvectors associated with lower eigenvalues. The conventional matched subspace detector can be applied to this case. Furthermore, we study signals that may not merely live in a subspace. Concretely, we consider signals with bounded variation on graphs and more general signals that are randomly drawn from a prior distribution. For bounded variation signals, the test is a weighted energy detector. For the random signals, the test statistic is the difference of signal variations on associated graphs, if a degenerate Gaussian distribution specified by the graph Laplacian is adopted. We evaluate the effectiveness of the MSD on graphs both with simulated and real data sets. Specifically, we apply MSD to the brain imaging data classification problem of Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on two independent data sets: 1) positron emission tomography data with Pittsburgh compound-B tracer of 30 AD and 40 normal control (NC) subjects, and 2) resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) data of 30 early mild cognitive impairment and 20 NC subjects. Our results demonstrate that the MSD approach is able to outperform the traditional methods and help detect AD at an early stage, probably due to the success of exploiting the manifold structure of the data. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Enhancing surface functionality of reduced graphene oxide biosensors by oxygen plasma treatment for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.

PubMed

Chae, Myung-Sic; Kim, Jinsik; Jeong, Dahye; Kim, YoungSoo; Roh, Jee Hoon; Lee, Sung Min; Heo, Youhee; Kang, Ji Yoon; Lee, Jeong Hoon; Yoon, Dae Sung; Kim, Tae Geun; Chang, Suk Tai; Hwang, Kyo Seon

2017-06-15

We performed oxygen plasma treatment on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to improve its surface reactivity with respect to biomolecular interactions. Oxygen-plasma-treated rGO surfaces were employed as reactive interfaces for the detection of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides, the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as the target analytes. By measuring the changes in electrical characteristics and confirmation through topographic analysis, the oxygen-plasma-treated rGO sensors had enhanced surface functionality for better antibody immobilization and sensing performance, with a 3.33-fold steeper slope for the electrical responses versus analyte concentration curve (logarithmic scale) compared to the untreated. The elicited biomolecular reactivity of the rGO surfaces with the oxygen plasma treatment remained at 46-51% of the initial value even after aging for 6h in ambient conditions. This phenomenon was also confirmed by pretreating the rGO surfaces with a blocking agent and subsequently subjecting them to antibody immobilization. Finally, the feasibility of the oxygen-plasma-treated rGO sensors as a diagnostic tool was evaluated with clinical samples of neural-derived exosomal Aβ peptides extracted from apparent AD patients and normal controls (NC). In contrast to the untreated sensors (p=0.0460), the oxygen-plasma-treated rGO sensors showed a significant p-value in the identification of clinical samples of AD and NC subjects (p<0.001). These results suggest that oxygen plasma treatment improves sensor performance without complicated fabrication procedures and should aid in the development of novel diagnostic tools based on carbon nanomaterials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated 3D mapping of baseline and 12-month associations between three verbal memory measures and hippocampal atrophy in 490 ADNI subjects.

PubMed

Apostolova, Liana G; Morra, Jonathan H; Green, Amity E; Hwang, Kristy S; Avedissian, Christina; Woo, Ellen; Cummings, Jeffrey L; Toga, Arthur W; Jack, Clifford R; Weiner, Michael W; Thompson, Paul M

2010-05-15

We used a previously validated automated machine learning algorithm based on adaptive boosting to segment the hippocampi in baseline and 12-month follow-up 3D T1-weighted brain MRIs of 150 cognitively normal elderly (NC), 245 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 97 Dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) ADNI subjects. Using the radial distance mapping technique, we examined the hippocampal correlates of delayed recall performance on three well-established verbal memory tests--ADAScog delayed recall (ADAScog-DR), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test -DR (AVLT-DR) and Wechsler Logical Memory II-DR (LM II-DR). We observed no significant correlations between delayed recall performance and hippocampal radial distance on any of the three verbal memory measures in NC. All three measures were associated with hippocampal volumes and radial distance in the full sample and in the MCI group at baseline and at follow-up. In DAT we observed stronger left-sided associations between hippocampal radial distance, LM II-DR and ADAScog-DR both at baseline and at follow-up. The strongest linkage between memory performance and hippocampal atrophy in the MCI sample was observed with the most challenging verbal memory test-the AVLT-DR, as opposed to the DAT sample where the least challenging test the ADAScog-DR showed strongest associations with the hippocampal structure. After controlling for baseline hippocampal atrophy, memory performance showed regionally specific associations with hippocampal radial distance in predominantly CA1 but also in subicular distribution. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Charge trapping phenomena of tetraethylorthosilicate thin film containing Si nanocrystals synthesized by solid-state reaction.

PubMed

Lau, H W; Tan, O K; Liu, Y; Trigg, D A; Chen, T P

2006-08-28

In this work, we report on the fabrication of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) thin dielectric film containing silicon nanocrystals (Si nc), synthesized by solid-state reaction, in a capacitor structure. A metal-insulator-semi-conductor (MIS) capacitor, with 28 nm thick Si nc in a TEOS thin film, has been fabricated. For this MIS, both electron and hole trapping in the Si nc are possible, depending on the polarity of the bias voltage. A V(FB) shift greater than 1 V can be experienced by a bias voltage of 16 V applied to the metal electrode for 1 s. Though there is no top control oxide, the discharge time for 10% of charges can be up to 4480 s when it is biased at 16 V for 1 s. It is further demonstrated that charging and discharging mechanisms are due to the Si nc rather than the TEOS oxide defects. This form of Si nc in a TEOS thin film capacitor provides the possibility of memory applications at low cost.

Fabrication and physical evaluation of a polymer-encapsulated paramagnetic probe for biomedical oximetry

PubMed Central

Meenakshisundaram, Guruguhan; Eteshola, Edward; Pandian, Ramasamy P.; Bratasz, Anna; Kuppusamy, Periannan

2009-01-01

Lithium octa-n-butoxynaphthalocyanine (LiNc-BuO) is a promising probe for biological electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) oximetry and is being developed for clinical use. However, clinical applicability of LiNc-BuO may be hindered by potential limitations associated with biocompatibility, biodegradation, and migration of individual crystals in tissue. To overcome these limitations, we have encapsulated LiNc-BuO crystals in polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS), an oxygen-permeable and bioinert polymer, to fabricate conveniently implantable and retrievable oxygen-sensing chips. Encapsulation was performed by a simple cast-molding process, giving appreciable control over size, shape, thickness and spin density of chips. The in vitro oxygen response of the chip was linear, reproducible, and not significantly different from that of unencapsulated crystals. Cast-molding of the structurally-flexible PDMS enabled the fabrication of chips with tailored spin densities, and ensured non-exposure of embedded LiNc-BuO, mitigating potential biocompatibility/toxicological concerns. Our results establish PDMS-encapsulated LiNc-BuO as a promising candidate for further biological evaluation and potential clinical application. PMID:19291409

Effect of exogenous xylanase, amylase, and protease as single or combined activities on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of broilers fed corn/soy diets.

PubMed

Amerah, A M; Romero, L F; Awati, A; Ravindran, V

2017-04-01

Two trials (a 42-d performance and a 21-d cohort digestibility) were conducted to evaluate the performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers fed corn diets supplemented with exogenous xylanase, amylase, and protease as single or combined activities. A nutritionally adequate, positive control (PC) diet was formulated. The negative control (NC) diet was formulated to be lower in metabolizable energy (∼86 kcal/kg diet) and digestible amino acids (1 to 2%) compared to PC. The other 4 treatments were based on the NC and they were either supplemented with xylanase (X), amylase (A), protease (P), or a combination of X, A, and P (XAP; to provide 2,000 U of X, 200 U of A, and 4,000 U of P/kg diet). All diets were marginal in AvP and Ca and contained a background of phytase (1,000 FTU/kg). In each trial, male broiler (Ross 308) chicks were allocated to the 5 treatments (10 replicates of 20 birds/pen and 9 replicates of 8 birds/cage for the performance and digestibility trials, respectively). In the digestibility trial, ileal digesta was collected on d21 for the determination of nutrient utilization. Data were subjected to one-way ANOVA and means were separated by Tukey's HSD test. Only the XAP improved (P < 0.05) AMEn compared to NC. X, A or XAP improved (P < 0.05) N digestibility and apparent ileal digestible energy (AIDE). Both P and XAP improved N retention. The relative improvement in energy digestibility due to enzyme supplementation was greater at the ileal level than that measured in the excreta. The measured changes on AIDE due to supplemental enzymes were much higher than the sum of calculated contributions from starch, fat, and protein. Supplementation of all enzymes reduced (P < 0.05) ileal flow of soluble rhamnose and mannose relative to NC. In the performance trial, both X and XAP improved (P < 0.05) weight gain (WG) and only XAP improved (P < 0.05) FCR compared to NC during the starter phase (1-21d). Over the entire period (1-42d), WG and FI were not influenced (P > 0.05) by dietary treatments. Both X and XAP had lower (P < 0.05) FCR compared to NC (1.540 and 1.509 vs 1.567, respectively). However, birds fed diet supplemented with XAP had an improved (P < 0.05) FCR compared to birds fed single activities and had similar (P > 0.05) FCR compared to PC. In conclusion, these results suggest a synergistic effect between X, A and P on broiler performance and nutrient digestibility. In the current study, AIDE measurements appeared to overestimate the enzyme response. Calculation of the energy contribution by supplemental enzymes using the improvements in the digestibility of the undigested fraction of starch, fat and protein may be a more accurate measurement for the enzyme response than the absolute response in AIDE. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Poultry Science Association.

Effect of exogenous xylanase, amylase, and protease as single or combined activities on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of broilers fed corn/soy diets

PubMed Central

Amerah, A. M.; Romero, L. F.; Awati, A.; Ravindran, V.

2017-01-01

Abstract Two trials (a 42-d performance and a 21-d cohort digestibility) were conducted to evaluate the performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers fed corn diets supplemented with exogenous xylanase, amylase, and protease as single or combined activities. A nutritionally adequate, positive control (PC) diet was formulated. The negative control (NC) diet was formulated to be lower in metabolizable energy (∼86 kcal/kg diet) and digestible amino acids (1 to 2%) compared to PC. The other 4 treatments were based on the NC and they were either supplemented with xylanase (X), amylase (A), protease (P), or a combination of X, A, and P (XAP; to provide 2,000 U of X, 200 U of A, and 4,000 U of P/kg diet). All diets were marginal in AvP and Ca and contained a background of phytase (1,000 FTU/kg). In each trial, male broiler (Ross 308) chicks were allocated to the 5 treatments (10 replicates of 20 birds/pen and 9 replicates of 8 birds/cage for the performance and digestibility trials, respectively). In the digestibility trial, ileal digesta was collected on d21 for the determination of nutrient utilization. Data were subjected to one-way ANOVA and means were separated by Tukey's HSD test. Only the XAP improved (P < 0.05) AMEn compared to NC. X, A or XAP improved (P < 0.05) N digestibility and apparent ileal digestible energy (AIDE). Both P and XAP improved N retention. The relative improvement in energy digestibility due to enzyme supplementation was greater at the ileal level than that measured in the excreta. The measured changes on AIDE due to supplemental enzymes were much higher than the sum of calculated contributions from starch, fat, and protein. Supplementation of all enzymes reduced (P < 0.05) ileal flow of soluble rhamnose and mannose relative to NC. In the performance trial, both X and XAP improved (P < 0.05) weight gain (WG) and only XAP improved (P < 0.05) FCR compared to NC during the starter phase (1-21d). Over the entire period (1–42d), WG and FI were not influenced (P > 0.05) by dietary treatments. Both X and XAP had lower (P < 0.05) FCR compared to NC (1.540 and 1.509 vs 1.567, respectively). However, birds fed diet supplemented with XAP had an improved (P < 0.05) FCR compared to birds fed single activities and had similar (P > 0.05) FCR compared to PC. In conclusion, these results suggest a synergistic effect between X, A and P on broiler performance and nutrient digestibility. In the current study, AIDE measurements appeared to overestimate the enzyme response. Calculation of the energy contribution by supplemental enzymes using the improvements in the digestibility of the undigested fraction of starch, fat and protein may be a more accurate measurement for the enzyme response than the absolute response in AIDE. PMID:27591284

Structural basis for recognition and remodeling of the TBP:DNA:NC2 complex by Mot1

PubMed Central

Butryn, Agata; Schuller, Jan M; Stoehr, Gabriele; Runge-Wollmann, Petra; Förster, Friedrich; Auble, David T; Hopfner, Karl-Peter

2015-01-01

Swi2/Snf2 ATPases remodel substrates such as nucleosomes and transcription complexes to control a wide range of DNA-associated processes, but detailed structural information on the ATP-dependent remodeling reactions is largely absent. The single subunit remodeler Mot1 (modifier of transcription 1) dissociates TATA box-binding protein (TBP):DNA complexes, offering a useful system to address the structural mechanisms of Swi2/Snf2 ATPases. Here, we report the crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of Mot1 in complex with TBP, DNA, and the transcription regulator negative cofactor 2 (NC2). Our data show that Mot1 reduces DNA:NC2 interactions and unbends DNA as compared to the TBP:DNA:NC2 state, suggesting that Mot1 primes TBP:NC2 displacement in an ATP-independent manner. Electron microscopy and cross-linking data suggest that the Swi2/Snf2 domain of Mot1 associates with the upstream DNA and the histone fold of NC2, thereby revealing parallels to some nucleosome remodelers. This study provides a structural framework for how a Swi2/Snf2 ATPase interacts with its substrate DNA:protein complex. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07432.001 PMID:26258880

Costaria costata Extract Suppresses Development of Atopic Dermatitis in chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene-treated NC/Nga Mice.

PubMed

Kim, Ok-Kyung; Lee, Minhee; Kwon, Han Ol; Lee, Dasom; Park, Jeongjin; Kim, Eungpil; You, Yanghee; Lim, Young Tae; Jun, Woojin; Lee, Jeongmin

2018-05-23

We investigated the potential effects of Costaria costata (CC) on atopic dermatitis (AD) development in chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB)-treated NC/Nga mice. CC is a brown alga distributed across the seas of Korea, China, and Japan. A total of 40 mice were randomly assigned to 5 groups with 8 mice per group: untreated Balb/c mice, AD control (0.1% w/v DNCB-treated NC/Nga mice), positive control (i.e., DNCB-treated NC/Nga mice fed a dietary supplement of 66.6 mg/kg of body weight [b.w.] of CJLP133), DNCB-treated NC/Nga mice fed a dietary supplement of 100 mg/kg b.w. of CCE10 (CCE10 100), and DNCB-treated mice fed a dietary supplement of 300 mg/kg b.w. of CCE10 (CCE10 300) groups. The CCE10 100 and CCE10 300 treatment groups suppressed AD development including clinical and histopathological changes and a reduction in skin hydration induced by DNCB. In addition, Th2 cytokine production in primary splenocytes, serum IgE and histamine production, and mast cell infiltration into the skin were suppressed in the CCE10 300 mice compared to the CCE10 100 mice. Our finding demonstrated an inhibitory effect of CCE10 in AD development by means of improving the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance and anti-inflammatory effect in an in vivo model. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, skeletal muscle and polycystic ovary syndrome: effects of pioglitazone and metformin treatment.

PubMed

Ciaraldi, Theodore P; Aroda, Vanita; Mudaliar, Sunder R; Henry, Robert R

2013-11-01

Chronic low-grade inflammation is a common feature of insulin resistant states, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Less is known about inflammation in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Thus we evaluated the impact of PCOS on circulating cytokine levels and the effects of anti-diabetic therapies on insulin action, cytokine and chemokine levels and inflammatory signaling in skeletal muscle. Twenty subjects with PCOS and 12 healthy normal cycling (NC) subjects of similar body mass index were studied. PCOS subjects received oral placebo or pioglitazone, 45 mg/d, for 6 months. All PCOS subjects then had metformin, 2 g/day, added to their treatment. Circulating levels of cytokines, chemokines, and adiponectin, skeletal muscle markers of inflammation and phosphorylation of signaling proteins, insulin action evaluated by the hyperinsulinemic/euglycemic clamp procedure and Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance were measured. Circulating levels of a number of cytokines and chemokines were generally similar between PCOS and NC subjects. Levels in PCOS subjects were not altered by pioglitazone or metformin treatment, even though whole body insulin action and adiponectin levels increased with pioglitazone. In spite of the lack of change in levels of cytokines and chemokines, several markers of inflammation in skeletal muscle were improved with Pio treatment. PCOS may represent a state of elevated sensitivity of inflammatory cells in skeletal muscle to cytokines and chemokines, a property that could be reversed by pioglitazone treatment together with improved insulin action. © 2013.

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF NECK MUSCULAR SIZE AND RANGE OF MOTION IN RUGBY PLAYERS

PubMed Central

Calistri, Josselin; Papadopoulou, Virginie; Theunissen, Sigrid; Dugardeyn, Christian; Balestra, Costantino

2018-01-01

Background World Rugby Union laws are constantly evolving towards stringent injury-prevention, particularly for contested scrums, since front row players are most at risk of cervical spine injuries. Recently, some countries have also introduced tailored training programs and minimum performance requirements for playing in the front row. Nevertheless, these approaches lack an objective assessment of each cervical muscle that would provide protective support. Objective Since front row players are the most at risk for cervical spine injuries due to the specific type of contact during scrums, the purpose of this study was to ascertain whether significant differences exist in neck muscle size and range of motion between front row players and players of other positions, across playing categories. Study Design Cross-sectional controlled laboratory study Methods 129 sub-elite male subjects from various first-team squads of Belgian Rugby clubs were recruited. Subjects were grouped according to age: Junior (J) < 19 years old, Senior (S) 19 to 35 years old and Veteran (V) > 35 years old; as well as playing position: Front row players (J = 10, S = 12, V = 11 subjects), (Rest of the) pack (J = 12, S = 12, V = 10), backs (J = 10, S = 11, V = 11). An age-matched control group of non-rugby players was also recruited (J = 10, S = 10, V = 10). For each subject, the total neck circumference (NC) and the cervical range of motion (CROM) were measured. In addition, the thickness of the trapezius (T), splenius capitis (SCa), semispinalis capitis (SCb), semispinalis cervicis (SPC), sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCOM), and the total thickness of all four structures (TT), were measured using ultrasonography. Results In each age category, compared to controls, rugby players were found to have decreased CROM, an increase in neck circumference (NC), and increased total thickness (TT), trapezius (T), semispinalis capitis (SCb) and sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCOM) sizes. For junior players, the thickness of the semispinalis cervicis (SPC) was also increased compared to controls. The CROM was decreased in front row players compared to pack and back players for all age categories; Front row seniors also showed an increase in trapezius (T), splenius capitis (SCa), semispinalis capitis (SCb) and total thickness (TT), compared to back players. Conclusion In regard of the differences in cervical values found between player positions, the implementation of both range of motion and echography muscle thickness assessments could serve to create an additional measurement for all front row players, that could complement current pre-participation screening used by rugby federations by objectively monitoring muscular size and motion amplitude around the cervical spine. PMID:29484239

Duration of oral contraceptive use predicts women's initial and subsequent subjective responses to sexual stimuli.

PubMed

Renfro, Kaytlin J; Rupp, Heather; Wallen, Kim

2015-09-01

Recent work suggests that a woman's hormonal state when first exposed to visual sexual stimuli (VSS) modulates her initial and subsequent responses to VSS. The present study investigated whether women's initial hormonal state was related to their subjective ratings of VSS, and whether this relationship differed with VSS content. We reanalyzed previously collected data from 14 naturally cycling (NC) women and 14 women taking oral contraceptives (OCs), who subjectively rated VSS at three hormonal time-points. NC women's ratings of 216 unique sexual images were collected during the menstrual, periovulatory, and luteal phases of their menstrual cycles, and OC women's ratings were collected at comparable time-points across their pill-cycles. NC women's initial hormonal state was not related to their ratings of VSS. OC women's initial hormonal state predicted their ratings of VSS with minimal contextual information and of images depicting female-to-male oral sex. Specifically, women who entered the study in the third week of their pill-cycle (OC-3 women) rated such images as less attractive at all testing sessions than did all other women. OC-3 women were also the only women to rate decontextualized VSS as unattractive at all testing sessions. These results corroborate previous studies in which women's initial hormonal state was found to predict subsequent interest in sexual stimuli. Future work, with larger samples, should more directly investigate whether OC-3 women's negative assessment of specific types of VSS reflects a reaction to the laboratory environment or a broader mechanism, wherein OC women's sexual interests decrease late in their pill-cycle. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Squishy capacitor" model for electrical double layers and the stability of charged interfaces.

PubMed

Partenskii, Michael B; Jordan, Peter C

2009-07-01

Negative capacitance (NC), predicted by various electrical double layer (EDL) theories, is critically reviewed. Physically possible for individual components of the EDL, the compact or diffuse layer, it is strictly prohibited for the whole EDL or for an electrochemical cell with two electrodes. However, NC is allowed for the artificial conditions of sigma control, where an EDL is described by the equilibrium electric response of electrolyte to a field of fixed, and typically uniform, surface charge-density distributions, sigma. The contradiction is only apparent; in fact local sigma cannot be set independently, but is established by the equilibrium response to physically controllable variables, i.e., applied voltage phi (phi control) or total surface charge q (q control). NC predictions in studies based on sigma control signify potential instabilities and phase transitions for physically realizable conditions. Building on our previous study of phi control [M. B. Partenskii and P. C. Jordan, Phys. Rev. E 77, 061117 (2008)], here we analyze critical behavior under q control, clarifying the basic picture using an exactly solvable "squishy capacitor" toy model. We find that phi can change discontinuously in the presence of a lateral transition, specify stability conditions for an electrochemical cell, analyze the origin of the EDL's critical point in terms of compact and diffuse serial contributions, and discuss perspectives and challenges for theoretical studies not limited by sigma control.

Frequency of Depressive Syndromes in Elderly Individuals with No Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Dementia in a Memory Clinic Setting.

PubMed

Lee, Jun Ho; Byun, Min Soo; Yi, Dahyun; Choe, Young Min; Choi, Hyo Jung; Baek, Hyewon; Sohn, Bo Kyung; Kim, Hyun Jung; Lee, Younghwa; Woo, Jong Inn; Lee, Dong Young

2016-01-01

The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of various depressive syndromes in elderly individuals with no cognitive impairment (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) in a memory clinic setting, and then to test whether severe and milder forms of depressive syndromes are differentially associated with the cognitive groups. For 216 NC, 478 MCI, and 316 AD subjects, we investigated the frequency of depressive syndromes, defined by three different categories: major and minor depressive disorder (MaDD and MiDD) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, as well as depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health provisional diagnostic criteria for depression in Alzheimer's disease (NIMH-dAD). The frequency of MaDD did not show any significant difference among NC, MCI, and AD. In contrast, the frequencies of MiDD and NIMH-dAD were higher than those of MaDD and showed significant group differences with a gradual increase from NC to AD. The findings suggest that the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease contributes to the occurrence of mild depressive conditions, but not to severe depression. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Dampening DNA binding: a common mechanism of transcriptional repression for both ncRNAs and protein domains.

PubMed

Goodrich, James A; Kugel, Jennifer F

2010-01-01

With eukaryotic non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) now established as critical regulators of cellular transcription, the true diversity with which they can elicit biological effects is beginning to be appreciated. Two ncRNAs, mouse B2 RNA and human Alu RNA, have been found to repress mRNA transcription in response to heat shock. They do so by binding directly to RNA polymerase II, assembling into complexes on promoter DNA, and disrupting contacts between the polymerase and the DNA. Such a mechanism of repression had not previously been observed for a eukaryotic ncRNA; however, there are examples of eukaryotic protein domains that repress transcription by blocking essential protein-DNA interactions. Comparing the mechanism of transcriptional repression utilized by these protein domains to that used by B2 and Alu RNAs raises intriguing questions regarding transcriptional control, and how B2 and Alu RNAs might themselves be regulated.

Understanding dental CAD/CAM for restorations - dental milling machines from a mechanical engineering viewpoint. Part A: chairside milling machines.

PubMed

Lebon, Nicolas; Tapie, Laurent; Duret, Francois; Attal, Jean-Pierre

2016-01-01

The dental milling machine is an important device in the dental CAD/CAM chain. Nowadays, dental numerical controlled (NC) milling machines are available for dental surgeries (chairside solution). This article provides a mechanical engineering approach to NC milling machines to help dentists understand the involvement of technology in digital dentistry practice. First, some technical concepts and definitions associated with NC milling machines are described from a mechanical engineering viewpoint. The technical and economic criteria of four chairside dental NC milling machines that are available on the market are then described. The technical criteria are focused on the capacities of the embedded technologies of these milling machines to mill both prosthetic materials and types of shape restorations. The economic criteria are focused on investment costs and interoperability with third-party software. The clinical relevance of the technology is assessed in terms of the accuracy and integrity of the restoration.

Acute microcirculatory response to nicotine in frog web.

PubMed

Horimoto, M; Koyama, T

1982-01-01

Acute effects of nicotine (NC) on the microcirculation of frog webs were studied by measuring the blood flow velocity in arterioles, and by determining the diameter of both arterioles and venules. Simultaneous recordings of the ventricular pressure and heart rate were obtained in order to compute the vascular resistance and to interpret the changes in microcirculation. The web of right hindlimb was immersed in a solution of NC (2.6 to 3.4 mg/ml) for 4 min. Blood flow velocity in web arterioles of left hindlimb was measured by means of a laser Doppler microscope. Internal diameters of web microvessels were determined using a micrometer on the ocular lens of the microscope. Mean flow velocity (MV) and pulsatile amplitude (PA) were calculated from the pulsatile flow-velocity contour for each vessel. Both MV and PA were increased after the immersion of the web in NC solution. Although the magnitude of the increment in MV was proportional to that in ventricular pressure, the vasodilation of both arterioles and venules and the flow rate in arterioles higher than the initial state continued even after the ventricular pressure had returned to the initial control value. Calculation of the relative change in vascular resistance in web arterioles following NC administration suggested a vasodilator response to NC. Furthermore, our results indicate that sufficient NC can be absorbed across the web epithelium to produce a systemic vascular response when the concentration of NC in the bathing solution is 2.6 mg/ml.

Non-coding RNAs and plant male sterility: current knowledge and future prospects.

PubMed

Mishra, Ankita; Bohra, Abhishek

2018-02-01

Latest outcomes assign functional role to non-coding (nc) RNA molecules in regulatory networks that confer male sterility to plants. Male sterility in plants offers great opportunity for improving crop performance through application of hybrid technology. In this respect, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and sterility induced by photoperiod (PGMS)/temperature (TGMS) have greatly facilitated development of high-yielding hybrids in crops. Participation of non-coding (nc) RNA molecules in plant reproductive development is increasingly becoming evident. Recent breakthroughs in rice definitively associate ncRNAs with PGMS and TGMS. In case of CMS, the exact mechanism through which the mitochondrial ORFs exert influence on the development of male gametophyte remains obscure in several crops. High-throughput sequencing has enabled genome-wide discovery and validation of these regulatory molecules and their target genes, describing their potential roles performed in relation to CMS. Discovery of ncRNA localized in plant mtDNA with its possible implication in CMS induction is intriguing in this respect. Still, conclusive evidences linking ncRNA with CMS phenotypes are currently unavailable, demanding complementing genetic approaches like transgenics to substantiate the preliminary findings. Here, we review the recent literature on the contribution of ncRNAs in conferring male sterility to plants, with an emphasis on microRNAs. Also, we present a perspective on improved understanding about ncRNA-mediated regulatory pathways that control male sterility in plants. A refined understanding of plant male sterility would strengthen crop hybrid industry to deliver hybrids with improved performance.

Transparent luminescent bulk nanocomposites of polysiloxane embedded with CdS nanocrystallines by a direct dispersion process.

PubMed

Shen, Zhu-Rui; Li, Ya-Li; Liu, Jian-Bin; Chen, Ming-Xia; Hou, Feng; Wang, Li-Qun

2012-03-07

Transparent luminescent bulk nanocomposites of polysiloxane (PSO) embedded with semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) have been fabricated by the direct dispersion of CdS NCs in alkyl-(poly)siloxane (APS) followed by co-polymerization. The non-polar characteristics of the APS precursor are compatible with the CdS NC surface (oleylamine), which allows the direct dispersion of the CdS NCs without the need of any surfactant exchange. Chemical crosslinking of the NC-APS dispersion via hydrosilylation between Si-H and the vinyl group in APS immobilizes the CdS NCs in the polysiloxane network. Net-shaped three-dimensional bulk transparent polysiloxane/CdS NC composites were obtained by liquid casting of the NC-precursor dispersion and chemical crosslinking. The PSO/CdS NC composites show visible luminescence under ultraviolet excitation and the luminescent color is tunable from blue to red by controlling the NC concentration in the composite. Photoluminescence spectral analyses reveal the origin of the luminescence as being from the defect emission of the CdS NCs (550-900 nm) and an emission from the PSO matrix (380-550 nm). The luminescent spectra covered a wide range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared region. The luminescence of the PSO/CdS NC nanocomposites was stable without any apparent degradation after exposure to air for a long time. This simple direct dispersion process is feasible for the fabrication of luminescent nanocomposites with useful optical properties for potential applications in optics and photoelectron devices.

Noninvasive k3 estimation method for slow dissociation PET ligands: application to [11C]Pittsburgh compound B.

PubMed

Sato, Koichi; Fukushi, Kiyoshi; Shinotoh, Hitoshi; Shimada, Hitoshi; Hirano, Shigeki; Tanaka, Noriko; Suhara, Tetsuya; Irie, Toshiaki; Ito, Hiroshi

2013-11-16

Recently, we reported an information density theory and an analysis of three-parameter plus shorter scan than conventional method (3P+) for the amyloid-binding ligand [11C]Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) as an example of a non-highly reversible positron emission tomography (PET) ligand. This article describes an extension of 3P + analysis to noninvasive '3P++' analysis (3P + plus use of a reference tissue for input function). In 3P++ analysis for [11C]PIB, the cerebellum was used as a reference tissue (negligible specific binding). Fifteen healthy subjects (NC) and fifteen Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients participated. The k3 (index of receptor density) values were estimated with 40-min PET data and three-parameter reference tissue model and were compared with that in 40-min 3P + analysis as well as standard 90-min four-parameter (4P) analysis with arterial input function. Simulation studies were performed to explain k3 biases observed in 3P++ analysis. Good model fits of 40-min PET data were observed in both reference and target regions-of-interest (ROIs). High linear intra-subject (inter-15 ROI) correlations of k3 between 3P++ (Y-axis) and 3P + (X-axis) analyses were shown in one NC (r2 = 0.972 and slope = 0.845) and in one AD (r2 = 0.982, slope = 0.655), whereas inter-subject k3 correlations in a target region (left lateral temporal cortex) from 30 subjects (15 NC + 15 AD) were somewhat lower (r2 = 0.739 and slope = 0.461). Similar results were shown between 3P++ and 4P analyses: r2 = 0.953 for intra-subject k3 in NC, r2 = 0.907 for that in AD and r2 = 0.711 for inter-30 subject k3. Simulation studies showed that such lower inter-subject k3 correlations and significant negative k3 biases were not due to unstableness of 3P++ analysis but rather to inter-subject variation of both k2 (index of brain-to-blood transport) and k3 (not completely negligible) in the reference region. In [11C]PIB, the applicability of 3P++ analysis may be restricted to intra-subject comparison such as follow-up studies. The 3P++ method itself is thought to be robust and may be more applicable to other non-highly reversible PET ligands with ideal reference tissue.

Noncontrast MRA of pedal arteries in type II diabetes: effect of disease load on vessel visibility.

PubMed

Zhang, Lijuan; Liu, Xin; Fan, Zhaoyang; Zhang, Na; Chung, Yiu-Cho; Liao, Weiqi; Zheng, Hairong; Li, Debiao

2015-04-01

Noncontrast magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) of pedal artery remains challenging because of the global and regional disease load, tissue integrity, and altered microcirculation. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of the NC-MRA of pedal arteries with flow-sensitive dephasing-prepared steady-state free precession (FSD-SSFP) and to explore the effect of disease load of type II diabetes on the vessel depiction. FSD-SSFP was performed on a 1.5-T magnetic resonance system before the contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) as a reference standard in 39 consecutive diabetic subjects (29 men and 16 women, aged 57.9 ± 11.4 years). Two experienced radiologists evaluated the overall artery visibility (VA) and the contamination from soft tissue (SC) and veins (VC) with a four-point scale. Chronic complications and measures including random blood glucose (RBG), lipid panel, body mass index, risk of diabetic foot ulcers (RDF), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) by the imaging were recorded as disease load indicators. Spearman rank correlation and ordinal regression were performed to investigate the effect of disease load on the depiction of pedal arteries. The measurement of RBG and RDF were significantly correlated with the VC in CE-MRA and with the overall visibility of pedal arteries in NC-MRA (P < .025 and P < .001, respectively). Blood pressure was the only parameter that was significantly associated with SC in NC-MRA with FSD-SSFP (P < .025). For CE-MRA the effect of RDF on the overall VA manifested a significant linear trend (P < .001), and the level of RBG was substantially associated with the VC (P < .025) without significantly impacting VA and SC. Hypertension only correlated with SC in NC-MRA. VA was found independent of the presence of diabetic nephropathy, coronary artery disease, abnormal lipid panel, HbA1c (75.0%), or optimized m1 value that ranged from 70 to 160 mT⋅ms(2)/m (mean, 125 ± 18 mT⋅ms(2)/m) in this study. FSD-SSFP proved to be a useful modality of NC-MRA for pedal artery imaging in diabetic patients. The vessel depiction is subject to the local and systemic disease load of type II diabetes. Technical optimization of the flow-sensitive dephasing gradient moment and properly choosing candidate would help augment the potential of this technique in patient care of peripheral artery disease. Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diversity analysis of gut microbiota in osteoporosis and osteopenia patients.

PubMed

Wang, Jihan; Wang, Yangyang; Gao, Wenjie; Wang, Biao; Zhao, Heping; Zeng, Yuhong; Ji, Yanhong; Hao, Dingjun

2017-01-01

Some evidence suggests that bone health can be regulated by gut microbiota. To better understand this, we performed 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing to analyze the intestinal microbial diversity in primary osteoporosis (OP) patients, osteopenia (ON) patients and normal controls (NC). We observed an inverse correlation between the number of bacterial taxa and the value of bone mineral density. The diversity estimators in the OP and ON groups were increased compared with those in the NC group. Beta diversity analyses based on hierarchical clustering and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) could discriminate the NC samples from OP and ON samples. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria constituted the four dominant phyla in all samples. Proportion of Firmicutes was significantly higher and Bacteroidetes was significantly lower in OP samples than that in NC samples ( p  < 0.05), Gemmatimonadetes and Chloroflexi were significantly different between OP and NC group as well as between ON and NC group ( p  < 0.01). A total of 21 genera with proportions above 1% were detected and Bacteroides accounted for the largest proportion in all samples. The Blautia, Parabacteroides and Ruminococcaceae genera differed significantly between the OP and NC group ( p  < 0.05). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) results showed one phylum community and seven phylum communities were enriched in ON and OP, respectively. Thirty-five genus communities, five genus communities and two genus communities were enriched in OP, ON and NC, respectively. The results of this study indicate that gut microbiota may be a critical factor in osteoporosis development, which can further help us search for novel biomarkers of gut microbiota in OP and understand the interaction between gut microbiota and bone health.

Differential Response of Bovine Mature Nucleus Pulposus and Notochordal Cells to Hydrostatic Pressure and Glucose Restriction.

PubMed

Saggese, Taryn; Thambyah, Ashvin; Wade, Kelly; McGlashan, Susan Read

2018-05-01

Objective The nucleus pulposus of the human intervertebral disc contains 2 cell types: notochordal (NC) and mature nucleus pulposus (MNP) cells. NC cell loss is associated with disc degeneration and this process may be initiated by mechanical stress and/or nutrient deprivation. This study aimed to investigate the functional responses of NC and MNP cells to hydrostatic pressures and glucose restriction. Design Bovine MNP and NC cells were cultured in 3-dimensional alginate beads under low (0.4-0.8 MPa) and high (1.6-2.4 MPa) dynamic pressure for 24 hours. Cells were cultured in either physiological (5.5 mM) glucose media or glucose-restriction (0.55 mM) media. Finally, the combined effect of glucose restriction and high pressure was examined. Results Cell viability and notochordal phenotypic markers were not significantly altered in response to pressure or glucose restriction. MNP cells responded to low pressure with an increase in glycosaminoglycan (GAG) production while high pressure significantly decreased ACAN gene expression compared with atmospheric controls. NC cells showed no response in matrix gene expression or GAG production with either loading regime. Glucose restriction decreased NC cell TIMP-1 expression but had no effect on MNP cells. The combination of glucose restriction and high pressure only affected MNP cell gene expression, with decreased ACAN, Col2α1, and ADAMTS-5 expression. Conclusion This study shows that NC cells are more resistant to acute mechanical stresses than MNP cells and provides a strong rationale for future studies to further our understanding the role of NC cells within the disc, and the effects of long-term exposure to physical stresses.

A hypothetical mechanism of intraepidermal neurite formation in NC/Nga mice with atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Tominaga, Mitsutoshi; Ozawa, Sumiko; Ogawa, Hideoki; Takamori, Kenji

2007-06-01

Pruritus is a symptom in atopic dermatitis (AD). Previous studies have reported that increased intraepidermal neurites are observed in AD, suggesting that the neuritogenesis is related to itching in the skin. This study was conducted to reveal the mechanism of intraepidermal neurite formation in AD. In this study, we used conventional (Conv) NC/Nga mice with AD. NC/Nga mice maintained in specific pathogen-free (SPF) condition were used as a control with no AD. Distribution of intraepidermal neurites and expression patterns of growth factors (NGF and amphiregulin (AR)) and cell-cell junctional molecules (E-cadherin, zona occludens 1 (ZO-1) and desmoglein 3 (Dsg3)) were examined in the skins by immunohistochemistry or quantitative RT-PCR. Furthermore, detection of gelatinase activity was performed with in situ zymography. The same experiments were conducted in ICR mice for comparison with NC/Nga mice. Neurite density and expression levels of growth factors and gelatinase were remarkably increased in the epidermis of Conv-NC/Nga mice compared with those of SPF-NC/Nga mice. Decreased expression of E-cadherin and ZO-1 and misexpression of Dsg3 were also observed in the atopic skins. In comparison with ICR mice, increases of neurite density and gelatinase activity were found in the skins of SPF-NC/Nga mice but expression levels of growth factors and cell-cell junctional molecules were unchanged. Increases of growth factors and gelatinase activity may be related to neurite outgrowth in the epidermis of atopic NC/Nga mice. Additionally, abnormal expressions of cell-cell junctional molecules in the epidermis may provide intercellular spaces for the neurite formation.

High background in Luminex® assay for HLA antibody screening: Interest of Adsorb Out™.

PubMed

Zerrouki, Asmae; Ouadghiri, Sanae; Benseffaj, Nadia; Razine, Rachid; Essakalli, Malika

2016-05-01

The Luminex® technology has become an integral component of clinical decision-making and diagnosis of transplanted organ rejection. Despite the superior sensibility of this technology, it is not completely problem free. We have observed in these bead-based assays that sera of some patients give a high negative control bead (NC) value which makes assessing HLA antibodies difficult. Treatment of sera by the Adsorb Out™ reagent may reduce the high background. In this study, we want to evaluate the effect of the Adsorb Out™ on the NC's MFI value by comparing treated and untreated patients' sera. HLA antibody screening was performed on 3011 sera. These sera came from patients awaiting and undergoing renal transplant from different Moroccan hospitals. The sera were analyzed using the standard protocol for Luminex® antibody screening. Sera with high NC's value has been pre-incubated by the Adsorb Out™, and analyzed on Luminex®. 3% of studied samples have high NC's value. The Adsorb Out™ decreases the NC's value and brings it back to a normal range in 62.2% treated sera. It has no effect in 12.3%. The Adsorb Out™ effect depends only of NC's value, independently to age, storage date, sex and immunization. The Adsorb Out™ reagent has an important effect in decreasing NC value of sera. However, it has no effect in some patient's sera. In these cases we could try another treatment, as EDTA, DTT. The non-specific binding may be caused by multiple patient-specific factors, it would be important to search correlation between them and NC's values. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nondestructive Damage Characterization of Alumina Ceramics

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

damage. 15. SUBJECT TERMS impact testing, impact damage, ultrasound, digital radiography 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF...No. A748883; 3Tex Fiber Products: Cary, NC, 2001. 7. Chacon -Nava, J. G.; Stott, F. H.; de la Torre, S. D.; Martinez-Villafane, A. Erosion of

Nephrogenous Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate as a Parathyroid Function Test

PubMed Central

Broadus, Arthur E.; Mahaffey, Jane E.; Bartter, Frederic C.; Neer, Robert M.

1977-01-01

Nephrogenous cyclic AMP (NcAMP), total cyclic AMP excretion (UcAMP), and plasma immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH), determined with a multivalent antiserum, were prospectively measured in 55 control subjects, 57 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (1°HPT), and 10 patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism. In the group with 1° HPT, NcAMP was elevated in 52 patients (91%), and similar elevations were noted in subgroups of 26 patients with mild (serum calcium ≤10.7 mg/dl) or intermittent hypercalcemia, 19 patients with mild renal insufficiency (mean glomerular filtration rate, 64 ml/min), and 10 patients with moderate renal insufficiency (mean glomerular filtration rate, 43 ml/min). Plasma iPTH was increased in 41 patients (73%). The development of a parametric expression for UcAMP was found to be critically important in the clinical interpretation of results for total cAMP excretion. Because of renal impairment in a large number of patients, the absolute excretion rate of cAMP correlated poorly with the hyperparathyroid state. Expressed as a function of creatinine excretion, UcAMP was elevated in 81% of patients with 1° HPT, but the nonparametric nature of the expression led to a number of interpretive difficulties. The expression of cAMP excretion as a function of glomerular filtration rate was developed on the basis of the unique features of cAMP clearance in man, and this expression, which provided elevated values in 51 (89%) of the patients with 1° HPT, avoided entirely the inadequacies of alternative expressions. Results for NcAMP and UcAMP in nonazotemic and azotemic patients with hypoparathyroidism confirmed the validity of the measurements and the expressions employed. PMID:197123

An examination of psychopathology and daily impairment in adolescents with social anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Mesa, Franklin; Beidel, Deborah C; Bunnell, Brian E

2014-01-01

Although social anxiety disorder (SAD) is most often diagnosed during adolescence, few investigations have examined the clinical presentation and daily functional impairment of this disorder exclusively in adolescents. Prior studies have demonstrated that some clinical features of SAD in adolescents are unique relative to younger children with the condition. Furthermore, quality of sleep, a robust predictor of anxiety problems and daily stress, has not been examined in socially anxious adolescents. In this investigation, social behavior and sleep were closely examined in adolescents with SAD (n = 16) and normal control adolescents (NC; n = 14). Participants completed a self-report measure and an actigraphy assessment of sleep. Social functioning was assessed via a brief speech and a social interaction task, during which heart rate and skin conductance were measured. Additionally, participants completed a daily social activity journal for 1 week. No differences were observed in objective or subjective quality of sleep. Adolescents with SAD reported greater distress during the analogue social tasks relative to NC adolescents. During the speech task, adolescents with SAD exhibited a trend toward greater speech latency and spoke significantly less than NC adolescents. Additionally, SAD participants manifested greater skin conductance during the speech task. During the social interaction, adolescents with SAD required significantly more confederate prompts to stimulate interaction. Finally, adolescents with SAD reported more frequent anxiety-provoking situations in their daily lives, including answering questions in class, assertive communication, and interacting with a group. The findings suggest that, although adolescents with SAD may not exhibit daily impaired sleep, the group does experience specific behavioral and physiological difficulties in social contexts regularly. Social skills training may be a critical component in therapeutic approaches for this group.

CATEGORICAL AND CORRELATIONAL ANALYSES OF BASELINE FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES FROM THE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE NEUROIMAGING INITIATIVE (ADNI)

PubMed Central

Langbaum, Jessica B.S.; Chen, Kewei; Lee, Wendy; Reschke, Cole; Bandy, Dan; Fleisher, Adam S.; Alexander, Gene E.; Foster, Norman L.; Weiner, Michael W.; Koeppe, Robert A.; Jagust, William J.; Reiman, Eric M.

2010-01-01

In mostly small single-center studies, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with characteristic and progressive reductions in fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of the regional cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRgl). The AD Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is acquiring FDG PET, volumetric magnetic resonance imaging, and other biomarker measurements in a large longitudinal multi-center study of initially mildly affected probable AD (pAD) patients, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, who are at increased AD risk, and cognitively normal controls (NC), and we are responsible for analyzing the PET images using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Here we compare baseline CMRgl measurements from 74 pAD patients and 142 aMCI patients to those from 82 NC, we correlate CMRgl with categorical and continuous measures of clinical disease severity, and we compare apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers to non-carriers in each of these subject groups. In comparison with NC, the pAD and aMCI groups each had significantly lower CMRgl bilaterally in posterior cingulate, precuneus, parietotemporal and frontal cortex. Similar reductions were observed when categories of disease severity or lower Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores were correlated with lower CMRgl. However, when analyses were restricted to the pAD patients, lower MMSE scores were significantly correlated with lower left frontal and temporal CMRgl. These findings from a large, multi-site study support previous single-site findings, supports the characteristic pattern of baseline CMRgl reductions in AD and aMCI patients, as well as preferential anterior CMRgl reductions after the onset of AD dementia. PMID:19349228

Southeast Clinical Oncology Research Consortium, Inc. (SCOR) | Division of Cancer Prevention

Cancer.gov

The SCCC-Upstate is a merger of two successful legacy CCOPs known as Southeast Cancer Control Consortium, Inc. (SCCC) and Upstate Carolina (hereafter the Consortium) comprised of 23 components and 63 sub-components, located in a five-state area of the Southeast US (GA, NC, SC, TN, and VA) with a nonclinical Administrative Office (AO) in Winston-Salem, NC. The Consortium

Prediction of ingredient quality and the effect of a combination of xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase in the diets of broiler chicks. 2. Energy and nutrient utilisation.

PubMed

Cowieson, A J; Singh, D N; Adeola, O

2006-08-01

1. In order to investigate the effects of xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase in the diets of broiler chickens containing graded concentrations of metabolisable energy (ME), two 42-d experiments were conducted using a total of 2208 broiler chicks (8 treatments with 12 replicate pens in each experiment). 2. Four diets including one positive and three negative control diets were used. Three maize/soybean meal-based negative control (NC) diets were formulated to be identical in available phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca) and amino acids but NC1 contained approximately 0.17 MJ/kg less ME than NC2 and approximately 0.34 MJ/kg less ME than NC3. A positive control (PC) was fed for comparison and was formulated to be adequate in all nutrients, providing approximately 0.63 MJ/kg ME, 0.13% available P, 0.12% Ca and 1 to 2% amino acids more than NC1. 3. The reduction in nutrient density between NC1 and PC was determined using ingredient quality models Avichecktrade mark Corn and Phychecktrade mark that can predict the response to exogenous enzymes in maize/soybean meal-based broiler diets. Supplementation of each diet with or without a cocktail of xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase gave a total of 8 dietary treatments in a 4 x 2 factorial arrangement. The same treatments and diet designs were used in both experiments but conducted in different locations using different batches of maize, soybean meal and minor ingredients. 4. In both experiments, digestibility was improved by the addition of exogenous enzymes, particularly those for P, Ca and certain amino acids. In addition, the supplementation of the PC with enzymes elicited a positive response indicating that over-the-top addition of xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase may offer a nutritionally and economically viable alternative to feed cost reduction. 5. It can be concluded that the digestibility of nutrients by broilers fed on maize/soybean meal-based diets can be improved by the use of a combination of xylanase, amylase, protease and phytase.

What does leaf wax δD from a mixed C3/C4 vegetation region tell us?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yiming V.; Larsen, Thomas; Leduc, Guillaume; Andersen, Nils; Blanz, Thomas; Schneider, Ralph R.

2013-06-01

Hydrogen isotope values (δD) of sedimentary terrestrial leaf wax such as n-alkanes or n-acids have been used to map and understand past changes in rainfall amount in the tropics because δD of precipitation is commonly assumed as the first order controlling factor of leaf wax δD. Plant functional types and their photosynthetic pathways can also affect leaf wax δD but these biological effects are rarely taken into account in paleo studies relying on this rainfall proxy. To investigate how biological effects may influence δD values we here present a 37,000-year old record of δD and stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) measured on four n-alkanes (n-C27, n-C29, n-C31, n-C33) from a marine sediment core collected off the Zambezi River mouth. Our paleo δ13C records suggest that each individual n-alkanes had different C3/C4 proportional contributions. n-C29 was mostly derived from a C3 dicots (trees, shrubs and forbs) dominant vegetation throughout the entire record. In contrast, the longer chain n-C33 and n-C31 were mostly contributed by C4 grasses during the Glacial period but shifted to a mixture of C4 grasses and C3 dicots during the Holocene. Strong correlations between δD and δ13C values of n-C33 (correlation coefficient R2 = 0.75, n = 58) and n-C31 (R2 = 0.48, n = 58) suggest that their δD values were strongly influenced by changes in the relative contributions of C3/C4 plant types in contrast to n-C29 (R2 = 0.07, n = 58). Within regions with variable C3/C4 input, we conclude that δD values of n-C29 are the most reliable and unbiased indicator for past changes in rainfall, and that δD and δ13C values of n-C31 and n-C33 are sensitive to C3/C4 vegetation changes. Our results demonstrate that a robust interpretation of palaeohydrological data using n-alkane δD requires additional knowledge of regional vegetation changes from which n-alkanes are synthesized, and that the combination of δD and δ13C values of multiple n-alkanes can help to differentiate biological effects from those related to the hydrological cycle.

Feature-Based Morphometry: Discovering Group-related Anatomical Patterns

PubMed Central

Toews, Matthew; Wells, William; Collins, D. Louis; Arbel, Tal

2015-01-01

This paper presents feature-based morphometry (FBM), a new, fully data-driven technique for discovering patterns of group-related anatomical structure in volumetric imagery. In contrast to most morphometry methods which assume one-to-one correspondence between subjects, FBM explicitly aims to identify distinctive anatomical patterns that may only be present in subsets of subjects, due to disease or anatomical variability. The image is modeled as a collage of generic, localized image features that need not be present in all subjects. Scale-space theory is applied to analyze image features at the characteristic scale of underlying anatomical structures, instead of at arbitrary scales such as global or voxel-level. A probabilistic model describes features in terms of their appearance, geometry, and relationship to subject groups, and is automatically learned from a set of subject images and group labels. Features resulting from learning correspond to group-related anatomical structures that can potentially be used as image biomarkers of disease or as a basis for computer-aided diagnosis. The relationship between features and groups is quantified by the likelihood of feature occurrence within a specific group vs. the rest of the population, and feature significance is quantified in terms of the false discovery rate. Experiments validate FBM clinically in the analysis of normal (NC) and Alzheimer's (AD) brain images using the freely available OASIS database. FBM automatically identifies known structural differences between NC and AD subjects in a fully data-driven fashion, and an equal error classification rate of 0.80 is achieved for subjects aged 60-80 years exhibiting mild AD (CDR=1). PMID:19853047

The Effect of Intermittent Vest Cooling on Thermoregulation and Cardiovascular Strain in Baseball Catchers.

PubMed

Bishop, Stacy H; Szymanski, David J; Ryan, Greg A; Herron, Robert L; Bishop, Phil A

2017-08-01

Bishop, SH, Szymanski, DJ, Ryan, GA, Herron, RL, and Bishop, PA. The effect of intermittent vest cooling on thermoregulation and cardiovascular strain in baseball catchers. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2060-2065, 2017-Baseball catchers are exposed to multiple physiological challenges while playing outside during the spring and summer months, many of which deal with recovery and thermoregulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of intermittent cooling on core temperature, cardiovascular strain, exertion, and recovery during a simulated catching performance in the heat. Six trained college-aged baseball catchers performed in a controlled, hot (35° C), and humid (25% relative humidity) environment in a counter-balanced, cross-over design. Ice vest cooling (VC) was used as a cooling modality and was compared with a control of no cooling (NC). Rectal temperature (Tre), heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and perceived recovery scale (PRS) were recorded before and after each simulated inning. All activities took place in a heat chamber, and each inning consisted of catchers receiving 12 pitches in their position followed by 6 minutes of recovery. Nine total innings were performed, and 27 total innings were performed with each of the 2 treatments. A significantly smaller mean Tre change was seen in VC when compared with NC (0.58 ± 0.2° C, 0.98 ± 0.2° C, p ≤ 0.01, respectively). Rating of perceived exertion was significantly lower and PRS was significantly improved for VC compared with NC (both p ≤ 0.05). Mean recovery HR during VC was significantly lower than NC in the fifth (VC = 84 ± 8 b·min, NC = 90 ± 9 b·min, p = 0.04), seventh (VC = 84 ± 3 b·min, NC = 92 ± 7 b·min, p = 0.02), and ninth (VC = 85 ± 7 b·min, NC = 93 ± 5 b·min, p = 0.01) innings. Heart rate during catching was significantly lower at the end of the VC trials when compared with NC (108 ± 16 b·min vs. 120 ± 19 b·min, p = 0.02, respectively). Vest cooling decreased heat strain, cardiovascular strain, and RPE while it improved perceived recovery in catchers over a simulated 3-game series performed in hot conditions.

Effect of Medium-chain Triglyceride (MCT) on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics in Weanling Pigs

PubMed Central

Hong, S. M.; Hwang, J. H.; Kim, I. H.

2012-01-01

One hundred and twenty weanling pigs in experiment 1 (Exp. 1) (6.91±0.99 kg; 21 d of age) and Exp. 2 (10.20±1.09 kg; 28 d of age) were used in two 42-d and 35-d experiments to evaluate the effect of medium-chain-triglyceride (MCT) on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients and blood profile. In both of Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, the same dietary treatments were utilized as follows : i) negative control (NC), ii) positive control (PC), NC+antibiotics (40 mg/kg Tiamulin, 110 mg/kg Tylosin, and 10 mg/kg Enramycin, iii) MCT3, NC+0.32% (phase 1, 2 and 3) MCT, and iv) MCT5, NC+0.55% (phase 1), 0.32% (phase 2 and 3) MCT. In Exp. 1, the pigs fed MCT5 diets had higher (p<0.05) ADG compared to NC treatment during the first 2 wk. From d 15 to 28, the ATTD of energy was improved (p<0.05) by MCT3 compared to the PC treatment. No effect has been observed on the blood profiles [red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), immunoglobulin-G (IgG), lymphocyte concentration] measured in this study. In Exp. 2, the ADG were increased (p<0.05) by the MCT5 treatment than the PC treatment from d 0 to 14. Pigs fed PC treatment diet had lower ADFI (p<0.05) and better FCR (p<0.05) than NC treatment, whereas no differences were shown between MCT treatments and NC or PC treatment from d 15 to 35 and overall phase. The ATTD of DM and nitrogen were improved (p<0.05) by the effect of MCT5 related to the NC and PC treatment at the end of 2nd and 5th wk. The pigs fed MCT3 had higher (p<0.05) energy digestibility than PC treatment. No effects were seen in the blood profiles we measured (WBC, RBC, lymphocyte and immunoglobulin-G). In conclusion, the addition of MCT in the weanling pigs diet can improve the ADG and digestibility during the earlier period (first 2 wks), but had little effect on the blood characteristics. PMID:25049656

Effect of combined xylanase and phytase on growth performance, apparent total tract digestibility, and carcass characteristics in growing pigs fed corn-based diets containing high-fiber coproducts.

PubMed

Jang, Y D; Wilcock, P; Boyd, R D; Lindemann, M D

2017-09-01

Phytate has been shown to be an antinutrient, and the feeding of high levels of phytase can break down phytate to improve nutrient utilization and pig performance. Dietary xylanase targets arabinoxylan breakdown, thereby improving energy utilization in pigs. However, the effects of simultaneous supplementation have not been clearly determined. Crossbred pigs ( = 45; mean initial weight, 26.4 ± 0.2 kg) were allotted to 1 of 9 treatments to evaluate the effects of both xylanase (endo-1,4-β xylanase [EC 3.2.1.8]) and phytase (6-phytase [EC 3.1.3.26]) supplementation as follows: 1) positive control (PC), a corn-soybean meal-based diet with 15% corn distillers dried grains with solubles, 15% wheat middlings, and 13% corn germ meal; 2) negative control (NC), ME was reduced by 103 kcal/kg from the PC diet by replacement of fat with corn starch; 3) NC + phytase (500 phytase units (FTU)/kg diet); 4) NC + phytase (1,000 FTU/kg diet); 5) NC + phytase (2,000 FTU/kg diet); 6) NC + xylanase (24,000 xylanase units [BXU]/kg diet); 7) NC + phytase (500 FTU/kg diet) + xylanase (24,000 BXU/kg diet); 8) NC + phytase (1,000 FTU/kg diet) + xylanase (24,000 BXU/kg diet); and 9) NC + phytase (2,000 FTU/kg diet) + xylanase (24,000 BXU/kg diet). All diets were formulated to meet nutrient requirements before phytase and xylanase addition to the diets. There were no significant interactions between xylanase and phytase supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD). The ADG ( < 0.01, quadratic) and G:F ( < 0.05, linear) for the overall period increased as phytase level increased. The ATTD of P increased as phytase supplementation level increased ( < 0.05, linear and quadratic). The ATTD of DM, NDF, ether extract ( < 0.05), and hemicellulose ( = 0.05) increased quadratically as phytase level increased. Estimated carcass lean percentage and lean gain increased ( < 0.05, linear) as phytase level increased. Xylanase supplementation had no effect on growth performance, ATTD, and carcass characteristics. The results demonstrated an improved nutrient digestibility, performance, and carcass response to phytase supplementation beyond P provision because all diets exceeded current P requirement estimates based on standardized total tract digestible P.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing temperature on the dispersion of Si nanocrystals in SiO2 matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saxena, Nupur; Kumar, Pragati; Gupta, Vinay

2015-05-01

Effect of rapid thermal annealing temperature on the dispersion of silicon nanocrystals (Si-NC's) embedded in SiO2 matrix grown by atom beam sputtering (ABS) method is reported. The dispersion of Si NCs in SiO2 is an important issue to fabricate high efficiency devices based on Si-NC's. The transmission electron microscopy studies reveal that the precipitation of excess silicon is almost uniform and the particles grow in almost uniform size upto 850 °C. The size distribution of the particles broadens and becomes bimodal as the temperature is increased to 950 °C. This suggests that by controlling the annealing temperature, the dispersion of Si-NC's can be controlled. The results are supported by selected area diffraction (SAED) studies and micro photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The discussion of effect of particle size distribution on PL spectrum is presented based on tight binding approximation (TBA) method using Gaussian and log-normal distribution of particles. The study suggests that the dispersion and consequently emission energy varies as a function of particle size distribution and that can be controlled by annealing parameters.

[Effect of postoperative precision nutrition therapy on postoperative recovery for advanced gastric cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy].

PubMed

Zhao, Q; Li, Y; Yu, B; Yang, P G; Fan, L Q; Tan, B B; Tian, Y; Yang, A B

2018-02-23

Objective: To investigate the effect of postoperative precision nutrition therapy on postoperative recovery (PR) of patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC). Methods: 71 subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups. The 34 patients of research group were treated with postoperative precision nutrition treatment according to the indirect energy measurement method. The 31 patients of control group were treated with traditional postoperative nutrition treatment. All participants were measured for body mass index (BMI), NRS2002, PG-SGA and relevant laboratory test within the 1st day before surgery and 7th day after surgery. Moreover, the difference between two groups in short-term effects were evaluated. Results: The daily energy supply of control group was 30.1%-43.74% higher than that of the experimental group ( P <0.05). The resting energy expenditure (REE) of the research group after surgery was lower than that before operation. The levels of prealbumin, albumin and lymphocyte count were higher in research group than the controls at the 7th day after surgery whereas the opposite was true for the creatinine, urea nitrogen, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin ( P <0.05). Similarly, the rate of malnutrition and nutritional risk became lower in the research group ( P <0.05). The gastrointestinal function recovery of patients in the research group was comparable to that of the control group ( P >0.05). Moreover, the complication rate and hospitalization costs of in research group were significantly lower than that of in control group ( P <0.05). For patients with or without nutritional risks before surgery, the nutritional index and inflammatory index in the research group were better than those in the control group. Conclusion: Postoperative precision nutrition therapy may improve the postoperative nutritional status and short-term effects of patients with AGC after NC.

Effects of a multi-enzyme complex on growth performance, nutrient utilization and bone mineralization of meat duck.

PubMed

Zeng, Qiufeng; Huang, Xueqin; Luo, Yuheng; Ding, Xuemei; Bai, Shiping; Wang, Jianping; Xuan, Yue; Su, Zhuowei; Liu, Yonggang; Zhang, Keying

2015-01-01

Previous studies with broiler have shown dietary supplementation with multi-enzyme complex containing non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) degrading enzymes and phytase is efficient in releasing phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), energy and amino acids from corn-soybean meal diets or corn-sorghum diets, hence compensating considerable levels of nutrients in formulation. Notwithstanding, such potentials have not been well defined in duck nutrition. Giving China being the largest duck producing country, we conducted this study to establish adequate specifications of major nutrients along with multi-enzyme complex to meat duck from day-old to slaughter, focusing on performance, utilization of nutrients and bone mineralization. Five dietary treatments were: Positive control (PC,T1 ): the nutrients concentration of diet for 1 to 14 d of age were apparent metabolizable energy(AME) 2,800 kcal/kg, crude protein (CP)19.39%, Ca 0.85%, available phosphorus (avP) 0.42%; for 15 to 35 d of age these parameters were AME 2,900 kcal/kg, CP 16.47%,Ca 0.76%,avP 0.38%; Negative control 1(NC1,T2), the AME and digestible amino acids (DAA) were reduced by 70 kcal/kg and 2.0%, avP and Ca by 1.0 g/kg from PC diet; Negative control 2( NC2,T4), the down-spec from PC diet was AME 100 kcal/kg, DAA 2.5%, avP 1.5 g/kg and Ca 1.2 g/kg; The enzyme complex was added at the same dosage (200 mL/ 1,000 kg) on NC1 (T3) and NC2 (T5) diets. Comparing with the ducks fed on T1, T3 and T5 diets, the birds fed on NC2 diet showed the lowest (P < 0.05) body weight ( d 14 and 35), feed intake (d 35), tibia ash, Ca and P contents (d 14 and 35), and the utilization of nutrients (P < 0.05). The supplementation with the enzyme complex to the NC diets restored growth rate, utilization of nutrients and bone mineralization to the level of the PC diet, and increased AME by 60 kcal/kg and 117 kcal/kg, respectively for the NC1 and NC2 diets. These results suggest that down-spec AME by 100 kcal/kg, DAA by 2.5%, avP by 1.5 g/kg and Ca by 1.2 g/kg caused detrimental effects on duck performance compared with those fed on the PC diet, and these performance losses can be compensated by the addition of the multiple-enzyme complex.

Effects of creep feeding and supplemental glutamine or glutamine plus glutamate (Aminogut) on pre- and post-weaning growth performance and intestinal health of piglets

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Creep feeding is used to stimulate piglet post-weaning feed consumption. L-Glutamine (GLN) is an important source of fuel for intestinal epithelial cells. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of creep feeding and adding GLN or AminoGut (AG; containing glutamine + glutamate) to pre- and post-weaning diets on pig performance and intestinal health. Litters (N = 120) were allotted to four treatments during 14–21 d of lactation: 1) No creep feed (NC, n = 45); 2) creep fed control diet (CFCD, n = 45); 3) creep fed 1% GLN (CFGLN, n = 15); 4) creep fed .88% AG (CFAG, n = 15). After weaning, the NC and CFCD groups were sub-divided into three groups (n = 15 each), receiving either a control nursery diet (NC-CD, CFCD-CD) or a diet supplemented with either GLN (NC-GLN, CFCD-GLN) or with AG (NC-AG, CFCD-AG). Litters that were creep fed with diets containing GLN or AG also were supplemented with those amino acids in the nursery diets (CFGLN-GLN, CFAG-AG). Glutamine was added at 1% in all three post-weaning diet phases and AG was added at .88% in phase 1 and 2 and at .66% in phase 3. Results Feed conversion (feed/gain) showed means among treatment means close to significance (P = 0.056) and Tukey’s test for pairwise mean comparisons showed that Pigs in the CFGLN-GLN group had the best feed conversion (feed/gain) in the first three-week period post-weaning, exceeding (P = 0.044) controls (CFCD-CD) by 34%. The NC-AG group had (P = 0.02) the greatest feed intake in the last three week of the study, exceeding controls (CFCD-CD) by 12%. CFGLN-GLN, CFCD-GLN and sow reared (SR) pigs had the greatest (P = 0.049) villi height exceeding the CFCD-AG group by 18%, 20% and 19% respectively. The CFAG-AG group had the deepest (P = 0.001) crypts among all treatments. CFGLN-GLN, CFCD-GLN and SR groups had the greatest (P = 0.001) number of cells proliferating (PCNA) exceeding those in the NC-CD group by 43%, 54% and 63% respectively. Sow reared pigs showed the greatest (P = 0.001) intestinal absorption capacity for xylose and mannitol. Conclusion Supplementation of creep feed and nursery diets with GLN and/or AminoGut in the first three week improved feed conversion possibly due to improved intestinal health. PMID:23916292

Response of broiler chickens fed wheat-based diets to xylanase supplementation.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Ortiz, G; Sola-Oriol, D; Martinez-Mora, M; Perez, J F; Bedford, M R

2017-08-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of xylanase supplementation on performance, footpad score (FPS), nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphometry in broiler chickens. Two-hundred-eighty-eight Ross 308 broiler chicks (one d old) were placed in one of 3 experimental treatments: positive control (PC), negative control (NC) (-150 kcal/kg), and XYL (NC supplemented with xylanase). Each treatment had 8 replicates with 12 animals each. Starter (zero to 21 d) and grower (21 to 42 d) diets, based on wheat and soy-bean meal, were available ad libitum. Body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake were measured, and mortality corrected feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated. The relative weights of the empty gastrointestinal tract compartments and FPS were recorded on d 21 and d 42. On d 42, ileal contents were collected for nutrient digestibility determination. Statistical comparisons were performed using one-way ANOVA (JMP Pro 12). The reduction of energy resulted in lighter birds at the end of the study (PC: 2,710 vs. NC: 2,546 g; P = 0.030) whereas xylanase supplementation numerically increased BWG by 84 g (P = 0.229) and improved FCR by 12 points (P = 0.145) compared with the NC. Significant differences in FPS were observed on d 21. Score 0 (no lessions) was predominant in PC and XYL treatments, while score 1 (mild lesions) had a higher frequency in NC birds. Xylanase supplementation numerically increased organic matter (5.9%) and energy (4.7%) utilization with values above those observed with the NC. No treatment effects were observed in any of the morphometric measurements, with the exception of the gizzard (P = 0.036) and the ileum (P = 0.088) on d 42. Xylanase resulted in higher relative gizzard weights compared to NC (P = 0.102). Supplementation of broiler diets with xylanase tended to influence performance, which may be due to a better utilization of nutrients. The increase in gizzard and ileum weights in birds 42 d but not 21 d of age suggests an adaptive response that takes time to develop. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

High Prevalence of Precocious Puberty and Obesity in Childhood Narcolepsy with Cataplexy

PubMed Central

Poli, Francesca; Pizza, Fabio; Mignot, Emmanuel; Ferri, Raffaele; Pagotto, Uberto; Taheri, Shahrad; Finotti, Elena; Bernardi, Filippo; Pirazzoli, Piero; Cicognani, Alessandro; Balsamo, Antonio; Nobili, Lino; Bruni, Oliviero; Plazzi, Giuseppe

2013-01-01

Study Objectives: We analyzed the potential predictive factors for precocious puberty, observed in some cases of childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC) and for obesity, a much more common feature of NC, through a systematic assessment of pubertal staging, body mass index (BMI), and metabolic/endocrine biochemical analyses. Design: Cross-sectional on consecutive recruitment. Setting: Hospital sleep center and pediatric unit. Patients: Forty-three children and adolescents with NC versus 52 age-matched obese children as controls. Interventions: N/A. Measurements and Results: Patients underwent clinical interview, polysomnographic recordings, cerebrospinal fluid hypocretin-1 measurement, and human leukocyte antigen typing. Height, weight, arterial blood pressure, and Tanner pubertal stage were evaluated. Plasma lipid and glucose profiles were analyzed. When an altered pubertal development was clinically suspected, plasma concentrations of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis hormones were determined. Children with NC showed a high prevalence of overweight/obesity (74%) and a higher occurrence of precocious puberty (17%) than obese controls (1.9%). Isolated signs of accelerated pubertal development (thelarche, pubic hair, advanced bone age) were also present (41%). Precocious puberty was significantly predicted by a younger age at first NC symptom onset but not by overweight/obesity or other factors. In addition, overweight/obesity was predicted by younger age at diagnosis; additional predictors were found for overweight/obesity (short disease duration, younger age at weight gain and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), which did not include precocious puberty. NC symptoms, pubertal signs appearance, and body weight gain developed in close temporal sequence. Conclusions: NC occurring during prepubertal age is frequently accompanied by precocious puberty and overweight/obesity, suggesting an extended hypothalamic dysfunction. The severity of these comorbidities and the potential related risks require a multidiagnostic approach and a tailored therapeutic management. Citation: Poli F; Pizza F; Mignot E; Ferri R; Pagotto U; Taheri S; Finotti E; Bernardi F; Pirazzoli P; Cicognani A; Balsamo A; Nobili L; Bruni O; Plazzi G. High prevalence of precocious puberty and obesity in childhood narcolepsy with cataplexy. SLEEP 2013;36(2):175–181. PMID:23372264

Seroprevalence and occupational risk survey for Coxiella burnetii among exposed workers in Sicily, Southern Italy.

PubMed

Fenga, Concettina; Gangemi, Silvia; De Luca, Annamaria; Calimeri, Sebastiano; Lo Giudice, Daniela; Pugliese, Michela; Licitra, Francesca; Alibrandi, Angela; Costa, Chiara

2015-01-01

The aim of this survey was to assess the seroprevalence of antibodies against Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) in subjects at risk of exposure in Sicily, Southern Italy. Prevalence of IgG antibodies to C. burnetii phase II antigens was evaluated by ELISA in a group of 140 workers at risk of exposure (38 veterinarians, 38 slaughterhouse workers, 44 livestock handlers, 20 laboratory and technical personnel) included in a medical surveillance program and in 42 control subjects. Positive samples were classified as suggestive of prior exposure to C. burnetii. Antibodies against C. burnetii were detected in 88 out of 140 (62.9%) exposed workers and in 6 out of 42 (14.3%) subjects of the control group. The variables evaluated did not seem to have a significant effect on seropositivity to Coxiella with the exception of symptoms in the last 6 months preceding the survey. Our study demonstrated a high seroprevalence of C. burnetii in the group of exposed workers in comparison to non-exposed subjects of the control group. Clinical illness appears to be rare; nevertheless, physicians should consider Q fever in patients with compatible symptoms and occupational exposure to animals and their products. As aerosols represent the main route of infection in animals and humans, these workers are strongly advised to wear respiratory masks. In addition, occupational physicians should consider routine serologic evaluation and vaccination of occupationally exposed workers. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Oral atorvastatin therapy increases nitric oxide-dependent cutaneous vasodilation in humans by decreasing ascorbate-sensitive oxidants.

PubMed

Holowatz, Lacy A; Kenney, W Larry

2011-09-01

Elevated low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are associated with cutaneous microvascular dysfunction partially mediated by increased arginase activity, which is decreased following a systemic atorvastatin therapy. We hypothesized that increased ascorbate-sensitive oxidant stress, partially mediated through uncoupled nitric oxide synthase (NOS) induced by upregulated arginase, contributes to cutaneous microvascular dysfunction in hypercholesterolemic (HC) humans. Four microdialysis fibers were placed in the skin of nine HC (LDL = 177 ± 6 mg/dl) men and women before and after 3 mo of a systemic atorvastatin intervention and at baseline in nine normocholesterolemic (NC) (LDL = 95 ± 4 mg/dl) subjects. Sites served as control, NOS inhibited, L-ascorbate, and arginase-inhibited+L-ascorbate. Skin blood flow was measured while local skin heating (42°C) induced NO-dependent vasodilation. After the established plateau in all sites, 20 mM ≪ngname≫ was infused to quantify NO-dependent vasodilation. Data were normalized to maximum cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) (sodium nitroprusside + 43°C). The plateau in vasodilation during local heating (HC: 78 ± 4 vs. NC: 96 ± 2% CVC(max), P < 0.01) and NO-dependent vasodilation (HC: 40 ± 4 vs. NC: 54 ± 4% CVC(max), P < 0.01) was reduced in the HC group. Acute L-ascorbate alone (91 ± 5% CVC(max), P < 0.001) or combined with arginase inhibition (96 ± 3% CVC(max), P < 0.001) augmented the plateau in vasodilation in the HC group but not the NC group (ascorbate: 96 ± 2; combo: 93 ± 4% CVC(max), both P > 0.05). After the atorvastatin intervention NO-dependent vasodilation was augmented in the HC group (HC postatorvastatin: 64 ± 4% CVC(max), P < 0.01), and there was no further effect of ascorbate alone (58 ± 4% CVC(max,) P > 0.05) or combined with arginase inhibition (67 ± 4% CVC(max,) P > 0.05). Increased ascorbate-sensitive oxidants contribute to hypercholesteromic associated cutaneous microvascular dysfunction which is partially reversed with atorvastatin therapy.

Training in Temporal Information Processing Ameliorates Phonetic Identification.

PubMed

Szymaszek, Aneta; Dacewicz, Anna; Urban, Paulina; Szelag, Elzbieta

2018-01-01

Many studies revealed a link between temporal information processing (TIP) in a millisecond range and speech perception. Previous studies indicated a dysfunction in TIP accompanied by deficient phonemic hearing in children with specific language impairment (SLI). In this study we concentrate in SLI on phonetic identification, using the voice-onset-time (VOT) phenomenon in which TIP is built-in. VOT is crucial for speech perception, as stop consonants (like /t/ vs. /d/) may be distinguished by an acoustic difference in time between the onsets of the consonant (stop release burst) and the following vibration of vocal folds (voicing). In healthy subjects two categories (voiced and unvoiced) are determined using VOT task. The present study aimed at verifying whether children with SLI indicate a similar pattern of phonetic identification as their healthy peers and whether the intervention based on TIP results in improved performance on the VOT task. Children aged from 5 to 8 years ( n = 47) were assigned into two groups: normal children without any language disability (NC, n = 20), and children with SLI ( n = 27). In the latter group participants were randomly classified into two treatment subgroups, i.e., experimental temporal training (EG, n = 14) and control non-temporal training (CG, n = 13). The analyzed indicators of phonetic identification were: (1) the boundary location (α) determined as the VOT value corresponding to 50% voicing/unvoicing distinctions; (2) ranges of voiced/unvoiced categories; (3) the slope of identification curve (β) reflecting the identification correctness; (4) percent of voiced distinctions within the applied VOT spectrum. The results indicated similar α values and similar ranges of voiced/unvoiced categories between SLI and NC. However, β in SLI was significantly higher than that in NC. After the intervention, the significant improvement of β was observed only in EG. They achieved the level of performance comparable to that observed in NC. The training-related improvement in CG was non-significant. Furthermore, only in EG the β values in post-test correlated with measures of TIP as well as with phonemic hearing obtained in our previous studies. These findings provide another evidence that TIP is omnipresent in language communication and reflected not only in phonemic hearing but also in phonetic identification.

Nanocrystalline silicon thin films and grating structures for solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juneja, Sucheta; Sudhakar, Selvakumar; Khonina, Svetlana N.; Skidanov, Roman V.; Porfirevb, Alexey P.; Moissev, Oleg Y.; Kazanskiy, Nikolay L.; Kumar, Sushil

2016-03-01

Enhancement of optical absorption for achieving high efficiencies in thin film silicon solar cells is a challenge task. Herein, we present the use of grating structure for the enhancement of optical absorption. We have made grating structures and same can be integrated in hydrogenated micro/nanocrystalline silicon (μc/nc-Si: H) thin films based p-i-n solar cells. μc/nc-Si: H thin films were grown using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Grating structures integrated with μc/nc-Si: H thin film solar cells may enhance the optical path length and reduce the reflection losses and its characteristics can be probed by spectroscopic and microscopic technique with control design and experiment.

Potentially important periods of change in the development of social and role functioning in youth at clinical high risk for psychosis.

PubMed

Velthorst, Eva; Zinberg, Jamie; Addington, Jean; Cadenhead, Kristin S; Cannon, Tyrone D; Carrión, Ricardo E; Auther, Andrea; Cornblatt, Barbara A; McGlashan, Thomas H; Mathalon, Daniel H; Perkins, Diana O; Seidman, Larry J; Tsuang, Ming T; Walker, Elaine F; Woods, Scott W; Reichenberg, Abraham; Bearden, Carrie E

2018-02-01

The developmental course of daily functioning prior to first psychosis-onset remains poorly understood. This study explored age-related periods of change in social and role functioning. The longitudinal study included youth (aged 12-23, mean follow-up years = 1.19) at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis (converters [CHR-C], n = 83; nonconverters [CHR-NC], n = 275) and a healthy control group (n = 164). Mixed-model analyses were performed to determine age-related differences in social and role functioning. We limited our analyses to functioning before psychosis conversion; thus, data of CHR-C participants gathered after psychosis onset were excluded. In controls, social and role functioning improved over time. From at least age 12, functioning in CHR was poorer than in controls, and this lag persisted over time. Between ages 15 and 18, social functioning in CHR-C stagnated and diverged from that of CHR-NC, who continued to improve (p = .001). Subsequently, CHR-C lagged behind in improvement between ages 21 and 23, further distinguishing them from CHR-NC (p < .001). A similar period of stagnation was apparent for role functioning, but to a lesser extent (p = .007). The results remained consistent when we accounted for the time to conversion. Our findings suggest that CHR-C start lagging behind CHR-NC in social and role functioning in adolescence, followed by a period of further stagnation in adulthood.

Multilevel Deficiency of White Matter Connectivity Networks in Alzheimer's Disease: A Diffusion MRI Study with DTI and HARDI Models.

PubMed

Wang, Tao; Shi, Feng; Jin, Yan; Yap, Pew-Thian; Wee, Chong-Yaw; Zhang, Jianye; Yang, Cece; Li, Xia; Xiao, Shifu; Shen, Dinggang

2016-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in elderly people. It is an irreversible and progressive brain disease. In this paper, we utilized diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to detect abnormal topological organization of white matter (WM) structural networks. We compared the differences between WM connectivity characteristics at global, regional, and local levels in 26 patients with probable AD and 16 normal control (NC) elderly subjects, using connectivity networks constructed with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) model and the high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) model, respectively. At the global level, we found that the WM structural networks of both AD and NC groups had a small-world topology; however, the AD group showed a significant decrease in both global and local efficiency, but an increase in clustering coefficient and the average shortest path length. We further found that the AD patients had significantly decreased nodal efficiency at the regional level, as well as weaker connections in multiple local cortical and subcortical regions, such as precuneus, temporal lobe, hippocampus, and thalamus. The HARDI model was found to be more advantageous than the DTI model, as it was more sensitive to the deficiencies in AD at all of the three levels.

[Subjective cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: a two year follow up of 51 subjects during two years].

PubMed

Sambuchi, Nathalie; Muraccioli, Isabelle; Alescio-Lautier, Béatrice; Paban, Véronique; Sambuc, Roland; Jouve, Élisabeth; Geda, Yonas Endale; Petersen, Ronald Karl; Michel, Bernard François

2015-12-01

Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is defined by a state of subjective complaint, without objective cognitive deterioration. Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (A-MCI), which characterizes a syndrome between normal cognitive aging and early Alzheimer's disease (E-AD), is preceded by A-MCI from many years. SCI expresses a metacognitive impairment. A cohort of 51 subjects [7 normal controls (NC), 28 SCI, 12 A-MCI and 5 E-AD] was followed up during 24 months, with a neuropsychological evaluation each 6 months during 1 year (V1, V2, V3), then 1 year later (V4). Among the 28 SCI, 6 converted to A-MCI at V4 (21.42%), 1 to A-MCI-A at V3, then to E-AD at V4. These results suggest a continuum from SCI to A-MCI, and E-AD. Progressive SCI differed from non-progressive SCI on verbal episodic memory and executive functions tests at the initial examination. MRI showed anterior cingular atrophy in all SCI patients but hippocampal atrophy was only observed in 20 patients. Our results suggest that metacognition impairment is the expression of a dysfunction in the anterior pre-frontal cortex, in correlation with a syndrome of hyper-attention.

Cyanide-bridged decanuclear cobalt-iron cage.

PubMed

Shiga, Takuya; Tetsuka, Tamaki; Sakai, Kanae; Sekine, Yoshihiro; Nihei, Masayuki; Newton, Graham N; Oshio, Hiroki

2014-06-16

A cyanide-bridged decanuclear [Co6Fe4] cluster was synthesized by a one-pot reaction, and the magnetic properties and electronic configuration were investigated. The complex displayed thermally controlled electron-transfer-coupled spin transition (ETCST) behavior between Co(III) low-spin-NC-Fe(II) low-spin and Co(II) high-spin-NC-Fe(III) low-spin states, as confirmed by single-crystal X-ray, magnetic, and Mössbauer analyses.

Combined Supplementation of Choline and Docosahexaenoic Acid during Pregnancy Enhances Neurodevelopment of Fetal Hippocampus.

PubMed

Thomas Rajarethnem, Huban; Megur Ramakrishna Bhat, Kumar; Jc, Malsawmzuali; Kumar Gopalkrishnan, Siva; Mugundhu Gopalram, Ramesh Babu; Rai, Kiranmai Sesappa

2017-01-01

Choline is an essential nutrient for humans which plays an important role in structural integrity and signaling functions. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, highly enriched in cell membranes of the brain. Dietary intake of choline or DHA alone by pregnant mothers directly affects fetal brain development and function. But no studies show the efficacy of combined supplementation of choline and DHA on fetal neurodevelopment. The aim of the present study was to analyze fetal neurodevelopment on combined supplementation of pregnant dams with choline and DHA. Pregnant dams were divided into five groups: normal control [NC], saline control [SC], choline [C], DHA, and C + DHA. Saline, choline, and DHA were given as supplements to appropriate groups of dams. NC dams were undisturbed during entire gestation. On postnatal day (PND) 40, brains were processed for Cresyl staining. Pups from choline or DHA supplemented group showed significant ( p < 0.05) increase in number of neurons in hippocampus when compared to the same in NC and SC groups. Moreover, pups from C + DHA supplemented group showed significantly higher number of neurons ( p < 0.001) in hippocampus when compared to the same in NC and SC groups. Thus combined supplementation of choline and DHA during normal pregnancy enhances fetal hippocampal neurodevelopment better than supplementation of choline or DHA alone.

Bovine Serum Albulmin Protein-Templated Silver Nanocluster (BSA-Ag13 ): An Effective Singlet Oxygen Generator for Photodynamic Cancer Therapy.

PubMed

Yu, Yong; Geng, Junlong; Ong, Edward Yong Xi; Chellappan, Vijila; Tan, Yen Nee

2016-10-01

This paper reports a novel synthesis approach of bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein-templated ultrasmall (<2 nm) Ag nanocluster (NC) with strong singlet oxygen generation capacity for photodynamic therapy (PDT). An atomically precise BSA-Ag 13 NC (i.e., 13 Ag atoms per cluster) is successfully synthesized for the first time by using NaOH-dissolved NaBH 4 solution as the controlling reducing agent. The ubiquitous size of BSA-Ag 13 NC results in unique behaviors of its photoexcited states as characterized by the ultrafast laser spectroscopy using time-correlated single photon counting and transient absorption techniques. In particular, triply excited states can be largely present in the excited BSA-Ag 13 NC and readily sensitized molecular oxygen to produce singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) with a high quantum efficiency (≈1.26 using Rose Bengal as a standard). This value is much higher than its Au analogue (i.e., ≈0.07 for BSA-Au 25 NC) and the commonly available photosensitizers. Due to the good cellular uptake and inherent biocompatibility imparted by the surface protein, BSA-Ag 13 NC can be applied as an effective PDT agent in generating 1 O 2 to kill cancer cell as demonstrated in this study. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Non-Coding RNA Ontology (NCRO): a comprehensive resource for the unification of non-coding RNA biology.

PubMed

Huang, Jingshan; Eilbeck, Karen; Smith, Barry; Blake, Judith A; Dou, Dejing; Huang, Weili; Natale, Darren A; Ruttenberg, Alan; Huan, Jun; Zimmermann, Michael T; Jiang, Guoqian; Lin, Yu; Wu, Bin; Strachan, Harrison J; He, Yongqun; Zhang, Shaojie; Wang, Xiaowei; Liu, Zixing; Borchert, Glen M; Tan, Ming

2016-01-01

In recent years, sequencing technologies have enabled the identification of a wide range of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Unfortunately, annotation and integration of ncRNA data has lagged behind their identification. Given the large quantity of information being obtained in this area, there emerges an urgent need to integrate what is being discovered by a broad range of relevant communities. To this end, the Non-Coding RNA Ontology (NCRO) is being developed to provide a systematically structured and precisely defined controlled vocabulary for the domain of ncRNAs, thereby facilitating the discovery, curation, analysis, exchange, and reasoning of data about structures of ncRNAs, their molecular and cellular functions, and their impacts upon phenotypes. The goal of NCRO is to serve as a common resource for annotations of diverse research in a way that will significantly enhance integrative and comparative analysis of the myriad resources currently housed in disparate sources. It is our belief that the NCRO ontology can perform an important role in the comprehensive unification of ncRNA biology and, indeed, fill a critical gap in both the Open Biological and Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Library and the National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) BioPortal. Our initial focus is on the ontological representation of small regulatory ncRNAs, which we see as the first step in providing a resource for the annotation of data about all forms of ncRNAs. The NCRO ontology is free and open to all users, accessible at: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ncro.owl.

Quality of life and attitudes towards psychotropics and dependency: consumers vs. non-consumers aged 50 and over.

PubMed

Baumann, M; Bonnetain, F; Briançon, S; Alla, F

2004-10-01

To assess the relationships between socio-demographic factors, quality of life and attitudes towards psychotropic drugs and dependency and to compare those relationships in continuous consumers (CC), occasional consumers (OC) and non-consumers (NC) of those drugs. Quality of life (SF36) and attitudes (14 statements) were measured in 601 subjects (45-60 years old) from the SUVIMAX cohort (SUpplementation en VItamines et en sels Mineraux AntioXydants). Data were obtained on 334 NC, 142 CC, 125 OC from the inclusion questionnaire and the monthly consumption report notebooks kept by subjects between 1994 and 1998. Dichotomous and polychotomous logistic regressions were used for the analysis. The lower the quality of life score the more frequent was consumption. NC tended to be men, with high quality of life scores. They entertained negative attitudes towards psychotropics and dependency. OC tended to be women reporting a chronic pathology, with fairly high social status. They had intermediate quality of life and denied dependency. CC tended to be men with no professional activity and low quality of life scores in particular for mental health and perceived health. They had positive attitudes towards psychotropics and accept dependency. Assessment of patients' quality of life and understanding of their attitudes towards psychotropics can provide essential information for those in charge of health promotion programmes and may help in identifying new intervention strategies. Preventive education and follow-up of therapy may be better suited to the needs of patients.

Psychometric characteristics of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) as an early detection instrument for dementia and mild cognitive impairment in Brazil.

PubMed

Yassuda, Mônica Sanches; Flaks, Mariana Kneese; Viola, Luciane Fátima; Pereira, Fernanda Speggiorin; Memória, Claudia Maia; Nunes, Paula Villela; Forlenza, Orestes Vicente

2010-09-01

The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) assesses everyday memory by means of tasks which mimic daily challenges. The objective was to examine the validity of the Brazilian version of the RBMT to detect cognitive decline. 195 older adults were diagnosed as normal controls (NC) or with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) by a multidisciplinary team, after participants completed clinical and neuropsychological protocols. Cronbach's alpha was high for the total sample for the RBMT profile (PS) and screening scores (SS) (PS = 0.91, SS = 0.87) and for the AD group (PS = 0.84, SS = 0.85), and moderate for the MCI (PS = 0.62, SS = 0.55) and NC (PS = 0.62, SS = 0.60) groups. RBMT total scores, Appointment, Pictures, Immediate and Delayed Story, Immediate and Delayed Route, Delayed Message and Date contributed to differentiate NC from MCI. ROC curve analyses indicated high accuracy to differentiate NC from AD patients, and, moderate accuracy to differentiate NC from MCI. The Brazilian version of the RBMT seems to be an appropriate instrument to identify memory decline in Brazilian older adults.

Sorbitol counteracts temperature- and chemical-induced denaturation of a recombinant α-amylase from alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. TS-23.

PubMed

Chi, Meng-Chun; Wu, Tai-Jung; Chen, Hsing-Ling; Lo, Huei-Fen; Lin, Long-Liu

2012-12-01

Enzymes are highly complex systems with a substantial degree of structural variability in their folded state. In the presence of cosolvents, fluctuations among vast numbers of folded and unfolded conformations occur via many different pathways; alternatively, certain conformations can be stabilized or destabilized. To understand the contribution of osmolytes to the stabilization of structural changes and enzymatic activity of a truncated Bacillus sp. TS-23 α-amylase (BACΔNC), we monitored amylolytic activity, circular dichroism, and fluorescence as a function of osmolytes. In the presence of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and sorbitol, BACΔNC activity was retained significantly at elevated temperatures. As compared to the control, the secondary structures of this enzyme were essentially conserved upon the addition of these two kinds of osmolytes. Fluorescence results revealed that the temperature-induced conformational change of BACΔNC was prevented by TMAO and sorbitol. However, glycerol did not provide profound protection against thermal denaturation of the enzyme. Sorbitol was further found to counteract guanidine hydrochloride- and SDS-induced denaturation of BACΔNC. Thus, some well-known naturally occurring osmolytes make a dominant contribution to the stabilization of BACΔNC.

Roles of an Upper-Body Compression Garment on Athletic Performances.

PubMed

Hooper, David R; Dulkis, Lexie L; Secola, Paul J; Holtzum, Gabriel; Harper, Sean P; Kalkowski, Ryan J; Comstock, Brett A; Szivak, Tunde K; Flanagan, Shawn D; Looney, David P; DuPont, William H; Maresh, Carl M; Volek, Jeff S; Culley, Kevin P; Kraemer, William J

2015-09-01

Compression garments (CGs) have been previously shown to enhance proprioception; however, this benefit has not been previously shown to transfer to improved performance in sports skills. The purpose of this study was to assess whether enhanced proprioception and comfort can be manifested in improved sports performance of high-level athletes. Eleven Division I collegiate pitchers (age: 21.0 ± 2.9 years; height: 181.0 ± 4.6 cm; weight: 89.0 ± 13.0 kg; body fat: 12.0 ± 4.1%) and 10 Division I collegiate golfers (age: 20.0 ± 1.3 years; height: 178.1 ± 3.9 cm; weight: 76.4 ± 8.3 kg; body fat: 11.8 ± 2.6%) participated in the study. A counterbalanced within-group design was used. Subjects performed the respective baseball or golf protocol wearing either typical noncompressive (NC) or the experimental CG. Golfers participated in an assessment of driving distance and accuracy, as well as approach shot, chipping, and putting accuracy. Pitchers were assessed for fastball accuracy and velocity. In pitchers, there was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvement in fastball accuracy (NC: 0.30 ± 0.04 vs. CG: 0.21 ± 0.07 cm). There were no differences in pitching velocity. In golfers, there were significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvements in driving accuracy (NC: 86.7 ± 30.6 vs. CG: 68.9 ± 18.5 feet), as well as approach shot accuracy (NC: 26.6 ± 11.9 vs. CG: 22.1 ± 8.2 feet) and chipping accuracy (NC: 2.9 ± 0.6 vs. CG: 2.3 ± 0.6 inch). There was also a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in comfort for the golfers (NC: 3.7 ± 0.8 vs. CG: 4.5 ± 1.0). These results demonstrate that comfort and performance can be improved with the use of CGs in high-level athletes being most likely mediated by improved proprioceptive cues during upper-body movements.

Neck Circumference Is a Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Short-Sleeping Obese Men and Women

PubMed Central

de Jonge, Lilian; Piaggi, Paolo; Mattingly, Megan; Zhao, Xiongce; Lucassen, Eliane; Rother, Kristina I.; Sumner, Anne E.; Csako, Gyorgy

2014-01-01

Abstract Background: The constellation of metabolic syndrome, although controversial with regard to its clinical usefulness, is epidemiologically related to increased diabetes risk and cardiovascular mortality. Our goal was to investigate the associations among neck circumference (NC), obstructive sleep apnea syndromes (OSAS), and metabolic syndrome in obese men and women sleeping less than 6.5 hr per night. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of obese men and premenopausal obese women sleeping less than 6.5 hr per night. We enrolled 120 individuals (92 women), age 40.5±6.9 years and body mass index (BMI) 38.6±6.5 kg/m2. Metabolic syndrome severity was assessed by a score and OSAS was defined as a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) ≥5. Metabolic end endocrine parameters were measured, and sleep duration was determined by actigraphy and validated questionnaires. Results: Metabolic syndrome was found in 41% and OSAS in 58% (28% had both). Subjects with metabolic syndrome were 3 years older and more often Caucasian; they had higher RDI scores, larger NC, more visceral fat, lower serum adiponectin, higher 24-hr urinary norepinephrine (NE) excretion, and lower growth hormone concentrations. A NC of ≥38 cm had a sensitivity of 54% and 58% and a specificity of 70% and 79% in predicting the presence of metabolic syndrome and OSAS, respectively. RDI, adiponectin, and NC accounted for approximately 30% of the variability in the metabolic syndrome score, as estimated by an age-, gender-, and race-corrected multivariate model (R2=0.376, P<0.001). Conclusion: Greater NC is associated with OSAS and metabolic syndrome in short-sleeping obese men and premenopausal obese women. Addition of NC to the definition of metabolic syndrome should be considered and needs to be validated in future studies. PMID:24571423

Inflationary universe in deformed phase space scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rasouli, S. M. M.; Saba, Nasim; Farhoudi, Mehrdad; Marto, João; Moniz, P. V.

2018-06-01

We consider a noncommutative (NC) inflationary model with a homogeneous scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. The particular NC inflationary setting herein proposed, produces entirely new consequences as summarized in what follows. We first analyze the free field case and subsequently examine the situation where the scalar field is subjected to a polynomial and exponential potentials. We propose to use a canonical deformation between momenta, in a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaî tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe, and while the Friedmann equation (Hamiltonian constraint) remains unaffected the Friedmann acceleration equation (and thus the Klein-Gordon equation) is modified by an extra term linear in the NC parameter. This concrete noncommutativity on the momenta allows interesting dynamics that other NC models seem not to allow. Let us be more precise. This extra term behaves as the sole explicit pressure that under the right circumstances implies a period of accelerated expansion of the universe. We find that in the absence of the scalar field potential, and in contrast with the commutative case, in which the scale factor always decelerates, we obtain an inflationary phase for small negative values of the NC parameter. Subsequently, the period of accelerated expansion is smoothly replaced by an appropriate deceleration phase providing an interesting model regarding the graceful exit problem in inflationary models. This last property is present either in the free field case or under the influence of the scalar field potentials considered here. Moreover, in the case of the free scalar field, we show that not only the horizon problem is solved but also there is some resemblance between the evolution equation of the scale factor associated to our model and that for the R2 (Starobinsky) inflationary model. Therefore, our herein NC model not only can be taken as an appropriate scenario to get a successful kinetic inflation, but also is a convenient setting to obtain inflationary universe possessing the graceful exit when scalar field potentials are present.

Is there a relationship between complaints of impaired balance and postural control disorder in community-dwelling elderly women? A cross-sectional study with the use of posturography

PubMed Central

Tanaka, Erika H.; Santos, Paulo F.; Reis, Júlia G.; Rodrigues, Natalia C.; Moraes, Renato; Abreu, Daniela C. C.

2015-01-01

Background: Risk of falls increases as age advances. Complaints of impaired balance are very common in the elderly age group. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the subjective perception of impaired balance was associated with deficits in postural control (objective analysis) in elderly community-dwelling women. Method: Static posturography was used in two groups: elderly women with (WC group) and without (NC group) complaints of impaired balance. The area, mean sway amplitude and mean speed of the center of pressure (COP) in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were analyzed in three stances: single-leg stance, double-leg stance and tandem stance, with eyes open or closed on two different surfaces: stable (firm) and unstable (foam). A digital chronometer was activated to measure the time limit (Tlimit) in the single-leg stance. Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Mann-Whitney tests, Friedman analyses followed by post hoc Wilcoxon tests and Bonferroni corrections, and Spearman statistical tests were used in the data analysis. Differences of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The results of posturography variables revealed no differences between groups. The timed single-leg stance test revealed a shorter Tlimit in the left single-leg stance (p=0.01) in WC group compared to NC group. A negative correlation between posturography variables and Tlimit was detected. Conclusions: Posturography did not show any differences between the groups; however, the timed single-leg stance allowed the authors to observe differences in postural control performance between elderly women with and those without complaints of impaired balance. PMID:26083602

Is there a relationship between complaints of impaired balance and postural control disorder in community-dwelling elderly women? A cross-sectional study with the use of posturography.

PubMed

Tanaka, Erika H; Santos, Paulo F; Reis, Júlia G; Rodrigues, Natalia C; Moraes, Renato; Abreu, Daniela C C

2015-01-01

Risk of falls increases as age advances. Complaints of impaired balance are very common in the elderly age group. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the subjective perception of impaired balance was associated with deficits in postural control (objective analysis) in elderly community-dwelling women. Static posturography was used in two groups: elderly women with (WC group) and without (NC group) complaints of impaired balance. The area, mean sway amplitude and mean speed of the center of pressure (COP) in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) directions were analyzed in three stances: single-leg stance, double-leg stance and tandem stance, with eyes open or closed on two different surfaces: stable (firm) and unstable (foam). A digital chronometer was activated to measure the time limit (Tlimit) in the single-leg stance. Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by Mann-Whitney tests, Friedman analyses followed by post hoc Wilcoxon tests and Bonferroni corrections, and Spearman statistical tests were used in the data analysis. Differences of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. The results of posturography variables revealed no differences between groups. The timed single-leg stance test revealed a shorter Tlimit in the left single-leg stance (p=0.01) in WC group compared to NC group. A negative correlation between posturography variables and Tlimit was detected. Posturography did not show any differences between the groups; however, the timed single-leg stance allowed the authors to observe differences in postural control performance between elderly women with and those without complaints of impaired balance.

Effects of lysophospholipid supplementation to lower nutrient diets on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and blood metabolites in broiler chickens.

PubMed

Boontiam, W; Jung, B; Kim, Y Y

2017-03-01

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of dietary lysophospholipid (LPL) supplementation on low-energy, crude protein, and selected amino acids on growth performance, intestinal morphology, blood metabolites, inflammatory response, and carcass traits in broiler chickens. A total of 300 one-day-old male chicks (Ross 308) were assigned to 5 treatments, with 6 replications of 10 birds each in a completely randomized design. The 5 treatments were: positive control (PC) without LPL supplementation and adequate in all nutrients, negative control (NC) without LPL, and reduced 150 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy and reduced 5 to 6% of crude protein and selected amino acids including Lys, Met, Thr, and Trp in a calculated amount relative to the PC, NC + 0.05% LPL (LPL05), NC + 0.10% LPL (LPL10), and NC + 0.15% LPL (LPL15). Feeding LPL linearly improved growth performance, feed conversion ratio, ether extract, and protein digestibility. LPL supplementation on low-energy and nitrogenous diets showed significant enhancements in metabolic profiles of blood glucose, protein utilization, and immune system functions. These improvements influenced carcass composition, especially in relative weights of pancreas and breast muscle. In contrast, LPL addition showed no significant effects on relative weights of immune organs, gizzard, and abdominal fat. The NC birds were more susceptible to inflammation via modulating the secretion of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and increasing crypt depth in the jejunal and duodenal segments. However, the inclusion of 0.05% LPL to the NC diet could alleviate inflammation with increased jejunal villi height, ratio of villi height to crypt depth, and decreased IL-1 level. Overall, LPL promotes growth performance, nutrient utilization, gut health, anti-inflammation, and muscle yields when applied to diets of broiler chickens with lower levels of energy, crude protein, and selected amino acids.

An intergenic non-coding rRNA correlated with expression of the rRNA and frequency of an rRNA single nucleotide polymorphism in lung cancer cells.

PubMed

Shiao, Yih-Horng; Lupascu, Sorin T; Gu, Yuhan D; Kasprzak, Wojciech; Hwang, Christopher J; Fields, Janet R; Leighty, Robert M; Quiñones, Octavio; Shapiro, Bruce A; Alvord, W Gregory; Anderson, Lucy M

2009-10-19

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is a central regulator of cell growth and may control cancer development. A cis noncoding rRNA (nc-rRNA) upstream from the 45S rRNA transcription start site has recently been implicated in control of rRNA transcription in mouse fibroblasts. We investigated whether a similar nc-rRNA might be expressed in human cancer epithelial cells, and related to any genomic characteristics. Using quantitative rRNA measurement, we demonstrated that a nc-rRNA is transcribed in human lung epithelial and lung cancer cells, starting from approximately -1000 nucleotides upstream of the rRNA transcription start site (+1) and extending at least to +203. This nc-rRNA was significantly more abundant in the majority of lung cancer cell lines, relative to a nontransformed lung epithelial cell line. Its abundance correlated negatively with total 45S rRNA in 12 of 13 cell lines (P = 0.014). During sequence analysis from -388 to +306, we observed diverse, frequent intercopy single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in rRNA, with a frequency greater than predicted by chance at 12 sites. A SNP at +139 (U/C) in the 5' leader sequence varied among the cell lines and correlated negatively with level of the nc-rRNA (P = 0.014). Modelling of the secondary structure of the rRNA 5'-leader sequence indicated a small increase in structural stability due to the +139 U/C SNP and a minor shift in local configuration occurrences. The results demonstrate occurrence of a sense nc-rRNA in human lung epithelial and cancer cells, and imply a role in regulation of the rRNA gene, which may be affected by a +139 SNP in the 5' leader sequence of the primary rRNA transcript.

75 FR 65513 - JELD-WEN Millwork Distribution, Wilkesboro, NC; Notice of Affirmative Determination Regarding...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-25

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-09

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78 FR 51673 - Technical Changes To Remove Forms

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-21

... Parker, Geriatrics and Extended Care Service (10NC4), Veterans Health Administration, 810 Vermont Avenue... Nursing Home Care of Veterans in State Homes, and for part 52, Per Diem for Adult Day Health Care of.... List of Subjects 38 CFR Part 51 Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Day care, Dental health...

75 FR 51846 - Notice of Determinations Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-23

... Morrisville, NC........ July 12, 2009. Headquarters. 74,407 Progress Software Austin, TX July 12, 2009.... Subject firm Location Impact date 74,153 Freescale Semiconductor, Austin, TX Inc., Quality Division..., Inc., Red Bank, NJ March 16, 2009. Research & Development, and General & Administrative, ESW, etc. 73...

CTEPP STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR SETTING UP A HOUSEHOLD SAMPLING SCHEDULE (SOP-2.10)

EPA Science Inventory

This SOP describes the method for scheduling study subjects for field sampling activities in North Carolina (NC) and Ohio (OH). There are three field sampling teams with two staff members on each team. Two field sampling teams collect the field data simultaneously. A third fiel...

Characterization of Electrical Properties of Polymers for Conductive Nano-Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Nano composites, piezo -resistivity, quantum tunneling Oliver K. Johnson, Daniel Seegmiller, David T...plate component of the circuit (i.e. ) with known resistors from 1Ω to 2×10 9 Ω and recording the corresponding output voltage. Using this

CTEPP NC DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 01_RDD: RECRUITMENT SURVEY FOR HOME SAMPLE SUBJECTS

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the the eligiblity of preschool children who stayed home during the day with their primary adult caregiver and were recruited into the study.

The Children’s Total Exposure to Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Pollutant (CTEPP) stu...

Synthesis of nanobelt-like 1-dimensional silver/nanocarbon hybrid materials for flexible and wearable electroncs.

PubMed

Han, Joong Tark; Jang, Jeong In; Cho, Joon Young; Hwang, Jun Yeon; Woo, Jong Seok; Jeong, Hee Jin; Jeong, Seung Yol; Seo, Seon Hee; Lee, Geon-Woong

2017-07-10

Most synthetic processes of metallic nanostructures were assisted by organic/inorganic or polymeric materials to control their shapes to one-dimension or two-dimension. However, these additives have to be removed after synthesis of metal nanostructures for applications. Here we report a straightforward method for the low-temperature and additive-free synthesis of nanobelt-like silver nanostructures templated by nanocarbon (NC) materials via bio-inspired shape control by introducing supramolecular 2-ureido-4[1H]pyrimidinone (UPy) groups into the NC surface. The growth of the Ag nanobelt structure was found to be induced by these UPy groups through observation of the selective formation of Ag nanobelts on UPy-modified carbon nanotubes and graphene surfaces. The synthesized NC/Ag nanobelt hybrid materials were subsequently used to fabricate the highly conductive fibres (>1000S/cm) that can function as a conformable electrode and highly tolerant strain sensor, as well as a highly conductive and robust paper (>10000S/cm after thermal treatment).

Differentiation of Dictyostelium discoideum vegetative cells into spores during earth orbit in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, A.; Ohnishi, K.; Takahashi, S.; Masukawa, M.; Sekikawa, K.; Amano, T.; Nakano, T.; Nagaoka, S.; Ohnishi, T.

2001-01-01

We reported previously that emerged amoebae of Dictyosterium ( D.) discoideum grew, aggregated and differentiated to fruiting bodies with normal morphology in space. Here, we investigated the effects of space radiation and/or microgravity on the number, viability, kinetics of germination, growth rate and mutation frequency of spores formed in space in a radiation-sensitive strain, γs13, and the parental strain, NC4. In γs13, there were hardly spores in the fruiting bodies formed in space. In NC4, we found a decrease in the number of spores, a delay in germination of the spores and delayed start of cell growth of the spores formed in space when compared to the ground control. However, the mutation frequency of the NC4 spores formed in space was similar to that of the ground control. We conclude that the depression of spore formation might be induced by microgravity and/or space radiation through the depression of some stage(s) of DNA repair during cell differentiation in the slime mold.

40 CFR Appendix A to Part 97 - Final Section 126 Rule: EGU Allocations, 2004-2007

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... NC L V SUTTON 2713 3 717 NC L V SUTTON 2713 CT2B 2 NC LEE 2709 1 129 NC LEE 2709 2 142 NC LEE 2709 3 414 NC LEE 2709 CT4 1 NC LINCOLN 7277 1 33 NC LINCOLN 7277 10 31 NC LINCOLN 7277 11 33 NC LINCOLN 7277...

Sulcal set optimization for cortical surface registration.

PubMed

Joshi, Anand A; Pantazis, Dimitrios; Li, Quanzheng; Damasio, Hanna; Shattuck, David W; Toga, Arthur W; Leahy, Richard M

2010-04-15

Flat mapping based cortical surface registration constrained by manually traced sulcal curves has been widely used for inter subject comparisons of neuroanatomical data. Even for an experienced neuroanatomist, manual sulcal tracing can be quite time consuming, with the cost increasing with the number of sulcal curves used for registration. We present a method for estimation of an optimal subset of size N(C) from N possible candidate sulcal curves that minimizes a mean squared error metric over all combinations of N(C) curves. The resulting procedure allows us to estimate a subset with a reduced number of curves to be traced as part of the registration procedure leading to optimal use of manual labeling effort for registration. To minimize the error metric we analyze the correlation structure of the errors in the sulcal curves by modeling them as a multivariate Gaussian distribution. For a given subset of sulci used as constraints in surface registration, the proposed model estimates registration error based on the correlation structure of the sulcal errors. The optimal subset of constraint curves consists of the N(C) sulci that jointly minimize the estimated error variance for the subset of unconstrained curves conditioned on the N(C) constraint curves. The optimal subsets of sulci are presented and the estimated and actual registration errors for these subsets are computed. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Micro-Economics of Apoptosis in Cancer: ncRNAs Modulation of BCL-2 Family Members

PubMed Central

Villanova, Lidia; Careccia, Silvia; De Maria, Ruggero

2018-01-01

In the last few years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been a hot topic in cancer research. Many ncRNAs were found to regulate the apoptotic process and to play a role in tumor cell resistance to treatment. The apoptotic program is on the frontline as self-defense from cancer onset, and evasion of apoptosis has been classified as one of the hallmarks of cancer responsible for therapy failure. The B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family members are key players in the regulation of apoptosis and mediate the activation of the mitochondrial death machinery in response to radiation, chemotherapeutic agents and many targeted therapeutics. The balance between the pro-survival and the pro-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins is strictly controlled by ncRNAs. Here, we highlight the most common mechanisms exerted by microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs on the main mediators of the intrinsic apoptotic cascade with particular focus on their significance in cancer biology. PMID:29570632

Micro-Economics of Apoptosis in Cancer: ncRNAs Modulation of BCL-2 Family Members.

PubMed

Villanova, Lidia; Careccia, Silvia; De Maria, Ruggero; Fiori, Micol E

2018-03-23

In the last few years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been a hot topic in cancer research. Many ncRNAs were found to regulate the apoptotic process and to play a role in tumor cell resistance to treatment. The apoptotic program is on the frontline as self-defense from cancer onset, and evasion of apoptosis has been classified as one of the hallmarks of cancer responsible for therapy failure. The B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family members are key players in the regulation of apoptosis and mediate the activation of the mitochondrial death machinery in response to radiation, chemotherapeutic agents and many targeted therapeutics. The balance between the pro-survival and the pro-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins is strictly controlled by ncRNAs. Here, we highlight the most common mechanisms exerted by microRNAs, long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs on the main mediators of the intrinsic apoptotic cascade with particular focus on their significance in cancer biology.

Photoluminescence and time-resolved carrier dynamics in thiol-capped CdTe nanocrystals under high pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yan-Cheng; Chou, Wu-Ching; Susha, Andrei S.; Kershaw, Stephen V.; Rogach, Andrey L.

2013-03-01

The application of static high pressure provides a method for precisely controlling and investigating many fundamental and unique properties of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs). This study systematically investigates the high-pressure photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved carrier dynamics of thiol-capped CdTe NCs of different sizes, at different concentrations, and in various stress environments. The zincblende-to-rocksalt phase transition in thiol-capped CdTe NCs is observed at a pressure far in excess of the bulk phase transition pressure. Additionally, the process of transformation depends strongly on NC size, and the phase transition pressure increases with NC size. These peculiar phenomena are attributed to the distinctive bonding of thiols to the NC surface. In a nonhydrostatic environment, considerable flattening of the PL energy of CdTe NC powder is observed above 3.0 GPa. Furthermore, asymmetric and double-peak PL emissions are obtained from a concentrated solution of CdTe NCs under hydrostatic pressure, implying the feasibility of pressure-induced interparticle coupling.

Exploratory Study of RNA Polymerase II Using Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodin, Thor; Umemura, Kazuo; Gad, Mohammed; Jarvis, Suzanne; Ishikawa, Mitsuru; Fu, Jianhua

2002-03-01

An exploratory study of the microtopological dimensions and shape features of yeast RNA polymerase II (y-poly II) on freshly cleaved mica was made in phosphate aqueous buffer solution at room temperature following previous work by Hansma and others. The molecules were imaged by stabilization on freshly cleaved mica at a limiting resolution of 10 Å and scanned using dynamical atomic force microscopy with a 10 nm multi-wall carbon nanotube in the resonance frequency modulation mode. They indicated microtopological shape and dimensional features similar to those predicted by electron density plots derived from the X-ray crystallographic model. It is concluded that this is considered primarily a feasibility study with definitive conclusions subject to more detailed systematic measurements of the 3D microtopology. These measurements appear to establish validity of the noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) approach into defining the primary microtopology and biochemical functionality of RNA polymerase II. Further nc-AFM studies at higher resolution using dynamical nc-AFM will be required to clearly define the detailed 3D microtopology of RNA polymerase II in anaerobic aqueous environments for both static and dynamic conditions.

Antiganglioside antibodies in Guillain-Barré syndrome after a recent cytomegalovirus infection.

PubMed

Khalili-Shirazi, A; Gregson, N; Gray, I; Rees, J; Winer, J; Hughes, R

1999-03-01

To study the association between anti-ganglioside antibody responses and Guillan-Barré syndrome (GBS) after a recent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was undertaken on serum samples from 14 patients with GBS with recent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (CMV+GBS) and 12 without (CMV-GBS), 17 patients with other neurological diseases (OND), 11 patients with a recent CMV infection but without neurological involvement, 11 patients with recent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection but without neurological involvement, and 20 normal control (NC) subjects. IgM antibodies were found at 1:100 serum dilution to gangliosides GM2 (six of 14 patients), GM1 (four of 14), GD1a (three of 14) and GD1b (two of 14) in the serum samples of the CMV+GBS patients, but not in those of any of the CMV-GBS patients. IgM antibodies were also found to gangliosides GM1, GD1a, and GD1b in one of 11 OND patients, to ganglioside GM1 in one of 11 non- neurological CMV patients, and to ganglioside GD1b in one of 20 NC subjects. Some patients with EBV infection had IgM antibodies to gangliosides GM1 (five of 11), GM2 (three of 11), and GD1a (two of 11). However, the antibodies to ganglioside GM2 had a low titre, none being positive at 1:200 dilution, whereas five of the CMV+GBS serum samples remained positive at this dilution. Antibodies to ganglioside GM2 are often associated with GBS after CMV infection, but their relevance is not known. It is unlikely that CMV infection and anti-ganglioside GM2 antibodies are solely responsible and an additional factor is required to elicit GBS.

Regionally-Specific Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

PubMed Central

Mielke, M.M.; Kozauer, N.A.; Chan, K.C.G.; George, M.; Toroney, J.; Zerrate, M.; Bandeen-Roche, K.; Wang, M-C; vanZijl, P.; Pekar, J.J.; Mori, S.; Lyketsos, C.G.; Albert, M.

2009-01-01

Background Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown significant cross-sectional differences among normal controls (Bozzali et al., 2002), mild cognitive impairment (Robbins et al.) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients in several fiber tracts in the brain, but longitudinal assessment is needed. Methods We studied 75 participants (25 NC, 25 amnestic MCI, and 25 mild AD) at baseline and 3 months later, with both imaging and clinical evaluations. Fractional anisotropy (Bozzali et al., 2002) was analyzed in regions of interest (ROIs) in: (1) fornix, (2) cingulum bundle, (3) splenium, and (4) cerebral peduncles. Clinical data included assessments of clinical severity and cognitive function. Cross-sectional and longitudinal differences in FA, within each ROI, were analyzed with generalized estimating equations (GEE). Results Cross-sectionally, AD patients had lower FA than NC (p<0.05) at baseline and 3 months in the fornix and anterior portion of the cingulum bundle. Compared to MCI, AD cases had lower FA (p<0.05) in these regions and the splenium at 0 and 3 months. Both the fornix and anterior cingulum correlated across all clinical cognitive scores; lower FA in these ROIs corresponded to worse performance. Over the course of 3 months, when the subjects were clinically stable, the ROIs were also largely stable. Conclusions Using DTI, findings indicate FA is decreased in specific fiber tracts among groups of subjects that vary along the spectrum from normal to AD, and that this measure is stable over short periods of time. The fornix is a predominant outflow tract of the hippocampus and may be an important indicator of AD progression. PMID:19457371

Thermal mathematical modeling and system simulation of Space Shuttle less subsystem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chao, D. C.; Battley, H. H.; Gallegos, J. J.; Curry, D. M.

1984-01-01

Applications, validation tests, and upgrades of the two- and three-dimensional system level thermal mathematical system simulation models (TMSSM) used for thermal protection system (TPS) analyses are described. The TMSSM were developed as an aid to predicting the performance requirements and configurations of the Shuttle wing leading edge (WLE) and nose cone (NC) TPS tiles. The WLE and its structure were subjected to acoustic, thermal/vacuum, and air loads tests to simulate launch, on-orbit, and re-entry behavior. STS-1, -2 and -5 flight data led to recalibration of on-board instruments and raised estimates of the thermal shock at the NC and WLE. Baseline heating data are now available for the design of future TPS.

Lateralization of tool use in New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides).

PubMed Central

Weir, Alex A S; Kenward, Ben; Chappell, Jackie; Kacelnik, Alex

2004-01-01

We studied laterality of tool use in 10 captive New Caledonian (NC) crows (Corvus moneduloides). All subjects showed near-exclusive individual laterality, but there was no overall bias in either direction (five were left-lateralized and five were right-lateralized). This is consistent with results in non-human primates, which show strong individual lateralization for tool use (but not for other activities), and also with observations of four wild NC crows by Rutledge & Hunt. Jointly, these results contrast with observations that the crows have a population-level bias for manufacturing tools from the left edges of Pandanus sp. leaves, and suggest that the manufacture and use of tools in this species may have different neural underpinnings. PMID:15504013

Properties and function of nephrocalcin: mechanism of kidney stone inhibition or promotion.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Y

1997-03-01

Nephrocalcin (NC), an acidic glycoprotein with molecular weight 14,000, is present in urine and prevents kidney stone formation. Histoimmunochemical staining shows that NC is localized in the proximal tubles in kidneys. Isolated NC from mammalian urine, revealed at least 4 isoforms of NC (we call these isoforms NC-A, NC-B, NC-C, and NC-D in the order of elution) during DEAE cellulose column chromatography with a linear gradient of NaCl elution step. Non-stone forming people excrete more NC-A and NC-B isoforms in urine; however, more NC-C and NC-D isoforms were found in stone formers' urine. When the organic matrix was extracted from surgically removed calcium oxalate kidney stones, we found greater quantities of NC-C and NC-D isoforms than those of NC-A and NC-B isoforms. Amino acid compositions and carbohydrate contents of these 4 isoforms were similar with the exception of the gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (GLA) residues. Only the NC-A and NC-B isoforms contained residues of GLA. There were more phosphate residues present in NC-C and NC-D than in NC-A and NC-B. Upon removal of phosphate residues by alkaline phosphatase, NC-C eluted at the same salt concentrations as NC-A eluted. This indicates that the backbone protein could be similar, but the NC-C isoform is modified by excess phosphate residues. Surface tension measurements using a Lauda film balance indicated that NC-A and -B were strongly amphiphilic while NC-C and -D were less amphiphilic. NC-A has an elongated shape, and occupies a smaller area per molecule; whereas NC-C is a bulky molecule. Using NC-A as a model of a "good" inhibitor and NC-C as a model of a "poor" inhibitor, both bound with 4 atoms of Ca2+ per molecule as investigated by equilibrium dialysis method, 31P-NMR, and electron spin resonance spectrometry. Isoforms A and B changed their conformation upon Ca2+ binding, but C and D did not change their conformation. All these observations suggest that isoforms A and B are strong inhibitors of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) crystal growth and aggregation. However, isoforms C and D act as promotors for COM crystal growth-kidney stone formation. Measuring the amount of NC in urine from renal cell carcinoma patients and from NC isolated from a supernatant of a primary renal cell carcinoma cells demonstrated the amount of NC increased with disease progression.

Cognitive and neuropathologic correlates of Stroop Color-Word Test performance in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Bondi, Mark W; Serody, Adam B; Chan, Agnes S; Eberson-Shumate, Sonja C; Delis, Dean C; Hansen, Lawrence A; Salmon, David P

2002-07-01

The Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT; C. Golden, 1978) was examined in 59 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in 51 demographically comparable normal control (NC) participants. AD patients produced significantly larger Stroop interference effects than NC participants, and level of dementia severity significantly influenced SCWT performance. Principal-components analyses demonstrated a dissociation in the factor structure of the Stroop trials between NC participants and AD patients, suggesting that disruption of semantic knowledge and speeded verbal processing in AD may be a major contributor to impairment on the incongruent trial. Results of clinicopathologic correlations in an autopsy-confirmed AD subgroup further suggest the invocation of a broad network of integrated cortical regions and executive and language processes underlying successful SCWT performance.

Two-Photon Transitions in Hydrogen-Like Atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinis, Mladen; Stojić, Marko

Different methods for evaluating two-photon transition amplitudes in hydrogen-like atoms are compared with the improved method of direct summation. Three separate contributions to the two-photon transition probabilities in hydrogen-like atoms are calculated. The first one coming from the summation over discrete intermediate states is performed up to nc(max) = 35. The second contribution from the integration over the continuum states is performed numerically. The third contribution coming from the summation from nc(max) to infinity is calculated in an approximate way using the mean level energy for this region. It is found that the choice of nc(max) controls the numerical error in the calculations and can be used to increase the accuracy of the results much more efficiently than in other methods.

A Case-Controlled Study of Altered Visual Art Production in Alzheimer’s and FTLD

PubMed Central

Rankin, Katherine P.; Liu, Anli A.; Howard, Sara; Slama, Hilary; Hou, Craig. E.; Shuster, Karen; Miller, Bruce L.

2009-01-01

Objective To characterize dementia-induced changes in visual art production. Background While case studies show altered visual artistic production in some patients with neurodegenerative disease, no case-controlled studies have quantified this phenomenon across groups of patients. Method Forty-nine subjects [18 Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 9 Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), 9 Semantic Dementia (SD), 15 healthy older controls (NC)] underwent formal neuropsychological testing of visuospatial, perceptual, and creative functioning, and produced four drawings. Subjective elements of drawings were rated by an expert panel that was blind to diagnosis. Results Despite equal performance on standard visuospatial tests, dementia groups produced distinct patterns of artistic features that were significantly different from NCs. FTDs used more disordered composition and less active mark-making (p<0.05). Both FTDs and SDs drawings were rated as more bizarre and demonstrated more facial distortion than NCs (p<0.05). Also, SDs drastically failed a standardized test of divergent creativity. ADs artwork was more similar to controls than to FTDs or SDs, but showed a more muted color palette (p<0.05) and trends toward including fewer details, less ordered compositions, and occasional facial distortion. Conclusions These group differences in artistic style likely resulted from disease-specific focal neurodegeneration, and elucidate the contributions of particular brain regions to the production of visual art. PMID:17356345

PREFACE: NC-AFM 2004: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, Udo

2005-03-01

With the ongoing miniaturization of devices and controlled nanostructuring of materials, the importance of atomic-scale information on surfaces and surface properties is growing continuously. The astonishing progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology that took place during the last two decades was in many ways related to recent progress in high-resolution imaging techniques such as scanning tunnelling microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Since the mid-1990s, non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) performed in ultrahigh vacuum has evolved as an alternative technique that achieves atomic resolution, but without the restriction to conducting surfaces of the previously established techniques. Advances of the rapidly developing field of NC-AFM are discussed at annual conferences as part of a series that started in 1998 in Osaka, Japan. This special issue of Nanotechnology is a compilation of original work presented at the 7th International Conference on Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy that took place in Seattle, USA, 12-15 September 2004. Over the years, the conference grew in size and scope. Atomic resolution imaging of oxides and semiconductors remains an issue. Noticeable new developments have been presented in this regard such as, e.g., the demonstrated ability to manipulate individual atoms. Additionally, the investigation of individual molecules, clusters, and organic materials gains more and more attention. In this context, considerable effort is undertaken to transfer the NC-AFM principle based on frequency modulation to applications in air and liquids with the goal of enabling high-resolution surface studies of biological material in native environments, as well as to reduce the experimental complexity, which so far involves the availability of (costly) vacuum systems. Force spectroscopy methods continue to be improved and are applied to topics such as the imaging of the three-dimensional force field as a function of the distance with atomic resolution, the investigation of near-surface electronic states, the quantification of adhesion forces, and the lateral mapping of surface potentials. The origin of energy dissipation, which is closely related to an in-depth understanding of tip-surface interactions and imaging mechanisms, was the subject of an ongoing discussion and addressed by various theoretical, computational, and experimental contributions. A characteristic of the NC-AFM conference series is the lively and friendly atmosphere, which year after year stimulates scientific discussions between the participants. This time, the programme included 5 invited talks, 84 contributed presentations, and 113 participants; furthermore, three educational lectures were given as part of a pre-conference workshop targeted at NC-AFM newcomers, which was attended by 30 participants. I would like to thank the members of the international steering committee and the programme committee for their continued effort in organizing the meeting. Special thanks go to the chair of the programme and local organizing committees S Fain and the conference manager J Kvamme for making the meeting a success. Financial support is acknowledged from the corporate sponsors MikroMasch USA, Nanonis GmbH, Nanosurf AG, Omicron Nanotechnology, PSIA, Inc., and RHK Technology, as well as from the institutional sponsors National Science Foundation and PNNL/UW Joint Institute for Nanoscience. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who participated in assembling this special issue including the authors, the reviewers, and, in particular, the excellent and experienced journal team from the Institute of Physics Publishing headed by Nina Couzin, for devoting their time and efforts so that we could make this issue a useful representation of the progress in NC-AFM while maintaining our tight publication schedule. In conclusion, I would like to mention that the Seattle conference was the first one of the NC-AFM series that took place in the USA. As such, it was part of a series of recent activities within the USA, which will help in establishing a strong domestic NC-AFM community.

Greater healthcare utilization and costs among Black persons compared to White persons with aphasia in the North Carolina stroke belt.

PubMed

Ellis, Charles; Hardy, Rose Y; Lindrooth, Richard C

2017-05-15

To examine racial differences in healthcare utilization and costs for persons with aphasia (PWA) being treated in acute care hospitals in North Carolina (NC). NC Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database (HCUP-SID) data from 2011-2012 were analyzed to examine healthcare utilization and costs of care for stroke patients with aphasia. Analyses emphasized length of stay, charges and cost of general hospital services. Generalized linear models (GLM) were constructed to determine the impact of demographic characteristics, stroke/illness severity, and observed hospital characteristics on utilization and costs. Hospital fixed effects were included to yield within-hospital estimates of disparities. GLM models demonstrated that Blacks with aphasia experienced 1.9days longer lengths of stay compared to Whites with aphasia after controlling for demographic characteristics, 1.4days controlling for stroke/illness severity, 1.2days controlling for observed hospital characteristics, and ~1 extra day controlling for unobserved hospital characteristics. Similarly, Blacks accrued ~$2047 greater total costs compared to Whites after controlling for demographic characteristics, $1659 controlling for stroke/illness severity, $1338 controlling for observed hospital characteristics, and ~$1311 greater total costs after controlling for unobserved hospital characteristics. In the acute hospital setting, Blacks with aphasia utilize greater hospital services during longer hospitalizations and at substantially higher costs in the state of NC. A substantial portion of the adjusted difference was related to the hospital treating the patient. However, even after controlling for the hospital, the differences remained clinically and statistically significant. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemically Adjusting Plasma Temperature, Energy and Reactivity (CAPTEAR) Method Using NOx and Combustion for Selective Synthesis of Sc3N@C80 Metallic Nitride Fullerenes

PubMed Central

Stevenson, Steven; Thompson, M. Corey; Coumbe, H. Louie; Mackey, Mary A.; Coumbe, Curtis E.; Phillips, J. Paige

2008-01-01

Goals are (1) to selectively synthesize MNFs in lieu of empty-cage fullerenes (e.g., C60, C70) without compromising MNF yield and (2) to test our hypothesis that MNFs possess a different set of optimal formation parameters than empty-cage fullerenes. In this work, we introduce a novel approach for the selective synthesis of metallic nitride fullerenes (MNFs). This new method is “Chemically Adjusting Plasma Temperature, Energy and Reactivity” (CAPTEAR). The CAPTEAR approach with copper nitrate hydrate uses NOx vapor from NOx generating solid reagents, air and combustion to “tune” the temperature, energy and reactivity of the plasma environment. The extent of temperature, energy and reactive environment is stoichiometrically varied until optimal conditions for selective MNF synthesis are achieved. Analysis of soot extracts indicate that percentages of C60 and Sc3N@C80 are inversely related, whereas the percentages of C70 and higher empty-cage C2n fullerenes are largely unaffected. Hence, there may be a “competitive link” in the formation and mechanism of C60 and Sc3N@C80. Using this CAPTEAR method, purified MNFs (96% Sc3N@C80, 12 mg) have been obtained in soot extracts without a significant penalty in milligram yield when compared to control soot extracts (4% Sc3N@C80, 13 mg Sc3N@C80). The CAPTEAR process with Cu(NO3)2·2.5 H2O uses an exothermic nitrate moiety to suppress empty-cage fullerene formation, whereas Cu functions as a catalyst additive to offset the reactive plasma environment and boost the Sc3N@C80 MNF production. PMID:18052069

Disruption in the cecal microbiota of chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens and other factors was alleviated by Bacillus licheniformis supplementation.

PubMed

Lin, Yicen; Xu, Shuai; Zeng, Dong; Ni, Xueqin; Zhou, Mengjia; Zeng, Yan; Wang, Hesong; Zhou, Yi; Zhu, Hui; Pan, Kangcheng; Li, Guangyao

2017-01-01

Clostridium perfringens can induce necrotic enteritis of chickens, which causes large economic losses every year. Bacillus licheniformis, a probiotic, can inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens, thereby improving the health status of chickens. However, from a microbial ecology perspective, the mechanisms by which alterations to the gut microbiota improve health remain unknown. In this study, we used Illumina MiSeq sequencing to investigate the cecal microbiota of a negative control group (NC), a C. perfringens and Eimeria challenge group with fishmeal supplementation (PC), a group supplemented with fishmeal and infected with coccidia (FC), and group PC with B. licheniformis supplementation (BL). We found that the health status of C. perfringens-challenged chickens was compromised, and that B. licheniformis improved the growth of the chickens challenged with pathogens. Microbial diversity analysis and taxonomic profiling of groups NC, PC, and FC revealed a disturbed cecal microflora of the birds with C. perfringens. We also characterized the microbiota of the chickens in the BL group using several methods. Principal coordinate analysis demonstrated that, compared with group PC, the bacterial community structure of group BL was more similar to that of group NC. Linear discriminant analysis with effect size revealed less differentially represented bacterial taxa between groups BL and NC than between groups PC and NC. In addition, groups BL and NC appeared to have similar overrepresented microbial taxa (such as Bacteroides, Helicobacter, Megamonas, and Akkermansia) compared with group PC. Finally, a phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states analysis indicated that large differences existed between group PC and groups NC and BL. In conclusion, pre-treatment with B. licheniformis reduced the disturbance of the cecal microbiome induced by challenge with C. perfringens and other factors in broiler chickens.

Safety Outcomes of NOTES Cholecystectomy Versus Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Peng, Cheng; Ling, Yan; Ma, Chi; Ma, Xiaochun; Fan, Wei; Niu, Weibo

2016-01-01

Objective: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an endoscopic technique whereby surgical interventions can be performed with a flexible endoscope passed through a natural orifice (mouth, vulva, urethra, anus) then through a transluminal opening of the stomach, vagina, bladder, or colon. Although in the early stage of research and development, NOTES has been clinically applied across the globe, above all the transvaginal cholecystectomy is among the most frequently performed procedures. In the existing 2 types of transvaginal routes, the hybrid NOTES cholecystectomy (NC) is more likely to be accepted. However, there has been controversy regarding the safety outcomes of hybrid NC in comparison with classical laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). The primary objective of this meta-analysis is to compare the characteristics between NC and classical LC. Materials and Methods: A meta-analysis of eligible studies comparing NC with classical LC was performed to evaluate the safety outcomes including wound complications, other postoperative complications and intraoperative conversion between the 2 groups. Results: Pooling 3 randomized controlled trials (n=157) and 7 nonrandomized trial (n=593) demonstrated that the rates of wound complications and other postoperative complications in NC group did not significantly differ from those of classical LC group [wound complications: ratio difference (RD)=−0.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.04to 0.01, P=0.23; other postoperative complication: RD=−0.01; 95% CI, −0.03 to 0.02; P=0.6]. The intraoperative conversion rate in NC groups was higher than that of LC groups (RD=0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.06; P=0.02). Conclusions: There is no significate difference between the safety of NC and laparoscope cholecystectomy. NC is associated with a higher rate of intraoperative conversion when compared with LC. It is worthy of further promotion and validation in clinical settings. PMID:27557339

Expression of the ZNT1 Zinc Transporter from the Metal Hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens Confers Enhanced Zinc and Cadmium Tolerance and Accumulation to Arabidopsis thaliana

PubMed Central

Schat, Henk; Aarts, Mark G. M.

2016-01-01

Prompt regulation of transition metal transporters is crucial for plant zinc homeostasis. NcZNT1 is one of such transporters, found in the metal hyperaccumulator Brassicaceae species Noccaea caerulescens. It is orthologous to AtZIP4 from Arabidopsis thaliana, an important actor in Zn homeostasis. We examined if the NcZNT1 function contributes to the metal hyperaccumulation of N. caerulescens. NcZNT1 was found to be a plasma-membrane located metal transporter. Constitutive overexpression of NcZNT1 in A. thaliana conferred enhanced tolerance to exposure to excess Zn and Cd supply, as well as increased accumulation of Zn and Cd and induction of the Fe deficiency response, when compared to non-transformed wild-type plants. Promoters of both genes were induced by Zn deficiency in roots and shoots of A. thaliana. In A. thaliana, the AtZIP4 and NcZNT1 promoters were mainly active in cortex, endodermis and pericycle cells under Zn deficient conditions. In N. caerulescens, the promoters were active in the same tissues, though the activity of the NcZNT1 promoter was higher and not limited to Zn deficient conditions. Common cis elements were identified in both promoters by 5’ deletion analysis. These correspond to the previously determined Zinc Deficiency Responsive Elements found in A. thaliana to interact with two redundantly acting transcription factors, bZIP19 and bZIP23, controlling the Zn deficiency response. In conclusion, these results suggest that NcZNT1 is an important factor in contributing to Zn and Cd hyperaccumulation in N. caerulescens. Differences in cis- and trans-regulators are likely to account for the differences in expression between A. thaliana and N. caerulescens. The high, constitutive NcZNT1 expression in the stele of N. caerulescens roots implicates its involvement in long distance root-to-shoot metal transport by maintaining a Zn/Cd influx into cells responsible for xylem loading. PMID:26930473

Immunological Studies on Anti-Aids Drugs in ARC/AIDS

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-11-01

l -0..q -9,.Qqio9t Vf -a.. I W0.* ;I~ hfl--nq0h e.l~t #’ ’* .’roP v7e.lV or’C. .w . 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave W dnk) 2. REPORT OATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND...7.20 S-0 6 32.4 3..5 8 66.0 ŗ.37 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----- ---- ------------------- i I il I ~ ll li l ! ! ilI !Il PACE 1...NC HLA-OR* - * NC tic NP tC IL2r * C025 Nr ൮ NC ൣ L3*& L IND.HELP NC NC N. NC L311.S’ IND.SUPP NC NC NC NC L4*&L19 CTL +27 -27 NC NC U& L ൥ NC

Noninvasive k3 estimation method for slow dissociation PET ligands: application to [11C]Pittsburgh compound B

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Recently, we reported an information density theory and an analysis of three-parameter plus shorter scan than conventional method (3P+) for the amyloid-binding ligand [11C]Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) as an example of a non-highly reversible positron emission tomography (PET) ligand. This article describes an extension of 3P + analysis to noninvasive ‘3P++’ analysis (3P + plus use of a reference tissue for input function). Methods In 3P++ analysis for [11C]PIB, the cerebellum was used as a reference tissue (negligible specific binding). Fifteen healthy subjects (NC) and fifteen Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients participated. The k3 (index of receptor density) values were estimated with 40-min PET data and three-parameter reference tissue model and were compared with that in 40-min 3P + analysis as well as standard 90-min four-parameter (4P) analysis with arterial input function. Simulation studies were performed to explain k3 biases observed in 3P++ analysis. Results Good model fits of 40-min PET data were observed in both reference and target regions-of-interest (ROIs). High linear intra-subject (inter-15 ROI) correlations of k3 between 3P++ (Y-axis) and 3P + (X-axis) analyses were shown in one NC (r2 = 0.972 and slope = 0.845) and in one AD (r2 = 0.982, slope = 0.655), whereas inter-subject k3 correlations in a target region (left lateral temporal cortex) from 30 subjects (15 NC + 15 AD) were somewhat lower (r2 = 0.739 and slope = 0.461). Similar results were shown between 3P++ and 4P analyses: r2 = 0.953 for intra-subject k3 in NC, r2 = 0.907 for that in AD and r2 = 0.711 for inter-30 subject k3. Simulation studies showed that such lower inter-subject k3 correlations and significant negative k3 biases were not due to unstableness of 3P++ analysis but rather to inter-subject variation of both k2 (index of brain-to-blood transport) and k3 (not completely negligible) in the reference region. Conclusions In [11C]PIB, the applicability of 3P++ analysis may be restricted to intra-subject comparison such as follow-up studies. The 3P++ method itself is thought to be robust and may be more applicable to other non-highly reversible PET ligands with ideal reference tissue. PMID:24238306

Rab33B Controls Hepatitis B Virus Assembly by Regulating Core Membrane Association and Nucleocapsid Processing.

PubMed

Bartusch, Christina; Döring, Tatjana; Prange, Reinhild

2017-06-21

Many viruses take advantage of cellular trafficking machineries to assemble and release new infectious particles. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we demonstrate that the Golgi/autophagosome-associated Rab33B is required for hepatitis B virus (HBV) propagation in hepatoma cell lines. While Rab33B is dispensable for the secretion of HBV subviral envelope particles, its knockdown reduced the virus yield to 20% and inhibited nucleocapsid (NC) formation and/or NC trafficking. The overexpression of a GDP-restricted Rab33B mutant phenocopied the effect of deficit Rab33B, indicating that Rab33B-specific effector proteins may be involved. Moreover, we found that HBV replication enhanced Rab33B expression. By analyzing HBV infection cycle steps, we identified a hitherto unknown membrane targeting module in the highly basic C-terminal domain of the NC-forming core protein. Rab33B inactivation reduced core membrane association, suggesting that membrane platforms participate in HBV assembly reactions. Biochemical and immunofluorescence analyses provided further hints that the viral core, rather than the envelope, is the main target for Rab33B intervention. Rab33B-deficiency reduced core protein levels without affecting viral transcription and hampered core/NC sorting to envelope-positive, intracellular compartments. Together, these results indicate that Rab33B is an important player in intracellular HBV trafficking events, guiding core transport to NC assembly sites and/or NC transport to budding sites.

Unit Materiel Fielding Point Europe.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-10-01

NCAO to other non-AMC staging sites was the most costly alternative with respect to transportation. 33 1b This page left blank intentionally. 34...DIFFERFNT TYPES) wILL RE CONS’OL- IOATEn AT THE ncAO UMFP A. T TMHTN TIPE. PROJFCTEI) RFOUIREMENTS FOR rOVFREn STORAr;F AT THE F-Za REMAT~i WFLL RFLOWt TOTAL...subject as above. b. Letter, AMXLC-S, your HO, 13 Jun 85, subject: NCAO UMFP Analysis (Report Number 514101). 2. Reference la requested supply data on

Changes in sleep quality of athletes under normobaric hypoxia equivalent to 2,000-m altitude: a polysomnographic study.

PubMed

Hoshikawa, Masako; Uchida, Sunao; Sugo, Takayuki; Kumai, Yasuko; Hanai, Yoshiteru; Kawahara, Takashi

2007-12-01

This study evaluated the sleep quality of athletes in normobaric hypoxia at a simulated altitude of 2,000 m. Eight male athletes slept in normoxic condition (NC) and hypoxic conditions equivalent to those at 2,000-m altitude (HC). Polysomnographic recordings of sleep included the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram, chin surface electromyogram, and electrocardiogram. Thoracic and abdominal motion, nasal and oral airflow, and arterial blood oxygen saturation (Sa(O(2))) were also recorded. Standard visual sleep stage scoring and fast Fourier transformation analyses of the EEG were performed on 30-s epochs. Subjective sleepiness and urinary catecholamines were also monitored. Mean Sa(O(2)) decreased and respiratory disturbances increased with HC. The increase in respiratory disturbances was significant, but the increase was small and subclinical. The duration of slow-wave sleep (stage 3 and 4) and total delta power (<3 Hz) of the all-night non-rapid eye movement sleep EEG decreased for HC compared with NC. Subjective sleepiness and amounts of urinary catecholamines did not differ between the conditions. These results indicate that acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia equivalent to that at 2,000-m altitude decreased slow-wave sleep in athletes, but it did not change subjective sleepiness or amounts of urinary catecholamines.

76 FR 79171 - Pesticide Products; Receipt of Applications To Register New Uses

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-21

... disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot... docket ID number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page... Name and Address: Arysta LifeScience, North America LLC., 15401 Weston Parkway, Suite 150, Cary, NC...

Comparing IndexedHBase and Riak for Serving Truthy: Performance of Data Loading and Query Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS performance evaluation, distributed database, noSQL , HBase, indexing Xiaoming Gao, Judy Qiu...common hashtags created during a given time window. With the purpose of finding a solution for these challenges, we evaluate NoSQL databases such as

CTEPP NC DATA COLLECTED ON FORM 01: RECRUITMENT SURVEY FOR DAY CARE CENTER SAMPLE SUBJECTS

EPA Science Inventory

This data set contains data concerning the eligiblity of preschool children who attended day care during the day and were recruited them into the study.

The Children’s Total Exposure to Persistent Pesticides and Other Persistent Pollutant (CTEPP) study was one of the largest ...

Antarctic Atmospheric Infrasound.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-11-01

subject to expansion from solar heating. The solution is lots of RTV goop on the end caps and Tee connection. 6.1.4 Land Lines A land line failure will...on the newer cards - 57 - 6, DEMODULATOR CARD CAGE SI Filter-amplifier output Output banana plugs 5.6K 2 4I 22 NC 11 Slow-speed analogue Front panal

Role of Low Endothelial Shear Stress and Plaque Characteristics in the Prediction of Nonculprit Major Adverse Cardiac Events: The PROSPECT Study.

PubMed

Stone, Peter H; Maehara, Akiko; Coskun, Ahmet Umit; Maynard, Charles C; Zaromytidou, Marina; Siasos, Gerasimos; Andreou, Ioannis; Fotiadis, Dimitris; Stefanou, Kostas; Papafaklis, Michail; Michalis, Lampros; Lansky, Alexandra J; Mintz, Gary S; Serruys, Patrick W; Feldman, Charles L; Stone, Gregg W

2018-03-01

This study sought to determine whether low endothelial shear stress (ESS) adds independent prognostication for future major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in coronary lesions in patients with high-risk acute coronary syndrome (ACS) from the United States and Europe. Low ESS is a proinflammatory, proatherogenic stimulus associated with coronary plaque development, progression, and destabilization in human-like animal models and in humans. Previous natural history studies including baseline ESS characterization investigated low-risk patients. In the PROSPECT (Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree) study, 697 patients with ACS underwent 3-vessel intracoronary imaging. Independent predictors of MACE attributable to untreated nonculprit (nc) coronary lesions during 3.4-year follow-up were large plaque burden (PB), small minimum lumen area (MLA), and thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) morphology. In this analysis, baseline ESS of nc lesions leading to new MACE (nc-MACE lesions) and randomly selected control nc lesions without MACE (nc-non-MACE lesions) were calculated. A propensity score for ESS was constructed for each lesion, and the relationship between ESS and subsequent nc-MACE was examined. A total of 145 lesions were analyzed in 97 patients: 23 nc-MACE lesions (13 TCFAs, 10 thick-cap fibroatheromas [ThCFAs]), and 122 nc-non-MACE lesions (63 TCFAs, 59 ThCFAs). Low local ESS (<1.3 Pa) was strongly associated with subsequent nc-MACE compared with physiological/high ESS (≥1.3 Pa) (23 of 101 [22.8%]) versus (0 of 44 [0%]). In propensity-adjusted Cox regression, low ESS was strongly associated with MACE (hazard ratio: 4.34; 95% confidence interval: 1.89 to 10.00; p < 0.001). Categorizing plaques by anatomic risk (high risk: ≥2 high-risk characteristics PB ≥70%, MLA ≤4 mm 2 , or TCFA), high anatomic risk, and low ESS were prognostically synergistic: 3-year nc-MACE rates were 52.1% versus 14.4% versus 0.0% in high-anatomic risk/low-ESS, low-anatomic risk/low-ESS, and physiological/high-ESS lesions, respectively (p < 0.0001). No lesion without low ESS led to nc-MACE during follow-up, regardless of PB, MLA, or lesion phenotype at baseline. Local low ESS provides incremental risk stratification of untreated coronary lesions in high-risk patients, beyond measures of PB, MLA, and morphology. Copyright © 2018 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

μ-Rainbow: CdSe Nanocrystal Photoluminescence Gradients via Laser Spike Annealing for Kinetic Investigations and Tunable Device Design.

PubMed

Treml, Benjamin E; Jacobs, Alan G; Bell, Robert T; Thompson, Michael O; Hanrath, Tobias

2016-02-10

Much of the promise of nanomaterials derives from their size-dependent, and hence tunable, properties. Impressive advances have been made in the synthesis of nanoscale building blocks with precisely tailored size, shape and composition. Significant attention is now turning toward creating thin film structures in which size-dependent properties can be spatially programmed with high fidelity. Nonequilibrium processing techniques present exciting opportunities to create nanostructured thin films with unprecedented spatial control over their optical and electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate single scan laser spike annealing (ssLSA) on CdSe nanocrystal (NC) thin films as an experimental test bed to illustrate how the size-dependent photoluminescence (PL) emission can be tuned throughout the visible range and in spatially defined profiles during a single annealing step. Through control of the annealing temperature and time, we discovered that NC fusion is a kinetically limited process with a constant activation energy in over 2 orders of magnitude of NC growth rate. To underscore the broader technological implications of this work, we demonstrate the scalability of LSA to process large area NC films with periodically modulated PL emission, resulting in tunable emission properties of a large area film. New insights into the processing-structure-property relationships presented here offer significant advances in our fundamental understanding of kinetics of nanomaterials as well as technological implications for the production of nanomaterial films.

Dimerized Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein-Binding Peptide Ameliorates Atopic Dermatitis in NC/Nga Mice.

PubMed

Jin, Xing-Hai; Lim, Juhyeon; Shin, Dong Hae; Maeng, Jeehye; Lee, Kyunglim

2017-01-26

Our previous study showed that dimerized translationally controlled tumor protein (dTCTP) plays a role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases, such as asthma and allergic rhinitis. A 7-mer peptide, called dTCTP-binding peptide 2 (dTBP2), binds to dTCTP and inhibits its cytokine-like effects. We therefore examined the protective effects of dTBP2 in house dust mite-induced atopic dermatitis (AD)-like skin lesions in Nishiki-nezumi Cinnamon/Nagoya (NC/Nga) mice. We found that topical administration of dTBP2 significantly reduced the AD-like skin lesions formation and mast cell infiltration in NC/Nga mice, similarly to the response seen in the Protopic (tacrolimus)-treated group. Treatment with dTBP2 also decreased the serum levels of IgE and reduced IL-17A content in skin lesions and inhibited the expression of mRNAs of interleukin IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). These findings indicate that dTBP2 not only inhibits the release of Th2 cytokine but also suppresses the production of proinflammatory cytokines in AD-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice, by inhibiting TCTP dimer, in allergic responses. Therefore, dTCTP is a therapeutic target for AD and dTBP2 appears to have a potential role in the treatment of AD.

Numerical processing efficiency improved in children using mental abacus: ERP evidence utilizing a numerical Stroop task

PubMed Central

Yao, Yuan; Du, Fenglei; Wang, Chunjie; Liu, Yuqiu; Weng, Jian; Chen, Feiyan

2015-01-01

This study examined whether long-term abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training improved numerical processing efficiency and at what stage of information processing the effect appeard. Thirty-three children participated in the study and were randomly assigned to two groups at primary school entry, matched for age, gender and IQ. All children went through the same curriculum except that the abacus group received a 2-h/per week AMC training, while the control group did traditional numerical practice for a similar amount of time. After a 2-year training, they were tested with a numerical Stroop task. Electroencephalographic (EEG) and event related potential (ERP) recording techniques were used to monitor the temporal dynamics during the task. Children were required to determine the numerical magnitude (NC) (NC task) or the physical size (PC task) of two numbers presented simultaneously. In the NC task, the AMC group showed faster response times but similar accuracy compared to the control group. In the PC task, the two groups exhibited the same speed and accuracy. The saliency of numerical information relative to physical information was greater in AMC group. With regards to ERP results, the AMC group displayed congruity effects both in the earlier (N1) and later (N2 and LPC (late positive component) time domain, while the control group only displayed congruity effects for LPC. In the left parietal region, LPC amplitudes were larger for the AMC than the control group. Individual differences for LPC amplitudes over left parietal area showed a positive correlation with RTs in the NC task in both congruent and neutral conditions. After controlling for the N2 amplitude, this correlation also became significant in the incongruent condition. Our results suggest that AMC training can strengthen the relationship between symbolic representation and numerical magnitude so that numerical information processing becomes quicker and automatic in AMC children. PMID:26042012

Signs of atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis affected by distinct H2-haplotype in the NC/Nga genetic background.

PubMed

Ohkusu-Tsukada, Kozo; Ito, Daiki; Okuno, Yuki; Tsukada, Teruyo; Takahashi, Kimimasa

2018-02-07

We recently advocated in favour of naming a novel H2-haplotype consisting of K d , D/L dm7 , I-A k and I-E k in the atopic dermatitis (AD) mouse model NC/Nga as "H-2 nc ." The role of the H2-haplotype in AD development was investigated in H2 b -congenic NC/Nga mice (NC.h2 b/b and NC.h2 b/nc ) established by backcrossing. A severe 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced dermatitis in NC/Nga was alleviated partially in NC.h2 b/nc and significantly in NC.h2 b/b . The AD phenotype was correlated with thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)-epidermal expression levels and serum levels of total IgE and IL-18/IL-33. Histologically, allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) was accompanied by lymphocytes and plasma cells-infiltrating perivasculitis in NC.h2 b/nc and NC.h2 b/b and clearly differed from AD accompanied by neutrophils, eosinophils and macrophages-infiltrating diffuse suppurative dermatitis in NC/Nga. Interestingly, IFN-γ/IL-17 production from autoreactive CD4 + T-cells remarkably increased in DNFB-sensitised NC.h2 b/b but not in NC/Nga. Our findings suggest that AD or ACD may depend on haplotype H-2 nc or H-2 b , respectively, in addition to the NC/Nga genetic background.

Size-tunable copper nanocluster aggregates and their application in hydrogen sulfide sensing on paper-based devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Po-Cheng; Li, Yu-Chi; Ma, Jia-Yin; Huang, Jia-Yu; Chen, Chien-Fu; Chang, Huan-Tsung

2016-04-01

Polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), a strong polyelectrolyte, was used to prepare red photoluminescent PSS-penicillamine (PA) copper (Cu) nanoclusters (NC) aggregates, which displayed high selectivity and sensitivity to the detection of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The size of the PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates could be readily controlled from 5.5 μm to 173 nm using different concentrations of PSS, which enabled better dispersity and higher sensitivity towards H2S. PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates provided rapid H2S detection by using the strong Cu-S interaction to quench NC photoluminescence as a sensing mechanism. As a result, a detection limit of 650 nM, which is lower than the maximum level permitted in drinking water by the World Health Organization, was achieved for the analysis of H2S in spring-water samples. Moreover, highly dispersed PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates could be incorporated into a plate-format paper-based analytical device which enables ultra-low sample volumes (5 μL) and feature shorter analysis times (30 min) compared to conventional solution-based methods. The advantages of low reagent consumption, rapid result readout, limited equipment, and long-term storage make this platform sensitive and simple enough to use without specialized training in resource constrained settings.

Gene and noncoding RNA regulation underlying photoreceptor protection: microarray study of dietary antioxidant saffron and photobiomodulation in rat retina

PubMed Central

Zhu, Yuan; Valter, Krisztina; Bisti, Silvia; Eells, Janis; Stone, Jonathan

2010-01-01

Purpose To identify the genes and noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) involved in the neuroprotective actions of a dietary antioxidant (saffron) and of photobiomodulation (PBM). Methods We used a previously published assay of photoreceptor damage, in which albino Sprague Dawley rats raised in dim cyclic illumination (12 h 5 lux, 12 h darkness) were challenged by 24 h exposure to bright (1,000 lux) light. Experimental groups were protected against light damage by pretreatment with dietary saffron (1 mg/kg/day for 21 days) or PBM (9 J/cm2 at the eye, daily for 5 days). RNA from one eye of four animals in each of the six experimental groups (control, light damage [LD], saffron, PBM, saffronLD, and PBMLD) was hybridized to Affymetrix rat genome ST arrays. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of 14 selected genes was used to validate the microarray results. Results LD caused the regulation of 175 entities (genes and ncRNAs) beyond criterion levels (p<0.05 in comparison with controls, fold-change >2). PBM pretreatment reduced the expression of 126 of these 175 LD-regulated entities below criterion; saffron pretreatment reduced the expression of 53 entities (50 in common with PBM). In addition, PBM pretreatment regulated the expression of 67 entities not regulated by LD, while saffron pretreatment regulated 122 entities not regulated by LD (48 in common with PBM). PBM and saffron, given without LD, regulated genes and ncRNAs beyond criterion levels, but in lesser numbers than during their protective action. A high proportion of the entities regulated by LD (>90%) were known genes. By contrast, ncRNAs were prominent among the entities regulated by PBM and saffron in their neuroprotective roles (73% and 62%, respectively). Conclusions Given alone, saffron and (more prominently) PBM both regulated significant numbers of genes and ncRNAs. Given before retinal exposure to damaging light, thus while exerting their neuroprotective action, they regulated much larger numbers of entities, among which ncRNAs were prominent. Further, the downregulation of known genes and of ncRNAs was prominent in the protective actions of both neuroprotectants. These comparisons provide an overview of gene expression induced by two neuroprotectants and provide a basis for the more focused study of their mechanisms. PMID:20844572

Oral administration of Yokukansan inhibits the development of atopic dermatitis-like lesions in isolated NC/Nga mice.

PubMed

Jiang, Ju; Yamaguchi, Takuji; Funakushi, Naoko; Kuhara, Takatoshi; Fan, Ping-shen; Ueki, Rie; Suto, Hajime; Kase, Yoshio; Ikeda, Shigaku; Ogawa, Hideoki

2009-10-01

Increasing evidence suggests that stress can trigger and exacerbate atopic dermatitis (AD). Psychotherapy is becoming more important in the treatment of AD patients. Yokukansan (YKS, Yi-Gan San in Chinese), a traditional Japanese medicine, has been widely utilized in the treatment of neurosis, insomnia and anxiety especially in Asian countries. Furthermore, it was reported that YKS inhibited skin lesions in socially isolated mice but not in group-housed mice. Therefore, in the present study it was investigated whether or not YKS was effective in the treatment of AD using socially isolated NC/Nga mice. The present study was designed to assess the effect of YKS on the development of AD-like lesions in socially isolated NC/Nga mice to obtain information about its usefulness in the treatment of AD. Ten-week-old male NC/Nga mice were socially isolated under conventional conditions. YKS was administered orally to mice at the dose of 0.5% or 1.0% together with diet. The efficacy of YKS was evaluated by assessing skin lesion severity, scratching behaviors, skin hydration, and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the skin. Grooming behaviors evoked by social isolation stress and serum corticosterone levels were also measured. Oral administration of YKS to socially isolated NC/Nga mice resulted in the inhibition of exacerbation of AD-like skin lesions. It seemed that the inhibition of exacerbation of AD-like skin lesions observed in NC/Nga mice might be due to suppression of the scratching and grooming behaviors, inhibition of the infiltration of mast cells and eosinophils, and retention of humidity in the skin. Serum corticosterone levels were also significantly inhibited in the 1%-YKS-treated mice as compared with those of the control mice. There were no significant differences in the levels of serum total IgE and nerve growth factor (NGF) between the YKS-treated mice and the non-treated control mice. YKS inhibited the development of AD-like skin lesions in socially isolated NC/Nga mice by suppressing scratching and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the skin. These results indicate that YKS possesses an anti-itching property, and its anti-itching may be partly through attenuation on social isolation stress. It is expected that YKS might provide an effective alternative therapy for AD in human patients.

RESEARCH AREA -- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CONTROL (AIR POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY BRANCH, AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL DIVISION, NRMRL)

EPA Science Inventory

The Air Pollution Technology Branch (APTB) of NRMRL's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division in Research Triangle Park, NC, has conducted several research projects for evaluating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the control of pollution control systems an...

77 FR 23597 - Revocation of Class E Airspace; Southport, NC, and Establishment of Class E Airspace; Oak Island, NC

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-20

... designated as South Brunswick County Airport, Southport, NC, (old name), and establish Class E airspace... surface of the earth. * * * * * ASO NC E5 Southport, NC [Removed] * * * * * ASO NC E5 Oak Island, NC [New...

Big Things on the Horizon for Electronic Health Records and Communication with our Partners

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-26

Challenges  Complexity – Systems & Networks – Identity – Configuration Control  Change Management 7 2011 MHS Conference VLER Concept 8 - HeaJth Records...ln t;_he c: • • • o f • n"oa (JlC • I ern•r.g•nc y .. c a ll 𔄃 1 I o r con.-;a c ’= y o ur l ocal E.Merq•nc y M•d•c •l s e .. vlc e . Book a r’l

Regional Food Distribution Characteristics and a Methodology for Redistribution in Accordance with Crisis Relocation. Appendices.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-01

3,000 NC HCNDEPSON 2 1 1 11,500 NC MECKLUECURG 4 4 44,000 NC POLK 1 1 1,500 NIC RICHMOND 1 1 1,500 NC TW A15Y LVANIA 1 1 3,000 NC YANCEY 1 1 7,000 SC...JEFFERSON 2 1 1 2-250 FKY NELSON 1 1 750 *~TOTAL 4 3 1 3,750 JELLICO GROCERY CO ELIZASETH70:41N TN NC YANCEY 1 1 750 TN CARTER 1 1 3,000 TOTAL 2 1 1...2 1 1 3,750 NC UNION 1 1 1,500 NC VANCE I 1 5,000 NC WATAUGA 4 2 7,500 NC WILKES 7 4 3 7,500 NC YADKIN 3 1 2 3,750 NC YANCEY 1 1 3,000 SC ANDERSON 4

Application of the Wavy Mechanical Face Seal to Submarine Seal Design

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-01

i2), IIIMRT(±.2i2) 146 COMMON IVMATC12,. 1.),. BMAT (360). RHAi(12),RHB(i𔃼) 150 COMMON RCP, RCM, RF, RS 160 REAL*4 MTM. MTP, JXP, JYP, JX%’PJTP, JXM...NN-I. N 3326 NC-n(NN-l)*12+1 330 OMRTCNC)=BM’IT(NC)eCVXP(NN) 3349 BMAT (NC.I)- BMAT (NC..I)eCYPNN) 3359 IPIRT(NC+5)u=tIAT(NC.S)+CMTP(NN) 3360 OMAT(NC4𔄀... BMAT (NC+6)4CYfl(NN) 3378 SM’AT(NC.7)onBMRT(NC+7)+CYYfl(NN) 3380 700 BflRT(NC.i±)-BflAT(NCi±)CMT(NN) 3390 C 349 C ENFORCE ZERO DISPLACEMENT BOUNDARY

Unconscious Processing of Facial Expressions in Individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder.

PubMed

Peng, Xiaozhe; Cui, Fang; Wang, Ting; Jiao, Can

2017-01-01

Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is characterized by impairments in social communication and the avoidance of social contact. Facial expression processing is the basis of social communication. However, few studies have investigated how individuals with IGD process facial expressions, and whether they have deficits in emotional facial processing remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to explore these two issues by investigating the time course of emotional facial processing in individuals with IGD. A backward masking task was used to investigate the differences between individuals with IGD and normal controls (NC) in the processing of subliminally presented facial expressions (sad, happy, and neutral) with event-related potentials (ERPs). The behavioral results showed that individuals with IGD are slower than NC in response to both sad and neutral expressions in the sad-neutral context. The ERP results showed that individuals with IGD exhibit decreased amplitudes in ERP component N170 (an index of early face processing) in response to neutral expressions compared to happy expressions in the happy-neutral expressions context, which might be due to their expectancies for positive emotional content. The NC, on the other hand, exhibited comparable N170 amplitudes in response to both happy and neutral expressions in the happy-neutral expressions context, as well as sad and neutral expressions in the sad-neutral expressions context. Both individuals with IGD and NC showed comparable ERP amplitudes during the processing of sad expressions and neutral expressions. The present study revealed that individuals with IGD have different unconscious neutral facial processing patterns compared with normal individuals and suggested that individuals with IGD may expect more positive emotion in the happy-neutral expressions context. • The present study investigated whether the unconscious processing of facial expressions is influenced by excessive online gaming. A validated backward masking paradigm was used to investigate whether individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and normal controls (NC) exhibit different patterns in facial expression processing.• The results demonstrated that individuals with IGD respond differently to facial expressions compared with NC on a preattentive level. Behaviorally, individuals with IGD are slower than NC in response to both sad and neutral expressions in the sad-neutral context. The ERP results further showed (1) decreased amplitudes in the N170 component (an index of early face processing) in individuals with IGD when they process neutral expressions compared with happy expressions in the happy-neutral expressions context, whereas the NC exhibited comparable N170 amplitudes in response to these two expressions; (2) both the IGD and NC group demonstrated similar N170 amplitudes in response to sad and neutral faces in the sad-neutral expressions context.• The decreased amplitudes of N170 to neutral faces than happy faces in individuals with IGD might due to their less expectancies for neutral content in the happy-neutral expressions context, while individuals with IGD may have no different expectancies for neutral and sad faces in the sad-neutral expressions context.

Identification of the human homolog of the imprinted mouse Air non-coding RNA

PubMed Central

Yotova, Iveta Y.; Vlatkovic, Irena M.; Pauler, Florian M.; Warczok, Katarzyna E.; Ambros, Peter F.; Oshimura, Mitsuo; Theussl, Hans-Christian; Gessler, Manfred; Wagner, Erwin F.; Barlow, Denise P.

2010-01-01

Genomic imprinting is widely conserved amongst placental mammals. Imprinted expression of IGF2R, however, differs between mice and humans. In mice, Igf2r imprinted expression is seen in all fetal and adult tissues. In humans, adult tissues lack IGF2R imprinted expression, but it is found in fetal tissues and Wilms' tumors where it is polymorphic and only seen in a small proportion of tested samples. Mouse Igf2r imprinted expression is controlled by the Air (Airn) ncRNA whose promoter lies in an intronic maternally-methylated CpG island. The human IGF2R gene carries a homologous intronic maternally-methylated CpG island of unknown function. Here, we use transfection and transgenic studies to show that the human IGF2R intronic CpG island is a ncRNA promoter. We also identify the same ncRNA at the endogenous human locus in 16–40% of Wilms' tumors. Thus, the human IGF2R gene shows evolutionary conservation of key features that control imprinted expression in the mouse. PMID:18789384

Random Number Generation and Executive Functions in Parkinson's Disease: An Event-Related Brain Potential Study.

PubMed

Münte, Thomas F; Joppich, Gregor; Däuper, Jan; Schrader, Christoph; Dengler, Reinhard; Heldmann, Marcus

2015-01-01

The generation of random sequences is considered to tax executive functions and has been reported to be impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD) previously. To assess the neurophysiological markers of random number generation in PD. Event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded in 12 PD patients and 12 age-matched normal controls (NC) while either engaging in random number generation (RNG) by pressing the number keys on a computer keyboard in a random sequence or in ordered number generation (ONG) necessitating key presses in the canonical order. Key presses were paced by an external auditory stimulus at a rate of 1 tone every 1800 ms. As a secondary task subjects had to monitor the tone-sequence for a particular target tone to which the number "0" key had to be pressed. This target tone occurred randomly and infrequently, thus creating a secondary oddball task. Behaviorally, PD patients showed an increased tendency to count in steps of one as well as a tendency towards repetition avoidance. Electrophysiologically, the amplitude of the P3 component of the ERP to the target tone of the secondary task was reduced during RNG in PD but not in NC. The behavioral findings indicate less random behavior in PD while the ERP findings suggest that this impairment comes about, because attentional resources are depleted in PD.

Protection against Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Guinea Pigs via Oral Administration of Recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum Expressing VP1

PubMed Central

Wang, Miao; Pan, Li; Zhou, Peng; Lv, Jianliang; Zhang, Zhongwang; Wang, Yonglu; Zhang, Yongguang

2015-01-01

Mucosal vaccination is an effective strategy for generating antigen-specific immune responses against mucosal infections of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). In this study, Lactobacillus plantarum strains NC8 and WCFS1 were used as oral delivery vehicles containing a pSIP411-VP1 recombinant plasmid to initiate mucosal and systemic immune responses in guinea pigs. Guinea pigs were orally vaccinated (three doses) with NC8-pSIP411, NC8-pSIP411-VP1, WCFS1-pSIP411, WCFS1-pSIP411-VP1 or milk. Animals immunized with NC8-pSIP411-VP1 and WCFS1-pSIP411-VP1 developed high levels of antigen-specific serum IgG, IgA, IgM, mucosal secretory IgA (sIgA) and neutralizing antibodies, and revealed stronger cell-mediated immune responses and enhanced protection against FMDV challenge compared with control groups. The recombinant pSIP411-VP1 effectively improved immunoprotection against FMDV in guinea pigs. PMID:26629822

Detection of cell surface calreticulin as a potential cancer biomarker using near-infrared emitting gold nanoclusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subramaniyam Ramesh, Bala; Giorgakis, Emmanouil; Lopez-Davila, Victor; Kamali Dashtarzheneha, Ashkan; Loizidou, Marilena

2016-07-01

Calreticulin (CRT) is a cytoplasmic calcium-binding protein. The aim of this study was to investigate CRT presence in cancer with the use of fluorescent gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and to explore AuNC synthesis using mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) as a coating agent. MSA-coated AuNCs conferred well-dispersed, bio-stable, water-soluble nanoparticles with bioconjugation capacity and 800-850 nm fluorescence after broad-band excitation. Cell-viability assay revealed good AuNC tolerability. A native CRT amino-terminus corresponding peptide sequence was synthesised and used to generate rabbit site-specific antibodies. Target specificity was demonstrated with antibody blocking in colorectal and breast cancer cell models; human umbilical vein endothelial cells served as controls. We demonstrated a novel route of AuNC/MSA manufacture and CRT presence on colonic and breast cancerous cell surface. AuNCs served as fluorescent bio-probes specifically recognising surface-bound CRT. These results are promising in terms of AuNC application in cancer theranostics and CRT use as surface biomarker in human cancer.

Palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of amides by carbon-nitrogen cleavage: general strategy for amide N-C bond activation.

PubMed

Meng, Guangrong; Szostak, Michal

2016-06-15

The first palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of amides with boronic acids for the synthesis of ketones by sterically-controlled N-C bond activation is reported. The transformation is characterized by operational simplicity using bench-stable, commercial reagents and catalysts, and a broad substrate scope, including substrates with electron-donating and withdrawing groups on both coupling partners, steric-hindrance, heterocycles, halides, esters and ketones. The scope and limitations are presented in the synthesis of >60 functionalized ketones. Mechanistic studies provide insight into the catalytic cycle of the cross-coupling, including the first experimental evidence for Pd insertion into the amide N-C bond. The synthetic utility is showcased by a gram-scale cross-coupling and cross-coupling at room temperature. Most importantly, this process provides a blueprint for the development of a plethora of metal catalyzed reactions of typically inert amide bonds via acyl-metal intermediates. A unified strategy for amide bond activation to enable metal insertion into N-C amide bond is outlined ().

Ultralight Cut-Paper-Based Self-Charging Power Unit for Self-Powered Portable Electronic and Medical Systems.

PubMed

Guo, Hengyu; Yeh, Min-Hsin; Zi, Yunlong; Wen, Zhen; Chen, Jie; Liu, Guanlin; Hu, Chenguo; Wang, Zhong Lin

2017-05-23

The development of lightweight, superportable, and sustainable power sources has become an urgent need for most modern personal electronics. Here, we report a cut-paper-based self-charging power unit (PC-SCPU) that is capable of simultaneously harvesting and storing energy from body movement by combining a paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and a supercapacitor (SC), respectively. Utilizing the paper as the substrate with an assembled cut-paper architecture, an ultralight rhombic-shaped TENG is achieved with highly specific mass/volume charge output (82 nC g -1 /75 nC cm -3 ) compared with the traditional acrylic-based TENG (5.7 nC g -1 /5.8 nC cm -3 ), which can effectively charge the SC (∼1 mF) to ∼1 V in minutes. This wallet-contained PC-SCPU is then demonstrated as a sustainable power source for driving wearable and portable electronic devices such as a wireless remote control, electric watch, or temperature sensor. This study presents a potential paper-based portable SCPU for practical and medical applications.

Adapting Certified Safe Farm to North Carolina Agriculture: An Implementation Study.

PubMed

Storm, Julia F; LePrevost, Catherine E; Tutor-Marcom, Robin; Cope, W Gregory

2016-01-01

Certified Safe Farm (CSF) is a multimodal safety and health program developed and assessed through multiple controlled intervention studies in Iowa. Although developed with the intent to be broadly applicable to agriculture, CSF has not been widely implemented outside the midwestern United States. This article describes the CSF implementation process in North Carolina (NC), as piloted on a large-scale in three agriculturally diverse and productive counties of NC, and reports its effectiveness using the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Implementation involved (1) capacity building through safety and health training, (2) adaptation of components of Iowa's CSF model to NC agriculture, (3) marketing and recruitment, and (4) formative evaluation, including an online survey and focus group discussion. From 2009 to 2012, 113 farms participated in at least one component of the CSF intervention, representing a NC farm participation rate of 3.1% in the study area. A major adaptation of NC implementation was the utilization of NC Cooperative Extension as the local driver of implementation in contrast to local AgriSafe clinics in Iowa. The most innovative adaptation to CSF components was the development of a defined economic incentive in the form of a cost-share program. The RE-AIM framework was found to be useful and relevant to the field of agricultural health and safety translational research. This study provides effectiveness measures and implementation alternatives useful for those considering implementing CSF. It informs current efforts to move CSF from research to practice through the National Sustainable Model CSF Program initiative.

Post-learning stress differentially affects memory for emotional gist and detail in naturally cycling women and women on hormonal contraceptives

PubMed Central

Nielsen, Shawn E.; Ahmed, Imran; Cahill, Larry

2014-01-01

Sex differences in emotional memory have received increasing interest over the past decade. However, to date, no work has explored how a post-learning stressor might modulate the influence of sex hormone status on memory for gist and peripheral detail in an emotional versus neutral context. Here, we tested three predictions. First, compared to naturally cycling women (NC women) in the luteal phase, women on hormonal contraception (HC women) would have significantly blunted HPA reactivity to physical stress. Second, post-learning stress would enhance detail and gist memory from an emotional story in NC women, and finally, post-learning stress would not affect emotional memory for details or gist in HC women. Healthy NC and HC women viewed a brief, narrated story containing neutral or emotionally arousing elements. Immediately after, Cold Pressor Stress (CPS) or a control procedure was administered. One week later, participants received a surprise free recall test for story elements. NC women exhibited significantly greater cortisol increases to CPS compared to HC women. NC women who viewed the emotional story and were administered CPS recalled the most peripheral details overall and more gist from the emotional compared to the neutral story. In HC women, however, the post-learning cortisol release did not affect memory for gist or peripheral details from the emotional or neutral story in any way. Additionally, NC and HC women performed similarly on measures of attention and arousal. These findings suggest that in women, post-learning stress differentially affects memory for emotional information depending on their hormonal contraceptive status. PMID:24841741

Postlearning stress differentially affects memory for emotional gist and detail in naturally cycling women and women on hormonal contraceptives.

PubMed

Nielsen, Shawn E; Ahmed, Imran; Cahill, Larry

2014-08-01

Sex differences in emotional memory have received increasing interest over the past decade. However, to date, no work has explored how a postlearning stressor might modulate the influence of sex hormone status on memory for gist and peripheral detail in an emotional versus neutral context. Here, we tested 3 predictions. First, compared with naturally cycling (NC) women in the luteal phase, women on hormonal contraception (HC) would have significantly blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity to physical stress. Second, postlearning stress would enhance detail and gist memory from an emotional story in NC women, and finally, postlearning stress would not affect emotional memory for details or gist in HC women. Healthy NC and HC women viewed a brief, narrated story containing neutral or emotionally arousing elements. Immediately after, cold pressor stress (CPS) or a control procedure was administered. One week later, participants received a surprise free recall test for story elements. NC women exhibited significantly greater cortisol increases to CPS compared with HC women. NC women who viewed the emotional story and were administered CPS recalled the most peripheral details overall and more gist from the emotional compared with the neutral story. In HC women, however, the postlearning cortisol release did not affect memory for gist or peripheral details from the emotional or neutral story in any way. Additionally, NC and HC women performed similarly on measures of attention and arousal. These findings suggest that in women, postlearning stress differentially affects memory for emotional information depending on their hormonal contraceptive status.

Anti-diabetic properties of rice-based herbal porridges in diabetic Wistar rats.

PubMed

Senadheera, Senadheera Pathirannehelage Anuruddhika Subhashinie; Ekanayake, Sagarika; Wanigatunge, Chandanie

2014-10-01

The present study aims to investigate anti-hyperglycaemic, anti-hyperlipidaemic and toxic effects of long-term consumption of selected green leafy porridges in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rat model. Porridges made with Asparagus racemosus Willd. (AR), Hemidesmus indicus (L) R. Br. W. T. Aiton (HI), Scoparia dulcis L. (SD) and coconut milk porridge (CM) were incorporated into diets of diabetic Wistar rats. Diabetic control (DM) and normal control groups (NC) were provided with standard rat diet. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), HbA1c , C reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), liver enzymes and creatinine were measured. Feed and water intake among diabetic groups were significantly high when compared with those of NC (p < 0.05). All rats in SD (mean = 39 ± 19 g) and NC (mean = 114 ± 7 g) groups gained weight, whereas most rats in other diabetic groups lost weight. Among the diabetic groups, SD group had the lowest mean FBG, FBG increment percentage (45%) and HbA1c (5.8 ± 2.1). FBG increment percentage and HbA1c of SD group were not significantly different to those of NC (38%; 4.7 ± 0.7) (p > 0.05). Among the diabetic groups, lowest TC (119 ± 20.6 mg/dL) and highest HDL-C (33 ± 6.3 mg/dL) were also detected in SD group. Alanine transaminase and creatinine were not significantly different (p > 0.05) among diabetic groups but significant when compared with those of NC. When compared with those of NC, aspartate transaminase levels were significantly (p < 0.05) high in SD, CM and DM groups. Body weight : liver weight and body weight : pancreas weight ratios and CRP were not significantly different among all groups. The study proved that SD porridge reduced weight loss, elicited hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic properties, and caused no toxicity in diabetes-induced Wistar rats. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Making Matter Making Us: Thinking with Grosz to Find Freedom in New Feminist Materialisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Alecia Youngblood

2013-01-01

In this paper, I offer a very close reading of Grosz [2010. "Feminism, Materialism, and Freedom." In "New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency, and Politics," edited by Diana Coole and Samantha Frost, 139-157. Durham, NC: Duke University Press] thinking with Bergson in order to re-conceptualise freedom, matter, and the subject in new…

Ultrafast Nonlinear Microscopy in III-V Semiconductor Nanostructures

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-20

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: This project involved the investigation of the photoluminescence properties of individual ZnO nano-rods, characterization ...13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILIBILITY STATEMENT 6. AUTHORS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAMES AND ADDRESSES 15. SUBJECT TERMS b...Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 ultrafast imaging, strained nanomaterials , electron-hole plasma dynamics, microscopy

40 CFR 60.2235 - In what form can I submit my reports?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... with ERT are subject to this requirement to be submitted electronically into EPA's WebFIRE database... tests required by this subpart to EPA's WebFIRE database by using the Compliance and Emissions Data...FIRE Administrator, MD C404-02, 4930 Old Page Rd., Durham, NC 27703. The same ERT file with the CBI...

Isolation and culture of neural crest cells from embryonic murine neural tube.

PubMed

Pfaltzgraff, Elise R; Mundell, Nathan A; Labosky, Patricia A

2012-06-02

The embryonic neural crest (NC) is a multipotent progenitor population that originates at the dorsal aspect of the neural tube, undergoes an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migrates throughout the embryo, giving rise to diverse cell types. NC also has the unique ability to influence the differentiation and maturation of target organs. When explanted in vitro, NC progenitors undergo self-renewal, migrate and differentiate into a variety of tissue types including neurons, glia, smooth muscle cells, cartilage and bone. NC multipotency was first described from explants of the avian neural tube. In vitro isolation of NC cells facilitates the study of NC dynamics including proliferation, migration, and multipotency. Further work in the avian and rat systems demonstrated that explanted NC cells retain their NC potential when transplanted back into the embryo. Because these inherent cellular properties are preserved in explanted NC progenitors, the neural tube explant assay provides an attractive option for studying the NC in vitro. To attain a better understanding of the mammalian NC, many methods have been employed to isolate NC populations. NC-derived progenitors can be cultured from post-migratory locations in both the embryo and adult to study the dynamics of post-migratory NC progenitors, however isolation of NC progenitors as they emigrate from the neural tube provides optimal preservation of NC cell potential and migratory properties. Some protocols employ fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate a NC population enriched for particular progenitors. However, when starting with early stage embryos, cell numbers adequate for analyses are difficult to obtain with FACS, complicating the isolation of early NC populations from individual embryos. Here, we describe an approach that does not rely on FACS and results in an approximately 96% pure NC population based on a Wnt1-Cre activated lineage reporter. The method presented here is adapted from protocols optimized for the culture of rat NC. The advantages of this protocol compared to previous methods are that 1) the cells are not grown on a feeder layer, 2) FACS is not required to obtain a relatively pure NC population, 3) premigratory NC cells are isolated and 4) results are easily quantified. Furthermore, this protocol can be used for isolation of NC from any mutant mouse model, facilitating the study of NC characteristics with different genetic manipulations. The limitation of this approach is that the NC is removed from the context of the embryo, which is known to influence the survival, migration and differentiation of the NC.

Neonatal outcome and congenital malformations in children born after ICSI with testicular or epididymal sperm: a controlled national cohort study.

PubMed

Fedder, J; Loft, A; Parner, E T; Rasmussen, S; Pinborg, A

2013-01-01

Does neonatal outcome including congenital malformations in children born after ICSI with epididymal and testicular sperm [testicular sperm extraction (TESE)/percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA)/testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) (TPT)] differ from neonatal outcome in children born after ICSI with ejaculated sperm, IVF and natural conception (NC)? Children born after TPT have similar neonatal outcome, including total malformation rates, as have children born after ICSI and IVF with ejaculated sperm. Testing for variance over the four groups may indicate smaller differences in specific malformation rates with TPT as the highest risk group. Regarding neonatal outcome as well as congenital malformations in children born after TPT, studies are few, with limited sample size, heterogeneous and often performed without relevant control groups. Population-based cohort study including all Danish children born after TPT and fresh embryo transfer in Denmark from 1995 to 2009. Children born after transfer of frozen-thawed embryos were excluded. Control groups of children conceived by ICSI with ejaculated sperm, IVF and NC were identified by cross-linkage of the Danish IVF Register, Medical Birth Register (MBR) and National Hospital Discharge Register (HDR). The study group consisted of 466 children born after TPT, while the control groups consisted of 8967 (ICSI with ejaculated sperm), 17 592 (IVF) and 63 854 (NC) children. Neonatal outcomes and congenital malformations were analysed for singletons and twins separately. Risk estimates for low birthweight (LBW, <2500 g) and preterm birth (PTB, <37 gestational weeks) were adjusted for maternal age, parity, child gender and year of childbirth. The study group was identified from the Danish national database on children born after TPT. Control groups were obtained from the IVF register and the MBR. All information included in the study was retrieved from the national registers. Considering singletons and twins as one group, the sex ratio (♂/♀) was significantly lower for children born after TPT (0.89) compared with conventional IVF (1.11; P = 0.017) but did not differ significantly when compared with ICSI with ejaculated sperm (0.94) and NC (1.05). The mean birthweight (BW) for singletons did not differ significantly between groups when including only first-born children. The mean gestational age (GA) in the TPT singletons (279 ± 12 days) was significantly higher compared with IVF (276 ± 18 days; P = 0.02), but similar to ICSI with ejaculated sperm and NC singletons when including only first-born children (277 ± 16 days and 279 ± 14 days, respectively). Rate of stillbirths, perinatal and neonatal mortality in the group of TPT singletons did not differ significantly from any of the control groups. Comparable results were found for the TPT twin group, except for perinatal mortality, which was significantly lower in the TPT group compared with naturally conceived twins. The adjusted risk of LBW was significantly higher for TPT versus NC singletons [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.67 (0.48-0.93)]; however AOR for PTB was similar in the two groups. Regarding twins, similar adjusted risks were observed for PTB and LBW between the TPT and all three control groups. Significantly more Caesarean sections were performed after IVF (27.3% for singletons) and ICSI (25.1% for singletons) with ejaculated sperm compared with the TPT group (16.4% for singletons). The total rate of congenital malformations in the TPT group was 7.7% and did not differ significantly from any of the control groups. However, singleton TPT boys showed an increased rate of cardiac malformations (3.6%) compared with singleton boys after IVF (1.4%; P = 0.04) and NC (1.1%; P = 0.02). Considering the level of male infertility as a continuum over the four groups, tests for variance in the rate of cardiac malformations in singleton boys, and undescended testicles for singleton as well as twin boys were each significantly increased from NC to IVF to ICSI to TPT (P < 0.001). The rate of hypospadias showed the same pattern, but the TPT group did not differ significantly compared with the control groups. One of the limitations is that the TPT group could not be classified according to testicular or epididymal sperm, as these data were not available in the IVF register. Another limitation is that registry-based studies are encumbered with the risk of reporting or coding errors or missing data due to insufficient coding. However, the quality of data on congenital malformations in HDR has, in other studies, been validated and found acceptable for epidemiological research, and furthermore, recordings on study and control groups are performed similarly. Accumulating data show that TPT treatment is equally safe as conventional ICSI and IVF treatment and as NC with regard to neonatal outcome including congenital malformation. This study is supported by Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Scientific Unit, Horsens Hospital. No competing interests declared.

Hippocampal CA1 apical neuropil atrophy in mild Alzheimer disease visualized with 7-T MRI(Podcast)

PubMed Central

Kerchner, G.A.; Hess, C.P.; Hammond-Rosenbluth, K.E.; Xu, D.; Rabinovici, G.D.; Kelley, D.A.C.; Vigneron, D.B.; Nelson, S.J.; Miller, B.L.

2010-01-01

Objectives: In Alzheimer disease (AD), mounting evidence points to a greater role for synaptic loss than neuronal loss. Supporting this notion, multiple postmortem studies have demonstrated that the hippocampal CA1 apical neuropil is one of the earliest sites of pathology, exhibiting tau aggregates and then atrophy before there is substantial loss of the CA1 pyramidal neurons themselves. In this cross-sectional study, we tested whether tissue loss in the CA1 apical neuropil layer can be observed in vivo in patients with mild AD. Methods: We performed ultra-high-field 7-T MRI on subjects with mild AD (n = 14) and age-matched normal controls (n = 16). With a 2-dimensional T2*-weighted gradient-recalled echo sequence that was easily tolerated by subjects, we obtained cross-sectional slices of the hippocampus at an in-plane resolution of 195 μm. Results: On images revealing the anatomic landmarks of hippocampal subfields and strata, we observed thinning of the CA1 apical neuropil in subjects with mild AD compared to controls. By contrast, the 2 groups exhibited no difference in the thickness of the CA1 cell body layer or of the entire CA1 subfield. Hippocampal volume, measured on a conventional T1-weighted sequence obtained at 3T, also did not differentiate these patients with mild AD from controls. Conclusions: CA1 apical neuropil atrophy is apparent in patients with mild AD. With its superior spatial resolution, 7-T MRI permits in vivo analysis of a very focal, early site of AD pathology. GLOSSARY AD = Alzheimer disease; CDR = Clinical Dementia Rating; DG = dentate gyrus; GRE = gradient-recalled echo; NC = normal control; PiB = Pittsburgh Compound B; SP = stratum pyramidale; SRLM = stratum radiatum and stratum lacunosum-moleculare; TIV = total intracranial volume. PMID:20938031

What’s bad in cancer is good in the embryo: Importance of EMT in neural crest development

PubMed Central

Kerosuo, Laura; Bronner-Fraser, Marianne

2012-01-01

Although the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is famous for its role in cancer metastasis, it also is a normal developmental event in which epithelial cells are converted into migratory mesenchymal cells. A prime example of EMT during development occurs when neural crest (NC) cells emigrate from the neural tube thus providing an excellent model to study the principles of EMT in a nonmalignant environment. NC cells start life as neuroepithelial cells intermixed with precursors of the central nervous system. After EMT, they delaminate and begin migrating, often to distant sites in the embryo. While proliferating and maintaining multipotency and cell survival the transitioning neural crest cells lose apicobasal polarity and the basement membrane is broken down. This review discusses how these events are coordinated and regulated, by series of events involving signaling factors, gene regulatory interactions, as well as epigenetic and post-transcriptional modifications. Even though the series of events involved in NC EMT are well known, the sequence in which these steps take place remains a subject of debate, raising the intriguing possibility that, rather than being a single event, neural crest EMT may involve multiple parallel mechanisms. PMID:22430756

Configuration-controlled Au nanocluster arrays on inverse micelle nano-patterns: versatile platforms for SERS and SPR sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Yoon Hee; Chung, Kyungwha; Quan, Li Na; Špačková, Barbora; Šípová, Hana; Moon, Seyoung; Cho, Won Joon; Shin, Hae-Young; Jang, Yu Jin; Lee, Ji-Eun; Kochuveedu, Saji Thomas; Yoon, Min Ji; Kim, Jihyeon; Yoon, Seokhyun; Kim, Jin Kon; Kim, Donghyun; Homola, Jiří; Kim, Dong Ha

2013-11-01

Nanopatterned 2-dimensional Au nanocluster arrays with controlled configuration are fabricated onto reconstructed nanoporous poly(styrene-block-vinylpyridine) inverse micelle monolayer films. Near-field coupling of localized surface plasmons is studied and compared for disordered and ordered core-centered Au NC arrays. Differences in evolution of the absorption band and field enhancement upon Au nanoparticle adsorption are shown. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with theoretical studies based on the finite-difference time-domain method and rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The realized Au nanopatterns are exploited as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering and integrated into Kretschmann-type SPR sensors, based on which unprecedented SPR-coupling-type sensors are demonstrated.Nanopatterned 2-dimensional Au nanocluster arrays with controlled configuration are fabricated onto reconstructed nanoporous poly(styrene-block-vinylpyridine) inverse micelle monolayer films. Near-field coupling of localized surface plasmons is studied and compared for disordered and ordered core-centered Au NC arrays. Differences in evolution of the absorption band and field enhancement upon Au nanoparticle adsorption are shown. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with theoretical studies based on the finite-difference time-domain method and rigorous coupled-wave analysis. The realized Au nanopatterns are exploited as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering and integrated into Kretschmann-type SPR sensors, based on which unprecedented SPR-coupling-type sensors are demonstrated. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: TEM image and UV-vis absorption spectrum of citrate-capped Au NPs, AFM images of Au NC arrays on the PS-b-P4VP (41k-24k) template, ImageJ-analyzed results of PS-b-P4VP (41k-24k)-templated Au NC arrays, calculated %-surface coverage values, SEM images of Au NC arrays on the PS-b-P2VP (172k-42k) template for SPR biosensing, corresponding ImageJ-analyzed images by varying the Au NP deposition time and results of image analysis. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr03860b

Glucocorticoid effects on sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation and cytokine production under in vitro hyperthermia.

PubMed

Caroprese, M; Ciliberti, M G; De Palo, P; Santillo, A; Sevi, A; Albenzio, M

2018-06-27

The present experiment aimed at understanding the effects of cortisol levels on sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation and cytokine production during hyperthermia. To mimic stress related to the exposition of high ambient temperatures, PBMC were cultured at 43°C for 12 h, and subsequently at 39°C for additional 12 h. Cells in normothermia were cultured at 39°C for 24 h. Phytohemagglutinin-stimulated PBMC were cultured with different cortisol levels: 0 ng/mL; 100 ng/mL, representing the physiological cortisol concentration simulating stress condition (Cort100); and 1,000 ng/mL, representing the hyperactivated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Cort1000). Phytohemagglutinin-stimulated PBMC with 0 ng/mL of cortisol concentration represented the positive control, whereas nonstimulated PBMC without cortisol represented the negative control (NC). The free cell supernatants were collected for the determination of IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-10 by ELISA. Bromodeoxyuridine assay was performed on cells to determine cell proliferation. Exposition to hyperthermia negatively affected cell proliferation, IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-10 concentrations in cell supernatants. The interaction of hyperthermia and cortisol level affected both cell proliferation and IL-10 production. Both PBMC proliferation and IL-10 production in positive control, Cort100, and Cort100 decreased at 43°C as compared with 39°C NC. On average, the Cort100 treatment displayed higher concentrations of IL-6 than NC. The present experiment demonstrated that the action of cortisol concentration simulating stress condition on cell proliferation and cytokine production was a permissive/stimulatory action during normothermia, whereas it was a suppressive action during hyperthermia. These data confirmed that cortisol concentration simulating stress condition could have a role in the immune system of sheep via mediating cellular homeostasis in the condition of hyperthermia. The negative effects of hyperthermia on sheep immune responses were apparent when performing an immunological challenge. The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).

Influence of acidified drinking water on growth performance and gastrointestinal function of broilers.

PubMed

Hamid, H; Shi, H Q; Ma, G Y; Fan, Y; Li, W X; Zhao, L H; Zhang, J Y; Ji, C; Ma, Q G

2018-06-01

The ban on the use of antibiotic feed additives as growth promoters compelled the researchers for exploring the future utility of other alternatives. This experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of acidified drinking water on growth performance, gastrointestinal pH, digestive enzymes, intestinal histomorphology, and cecum microbial counting of the broiler chicken. A total of 540 one-day-old male broilers (Arbor Acre) were randomly assigned to 5 treatments, with 6 replicates of 18 chicks per replicate. Broilers received diets and water as follows: NC (negative control, basal diet, normal water), PC (positive control, basal diet + 8 ppm colistin sulfate + 8 ppm enduracidin, normal water), A1 (basal diet, continuous supply of acidified water during whole experiment period), A2 (basal diet, intermittent acidification of water during 0 to 14 d, 22 to 28 d, and 36 to 42 d), and A3 [basal diet, intermittent acidification of water (24 h/d from 0 to 14 d and from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on d 15 to 42)]. During the entire period, the acidified groups (A1, A2, and A3) and PC group showed improve on weight gain, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio compared to NC group (P < 0.05). The pH in crop, proventriculus and ileum at 43 d declined by 0.04, 1.03, 1.23; 0.55, 0.69, 0.70; and 0.63, 0.74, 1.21 in A1, A2, and A3 group, respectively. There was a significant decline of lipase activity in the PC and acidified groups compared to NC group. The A2 group had higher villus height in jejunum than NC group. The PC and acidified groups reduced (P < 0.05) the total aerobic bacteria count of cecum when contrasted to NC group. Therefore, we conclude that acidified drinking water can improve growth performance, compensate for gastric acidity, and control pathogenic bacteria in broilers and may be considered as a potential alternative to improve production parameters. Discontinuous supply of acidified water had the same or even better influence on broilers compared to continuous supply.

Cold-batter mincing of hot-boned and crust-freezing air-chilled turkey breast improved meat turnover time and product quality.

PubMed

Medellin-Lopez, M; Sansawat, T; Strasburg, G; Marks, B P; Kang, I

2014-03-01

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the combined effects of turkey hot-boning and cold-batter mincing technology on acceleration of meat turnover and meat quality improvement. For each of 3 replications, 15 turkeys were slaughtered and eviscerated. Three of the eviscerated carcasses were randomly assigned to water-immersion chilling for chill-boning (CB) and the remaining were immediately hot-boned (HB), half of which were used without chilling whereas the remaining were subjected to crust-freezing air chilling (CFAC) in an air-freezing room (1.0 m/s, -12°C) with/without 1/4; sectioning (HB-1/4;CFAC, HB-CFAC). As a result, CB and HB breasts were minced using 1 of 5 treatments: (1) CB and traditional mincing (CB-T), (2) HB and mincing with no chilling (HB-NC), (3) HB and mincing with CO2 (HB-CO2), (4) HB and mincing after CFAC (HB-CFAC), and (5) HB and mincing after quarter sectioning and CFAC (HB-1/4;CFAC). Traditional water-immersion chilling took an average of 5.5 h to reduce the breast temperature to 4°C, whereas HB-CFAC and HB-1/4;CFAC took 1.5 and 1 h, respectively. The breast of HB-CFAC and HB-1/4;CFAC showed significantly higher pH (6.0-6.1), higher fragmentation index (196-198), and lower R-value (1.0-1.1; P < 0.05) than those of the CB controls. No significant differences (P > 0.05) in sarcomere length were seen between CB-T and HB-CFAC filets regardless of quarter sectioning. When muscle was minced, the batter pH (5.9) of CB-T was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those (6.1-6.3) of HB-NC, HB-CO2, and HB-1/4;CFAC, with the intermediate pH (6.0) seen for the HB-CFAC. When meat batters were cooked, higher cooking yield (90 - 91%; P < 0.05) was found in HB-CFAC, HB-1/4;CFAC, and HB-CO2, followed by HB-NC (90%) and finally CB-T (86%). Stress values (47-51 kPa) of HB-CFAC gels were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of CB-T (30 kPa) and HB-NC (36 kPa). A similar trend was found in strain values.

Identification of the antigenic region of Neospora caninum dense granule protein 7 using ELISA.

PubMed

Abdelbaky, Hanan H; Fereig, Ragab M; Nishikawa, Yoshifumi

2018-06-26

Dense granule protein 7 (NcGRA7) is a potent diagnostic antigen of Neospora caninum. Some studies have reported on the difficult expression, low yield, and variable degree of solubility of recombinant NcGRA7. We aimed to unravel the possible causes for these issues and tested NcGRA7 antigenicity in enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The NcGRA7 coding sequence (217 amino acids) was split into five amino acid regions: NcGRA7m (27-217), NcGRA7m3 (27-160), NcGRA7m4 (27-135), NcGRA7m5 (161-190), and NcGRA7m6 (188-217). Three fragments, NcGRA7m, NcGRA7m3 and NcGRA7m4, exhibited high antigenic properties when tested against experimentally-infected mice and dog sera by ELISA. High levels of IgG2 antibodies against NcGRA7m were observed in field dog sera. In experimentally and naturally-infected cattle, the N. caninum-specific sera only reacted with NcGRA7m, indicating that this antigenic region differs among the three animal species. This study presents valuable information about the antigenic properties and topology of NcGRA7, and highlights its suitability for diagnostic purposes. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy: An Emerging Tool for Fundamental Catalysis Research.

PubMed

Altman, Eric I; Baykara, Mehmet Z; Schwarz, Udo D

2015-09-15

Although atomic force microscopy (AFM) was rapidly adopted as a routine surface imaging apparatus after its introduction in 1986, it has not been widely used in catalysis research. The reason is that common AFM operating modes do not provide the atomic resolution required to follow catalytic processes; rather the more complex noncontact (NC) mode is needed. Thus, scanning tunneling microscopy has been the principal tool for atomic scale catalysis research. In this Account, recent developments in NC-AFM will be presented that offer significant advantages for gaining a complete atomic level view of catalysis. The main advantage of NC-AFM is that the image contrast is due to the very short-range chemical forces that are of interest in catalysis. This motivated our development of 3D-AFM, a method that yields quantitative atomic resolution images of the potential energy surfaces that govern how molecules approach, stick, diffuse, and rebound from surfaces. A variation of 3D-AFM allows the determination of forces required to push atoms and molecules on surfaces, from which diffusion barriers and variations in adsorption strength may be obtained. Pushing molecules towards each other provides access to intermolecular interaction between reaction partners. Following reaction, NC-AFM with CO-terminated tips yields textbook images of intramolecular structure that can be used to identify reaction intermediates and products. Because NC-AFM and STM contrast mechanisms are distinct, combining the two methods can produce unique insight. It is demonstrated for surface-oxidized Cu(100) that simultaneous 3D-AFM/STM yields resolution of both the Cu and O atoms. Moreover, atomic defects in the Cu sublattice lead to variations in the reactivity of the neighboring O atoms. It is shown that NC-AFM also allows a straightforward imaging of work function variations which has been used to identify defect charge states on catalytic surfaces and to map charge transfer within an individual molecule. These advances highlight the potential for NC-AFM-based methods to become the cornerstone upon which a quantitative atomic scale view of each step of a catalytic process may be gained. Realizing this potential will rely on two breakthroughs: (1) development of robust methods for tip functionalization and (2) simplification of NC-AFM instrumentation and control schemes. Quartz force sensors may offer paths forward in both cases. They allow any material with an atomic asperity to be used as a tip, opening the door to a wide range of surface functionalization chemistry. In addition, they do not suffer from the instabilities that motivated the initial adoption of complex control strategies that are still used today.

Mechanism of Nucleic Acid Chaperone Function of Retroviral Nuceleocapsid (NC) Proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rouzina, Ioulia; Vo, My-Nuong; Stewart, Kristen; Musier-Forsyth, Karin; Cruceanu, Margareta; Williams, Mark

2006-03-01

Recent studies have highlighted two main activities of HIV-1 NC protein contributing to its function as a universal nucleic acid chaperone. Firstly, it is the ability of NC to weakly destabilize all nucleic acid,(NA), secondary structures, thus resolving the kinetic traps for NA refolding, while leaving the annealed state stable. Secondly, it is the ability of NC to aggregate NA, facilitating the nucleation step of bi-molecular annealing by increasing the local NA concentration. In this work we use single molecule DNA stretching and gel-based annealing assays to characterize these two chaperone activities of NC by using various HIV-1 NC mutants and several other retroviral NC proteins. Our results suggest that two NC functions are associated with its zinc fingers and cationic residues, respectively. NC proteins from other retroviruses have similar activities, although expressed to a different degree. Thus, NA aggregating ability improves, and NA duplex destabilizing activity decreases in the sequence: MLV NC, HIV NC, RSV NC. In contrast, HTLV NC protein works very differently from other NC proteins, and similarly to typical single stranded NA binding proteins. These features of retroviral NCs co-evolved with the structure of their genomes.

Role of the extracellular matrix during neural crest cell migration.

PubMed

Perris, R; Perissinotto, D

2000-07-01

Once specified to become neural crest (NC), cells occupying the dorsal portion of the neural tube disrupt their cadherin-mediated cell-cell contacts, acquire motile properties, and embark upon an extensive migration through the embryo to reach their ultimate phenotype-specific sites. The understanding of how this movement is regulated is still rather fragmentary due to the complexity of the cellular and molecular interactions involved. An additional intricate aspect of the regulation of NC cell movement is that the timings, modes and patterns of NC cell migration are intimately associated with the concomitant phenotypic diversification that cells undergo during their migratory phase and the fact that these changes modulate the way that moving cells interact with their microenvironment. To date, two interplaying mechanisms appear central for the guidance of the migrating NC cells through the embryo: one involves secreted signalling molecules acting through their cognate protein kinase/phosphatase-type receptors and the other is contributed by the multivalent interactions of the cells with their surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM). The latter ones seem fundamental in light of the central morphogenetic role played by the intracellular signals transduced through the cytoskeleton upon integrin ligation, and the convergence of these signalling cascades with those triggered by cadherins, survival/growth factor receptors, gap junctional communications, and stretch-activated calcium channels. The elucidation of the importance of the ECM during NC cell movement is presently favoured by the augmenting knowledge about the macromolecular structure of the specific ECM assembled during NC development and the functional assaying of its individual constituents via molecular and genetic manipulations. Collectively, these data propose that NC cell migration may be governed by time- and space-dependent alterations in the expression of inhibitory ECM components; the relative ratio of permissive versus non-permissive ECM components; and the supramolecular assembly of permissive ECM components. Six multidomain ECM constituents encoded by a corresponding number of genes appear to date the master ECM molecules in the control of NC cell movement. These are fibronectin, laminin isoforms 1 and 8, aggrecan, and PG-M/version isoforms V0 and V1. This review revisits a number of original observations in amphibian and avian embryos and discusses them in light of more recent experimental data to explain how the interaction of moving NC cells with these ECM components may be coordinated to guide cells toward their final sites during the process of organogenesis.

Effect of exercise training on Ca2+ release units of left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

PubMed

Carneiro-Júnior, M A; Quintão-Júnior, J F; Drummond, L R; Lavorato, V N; Drummond, F R; Amadeu, M A; Oliveira, E M; Felix, L B; Cruz, J S; Mill, J G; Natali, A J; Prímola-Gomes, T N

2014-08-29

In cardiomyocytes, calcium (Ca2+) release units comprise clusters of intracellular Ca2+ release channels located on the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and hypertension is well established as a cause of defects in calcium release unit function. Our objective was to determine whether endurance exercise training could attenuate the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release unit components and Ca2+ sparks in left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Male Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (4 months of age) were divided into 4 groups: normotensive (NC) and hypertensive control (HC), and normotensive (NT) and hypertensive trained (HT) animals (7 rats per group). NC and HC rats were submitted to a low-intensity treadmill running protocol (5 days/week, 1 h/day, 0% grade, and 50-60% of maximal running speed) for 8 weeks. Gene expression of the ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2) and FK506 binding protein (FKBP12.6) increased (270%) and decreased (88%), respectively, in HC compared to NC rats. Endurance exercise training reversed these changes by reducing RyR2 (230%) and normalizing FKBP12.6 gene expression (112%). Hypertension also increased the frequency of Ca2+ sparks (HC=7.61±0.26 vs NC=4.79±0.19 per 100 µm/s) and decreased its amplitude (HC=0.260±0.08 vs NC=0.324±0.10 ΔF/F0), full width at half-maximum amplitude (HC=1.05±0.08 vs NC=1.26±0.01 µm), total duration (HC=11.51±0.12 vs NC=14.97±0.24 ms), time to peak (HC=4.84±0.06 vs NC=6.31±0.14 ms), and time constant of decay (HC=8.68±0.12 vs NC=10.21±0.22 ms). These changes were partially reversed in HT rats (frequency of Ca2+ sparks=6.26±0.19 µm/s, amplitude=0.282±0.10 ΔF/F0, full width at half-maximum amplitude=1.14±0.01 µm, total duration=13.34±0.17 ms, time to peak=5.43±0.08 ms, and time constant of decay=9.43±0.15 ms). Endurance exercise training attenuated the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release units of left ventricular myocytes.

A cross-sectional study to evaluate the association of hyperbilirubinaemia on markers of cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive function, bone mineral density and renal markers in HIV-1 infected subjects on protease inhibitors.

PubMed

Barber, T J; Moyle, G; Hill, A; Jagjit Singh, G; Scourfield, A; Yapa, H M; Waters, L; Asboe, D; Boffito, M; Nelson, M

2016-05-01

Ongoing inflammation in controlled HIV infection contributes to non-AIDS comorbidities. High bilirubin appears to exhibit an anti-inflammatory effect in vivo. We therefore examined whether increased bilirubin in persons with HIV was associated with differences in markers of inflammation and cardiovascular, bone, renal disease, and neurocognitive (NC) impairment. This cross-sectional study examined inflammatory markers in individuals with stable HIV infection treated with two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and a boosted protease inhibitor. Individuals recruited were those with a normal bilirubin (NBR; 0-17 μmol/L) or high bilirubin (>2.5 × upper limit of normal). Demographic and anthropological data were recorded. Blood and urine samples were taken for analyses. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurement, carotid intimal thickness (CIT), and calcaneal stiffness (CSI) were measured. Males were asked to answer a questionnaire about sexual function; NC testing was performed using CogState. 101 patients were screened, 78 enrolled (43 NBR and 35 HBR). Atazanavir use was significantly higher in HBR. Whilst a trend for lower CIT was seen in those with HBR, no significant differences were seen in PWV, bone markers, calculated cardiovascular risk (Framingham), or erectile dysfunction score. VCAM-1 levels were significantly lower in the HBR group. HBR was associated with lower LDL and triglyceride levels. NBR was associated with a calculated FRAX significantly lower than HBR although no associations were found after adjusting for tenofovir use. No difference in renal markers was observed. Component tests of NC testing revealed differences favouring HBR but overall composite scores were similar. High bilirubin in the context of boosted PI therapy was found not to be associated with differences in with the markers examined in this study. Some trends were noted and, on the basis of these, a larger, clinical end point study is warranted.

Combined analysis of energy band diagram and equivalent circuit on nanocrystal solid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kano, Shinya, E-mail: kano@eedept.kobe-u.ac.jp, E-mail: fujii@eedept.kobe-u.ac.jp; Sasaki, Masato; Fujii, Minoru, E-mail: kano@eedept.kobe-u.ac.jp, E-mail: fujii@eedept.kobe-u.ac.jp

We investigate a combined analysis of an energy band diagram and an equivalent circuit on nanocrystal (NC) solids. We prepared a flat silicon-NC solid in order to carry out the analysis. An energy band diagram of a NC solid is determined from DC transport properties. Current-voltage characteristics, photocurrent measurements, and conductive atomic force microscopy images indicate that a tunneling transport through a NC solid is dominant. Impedance spectroscopy gives an equivalent circuit: a series of parallel resistor-capacitors corresponding to NC/metal and NC/NC interfaces. The equivalent circuit also provides an evidence that the NC/NC interface mainly dominates the carrier transport throughmore » NC solids. Tunneling barriers inside a NC solid can be taken into account in a combined capacitance. Evaluated circuit parameters coincide with simple geometrical models of capacitances. As a result, impedance spectroscopy is also a useful technique to analyze semiconductor NC solids as well as usual DC transport. The analyses provide indispensable information to implement NC solids into actual electronic devices.« less

Termination of the spin-resolved integer quantum Hall effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, L. W.; Jiang, H. W.; Palm, E.; Schaff, W. J.

1997-03-01

We report a magnetotransport study of the termination of the spin-resolved integer quantum Hall effect by controlled disorder in a gated GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterostructure. We have found that, for a given Nth Landau level, the difference in filling factors of a pair of spin-split resistivity peaks δνN=\\|νN↑-νN↓\\| changes rapidly from one to zero near a critical density nc. Scaling analysis shows that δνN collapses onto a single curve independent of N when plotted against the parameter (n-nc)/nc for five Landau levels. The effect of increasing the Zeeman energy is also examined by tilting the direction of magnetic field relative to the plane of the two-dimensional electron gas. Our experiment suggests the termination of the spin-resolved quantum Hall effect is a phase transition.

Hypercholesterolemia enhances thromboembolism in arterioles but not venules: complete reversal by L-arginine.

PubMed

Broeders, Martijn A W; Tangelder, Geert Jan; Slaaf, Dick W; Reneman, Robert S; oude Egbrink, Mirjam G A

2002-04-01

We investigated in vivo the effect of cholesterol diet-induced hypercholesterolemia (HC) on thromboembolism in nonatherosclerotic rabbit mesenteric arterioles and venules (diameter 21 to 45 micrometer). After mechanical vessel wall injury, the ensuing thromboembolic reaction was studied by intravital videomicroscopy. A dramatic prolongation of embolization duration (median >600 seconds) was observed in the arterioles of the HC group compared with the arterioles of a normal chow-fed (NC) control group (142 seconds, P<0.0001); concomitantly, relative thrombus height increased (thrombus height/vessel diameter was 68% for the HC group and 58% for the NC group; P<0.05). By contrast, in venules, cholesterol did not affect embolization duration (42 seconds for HC group, 34 seconds for NC group) and thrombus height (66% for HC group, 64% for NC group). Furthermore, the role of endothelial NO synthesis was studied. In arterioles, stimulation of endogenous NO synthesis through mesenteric superfusion of L-arginine (1 mmol/L) completely reversed cholesterol-enhanced embolization (152 seconds) but did not influence thrombus height (63%). L-Arginine had no effect in venules of the HC group (51 seconds) and nor in the arterioles and venules of the NC group (177 seconds for arterioles, 43 seconds for venules). This study indicates that hypercholesterolemia selectively enhances thrombus formation and embolization in arterioles but not in venules and that stimulation of endogenous NO production antagonizes this enhancement of arteriolar thromboembolism.

Stephen L. Gans Distinguished Overseas Lecture. The neural crest in pediatric surgery.

PubMed

Tovar, Juan A

2007-06-01

This review highlights the relevance of the neural crest (NC) as a developmental control mechanism involved in several pediatric surgical conditions and the investigative interest of following some of its known signaling pathways. The participation of the NC in facial clefts, ear defects, branchial fistulae and cysts, heart outflow tract and aortic arch anomalies, pigmentary disorders, abnormal enteric innervation, neural tumors, hemangiomas, and vascular anomalies is briefly reviewed. Then, the literature on clinical and experimental esophageal atresia-tracheoesophageal fistula (EA-TEF) and congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is reviewed for the presence of associated NC defects. Finally, some of the molecular signaling pathways involved in both conditions (sonic hedgehog, Hox genes, and retinoids) are summarized. The association of facial, cardiovascular, thymic, parathyroid, and C-cell defects together with anomalies of extrinsic and intrinsic esophageal innervation in babies and/or animals with both EA-TEF and CDH strongly supports the hypothesis that NC is involved in the pathogenesis of these malformative clusters. On the other hand, both EA-TEF and CDH are observed in mice mutant for genes involved in the previously mentioned signaling pathways. The investigation of NC-related molecular pathogenic pathways involved in malformative associations like EA-TEF and CDH that are induced by chromosomal anomalies, chemical teratogens, and engineered mutations is a promising way of clarifying why and how some pediatric surgical conditions occur. Pediatric surgeons should be actively involved in these investigations.

Highly crystalline lithium titanium oxide sheets coated with nitrogen-doped carbon enable high-rate lithium-ion batteries.

PubMed

Han, Cuiping; He, Yan-Bing; Li, Baohua; Li, Hongfei; Ma, Jun; Du, Hongda; Qin, Xianying; Yang, Quan-Hong; Kang, Feiyu

2014-09-01

Sheets of Li4Ti5O12 with high crystallinity are coated with nitrogen-doped carbon (NC-LTO) using a controlled process, comprising hydrothermal reaction followed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Acetonitrile (CH3 CN) vapor is used as carbon and nitrogen source to obtain a thin coating layer of nitrogen-doped carbon. The layer enables the NC-LTO material to maintain its sheet structure during the high-temperature CVD process and to achieve high crystallinity. Doping with nitrogen introduces defects into the carbon coating layer, and this increased degree of disorder allows fast transportation of lithium ions in the layer. An electrode of NC-LTO synthesized at 700 °C exhibits greatly improved rate and cycling performance due to a markedly decreased total cell resistance and enhanced Li-ion diffusion coefficient (D(Li)). Specific capacities of 159.2 and 145.8 mA h g(-1) are obtained using the NC-LTO sheets, at charge/discharge rates of 1 and 10 C, respectively. These values are much higher than values for LTO particles did not undergo the acetonitrile CVD treatment. A capacity retention value as high as 94.7% is achieved for the NC-LTO sheets after 400 cycles in a half-cell at 5 C discharge rate. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Size-tunable copper nanocluster aggregates and their application in hydrogen sulfide sensing on paper-based devices

PubMed Central

Chen, Po-Cheng; Li, Yu-Chi; Ma, Jia-Yin; Huang, Jia-Yu; Chen, Chien-Fu; Chang, Huan-Tsung

2016-01-01

Polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), a strong polyelectrolyte, was used to prepare red photoluminescent PSS-penicillamine (PA) copper (Cu) nanoclusters (NC) aggregates, which displayed high selectivity and sensitivity to the detection of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The size of the PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates could be readily controlled from 5.5 μm to 173 nm using different concentrations of PSS, which enabled better dispersity and higher sensitivity towards H2S. PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates provided rapid H2S detection by using the strong Cu-S interaction to quench NC photoluminescence as a sensing mechanism. As a result, a detection limit of 650 nM, which is lower than the maximum level permitted in drinking water by the World Health Organization, was achieved for the analysis of H2S in spring-water samples. Moreover, highly dispersed PSS-PA-Cu NC aggregates could be incorporated into a plate-format paper-based analytical device which enables ultra-low sample volumes (5 μL) and feature shorter analysis times (30 min) compared to conventional solution-based methods. The advantages of low reagent consumption, rapid result readout, limited equipment, and long-term storage make this platform sensitive and simple enough to use without specialized training in resource constrained settings. PMID:27113330

Anticoccidial effect of Piper sarmentosum extracts in experimental coccidiosis in broiler chickens.

PubMed

Wang, Dingfa; Zhou, Luli; Li, Wei; Zhou, Hanlin; Hou, Guanyu

2016-06-01

To study the anticoccidial effect of Piper sarmentosum extracts (PSE) in experimental broiler coccidiosis, 270 one-day-old Wenchang broiler chickens were randomly assigned to six groups, each with three replicates (n = 15). The six groups were blank control group (BC), negative control group (NC), positive control group (PC), and another three PSE addition groups. Chickens in three control groups were fed a basal diet without PSE supplementation. Chickens in the three PSE addition groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with PSE at 100 (T100), 200 (T200), and 300 (T300) mg/kg of feed, respectively. At 15 days of age, chickens in group NC, PC, and three PSE addition groups were challenged with an oral dose of 1 × 10(5) Eimeria tenella oocysts each chick. Chickens in group PC were fed with diclazuril solution in water for 5 days after 48 h with oocysts inoculation. The results showed that PSE and diclazuril improved growth performance and significantly (P < 0.05) decreased oocysts per gram in inoculated broiler chickens. PSE and diclazuril significantly (P < 0.05) decreased nitric oxide at 6 and 9 days post-inoculation relative to the NC group, respectively. At 6 and 9 days post-inoculation, PSE supplementation at 200 mg/kg in the diet increased concentration of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) (P < 0.05). PSE supplementation at 200 mg/kg in the diet significantly (P < 0.05) increased mRNA expressions of IFN-γ and IL-2 in the cecum of chickens at 9 days post-inoculation relative to the BC and NC group. The current results showed the anticoccidial properties, and beneficial effect on intestinal mucosa damage of PSE in broiler chickens that had been challenged by coccidiosis.

77 FR 770 - Proposed Revocation of Class E Airspace; Southport, NC, and Proposed Establishment of Class E...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-06

... County Airport, Southport, NC, (old name), and establish Class E airspace extending upward from 700 feet... surface of the earth. * * * * * ASO NC E5 Southport, NC [Removed] * * * * * ASO NC E5 Oak Island, NC [New...

Isolation and Culture of Neural Crest Cells from Embryonic Murine Neural Tube

PubMed Central

Pfaltzgraff, Elise R.; Mundell, Nathan A.; Labosky, Patricia A.

2012-01-01

The embryonic neural crest (NC) is a multipotent progenitor population that originates at the dorsal aspect of the neural tube, undergoes an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migrates throughout the embryo, giving rise to diverse cell types 1-3. NC also has the unique ability to influence the differentiation and maturation of target organs4-6. When explanted in vitro, NC progenitors undergo self-renewal, migrate and differentiate into a variety of tissue types including neurons, glia, smooth muscle cells, cartilage and bone. NC multipotency was first described from explants of the avian neural tube7-9. In vitro isolation of NC cells facilitates the study of NC dynamics including proliferation, migration, and multipotency. Further work in the avian and rat systems demonstrated that explanted NC cells retain their NC potential when transplanted back into the embryo10-13. Because these inherent cellular properties are preserved in explanted NC progenitors, the neural tube explant assay provides an attractive option for studying the NC in vitro. To attain a better understanding of the mammalian NC, many methods have been employed to isolate NC populations. NC-derived progenitors can be cultured from post-migratory locations in both the embryo and adult to study the dynamics of post-migratory NC progenitors11,14-20, however isolation of NC progenitors as they emigrate from the neural tube provides optimal preservation of NC cell potential and migratory properties13,21,22. Some protocols employ fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate a NC population enriched for particular progenitors11,13,14,17. However, when starting with early stage embryos, cell numbers adequate for analyses are difficult to obtain with FACS, complicating the isolation of early NC populations from individual embryos. Here, we describe an approach that does not rely on FACS and results in an approximately 96% pure NC population based on a Wnt1-Cre activated lineage reporter23. The method presented here is adapted from protocols optimized for the culture of rat NC11,13. The advantages of this protocol compared to previous methods are that 1) the cells are not grown on a feeder layer, 2) FACS is not required to obtain a relatively pure NC population, 3) premigratory NC cells are isolated and 4) results are easily quantified. Furthermore, this protocol can be used for isolation of NC from any mutant mouse model, facilitating the study of NC characteristics with different genetic manipulations. The limitation of this approach is that the NC is removed from the context of the embryo, which is known to influence the survival, migration and differentiation of the NC2,24-28. PMID:22688801

The benefits of endurance training in cardiomyocyte function in hypertensive rats are reversed within four weeks of detraining.

PubMed

Carneiro-Júnior, Miguel Araujo; Quintão-Júnior, Judson Fonseca; Drummond, Lucas Rios; Lavorato, Victor Neiva; Drummond, Filipe Rios; da Cunha, Daise Nunes Queiroz; Amadeu, Marco Aurélio; Felix, Leonardo Bonato; de Oliveira, Edilamar Menezes; Cruz, Jader Santos; Prímola-Gomes, Thales Nicolau; Mill, José Geraldo; Natali, Antonio José

2013-04-01

The aim of the present study was to verify the effects of low-intensity endurance training and detraining on the mechanical and molecular properties of cardiomyocytes from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Male SHRs and normotensive control Wistar rats at 16-weeks of age were randomly divided into eight groups of eight animals: NC8 and HC8 (normotensive and hypertensive control for 8weeks); NT8 and HT8 (normotensive and hypertensive trained at 50-60% of maximal exercise capacity for 8weeks); NC12 and HC12 (normotensive and hypertensive control for 12weeks); NDT and HDT (normotensive and hypertensive trained for 8weeks and detrained for 4weeks). The total exercise time until fatigue (TTF) was determined by a maximal exercise capacity test. Resting heart rate (RHR) and systolic arterial pressure (SAP) were measured. After the treatments, animals were killed by cervical dislocation and left ventricular myocytes were isolated by enzymatic dispersion. Isolated cells were used to determine intracellular global Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)]i) transient and cardiomyocyte contractility (1Hz; ~25°C). [Ca(2+)]i regulatory proteins were measured by Western blot, and the markers of pathologic cardiac hypertrophy by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-RT-PCR). Exercise training augmented the TTF (NC8, 11.4±1.5min vs. NT8, 22.5±1.4min; HC8, 11.7±1.4min vs. HT8, 24.5±1.3min; P<0.05), reduced RHR (NT8initial, 340±8bpm vs. NT8final, 322±10bpm; HT8initial, 369±8bpm vs. HT8final, 344±10bpm; P<0.05), and SBP in SHR animals (HC8, 178±3mmHg vs. HT8, 161±4mmHg; P<0.05). HC8 rats showed a slower [Ca(2+)]i transient (Tpeak, 83.7±1.8ms vs. 71.7±2.4ms; T50%decay, 284.0±4.3ms vs. 264.0±4.1ms; P<0.05) and cell contractility (Vshortening, 86.1±6.7μm/s vs. 118.6±6.7μm/s; Vrelengthening, 57.5±7.4μm/s vs. 101.3±7.4μm/s; P<0.05), and higher expression of ANF (300%; P<0.05), skeletal α-actin (250%; P<0.05) and a decreased α/β-MHC ratio (70%; P<0.05) compared to NC8. Exercise training increased [Ca(2+)]i transient (NC8, 2.39±0.06F/F0 vs. NT8, 2.72±0.06F/F0; HC8, 2.28±0.05F/F0 vs. HT8, 2.82±0.05F/F0; P<0.05), and cell contractility (NC8, 7.4±0.3% vs. NT8, 8.4±0.3%; HC8, 6.8±0.3% vs. HT8, 7.8±0.3%; P<0.05). Furthermore, exercise normalized the expression of ANF, skeletal α-actin, and the α/β-MHC ratio in HT8 rats, augmented the expression of SERCA2a (NC8, 0.93±0.15 vs. NT8, 1.49±0.14; HC8, 0.83±0.13 vs. HT8, 1.32±0.14; P<0.05) and PLBser16 (NC8, 0.89±0.18 vs. NT8, 1.23±0.17; HC8, 0.77±0.17 vs. HT8, 1.32±0.16; P<0.05), and reduced PLBt/SERCA2a (NC8, 1.21±0.19 vs. NT8, 0.50±0.21; HC8, 1.38±0.17 vs. HT8, 0.66±0.21; P<0.05). However, all these adaptations returned to control values within 4weeks of detraining in both SHR and normotensive control animals. In conclusion, low-intensity endurance training induces positive benefits to left ventricular myocyte mechanical and molecular properties, which are reversed within 4weeks of detraining. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of recovered bipolar patients, healthy relatives of bipolar probands, and normal controls using the short TEMPS-A.

PubMed

Mendlowicz, Mauro V; Jean-Louis, Girardin; Kelsoe, John R; Akiskal, Hagop S

2005-03-01

To investigate the presence of temperament dysregulation in healthy relatives of bipolar probands (RBP), a population at high risk for developing mood disorders, by comparing them with clinically recovered bipolar patients (BP) and normal controls (NC). 52 RBP and 23 BP were originally recruited for a multicenter genetic study in bipolar disorders. NC (n=102) were also recruited by newspaper advertisement, radio and television announcements, flyers, newsletters, or word of mouth. All volunteers were asked to complete the TEMPS-A Scale, a self-report questionnaire designed to measure temperamental variations in psychiatric patients and healthy volunteers. In scoring temperaments, we relied upon the short validated version of the TEMPS-A [J. Affect. Disord. (2004)], from which traits with loadings <0.035 had been deleted. To examine differences in temperament dimensions among the three groups, a MANCOVA model was constructed using diagnostic group as the fixed factor (BP vs. RBP vs. NC); effects of age and gender were adjusted as covariates. MANCOVA showed overall group effect on the dependent variables (Hotelling's F5,175=6.64, p<0.001). Four dependent variables (dysthymic, cyclothymic, irritable, and anxious temperaments) showed significant between-group differences. RBP showed lower cyclothymic temperament scores than BP, but higher scores than NC. BP and RBP showed higher anxious temperament scores than NC. Hyperthymic scores were significantly highest in the NC. In view of the small cell sizes, bipolar I vs. bipolar II subanalyses could not be conducted. Methodologic strengths of the present analyses is that the BP group had clinically recovered, and we used the validated short version of the TEMPS-A for the present analyses. Our findings suggest that some clinically healthy relatives of bipolar probands exhibit a subclinical cyclothymic instability in mood, interest, self-confidence, sleep, and/or energy as well as anxiety proneness that is not observed among normal controls. These traits may represent vulnerability markers and could presumably be used to identify individuals at high risk for developing bipolar spectrum disorders, or specific clinical subtypes (e.g., bipolar I, bipolar II) within this spectrum. This is a conceptual perspective with many unanswered questions. Resolution of these questions will require innovative definitions of phenotypes to be included in the analyses of the temperament subscales in different populations. The temperament subscales themselves need to be calibrated properly, to find out which traits or specific combinations of trains are most promising. More extensive and complex quantitative trait analyses of these temperaments in a much expanded sample are reported elsewhere in this issue [J. Affect. Disord. (2004)].

Effect of vaccination of cattle with the low virulence Nc-Spain 1H isolate of Neospora caninum against a heterologous challenge in early and mid-gestation

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Live vaccines have emerged as one of the most potentially cost-effective measures for the control of bovine neosporosis. Previous studies have shown that Nc-Spain 1H is a naturally attenuated isolate of Neospora caninum and that immunisation with live Nc-Spain 1H tachyzoites generated a protective immune response in mice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of immunisation in cattle. N. caninum-seronegative heifers were immunised subcutaneously twice with 107 live Nc-Spain 1H tachyzoites prior to artificial insemination. No adverse reactions or negative effects on reproductive parameters were recorded following immunisation. In immunised and non-challenged heifers, no foetal deaths were observed, and none of the calves was congenitally infected. The efficacy against N. caninum-associated foetal death and vertical transmission was determined after challenge with high doses of the Nc-1 isolate at 70 and 135 days of gestation, respectively. After the challenge in early gestation, the immunisation induced a protection of 50% against foetal death. In addition, the microsatellite analysis performed in PCR-positive tissue samples from foetuses that died after challenge infection showed that the profiles corresponded to the challenge isolate Nc-1. A degree of protection against vertical transmission was observed after challenge at mid-gestation; calves from immunised heifers showed significantly lower pre-colostral Neospora-specific antibody titres than calves from the non-immunised/challenge group (P < 0.05). Strong antibody and interferon gamma responses were induced in the immunised heifers. This study indicates that the immunisation before pregnancy with the Nc-Spain 1H vaccine isolate appeared to be safe and reduced the occurrence of N. caninum-associated abortion and vertical transmission in experimentally infected cattle. In light of these encouraging results, the next step for testing this live attenuated candidate should be the assessment of its efficacy and safety in naturally infected cattle. PMID:24180373

Changes in body weight, blood pressure and selected metabolic biomarkers with an energy-restricted diet including twice daily sweet snacks and once daily sugar-free beverage

PubMed Central

Piehowski, Kathryn E.; Metzgar, Catherine J.; Miller, Debra L.; Preston, Amy G.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The type of sweet snack incorporated into an energy-restricted diet (ERD) may produce differential effects on metabolic improvements associated with body weight (BW) loss. This study compared effects of incorporating either twice daily energy-controlled dark chocolate snacks plus once daily sugar-free cocoa beverage (DC) to non-chocolate snacks plus sugar-free non-cocoa beverage (NC) into an ERD on BW loss and metabolic outcomes. MATERIALS/METHODS In an 18-week randomized comparative trial, 60 overweight/obese premenopausal women were assigned to DC (n = 30) or NC group (n = 30). Dietary intake was measured at baseline and week 18, and BW, anthropometrics, blood pressure (BP) and serum glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations were measured at baseline, and weeks 6, 12 and 18. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS Using intention-to-treat analysis, women in DC and NC groups reduced energy intake (both P < 0.001) and lost 4.4 ± 0.6 kg and 5.0 ± 0.9 kg (both P < 0.001), respectively. Both groups lowered systolic and diastolic BP [DC = 2.7 (P < 0.05), 2.7 (P < 0.01); NC = 3.4 (P < 0.01), 4.2 (P < 0.01) mmHg, respectively]. Glucose and insulin concentrations decreased by 0.72 mmol/L (P < 0.001) and 13.20 pmol/L (P < 0.01) in DC group and by 0.83 mmol/L (P < 0.001) and 13.20 pmol/L (P < 0.01), respectively, in NC group. Total cholesterol increased in NC group (P < 0.05), with no significant lipid changes in DC group. There were no significant differences in biomarker outcomes between groups. CONCLUSIONS Overweight/obese premenopausal women following an 18-week ERD that included either DC or NC sweet snack and sugar-free beverage lost equivalent amounts of BW and improved BP measurements and glucose and insulin concentrations. PMID:25489410

Disruption in the cecal microbiota of chickens challenged with Clostridium perfringens and other factors was alleviated by Bacillus licheniformis supplementation

PubMed Central

Ni, Xueqin; Zhou, Mengjia; Zeng, Yan; Wang, Hesong; Zhou, Yi; Zhu, Hui; Pan, Kangcheng; Li, Guangyao

2017-01-01

Clostridium perfringens can induce necrotic enteritis of chickens, which causes large economic losses every year. Bacillus licheniformis, a probiotic, can inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens, thereby improving the health status of chickens. However, from a microbial ecology perspective, the mechanisms by which alterations to the gut microbiota improve health remain unknown. In this study, we used Illumina MiSeq sequencing to investigate the cecal microbiota of a negative control group (NC), a C. perfringens and Eimeria challenge group with fishmeal supplementation (PC), a group supplemented with fishmeal and infected with coccidia (FC), and group PC with B. licheniformis supplementation (BL). We found that the health status of C. perfringens-challenged chickens was compromised, and that B. licheniformis improved the growth of the chickens challenged with pathogens. Microbial diversity analysis and taxonomic profiling of groups NC, PC, and FC revealed a disturbed cecal microflora of the birds with C. perfringens. We also characterized the microbiota of the chickens in the BL group using several methods. Principal coordinate analysis demonstrated that, compared with group PC, the bacterial community structure of group BL was more similar to that of group NC. Linear discriminant analysis with effect size revealed less differentially represented bacterial taxa between groups BL and NC than between groups PC and NC. In addition, groups BL and NC appeared to have similar overrepresented microbial taxa (such as Bacteroides, Helicobacter, Megamonas, and Akkermansia) compared with group PC. Finally, a phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states analysis indicated that large differences existed between group PC and groups NC and BL. In conclusion, pre-treatment with B. licheniformis reduced the disturbance of the cecal microbiome induced by challenge with C. perfringens and other factors in broiler chickens. PMID:28771569

Right hemisphere specialization for the identification of emotional words and sentences: evidence from stroke patients.

PubMed

Borod, J C; Andelman, F; Obler, L K; Tweedy, J R; Welkowitz, J

1992-09-01

This study examines the contribution of the lexical/verbal channel to emotional processing in 16 right brain-damaged (RBD), 16 left brain-damaged (LBD) and 16 normal control (NC) right-handed adults. Emotional lexical perception tasks were developed; analogous nonemotional tasks were created to control for cognitive and linguistic factors. The three subject groups were matched for gender, age and education. The brain-damaged groups were similar with respect to cerebrovascular etiology, months post-onset, sensory-motor status and lesion location. Parallel emotional and nonemotional tasks included word identification, sentence identification and word discrimination. For both word tasks, RBDs were significantly more impaired than LBDs and NCs in the emotional condition. For all three tasks, RBDs showed a significantly greater performance discrepancy between emotional and nonemotional conditions than did LBDs or NCs. Results were not affected by the valence (i.e. positive/negative) of the stimuli. These findings suggest a dominant role for the right hemisphere in the perception of lexically-based emotional stimuli.

Spontaneous low frequency BOLD signal variations from resting-state fMRI are decreased in Alzheimer disease

PubMed Central

Manning, Kathryn Y.; Rajakumar, Nagalingam; Gómez, Francisco A.; Soddu, Andrea; Borrie, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated altered brain activity in Alzheimer's disease using task based functional MRI (fMRI), network based resting-state fMRI, and glucose metabolism from 18F fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (FDG-PET). Our goal was to define a novel indicator of neuronal activity based on a first-order textural feature of the resting state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) signal. Furthermore, we examined the association between this neuronal activity metric and glucose metabolism from 18F FDG-PET. We studied 15 normal elderly controls (NEC) and 15 probable Alzheimer disease (AD) subjects from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative. An independent component analysis was applied to the RS-fMRI, followed by template matching to identify neuronal components (NC). A regional brain activity measurement was constructed based on the variation of the RS-fMRI signal of these NC. The standardized glucose uptake values of several brain regions relative to the cerebellum (SUVR) were measured from partial volume corrected FDG-PET images. Comparing the AD and NEC groups, the mean brain activity metric was significantly lower in the accumbens, while the glucose SUVR was significantly lower in the amygdala and hippocampus. The RS-fMRI brain activity metric was positively correlated with cognitive measures and amyloid β1–42 cerebral spinal fluid levels; however, these did not remain significant following Bonferroni correction. There was a significant linear correlation between the brain activity metric and the glucose SUVR measurements. This proof of concept study demonstrates that this novel and easy to implement RS-fMRI brain activity metric can differentiate a group of healthy elderly controls from a group of people with AD. PMID:28582450

Effects of a bleaching agent with calcium on bovine enamel

PubMed Central

Alexandrino, Larissa; Gomes, Yasmin; Alves, Eliane; Costi, Hilton; Rogez, Hervé; Silva, Cecy

2014-01-01

Objective: This in vitro study analyzed the effects of a bleaching treatment containing 35% hydrogen peroxide (HP) with or without calcium on bovine enamel, using the Knoop hardness number (KHN), tristimulus colorimetry (TC), and scanning electron microscopy. Materials and Methods: Forty-five specimens were randomly divided into groups (n = 5), which included artificial saliva (negative control [NC]), 35% HP (positive control [PC]), and 35% HP Blue Calcium (HP Blue). The specimens were subjected to three bleaching sessions. During the sessions, the specimens were immersed in artificial saliva at 37°C. Before and after bleaching, KHN tests were conducted using a force of 25 gf for 5 s. TC was performed using the CIE-L*a*b* system and readouts were obtained at the following 4 time points: Before the bleaching treatment; after the first session, the second session, and the third session. The specimens were dehydrated and coated with gold, and the photomicrographs were analyzed in a double-blind manner with a LEO microscope. Results: Using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's test (P < 0.05), a statistically significant difference was identified between the initial and final mean KHNs of the NC and PC groups, while the initial and final mean KHNs were not significantly different in the HP Blue group. The final mean values of ΔE, ΔL, and Δb of the PC and HP Blue groups were significantly higher than the initial values (P < 0.01 for both). The photomicrographs revealed no differences among the groups. Conclusions: Therefore, treatment with HP Blue prevented changes in the KHN without reducing the efficacy of bleaching. PMID:25202210

Spontaneous low frequency BOLD signal variations from resting-state fMRI are decreased in Alzheimer disease.

PubMed

Kazemifar, Samaneh; Manning, Kathryn Y; Rajakumar, Nagalingam; Gómez, Francisco A; Soddu, Andrea; Borrie, Michael J; Menon, Ravi S; Bartha, Robert

2017-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated altered brain activity in Alzheimer's disease using task based functional MRI (fMRI), network based resting-state fMRI, and glucose metabolism from 18F fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (FDG-PET). Our goal was to define a novel indicator of neuronal activity based on a first-order textural feature of the resting state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) signal. Furthermore, we examined the association between this neuronal activity metric and glucose metabolism from 18F FDG-PET. We studied 15 normal elderly controls (NEC) and 15 probable Alzheimer disease (AD) subjects from the AD Neuroimaging Initiative. An independent component analysis was applied to the RS-fMRI, followed by template matching to identify neuronal components (NC). A regional brain activity measurement was constructed based on the variation of the RS-fMRI signal of these NC. The standardized glucose uptake values of several brain regions relative to the cerebellum (SUVR) were measured from partial volume corrected FDG-PET images. Comparing the AD and NEC groups, the mean brain activity metric was significantly lower in the accumbens, while the glucose SUVR was significantly lower in the amygdala and hippocampus. The RS-fMRI brain activity metric was positively correlated with cognitive measures and amyloid β1-42 cerebral spinal fluid levels; however, these did not remain significant following Bonferroni correction. There was a significant linear correlation between the brain activity metric and the glucose SUVR measurements. This proof of concept study demonstrates that this novel and easy to implement RS-fMRI brain activity metric can differentiate a group of healthy elderly controls from a group of people with AD.

Housing in Pyramid Counteracts Neuroendocrine and Oxidative Stress Caused by Chronic Restraint in Rats

PubMed Central

Rao, Guruprasad; Murthy, K. Dilip; Bhat, P. Gopalakrishna

2007-01-01

The space within the great pyramid and its smaller replicas is believed to have an antistress effect. Research has shown that the energy field within the pyramid can protect the hippocampal neurons of mice from stress-induced atrophy and also reduce neuroendocrine stress, oxidative stress and increase antioxidant defence in rats. In this study, we have, for the first time, attempted to study the antistress effects of pyramid exposure on the status of cortisol level, oxidative damage and antioxidant status in rats during chronic restraint stress. Adult female Wistar rats were divided into four groups as follows: normal controls (NC) housed in home cage and left in the laboratory; restrained rats (with three subgroups) subject to chronic restraint stress by placing in a wire mesh restrainer for 6 h per day for 14 days, the restrained controls (RC) having their restrainers kept in the laboratory; restrained pyramid rats (RP) being kept in the pyramid; and restrained square box rats (RS) in the square box during the period of restraint stress everyday. Erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) and plasma cortisol levels were significantly increased and erythrocyte-reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were significantly decreased in RC and RS rats as compared to NC. However, these parameters were maintained to near normal levels in RP rats which showed significantly decreased erythrocyte MDA and plasma cortisol and significantly increased erythrocyte GSH levels, erythrocyte GSH-Px and SOD activities when compared with RS rats. The results showed that housing in pyramid counteracts neuroendocrine and oxidative stress caused by chronic restraint in rats. PMID:17342239

White Matter Abnormalities Track Disease Progression in PSEN1 Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Monté, Gemma C; Sala-Llonch, Roser; Bosch, Beatriz; Fortea, Juan; Lladó, Albert; Antonell, Anna; Balasa, Mircea; Bargalló, Nuria; Molinuevo, José Luis

2016-01-01

PSEN1 mutations are the most frequent cause of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD), and show nearly full penetrance. There is presently increasing interest in the study of biomarkers that track disease progression in order to test therapeutic interventions in ADAD. We used white mater (WM) volumetric characteristics and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics to investigate correlations with the normalized time to expected symptoms onset (relative age ratio) and group differences in a cohort of 36 subjects from PSEN1 ADAD families: 22 mutation carriers, 10 symptomatic (SMC) and 12 asymptomatic (AMC), and 14 non-carriers (NC). Subjects underwent a 3T MRI. WM morphometric data and DTI metrics were analyzed. We found that PSEN1 MC showed significant negative correlation between fractional anisotropy (FA) and the relative age ratio in the genus and body of corpus callosum and corona radiate (p <  0.05 Family-wise error correction (FWE) at cluster level) and positive correlation with mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AxD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in the splenium of corpus callosum. SMC presented WM volume loss, reduced FA and increased MD, AxD, and RD in the anterior and posterior corona radiate, corpus callosum (p <  0.05 FWE) compared with NC. No significant differences were observed between AMC and NC in WM volume or DTI measures. These findings suggest that the integrity of the WM deteriorates linearly in PSEN1 ADAD from the early phases of the disease; thus DTI metrics might be useful to monitor the disease progression. However, the lack of significant alterations at the preclinical stages suggests that these indexes might not be good candidates for early markers of the disease.

Effects of short-term vibration and hypoxia during high-intensity cycling exercise on circulating levels of angiogenic regulators in humans.

PubMed

Suhr, Frank; Brixius, Klara; de Marées, Markus; Bölck, Birgit; Kleinöder, Heinz; Achtzehn, Silvia; Bloch, Wilhelm; Mester, Joachim

2007-08-01

This study aimed to investigate the biological response to hypoxia as a stimulus, as well as exercise- and vibration-induced shear stress, which is known to induce angiogenesis. Twelve male cyclists (27.8 +/- 5.4 yr) participated in this study. Each subject completed four cycle training sessions under normal conditions (NC) without vibration, NC with vibration, normobaric hypoxic conditions (HC) without vibration, and HC with vibration. Each session lasted 90 min, and sessions were held at weekly intervals in a randomized order. Five blood samples (pretraining and 0 h post-, 0.5 h post-, 1 h post-, and 4 h posttraining) were taken from each subject at each training session. Hypoxia was induced by a normobaric hypoxic chamber with an altitude of 2,500 m. The mechanical forces (cycling with or without vibration) were induced by a cycling ergometer. The parameters VEGF, endostatin, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were analyzed using the ELISA method. VEGF showed a significant increase immediately after the exercise only with exogenously induced vibrations, as calculated with separate ANOVA analysis. Endostatin increased after training under all conditions. Western blot analysis was performed for the determination of endostatin corresponding to the 22-kDa cleavage product of collagen XVIII. This demonstrated elevated protein content for endostatin at 0 h postexercise. MMP-2 increased in three of the four training conditions. The exception was NC with vibration. MMP-9 reached its maximum level at 4 h postexercise. In conclusion, the results support the contention that mechanical stimuli differentially influence factors involved in the induction of angiogenesis. These findings may contribute to a broader understanding of angiogenesis.

[Impact of Pax-8 gene interference on mitochondrial function and cardiomyocyte apoptosis].

PubMed

Dai, Xiao-chun; Zhou, Xi; Huang, Xiao-yan; Wang, Liang-guo; Lin, Su; Yang, De-ye

2013-01-01

To observe the effects of paired box gene 8 (Pax-8) silencing by RNA interference on mitochondrial function and cardiomyocytes apoptosis. The cultured H9C2 (2-1) myocytes were divided into 3 groups: short interference RNA targeting Pax-8 (Pax-8 siRNA) group, non-specific siRNA group as the negative control (NC siRNA), and blank control group (BC siRNA). Fluorescence spectrophotometry was used to detect the activity of caspase-3. RT-PCR was performed to detect mRNA expression of Bcl2 and Bax. The protein expression of Bcl2, Bax and cytoplasm of Cytochrome was examined by Western blot. Changes of ΔΨm were detected by flow cytometry.ΔΨm with JC-1 monomer/polymer ratio was calculated for measuring mitochondrial depolarization proportion. Compared to NC siRNA and BC siRNA group (0.075 ± 0.021, 0.072 ± 0.019), the activity of caspase-3 in Pax-8 siRNA group (0.167 ± 0.012) was significantly increased (P < 0.05); Bcl2 mRNA and protein expression in Pax-8 siRNA group (0.61 ± 0.06, 0.94 ± 0.11) were significantly downregulated compared with NC siRNA group (0.90 ± 0.070, 1.39 ± 0.15) and BC siRNA group (0.94 ± 0.087, 1.49 ± 0.20) (P < 0.05); Bax mRNA and protein expression in Pax-8 siRNA group (1.05 ± 0.10, 1.25 ± 0.12) were markedly upregulated compared with NC siRNA group (0.72 ± 0.03, 0.99 ± 0.12) and BC siRNA group (0.64 ± 0.03, 0.92 ± 0.06), P < 0.05; cytosolic cytochrome expression in Pax-8 siRNA group (0.75 ± 0.14) was significantly upregulated compared with NC siRNA group (0.51 ± 0.06) and BC siRNA group (0.48 ± 0.07) (P < 0.05); JC-1 monomer/polymer ratio in Pax-8 siRNA group (0.163 ± 0.011) was significantly increased compared with NC siRNA group (0.092 ± 0.015) and BC siRNA group (0.072 ± 0.025) (P < 0.05) indicating mitochondrial membrane potential was significantly reduced in Pax-8 siRNA group. Above parameters were similar between NC siRNA group and BC siRNA group (P > 0.05). Inhibiting Pax-8 results in enhanced cardiomyocytes apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway.

Thermal Threshold: Research Study on Small Fiber Dysfunction in Distal Diabetic Polyneuropathy

PubMed Central

Jimenez-Cohl, Pedro; Grekin, Carlos; Leyton, Cristian; Vargas, Claudio; Villaseca, Roberto

2012-01-01

Objective The most commonly used technique for diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy (DN) is nervous conduction (NC). Our hypothesis is that the use of the thermal threshold (TT) technique to evaluate small fiber damage, which precedes large fiber damage, could enable earlier diagnosis and diminish false negatives. Research Design and Methods The study involved 70 asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) all being treated with oral hypoglycemic medication, and having negative metabolic control levels with glycosylated hemoglobin A1c greater than 7% and less than 8%. Diabetic neuropathy was their only evident complication. All other complications or other causes of neuropathy were discarded. Their time of evolution was 1 to 48 months since date of diagnosis of diabetes. Both thermal threshold and sensory and motor nervous conduction were determined in upper and lower limbs. Results Nervous conduction was found normal in 81% and altered in 19% of patients (large fiber neuropathy). Thermal threshold was normal in 57% and altered in 43% of patients (small fiber neuropathy). In those with normal TTs, no case with an altered NC was found (p < 0.001). Patients with altered TTs could have normal (57%) or altered NC (43%). Thus, NC showed a high frequency of false negatives for DN (57% of 30 cases). The frequency of small fiber neuropathy found with the TT test was higher than that of large fiber neuropathy found with the NC test (p < 0.001) and was found at an earlier age. Conclusions The TT test demonstrated a higher frequency of neuropathy than the NC test in clinically asymptomatic T2DM patients. We suggest that small fiber should be studied before large fiber function to diagnosis distal and symmetrical DN. PMID:22401337

Toxicity of fullerene and nanosilver nanomaterials against bacteria associated to the body surface of the estuarine worm Laeonereis acuta (Polychaeta, Nereididae).

PubMed

Cordeiro, Lucas Freitas; Marques, Bianca Fell; Kist, Luiza Wilges; Bogo, Maurício Reis; López, Gerardo; Pagano, Gisela; Külkamp-Guerreiro, Irene Clemes; Monserrat, José Maria

2014-08-01

This study analyzed the growth and biochemical responses of six bacterial colonies isolated from the mucus of the estuarine polychaeta Laeonereis acuta (Nereididae) after exposure to a water suspension of fullerene (nC60) and nanosilver (nAg) separately (0.01; 0.10; and 1.00 mg/L) and together (0.01; 0.10; and 1.00 mg/L of nanosilver and 1.00 mg/L of fullerene added to each nAg concentration). Exposures were performed in darkness during 24 h and then samples were taken from the worms and inoculated on agar during 24 h to analyze colonies growth. After this the material was analyzed biochemically. Colonies growth (tested by wet biomass weight) was inhibited at 0.01 and 0.10 mg/L of nAg and 0.01 and 0.10 mg/L nAg + constant 1.00 mg/L of nC60 (p < 0.05). Lipid peroxidation damage was significant from the control for the concentrations of 0.01 and 0.10 mg/L of nC60 and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity was significantly higher for the concentration of 1.00 mg/L mg/L nAg + constant 1.00 mg/L of nC60 (p < 0.05). Although nC60 did not induced growth inhibition, it triggered lipid peroxidation alone and increased GST activity together with nAg.60 Contrary to nC60, nanosilver inhibited bacterial growth, although the biochemical measurements indicate that this response is not due to reactive oxygen species generation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expression patterns of regulatory RNAs, including lncRNAs and tRNAs, during postnatal growth of normal and dystrophic (mdx) mouse muscles, and their response to taurine treatment.

PubMed

Butchart, Lauren C; Terrill, Jessica R; Rossetti, Giulia; White, Robert; Filipovska, Aleksandra; Grounds, Miranda D

2018-06-01

Post-natal skeletal muscle growth in mice is very rapid and involves complex changes in many cells types over the first 6 weeks of life. The acute onset of dystropathology also occurs around 3 weeks of age in the mdx mouse model of the human disease Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). This study investigated (i) alterations in expression patterns of regulatory non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in vivo, including miRNAs, lncRNAs and tRNAs, during early growth of skeletal muscles in normal control C57Bl/10Scsn (C57) compared with dystrophic mdx mice from 2 to 6 weeks of postnatal age, and revealed inherent differences in vivo for levels of 3 ncRNAs between C57 and mdx muscles before the onset of dystropathology. Since the amino acid taurine has many benefits and reduces disease severity in mdx mice, this study also (ii) determined the impact of taurine treatment on these expression patterns in mdx muscles at the onset of dystropathology (3 weeks) and after several bouts of myonecrosis and regeneration (6 weeks). Taurine treatment of mdx mice only altered ncRNA levels when administered from 18 days to 6 weeks of age, but a deficiency in tRNA levels was rectified earlier in mdx skeletal muscles treated from 14 days to 3 weeks. Myogenesis in tissue culture was also used to (iii) compare ncRNA expression patterns for both strains, and (iv) the response to taurine treatment. These analyses revealed intrinsic differences in ncRNA expression patterns during myogenesis between strains, as well as increased sensitivity of mdx ncRNA levels to taurine treatment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

75 FR 63177 - Availability of FY 09 Grantee Performance Evaluation Reports for the Eight States of EPA Region 4...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-14

...-year evaluations of eight state air pollution control programs (Alabama Department of Environmental... Management, FL; Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, KY; Forsyth County Environmental Affairs... Regional Air Quality Agency, NC; Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau, TN; Memphis...

Ultrafast Independent N-H and N-C Bond Deformation Investigated with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eckert, Sebastian; Norell, Jesper; Miedema, Piter S.

Here, the femtosecond excited-state dynamics following resonant photoexcitation enable the selective deformation of N-H and N-C chemical bonds in 2-thiopyridone in aqueous solution with optical or X-ray pulses. In combination with multiconfigurational quantum-chemical calculations, the orbital-specific electronic structure and its ultrafast dynamics accessed with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the N 1s level using synchrotron radiation and the soft X-ray free-electron laser LCLS provide direct evidence for this controlled photoinduced molecular deformation and its ultrashort timescale.

Ultrafast Independent N-H and N-C Bond Deformation Investigated with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

DOE PAGES

Eckert, Sebastian; Norell, Jesper; Miedema, Piter S.; ...

2017-04-04

Here, the femtosecond excited-state dynamics following resonant photoexcitation enable the selective deformation of N-H and N-C chemical bonds in 2-thiopyridone in aqueous solution with optical or X-ray pulses. In combination with multiconfigurational quantum-chemical calculations, the orbital-specific electronic structure and its ultrafast dynamics accessed with resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the N 1s level using synchrotron radiation and the soft X-ray free-electron laser LCLS provide direct evidence for this controlled photoinduced molecular deformation and its ultrashort timescale.

QCCM Center for Quantum Algorithms

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-17

algorithms (e.g., quantum walks and adiabatic computing ), as well as theoretical advances relating algorithms to physical implementations (e.g...Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Quantum algorithms, quantum computing , fault-tolerant error correction Richard Cleve MITACS East Academic...0511200 Algebraic results on quantum automata A. Ambainis, M. Beaudry, M. Golovkins, A. Kikusts, M. Mercer, D. Thrien Theory of Computing Systems 39(2006

Optimizing Human Cognition

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

decision, unless so designated by other documentation. 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILIBILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. UU 9...SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 6. AUTHORS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAMES AND ADDRESSES U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box...12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS Human Attention Eran Zaidel Pacific Development and Technology LLC 999 Commercial St

Annual Historical Report, Calendar Year 1990

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-03-01

study the effects of antiperspirants on feet. USARIEM will provide test subjects, equipment, and considerable experience attained by accomplishing a...pilot study. Gillette will provide antiperspirant compounds and counsel. 5. The copious volume of fluid required during bypass rewarming and the...Hamlet, and D.E. Roberts. Reduction of sweat accumulation rate with pedal antiperspirants . In: Proceedings Army Science Conference, Durham, NC, June

Electric-Field-Induced Magnetization Reversal in a Ferromagnet-Multiferroic Heterostructure

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-14

Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 15. SUBJECT TERMS multiferroic J. Heron, M. Trassin, K. Ashraf, M. Gajek , Q. He, S...Reversal in a Ferromagnet-Multiferroic Heterostructure J. T. Heron,1 M. Trassin,2,* K. Ashraf,3 M. Gajek ,2 Q. He,2 S. Y. Yang,2 D. E. Nikonov,4 Y-H. Chu

Transformation of marine sediment to paddy soil: Primary marine, lacustrine, and land plant lipids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller-Niggemann, Cornelia; Cao, Zhihong; Schwark, Lorenz

2010-05-01

More than fifty percent of the world's population feeds on rice. The continuous population increase and urban sprawl leads to an ever-increasing demand for new rice cultivation area, in particular China. For centuries suitable coastal areas in China have been exploited for land reclamation, i.e. conversion of coastal marine and lacustrine marshlands into rice paddy fields. Flooded rice paddies are considered one of the major biogenic sources of methane into the atmospheric. Methane is thought to be about 30 times more efficient as greenhouse gas, when compared to carbon dioxide. Overall, rice fields are assumed to contribute app. 10-25% to global CH4 production. It is thus paramount importance to study the effects of increasing rice cultivation and land reclamation in China. For global carbon cycle investigation, it is crucial whether paddy soils, due to their large extent and higher carbon turnover, serve as carbon (CO2) sinks or sources. Here we present results from a chronosequence study of paddy soils with different and well known starting dates of cultivation, in the Zhejiang province (Yangtze River delta) by land reclamation through the building of protective dikes over the past 2000 years. Two end members of natural sediments subjected to land reclamation, a marine tidal mudflat in the Yangtze delta and a coastal lake, represent the substrate on which the paddy soil evolution started. Dike systems were constructed 2000, 1000, 700, 300, 100, and 50 years before present. We are thus able to follow the evolution of rice paddy soils developed on marine sediments using eight well defined tie-points. This chronosequence is then used for assessing the relative proportion of primary marine or lacustrine organic matter preserved in present day soils and to identify the amount and composition of organic matter added since cultivation started. Paddy soil management introduces rice plants debris and exudates as well as rice-associated microbial biomass (covered in a separate contribution) into soils. Management practises involve burning of rice straw on fields, thus adding biomass combustion residues that either may be particularly stable (e.g. PAH) or highly reactive (alkenes resulting from dehydration of alcohols). Bulk parameters reveal that the five field replicates taken at each site are highly compatible, with standard deviations usually between 0.1 to 5.0 % depending on site and/or parameter. This is better than expected and proves that the samples are representative for each cropping site. The n- and isoalkane composition also proved to be very systematic and reproducible. The marine end-member shows a broad n-alkane envelope from nC13 to nC40, with a maximum of nC31 and low abundance of nC17 and nC32+ alkanes. The lacustrine site also reveals a broad n-alkane envelope and a maximum of nC31 but shows higher relative abundance of nC17, nC23 and nC25 alkanes in addition to a C20-HBI. These biomarkers for aquatic macrophytes and diatoms were also found in minor proportions in paddy soils due to flooding with lacustrine water. Paddy n-alkane patterns were dominated by nC29 which systematically increased in abundance for older paddy soils. Paddy soil n-alkane patterns from the chronosequence are similar and related to the marine pattern. Combustion of rice straw on the field is a common management practise for nutrient return to soils. A rice straw ash sample collected in the field revealed a series of nC13 to nC37 n-alkane/alkene doublets with low odd over even predominance. As no alkenes were found in paddy soils, very fast diagenetic conversion of reactive alkenes must occur. Soil organic matter and aliphatics content increased six fold over a cultivation time of 2000 years, identifying paddies as CO2 sinks in the global carbon cycle.

Size-controlled synthesis of Pd nanocrystals using a specific multifunctional peptide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, Chin-Yi; Li, Yujing; Huang, Yu

2010-06-01

Here we report a peptide-mediated synthesis of Pd NCs in aqueous solution with controllable size in the sub-10 nanometre regime. The specific multifunctional peptide Q7 selected using the phage display technique can bind to the Pd NC surface and act as a stabilizer to mediate Pd crystal nucleation and growth. At the nucleation stage, Q7 bound to and helped stabilize the different-sized small Pd NC nuclei achieved using different concentrations of the external reducing agent, NaBH4. At the growth stage, Q7 played the dual role of binding to and reducing the precursor onto the existing nuclei, which led to the further controllable growth of the Pd NCs. By using the variable sizes of nuclei as seeds, and by introducing different amounts of precursors Pd NCs with tunable sizes from 2.6 to 6.6 nm were achieved with good size distribution.Here we report a peptide-mediated synthesis of Pd NCs in aqueous solution with controllable size in the sub-10 nanometre regime. The specific multifunctional peptide Q7 selected using the phage display technique can bind to the Pd NC surface and act as a stabilizer to mediate Pd crystal nucleation and growth. At the nucleation stage, Q7 bound to and helped stabilize the different-sized small Pd NC nuclei achieved using different concentrations of the external reducing agent, NaBH4. At the growth stage, Q7 played the dual role of binding to and reducing the precursor onto the existing nuclei, which led to the further controllable growth of the Pd NCs. By using the variable sizes of nuclei as seeds, and by introducing different amounts of precursors Pd NCs with tunable sizes from 2.6 to 6.6 nm were achieved with good size distribution. Electronic Supplementary Information (ESI) available. Experimental details for peptide selection, peptide synthesis and Pd NCs synthesis; Q7 peptide sequence molecular structure and characterization; TEM images of Pd NCs. See DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00194e/

Photosensitized generation of singlet oxygen in porous silicon studied by simultaneous measurements of luminescence of nanocrystals and oxygen molecules

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gongalsky, M. B.; Kharin, A. Yu.; Zagorodskikh, S. A.

2011-07-01

Photosensitization of singlet oxygen generation in porous silicon (PSi) was investigated by simultaneous measurements of the photoluminescence (PL) of silicon nanocrystals (nc-Si) and the infrared emission of the {sup 1}{Delta}-state of oxygen molecules at 1270 nm (0.98 eV) at room temperature. Photodegradation of the nc-Si PL properties was found to correlate with the efficiency of singlet oxygen generation. The quantum efficiency of singlet oxygen generation in PSi was estimated to be about 1%, while the lifetime of singlet oxygen was about fifteen ms. The kinetics of nc-Si PL intensity under cw excitation undergoes a power law dependence with the exponentmore » dependent on the photon energy of luminescence. The experimental results are explained with a model of photodegradation controlled by the diffusion of singlet oxygen molecules in a disordered structure of porous silicon.« less

What are the factors driving long-term changes of the suprabenthos in the Seine estuary?

PubMed

Pezy, Jean-Philippe; Baffreau, Alexandrine; Dauvin, Jean-Claude

2017-05-15

A Before/During/After Control-Impact approach is used to assess the effects of Port 2000 on the suprabenthos in the North Channel (NC) of the Seine estuary during the period from September 2001 to October 2015. Since the beginning of Port 2000 construction (2002-2005), the NC is affected by an increase of salinity (marine influence) and input of sand. The suprabenthos changes are mainly characterised by an increase in species richness in the upper part of the NC and a decrease in species density and biomass of the dominant mysid species over time. Multiple stressors (natural and anthropogenic) have been operating simultaneously (hydrological changes, construction of Port 2000, supplementary dredging) rendering the interpretation of the biological changes difficult. Thus, the present results evidenced a combination of changes in the Seine Estuary not only attributed to the impact of the Port 2000 construction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional polysaccharides from Grifola frondosa aqueous extract inhibit atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions in NC/Nga mice.

PubMed

Park, Hyeon Soo; Hwang, Yong Hyeon; Kim, Mun Ki; Hong, Gyeong Eun; Lee, Ho Jeong; Nagappan, Arulkumar; Yumnam, Silvia; Kim, Eun Hee; Heo, Jeong Doo; Lee, Sang Joon; Won, Chung Kil; Kim, Gon Sup

2015-01-01

Grifola frondosa (GF), distributed widely in far east Asia including Korea, is popularly used as traditional medicines and health supplementary foods, especially for enhancing the immune functions of the body. To extend the application of GF polysaccharides (GFP) for atopic dermatitis (AD), we investigated the effects of GFP on the 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene-induced AD-like skin lesion in NC/Nga mice. GFP treatment significantly reduced the dorsa skin dermatitis score and combination treatment with GFP, and dexamethasone has a synergistic effect in AD-like skin lesion by reduced Serum IgE, mast cells infiltration, and cytokines expression. These results indicate that GFP suppressed the AD-like skin lesions by controlling the Th-1/Th-2-type cytokines in NC/Nga mice. These findings strongly suggest that GFP can be useful for AD patients as a novel therapeutic agent and might be used for corticosteroids replacement or supplement agent.

Ge nanocrystals embedded in ultrathin Si3N4 multilayers with SiO2 barriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahariqushchi, R.; Gundogdu, Sinan; Aydinli, A.

2017-04-01

Multilayers of germanium nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in thin films of silicon nitride matrix separated with SiO2 barriers have been fabricated using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). SiGeN/SiO2 alternating bilayers have been grown on quartz and Si substrates followed by post annealing in Ar ambient from 600 to 900 °C. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) as well as Raman spectroscopy show good crystallinity of Ge confined to SiGeN layers in samples annealed at 900 °C. Strong compressive stress for SiGeN/SiO2 structures were observed through Raman spectroscopy. Size, as well as NC-NC distance were controlled along the growth direction for multilayer samples by varying the thickness of bilayers. Visible photoluminescence (PL) at 2.3 and 3.1 eV with NC size dependent intensity is observed and possible origin of PL is discussed.

The role of Homer 1a in increasing locomotor activity and non-selective attention, and impairing learning and memory abilities.

PubMed

Yang, Lei; Hong, Qin; Zhang, Min; Liu, Xiao; Pan, Xiao-Qin; Guo, Mei; Fei, Li; Guo, Xi-Rong; Tong, Mei-Ling; Chi, Xia

2013-06-17

The current study aimed to investigate the possible role of Homer 1a in the etiology and pathogenesis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We divided 32 rats into four groups. The rats in the RNAi-MPH group were given the lentiviral vector containing Homer 1a-specific miRNA (Homer 1a-RNAi-LV) by intracerebroventricular injection, and 7 days later they were given three daily doses of methylphenidate (MPH) by intragastric gavage. The RNAi-SAL group was given Homer 1a-RNAi-LV and saline later. The NC-MPH group was given the negative control lentiviral vector (NC-LV) and MPH later. The NC-SAL group was given NC-LV and saline later. Rats that were given Homer 1a RNAi exhibited increased locomotor activity and non-selective attention, and impaired learning and memory abilities, which is in line with the behavioral findings of animal models of ADHD. However, MPH ameliorated these abnormal behaviors. All findings indicated that Homer 1a may play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of ADHD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Naphthalocyanine-reconstituted LDL nanoparticles for in vivo cancer imaging and treatment

PubMed Central

Song, Liping; Li, Hui; Sunar, Ulas; Chen, Juan; Corbin, Ian; Yodh, Arjun G; Zheng, Gang

2007-01-01

Low density lipoproteins (LDLs) are naturally occurring nanoparticles that are biocompatible, biodegradable and non-immunogenic. Moreover, the size of LDL particle is precisely controlled (~22 nm) by its apoB-100 component, setting them apart from liposomes and lipid micelles. LDL particles have long been proposed as a nanocarrier for targeted delivery of diagnostics and therapeutics to LDL receptor (LDLR)-positive cancers. Here, we report the design and synthesis of a novel naphthalocyanine (Nc)-based photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent, SiNcBOA, and describe its efficient reconstitution into LDL core (100:1 payload). Possessing a near-infrared (NIR) absorption wavelength (>800 nm) and extremely high extinction coefficient (>105 M–1cm–1), SiNcBOA holds the promise of treating deeply seated tumors. Reconstituted LDL particles (r-Nc-LDL) maintain the size and shape of native LDL as determined by transmission electron microscopy, and also retain their LDLR-mediated uptake by cancer cells as demonstrated by confocal microscopy. Its preferential uptake by tumor vs normal tissue was confirmed in vivo by noninvasive optical imaging technique, demonstrating the feasibility of using this nanoparticle for NIR imaging-guided PDT of cancer. PMID:18203443

Predictors of Involvement and Warmth of Custodial Fathers in Israel: Comparison with Married and Noncustodial Divorced Fathers.

PubMed

Finzi-Dottan, Ricky; Cohen, Orna

2016-03-01

This study compared the levels and predictors of paternal warmth and involvement of 218 custodial fathers to 222 married fathers and 105 noncustodial (NC) divorced fathers in Israel. The examined predictors were fathers' perceptions of their own fathers; their own caregiving behaviors and parental self-efficacy; and child characteristics and coparental coordination. Results indicated that being a custodial father was associated with more involvement than being a married or NC divorced father. Regression analyses revealed that experience of care with own father predicted fathers' involvement, whereas own father control was related to lower paternal warmth. Lower avoidant caregiving and high paternal self-efficacy predicted both paternal involvement and warmth, whereas perceiving the child as more difficult predicted lower paternal warmth. Higher levels of coparental coordination were associated with more paternal involvement, whereas low coparental coordination was associated with less involvement, primarily among NC divorced fathers. These interactions highlight the distinct paternal behavior of custodial fathers. Unlike married and NC divorced fathers, they showed more warmth, regardless of their avoidant caregiving. Results are discussed in light of the different roles played by fathers in the three groups. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

Naphthalocyanine as a New Photothermal Actuator for Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Systems.

PubMed

Du, Joanne D; Hong, Linda; Tan, Angel; Boyd, Ben J

2018-02-08

One approach to address the substantial global burden of ocular diseases such as aged related macular degeneration is using light-activated drug delivery to obviate the need for highly invasive and frequent, costly intravitreal injections. To enable such systems, new light responsive materials are required. This communication reports the use of silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine bis(trihexylsilyloxide) (SiNC), a small molecule photosensitizer, as a new actuator for triggering light responsive lipid-based drug delivery systems. Small-angle X-ray scattering was used to confirm that the addition of SiNC imparted light sensitivity to the lipid systems, resulting in a complete phase transition within 20 s of near-infrared irradiation. The phase transition was also reversible, suggesting the potential for on-demand drug delivery. When compared to the phase transitions induced using alternative light responsive actuators, gold nanorods and graphene, there were some differences in phase behavior. Namely, the phytantriol with SiNC system transitioned directly to the inverse micellar phase, skipping the intermediate inverse hexagonal structure. The photodynamic properties and efficiency in controlling the release of drug suggest that SiNC-actuated lipid systems have the potential to reduce the burden of repeated intravitreal injections.

Regulation of Nuclear Import and Export of Negative Cofactor 2*S⃞

PubMed Central

Kahle, Joerg; Piaia, Elisa; Neimanis, Sonja; Meisterernst, Michael; Doenecke, Detlef

2009-01-01

The negative cofactor 2 (NC2) is a protein complex composed of two subunits, NC2α and NC2β, and plays a key role in transcription regulation. Here we investigate whether each subunit contains a nuclear localization signal (NLS) that permits individual crossing of the nuclear membrane or whether nuclear import of NC2α and NC2β depends on heterodimerization. Our results from in vitro binding studies and transfection experiments in cultured cells show that each subunit contains a classical NLS (cNLS) that is recognized by the importin α/β heterodimer. Regardless of the individual cNLSs the two NC2 subunits are translocated as a preassembled complex as co-transfection experiments with wild-type and cNLS-deficient NC2 subunits demonstrate. Ran-dependent binding of the nuclear export receptor Crm1/exportin 1 confirmed the presence of a leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES) in NC2β. In contrast, NC2α does not exhibit a NES. Our results from interspecies heterokaryon assays suggest that heterodimerization with NC2α masks the NES in NC2β, which prevents nuclear export of the NC2 complex. A mutation in either one of the two cNLSs decreases the extent of importin α/β-mediated nuclear import of the NC2 complex. In addition, the NC2 complex can enter the nucleus via a second pathway, facilitated by importin 13. Because importin 13 binds exclusively to the NC2 complex but not to the individual subunits this alternative import pathway depends on sequence elements distributed among the two subunits. PMID:19204005

Controlling the electric charge of gold nanoplatelets on an insulator by field emission nc-AFM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baris, Bulent; Alchaar, Mohanad; Prasad, Janak; Gauthier, Sébastien; Dujardin, Erik; Martrou, David

2018-03-01

Charging of 2D Au nanoplatelets deposited on an insulating SiO2 substrate to or from the tip of a non-contact atomic force microscope (nc-AFM) is demonstrated. Charge transfer is controlled by monitoring the resonance frequency shift Δf(V) during the bias voltage ramp V applied to the tip-back electrode junction. The onset of charge transfer is revealed by a transition from a capacitive parabolic behavior to a constant Δf(V) region for both polarities. An analytical model, based on charging by electron field emission, shows that the field-emitted current saturates shortly after the onset of the charging, due to the limiting effect of the charge-induced rise of the Au platelet potential. The value of this current plateau depends only on the rate of the bias voltage ramp and on the value of the platelet/SiO2/back electrode capacitance. This analysis is confirmed by numerical simulations based on a virtual nc-AFM model that faithfully matches the experimental data. Our charging protocol could be used to tune the potential of the platelets at the single charge level.

Effect of chronic mild stress on serotonergic markers in the skin and brain of the NC/Nga atopic-like mouse strain.

PubMed

Rasul, Aram; El-Nour, Husameldin; Blakely, Randy D; Lonne-Rahm, Sol-Britt; Forsberg, Johan; Johansson, Björn; Theodorsson, Elvar; Nordlind, Klas

2011-11-01

Atopic eczema is often worsened by stress. While acute stress is associated with increased turnover of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT), chronic stress causes a decrease. In chronic stress, there is a decrease of the 5-HT1A receptor (R)- and an increase in the 5-HT2AR-responsiveness to 5-HT. In the present study, the impact of chronic mild stress on the expression of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors and serotonin transporter protein (SERT) was investigated in eczematous skin and brain of atopic-like NC/Nga mice. Twenty-four NC/Nga mice were subjected to chronic mild stress for 12 weeks, and eczema was induced by applying a mite antigen (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) on the ears for the last 4 weeks. The mice were divided into three groups, eight per group, stressed eczematous (SE), non-stressed eczematous (NSE) and stressed control (SC). The biopsies were analysed by immunohistochemistry, using a streptavidin-biotin technique. There was an increased number of 5-HT containing dermal mast cell-like mononuclear cells in the skin of mice with eczema (SE and NSE, respectively) compared with the SC, and a tendency to more 5-HT-positive cells in the SE compared with the NSE group. Increased 5-HT1AR immunoreactivity (IR) in the skin and hippocampus of the eczematous groups compared to the control group was seen, but no difference between the SE and NSE groups. The epidermal immunoreactivity for 5-HT2AR was highest in the SE and NSE compared to the SC group, and was also higher in the SE compared to NSE. 5-HT2AR expression was also seen on nerve bundles, the number and intensity of such bundles being decreased in the SE compared to the NSE group. In the CA1 area of the hippocampus, there was an increase in the quantity of cells immunoreactive for 5-HT2AR in the SE versus the NSE group and also in the SE versus the SC group. SERT-IR was found also on nerve bundles with a decreased number in the SE compared to the NSE and SC group. There is a modulation of the expression of serotonergic markers in the eczematous skin and brain of the atopic-like mouse during chronic mild stress.

Large robotized turning centers described

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirsanov, V. V.; Tsarenko, V. I.

1985-09-01

The introduction of numerical control (NC) machine tools has made it possible to automate machining in series and small series production. The organization of automated production sections merged NC machine tools with automated transport systems. However, both the one and the other require the presence of an operative at the machine for low skilled operations. Industrial robots perform a number of auxiliary operations, such as equipment loading-unloading and control, changing cutting and auxiliary tools, controlling workpieces and parts, and cleaning of location surfaces. When used with a group of equipment they perform transfer operations between the machine tools. Industrial robots eliminate the need for workers to form auxiliary operations. This underscores the importance of developing robotized manufacturing centers providing for minimal human participation in production and creating conditions for two and three shift operation of equipment. Work carried out at several robotized manufacturing centers for series and small series production is described.

Diarylhalotelluronium(IV) cations [(8-Me2NC10H6)2TeX]+ (X = Cl, Br, I) stabilized by intramolecularly coordinating N-donor substituents.

PubMed

Beckmann, Jens; Bolsinger, Jens; Duthie, Andrew; Finke, Pamela

2013-09-14

The stoichiometrically controlled halogenation of the intramolecularly coordinated diaryltelluride (8-Me2NC10H6)2Te using SO2Cl2, Br2 and I2 was studied. At an equimolar ratio, the diarylhalotelluronium cations [(8-Me2NC10H6)2TeX](+) (1, X = Cl; 2, X = Br; 3, X = I) formed and were isolated as 1·Cl(-)·H2O·1/2THF, 2·Br(-), and 3·I(-), respectively. When the same reactions were carried out in the presence of KPF6, 1·PF6(-) and 22·Br(-)·PF6(-) were obtained. The chlorination of (8-Me2NC10H6)2Te with an excess of SO2Cl2 occurred with a double electrophilic substitution at the 8-dimethylaminonaphthyl residues (in the ortho- and para-positions) and afforded the diaryltellurium dichloride (5,7-Cl2-8-Me2NC10H4)2TeCl2 (4). The bromination of (8-Me2NC10H6)2Te with three equivalents of Br2 took place with a single electrophilic substitution at the 8-dimethylaminonaphthyl residues (in the para-positions) and provided the diaryltellurium dibromide (5-Br-8-Me2NC10H5)2TeBr2 (5), while an excess of Br2 produced the diarylbromotelluronium cation [(5-Br-8-Me2NC10H5)2TeBr](+) (6) that was isolated as 6·Br3(-). The reaction of (8-Me2NC10H6)2Te with two or three equivalents of iodine provided 3·I3(-) and 3·I3(-)·I2, respectively. In the presence of water, 1·Cl(-)·H2O·1/2THF, 2·Br(-), 3·I(-) and 3·I3(-) hydrolyzed to give the previously known diarylhydroxytelluronium cation [(8-Me2NC10H6)2TeOH](+) (7) that was isolated as 7·Cl(-), 7·Br(-)·H2O·THF, 7·I(-) and 7·I3(-)·H2O, respectively. The molecular structures of 1-7 were investigated in the solid-state by (125)Te MAS NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography and in solution by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy ((1)H, (13)C, (125)Te), electrospray mass spectrometry and conductivity measurements. The stabilization of cations 1-3 by the intramolecular coordination was estimated by DFT calculations at the B3PW91/TZ level of theory.

MOF derived Ni/Co/NC catalysts with enhanced properties for oxygen evolution reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Jiapeng; Chen, Juan; Lin, Hao; Liu, Ruilai; Yang, Xiaobing

2018-03-01

Designing efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is very important for renewable energy storage and conversion devices. In this paper, we introduced a new strategy to synthesize Ni doped Co/NC catalysts (NC is the abbreviation of nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon), which were derived from ZIF-67. All catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The results show that Ni was well doped in the Ni/Co/NC catalysts and the doping of Ni has great influence on the OER activity of Ni/Co/NC catalysts. Among these catalysts, 0.50Ni/Co/NC exhibits the highest OER activity. The onset potential of 0.50Ni/Co/NC is 1.47 V, which is superior than the onset potential of Co/NC (1.54 V), 0.25Ni/Co/NC (1.48 V), 1.00Ni/Co/NC (1.53 V). The excellent OER activity of 0.50Ni/Co/NC catalyst makes its potential to be used on renewable energy storage.

[Study on Abnormal Topological Properties of Structural Brain Networks of Patients with Depression Comorbid with Anxiety].

PubMed

Wu, Xiuyong; Wu, Xiaoming; Peng, Hongjun; Ning, Yuping; Wu, Kai

2016-06-01

This paper is aimed to analyze the topological properties of structural brain networks in depressive patients with and without anxiety and to explore the neuropath logical mechanisms of depression comorbid with anxiety.Diffusion tensor imaging and deterministic tractography were applied to map the white matter structural networks.We collected 20 depressive patients with anxiety(DPA),18 depressive patients without anxiety(DP),and 28 normal controls(NC)as comparative groups.The global and nodal properties of the structural brain networks in the three groups were analyzed with graph theoretical methods.The result showed that1 the structural brain networks in three groups showed small-world properties and highly connected global hubs predominately from association cortices;2DP group showed lower local efficiency and global efficiency compared to NC group,whereas DPA group showed higher local efficiency and global efficiency compared to NC group;3significant differences of network properties(clustering coefficient,characteristic path lengths,local efficiency,global efficiency)were found between DPA and DP groups;4DP group showed significant changes of nodal efficiency in the brain areas primarily in the temporal lobe and bilateral frontal gyrus,compared to DPA and NC groups.The analysis indicated that the DP and DPA groups showed nodal properties of the structural brain networks,compared to NC group.Moreover,the two diseased groups indicated an opposite trend in the network properties.The results of this study may provide a new imaging index for clinical diagnosis for depression comorbid with anxiety.

A new biocompatible nanocomposite as a promising constituent of sunscreens.

PubMed

Amin, Rehab M; Elfeky, Souad A; Verwanger, Thomas; Krammer, Barbara

2016-06-01

Skin naturally uses antioxidants to protect itself from the damaging effects of sunlight. If this is not sufficient, other measures have to be taken. Like this, hydroxyapatite has the potential to be applied as an active constituent of sunscreens since calcium phosphate absorbs in the ultraviolet region (UV). The objective of the present work was to synthesize a hydroxyapatite-ascorbic acid nanocomposite (HAp/AA-NC) as a new biocompatible constituent of sunscreens and to test its efficiency with skin cell models. The synthesized HAp/AA-NC was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, absorption spectrophotometry and X-ray diffraction analysis. The protective effect of the construct was tested with respect to viability and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation of primary human dermal fibroblasts (SKIN) and human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT). Both cell lines were irradiated with UV light, λmax=254 nm with a fluence of 25 mJ cm(-2) to mimic the effect of UV radiation of sunlight on the skin. Results showed that HAp/AA-NC had a stimulating effect on the cell viability of both, HaCaT and SKIN cells, relative to the irradiated control. Intracellular ROS significantly decreased in UV irradiated cells when treated with HAp/AA-NC. We conclude that the synthesized HAp/AA-NC have been validated in vitro as a skin protector against the harmful effect of UV-induced ROS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Resonant tunneling with high peak to valley current ratio in SiO{sub 2}/nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} multi-layers at room temperature

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, D. Y., E-mail: cdy7659@126.com; Nanjing University of posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210046; Sun, Y.

We have investigated carrier transport in SiO{sub 2}/nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} multi-layers by room temperature current-voltage measurements. Resonant tunneling signatures accompanied by current peaks are observed. Carrier transport in the multi-layers were analyzed by plots of ln(I/V{sup 2}) as a function of 1/V and ln(I) as a function of V{sup 1/2}. Results suggest that besides films quality, nc-Si and barrier sub-layer thicknesses are important parameters that restrict carrier transport. When thicknesses are both small, direct tunneling dominates carrier transport, resonant tunneling occurs only at certain voltages and multi-resonant tunneling related current peaks can be observed but with peak to valley current ratiomore » (PVCR) values smaller than 1.5. When barrier thickness is increased, trap-related and even high field related tunneling is excited, causing that multi-current peaks cannot be observed clearly, only one current peak with higher PVCR value of 7.7 can be observed. While if the thickness of nc-Si is large enough, quantum confinement is not so strong, a broad current peak with PVCR value as high as 60 can be measured, which may be due to small energy difference between the splitting energy levels in the quantum dots of nc-Si. Size distribution in a wide range may cause un-controllability of the peak voltages.« less

The prion protein has RNA binding and chaperoning properties characteristic of nucleocapsid protein NCP7 of HIV-1.

PubMed

Gabus, C; Derrington, E; Leblanc, P; Chnaiderman, J; Dormont, D; Swietnicki, W; Morillas, M; Surewicz, W K; Marc, D; Nandi, P; Darlix, J L

2001-06-01

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are fatal neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation of a protease-resistant form of the prion protein (PrP). Although PrP is conserved in vertebrates, its function remains to be identified. In vitro PrP binds large nucleic acids causing the formation of nucleoprotein complexes resembling human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid-RNA complexes and in vivo MuLV replication accelerates the scrapie infectious process, suggesting possible interactions between retroviruses and PrP. Retroviruses, including HIV-1 encode a major nucleic acid binding protein (NC protein) found within the virus where 2000 NC protein molecules coat the dimeric genome. NC is required in virus assembly and infection to chaperone RNA dimerization and packaging and in proviral DNA synthesis by reverse transcriptase (RT). In HIV-1, 5'-leader RNA/NC interactions appear to control these viral processes. This prompted us to compare and contrast the interactions of human and ovine PrP and HIV-1 NCp7 with HIV-1 5'-leader RNA. Results show that PrP has properties characteristic of NCp7 with respect to viral RNA dimerization and proviral DNA synthesis by RT. The NC-like properties of huPrP map to the N-terminal region of huPrP. Interestingly, PrP localizes in the membrane and cytoplasm of PrP-expressing cells. These findings suggest that PrP is a multifunctional protein possibly participating in nucleic acid metabolism.

Male sexual behavior and catecholamine levels in the medial preoptic area and arcuate nucleus in middle-aged rats.

PubMed

Chen, Joyce C; Tsai, Houng-Wei; Yeh, Kuei-Ying; Tai, Mei-Yun; Tsai, Yuan-Feen

2007-12-12

The correlation between male sexual behavior and catecholamine levels in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and arcuate nucleus (ARN) was studied in middle-aged rats. Male rats (18-19 months) were assigned to three groups: (1) Group MIE, consisting of rats showing mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations; (2) Group MI, consisting of rats showing mounts and intromissions, but no ejaculation; and (3) Group NC, consisting of non-copulators showing no sexual behavior. Young adult rats (4-5 months) displaying complete copulatory behavior were used as the control group. Dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) tissue levels in the MPOA and ARN were measured by high pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. There were no differences between MIE rats and young controls in DA or NE tissue levels in these two brain areas. Furthermore, no differences were found between the MI and NC groups in DA or NE tissue levels in either the MPOA or ARN. DA tissue levels in the MPOA and ARN in the MI and NC groups were significantly lower than those in the MIE group. NE tissue levels in the MPOA of the NC group were significantly lower than those in the MIE group, but no differences in NE tissue levels in the ARN were seen between the four groups. These results suggest that, in male rats, complete male sexual performance is related to tissue levels of DA, but not of NE, in the MPOA and/or ARN. Furthermore, ejaculatory behavior might be associated with critical DA tissue levels in the MPOA and/or ARN in middle-aged rats.

Controlling the opto-electronic properties of nc-SiOx:H films by promotion of 〈220〉 orientation in the growth of ultra-nanocrystallites at the grain boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Debajyoti; Samanta, Subhashis

2018-01-01

A systematic development of undoped nc-SiOx:H thin films from (SiH4 + CO2) plasma diluted by a combination of H2 and He has been investigated through structural, optical and electrical characterization and correlation. Gradual inclusion of O into a highly crystalline silicon network progressively produces a two-phase structure where Si-nanocrystals (Si-nc) are embedded into the a-SiOx:H matrix. However, at the intermediate grain boundary region the growth of ultra-nanocrystallites controls the effectiveness of the material. The ultra-nanocrystallites are the part and portion of crystallinity accommodating the dominant fraction of thermodynamically preferred 〈220〉 crystallographic orientation, most favourable for stacked layer device performance. Atomic H plays a dominant role in maintaining an improved nanocrystalliny in the network even during O inclusion, while He in its excited state (He*) maintains a good energy balance at the grain boundary and produces a significant fraction of ultra-nanocrystalline component which has been demonstrated to organize the energetically favourable 〈220〉 crystallographic orientation in the network. The nc-SiOx:H films, maintaining proportionally good electrical conductivity over an wide range of optical band gap, remarkably low microstructure factor and simultaneous high crystalline volume fraction dominantly populated by ultra-nanocrystallites of 〈220〉 crystallographic orientation mostly at the grain boundary, have been obtained in technologically most popular 13.56 MHz PECVD SiH4 plasma even at a low substrate temperature ∼250 °C, convenient for device fabrication.

D-stat culture for studying the metabolic shifts from oxidative metabolism to lipid accumulation and citric acid production in Yarrowia lipolytica.

PubMed

Ochoa-Estopier, Abril; Guillouet, Stéphane E

2014-01-20

Lipid accumulation in oleaginous yeasts is triggered by nutrient imbalance in the culture medium between the carbon source in excess and the nitrogen source in limiting concentration. However Yarrowia lipolytica when cultivated on glucose as the sole carbon source, mainly produces citric acid upon nitrogen limitation over lipid accumulation (only 5-10% triacylglycerol). Therefore for developing bioprocess for the production of triacylglycerol from renewable carbon source as glucose it is of first importance to control this imbalance in order to avoid citric acid production during TAG accumulation. Using D-stat cultivation system, where the N/C was linearly decreased using a constant change rate we were able to identify the N/C ratio inducing TAG accumulation (0.085NmolCmol(-1)) and citric acid (0.021NmolCmol(-1)). We therefore demonstrated that it was possible to accumulate lipids without excretion citric acid as long as the N/C was within this indicated range. Moreover enzyme specific activities measurement during the D-stat indicated that ATP-citrate lyase, malic enzyme and acetyl-coA carboxylase were strongly induced at the onset of lipid accumulation and showed different patterns when citric acid was excreted. Our results give relevant information for future industrial bioprocess development concerning the production of lipids using renewable carbohydrate substrates as an alternative way to produce synthons for fuel or chemical industry. By controlling the N/C over the fermentation process on glucose Y. lipolytica can accumulate lipids without excreting citric acid. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Creative Thinking, Professional Artists, and Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

Canesi, Margherita; Rusconi, Maria Luisa; Moroni, Federica; Ranghetti, Alessandra; Cereda, Emanuele; Pezzoli, Gianni

2016-01-01

An increase in artistic-like production in Parkinson's disease (PD) has been associated with compulsive and repetitive behaviours after the introduction of dopaminergic treatment (DT). Recent data suggest that it could be due to the emergence of artistic-like skills triggered by DT. In order to evaluate whether artistic production and creative thinking are influenced by DT or linked to artistic-like skills, we characterize creativity features in PD and healthy controls (HC) including professional artists. Three groups of PD out-patients were included consecutively: professional artists (PD-A), patients with (PD-C) and without artistic-like production (PD-NC). Twenty-four gender and age-matched HC were included: professional artists (HC-A) and non-artists (HC-NC). All patients were evaluated by means of a) a battery of neuropsychological tests and a semi-structured interview; b) the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA) for creative thinking; c) the Minnesota Impulsive Disorders Interview (mMIDI) and a screening for impulse control disorders (ICDs) for compulsive behaviour. ATTA total score was significantly higher in HC-A and PD-A than in the other groups. Although PD-NC showed the lowest ATTA total score the difference vs HC-NC was not significant. ATTA scores were not significantly correlated with DT dosage and duration. mMIDI tests were positive only in PD. There were no differences in ICDs among PD groups. Our results do not support a relationship between DT and the emergence of artistic creativity. We believe that DT may increase the drive to create and that further studies in "on" and "off" medication are needed to clarify this issue.

Comparison of mechanical behavior of TiN, TiNC, CrN/TiNC, TiN/TiNC films on 9Cr18 steel by PVD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Xingguo; Zhang, Yanshuai; Hu, Hanjun; Zheng, Yugang; Zhang, Kaifeng; Zhou, Hui

2017-11-01

TiN, TiNC, CrN/TiNC and TiN/TiNC films were deposited on 9Cr18 steel using magnetron sputtering technique. The morphology, composition, chemical state and crystalline structure of the films were observed and analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hardness and adhesion force were tested by nanoindentation and scratch tester, respectively. The friction and wear behavior of TiN, TiNC, CrN/TiNC and TiN/TiNC films sliding against GCr15 balls were investigated and compared synthetically using ball-on-disk tribometer. It was found that Tisbnd N, Tisbnd C, Tisbnd Nsbnd C and Csbnd C bonds were formed. The TiN/TiNC film was composed of TiN, TiC and TiNC phases. Hardness and adhesion force results indicated that although the TiN film possessed the highest hardness, its adhesion force was lowest among all the films. Tribological test results showed that the friction coefficient of TiN/TiNC was much lower than that of TiN and the wear rate decreases remarkably from 2.3 × 10-15 m3/Nm to 7.1 × 10-16 m3/Nm, which indicated the TiN/TiNC film has better wear resistance.

Organic matter in eolian dusts over the Atlantic Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simoneit, B. R. T.

1977-01-01

The elemental and mineralogical composition and the microfossil and detritus content of particulate fallout from the lower troposphere over the Atlantic Ocean have been extensively documented in earlier work, and it was possible to ascribe terrigenous source areas to such fallout. A brief review of the organic geochemistry of eolian dusts is also presented here. The lipids of eolian dusts sampled from the air mass over the eastern Atlantic from about 35 deg N to 30 deg S were analyzed here. These lipids consisted mainly of normal alkanes, carboxylic acids and alcohols. The n-alkanes were found to range from n-C23 to n-C35 with high CPI values and maximizing at n-C27 in the North Atlantic, at n-C29 in the equatorial Atlantic and at n-C31 in the South Atlantic. The n-fatty acids had mostly bimodal distributions, ranging from n-C12 to n-C30 (high CPI), with maxima at n-C16 and in the northern samples at n-C24 and in the southern samples at n-C26. The n-alcohols ranged from n-C12 to n-C32, with high CPI values and maxima mainly at n-C28. The compositions of these lipids indicated that their terrigenous sources were comprised mainly of higher plant vegetation and desiccated lacustrine mud flats on the African continent.

Evaluation of the Catalytic Activity and Cytotoxicity of Palladium Nanocubes. The Role of Oxygen

PubMed Central

Dahal, Eshan; Curtiss, Jessica; Subedi, Deepak; Chen, Gen; Houston, Jessica P.; Smirnov, Sergei

2015-01-01

Recently it has been reported that palladium nanocubes (PdNC) are capable of generating singlet oxygen without photo-excitation simply via chemisorption of molecular oxygen on its surface. Such a trait would make PdNC a highly versatile catalyst suitable in organic synthesis and a Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) inducing cancer treatment reagent. Here we thoroughly investigated the catalytic activity of PdNC with respect to their ability to produce singlet oxygen and to oxidize 3,5,3′,5′-tetramethyl-benzidine (TMB), as well as, analyzed the cytotoxic properties of PdNC on HeLa cells. Our findings showed no evidence of singlet oxygen production by PdNC. The nanocubes’ activity is not necessarily linked to activation of oxygen. The oxidation of substrate on PdNC can be a first step followed by PdNC regeneration with oxygen or other oxidant. The catalytic activity of PdNC towards oxidation of TMB is very high and shows direct two-electrons oxidation when the surface of PdNC is clean and the ratio of TMB/PdNC is not very high. Sequential one electron oxidation is observed when the pristine quality of PdNC surface is compromised by serum or uncontrolled impurities and/or the ratio of TMB/PdNC is high. Clean PdNC in serum-free media efficiently induce apoptosis of HeLa cells. It is the primary route of cell death and is associated with hyperpolarization of mitochondria, contrary to a common mitochondrial depolarization initiated by ROS. Again, the effects are very sensitive to how well the pristine surface of PdNC is preserved, suggesting that PdNC can be used as an apoptosis inducing agent but only with appropriate drug delivery system. PMID:25886644

Effect of exercise training on Ca2+ release units of left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats

PubMed Central

Carneiro-Júnior, M.A.; Quintão-Júnior, J.F.; Drummond, L.R.; Lavorato, V.N.; Drummond, F.R.; Amadeu, M.A.; Oliveira, E.M.; Felix, L.B.; Cruz, J.S.; Mill, J.G.; Natali, A.J.; Prímola-Gomes, T.N.

2014-01-01

In cardiomyocytes, calcium (Ca2+) release units comprise clusters of intracellular Ca2+ release channels located on the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and hypertension is well established as a cause of defects in calcium release unit function. Our objective was to determine whether endurance exercise training could attenuate the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release unit components and Ca2+ sparks in left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Male Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (4 months of age) were divided into 4 groups: normotensive (NC) and hypertensive control (HC), and normotensive (NT) and hypertensive trained (HT) animals (7 rats per group). NC and HC rats were submitted to a low-intensity treadmill running protocol (5 days/week, 1 h/day, 0% grade, and 50-60% of maximal running speed) for 8 weeks. Gene expression of the ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2) and FK506 binding protein (FKBP12.6) increased (270%) and decreased (88%), respectively, in HC compared to NC rats. Endurance exercise training reversed these changes by reducing RyR2 (230%) and normalizing FKBP12.6 gene expression (112%). Hypertension also increased the frequency of Ca2+ sparks (HC=7.61±0.26 vs NC=4.79±0.19 per 100 µm/s) and decreased its amplitude (HC=0.260±0.08 vs NC=0.324±0.10 ΔF/F0), full width at half-maximum amplitude (HC=1.05±0.08 vs NC=1.26±0.01 µm), total duration (HC=11.51±0.12 vs NC=14.97±0.24 ms), time to peak (HC=4.84±0.06 vs NC=6.31±0.14 ms), and time constant of decay (HC=8.68±0.12 vs NC=10.21±0.22 ms). These changes were partially reversed in HT rats (frequency of Ca2+ sparks=6.26±0.19 µm/s, amplitude=0.282±0.10 ΔF/F0, full width at half-maximum amplitude=1.14±0.01 µm, total duration=13.34±0.17 ms, time to peak=5.43±0.08 ms, and time constant of decay=9.43±0.15 ms). Endurance exercise training attenuated the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release units of left ventricular myocytes. PMID:25296357

Effect of exercise training on Ca²⁺ release units of left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

PubMed

Carneiro-Júnior, M A; Quintão-Júnior, J F; Drummond, L R; Lavorato, V N; Drummond, F R; Amadeu, M A; Oliveira, E M; Felix, L B; Cruz, J S; Mill, J G; Natali, A J; Prímola-Gomes, T N

2014-11-01

In cardiomyocytes, calcium (Ca²⁺) release units comprise clusters of intracellular Ca²⁺ release channels located on the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and hypertension is well established as a cause of defects in calcium release unit function. Our objective was to determine whether endurance exercise training could attenuate the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release unit components and Ca²⁺ sparks in left ventricular myocytes of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Male Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats (4 months of age) were divided into 4 groups: normotensive (NC) and hypertensive control (HC), and normotensive (NT) and hypertensive trained (HT) animals (7 rats per group). NC and HC rats were submitted to a low-intensity treadmill running protocol (5 days/week, 1 h/day, 0% grade, and 50-60% of maximal running speed) for 8 weeks. Gene expression of the ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2) and FK506 binding protein (FKBP12.6) increased (270%) and decreased (88%), respectively, in HC compared to NC rats. Endurance exercise training reversed these changes by reducing RyR2 (230%) and normalizing FKBP12.6 gene expression (112%). Hypertension also increased the frequency of Ca²⁺ sparks (HC=7.61 ± 0.26 vs NC=4.79 ± 0.19 per 100 µm/s) and decreased its amplitude (HC=0.260 ± 0.08 vs NC=0.324 ± 0.10 ΔF/F0), full width at half-maximum amplitude (HC=1.05 ± 0.08 vs NC=1.26 ± 0.01 µm), total duration (HC=11.51 ± 0.12 vs NC=14.97 ± 0.24 ms), time to peak (HC=4.84 ± 0.06 vs NC=6.31 ± 0.14 ms), and time constant of decay (HC=8.68 ± 0.12 vs NC=10.21 ± 0.22 ms). These changes were partially reversed in HT rats (frequency of Ca²⁺ sparks=6.26 ± 0.19 µm/s, amplitude=0.282 ± 0.10 ΔF/F0, full width at half-maximum amplitude=1.14 ± 0.01 µm, total duration=13.34 ± 0.17 ms, time to peak=5.43 ± 0.08 ms, and time constant of decay=9.43 ± 0.15 ms). Endurance exercise training attenuated the deleterious effects of hypertension on calcium release units of left ventricular myocytes.

Moderating effects of sex on the impact of diagnosis and amyloid positivity on verbal memory and hippocampal volume.

PubMed

Caldwell, Jessica Z K; Berg, Jody-Lynn; Cummings, Jeffrey L; Banks, Sarah J

2017-09-12

Alzheimer's disease (AD) impacts men and women differently, but the effect of sex on predementia stages is unclear. The objective of this study was to examine whether sex moderates the impact of florbetapir positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid positivity (A + ) on verbal learning and memory performance and hippocampal volume (HV) in normal cognition (NC) and early mild cognitive impairment (eMCI). Seven hundred forty-two participants with NC and participants with eMCI from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (second cohort [ADNI2] and Grand Opportunity Cohort [ADNI-GO]) were included. All had baseline florbetapir PET measured, and 526 had screening visit HV measured. Regression moderation models were used to examine whether A + effects on Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test learning and delayed recall and right and left HV (adjusted for total intracranial volume) were moderated by diagnosis and sex. Age, cognition at screening, education, and apolipoprotein E ε4 carrier status were controlled. Women with A + , but not those with florbetapir PET amyloid negative (A-),eMCI showed poorer learning. For women with NC, there was no relationship of A + with learning. In contrast, A + men trended toward poorer learning regardless of diagnosis. A similar trend was found for verbal delayed recall: Women with A + , but not A-, eMCI trended toward reduced delayed recall; no effects were observed for women with NC or for men. Hippocampal analyses indicated that women with A + , but not those with A - , eMCI, trended toward smaller right HV; no significant A + effects were observed for women with NC. Men showed similar, though nonsignificant, patterns of smaller right HV in A + eMCI, but not in men with A - eMCI or NC. No interactive effects of sex were noted for left HV. Women with NC showed verbal learning and memory scores robust to A + , and women with A + eMCI lost this advantage. In contrast, A + impacted men's scores less significantly or not at all, and comparably across those with NC and eMCI. Sex marginally moderated the relationship of A + and diagnosis with right HV, such that women with NC showed no A + effect and women with A + eMCI lost that advantage in neural integrity; the pattern in men was less clear. These findings show that women with A + eMCI (i.e., prodromal AD) have differential neural and cognitive decline, which has implications for considering sex in early detection of AD and development of therapeutics.

Large Nc equivalence and baryons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Mike; Cherman, Aleksey

2012-09-01

In the large Nc limit, gauge theories with different gauge groups and matter content sometimes turn out to be “large Nc equivalent,” in the sense of having a set of coincident correlation functions. Large Nc equivalence has mainly been explored in the glueball and meson sectors. However, a recent proposal to dodge the fermion sign problem of QCD with a quark number chemical potential using large Nc equivalence motivates investigating the applicability of large Nc equivalence to correlation functions involving baryon operators. Here we present evidence that large Nc equivalence extends to the baryon sector, under the same type of symmetry realization assumptions as in the meson sector, by adapting the classic Witten analysis of large Nc baryons.

The interplay of dietary nutrient level and varying calcium to phosphorus ratios on efficacy of a bacterial phytase: 2. Ileal and total tract nutrient utilization.

PubMed

Olukosi, O A; Fru-Nji, F

2014-12-01

A 14-d broiler experiment was conducted to assess the effects of 2 dietary variables on efficacy of a bacterial 6-phytase from Citobacter braakii on nutrient and phytate P (PP) utilization. Diets were formulated with or without nutrient matrix values (matrix) for phytase as negative control (NC) or positive control (PC), respectively, and with 2 Ca:total P (tP) levels (2:1 or 2.5:1). The diets were supplemented with 0, 1,000, or 2,000 phytase units (FYT)/kg of diet, thus producing a 2 × 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. Excreta were collected on d 19 to 21 and ileal digesta on d 21. There was no 3-way interaction on digestibility of any nutrient. There was matrix × phytase (P < 0.01) interaction for Ca and DM digestibility and Ca:tP × phytase interaction (P < 0.05) for acid hydrolyzed fat and Ca and P digestibility. Prececal flow of Mn, Zn, and Na was greater (P < 0.05) in NC diets, whereas phytase increased (P < 0.05) prececal flow of Mg, Fe, Mn, and Zn but decreased (P < 0.05) prececal Na flow. Total tract PP disappearance and total tract Ca retention increased (P < 0.05) with phytase supplementation in diets with 2:1 Ca:tP, whereas there was no effect of phytase supplementation on PP disappearance or Ca retention in diets with 2.5:1 Ca:tP. Total P and Ca retention were reduced (P < 0.05) in PC and NC diets when Ca:tP increased to 2.5:1, but the depression was more pronounced in the NC diet. In addition, PP disappearance decreased (P < 0.05) with increasing Ca:tP in the PC diets, but there was no effect of widening Ca:tP on PP disappearance in NC diets. It was concluded from the current study that the effect of phytase supplementation on P utilization is reduced when diets contain adequate P as exemplified in the PC diets and that the negative impact of wide Ca:tP is more pronounced in diets with phytase matrix allowance as exemplified in the NC diets. ©2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Nociceptin effects in the airways.

PubMed

Peiser, C; Undem, B J; Fischer, A

2000-07-01

The opioid-like heptadecapeptide nociceptin (NC) has the following effects in the airways (investigated in isolated tracheae and bronchi from guinea pig or rat): the electric field stimulation (EFS)-induces release of acetylcholine (ACh), the tachykinin substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is reduced after pretreatment with NC, and EFS-induced tachykinergic nonadrenergic-noncholinergic (NANC) bronchoconstriction is inhibited by NC. Both the NC-mediated inhibition of neurotransmission and of smooth muscle contraction occurred in a concentration-dependent manner. Because these effects were naloxone-insensitive, were blocked by the NC receptor antagonist [F/G]NC(1-13)NH(2), and could be mimicked by the NC analogs, NCNH(2) and NC(1-13)NH(2), it is thought that they are distinct from the classic opioid receptors. That these pharmacological actions of NC are of relevance for airway physiology is highly probable given the presence of NC-immunoreactivity in the nerve fibers of the airways and of opioid-like receptor (ORL-1) transcripts in the jugular ganglia, from where the tachykinin-containing afferents arise.

Multiple developmental mechanisms regulate species-specific jaw size

PubMed Central

Fish, Jennifer L.; Sklar, Rachel S.; Woronowicz, Katherine C.; Schneider, Richard A.

2014-01-01

Variation in jaw size during evolution has been crucial for the adaptive radiation of vertebrates, yet variation in jaw size during development is often associated with disease. To test the hypothesis that early developmental events regulating neural crest (NC) progenitors contribute to species-specific differences in size, we investigated mechanisms through which two avian species, duck and quail, achieve their remarkably different jaw size. At early stages, duck exhibit an anterior shift in brain regionalization yielding a shorter, broader, midbrain. We find no significant difference in the total number of pre-migratory NC; however, duck concentrate their pre-migratory NC in the midbrain, which contributes to an increase in size of the post-migratory NC population allocated to the mandibular arch. Subsequent differences in proliferation lead to a progressive increase in size of the duck mandibular arch relative to that of quail. To test the role of pre-migratory NC progenitor number in regulating jaw size, we reduced and augmented NC progenitors. In contrast to previous reports of regeneration by NC precursors, we find that neural fold extirpation results in a loss of NC precursors. Despite this reduction in their numbers, post-migratory NC progenitors compensate, producing a symmetric and normal-sized jaw. Our results suggest that evolutionary modification of multiple aspects of NC cell biology, including NC allocation within the jaw primordia and NC-mediated proliferation, have been important to the evolution of jaw size. Furthermore, our finding of NC post-migratory compensatory mechanisms potentially extends the developmental time frame for treatments of disease or injury associated with NC progenitor loss. PMID:24449843

The quantitative assessment of motor activity in mania and schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Minassian, Arpi; Henry, Brook L.; Geyer, Mark A.; Paulus, Martin P.; Young, Jared W.; Perry, William

2009-01-01

Background Increased motor activity is a cardinal feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD), and is thought to reflect dopaminergic dysregulation. Motor activity in BD has been studied almost exclusively with self-report and observer-rated scales, limiting the ability to objectively quantify this behavior. We used an ambulatory monitoring device to quantify motor activity in BD and schizophrenia (SCZ) patients in a novel exploratory paradigm, the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM). Method 28 patients in the manic phase of BD, 17 SCZ patients, and 21 nonpatient (NC) subjects were tested in the BPM, an unfamiliar room containing novel objects. Motor activity was measured with a wearable ambulatory monitoring device (LifeShirt). Results Manic BD patients exhibited higher levels of motor activity when exploring the novel environment than SCZ and NC groups. Motor activity showed some modest relationships with symptom ratings of mania and psychosis and was not related to smoking or body mass index. Limitations Although motor activity did not appear to be impacted significantly by antipsychotic or mood-stabilizing medications, this was a naturalistic study and medications were not controlled, thus limiting conclusions about potential medication effects on motor activity. Conclusion Manic BD patients exhibit a unique signature of motoric overactivity in a novel exploratory environment. The use of an objective method to quantify exploration and motor activity may help characterize the unique aspects of BD and, because it is amenable to translational research, may further the study of the biological and genetic bases of the disease. PMID:19435640

The quantitative assessment of motor activity in mania and schizophrenia.

PubMed

Minassian, Arpi; Henry, Brook L; Geyer, Mark A; Paulus, Martin P; Young, Jared W; Perry, William

2010-01-01

Increased motor activity is a cardinal feature of the mania of Bipolar Disorder (BD), and is thought to reflect dopaminergic dysregulation. Motor activity in BD has been studied almost exclusively with self-report and observer-rated scales, limiting the ability to objectively quantify this behavior. We used an ambulatory monitoring device to quantify motor activity in BD and schizophrenia (SCZ) patients in a novel exploratory paradigm, the human Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM). 28 patients in the manic phase of BD, 17 SCZ patients, and 21 nonpatient (NC) subjects were tested in the BPM, an unfamiliar room containing novel objects. Motor activity was measured with a wearable ambulatory monitoring device (LifeShirt). Manic BD patients exhibited higher levels of motor activity when exploring the novel environment than SCZ and NC groups. Motor activity showed some modest relationships with symptom ratings of mania and psychosis and was not related to smoking or body mass index. Although motor activity did not appear to be impacted significantly by antipsychotic or mood-stabilizing medications, this was a naturalistic study and medications were not controlled, thus limiting conclusions about potential medication effects on motor activity. Manic BD patients exhibit a unique signature of motoric overactivity in a novel exploratory environment. The use of an objective method to quantify exploration and motor activity may help characterize the unique aspects of BD and, because it is amenable to translational research, may further the study of the biological and genetic bases of the disease.

Effect of varying durations of pyramid exposure - an indication towards a possibility of overexposure.

PubMed

Bhat, Surekha; Rao, Guruprasad; Murthy, K Dilip; Bhat, P Gopalakrishna

2009-10-01

Miniature replicas modeled after the Great Pyramid of Giza are believed to concentrate geoelectromagnetic energy within their cavities and hence act as antistressors in humans and animals. Although there are not many reports of adverse effects of 'overexposure' in the pyramid, subjects have claimed to feel uneasy after certain duration of staying in the pyramid. The present study was aimed to analyze the effects of prolonged pyramid exposure on plasma cortisol level, markers of oxidative damage and antioxidant defense in erythrocytes of adult female Wistar rats. Rats were divided into three groups, normal controls (NC, n=6) that were maintained under standard laboratory conditions in their home cages, pyramid exposed group-2 (PE-2, n=6) & pyramid exposed group-4 (PE-4, n=6) where the rats were housed under the pyramid for 6 hours/day for 2 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. Plasma cortisol and erythrocyte TBARS levels were significantly lower in both PE-2 and PE-4 rats and erythrocyte GSH levels and GSH-Px activity were significantly higher in them as compared to the NC rats. There was no significant difference in the results for these parameters between the PE-2 and PE-4 rats except for erythrocyte GSH-Px activity which was significantly more in the PE-2 rats than in the PE-4 rats. Although these results don't confirm any adverse effects of prolonged exposure in pyramids, they indicate a possibility of such adverse effects.

Adaptive online self-gating (ADIOS) for free-breathing noncontrast renal MR angiography.

PubMed

Xie, Yibin; Fan, Zhaoyang; Saouaf, Rola; Natsuaki, Yutaka; Laub, Gerhard; Li, Debiao

2015-01-01

To develop a respiratory self-gating method, adaptive online self-gating (ADIOS), for noncontrast MR angiography (NC MRA) of renal arteries to overcome some limitations of current free-breathing methods. A NC MRA pulse sequence for online respiratory self-gating was developed based on three-dimensional balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) and slab-selective inversion-recovery. Motion information was derived directly from the slab being imaged for online gating. Scan efficiency was maintained by an automatic adaptive online algorithm. Qualitative and quantitative assessments of image quality were performed and results were compared with conventional diaphragm navigator (NAV). NC MRA imaging was successfully completed in all subjects (n = 15). Similarly good image quality was observed in the proximal-middle renal arteries with ADIOS compared with NAV. Superior image quality was observed in the middle-distal renal arteries in the right kidneys with no NAV-induced artifacts. Maximal visible artery length was significantly longer with ADIOS versus NAV in the right kidneys. NAV setup was completely eliminated and scan time was significantly shorter with ADIOS on average compared with NAV. The proposed ADIOS technique for noncontrast MRA provides high-quality visualization of renal arteries with no diaphragm navigator-induced artifacts, simplified setup, and shorter scan time. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.